Take Your Meds! [Outlast Trials characters Drabbles]
With the way that ableism is unfortunately making a rise with Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and cluster b disorders in general becoming the target of therapyspeak and unfair labeling, I thought it best to make a collection of drabbles that's accepting of mental health [all mental health, not just cluster B disorders]. I don't care how OOC this is, I feel like we can afford to have a bit of OOC when it comes to comfort. :D
The mental illnesses and medication needed aren't specified, which I hope makes immersion easier. If this is received well [and you guys want more], I can write more mental health-care esque fics and headcanons. :) We need to take care of ourselves, especially in a world like this.
Enjoy, and...take your meds. :P [With milk and food! Whatever your pharmacist or pill bottle tells you.]
Included: All prime assets, Emily Barlow, Easterman, Ex-pops [Pitcher, Night Hunter, Danny], Amelia, Dorris.
TW for Dr Futterman threatening to give Phyllis a lobotomy. With...fatherly love, of course. I guess.
Antis and minors begone <3
"You know, darling...medication is medicine for the brain."
Obviously. But you kept your eyes on Easterman with intrigue; he was able to capture you with a simple sentence. His talent.
"And when one is sick...tell me, is it shameful to take medicine?"
"...No," you answered after a moment of silence. He looked at you expectantly, a brow raised. "Would you shame a veteran, who shed blood for this country, for taking pills to silence the screams in his head?"
"You could, arguably, brave it out. But who are you trying to impress?"
"My point exactly, my dear." Easterman took a sip of water as he shook your bottle of medication, "So why is sickness of the mind any different?"
He held out your medication, his expression soft. "Life is not about suffering to impress others, I hope you come to learn this."
"You took your medication?"
The silence was comfortable as Barlow's manicured fingers took the little cup full of pills into them, her brows furrowing. "Now, what did Easterman say about lies?"
Some pills lay at the bottom of the little paper cup, her gaze questioning. To be fair, she never specified which medication. The ones you were on, or the ones you were forced to be put on.
"You're not pathetic for needing them, you know," she murmured, "The other reagents in here suffer for the same reasons you do. They just aren't..."
"...Eager, to accept their issues."
She refilled your glass of water, "Better to be sane than insane in this place, darling."
Behind her glasses, you could see Amelia's gaze was concerned as she noted the two little pills still left in your cup.
"Gotta take em, y'know," She whispered, sitting down in front of you; the other reagents were engaging in armwrestling, unable to hear you or care.
"They'll force em down your throat. It's not pretty."
You just hummed, wiping your face. "I know."
Amelia gnawed on her lip for a moment, reaching into her attire to pull out a chocolate bar.
Used as payment around here due to its rarity, it was almost as if she was paying you to take your medication.
"For each pill...you get one quarter of the chocolate bar. Deal?"
"Still not takin' them fuckin' meds, huh?"
Dorris exhaled smoke from her mouth, her body laid against the table with a carefree manner; despite that, her tone sounded pressed.
"You gotta, darlin'. Lest you want them freaks forcin' em down your throat." She raised a brow. Did you truly want that?
You were silent, the cup of medication still in your hand. She bit her lip before murmuring,
"Henrietta would want you to."
That's good enough for you.
"Medication? That helps ya feel better?"
His scoff was one of disbelief, his brow raising behind his glasses as he stared at you. "And you're not takin' em? Are you fuckin' stupid?"
"They make me feel horrible."
He simply clicked his tongue, shaking his head slightly as the cigarette between his lips bobbed, "But they'll also make you feel better, ain't that the fuckin' point? It's worth it."
Having a cop scold you for not taking medication was...odd, but...he seemed to know it was working.
"Take em and I'll fry the next sonovabitch that spawns in here, eh?" He smirked, "That good enough?"
Good enough for you, bad enough for the Pusher that just came through the elevator's doors.
Motherlike in every sense of the word as her free, puppet-less hand guides a small, white pill to your mouth. "Open up, dearest! Pills make us happy!"
But you did no such thing, keeping your face stoic. The theme park around you did nothing to sway you, either.
"No no, Phyllis, the BLUE pills are whats make us happy," Futterman scolded, "White makes your brains hurt."
"Hush now, Doctor Daddy," she scoffed, "You're a dentist, not a head scientist."
"If I was, I would've given yous a lobotomy a long time ago!"
You just took the pills so they'd stop yapping.
Instead of his usual "take the pacifier", this time it seemed to be;
His gloved fingers had a small white pill between them, almost carefully. He wasn't new to pills. Shit, he marketed them at one point. Just not the...head kind, if you catch his drift.
"Come on, sweetness," He whistled, "It ain't gonna fuckin' hurt ya. I'll even hold ya hand- you want that? You wanna hold my fuckin' hand?"
And that's how you ended up holding Franco's hand as you swallowed each pill, his eyes eagerly watching your throat shift to push the pills down into your gut.
"Good job," he patted your cheek, "Now, uhh...be a dear and stay away from my mules, capiche?"
He doesn't even have to ask.
Otto moved the pill around in his fingers, looking at it with amusement. "This is usually where we bribe a poor, innocent fool with money or something grander."
"Are you suggesting Reagent is a poor, old fool?" Arora questioned, her hand by his neck toying with your fingers.
"Not at all, my dear. But I do think bribery is a must in this circumstance if they refuse to take their medication."
You stared at him with confusion, blinking lazily. "And what exactly can you bribe me with?"
He looked around for a moment. "Well, my dear...I do think this shopping mall is at our disposal, no?"
"A...lowly shopping mall," you could hear Arora's disgust, "in exchange for their health. An insult, really."
Otto simply rolled his eyes, but you took the pills anyway.
In Pitcher language, that clearly had meant, "take your medication you little shit". You knew him well enough to know that; he loved using threats. He never went through with them, but you wouldn't exactly deny a guy coated in molotovs ready to be lit.
"Not worth the brain fog I'll have, Pitch."
He gave you an unimpressed expression, the gasoline coming off of him swaying your nose. Pitcher gave you brain fog, but it was consensual brain fog. You even got physical affection out of it.
Not like you remember most of it, but whatever.
He gently smushed the pill against your closed lips, his eyes unblinking. "Raggghh."
"Glooow woooooorm," his accented voice was quiet and yet so bold as he roamed the dark hallway. "I told you to take those little pills, and you've defied me."
It took no effort to find you, hiding behind the curtains. The orphanage was full of wonderful hiding spots, such as...those.
"Really?" He scoffed, pulling the curtains away. "An insult. An insult to me, I tell you!"
"I'm not taking them. Fuck that."
"Well fuck you, too. I won't if you refuse to do what I've asked of you."
Shithead. He cared...somewhat.
"A tiny little thing, this is."
The pill looked like an ant in the giant's large fingers, his eyes scanning the pill to the best of his ability. "And you're afraid to take this lil thing, honey?"
"Not afraid. Just not...happy with what it does."
And that was that until he bent down, placing the pill into your hand. "I can't force ya to do anythin' ya don't want to, but...if it can make ya feel better, why not take that shot?"