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Minute smiles, is laughing tears when it happens.
Tears join the saltwater and he is gasping, bend over himself. He can't remember the last time he was so, so, so happy. On his right side, above him, he can hear Hannah's cackling, Mapicc choking on his laugh.
Minute spares a second to pity Mapicc's poor stomach. It disliked anything from potions to motion to laughing, but very quickly the joy takes over any remnant of thought in his mind again.
The joke probably wasn't even funny. At this point Minute has forgotten what it even was, yet the feeling of sharing this laughter carries it further. He never wants this moment to end.
He wipes away the tears blurring his vision — to mine diamonds, he actually has to see them — and looks ahead.
Mapicc and Hannah are still laughing, which tells Minute that they also hadn't noticed in the split second between his realization and the moment the trident impact the upper nose guard of his helmet from below, right between his brows. A sharp pain drives through his skull as it cracks, then through Minute's neck as his head snaps backwards with the force, forcing the air out of his lungs. He feels the chin straps tear apart as his helmet is catapulted off. Minute breathes in as the impact pushes him further. His feet slip from the stirrups and—
Minute falls.
The ocean is dark, the ocean is blurry, Minute is terrifyingly blind without his Aqua Affinity. He can't see the light from the surface, where is up, where is down? He treads water, scrambles to find purchase on the cliff side. He doesn't find any. The salt stings in his eyes, in his skull. He needs to breathe.
Minute wonders if Hannah and Mapicc noticed him falling.
Bubbles escape his mouth as his body wins the fight. A startled fraction of an exhale that only leaves Minute more desperate. He can't breathe. The ache in his lungs grows to rival that in his neck, the pulsing pain spreading from his head.
This far down, it is so dark that Minute can not even see his breath float away; any sign of direction is gone.
How could he be so careless?
Next to the water, tears sting in his eyes. He can't breathe. His limbs grow tired from their struggle, his burning eyes fall shut.
He can't fight anymore.
A firm hand grabs Minute by his right pauldron, pushing Minute forward, and any drag of air out of his lungs.
With his last breath, the alst remains of thought leave Minute's mind.
He breathes in.
The world goes dark.
---
Minute wakes up choking, then vomiting. Salt and bile roll over his tongue as he gags, flushing up the golden carrots he ate for breakfast.
It leaves him panting, gasping for air. His chestplate is gone, his ribs hurt, his head hurts, but Minute has no time to think more— he throws up again, seawater drips from his mouth, his chin, his nose, his hair, his clothes onto the vomit below.
Mapicc's hands hold his shoulders up, hold Minute over it. His thumbs rub soothing circles into the gap between Minute's shoulder balde and back, to the side of his arched spine. Minute's shirt is pulled down, there, the heat of Mapiccs's hands skin-on-skin, along with the not-quite-pleasant tingling of a regenaration potion.
In Mapicc's grip, Minute slumps again. His lungs expand too quickly, Minute feels his pulse rushing in his ears. Warm blood runs down his forehead and into his eyes, tracing the side of his nose until its metallic tang lands on Minute's tongue. He gags again. His stomach is empty, only bile dribbles down his chin and splatters into the puddle of vomit. It smells of metall, of salt, of stomach acid and half-digested food in combinations that would taste disgusting even when in perfect condition.
He feels shaky. His ribs ache with every desperate breath he takes. Cracked. Or broken.
Sand digs into his knees and clings to every exposed inch of his skin. He wipes to get it of his cheek, but his hands are sandy, too. He clenches his teeth against the pain of his ribs starting to knit themselves together, then his skull, his spine. It chokes a whimper out of his strained voice. The pain is only helped by Mapicc's farm face nuzzling against his neck in sympathy.
The shaking in his hands doesn't abade. Minute doesn't think he could stand now, can't even sit upright. He goes lump against Mapicc's chest.
"Minute?", Mapicc asks. He sounds worried. Minute croaks out a questioning hum. Wet coughs rack his body again as it irritates his raw throat, but with his neck over-stretched and back hollowed out, it is little more than pathetic exhales that do nothing to soothe the urge in his lungs.
He tries to take a deep breath.
"You with us?", Hannah asks. Her voice, too, is full of concern. She reaches out. Her gentle fingers brush Minute's soakes bangs from his face.
"Yeah", Minute croaks, then immediately falls into a coughing spell again. "I thought I was going to die."
The fear must be obvious in his voice, as Mapicc's hold on him tightens. Mapicc's arms move from Minute's shoulders to hug Minute, laying flat on Minute's chest, palms splayed out and wonderfully warm. Minute's head rolls back to land in the crook of Mapicc's neck. Mapicc presses their cheeks against eachother as another fit shakes Minute's body, as he whimpers out at the pain radiating throughout his being. He presses his eyes shut agaisnt the rbight sunlight reflecting of the sea. It blinds him and only makes his headache worse.
Despite being injured, probably concussed, despite being exhausted, despite being only half armoured, Minute struggles to think of a time he felt this safe. With Leo and Clown perhaps... But no. He'd always had to peove himself back then. He doesn't think he has to, right now. It scares him, in a way, that a betrayal would surprise him right now. But it would.
So Minute relaxes as Mapicc hugs him, enjoys the warmth he is so fully enveloped in.
Minute opens his eyes as he hears crunching sand to see Hannah settling onto her knees. She leans forward and rest her head on his chest, her ear over his heart. Her arms, too, come up to wrap around him, as do his in turn. "You gave us a good scare, Min", she whispers and hugs him tighter.
It's supposed to be a joke, but it falls flat with the trembling in her voice. She swallows heavily, "We love you, you know?"
She lets Minute listen to her hearts most inner thoughts, with that confession, as Minute lands her his, unarmoured.
"Yeah we do", Mapicc agrees, and Minute can feel the wet of his tears seep into his hair.
"I know. I live you guys too.
Three hearts beat in sync, lying fragile in the open, but, Minute is sure of this, no one here would steal them. Minute smiles.