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Ranboo likes living in the arctic. The cold doesn’t bother them much, as an enderman hybrid, and snow is easier to deal with than rain, as long as it doesn’t melt. Sure, they’ve only been living here for a week or two, and their neighbors are still intimidating, but it’s more peaceful than L’Manburg ever was. Which really means they should have expected this.
It starts like it always does, with a faint fog hanging over their mind as they wake up. They should have recognized it then, with black spots dancing in their vision as soon as they stand up, with the way they are swaying instead of standing still. With their lack of appetite. But Ranboo didn’t recognize it. Back in L’Manburg, they would work through this occasionally.
Only when Ranboo decides to step outside does it hit them. The snow is a blinding white, seemingly stabbing straight into their brain and Ranboo presses their eyes closed, one arm thrown over their face for additional protection. With an enderian warble, they stumble back inside and to the ground, stomach twisting in knots. Their head is swimming, white behind their eyelids. Ranboo pulls their knees close, letting their head hang low.
They recognize this. They don’t know what it’s called, but they do know normal people don’t feel like this every few weeks. Headaches that feel like someone is prying their skull apart from the inside, spots in their vision and heavy nausea. They take a deep breath. Right. Painkillers, they should get their painkillers.
Ranboo stumbles as they get up, eyes still closed. The first wave of headaches ebbs away slightly, which means they have a few minutes of time before it comes back worse. Painkillers won’t make everything go away, but it will make it better. If they’re quick enough, it might take away the pain completely and then they’ll just have to deal with the other effects and the exhaustion that always comes from taking any kind of non-typical potion.
They make their way to their medical chest and feel around for their pain relieve potion. It’s in a smaller bottle than other potion so they don’t have to worry about overdosing, but all they feel are empty bottles. They open their eyes, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in favor of actually seeing the bottles, even if their vision is a bit fuzzy. They’re empty. They lost their stash of painkillers during doomsday and forgot to brew no ones afterwards.
Ranboo looks down at their shaky hands. They can’t brew like this, can’t work with water at all. The next wave of pain comes up and they press their eyes closed again, only to immediately let up as to not make the pain worse, eyelids only barely covering their eyes. They breath through the nausea this new wave of pain brings. They can’t go through this without painkillers, they can’t. Phil said they could come to him for help, right? Phil said he would help them.
Ranboo stumbles upright and pulls on the coat with shaking hands. They have to open their eyes, just a little bit, when they step outside. Ranboo can barely see anything with the blinding white snow and the blinding blue sky. The air is cold, but Ranboo barely feels it as they stumble towards Techno’s hut. Philza will be there. He usually is.
They take a deep, gasping breath and close their eyes again when they reach the door, cringing at the sound of their knocking. The door opens soon after and they stumble in. Their legs feel weak. They want to lay down and sleep until this feeling is gone. Their stomach cramps. Someone guides Ranboo inside, presses them onto the couch and the house smells like wet fur and smoke and it’s so intense it makes Ranboo gag.
“Ranboo? What’s wrong?”
They cringe away from Techno’s voice, because of course it’s Techno who found them and not Philza. And Techno is nice! He is! He’s just also intimidating. And loud, apparently. Well, not compared to some of the other people Ranboo hangs out with, but still. They breathe, eyes still closed.
“Pain relieve potion. Can I have some?”
Techno hums and then moves to where Ranboo guesses he keeps his potions. The clink of glass bottles is too loud, sending additional pain through their brain. Techno grunts something and the smell of wet fur is intense and Ranboo starts heaving. The next moment they have a bucket in their hands, pulled out of their inventory. Ranboo hates throwing up, but they can’t help it. It hurts and Ranboo can feel tears burning down they face. They give another endearian warble.
Technoblade makes a questioning sound, and then Ranboo can hear him walking over. Ranboo’s face burns, their throat is raw and their head is splitting apart. Techno moves to place a hand on their forehead, but his skin is too warm. Ranboo cringes away, clutching at the bucket. They need something cold. Their vision is out of focus and blurry through their tears. Techno gives a deep chuff. His voice is quieter now.
“I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”
He passes them a glass and Ranboo swishes out their mouth with something that tastes like diluted plant milk. If they were a full enderian, Ranboo wouldn’t be able to drink anything that is made with water at all, but as a hybrid this works. They drink a little bit, wincing at how intense the taste seems with their aching head. At least it’s better than vomit. They breathe, waiting for the next wave of pain to lessen. They still feel nauseous, their head splitting apart and the mixed scents of wet fur and vomit are terrible, but they can handle it. They’ve handled it before, they can do so again.
“Headache. Hurts.”
Techno makes a noise Ranboo can’t recognize.
“Do you have this often?”
Ranboo starts to nod, but the slightest movement makes the pain flare and their stomach twists. Ranboo starts retching again, spitting into the bucket. Their stomach cramps when they can’t spit out anything but bile. Techno holds their hair back and then coaxes them to swish their mouth and drink a bit more. He hums.
“Okay. So, this is a migraine, and based on the fact that you’re throwing up, taking painkillers now wouldn’t do anything. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait it out.”
Ranboo can feel more tears burn their face. After a bit more retching, they wash out their mouth one more time and place the bucket down. Techno coaches them to lay down on their side. The couch is large enough that Ranboo can curl up slightly, and only now do they notice that the fireplace is at their back, that the curtains at the windows have been pulled shut and the light is low enough they can open their eyes without too much additional pain. Techno brushes a hand through their hair one more time.
“Sleep. You’ll feel better afterwards.”