Requested by @Froxlly

~~~~Radar's POV~~~~

"What type of saplings are we using?"

I bite my lower lip, staring up at the Admin's place and imagining the different trees growing on it. Spruce? Way too dark; I'm trying to lighten it up, not make it darker. Birch? No, the white simply makes the whole lava thing stand out more. Same thing with the arcadia trees.

"Let's go with oak." I nod determinedly with my choice, since jungle trees would also be a hassle. "Put trees on as many levels as you can and please try to make it symmetrical!"

The guy shrugs and walks off, leaving me to stare up at the impressive, but nightmarish, palace the Admin built. And since Romeo can't exactly get rid of it now, I've taken upon myself to make it fit in with Beacontown more.

I groan, rubbing my temples at the recent memories springing to mind. Despite the fact the entire freakin' Order of the Stone is here making Beacontown an even better place and I get to work alongside them, Jesse isn't the same.

At first it was fine, everything seemed great. Admin's gone, the sky has no bedrock above it, Beacontown was free from his rule, and even though it's only been a few days, everything is recovering beautifully.

Until I went on a midnight walk only two nights ago, thinking how terrible it was to have all these nightmares, and saw Jesse. Sitting alone on the bottom of the beacon pyramid, staring out at the gates in front of him.

 He looked so sad, exhausted and confused. It seemed as if destroying the Admin was a recycling of problems. Sure, that set went away. But now there's a whole new set to deal with.

Shaking my head, I begin to head back to the office to do some paperwork. Since I know Jesse needs to spend this last amount of time with his friends, he shouldn't be worrying about the Admin's palace or mere paperwork when there's clearly much bigger things weighing down on his mind.

I begin to list, again, all the things that I could do that might make him happier. Perhaps redecorate the office? Bake him a bunch of cakes and cookies? Maybe make him a model of the golden gauntlet? Or I could-

"That filthily piece of trash!"

I jump at the sudden shout, staring at the scowling man. "Ex-excuse me sir?"

His face softened a tad bit when he saw me, which admittedly helped me calm down a bit. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean that at you."

"Of course." I nod as if I'd known that all along, and instead of walking off like I should have, my curiosity piques. "May I ask who has gotten you all relied up?"

The guy snarled, face twisting up in anger again. "That damned Admin! The guy who ruined Beacontown just for his own pleasure!"

I wince, not that the fuming man seems to notice. I cannot lie, Romeo did some pretty awful things. But once I saw more his side of the story, not too mention what he was like coming out of that portal, I couldn't help but feel a tad bit sorry for him.

"We should have just killed the soulless tyrant where he stood. Sure we ran him out of town, but a buddy of mine said that he was seen in the area. Bastard probably plotting revenge against Jesse, even though Jesse was the one who saved that sorry excuse of a person despite him tricking all of us into thinking he was our Hero."

I nod, but my heart caves with sorrow. It was a brutal sight, descending from the Admin's Palace. The moment the crowd knew who Romeo was, it didn't matter what any of us tried to do at that point. Romeo was kicked, so very violently, out of town.

"Well, uh, yeah, y-you said it." I back away from the man, grinning nervously. "But I- err- gotta go, so bye."

The memories of that day refuse to fade as I continue to the office. Romeo beaten out of the city while those every same people who kicked him down forced him back up to repeat the process. By the time he actually stumbled through the gates, the all powerful Admin just an hour before, had clothes stained with the same color as his hair.

My hand hesitates right above the doorknob, my head saying to ignore it and continue to heal Beacontown. That this great city has to be restored. Yet my heart crying out, that Romeo shouldn't have been treated like that. That we are no better than him if we respond with the same violence he gave us.

Taking a breath, I turn to go to the Order Hall. That's where Jesse is, and he'll know what to do. I'm sure Jesse will say to find him, Jesse's just that great of a person. He'll make everything right in the end.

But I hesitate yet again. Remembering how depressed Jesse's been over the last few days. As his intern, I can't make that worse. Ripping him away from his friends and asking him to hunt down the man who destroyed his city, tortured him for amusement, and fooled his friends into thinking that he was evil would definitely make things worse.

My fists curl, my glasses slightly fogging with the frustrated pants blowing through my mouth. I want to help, I really really do. But I don't know how to, I've never been one to do something like that. I prefer to stay in the background, having everything go exactly as planned and staying out of the action.

This though! Going out on my own to find a man that's been chaotic and utterly unpredictable for his entire life basically is just ripe for disaster! So many things are bound to go wrong, and what will I do then? Jesse wouldn't be around to help guide me.

Yet ignoring the problem is unacceptable, it's bad enough I've pushed it aside for so long in the first place. He needs help, and it's about time someone responded with love and kindness to Romeo instead of violence.

Not, of course, counting how Jesse saved him from the Terminal Space. Jesse, as always, did the heroic thing to do. So I should follow in that lead, follow the path of the hero.

So after another mental pep rally and a few really big deep breaths, I pivot on my heel and march to the gates. I am going to help Romeo, I'm going to show him what being human means.

And I get all the way up to the gates... when my stomach grumbles at me. At first I am so determined I brush it off, but then I think about it. Romeo probably doesn't have a lot to eat and I'm only going to get more hungrier.

I dash off towards my house, this slight hiccup motivating me to hurry up rather than deterring me. Despite knowing everything he's done, and suffering from that personally, it feels great deciding to help him.

Surprisingly, it didn't take very long for my hustle sticks to get me to my house. All this running away from super terrifying monsters and people must be really good for exercise! Although preferably next time I exercise it won't be on such a fatal level.

Part of me dies when I just burst in and run to the kitchen, tracking in mud from my shoes that I usually take off next to the door. I open the fridge, quickly deciding some rabbit stew and a couple of apples before bolting out the door again. Munching on a carrot myself.

Slamming the door shut behind me, I race back to the gates. Fatigue seeping into my legs so I do have to unfortunately slow down. But that's not going to stop me! I'm going to help Romeo! Since if the worst and craziest person I've ever met can be turned into a nice caring person, then anyone can be turned good.

Feeling my heart swell, I march out of the gates. Nothing holding me back from this, not fears or any weakness. I can do this!

Only for my march to fade to a simple walk when I realize I don't know where Romeo is exactly. All I know is that he's somewhere around here somewhere, but nothing beyond that. No left or right, this region or that.

Still determinedly walking away from Beacontown, I hum in thought. I briefly allow the thought that Romeo was able to get to the Underneath and what I heard earlier was just a rumor. And now I'm just out here with no real reason and wasting time that could be used on improving Beacontown.

I shake that thought away, no real logic in that at all. Romeo's human now, he can't just teleport to the Underneath. In fact, I have no idea how he plans to get down there at all. But even if he did know a way, I doubt his newly beaten and humanized body will get him every far.

An idea lights up in my brain, making me giggle excitedly. I don't need to find Romeo right out of the gate, just need to follow his trail. He probably knows nothing about surviving, which means he's going to be leaving signs around here.

Scanning the area, I think to myself what I should be looking for. Maybe a tree not cut down properly. A creeper pit would also be pretty good. Perhaps I'll spot-

My eye catches a splotch of blood, definitely not what I was going for but I'll take it. I approach it, slowly but surely. Already spotting another like this one off towards the trees, and I'm really glad I always carry in-case-of-emergency bandages.

I pass by the blood, noting that is old. Maybe not as old as the day he got kicked out, but at least a day. I can't entirely tell for sure though, I'm happy to say that studying blood is not one of my strong suits.

The trail leads to the forest, and if I have to give my best guess, I say that the blood has to do with him falling down. Because there seems to be no real pattern between spaces and each patch looks similar.

Sighing, I enter the forest. The cool air wrapping around me, causing a shiver to run down my back. Yet I refuse to complain. If an Admin, who never had to experience any type of pain whatsoever, can tough it out then so can I.

Now it does get a bit harder to figure out where Romeo went, but a few moments of intense scanning reveals where he went.

Following that path, checking every once and awhile to make sure I'm right, anxiety bubbles inside me. So far, it's nothing compared to the determination of helping Romeo become a better person. But I do need to get rid of it before it does become a problem.

Although I should figure out what I'm going to say to him. It would be pretty awkward, not to mention dangerous, to approach the man who buried an entire world and not have anything to say.

Maybe I should have brought a weapon. I mean, I didn't even think about that at all. I can't swing a sword, but a shield would've been nice. Just in case the former all powerful Admin who was crazy and just recently stripped down into a human really does want to hurt me or something.

Shaking my head vigorously, I get that thought out of my head. I have to believe the best in him, if I don't then it was pointless to come out here in the first place. I'm coming to him with the best of intentions, not the worst.

The light running water of a creek draws my attention, and I gulp in thirst. Just one quick little drink, that won't hurt anyone. I'll just take a quick sip to quench my thirst then I'll be back looking for Romeo.  

I bend down and take a quick drink, making sure my glasses remain on my head. The water is cool and refreshing, and I sigh in content when I have to breathe again. Before going down and taking another drink.

This time though I gag and spit it out, the taste now sharp and metallic and disgusting. Wiping my mouth, I go to glare at the water that betrayed my taste buds, when I realize it wasn't entirely water.

It was the light red stream that gave me such an unpleasant taste. I just drank blood.

My eyes widen, and I quickly look upstream. Wondering if a wounded animal has collapsed by the creek. Perhaps I can help it and gently glide it away from the water, that way the water won't be contaminated for other animals.

I don't see anything immediately close to me, but peering really far upstream, there's a dot of something. Gray maybe? I see a lot of red too, which can't be a good thing. This poor critter might have been here for far too long.

Scrambling to my feet, I run up to it. About halfway though, I gasp and run faster when I recognize a tattered gray shirt and ripped jeans. Most of the red I saw not blood, but the bright hair of Romeo.

I run faster and faster, heart thumping wildly in fear and exertion. It's clear he's fainted, the great former Admin passed out next to a small creek. My thoughts spurting out so many reasons as to what has happened to him.

Lack of food? Dehydration? Sleep deprived? Blood loss? Fell and hit his head? A combination of those things?

When I get to his limp body, I quickly roll him away from the water and on his back. While I can't rule out the precise reason as to why he's unconscious, blood loss clearly has played a factor. Blood seeping out from various wounds, including a nasty one on his forehead, and his clothes stained with it.

Biting my lip, I fish out my bandages. It looks like he hasn't bandaged any of his wounds! Did he seriously think it was okay to just walk around with blood pouring out of him? He does know that stuff is suppose to be on the INSIDE of his body, right?

Firstly, I bandage the one on his forehead, praying that Romeo hasn't received a head injury. The white quickly turns red, but the flow of blood eases to a stop by the time I'm done.

I move onto his right hand, which looks as if it lost a fight to a wolf. His knuckles are all bloody and bruised, cuts and scraps all over his arm. Some are from when he got kicked out of Beacontown, but others are fresh. What has Romeo been doing out here?

I have to bandage most of the arm, and I'll most likely have to cast it at some point. I have never been more glad for my paranoid tendencies, for without them I would definitely run out of bandages and medical tape for Romeo.

His other arm is slightly better, slightly. If the other arm lost a fight to a wolf, then this one was a shield to a zombie hoard. More blue and people than red, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a broken bone, or multiple, in there. It's a small wonder why Romeo fainted if this is the condition he's in.

Quickly bandaging that one too, I try to think what I could do to wake him up. Assuming, and hoping, that his clothes would've protected him from cuts. He clearly shouldn't be laying here, but I know I would never be able to pick him up. It's never going to happen.

I scoop up some water from the stream, splashing it onto his face. That doesn't seem to work, so I try to dribble some over his mouth. That does get a very small reaction, just a mere twitch of his lips.

That is progress though! I continue to dribble water, and eventually his mouth twitches open slightly. The water seeping into his mouth, where he also swallows it.

Giving him more and more water, I definitely mark dehydration as a cause for his fainting. I wonder if he knows how much water he needs to drink daily. Or if he thinks that 'getting thirsty' is a sign of weakness when in reality it is an important indicator to get some water.

And if he thinks that way about water, what about food? Consider that even his older wounds still leaked a bit of blood, his body must be low on food. Has he eaten anything since becoming human? When even was the last time he ate anything?

Groaning at how the guy who could steal the skin of Jesse could also be so stupid, I pull out the stew. Bringing it as close to Romeo's nose as possible without spilling it. If the smell alone is enough to stir him from unconsciousness due to dehydration and blood loss, then I'm going to fear the worse.

So absolute panic hits me when his eyes flutter open. Partly because I was right, but mainly because I forgot that Romeo still has his yellow Admin eyes. Sure, it's nice the blood red part is gone, but the bright yellow irises sends a shiver done my spine.

"R-Romeo?" I try, I really try, to shake off the fear, but I can't help the strain of it in my voice. "Can you hear me?"

His eyes, eyes that cause my heart to go into a frenzy, gaze right at me. I gulp, but just stare back at him too. Unable to even think about doing something practical.

For a long, painfully long moment, we just stare at each other. Until I finally get my bearings back and clear my throat. I'm here to help him, Romeo the human, not cower in fear in of the former Admin.

"Can you understand me? Can you move?" To my surprise, he nods curtly. His eyebrows crunching up together as he tries to hoist himself up. I freeze, not expecting him to actually move when his body is so beat up.

"No! No!" Without thinking, I quickly and gently press down on his shoulders. "Don't sit up, you'll undo some of the bandages."

"Bandages?" He looks at his arms as I gasp, his voice raspy and dry. It's sickly and weak, crackling and croaking to form words.

"Um, yea-yeah. I put those on and they're going to-to come off if you move too much." I snap my head up, spotting a tree only a block or two away. "Here, let me scoot you over here."

He doesn't resist at all as I get to my feet, moving behind him to loop my arms under his shoulders. "If this hurts just let me know, okay?"

I don't hear anything, so I take that confirmation I can go. As gently as possible, I drag him back. Pulling him upright and leaning him against the tree when I him get close enough. He doesn't make a noise, and I briefly worry if he fainted again.

"R-Romeo?"

I come around and kneel next to him, his bright and fear inducing eyes piercing me. I gulp but hold my gaze, despite how crazy hard that is. That the man who could torture thousands is right in front of me and I'm staring at him.

Grinding my teeth, I get rid of that thought. I'm not here to help the Admin that did that, I'm here to help a human who's lost. I'm here to show Romeo how good kindness is. So all other thoughts just need to get the heck out of here because I don't want them!

"Are you hungry?" I mentally wince at how squeaky my voice is, if only I could stop that! "I have some food here for you."

He gasps, a dry raspy thing, his eyes that once glowed with evil powers dart around in confusion and surprise. Romeo nods, the former Admin unsure of himself. The person who once called me weak and a loser unable to even look me in the eyes now.

I grab the bowl of rabbit stew again, raising the bowl to his mouth. But he flinches back, and out of the corner of my eye I see his arms twitching. His wounds, exhaustion, deprivation of the essentials, and my tight bandages stopping him from doing anything though.

"Please don't move Romeo, you're already so injured. Let me take care of it." Romeo's lips press into a thin line, unable to even look anywhere near me, but his arms relax. So I take that as permission to continue.

Delicately, I have never had to do this to someone before, I raise the bowl back up to his lips. He sighs, gravelly and sickly, but leaning forward just a hare to meet the bowl. I, extremely slowly because I still don't know exactly what I'm doing, tip the bowl back.

A flip is switched once the stew begins to flow into his mouth. The hesitance vanishes and replaced with desperation. His eyes widen in need and his arms begin to twitch again, eager gulps swallowing down the stew the moment it can.

"Easy, easy..." I continue to pour slowly, slightly concerned why he isn't chewing. I mean, I do tend to have rabbit stew as soft as possible so I don't have to chew much, but chewing is still important.

I must've jinxed it, because Romeo begins to choke. I whip the bowl back and set it down, not sure what to do since his back is up against a tree and his coughs aren't exactly bringing him forward enough for me to do anything.

Thankfully, he spits out the chunk of potato that got stuck. The fact it was a potato of all things that Romeo choked on brings a small amount of humor to me, but it dies instantly when his eyes flicker back up to mine. The viciousness they once held now reduced to a sickly yellow.

"I know you're hungry Romeo but I have plenty of food, there's no need to rush. Be sure to chew." He nods, nervous all over again. That nervousness doesn't entirely go away this time when I raise the bowl back up to him.

Romeo still desperately gulps down the contents, but his jaw is put to work this time. He thankfully doesn't choke again, and soon enough I'm holding the bowl vertical trying to get all of it in his mouth.

Romeo sighs, staring up at me with his former Admin eyes. "More?"

I wince at his voice, it really does sound like he's on Death's door. How can we, everyone who has ever hated what the Admin did to us, let the same fate be dropped on his shoulders? How can we say we're the better people when we are all too willing to do the same?

"Wait, let me grab you some water." I rush to the stream with the bowl, taking a second to let the water pour in before hurrying back over to Romeo. Careful not to spill any of the precious liquid.

 "Drink up, drink up." I tilt the bowl back again, Romeo swallowing the water with more passion than he did with the stew. I probably should've given him water first anyway, it is most important after all.

He quickly finishes that and I pull away to give him a refill. Yet before I can stand up, he grasps onto my sleeve. His grip is weak, but his guilt ridden eyes strike an indescribable sadness into my heart.

"I...I..." I'm completely frozen as I watch Romeo, the Admin who leveled cities, struggle to find the words he's looking for. "Th-thank you. I... can't say how... grateful I am."

A shadow darkens his face, and his eyes fall down. "Especially when I... when I'm such a monster."

"The Admin was a monster." I surprise myself when the words just blurt out of me, my high pitched tone not disappointing though. "But you're Romeo, you don't have to be like the Admin. You can be kind and just, you can be a good person."

He lets go of my sleeve, his head hanging as he shakes his head. "Not after what I've done."

"Romeo, do you think I would be here if I thought that way?" He lifts his head at that one, his yellow eyes lighting up with a spark of hope. "Someone somewhere will hate you, but not even Jesse is universally loved. The Followers of Soren sometimes bicker about him.

"Just because you're shattered, doesn't make you broken. I'm here because I see your indestructible potential to be a good person, that can do so much if it's let out. I'm here to see whether you'll release it or let it always sit there and gather dust." 

I smile at him, and with a twitch, a small smile is reflected back at me. The former Admin who's destroyed so many lives smiling a hopeful smile at someone who he once thought was a loser. That's already progress in my book.

"I'll try." The yellow eyes harden in determination, and both of our smiles grow. "Upon my dying breath I'll try."

****

Yay! Romeo and Radar bonding!

Which was a ton of unexpected fun! I will admit though it did take a bit of thinking, since I didn't get an idea right off the bat when you requested.

Although I have to ask, did I do a good job with writing Radar? If I was lacking on a part of his personality then tell me, please. Not like mean, but since I can almost grantee that I'll be writing him again, I want to write Radar even better. 

I would also like to mention how weird English is. Since both prefixes 'in' and 'un' mean no or not. Yet indescribable is a word, but undescribable isn't. For everyone who had to learn English as a second language, congratulations because I'm sure that was the most frustrating thing in the world. Like, I cannot image the determination it would take to do that.

Well, that's all from me this time! See you around when I get to publishing the next one!