Realistic or Modern Thank you places! (a 1x1 rp)

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

"I know, it's okay," she whispered, grimacing as she listened to Theo's pained gasps for air. How the hell did he get hurt this badly? They had rehearsed that fight scene for months—it was practically flawless. What went wrong tonight? And why had he fallen there, of all places? How did the table practically snap in half?

Iris’ mind raced with a million thoughts, worry creasing her brow. She reached over, pressing down on his wound to slow the bleeding. "I'm sorry. I want to be gentle, but I can't right now," she muttered, gripping the wheel with her free hand. "We're almost there, okay?" She didn't wait for an answer before screeching into the hospital drop-off lane, slamming her palm against the horn.

Letting go of Theo for just a second, she killed the engine and rushed to the passenger side. "We're here, okay? First thing you see when it's all done will be me—I promise," she assured him, glancing toward the incoming rush of nurses. Raising a hand to signal their location, she offered him a small, strained smile. "Couple of stitches, maybe a cool scar, and a lot of pain meds—you'll be fine. I'm right here."

She leaned in, unbuckling him as best she could before the medical team swarmed in. "Girls love cool scars," she added, her voice softer now. "Makes you look edgy. Badass." But as soon as they lifted him out of the car, she stepped back, wincing as the doctors took over, transferring him from one stretcher to another.

Then came the questions. Too many, too fast. Her hands were caked in Theo’s blood, and after confirming she was fine, she washed it off, only to be handed paperwork. Filling it out was easier than expected—just a few clicks on her phone for the necessary details. And then, finally, all she could do was wait. Theo was in the doctor’s hands now, and Iris sank into one of the waiting room chairs with a heavy sigh.

Seriously, why the hell was he over there?

Pulling out her phone, she scrolled through her messages, her lips curling into a small, tired smile. The rehearsal had finished successfully, even without him. That was a relief. But they’d need a new table. And as soon as she had the chance, she was going to start asking questions about what the hell happened. "Hells," she groaned, rubbing at her temples. "Father's going to hear about this, too, isn’t he?"

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

the theater

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

Theo winced as she again pressed her hand around his finger to slow the bleeding. He knew it was necessary but that didn’t ease the pain nonetheless. He wouldn’t even say it was the burning sensation of the cut that made it almost unbearable, it was the pain waves that were coming off the definitely injured bone. The thing that made him snap out off his pain trance for a second was Iris just pulling over to the hospital in an almost stunt-like drift. He gripped his seatbelt with the not hurt hand as tight as he could.

When they stopped, the brown-haired took a heavy breath, he was kind of dizzy again, maybe even a little nauseous after having the blonde imitating a race driver. Theo slowly opened his eyes, avoiding to look at his finger. He could practically feel the blood running down his palm already. He didn’t really listen to what Iris said, too caught up in the pain catching up to him again.
Though what he heard was the 'Girls love cool scars,' and that got a last little smirk from him, before they parted ways. At least something from the usually bubbly brown-haired.

The next minutes were practically a haze. He saw nurses rushing around him, talking in a pretty alarmed tone, doctors coming in, grey walls rushing away around him and then a pretty bright lamp. He had to blink a few times, heard a female voice talking to him. But Theo couldn’t really make out what she was saying, for him it was all gibberish, while trying to endure the pain.

But suddenly everything got a little more light, making it easier with every second. He tried to stay awake but moments later he was pulled into the land of dreams. Theo didn’t even feel the pinch of the needle that was used for the anesthetic injection.

While there was nothing better to do than waiting, Charlie got a coffee for Iris and himself. These coffee machines weren’t the best but after such a nerve-wracking day, a coffee was much needed. He quietly walked back into the waiting room, plopping down next to the blonde and holding one of the paper cups her way.

"Here, hopefully makes the wait a little easier."

, he muttered, gifting her a hopeful smile.

Iris seemed so exhausted, Charlie didn’t even know how she could manage all of that. First the almost endless-seeming rehearsals, the tech rehearsal that drained everyone and now this. They practiced all these months for some bad luck to strike one day before the big show. Now the whole cast was about to change, most understudies getting place on the stage now.

Luckily the brown haired's surgery didn’t take to long and went well. Though with those injuries it was certain, he wouldn’t return in the next few weeks. His leg was in a cast from foot to his knee and his whole right palm with the index finger bandaged. The diagnosis was clear — the index finger was broken, a mid-shaft fracture, but nothing that needed surgery. He got a few stitches for the cut. And Iris was right, it looked indeed badass.

His foot on the other hand needed surgery — broken ankle was the diagnosis here. At least ten weeks of completely resting. Then starting slow with putting weight on the foot again. Which made the outlook for his lead role pretty dark for the next months.

While Theo slowly started to wake up with a pounding headache, but at least little to no pain in his injured limbs, one of the nurses was sent to Iris and Charlie to tell them, they could finally visit the brown-haired.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

Iris flinched at the sight of Charlie. In all her rushing and panic, she had completely forgotten he was even there. Without him, getting Theo into the car would have been impossible. Still, when he handed her a coffee, she accepted it with a grateful grin, clearing her throat.
"Thanks," she murmured, sighing as the warmth seeped through the cup, the caffeine doing its job in waking her up.

The next few hours were a blur—pacing, taking calls, making last-minute adjustments to the cast list. Eventually, she told Charlie he could head back if he wanted, already arranging for someone to pick him up. She had made up her mind to stay, no matter how long it took, to make sure Theo got where he needed to go—whether that meant taking him home or just keeping him company if he wasn’t released today.

One phone call had been incredibly annoying, the one with her father. He of course had to be informed of any incident that happened at his theater, and based on the shouting that was happening on the phone, it was clear he was not happy. Iris’ head was pounding as she bit her tongue, letting her father’s critiques roll off her back. Theo’s wellbeing was doing wonders in distracting her from that usual pain. Still it would end and Iris would be back to sitting and waiting, then standing and pacing.

The moment the nurse appeared, Iris shot up from her seat, worry etched deep into her face as she followed them down the hall. Her fingers kneaded anxiously at her index finger, nerves alight. Hospitals were always too cold. Was Theo warm enough? Should she have brought a blanket? That thought vanished the moment she saw him—bandaged up, wrapped in gauze, just starting to stir.

"Oh, geez," she whispered, wincing at the sight of all the damage. The nurse’s words replayed in her mind. A few weeks of recovery—not ideal, but manageable. The show was running for a while, at least. If nothing else, Theo would have more time to perfect his lines. That’s what she’d tell him when she broke the news that he needed to rest and stay away from rehearsals.

'Suppose if he insists on being at the theater, I could always make him the guy who presses the light button during the shows,' she mused, pulling a chair close to his bedside. As his eyes fluttered open, she forced a smile.

"Hi, brown-eyes," she whispered, her voice soft and soothing. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

the theater

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

While watching Iris pace around, making herself busy, he sipped at his coffee. It was a little strong for his liking. Usually he was a sugary guy, but that had to do its magic for now. He couldn’t tell her to sit down and relax for a second, that was for certain but her pacing made him a little uneasy as well. He was worried about Theo as well, sure, but they could do nothing else than just sitting here. So he was kind of relieved, when Iris got someone to pick him up.

"He'll be fine, Iris."

, he softly said before leaving.

"And tell him to get well soon from me."

When the nurse got Iris to bring her to Theo's room, she told her about everything. The broken bones, his recovery time and every additional information. She probably thought the blonde was his girlfriend.

The first thing Theo heard, was actually Iris' voice, though at first he couldn’t really assign it to her yet. When the brown-haired opened his eyes, he had to blink a few times — it was too bright and he still had a dizzy feeling.

"You’re…really here.."

, he mumbled, still sounding very dazed.

Slowly Theo's gaze went up to the blonde's eyes and he couldn’t help but smile softly. Slowly his world was starting to get more into place, the fog lifting off his mind.

"You look a little pale, Blondie. Did you see a ghost, when I was away ?"

And there the usual witty undertone was. Back again.

The brown-haired let his head slowly sink back into the pillow, closing his eyes. His mind was still going back and forth between feeling dazed and actually fully awake. It was making him a little nauseous but he was happy to have Iris around.

"Will you stay here for a bit ?"

, his voice sounding almost pleading. He really didn’t want to be alone in such a white, minimalistic room. It really didn’t feel comfortable here and after his bad experience it was extra uncomfortable here.

But laying here like this also didn’t make the nauseous feeling better. So Theo tried to sit up. He wanted to put his weight on his hands to sit up but, of course, immediately flinched, when a wave of pain cut through his right hand. Oh shit, he almost forgot.

But with the strong pain meds it didn’t hurt too long. So now, the brown-haired tried to shove himself up with his not-injured hand and foot, looking like a fish out of water. But he eventually succeeded.

"So, you mean I look badass now, huh ?"

, Theo asked with a smirk, putting up his bandaged hand.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

Iris' smile only grew warmer at his words. The small joke gave her a flicker of hope—either he was truly okay, or the pain meds were working wonders. But the grin vanished the moment she saw him try to sit up. She was at his side in an instant, hands reaching to help him, only to fumble as he stubbornly forced himself upright.
With a sigh, she scooted her chair closer, propping her elbows on the edge of his bed and resting her chin on her hands. "If I saw a ghost, I’d be way more excited," she shot back, a familiar memory surfacing. Of Theo simply following her instructions when she stated to say goodbye to the rest of the ghosts that lingered up there. Did he actually believe in ghosts or was he just being kind? "I’m just glad you didn’t end up joining the rest of those ghostly crew that hide in the catwalk." she sighed out choosing to not look into the memory any more and dip her head further down on her arms.

She followed his gaze to his arm, rolling her eyes as he inspected his bandages. "Oh yeah, you look so edgy right now," she snorted, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Honestly, I’m swooning. My heart is pounding. I don’t know what to do—any second now, I might just throw myself at you. You’re that hot right now." her grin was wide and obviously forced. 'Of course he recalled that statement' she thought.

Her teasing tone faltered as her eyes flickered down to his foot. The sight of it—wrapped up in layers of bandages—made the warmth in her expression fade. "Charlie was here too," she murmured, snapping herself out of it. "He left but told me to let you know he hopes you feel better soon." She frowned, remembering the way Charlie had urged her to calm down, not to stress so much. It made her pause—why was she this concerned? Sure, she’d be worried about anyone in the cast or crew, but would she have stayed this long? Would she be willing to wait all night if that’s what it took?

Iris shoved the thought aside and met Theo’s eyes again, forcing a small smile. "You know, if you were going to invite me over, I would’ve expected cheaper parking," she teased lightly, keeping the mood upbeat. Now wasn’t the time to focus on the heavier things. "I mean, there are easier ways to get a girl to stay the night. Must you actors always be so dramatic?" she continued snorting at her own joke.

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

the theater

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

It were probably the pain meds, which gave him a boost. Made him forget the torturous pain that was still hiding behind walls, just waiting for the pain meds to wear off. It probably wouldn’t take too long, when they did, that Theo would be back into a more quiet position, trying to just survive with the pain. But right now, everything was awesome, his mind still slightly foggy —but in a way that felt good to him — and moving without pain, for at least now. Theo softly chuckled.

"I see, I see…probably something scarier then, right ?"

"Aye, don’t say that."

, he quickly shot back. He wasn’t that close to death then, was he ? Though it actually felt pretty close, without exaggerating it. Then the brown-haired stayed quiet for a second, considering the fact of being a ghost.

"But actually, I probably would be a great ghost."

A soft smirk playing around his lips.

"Imagine just floating around, while there is a performance on stage, could easily be a part of that and give them a little scare."

With his healthy hand, he just did a little flick, imitating to push something down.

"Ohh, or I could float around you and hold your things."

Okay, now these pain meds were getting him too creative.

Actually he remembered most of the drive, not everything but some crucial moments. How she slided over the street, turning to the hospital or her soothing words. Theo chuckled softly.

"Oh shit, do I need to get a doctor."

, his voice throwing into the quip.

"I'll probably get all the villain roles now with this."

Well, actually they had to wait till that bandage was off. It wasn’t too big of a scar, just from the low back off his finger draped down to his knuckle. The bandage could probably come off tomorrow, switching to a band-aid as the doctors had to work with that broken finger, so it would heal the right way — a finger brace would be the best option for that.

"He left already ?"

Well, 'already' was a bit of a stretch. It took multiple hours till Theo finally woke up here in this bed again, but of course he had no feeling for the time that passed right now. The weather also wasn’t the best today, grey shades merging into each other. He couldn’t really tell if it was 4 pm or 6 pm already.

Theo softly smirked at that.

"I can’t help it, we are taught to be as dramatic as we can be. It’s just an instinct, you know ?"

A soft yawn escaped his mouth, before he slowly turned to his side, getting comfortable, despite that IV injection thingy in the back of his hand.

"Though I wouldn’t call that the most dramatic thing. I mean with your driving skills, you could be a stuntwoman."

A few tired blinks, but he still tried to maintain eye contact with the blonde. Oh, the pain meds definitely worked their way into his system, making him a little tired.

"I think you should get a little thank you for not killing us on the way here."

Thinking about it, Theo probably wouldn’t have managed to stay this collected, while someone was practically bleeding out his finger on the passenger seat. He probably would’ve fainted before even starting the engine.

The brown-haired now tried really hard to still look at Iris, but his eyes just happened to fall shut every few seconds. It was really hard to keep them open, but he still fought against the sleep. A much needed sleep after his body was so exhausted from all the pain and then the surgery. Theo sleepily pulled his blanket closer, snuggling a little into it. Usually he was a right side sleeper, but with that injection thing in his hand, the only possible way was the left side. And he also still wanted to look at Iris — another argument for left side.

He probably wouldn’t be dismissed today, but if he took a little nap now, the nurses could work through another stack of papers with Iris — probably still thinking they were a couple.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

Iris felt her heart lurch into her throat as she watched Theo’s sleepy eyes struggle to stay open. A strange flutter stirred in her chest, her stomach twisting itself into knots.

Holy shit, that’s actually the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

Her fingers twitched with the urge to reach for her phone, to sneak a picture— No. Nope. That is… wait, why is this cute?

Her brows knitted together as she momentarily lost focus, barely registering her own words when she murmured, "A personal ghost would actually be pretty helpful." Her voice was softer than usual, tinged with something she couldn’t quite place. And still, that itch to capture the moment lingered—Theo, curled up in bandages, looking impossibly vulnerable.

When those pain meds wear off, you’re in for a hell of a surprise, she thought with an inward grimace. Then his words finally clicked.

"Wait— I didn’t drive that chaotically," she pouted, puffing out a cheek in protest. Then she remembered the way Charlie had clung to the car’s sides for dear life. "Okay… maybe it was a little extreme," she admitted, a blush creeping up her neck as she let out a sheepish laugh. "But in my defense, you were kind of bleeding everywhere. The nurses even thought I was injured when we first got here." She chuckled at the memory, sitting up just enough to brush a stray lock of hair from his forehead, flicking at a particularly stubborn strand until it finally fell into place. Satisfied, she smiled and leaned her head down on the edge of the bed.

"You don’t need to thank me," she murmured, shrugging off his gratitude with ease. "Just focus on getting better. I’ll stay as long as you need me to." She poked at his uninjured hand, lips quirking into a small smile.

"But seriously, Theo— sleep. Let the medicine do its job." Her voice softened further, turning almost fond. "I’ve already taken care of everything. I practically handled it all already. Although…" she sighed, shaking her head, "I think people might believe we’re a couple now. I tried explaining, but honestly? It didn’t feel all that important while you were bleeding out." she rolled her eyes wondering how that was going to get itself sorted out. Was it an important thing to clarify? Letting them think they were a couple was helping her stay and linger around, and despite her reminding herself to not worry, she couldn’t help but worry more.

"I'll be right here if you need anything, so just try and sleep, alright?" she reaffirmed, her hand reaching out carefully to poke once more at his hand once again, patting hesitantly before creeping away.

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

hospital

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

"A little ?"

, he asked with a small scoff.

"If that was just a bit, I don’t want to know what very extreme is."

He didn’t sound condescending though, it was more of a fond tone. Iris had every right to drive like this in a situation like that. And he would have wanted it another way. If she would’ve been slower, he would’ve probably fainted for real. All that blood and pain — not really his area usually. Sure, a sprained ankle was something every musical actor had to endure in some way, even on stage sometimes. Like they said the show must go on. But bloody like this was something different for him.

"But you aren’t hurt, are you ?"

, he asked, when the blonde leaned forward. There was immediately some concern in his eyes, even though he was the one laying there with a cast and multiple bandages, while being high on pain meds.

"Of course I do."

, the brown-haired immediately shot back, he insisted on that. Before continuing his offer, he, again, had to yawn, trying to hide it with his hand.

"You can choose the restaurant and I'll take care of the rest. Fair offer."

Theo would pay for whatever restaurant. He wasn’t a picky eater either, so whatever she would choose, he would be fine with it.

Still the brown-haired tried to fight the sleep washing over him. He looked pretty tired already but he didn’t want to stop talking to Iris just yet.

"So you tried, huh ?"

A soft little smirk slipped over his lips for a second. To be honest, he had no problem with the hospital staff believing they were a couple, for some reason. It allowed her to stay longer and Theo was really glad he had someone to talk to and that he wasn’t all alone.

"I mean you'll make that work, right ? I’m an actor, whatever you say, I can do."

It was more of a mock, he wasn’t averse to the idea of acting like a couple in front of the staff. And honestly, when they were alone and Iris could show her real self, Theo genuinely liked that. The blonde wasn’t all grumpy and grouchy.

"Okayyy, but when something happens, you wake me up."

, he mumbled, already drifting off to sleep. It didn’t take very long till he was off in a deep sleep, snuggled into his blanket. Usually he slept in huddled position but with the leg in the cast, that was pretty hard. So Theo chose his second option — on the back, like a pharaoh in its coffin, though the position of his arms screamed more 'Draw me like one of your French girls'. It didn’t seem comfortable in the slightest, but it probably was, at least for an exhausted, pain meds fogged Theo.

Some minutes later, a nurse came into the room after a short knock. Looking rather old, with a grey bun, but she seemed very sweet. She had various little medicine packages and a list in her hand.

"He will be dismissed tomorrow, after we changed his bandages. Does he live with you ?"

But before she even waited for an answer to her question, she already started explaining.

"That is his medicine for the next few weeks. These,"

She showed Iris a little blue box.

"Every day morning and evening."

Another box.

"And these, always as soon as the pain starts coming back. And this medication…."

And so on, it was a very long list after she showed Iris all those boxes.

"He will also get crutches tomorrow, we’ll see how that works out with putting weight on his injured hand. But it should work, we only dismiss him as soon as we figured out a way that he can get from one place to another."

Then the nurse looked over to Theo, smiling as she saw he was sleeping.

"He really needs that rest now. Theatre, right ? They never never shut up, do they ?"

, she softly smiled, seemed like she knew what she was talking about. The nurse figured, when they came in, that he worked as theater actor from the clothes he was wearing. And she also heard about the production being in its final steps before the first show.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

Iris blinked at Theo’s comment, her brows knitting together as she watched him finally succumb to sleep. Only when his breathing evened out, his face slack with exhaustion, did she feel the full weight of his words hit her. Her face ignited in a deep blush. Seriously, such a tease.

She shook her head, making a mental note to scream into a pillow or figure this weird moment out later. It’s just the medicine. That’s what she decided. For now. With a sigh, Iris sat up, stretching her arms over her head just as the nurse re-entered the room. She opened her mouth to comment— but, like everyone else, the nurse rattled off information at lightning speed, not even waiting to check if any of it was sinking in. It only made her blush harder.

Thank god nobody is here to see this.

Nodding slowly, she accepted the bag of medicine, studying the items inside before pulling out her phone. She quickly jotted down notes, already planning to send Theo a message once he was up and moving on his own.

"Crutches and medicine," she muttered, grimacing at the thought.

This was going to be fun.

Not only would it take ages for him to get back on stage, but that also meant his understudy would be taking his place in the meantime— an understudy Iris already wasn’t a fan of. No doubt that guy was loving the spotlight right now. Iris groaned inwardly, the idea of returning to the theater to that making her stomach turn.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when she heard the nurse mention the theater. Her cheeks tinged pink again, an awkward laugh bubbling up before she could stop it. "I, uh…" She cleared her throat. "Yeah, he’s a lead actor. So if he’s not trying to woo someone with charm, I guess he goes for dramatic stunts instead." She forced a small, dry chuckle, hating every second of this small talk.

God, this is painful.

She wasn’t good at this— talking to strangers, keeping up casual conversations, lying. This was exactly why she stayed behind the scenes. She stuck to facts, ordered people around, and let the actors do the talking. Clearing her throat again, she shifted uncomfortably before asking, "Do you, um… know how long he might be like this? I kind of need to figure out how long the show will be without its lead." She hesitated, then added, "Would he be able to do anything else while waiting around? Because, uh… I really don’t think he’s the type to sit still for long, you know?"

She winced, hoping she didn’t sound like she was dancing around the truth.

God, this is awful.

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

hospital

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

Speaking of the understudy, not only did he try to convince everyone of the crew that this accident was Theo's fault and almost succeeded in that with everyone, but he also had gotten into contact with Iris' father, telling him about the old table and that Theo was just too careless with these old props, very unsuitable for a lead in his eyes. He really did try to make Theo lose his lead role completely and for him to step in the spotlight. After all another good argument was, that he was a part of the team much longer and Theo was just new and probably tried to just get more popular with them. All lies, of course, but he did what he had to do. Didn't shy away from devious methods.

The brown-haired didn’t hear a word from the long list of medicine, which was waiting for him, he slept all safe and soundly.

"Oh, even a lead ? They are always the biggest charms."

Another soft smile, her tone really friendly. But when Iris mentioned Theo's recovery, her smile turned into a frown.

"It’s not a complicated fracture, but it will still take at least ten weeks till he can start to try and walk without crutches again. But even after that returning that quickly isn’t advisable — he needs to strengthen his muscles again, getting used to normally walk. I would say two to three months till full recovery is the standard recovery but due to prior injuries it could vary. Any injuries you know about ?"

For a moment the nurse stayed quiet, thinking about the question of the blonde.

"For the next few weeks ? No, he really needs rest and I don’t think he wants to do much, when having to walk around with crutches all the time. But for later, as long as he has something to sit down, he can start getting back to his usual life. No dancing or jumping around though. Mostly patients with a fracture in the leg area do what they can do, not overstraining themselves. But some are a little stubborn and need to be stopped before doing too much."

She looked back and forth between the blonde and brown-haired. As Iris said, he also seemed like someone that just wanted to get back into his business too quickly.

As time passed, Theo just turned a few times, but changing his sleeping position a bit. Now his upper body was turned to the side, his injured hand just hanging from the bed, while he used the other as an extra pillow. All the work that went into his hair this morning was gone, hair disheveled and the strands doing what they wanted. Even when his phone started to go crazy, he didn’t seem to wake up. That was indeed a deep and well-needed sleep.

Of course his sisters got a word from the accident as they knew the lead actress but the one, that was going really crazy was his mother. After dozens of messages she also tried to call him. Of course, the maternal concern. The shrill beeping sound finally roused Theo from his beauty sleep.

For a second, he looked around, trying to find the source of the noise, but also happy to still see Iris here. The moments later, he realized it was his phone. Trying to grab the drawer next to his bed, he wiggled closer. That would really be the death of him — having only one arm and one leg to fully use.

But still, Theo didn’t reach the handle of the drawer. Still being a tad sleepy, his hand wasn’t even close to the drawer. But at least he felt a little more refreshed now. A state that probably wouldn't last too long but for now he was feeling good.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

"Right, of course," Iris nodded to the nurse, already making a mental checklist of everything that needed to be handled in the meantime.
She could scold Theo if he dared to come back too early—and he totally would—but what worried her more was the fact that he’d be alone. Then again, he had always gotten to rehearsals on his own just fine. Why couldn’t he handle tending to his own wounds too?

She shook her head, pushing away the creeping instinct to help him more than necessary. I’m just a stage manager, who is just a little worried. That’s all. Repeating the thought in her head, she forced herself to focus on work while she still had the time.

She hadn’t been told to leave yet, which meant she had a temporary office in the hospital room. Between making phone calls, informing Theo’s family as needed, and managing the chaos that came with an injured lead actor, she barely had a moment to think. Iris had learned through those moments that Theo had sisters, and also why perhaps she had been allowed to dress him up so strangely before and that there was a mother she should possibly call.

Before she even had the chance to consider tracking the woman down, fate intervened.

A loud, insistent beeping cut through the air. Iris’s head snapped up just in time to see Theo, very much awake, blindly reaching for the source of the noise.

She gasped. "Stop that!" In an instant, she was at his side, carefully moving his hand away before he could make things worse. "Geez, Theo. Go back to sleep. I’ve got this," she rolled her eyes, reaching for the phone herself. She barely had time to glare at him in warning before hitting the answer button.

"You aren’t supposed to be moving, and you’re already testing your limits?" she scolded, shaking her head before slipping into perfect, polished phone etiquette. "Theo Skordilis’ phone, this is Iris speaking. Theo is currently in the hospital, but I can take a message for you." She barely finished the sentence before the voice on the other end responded. The voice was high and worried. “Ah, Theo’s mother I guess?” She winced hearing another screech of worry and blinked over at Theo, her brows furrowed as she wondered if this would do him good to hear from her or if he could even process information. “J-just a second” she muttered in between worried questions and held the phone up to Theo’s ear for him.

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

hospital

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

Hearing Iris yell at him, Theo flinched back instantly. That was something new, usually it only were grumpy orders. The brown-haired slowly slumped back into his pillow, looking at her.

"I'm fine,"

, he wanted to argue. Well, right now he may felt like this but really he should be moving around as little as possible. Total bedrest.

"I just—.."

But the blonde was already on his phone, speaking to his mother.

Unfortunately Theo's mother only spoke very little English, and with all her worry and the strong accent it was hard to even understand the small bits and pieces. Hearing her even through the phone, the brown-haired's lips curled into a soft smirk. He could practically see the confusion wash over Iris.

"Mum ?"

As soon as the phone was held up to his ear, she started going off even louder. Theo had switched to his mother tongue, answering all her questions and explaining everything in Greek.

"Yeah no, I'm fine, don’t worry. No, the injuries aren’t that bad."

They were, but he didn’t want his mother to worry too much, she couldn’t do anything to change it after all.

Then she asked him how it happened.

"I tripped off the stage in rehearsal."

And suddenly her worried voice switched into something sounding a little dangerous but maybe it also seemed like that because she used his full name.

"Theodore Skordilis, we told you to be careful, you know how quickly you can lose your job with an injury."

It was clear, that she wasn’t a fan of his choice of work from the start, she initially wanted him to pursue a 'safe' job.

"Mum, it’s fine. It was a little malfunction and I'll be back in no time."

Theo shot a small smile Iris' way to show her that everything was okay, despite his mother obviously sounding like she was scolding him.

Then, after his mother finally calmed down a bit, she asked who that woman earlier was.

"Oh, it was Iris. She is a part of the theater's crew."

It would be too hard to explain the whole story to her — on top of that in Greek. He definitely was fluent after all, even while his main language was English now but right now trying to think of all the words in Greek, it wasn’t kind of hard.

And surprisingly his, usually nosy, mother was satisfied with that answer. In her background there were some other voices and Theo didn’t want to keep her from work longer.

"We'll talk later, mum. Love you."

After getting at least a dozen fond words, she eventually hung up and Theo could finally switch back to English. He didn’t know if the blonde even understood a word, but probably not. So it was surely in her interest as well, that the call was over.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

Iris adjusted her position on the bed when it became clear the call was going to take longer than expected. She was careful not to bump into him, but that left her in an awkward half-lean, one arm braced on the other side of him while her free hand rested lightly on his shoulder, holding the phone near his ear. Her torso angled forward as she tried not to eavesdrop, keeping her gaze to the side.
At least, that was the plan. Then Theo started speaking in another language. Her head snapped back toward him, eyes widening at the sudden shift in tone. Her stomach twisted in that familiar, frustrating way—the same annoying reminder that, despite working with him constantly, she didn’t actually know much about him.

She caught her own reflection in the darkened hospital window, the sheer astonishment on her face painfully obvious. Iris felt her cheeks redden and willed the blush to relax, which meant it just changed from her cheeks to the back of her neck to the tips of her ears. Then the call ended just as quick as it had started. “W-what?” she croaked, her voice squeaking in a way that made her immediately regret speaking at all.

Heat flecked to her cheeks yet again as she abruptly straightened, pulling herself away from him in a clumsy retreat. She scowled down at the phone, debating whether to place it back on the stand or keep it in her grasp. Given how eager Theo had been to reach for it earlier, probably better to keep it within her control. “What language was that?” The question slipped out before she could stop it.

She wasn’t sure why it was the first thing out of her mouth—maybe because she’d distinctly heard her own name somewhere in the middle of all those unfamiliar words. The thought alone made her brows furrow, her ears burning a deeper red.

She rushed to recover. “Or, I mean—was that your mother?” Her fingers tightened around the phone as she hesitated. “…She was kind of screaming. You aren’t in trouble, right? I can try to explain more if needed.” Iris winced the second she offered. What was she thinking? Learning a new language in a single night just to explain his hospital stay? God, no. She cleared her throat. “I mean, I can speak some French and German, but that’s just enough to get me out of trouble, not into more of it. That didn’t sound like those languages though, so perhaps I wouldn’t be that good at it.”

She exhaled sharply, realizing she was still rattling off nonsense. This wasn’t important right now. Theo was the important one right now. She bit her lip, forcing herself to slow down. “Or—I should be asking how you’re feeling. You haven’t slept long. And you, uh… have a long list of medicine to take. Crutches to get used to tomorrow.” She nibbled harder on her lip, glancing at him as if gauging whether he could even process what she was saying.

He’d just woken up. He was still on pain meds. And she was sitting here barraging him with information like a complete idiot. Her shoulders stiffened, and she quickly backpedaled again. “Or—sorry. You should go back to resting.” She shifted the phone slightly, gripping it as if it were some kind of anchor. “You don’t need to worry about any of this right now. Everything’s fine.”

It wasn’t. Obviously. But she could handle it. That was her job. Even if she still felt off-kilter from hearing him speak like that.

---

 

[lillymity]

lead actor

theo skordilis

location

hospital

outfit

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/04/39/2c0439053accb564557370142b0ea14b.jpg

When Iris just ask the simple 'What ?', he turned his head sideways like a dog. Sure, he caught her expression, when he started speaking to his mother, but acting like he didn’t know what she meant, made things funnier.

"Oh, it’s Greek. My whole family lives there — well except for me and my sisters."

, he explained. His voice changed back to the normal, friendly tone he usually had, when talking English, accent just slightly slipping. When talking Greek, it was a tad softer, usually with friends or family it was that soft but he could also speak pretty fast, like they usually did, when being engaged in a heated conversation.

Then he nodded.

"Yep, she’s usually that worried. As always. Being the youngest isn’t always the best. She’s always acting crazy about every little accident and keeping a critical eye on what I'm doing."

It wasn’t always easy, his father usually keeping her calm. He wasn’t very happy about Theo's decision to become a musical actor as well at first but now he was pretty much fine with that.

"Trouble ? Oh, no no not in the slightest. No need for more explanation. It’s better the less she knows and I don’t really think she would understand anyways."

A soft chuckle, remembering Iris and his mother trying to communicate in English.

"It was more of a pretty loud lecture. I'm used to that. If she actually would’ve been mad at me, she would’ve sound very much different."

The brown-haired knew, he tested it out multiple times in his teenage years.

"Ah no, I think that wouldn’t bring us far, she doesn’t speak either of those languages. But we’re good, Iris, really. She’s fine, I just told her the basic facts."

While his mother really just spoke Greek and a few bits of English, his father was very good in not only Greek but also English — he owned a restaurant and lots of tourists came to eat there, so it was much easier to speak to them in English, though with a strong accent but he made it work. Probably that was very the language talent genes came from as his sisters and him spoke multiple languages. Both of his sisters speaking perfect English beside their mother tongue, one also speaking French and Vietnamese and the other Spanish and a little bit of Japanese. Theo on the other hand just had his skills in European languages, a good bit of German, when he studied in Austria and lots of shows or tour stops happening there, some pieces of French — but not very much beside the basics and 'baguette' — and very little Swedish because a previous coworker taught him some simple phrases.

Theo felt actually very awake right now, like fully processing Iris' words. And he was already blabbering about this and that — good sign, wasn't it ? He softly smiled at the blonde.

"Right now, I have to say I felt pretty good."

Though, when she mentioned a long list of medications, he sighed. Argh, god…his enemy. He was usually very forgetful with such things. In the heat of intrusive thoughts, forgetting important stuff like that. And crutches ? The brown-haired looked at his bandaged hand. Well, someone that would work out…probably. Hopefully. He couldn’t stay in bed forever for the whole day. In fact he also didn’t want to stay seated all day, when he had the opportunity to walk with the crutches, might as well do that.

Well, to be honest, with talking that much, the pain meds still affecting him, he had almost forgotten already what they talked about five minutes ago. But as long as Iris had a complete overview, he trusted her.

Theo again got comfortable in his bed but stayed awake this time. He felt not sleepy in the slightest right now. His eyes slowly wandered to Iris' hands gripping to his phone for dear life.

"Are you my secretary now ? Taking all the phone calls I get ?"

He probably had to disappoint her then. There wouldn’t be more phone calls to take. Theo's mother would tell his father as soon as he came back from work and for his sisters it was basically in the middle of the night right now. They were probably very much asleep.

"Do I need to remember everything about every box ?"

, the brown-haired asked, his voice already sounding a little unsure as he talked about the bag with the various medicine boxes. A strict time table with reminders would be much needed then or that would just turn into a big mess.

 

[EclecticSpica]

Iris Starling
“We promised to never let go.”​

---

Iris paled at the word secretary. Her grip on the phone tightened instinctively, her gaze snapping down to where she still clutched it like some kind of lifeline. “Oh. Sorry.” She muttered the apology more to herself than to him, inwardly groaning at her inability to snap out of this weird state. Shaking her head, she finally moved, rounding the bed to where her chair still sat. Settling down, she placed the phone in a spot closer to him—somewhere he wouldn’t have to strain awkwardly to reach. Not that she liked the idea of him reaching for anything.

Iris lifted a hand to her mouth, absentmindedly biting at the flesh of her thumb as she took in the way his eyes seemed more alert now. Maybe this was a good time to go over everything. Maybe she could even coordinate rounds with some of the theater crew to check in on him while he recovered. That would be fine. Totally appropriate.

“Right, um—the medicine.” She sighed, pushing herself back to her feet to grab the bag. One by one, she pulled out box after box, scanning the labels with growing concern. “…Maybe we should get you one of those pill organizers—the ones that show the days and times? Because this—” she hesitated, brows knitting together as she skimmed over the exhaustive list of prescriptions. “—this is a lot. And some of it is pretty heavy-duty for the pain.” Her lips pressed into a thin line. She knew he was hurt, obviously, but seeing the extent of what they’d given him made it all sink in a little more. Then her mind circled back to the one thing that had been gnawing at her since this whole mess started.

“Seriously,” she muttered, her concern slipping into frustration. “How did you even get this hurt?” Her eyes flicked up to him, searching his face for some kind of explanation. “You weren’t even in the right spot when I first came out to check on you. The table wasn’t even on its mark. And how the hell did it split in half like that?” She didn’t realize she was scowling until she felt the slight ache in her brow. With a sigh, she started shoving the pill bottles back into the bag, shaking her head. “I swear, it’s the weird light falling down all over again,” she muttered.

At last, she handed the bag to Theo, letting him take stock of everything himself. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. She exhaled slowly. “You’re going to be out of commission for at least a few months, Theo. No stage work for a while.” There it was—the bad news she hated delivering. “They said the hardest part will be getting your muscles used to walking again. So once you’re feeling a little better, you can come back and help me out in the stage manager’s box.” She offered him a small, knowing smile. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t be willing to just sit around doing nothing forever.” Her smile faltered slightly as she shifted gears again. “But you should seriously take it easy for at least a month.”

She hesitated, glancing toward his phone before looking back at him. “Do you have anyone at home who can help you? Like, with moving around, meals, reminders for your meds?” She shrugged slightly. “Or, you know… the other things.” Her fingers hovered over his phone, ready to hand it over the second he said he needed to call someone.

---