Work Text:
Red Son spent every waking moment either in his workshop or (on the off chance Dragon Girl managed to drag him away from his work) in Noodle Boy’s room above Pigsy’s Noodle Shop. No matter what his friends told him, this was a schedule that he had learned to live with, and frankly, he enjoyed it. Being able to tinker with not-yet-ready Bull Clones in his spare time with the occasional social interaction was the perfect work-life balance he needed. That day, he was sitting downstairs in Pigsy’s Noodle Shop at the bar, still wearing his work/training clothes, watching Dragon Girl and Noodle Boy squabble over some sort of mobile game on their phones while Pigsy made another bowl of noodles for a delivery. His hair tie was charred to a crisp somewhere on the floor after a ‘fiery’ outburst (caused by Mei almost knocking an entire glass of water on him) leaving his hair to droop down his back.
“You totally cheated!” MK shouted at Mei over the table, trying to grab at her phone.
Mei laughed in response, shoving his hand away. “It’s not my fault I’m a better gamer than you!”
Red Son watched the 2 squabbles through his hair in a tired delirium. He had been working in his workshop for about a week straight, only stopping around 2-3 times when he passed out in exhaustion, before Mei dragged him out for his ‘friend-mandated social time’. That had been his daily life for years, but today, his exhaustion felt worse than normal, almost like his brain was vacuum sealed in a plastic bag. He put it off to his (probably) unstable life schedule and continued to watch the 2 imbeciles squabble.
“Hey, Red Son! Mei cheated, didn’t she?” MK wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pointing accusingly at Mei.
Red-Son looked tiredly at the girl. “I didn’t even think it’s possible to cheat on that game. And get your arm off of me Noodle Boy, unless you want me to burn your brains out.” Despite his verbal fire, Red-Son was the furthest thing away from being able to fight, jokingly or not.
“Hah! See? Red-Son agrees! I won fair and square!”
MK dropped to his knees in humorous despair, with Mei laughing at him from her seat. Red-Son laid his head on Pigsy’s bar, too tired to continue the conversation anymore.
“Whoa, Red Boy. You look completely ‘burnt out’, get it?”
“Shut up Noodle Boy..” Red Son grumbled at the pun, keeping his head on the bar. The cold stone felt nice on his hot face. He had never remembered his face being this hot, or ever being affected by it. Either way it felt nice on his face.
“Hey Kid, you okay?” Pigsy turned to look at him from the sink. “You look like you’ve been hit by a truck.”
Red Son didn’t respond, not that he knew he was being spoken to. He couldn’t tell much of what was happening at the moment. His head felt like it was spinning, making the shop look like it was on a boat.
He was brought back by Pigsy putting a hand on his forehead, a look of concern on his face.
“You do feel a little warm, kid. Or maybe that’s just your demon-ness? Either way, I don’t think you’re well, kid”
Red Boy lifted his head up wobbly, swaying in his stool whilst mumbling mild protests.
“Mh fine.. I just have to lie down for a minute..” Red Son stood up from his chair, the world suddenly turning around him. He clutched the bar for support, feeling MK’s hands on his shoulders, holding him up more successfully than he was.
“Woah dude, you’re messed up!”
Pigsy walked round the bar and picked Red Son up, much to the demon's discontentment.
“Get your hands off me, peasant!” He slurred, his hair sparking angrily although he made no attempt to fight back. He didn’t have the energy.
“Alright MK, you’ve been temporarily promoted to nurse. Take care of the red kid before he falls face first into a bowl of noodles that you’ve yet to deliver.” The pig added snarkily, walking up the backstairs and dropping Red-Son on a small couch in MK’s room. “Don’t let him go anywhere.”
He would have laughed if he could, but he simply didn’t have the energy to do much of anything. MK saluted the pig as he walked back downstairs, leaving MK to watch over him.
“Alright Red Boy! I have absolutely no idea what to do with you so I’ma just put on a movie or somethin’, alright? What about a Monkie King movie?”
The demon grumbled in distaste, but otherwise complied to the not-so-optional recommendation. He hated to admit it, but he wasn’t entirely against the idea of a fun movie right now, if anything he was happy for the distraction, either for MK or for him. The movie began and Red Son settled into the cushions and stared at the TV. Not that he was watching. He tried with all his strength to keep a sense of dignity, shuffling to sit up on the sofa, much to the dismay of his growing migraine. Red could feel his breathing becoming laboured and he felt himself starting to sweat (a very unusual feeling for a fire demon). MK turned to look at him, a look of concern on his face.
“I’ll go get you some water.” MK got up and walked to the bathroom, leaving Red Son alone.
RS was only getting weaker, but he was still as determined as ever to prove he didn’t need to be taken care of. He flopped his legs over the side of the sofa and hobbled all his weight onto his legs. He clutched the arm of the sofa for dear life as the room spinned, making him feel almost nauseous. His eyes felt unfocused and his body felt like a bag of cement, almost like his very power was fleeting. Maybe it was. He lifted a hand in front of his face to try and summon a flame.
“Hey Red Boy! What are you doing up? I’m under strict instruction by Mr Pigsy to make you stay put.” MK peeked around the doorway of the bathroom, sprinting to RS’s side to try and push him down onto the couch. RS shoved MK off of him feebly.
“I can handle m’self, Noodle Boy. “ He slurred trying to take a step away from the couch before almost the world completely tipped. Red Son just about kept himself upright but not before MK noticed.
“You are definitely not alright. Should I call Pigsy? He would probably be better at this than I am.”
RS felt angry at this, the fact that everyone felt the need to try and baby him just because he was tired embarrassed him.
“Just leave it alone, Noodle Boy!” Red Son pushed himself off of MK, leaving him standing angrily in the centre of the room, hair blazing nothing more than a weak campfire.
“Woah dude. I didn’t mean to smother you but you’re clearly not okay.”
“I. Am. Fine. I don’t need your stupid peasants help. I’m simply just tired.” RS stepped towards the door to the outdoor stairway. “Now if you excuse me, I’ll be going back to my palace now. I am fully capable of taking care of myself.”
“Red Son wait-” MK ran towards the demon as he attempted to teleport away in a wave of fire like usual. Today, there was little more than a small tuft of smoke emitting from Red-Son’s hand as he fell to the floor.
Red Son couldn’t hear anything. His ears were ringing so hard he wanted to cover them, but his body felt disconnected from his brain. His vision was covered in black spots. They were pretty, he thought. His body felt slack, falling against the Noodle Boy with full force, knocking them both over. Normally he would be humiliated, but now, he couldn’t even remember his own name. He was scared, as his vision disappeared completely, the world falling away from his weak brain.
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“Woah!” MK fell and hit his head on the bed frame, the demon twitching slightly in his lap.
Mei and Pigsy ran up the stairs at the thud and layed Red Son against the wall and helped MK back to his feet. Red-Son’s body was twitching in a way that was painful to watch, his neck bent awkwardly backwards like a broken doll. He was letting out sudden pathetic gasps every few seconds, almost like he was suffocating.
“Kid!” Pigsy laid Red Son on the floor and threw a hand towel under his head. “Mei! Call an ambulance!”
“Maybe it would be better to call his parents.” MK chimed in. “He’s a demon. The doctors here might not know how to treat him.”
Pigsy agreed, and Mei shot out the door, got on her motorbike and shot faster than humanly possible in the direction of the Bull King’s castle.
Red Son’s eyes were rolled back completely in his skull, their entire, pale body thrashing against the tile floor. A small trickle of blood dripped down Red Son’s cheek as he bit his tongue. His fists were clenched and the rest of his body was painfully tense. The demon’s eyes would periodically roll back forward to stare at nothing in particular, but Pigsy felt like they were staring directly at him. Mostly in fear.
“MK, go get some towels- or some pillows? Just anything soft to stop him from banging his head.”
MK ran around the room and out to the airing cupboard, returning shortly with an armful of bedding like pillows and blankets. The 2 tucked all the bedding under and around the seizing body. Around 2 minutes, the door flung open and a whirlwind flew throughout the small shop, revealing a stressed princess. A horned woman sat beside her son, cradling his head, clear worry in her eyes.
“What happened?” Princess Iron Fan knelt over her son, caressing his cheek. The spasms were slowing down now, reduced to occasional twitches every few seconds. Small gasps escaped every few seconds but, mostly, he was returning to a normal breathing pattern, much to the relief of everyone in the room, except for PIF, whose face was contorted in concern and worry.
“I’m not sure. He seemed off then he got angry and tried to use his powers and now… this…” MK rambled.
“He… tried to use his powers when he was sick?”
“Yes.” MK confirmed. “He was really pale and dizzy and-”
The princess sighed loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Thank the gods that's all it is.”
“Thank gods?” Mei yelled, clearly angry due to the green dragon glow she was emitting. “How is there anything good about this situation?”
PIF rubbed the bridge of her nose and started explaining.
“We all know how when Red Son was born he was all-powerful and we had to take away the Samadhi Fire, correct? Well there were some… side effects. He has a very limited amount of power he can use. It will always recharge, but it takes time. I’ve heard plenty about your recent.. escapades and I suspect this is just a side effect of him using too much magic, both his paleness and the seizure. An extreme one at that, but not one that he won’t eventually recover from. In due time, he will be fine.”
Red Son’s seizing had completely stopped by this point. His eyes fluttered open, only somewhat focused, and stared at the princess.
“Mo-Mother?” The demon squeaked out and the princess rubbed his cheek.
“Yes Red-Son, you’re okay…I’m here. Your father’s on his way.“ Princess Iron Fan was speaking softer than the others had ever heard her before, but her face was still worried and stern.
“My head hurts…” Red Son rubbed his sore eyes with the palm of one of his hands and sat up, still seeming a bit delirious.
“Be careful, my son. You’re still not well.” Princess Iron Fan started to rake her delicate fingers through Red Son’s slightly less-bright-than-usual red hair. “Your father will be here to take you home soon…I’ll get the best demon doctors to take care of you.”
As if on cue, DBK busted a large hole in the side of the noodle shop, much to Pigsy’s protests and dismay. DBK’s head came up to the 2nd floor of the building, just tall enough to be head height with everyone on that floor (except PIF and Red Son who he was taller than as they were still on the floor).
“Is he okay? Is he awake?” DBK peeked his head through his new DIY window, clearly as worried as his wife was prior.
“Yes dear, he’s awake. Let’s get him home.” PIF lifted RS into her arms and stepped onto DBK’s palm, using him as a makeshift elevator.
“Wait!” MK ran to the new hole in the wall and called down to RS and his parents. “Make sure to update us!”
PIF turned to him, “Of course.”, and with that, they were off into the dark streets of the city.