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It shouldn’t have been anything too difficult for Kinich.
He was just swinging around like usual, searching for the corrupted saurian he was tasked to hunt down. The dendro he was using to swing was always strong, he had never had issues with it before. Sure, he woke up feeling like absolute shit, but he had money to make. Just because Ajaw was making fun of him for his disheveled hair and dark bags under his eyes didn’t mean that he was sick.
However, as he plummeted toward the ground after his dendro rope had snapped, he was starting to think he should’ve just stayed in bed today. It wasn’t as large of a fall as it could’ve been, but the ground was approaching fast and he couldn’t manage to create another rope of dendro. He shut his eyes, directed his fall toward the nearby trees, spread his arms and legs, aimed his feet toward the ground as close to the floor as he could get, ignored Ajaw’s surprised giggling, and prayed to the archons that he would make it out with non-lethal injuries.
The next thing he felt was a sharp, searing pain in his legs. He collapsed onto the ground, crying out in agony. His legs were definitely fractured at the very least, if not broken.
Ajaw floated above him, laughing maniacally. “Well look at that, my vessel is almost ready! The great K’uhul Ajaw shall rise again!”
Kinich fought to keep consciousness, but the pull of darkness and blissful relief from the pain was sounding really tempting by now.
Through his blurry vision, he could see red and gold eyes peering down at him. Though his hearing was muffled, he could barely make out his name before he let the sweet pull of unconsciousness take him.
*****
When Kinich woke up again, he was in his bed at home. Both of his legs were wrapped in casts, and he had various bandages and bruises all over his body. Despite the pain he was in, he sat up, hand in front of his mouth.
Someone in the room caught on to what was about to happen, hastily placing a trash can in his lap. He began to retch, vomit spilling into the bin.
There was a dip in the bed next to him and a hand rubbing his back. There was a second presence on his other side, running their hands through his hair. “Oh, baby..” the girl playing with his hair trailed off.
Mavuika, who he now registered as rubbing his back, hummed. “It’s okay, let it all out. We’re here.”
When he was done vomiting his guts out, Mualani, who had been running her hand through his hair, took the trash can from him and left the room, presumably to go wash it out. Mavuika helped him lie back down and he winced from the soreness in his entire body.
“How did I get here?” he questioned.
Mavuika sighed. “I was going to visit the Scions of the Canopy’s market when I saw your dendro rope break. I was too late to catch you and you hit the ground. That reminds me,” at those words Kinich knew he was in for the scolding of a lifetime, “what were you thinking, going out and doing commissions sick?”
He looked away from her, refusing to make eye contact. “I…”
She placed a hand on his cheek and turned his head to face her, though he still avoided eye contact. “I’m not mad at you, I just want to understand so we can avoid this in the future.”
He finally looked up at her, tears in his eyes. It was unlike him to be vulnerable, especially in front of his archon of all people, but the pain was getting to him, along with the vile taste in his mouth. “I just need to make money, okay? If I don’t…. If I don’t I’ll just be right back in the same place as before.”
Mavuika’s face softened. “It’s okay to take some time off Kinich. I promise you that you have friends now you can learn to rely on. We don’t have to repeat this incident in the future,” she voiced.
He didn’t reply, just kept staring at her with teary eyes. She brought him in for a hug, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. “Let’s focus on getting you better, okay?”
He nodded.
Mualani re-entered the room, now with a clean trash can in one hand and a bowl of soup in the other. “I don’t know how up to eating you are, but I brought this just in case.”
He didn’t move away from Mavuika, death grip on the front of her shirt not loosening, but he did shake his head.
The two women got him lying down again, one of them on each side. He fell asleep feeling more taken care of than he had in a long while.