Work Text:
Karoto felt awful.
Like, actually God-awful.
That's the first thing he had noticed the moment he woke up, not having the energy to open his eyes to the rising Sun that burned them away as a kind greeting.
The blinds that Nabiu gifted him for his…. new… room. Yeah, the new room. Well, they were sadly not closed as the carrot hadn't expected to feel like a run-over squirrel in the morning.
So it was carelessly blasting his face in, shining as if it didn't have anything other to do than to annoy people and shine light upon the world.
It didn't. Karoto just really liked being spiteful.
The fate of his head being burned off for the hundredth time was to be avoided today, especially with the amount of sweat running down his face.
He didn't need more of it, especially with the stickiness of it all.
Karo drowsily rolled over with some effort, groaning as his body decided that a full-body shiver which covered him with goosebumps was a really good idea - from merely moving.
The green blanket that usually warmed his body up in a lazy cocoon felt almost useless compared to yesterday, feeling more like a broken wall against whatever chill forced its way up the carrot’s spine.
Karo barely grasped the ends of the fluffy blanket as he murmured, draping it more over himself as he spoke in mere incoherent babbling, feeling like he was back in that dreaded ice world again.
Note to every Adventurer: jumping head-first into an ice lake to get a rare kind of fish isn't the greatest idea in the book.
By the way, what happened to his brain and who decided to put a bunch of needles in there? He hates needles. Needles are literally disgusting. They were stinging against his head.
This feels like the worst migraine he ever had, beside the one that those Wendigoop’s once gave him by literally launching one another at his forehead and probably giving him a concussion and a sticky head.
Perhaps a glass of water would be nice.
‘Would be’ was a good note, because now that he actually tries opening his eyelids or moving his limbs to get out of bed, they somehow also decided that feeling like bricks was just optimal.
Everything felt hard to even move, his limbs feeling limp, the blanket now feeling more like an obstacle as the Bard tried to at least roll over to get a better position and-
Wait, the bed wasn't that big-
THUD.
Yep, the bed wasn't that big.
If Karoto could groan any louder with the remaining strength he had, he would have definitely done so now as the blanket was pretty much now tangling his legs up while the rest of him was slammed into the light brown carpet floor.
There was the slightest bit of process as laying on the floor sounded ten times better than standing up, but that sadly just wouldn't do… he had a job for once!
Yeah, very surprising. I know.
From the loose parts of his brain that weren't screaming to go back to bed, he remembered that the only reason there was a job to do was because Nabiu convinced the Broccoli Knight that Karoto could do… Community work.
Community work at Wizzro’s. For about. 3 years for all the crimes he's committed.
Karoto didn't know if he should be angry, happy, relieved, sad or about any other emotions that existed about all this.
But today, it was pure tiredness and exhaustion that gripped him when he remembered that work must be sooner or later, giving him at least a reason to get up.
It took a minute or two, but Karoto successfully positioned himself to sit on the floor, rubbing his eyes weakly as he pulled on his white shirt with his right hand, trying to clean his hands from the constant sweat investing in it.
Now, what time is it so that he wouldn't be late and fired and thrown into the garbage?
….The red glowing clock that looked like a crystal orb said 7:00.
Meaning, Karoto got about an hour to completely get himself together for the day and not look like he just got back from running from royalty again while plunging through a swamp.
Not like that will happen again anytime soon.
Now that he got a plan, executing it was a whole other issue with the state he was in.
Karoto did not know why his body kept screaming, but it took him about 2 minutes to stand up and trudge to the nearby bathroom, quietly flinching at how cold the tiles were.
Stupid bathroom tiles.
Karoto groaned and quietly pulled off any remaining clothing, throwing them into a random red laundry bin before heading into the small shower that was in the corner, closing the blinds before it.
No way Karo was going to work with him smelling like Nabiu after the last M.A.G.E event, so a shower it would be to save his image and look.
The warm water that started pouring down helped at least a bit, but that didn't stop the carrot from stumbling, constantly feeling ill and sitting down from time to time to not just slip and hit his head on a white tile on the wall.
The carrot actually started to sit for the majority of the shower, grabbing random bottles of vegetable dressing for his hair and body wash to get himself ready for the day while spending that time preparing in the shower for 30 minutes.
Karoto considered testing his singing skills on the shower head, but he didn't have the energy or care to pull it off its stand at the moment.
Even if his singing actually is good.
Oh, can he mention how much he despises the fact that even drying and brushing his hair felt TEN TIMES MORE DIFFICULT TODAY-
But putting his hateful nature aside for a moment, Karoto for once in a blue moon looked into the mirror before him, the reflection for once showing something… different about his face.
Instead of a knowing smirk or a tired smile, there was instead a thief with eyebags who saw most of the horrors that lay in this world, staring back at them with the knowledge that most of the treasure that belonged to them was stolen by a mere carrot.
…..How dramatic.
To put it simply, he looked like he hadn't slept in a week and probably didn't do proper hygiene either.
So with a simple hum and a grab of some old make-up that Nabiu gave him for ‘special beauty’ - which was mostly them just testing around with colors and getting their fingers all dirty - he started to quickly mask away the eyebags and any leftover paleness.
Seriously, Karoto looked like some sort of cream cheese without it.
Grabbing the toothbrush and the paste with it, he also proceeded to properly brush his teeth for once, innerly knowing he will have to rush putting on his clothes to properly get to work.
Don't want to be late after all.
The taste of the toothpaste really made him want to vomit today. It tasted too minty and fresh. Too…… urgh. Karo couldn't describe it, why was his body acting up-? It's just toothpaste.
When he finally rinsed his mouth out and gagged into his sink, promptly spitting out any remaining toothpaste that may have been left in his mouth and has now ruined his taste buds, he FINALLY went to his closet.
It was rather pretty, painted in a maroon color and having pretty blue lines drawn across it to give a feeling of familiarity In a place that's rather new to him.
Even if his head was pounding heavily, he found the slightest of smiles grow onto his face, slowly proceeding to open it up with a variety of clothing to choose from… and some of the same jackets.
Karoto flinched with a cough, shaking his head a bit as he grabbed one of the jackets and of course his precious red scarf that he always took care of… it's a childhood relic.
The only one if you don't count the guitar in.
He quickly wrapped both around his body, making sure it all fit correctly while also noting how stuffy clothing felt right now for… some reason, especially with his scarf flopping down.
Perhaps the world didn't like him today.
Or any day for that matter.
The gloves that he just now grabbed had sitten comfortably in a drawer below, which probably should have stayed there with all the sweat and grease that was gonna fill them once Karoto put them on.
But he didn't really care, so whatever.
One swift turn around which almost made him fall over and he went for the door, grabbing his keys as the only important object currently as he walked out into the grassy fields.
The first thing that he noticed was that the air really was a contrast to the Sun when he was in the shadows, blowing ice cold wind to bring him the shivers of a lifetime.
This is the worst.
Karoto started to walk- okay, more stumble - along the stoney path to Wizzro's house where all the interns worked, probably busy with about everything that one could be by being a M.A.G.E.
Like making potions, inventing new staffs that could be sold in the nearby market, writing books and researching the monsters that roamed their land!
Well, our dear carrot didn't have any of those worries on his mind…. mostly because of the pounding headache occupying every single space of his frail brain, but also because he preferred thinking about music.
But today just wasn't the day as the Bard would probably fall into a burnout in this state.
The rocky path hurt his feet way too easily, his legs feeling like numb little noodles that got dragged along with his body, his arms copying that feeling just fine.
Whatever god decided to make no clouds appear in the sky today should really go burn in whatever hell there exists, because Karoto's sweat problem wasn't reducing.
With another groan leaving his way to dry lips, he finally noted the big wizard house that Wizzro owned, surrounded by the cold, cold forest with the small sleepy mushroom that inhabited it.
Finally, Perhaps it's better inside.
Slowly, he reached the door, standing just before it as he looked at the wooden texture that seemed to silently haunt him for his crimes, knowing he's only coming here for some community work.
And Nabiu. Definitely Nabiu.
For all the crimes he's committed, he couldn't deny that this workload was deserved.
Karoto stared silently, contemplating his actions.
Come on. Go through. This is your own fault.
….Intrusive thoughts really do seem to get attracted to him today, hm?
With one last groan, he opened the door, crossing his arms heavily as the inside wasn't much warmer, knowing that work would start about now.
And that's where the day should have started well.
At that point, Karoto would have made some potions that are at least on an alright level, not perfect, but also not a complete screw up so that the house would explode.
Happened once, never again.
He would go over to the mushrooms to feed them as they are basically like small pets there, just needing small amounts of food and someone who wouldn't wake them by accident.
The last task is cleaning the basement area, sometimes stocked with too many boxes which the carrot was luckily said to clean around.
Then the day ends and he gets to go home or do something with Nabiu, resulting in a stupid story to tell later on.
That's what a good day looks like.
[<•••••••••••••••>]
Today. Wasn't. A. Good. Day.
First off, Karoto was late by 30 minutes as Wizzro had told him in a stern voice that quickly quietened down as he noticed his tired state, questioning if he was okay for some reason.
Not like he should care.
He said he was fine, because there was nothing wrong that wouldn't be gone later when he got to work.
Wizzro told him anyway that he could take a break if needed without seeing the concerned gaze, but it was fondly ignored for the sake of getting the community work over already.
The carrot walked over to the potion table, looking at the to-do list for today. Perhaps there were specific things he had to do today, like last time with brewing the right potions.
Even if that last time ended with the table exploding.
And to his surprise, there was a request for a simple healing potion of the instant kind, proudly presenting the ingredients very easily for someone normal to see!
Well. For someone normal.
Not a carrot with horrible vision that blurred the entire description out, leaving him to silently blink in a tired state, trying to figure out what was written down there.
The sweat was currently something he could feel in his gloves, which hung limply by his side. Everything felt incredibly limp, as if he was just some weird doll.
This… This is fine. He'll just guess. Healing potions are easy. He has seen Nabiu do it a hundred times.
A shaky hand was hovering over a nearby red bottle, quietly sitting there to be taken and used for a person that was actually intelligent in their job and not a sick moron.
But that bottle wasn't having a lucky day.
Karoto took it with shaky hands, feeling like his limbs were made up of noodles, barely holding onto the bottle even though he had gloves on for the job.
Yep, the sweat was definitely making his job harder than it needed to be.
With a POP, the bottle opened, slowly getting poured into the container while another hand absently searched for a green liquid which would usually assemble a simple healing potion!
Perfect, done! He could deliver it safely to the customer and everyone would be happy!
Well. That is, if the sick Carrot would actually take a look to the right to check if it's the right one, but his brain was working at not a single mile per hour, which meant he grabbed a purple one by accident.
Purple was usually meant for explosives, poison and perhaps even acid! Mainly poison though.
You know where i'm going with this, don't you?
As Karoto silently groaned and put the red bottle away, he hadn't even attempted to focus on the open liquid that he was pouring into the potion in, not giving it a thought as he sat down the other bottle again.
But finally after a few moments, he looked over, staring at the liquid bubbling around and raising smoke into the air as it started to do its job.
Karoto had in that moment realized what job that is.
“....Oh cRAP-”
Without any warning, [which was halfly deserved] the bottle burst open, exploding in all directions, shattering glass onto the floor and covering most of the room in a purple gas for a moment as Karoto coughed into his arm.
It smelled like acid in his nostrils.
Karoto definitely inhaled some of that, but he didn't notice and didn't care as if it mattered that his lungs were just a tad more on fire, scratchy as ever even without an accidental potion incident.
The Thief looked back a bit dumbfounded at the black mark on the table, before it turned into annoyance….and then pure panic.
WIZZRO COULD SEE THIS-
Shit, shit, SHIT, if Nabiu’s Mentor of all people see how he miserably exploded a table due to his naivety, he's gonna get kicked out again because- because he didn't do something right-
He'll be kicked out AND BE PUT ON THE STREETS AGAIN-
Something has to be done about the table. Wizzro won't notice if ONE measly table is missing, right? It's just a table, just another table, just another stupid table.
Karoto grabbed onto the charred table parts, looking around silently for an easy hiding place option as he felt the sweat drops run down like bullets at this point, rolling over his skin like sticky honey.
Could be panic. Was probably him doing physical work while sick. Whatever.
Many bookshelves, yeah. Yeah, that should work for the meantime, it could just be an excuse for an accident long ago, the wizard Is old afterall, this is fine.
Slowly but surely, the charred pieces of a sad little table were put away between some bookshelves, hidden in such a way that if you got into the room, you would have to look yourself for the missing crap.
Potion working is…dumb. He'll just take another healing potion that's already on the shelf, this is taking too much time and this scrambling headache is already getting worse-
The To-do List was pulled out again, carefully scanned over as the Bard’s eyes catched onto his next objective.
Fed te Mushr oomphs. Feed the Mushrooms. - Wizzro :]
Oh. Oh yeah, the old hag made sure to teach him proper writing after finding out it was only the average words he knew. Couldn't even blame the Carrot.
The kid never even went to school.
Karoto silently groaned as he crumbled it up in his jacket not even wanting to look at his stupid spelling errors anymore and finally get to the second task ahead.
The food for the mushrooms was located near the keys for easy pick-up, so with a quick grab of the food and the keys that belonged to the house, he went outside and-
OhmygodwhyisitsohotyetsocoldAAAAAAA-
Internal screaming seemed to be a casual thing today.
Quietly hugging himself, the carrot moved over to the sleeping mushrooms who were pleasantly dreaming, slumping over and very rarely rolling to the side to adjust their position.
Feeding them is important when keeping ones nearby as they are so lazy that they sometimes forget to even pick up nutrients at all! That doesn't mean these animals aren't dependent on other creatures though.
It's just that it's sometimes better to feed the little guys so they have it easier.
Karoto shakily approached them, noticing every so often that his body slumped whatever weight it had onto him when walking, pretty much making even the merest movements another task.
Karoto didn't need that. He already had enough community work to catch up on.
So with careful hands while holding the bag, Karoto slowly poured the bag of food into a pile, making sure it was nearby and easily accessible to the mushrooms as he sat down before it.
Some bigger ones sniffed around curiously at the new smell, barely peeking up from their nap and crawling towards the food with a soft hum.
It was carefully munched on with almost no effort, but that was already good enough. It….felt peaceful to watch them not having to rush anything. They're just sleeping, eating and resting…and…
…..
Karoto may have nodded off for a good minute as he slumped over, silently breathing as some smaller mushrooms nearby stared up confused.
He only woke up [with a flinch admittedly] by literally falling over into the literal food.
Yeah, he spat out most of the food that got into his mouth and then cursed profusely under his breath, WHAT OF IT. YOU DIDN'T FALL INTO MUSHROOM FOOD.
A slight groan again. This day was hell and he was unsure if his limbs were currently dumped into radio-static or if his bloodline just decided to cease for a moment.
But of course, Karoto didn't use the brain in his head yet again, slowly trying to stand up while having a sleepy brain, shaky limbs and a fever of…whatever. Karoto never checks these things.
Didn't then, didn't now. He needed to eat, a measly sickness won't stop him, even in winter.
Consequences are a feeble thing though. They're always there at some point in your life, like years-long thieving finally being stopped and put into judgment for multiple years of community work.
And so they continue with him, which meant that when he walked a few steps forward to get to his next objective which was the cellar-
-He may have accidentally stepped over a small Mushroom that was sleeping, face-planting into the way too wet grass, ewewewWHYISITSOWETEW-
This time, no groan was made, but a silent wince as Karoto felt like sobbing for the next three hours over how horrible this day was going and how horrible he was feeling.
Perhaps…would it be okay to ask Wizzro if he could go home for a single day? It was just a day. It….it wasn't being lazy or dumb. Perhaps he'll even do more work in the morning.
Perhaps it'll be easier. Perhaps the carrot would have fun. Per-
CHOMP.
….You know what, scratch that.
A SMALL MUSHROOM JUST BIT HIS LEG.
“AAAAAAAAAAGETOFFGETOFF-”
There was unceremoniously screaming that about any intern flinched by, looking out the window to see a carrot panicking and flailing his leg like the small mushroom would kill him.
There might have been genuine tears pricking his eyes when he sat down, shakily staring at the Mushroom viciously biting at his neck and actually bringing him to his near breaking point.
He should have gone home. He should have left. This hurts so much, you can't imagine-
“KAROTO!!!”
His prayers had been answered.
Karoto shot a stare up as he quickly wiped his eyes, staring at the small M.A.G.E approaching his location with some snail food, gloves and a first aid-kit, probably for him.
Bless her little heart, he is currently shaking from happiness. The little light in his horrible day.
By the way, can someone turn the sun off, he's burning alive and shedding or at least it FEELS LIKE IT.
“You okay?” Nabiu softly said as she started to kneel before the mushroom, carefully touching the teeth and opening the mouth with only as much force as needed.
The teeth slowly dislodged himself from his ripe skin, a silent whine escaping his throat that he very much forced down to his very core before Nabiu.
“...’m fine.’ A simple lie as Nabiu coaxed the mushroom away with some food, letting it calmly lay on the ground as if it didn't just go ham on his leg.
Stupid Mushroom. He hates this.
Nabiu gave a concerned glance but else shook her head, grabbing some disinfection and slowly working to clean up the bite on the leg, getting multiple winces in response.
“Did you trip over the mushroom?” Nabiu asked more softly than usual, barely feeling as if she had to ask a 23 old Carrot that was too stupid for anything if he really tripped over a sleeping mushroom.
….Okay, she probably didn't think that. It's just him and his stupid thoughts again.
“....I guess.” Karoto didn't like receiving help constantly. He was a thief, he knew how to take care of himself from a young age, he was fine.
…..But he guessed it's better to clean up the wound then to ignore it if she has the knowledge.
With a final wrap of the bandage, Nabiu hummed in certainty that it was alright, looking over to the pale Carrot with a somewhat concerned look. “Okay, I'm done. You alright?”
Karoto silently curled his bandaged leg close to himself, keeping himself from flinching at the stinging pain of a wound that should not have been necessary if he had…just looked.
Just like the potion.
“...I'm fine. Like I said. Thanks, Nabiu.’
But Karoto didn't mention it, so with only the bare minimum of strength, he hoisted himself up on his feet and kept his body still. It didn't need to wobble more than it already did.
With a quick look around, all the other Mushrooms seemed rather fine with their current situation, munching or sleeping away the day with no worries whatsoever.
He wished to join them really, but he had a brain, proper working limbs and some intelligence, so people would most definitely call him out for being lazy.
So, perhaps he could ask Nabiu for the last thing on his to-do list.
“Did you come here for anything other than to bandage some animal bites?” Karoto said way too much casually, already pretending that he wasn't feeling like absolutely crap.
Like his body wasn't burning, his head not pounding and his mouth as dry as a dessert without a single oasis in sight and his sight pretty blurry around the edges.
Yep, he was FINE.
“Oh Yeah! Wizzro asked me to assist you with the basement! He said that you…didn't look too good to do it?”
Oh, he noticed how carefully worded that was, Wizzro knew him well enough to know that this isn't something he liked being called out by him.
It wasn't even about the fact that he- Okay, you know what, IT'S EXACTLY WHY HE DOESN'T LIKE BEING CALLED OUT, HE CAN DO IT ALONE.
Buuuttt, he also didn't really want to decline with Nablu. She knew too much about him too, the whole ‘heroic thing you don't need to help me with’ doesn't work anymore when you already said you weren't one.
But perhaps she didn't need to do it! He can still convince her with the best act he can do! It'll be easy, even if the day wasn't easy- He-
[<•••••••••••••••>]
-Was probably hating himself right now.
The basement was so unbelievably cold, filled with dirty old boxes full of clinking potions, unregistered files, old dusty brooms with motors and so many unfinished inventions that there really was someone specifically needed to clean it all.
The cold stone floor was seeping through his legs, a shoe not saving him from the chills that were seeping through his skin with every step he took and the sweat was…increasing weirdly.
Cold drops of water were pouring down, hitting his head and hair and rolling around his face as if it didn't have anything else to do than be an annoyance to him.
He was feeling sick as well, so that's a bonus to his bingo of absolute shit that happened today.
“YOU NEED ANY HELP?!” If Nabiu could yell any louder, his ears would have honestly exploded already, but the ringing was doing a good job at being the one continuing noise throughout his ear.
It became white noise at this point.
“IM- …iM fine-” The carrot choked on his own words for a minute, keeping down sneezes and coughs for the last 5 minutes while slime gathered up in his nostrils and mouth.
It's all so disgusting. So sticky. So heavy.
The next box didn't help at all, being with his knowledge, filled with bricks and tons of potions from all the clinking that this box did inside itself, forcing him to be careful.
Every step felt like the world was weighing him down, the cold unforgiving stones splitting into his veins and bringing his blood pressure down to a not acceptable level.
He thought he heard Nabiu be amazed at the weight he was holding, but the ringing increased to a degree that made it hard to hear anything besides his own heartbeat and breathing.
When the box was finally set down, Karoto noted that his body felt…more off than usually today. Not like it wasn't before, but now, it felt….
…it felt warm in a weird way, the sweat covering his entire body increasing so much more as all his limbs went completely slack for just a moment.
Whatever the box was before was replaced with a brown blur, the texture obscured by the stickiness and absolute nausea that he was feeling from the moment, his legs not even feeling like his own.
He was swaying. The last thing he heard was Nabiu calling-
THUMP.
…….
…………
…..
…
At some point, Karoto woke up.
This time, the blinds were closed. The sunlight was kept hidden by the blinds and surprisingly a lot of rainy clouds, seemingly having a change of weather while he was sleeping.
It was pouring, hitting against the window by the sound of it while there were also soft steps and a worried voice around the room talking to someone.
Maybe-
Wait.
….Why…was he sleeping…?
He forced his eyes open, only barely starting to register things as his fingers loosely touched around with all the feel he had in them, hoping to locate where he was.
First off, his clothes were differnt. He didnt wear blue pajama pants and a white t-shirt before, thats very much for sure.but he wasnt complaining.
There was a blanket. Soft one at that. That's not his blanket, he had initially refused to take anymore then he needed to his home, including a blanket that doesn't have any stitches in it.
Karoto internally wondered when he got so Selfless and neglectful of himself or if he was before all this and just didn't notice.
Hm.
Okay, next thing. There was a soft pillow underneath him, positioned in a way that was comfortable even when he was woken up like this.
Might have even snuggled in a bit as he noticed the softness.
But for that, another feeling that was comforting left, falling from his forehead. It had been cold, soothing the pain that the headache gave him which was now promptly returning from the lack of the towel.
….What.
A towel? Why was there a towel on his head in the first place?
Karoto had wanted to stand up, pick up the towel and question whoever brought him to bed after he was just sorting boxes in the basement, he had a job to do!
“O-....Cal…ba…oke up….ee you….”
But a worried gasp, an apology that they'll call back from the glass…glass circle? What's the name? And the soft sounds that emitted from the floor meaning that someone was approaching him stopped the thief from proceeding with his action.
A gentle hand pressed him back into the pillow, making a soft groan come from himself as he blaringly closed his eyes to darkness again, listening quietly to the voice that talked to him.
“Nonono, please stay in bed- I'll get you something, wait here. Not like you can do much else, but- You know what I mean!”
Nabiu?
Karoto forced his eyes much more open - which hurt a bit due to the sudden brightness and the pain and the headache and - and looked over in surprise, finding Nabiu gently rummaging trough her small fridge.
Now that he got a better look at it, he was in Nabiu's room.
The dark blue walls, the hundreds of pictures with her friends and some monsters she encounters, the round windows, the lights that she hung up on the ceiling, shelves that are organized by colour and form-
There were souvenirs from many regions and little things that made this room so her, even residing little art projects like a clay lycan that stood on the windowsill he had watched her form for their adventure.
But…why was he here?
A glass of water had appeared before his eyes, giving him the smallest flinch that made him physically recoil in pain. His limbs hurt. Also his head, did he mention that?
“Please drink, you have been severely dehydrated.”
Oh, had he suffered dehydration? Was that why he passed out? Hm, he thought he drank some water today. Oh well.
With shaky hands, he attempted to take the water by himself, but a gentle hand helped guide it to his mouth like he was a toddler who would spill it all over.
…it spilled a bit, but not too much.
The cup was taken away when it was finished, which made Karoto notice just how sluggish all his movements were. It felt like an eternity to even try and sit up properly.
What had happened? Why was his head still pounding? Why didn't any of the pain leave like always?
Okay, perhaps it always took about a week as a child for the sickness to leave, but that's not the point. He's an adult. A grown one at that.
It should just leave.
“Do you think you can stomach any soup?” Nabiu's voice was so soft and careful, quietly gripping onto his hand as if he was about to pass out again and leave her with no knowledge of his health.
….Was he good to stomach food?
Hm. He was a bit nauseous, but it'll be fine. He stomached it even if he had to gulp it all up again and if it spilled, then he'll just continue anyway.
Food has to come in somehow.
“Y-Yeah..I'll be fine.” The stutter involuntary came out, followed by a short restrained cough that had a few small ones following after, giving Nabiu even more of that concerned stare.
He hated it because she was worried for something so insignificant.
But Nabiu went to get soup anyway, seemingly having some prepared in the fridge as she pulled out a bowl of it and put it in the nearby microwave.
….it was set to one minute and she started to talk.
“How long have you've been sick.”
“What-”
“Karoto. How long have you've been sick?”
The question aswell as the stern tone caught him off-guard, quietly flinching at the judging tone that had come from the small blueberry before him.
“...U-Uhm…I guess. Since the morning-”
“Why haven't you told Wizzro? He could have send you home!”
Karoto hates that she's right.
Wizzro would have allowed it, wouldn't he?
“Lo-Look, i- I….It wasn't that b-bad-”
“You collapsed in the basement with a fever of 101.”
O h.
That explains….alot, actually.
The words wanted to come out of his mouth, but the guilt and shock kept it shut extremely tight around his neck, making only a silent breathe come out instead.
The silence was deafening and the guilt of not even checking his temperature, burdening everyone and making Nabiu worried was making his stomach hurt more than necessary.
The fever had probably made him stupidly emotional, but the mere thought of a mad Nabiu made him restrain tears from his eyes, softly sniffling due to his dripping nose.
What broke the silence was the beeping noise of the microwave, asking for the soup to be taken out and be eaten by the guilty plus hungry Carrot.
Nabiu carefully put out the bowl, grabbing a spoon from the cupboard and slowly sat down on the side of her bed, carefully giving Karoto the soup and watching his reaction.
The reaction? Wide eyes, silent blinking and eyes silently ping-ponging up and down from Nabiu and the soup, as if questioning if the liquid was truly there.
“You might not taste it, but it'll help to get something down. I'll get you another bowl for safety.”
His brain was not catching up on why they needed another bowl, focusing onto the soup and quietly stirring it with a spoon as if it was a rare artifact.
….he rarely ate warm food. It sounds weird, but he only ate warm meals when he rarely had times in bars or when he accidently found someone leaving theirs.
But even that was often cold, so it likely didn't count.
A few more seconds of staring passed before the spoon was dipped properly into the liquid, returning out of it with a small bit of steaming liquid.
It was shakely moved to his mouth before finally taking a taste of it.
…..
It was warm and he could taste just a bit of the broth.
That shouldn't be that special.
It wasn't that special.
So why were hot tears starting to run down his face from the mere taste of it? Why did it feel relieving to actually taste food that wasn't meant for someone else or bought for cheap money?
Why was something a kid made for him better than anything he tasted before?
It hurt his stomach to think about it.
…..Wait.
Didn't he inhale poison? That didn't do anything and- hold on. Is this why his stomach has begurglURGHURGH-
Karoto flinched with a gag, holding his mouth indirectly as he suddenly noticed what was finally rising up his throat after his little potion accident didn't give him consequences right away.
“KaroOHHNO-” Normally a panicked Nabiu would just be a but funny, but currently it meant that his sweet soup was taken away and replaced with an empty bowl waited to be filled itself.
And sadly, it was in just a few moments.
The vomit had risen up in his throat and finally gagged and coughed out of his mouth, puking whatever was left of the potion into the bowl while holding onto it way too harshly.
Nabiu was gently shushing him from the side while rubbing his back, noting silently just how many tears were rolling down his face from the sheer disgust and pain he was in.
Vomiting isn't nice, Nothing about it is good.
….Well, beside getting the poison down with it.
After a full minute of vomitting, it finally slowed down, only the faint gagging and and sobs remaining from what was once a prideful thief that pretended to be hero.
Now, there sat just a crying child, one that has never figured out how to properly care for himself when sick and forcing himself to keep going no matter what.
Nabiu was only a kid aswell, yet weirdly mature as she pulled out a few towels, grabbing them and wipping Karoto's tears and rest-over mess on his face as he shook.
“...I…i-im so…sor-sory…’
Nabiu felt like crying too from the broken tone of his voice, but one of them needed to stay strong for a bit and it definitely wasn't gonna be Karoto in this state.
“Shh, its okay. Let's try eating again, but slower. Okay?” Nabiu had always been a kind kid and today, Karoto couldn't appreciate it more than today as she carefully fed him soup.
She also gave him water because he had been sobbing to the point of a headache, which also meant that she had given him ibuprofen and cough medicine.
Which by the way, Karoto didn't take for a whole minute as he pouted like a small child, so she took it with him to give him just a bit of comfort that he hadn't received in the past.
“Urgh-...” She had actually noted that his voice had gotten softer, perhaps even a bit whiney as if he did have more of a childish mindset. Perhaps a coping mechanism? She'll ask Wizzro later.
He seemed to atleast open up just a bit more to the fact that he is sick, which is good.
“Do you want to sleep for now?” A hand was quietly retracted under the blanket as Karoto curled up in it, searching for any kind of warmth as the smallest nod almost escaped from her gaze.
It took a minute to reply, but he mustered it up. “....M-Mhm..” It was hidden beside a sniff and quiet shiver, silently wipping away any leftover tears as he tried closing his eyes more properly.
….The M.A.G.E had a bit of knowledge though and knew Karoto would not ask for something specific by himself, so she decided to ask a question that usually would be reserved.
“Do…Do you want me to sleep with you?”
The carrot flinched slightly as he looked up, surprised and with glassy eyes that looked almost ready to go into a sobbing fit again, but was obviously keeping it down.
“....Y-Yeah.”
The voice cracked a bit and he silently made grabby hands, his usual insecurity of looking strong vanishing by the intense headache and pained stomach.
It didn't matter if he looked stupid, he had suffered enough to atleast get a small hug.
So with only a tiny but of hesitation, Nabiu crawled under the blanket, immediantly getting pulled close by Karoto who relished the affectionate warmth of another person near him.
It felt….Nice. Nice to be cared for by another person.
“....You sleep well, Alright?”
He nodded off slowly, but the words from Nabiu had still scratched his brain in such a manner that he responded in a very soft mumble, just before he entered dreamland.
“...Mhm….thank ….y..you…”
At that point, his eyes fluttered close.
In mere seconds, the carrot fell asleep, quietly hugging his little sibling figure as she was the most precious thing in the world.
Nabiu wouldn't have it any other way.
She would stay with him as long as needed.
It would be okay.
Like always.