Starters to my Roleplays

Tokoh and Flynn - Alfred's Cancer

It was a few months after Tokoh and Flynn reunited.

Most everything was quiet in the war; a few skirmishes, however, winter was coming, and neither army wanted to get out in the harsh winters of their kingdoms and fight. The king had recovered and Tokoh no longer had to have the weight of kingdom on his back. Due to this, he now had more free time.

Sometimes he went to visit Flynn, and spend time with him for a while. Sometimes, he tended to the garden he cared for.

And other times, he would spend time with his siblings.

Adela, his littlest sister, was growing up quite nicely: blonde curls sprouted up from her head and hung in cute ringlets around her shoulders, and dimples graced her cheeks whenever her pretty little face blessed the family with another smile or laugh. She was the joy of the family, and whenever she wasn't being trained to be a princess with lessons on mannerisms or attending 1st grade, she lit up the castle. Her pure, innocent mind and words were hard not to love and cherish, especially knowing the war going on and how much the world had gone to shit - Adela seemed like the little pocket of light left in the world. Tokoh loved her to pieces, and would let himself be pulled away to play dolls or tea time with her whenever she requested (and he wasn't busy, of course). She was one of the only people who could get him to genuinely smile.

Edmund was growing up to be a handful. After being captured, he had changed a bit: while he used to be rowdy and everything a teenage boy would be, he was now cautious and slightly less rambunctious. His 13th birthday was soon, which meant he was almost old enough to join the war. Tokoh dreaded the day he did, and discouraged it as much as possible without outright saying he could not. However, his words could never convince him to serve his kingdom as a soldier.  It distressed Tokoh; he didn't want to see his baby brother, who he remembered being born like it was yesterday, witnessing the horrors of a war, or even becoming a victim to it. But he wasn't stupid - he knew Edmund wouldn't give up his future life as a military officer for the world. So, he spent as much time as he could with him, sharing tips on what to do in certain situations while expertly avoiding the questions asking for gorey details on a traumatizing event he witnessed. He played soldiers with him and even taught him how to bake cookies, amazingly. Edmund was extremely grateful, and his eyes shone whenever he looked at Tokoh.

Alfred was growing up to be a very handsome young man, at the ripe age of 17. Unlike his younger brother, Alfred was more into the science of things and the developing of better technology for the war. He still did his princely duties, however on his free time he would go down to the labs to train as a chemist. Tokoh would sometimes accompany him, watching in fascination as Alfred, whom he also remembered being born when he himself was only 6, did things to certain chemicals he didn't even know existed. Alfred got nervous easily though, and especially under the supervision of his older brother, he was shyer. However, Tokoh assured him he wouldn't know if he messed up or not due to him being too stupid to understand anything he was doing; he got a laugh out of him with that, along with a 'I doubt it.' Alfred usually stuttered when he talked, eyes looking downwards to the floor as he rapidly tried to get his thoughts together to speak a coherent sentence. However, Tokoh gently noticed that whenever he was around the comforts of his lab coat and chemicals, he was calmer, sentences well-structured and confident in his knowledge. It calmed Tokoh to simply watch him work, and it was a win-win since it boosted Alfred's confidence whenever he got the simplest reaction out of Tokoh.

He loved everything the way it was, in its own daily routine and manner.

So when subtle things started to change in Alfred, he noticed.

He would sometimes stop and grip onto the table like he was about to pass out, or start breathing as if he was going to run out of breath any moment. Other times he would have to sit down and be still for minutes at a time because of the throbbing pains in his head and the dizziness that came with it.

Tokoh noticed.

Alfred refused to acknowledge his symptoms, and refused to go to a doctor as well.

Tokoh stayed close to him more often, now leaning anxiously against the wall instead of relaxing next to him as he watched the progress of his little brother and his chemicals go slower... and slower...

Before he stopped completely, standing still and not saying anything.

"Alfred?" Tokoh prompted, worry edging his tone as he slowly walked towards him. "You alright?"

Alfred made a small choking noise before falling onto the floor, passing out.

"Fuck! Alfred!" Tokoh cried, diving to catch him before his head hit the tile floor. He anxiously brushed the hair out of his face, inhaling sharply in panic when he saw his face, white as a sheet and eyes rolled back in his head. He swallowed hard before yelling, "Security! SECURITY! SOMEBODY GET THE MEDIC! PRINCE ALFRED HAS BLACKED OUT! WE NEED A MEDIC!"

—

Tokoh refused visits from anyone except family for the next three days as test results were processed. Of course, he was still taking care of himself and doing his duties, but it was now with a burden on his mind and soul, guilt crawling it's way into his brain. He could have stopped it, he could have urged him harder to go to a doctor, he could have-

"Prince Tokoh?"

The knocking on his door brought him abruptly out of his thoughts, and he swiveled his chair to look at the door. "Yes?" He answered, voice steady and face blank as usual even though the person was outside of his room.

"Test results are in. You... might want to come get the news from the doctor personally."

Dread sunk into the pit of his stomach as he listened to the footsteps fade outside his door. He slowly rose and made his way to the hospital wing of the castle, being escorted to the room where he was supposed to go.

Alfred was not there, however the rest of his family and the doctor was. The doctor beckoned for him to sit down in a chair, and Tokoh obliged, sitting calmly and keeping a serene demeanor even though on the inside, his guts were swirling with anxiety and worry.

"The results?" His father prompted, leaning further in his chair as he stared at the doctor.

The doctor sighed, closing his eyes. "I regret to give you this news. But you must know."

"Your son has stage 3 chronic lymphocytic leukemia."

Tokoh was shocked for a second, expression unchanging. Then his hands gripped tighter on his chair, and he bent his head to hide the expression that was beginning to crack. He took a shaky breath, his whole body shivering with the effort to keep it quiet and controlled.

"Does he know?" His father's voice was shaky, as if he was going through the same dilemma Tokoh was - struggling not to break down.

"He doesn't. It is standard we tell the patients family first, and then the patient."

Tokoh stood abruptly, having gained his composure back, if only for a moment. He looked strong and confident, he knew. "I have to go, please excuse me." And though he walked out with a stride that leaked princeliness, his shaky and broken voice that preceded it betrayed it otherwise.

He did not want to be there to witness his brother hear his death sentence.

And so he went to his room, and for the first time since he was 7 and his family dog died, he cried.