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"Hey, Toby!" Connor calls from his bed, shuffling around a bit under the covers.
The dog rushes to his side, sitting and waiting for his command with his head tilted.
Connor smiles softly and pets Toby's head. "Can you get me my communicator from that chest?" He points in the general direction of the chest on the other side of the house.
Toby runs over to the chest, nosing it open and carefully picking up the communicator device in his mouth, bringing it back to Connor and dropping it in his lap.
"Good boy," Connor praises, scratching the dog's ears.
Toby jumps up onto the bed to curl up beside him, and Connor turns to look at him.
"Hey there, buddy!" Connor laughs and runs a hand through the dog's fur. "Thank you, Toby."
Toby woofs at him quietly, his tail wagging.
Connor's glad for the Syndicate taking him in with open arms, but he kind of wishes he had thought more about how the cold weather would affect him.
He's always tired, and a bit unstable when he walks, but the cold just seems to make it harder for him.
He stands shakily from where he's seated in the book room of the Syndicate's main commune area, leaning against one of the bookshelves for balance. He lets out a sigh, glancing around the room a bit.
It's gotten harder to get around ever since Toby disappeared. The dog was excellent at helping Connor keep his balance when the dizziness and fatigue made it hard to.
This didn't stop him from trying to do things around the commune though, even if he had to stop a lot for breaks and lean on things to keep his balance. There were times that the dizziness got too much, but he pushed through each day without complaint.
If he was living here, he wanted to at least be able to help a little bit around the place.
He takes one slow step forward, then another. His head starts to spin slightly, but not enough to hurt. He can handle this.
He catches onto another shelf and stands still for a few moments, waiting for his head to stop spinning.
He manages to make it out of the library chamber and into the main corridor, taking another break to lean against the wall.
Technoblade is standing around, looking at something. He looks up when he notices Connor.
"Are you okay?" Techno asks, setting down whatever it is he's examining — Connor can't tell from this far away — and walking towards him.
"Sorry, yeah…" Connor mumbles, not looking up. "I'm always like this. It's, uh, a side effect of…"
He stops just in time to keep himself from saying too much. He's not supposed to tell people about his time traveling. Luckily, he knows how to explain without mentioning the cause at all.
"Um, like, chronic fatigue, I guess." He finishes his sentence. "It's like, I'm always a little weak and tired. It takes a lot of energy to do anything. And I'm always dizzy."
He finally raises his head and makes eye contact with Techno. "And sometimes my vision gets dark and fuzzy, and my arms and legs get a bit shaky. Not super bad right now," he adds, trying to act nonchalant.
Techno frowns slightly, looking concerned. "Is there anything that could help you handle it?" He asks. "I know we don't have many resources here, but…"
Connor slowly makes his way over to where Techno is, sitting across from him. His ear twitches as he feels the pang of a migraine coming on. Great, he thinks. Just what I needed.
"It used to be easier to manage," he says. "I had a dog that helped me with this stuff, but he disappeared a while back. I don't like to think about what happened to him."
Techno nods sympathetically. "How did he help you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"He did a variety of things for me," Connor explains. "He would fetch me things when I didn't have the energy to get them myself, help me keep my balance, open doors, flip levers, and press buttons for me…"
"He also was trained to find someone if I needed help." He finishes, looking down at his hands sadly. "He was a good dog."
"What was his name?" Techno asks quietly.
"Toby," Connor replies. He looks back up at Techno and gives him a weak smile.
Techno thinks silently for a bit.
"Hey, Connor? Can you come with me real quick?"
Techno leads Connor to a surprisingly large dog house beside his and Phil's cabins.
"This is where the Hound Army lives," Techno says. "And I think I know just the right person… Er, dog, to help you."
Connor tilts his head as Techno disappears into the dog house, returning shortly after with a small puppy in his arms.
"Here," Techno says, "let's go inside first. It's freezing out here."
Connor holds onto Techno's arm carefully as he leads him inside his cabin. The puppy barks at him, and he smiles.
Techno's cabin is warm and inviting, and Connor sits down on the couch against the wall opposite the cabin's door. Techno closes the door behind them and sits next to him, gently setting the puppy down.
It barks again, looking up at Connor curiously. It sniffs at him before curling up on his lap.
"Oh," Connor says with a small laugh, reaching down to pet the small dog.
"She likes you," Techno says cheerfully. "This is Artemis, the younger sister of our beloved late Apollo."
Artemis wags her tail, rolling over in Connor's lap and looking up at him with wide eyes.
"Aww," Connor smiles and scratches behind Artemis's ear. "What a cute baby. Hi, Artemis."
Artemis barks happily.
"She struggles with the normal Hound Army training," Techno explains. "So I think, maybe, she'd do better training as a service animal?"
Connor nods, looking back up at Techno.
"She needs a lot of training, obviously, but…" Techno says. "I don't like seeing a factionmate of mine in need without trying to help."
"Thank you, Techno," Connor says, smiling warmly. "You've done so much for me. I don't really know what I've done to deserve it."
"You don't need to earn my kindness." Techno laughs. "Well, first of all, I feel bad for treating you the way I did in the past. But beyond that, the Syndicate is like family to me. And I always want the best for my ragtag anarchist organization of a family."
Artemis woofs as if in agreement.
"You should talk to Niki, I think," Techno adds. "She struggles with some similar things and might also be able to share some of the things she's learned with you."
"Oh!" Connor responds. "I will, thank you."
Techno smiles and stands. "Do you want some hot chocolate while you're here?" He asks.
Connor laughs. "Yes, please, thank you."
The Syndicate — or what remains of it, after Ranboo's unfortunate death during the escape from Pandora's Vault — sits in their respective chairs in the meeting room, discussing plans for the future.
A new "chair" is here now — in actuality, a pillow rests on the floor beside Connor's chair. Artemis lays curled up on the pillow, napping.
Connor feels another migraine coming on, ear twitching — and he leans down to put a hand on Artemis's fur, waking her from her nap. He gives her a silent command with his hand gestures — something they'd practiced a lot over the past few months.
Artemis stands and runs out of the door, down the halls of the commune's main building.
Connor typically keeps his medications on him for this very reason, but today he forgot, so he's glad Artemis is here to help.
She returns a few minutes later with a pill bottle, dropping it in Connor's lap. He smiles thankfully and gives her another silent command, and this time she runs off into the kitchen and returns a moment later with a metal container of water.
Connor takes it from her and scratches behind her ear. "Good girl," he praises quietly.
He unscrews the cap on the medication bottle and pours two of the pills out onto his hand, popping them into his mouth and taking a drink from the container.
He puts the cap back on the bottle and sets both down on the table, returning his attention towards Techno and Phil bickering over the correct way to handle the formation of a government.
Artemis noses him and he pets her head before she returns to her spot, curling up to resume her nap again.