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"Hey, Green?" Blue's voice was barely audible through his headphones, but he could still hear the worry. Green shifted his headphones off of his ears, looking over to see Blue leaned against the back of the couch.
Blue was staring at Green with an expression that could only be amounted to 'you're the only one that can fix this', a common look to see on his partner's faces after... his mistake with going online. It was never a fun expression to see, not anymore.
While he loved to be relied on, every bit of damage he now strived to mend was caused solely by his own pride and ego.
"Yeah, what's up?" He took his headphones entirely off, setting them on the couch's arm.
"It's about Yellow."
...Shit.
Green had already noticed, it was near impossible to not. Yellow had completely shut down, stopped leaving his room, stopped interacting with anyone. Green wanted to find out how to fix it, draw Yellow back out of his shell, ensure he was doing okay—but all his attempts to approach him had ended with Yellow being pissed off.
He'd yet to give up, but he'd still backed off. Every interaction proved that Yellow wanted nothing to do with Green currently, and he came to the conclusion that Yellow needed space for the time being.
"I know you've noticed, everyone has," Blue continued, their tail flicking behind them nervously, "but he's even avoiding me now. The only thing I was able to get out of him was that you had said something and he was trying to prove you wrong, and then he just... vanished into his room again. He looked so tired, too, I think he's overworking himself again."
Green had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what this was about. He quickly stood up, only pausing to finish the conversation with Blue.
"..I'll go talk to him, I... I'm pretty sure I know what's wrong."
By every god that could feasibly exist, he never should've listened to that stupid comment. Shouldn't have even considered it. He felt like a fool, like a complete idiot—but now wasn't the time to be overrun with his own emotions.
Now was the time to fix what he'd done.
Green was quick to leave the room, rushing towards Yellow's. Hesitating outside for just a moment, trying to figure out what he could hear—any indication of Yellow's current state.
"Stupid fuckin'..." Yellow's voice sounded through the door, strained and rough like he'd been crying, like if anything else went wrong he'd start again. Green could hear his claws scraping over metal, a short hiss of pain, the sound of him kicking a block in frustration.
A short beat of silence. Green raised his hand to knock on Yellow's door, only to freeze as his voice once again sounded, so quiet Green could barely make out what he said. And yet...
"Luck damnit all, I'm so fucking useless—" He could hear Yellow cut himself off with a near-sob, his voice watery and so close to breaking. Then, the sharp sound of something small and metallic being thrown across the room, clattering against the floor. Quiet sniffles and muffled, pained squeaks.
Green abandoned the idea of knocking, instead just pushing the door open with no warning. If he tried to give warning to his entrance, Yellow would likely lock the door and demand he leave without giving him a moment to express his concern. He needed to be checked on now, privacy be damned.
Immediately, Yellow's head practically snapped to look at him, eyes wide and angry and almost scared. He was sitting on the floor of his room, surrounded by machinery and redstone, scattered feathers and specks of blood. One hand was in the act of pulling sharply on his own wings, tearing feathers out with little hesitance, while the other—skin tight and bubbling with fresh burns—laid limply at his side. He was covered in tiny scrapes and small burns, his eyebags deep and heavy.
"Jesus, Yels, what have—"
"Get out."
Green let out a small sigh as he was interrupted, stepping into Yellow's room. Yellow clearly wasn't in the right state to fight, even if he decided to go on the offence for some reason Green only needed to worry about keeping him here and stable. He slowly shuts the door behind him, then locks it for that extra precaution when he sees Yellow tense like he's ready to bolt. Immediately, he glared bitterly, but no longer looks seconds away from running.
"...You know I can't leave you alone like this, Yellow. I know I'm the last face you'd want to see right now, but I'm still going to help you."
"Just leave me alone." Yellow muttered, drawing his limbs closer to himself, still tugging on his feathers. His claws scraped against one of his primaries, seconds away from just ripping the feather out.
Green placed his hand over Yellow's, taking his hand away from his wing. Yellow didn't respond at all, his eyes glossy with unshed tears, glazed over like he was barely there. His lack of negative reaction to touch relieved some of Green's worries—it'd be a lot easier to help if he could actually make contact with him—but his lack of any other reaction only sparked more.
"Have you slept at all in the past.. week or so?" Green gently prodded, careful to settle down in front of Yellow without disturbing the machine he'd been working on. Yellow remained completely still for a long, anxiety-inducing moment, before finally he pulled his hand away from Green, curling up into a little ball. Hiding himself away with his wings.
"...Can't. Need to prove I'm not useless." He whispered, voice trembling. Green's heart seemed to sink—he knew that would be the cause, there was no way it wouldn't be, but hearing it out loud made it far too real.
Gently, Green brought his hands up to slowly card through Yellow's feathers, noting with a soft hum how many were missing, torn out. Carefully righting the position of a few feathers and scanning for the bloody spots where he'd injured himself with all his plucking.
"You're not useless, ghosty."
"Don't lie to me. Please."
"I'm not. I swear on my life, I'm not lying to you." Another quiet sigh from Green, far from annoyed, just concerned. It was hard to pull Yellow out of ruts like this, especially as the cause. It might take months to get him to truly believe it, but he'd try either way.
"Then why did you say it in the first place..? Why did you like those comments, why did you act like I needed to be fixed?" Yellow's voice wavered with a quiet sob, bringing his wings up to completely obscure his face, shuddering. Any more pressing and Yellow was sure to break, but at this point, it was necessary. The only way to get him to let out all those bottled up emotions.
"I wasn't thinking clearly. I never should have even considered it. I'm so, so sorry, ghosty. I promise I'll never even think that again, okay? You're not useless. You're far from useless." Green kept his voice soft as he slowly moved forward, wrapping his arms around Yellow. Carefully running his hands along Yellow's marginal coverts and mantle, so gentle to ensure he wouldn't irritate any sore spots.
"..You're lying. I can't even finish one machine without fucking everything up. You have to be lying." Despite what he said, despite how hollow he sounded, Yellow slowly began shifting his wings, not entirely revealing his face but more open either way. Leaning towards Green like he wanted to hide against him, but wasn't sure if he could.
"I'm not lying. I promise you, I am not lying about this." Green took the opportunity to pull Yellow closer, mindful of all the small injuries he could see. One hand tucked underneath his wings, gently petting his mantle and scapular feathers, while the other came to cradle his head, tilting his face up to ensure he looked at Green. "You mean so much to me. You're worth so much. Don't ever let anyone call you that again, okay? You're not useless. A few mistakes don't define you."
And just like that, the dam broke. Yellow let out a harrowing sob, tears pouring from his eyes as he crawled closer, hiding his face against Green's shoulder. Even wrapping his arms tightly around Green, pained cries falling from his lips as he moved his burnt hand to hold Green close. So careless with his injuries, uncaring for his own state.
"Shit—Yels, careful, don't hurt yourself more." Green mumbled, carefully moving Yellow's arm so his burnt hand wasn't in contact with anything, brows furrowing with concern. That burn would certainly need to be treated, Green could recognize it as being caused by redstone. Considering the amount of redstone scattered around and how every noise Yellow made seemed to scrape against his throat, he wouldn't be surprised if Yellow had inhaled too much on accident as well.
Yellow tried to say something in response, but it was lost to his broken sobbing. Green slowly began rocking him back and forth, shifting to comb his hand through Yellow's hair, pressing gentle kisses to his forehead.
"I've got you, Yels. It'll be okay. Just let it all out, I promise you'll be okay." Green whispered soft reassurances, slowly adjusting his hold on Yellow as he spoke. "I'm going to pick you up, alright? I'm gonna bring you to the couch on the desktop where Blue is so they can make you some potions to heal you up. You'll be okay, ghosty."
"Don't—I don't.. w–want them, anyone, to see me—um, like this.." Yellow sniffled, his voice frail, stuttering. Barely able to get the words out between his tears. Green only held tighter, slowly standing up with Yellow in his arms. Even with the wings on his back, he was rather light—but Green still felt a pang of worry, he was too light this time. Yellow clearly hadn't been eating properly, Green would have to bring that up to Blue too.
"I know, Yels... I know. But it's better if they know how you're doing, so they can help too. You need to get those injuries treated, you need to eat something. You need to get out of this room before you get redstone poisoning."
Yellow went silent at his final comment, a clear indication that it might be a bit too late. The wake of that silence only proved Green's suspicion, every breath Yellow took strained and sickly even through his now quieter sobs. Another thing to alert Blue about—it'd happened enough times that Blue had a potion recipe specifically to help.
"You'll be alright, Yels. I promise you I'll make it alright." Green hummed, adjusting how he held Yellow to unlock and open the door. The lights outside were much brighter than how Yellow kept his room, and from the squeak of pain it was evident Yellow had gotten too used to the dim. Yellow hid his face against Green, bringing his hands up to wrap around him—only to wince and let his arms fall limp once more when the burn was agitated.
It didn't take long for Green to get to the couch, and just as he predicted Blue was still there—sitting in front of the couch, nervously fidgeting with the pages of the book they were reading. Blue immediately looked up when they heard Green, closing the book and setting it down, brows furrowing with worry as they noticed Yellow.
By now, Yellow's cries had faded to weak whimpering, his eyes red and puffy, all his tears shed. He didn't shift from where he hid against Green, breathing shallow and scratchy. Green quickly settled onto the couch, keeping Yellow on his lap, held close.
"Is Yellow okay..?" Blue asked, standing up to get a better look at the avian stick. Yellow sniffled weakly, moving just enough to see Blue, though he kept his eyes squinted through all the light. For a moment, Yellow opened his mouth as if to speak—but nothing came out bar a strangled whine. Yellow hid his face once more, burning with shame.
"He's been overworking himself to the point of injury." Green frowned, gently running his hands through Yellow's hair, frown lessening at the shaky, sleepy chirp he made in response. "The worst of it is the burn on his hand and how much redstone he's been inhaling. But he hasn't been eating or sleeping either."
Blue's face paled as Green carefully lifted Yellow's arm to display the burn, gently taking his hand to inspect the injury.
"I'll get some potions and bandages and fix him up. How is he doing emotionally..?" Another quiet question, placing Yellow's hand down on the couch with his palm upwards to not disturb the injury.
"He had a pretty bad breakdown. Still kinda in it, I think..." Green's worry earned a quiet whine from Yellow, no attempt at speaking being made. He pressed a soft kiss to Yellow's forehead, making a worried hum as he began relaxing in his arms. While Yellow seeming anywhere near sleep after such a breakdown would normally reassure Green, it was now a cause of mild concern. He gently patted his head, whispering. "Ey, ghosty, do you think you can stay awake for a little while longer? I know you're probably real tired, but you gotta stay up so we can deal with that redstone poisoning."
Blue nodded as Green spoke, murmuring a quiet "I'll go get the potion, keep him awake and breathing," as they departed.
Yellow only chirred sleepily, his uninjured hand coming to hold onto Green tightly. Green quickly shifted to hold onto Yellow's hand, preventing him from holding Green—a silent denial of the one method that always got Yellow to sleep effortlessly.
"Yels, I'm sorry, but I need you to stay up for just a little longer. You'll get plenty of rest once we're all sure you won't be bothered by the lasting effects. It'll only be for a little bit, I promise." Green spoke softly, gently rubbing Yellow's palm with his thumb.
This time, Yellow made a protesting whine, leaning back slightly to look at Green with sad eyes. It wasn't often that Yellow pulled that trick, only when he felt nothing else would work—it absolutely melted Green's heart, took all of his resolve to overlook.
"I know, ghosty. I know you're tired. Just until you've had the potions Blue's getting you, okay ghosty? Once you drink them all you can sleep plenty. I can even take you over to Orange so there'll be no chance of anyone disturbing your rest. You just gotta stay awake a little longer for your safety. Can you do that for me?" Green moved his other hand to gently cup Yellow's face, lightly brushing away the remaining tears in his eyes.
Yellow's forced expression of sadness fell away to real, far more painful to see, distress. Whatever rebuttal he wanted to give seemed lost to his lack of ability to speak, his mind too clouded to verbalize what he thought. But something about that expression Yellow bore told Green everything.
"I care about your safety, Yels. Blue does too, so do Orange and Red. I'm not letting you sleep until I know you won't die. I love you, ghosty, I can't let that happen to you." Green's voice wavered with fears he often stamped down, fears that his partners always managed to flare with stupid stunts or reckless behaviour. Immediately, Yellow's expression broke once more, tears pooling in his eyes. Mouth moving with no sound, trying to whisper 'I'm sorry'.
Green shifted forwards to kiss away Yellow's tears, rubbing his thumb against Yellow's cheek.
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault all this happened. Just please stay awake for me, that's all I ask."
That seemed to quell Yellow's worries for now. While the two waited, Green hummed mindlessly, focus entirely on monitoring Yellow's mental and physical state. Keeping track of his rough breathing and slight changes in facial expression. Nothing but attentive, his focus only broken when he heard Blue's footsteps approaching rapidly.
"Oh, thank cursors... I have the potions, buttercup, can you drink these for me?" Blue looked completely relieved to see Yellow still awake, though they kept their voice low and quiet to not startle him. Gently pushing a small collection of potions close to Yellow, joining him and Green on the couch as they procured bandages for Yellow's hand. Yellow hummed softly, letting go of Green's hand to pick one up, taking the cork out with his teeth.
As Yellow began drinking the potions, thankfully compliant, Blue shifted their focus to treating the burn on his hand. As Blue worked, Green ensured Yellow didn't drink anything too fast, taking the corks off the other bottles in advance. Once Yellow was finished, the avian stick slumped in Green's hold, making a quiet whine as his injury was treated.
"I've got you, ghosty." Green whispered, wrapping his arms around Yellow, holding him close, Shifting one hand to begin carding through Yellow's feathers, carefully cleaning out all the dirt and grime built up from how long Yellow had been working. Still so gentle with all the sore spots, fingers tracing over them with such lightness that Yellow wouldn't feel a speck of pain.
Green's gentle preening drew an immediate reaction, one that brought a quiet giggle from Blue and a soft hum of adoration from Green. Yellow relaxed completely in Green's hold, sleepy chirps and coos falling from his lips as his mind grew foggier—this time a pleasant feeling rather than a distressing one.
"Cute birdy..." Green whispered, a soft smile on his face. It wouldn't take long at all for Yellow's tiredness to claim his mind, falling asleep peacefully.
Green knew it'd take a long time to properly make up for what he did, to Yellow especially. But he'd try, no matter how much effort it took. It was worth it.