Work Text:
"...Eh...? Missing...?" Fukurou asked uncertainly.
Sigkin just nodded in confirmation, standing in front of Fukurou's open front door. "As far as I can tell, anyway. No one seems to know where he is right now." Sigkin let out of a cough of discomfort. "...When did you last see Marikin?"
"Um, that was... last week, I think...?"
"Figures." Sigkin just rubbed the back of his neck, grumbling to himself. "Of course that piece of shit would make us worry like this..."
"But-- Saying he's missing feels a bit... Are-- Are you sure no one knows where...?"
"I've asked everywhere," Sigkin sighed. "Syumitarou, Fusakin, Adu, Axez... Osaar and Amber... No one has caught sight of him for several days now. Doesn't help that he isn't answering his phone either."
"D-- Do you think he's in trouble...?"
"I dunno, more likely that he's isolating himself like a dumbass again." Sigkin tiredly rubbed at his own face with one hand. "...Anyway, you can track him down, right? Like, using magic or whatever...?"
"Well, yes, I guess, but...." Fukurou stared at the ground. "I mean, he's never particularly happy when I do that..."
"I know, but I don't care, I'm worried."
.....
"...Can you do it...?" Sigkin asked carefully.
"...Y-- Yeah, I... I can."
"Then let's go."
...Marikin remained silent as his magic deflected Sigkin's attack that aimed at him.
Sigkin hovered over the grass field in the clearing of the forest, wings flapping in agitation as he landed. "You should at least have a reaction," Sigkin hissed, pointing his scythe towards him.
Marikin stood in the middle of the field with his magic sparking wildly around him as he turned to face Sigkin, fully ready for combat. His facial expression was as unchanging as ever, remaining in its default state.
"Are you not even going to say anything??" Sigkin growled, readying his own weapon and aggressively charging it with his own magic.
Marikin remained wordless, magic energy pulsing out from his body as Sigkin lunged forward.
"Sigkin-san-- I told you not to rush ahead of me like that!!" Fukurou called out as she emerged into the forest clearing, seeing the two of them in the midst of a fight. "Why-- Why did you start fighting him!??"
"Wanted to," Sigkin simply stated, momentarily flying back from Marikin to readjust his grip on his scythe. "He's fighting weird though," Sigkin noted, charging up his own magic again.
"Wh-- What do y..."
Fukurou watched the harsh magic energy violently sparking out from Marikin's hands in a borderline uncontrolled manner, before Sigkin shot towards him again.
Marikin parried the attack, at which Sigkin used his wing to throw Marikin down to the ground. Marikin rolled across the dirt to face up again, hand raising and gathering agitated magic in his palm to charge up some form of a magic blast. Sigkin had already begun preparing a counterattack in advance.
"Sigkin-san, stop!"
Fukurou pulled Sigkin backwards, out of Marikin's direct line of sight.
"Dismiss your magic," Fukurou commanded, gripping his arm.
"What--"
"Do it!"
Sigkin did as instructed, cancelling his intended magic attack.
The energy in Marikin's raised hand began to destabilise, before dissipating entirely. His arm limply fell down to the grass that he lay on.
...He just... lay there now, facing the sky above.
"...Sigkin-san, he's not conscious," Fukurou stated. "Not fully, anyway."
"What...?"
"His actions in combat have been by pure instinct, responding to aggressive stimuli. His own magic was unstable, erratic - Not fully or consciously controlled. Even now, his energy's still volatile... Look."
Stray magic sparks continued to emit erroneously from Marikin as he lay in the grass. He even seemed to be twitching slightly.
"...You greeted Marikin-san by attacking, didn't you?" Fukurou sighed as she released Sigkin's arm.
"....y-- yeah, i... Sorry, I was just... frustrated," Sigkin admitted, dismissing his weapon and wings.
"It's fine. Right now... Right now I need to analyse him," Fukurou said. "Run diagnostics, try to figure out why he's currently like this..."
"Will you be able to do that?" Sigkin queried, still staring uneasily at Marikin on the ground.
"I... I think so."
"You think so...?"
"Just-- Just hang back for now..."
"Eh...."
Fukurou carefully began to approach Marikin, who was still laying mostly-motionless on the grass. The magic sparks emanating from him became more aggravated as a result of the movement that now entered his vision, movement towards him; Energy began gathering in his hand--
Fukurou had squatted down near his head, her palm now covering his eyes. Like a wild animal with a cloth over its face, the darkness obscuring his vision calmed him. His magic energy eased, as much as it currently could. Stray sparks continued to flicker from him.
Fukurou used her other hand to begin analysing his head with her magic, diagnostic data showing up in magic displays around her. "...Basically short-circuited his brain with his own magic by accident..." she mumbled aloud, staring at the analytics and graphs. "Likely as a result of strain or overuse... Ended up locking him in an incognizant, fugue-like state to prevent further damage."
"How long has he been like this...?" Sigkin queried.
"I'm not sure..." Fukurou stared down at Marikin's limp body in the grass, before refocusing on his head. "I'm going to try and restabilise his abstract energy systems and restore his cognizance," she stated, beginning to calibrate things with her magic.
"Is... Is there anything I can do to help...?" Sigkin asked uncertainly, watching Fukurou work with things he couldn't quite understand.
"Um..." Fukurou hummed distractedly, too focused on her magic diagnostic displays and current task. "...just-- Just make sure that... that no enemies attack us while we're here..."
"Y-- Yeah, of-- Of course. I... I can do that."
Fukurou continued working away.
.......
...A sudden, sharp gasping sound suddenly released from Marikin, his breathing now heavy and laboured, default smiling expression disappearing from his face and replaced with a strained grimace.
"Marikin-san...!" Fukurou exclaimed, seeing him regain consciousness, lifting her hand off of his eyes in response.
"Marikin...!" Sigkin called out, finishing up his fight with some enemies from the forest, before making his way back to them in the middle of the grass field.
"...wh..what... where..." Marikin exhaled breathlessly in a disoriented manner, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, before his gaze settled on the numa holding his head. "...fuku...?"
"Hi, Marikin-san, hey...." Fukurou said reassuringly. "It's alright..."
"Marikin, hey," Sigkin spoke quietly, joining them on the ground and kneeling next to Marikin. "Hey, there you are. You're okay."
Marikin attempted to sit up, pushing himself off the ground - His body ended up falling to the side, caught by Sigkin.
"Hey, hey, easy." Sigkin supported his weight. "How're you feeling...?"
"...exhaus..ted..." His eyes seemed to struggle to focus, blankly staring ahead.
"Take it easy, man. You're alright..."
Fukurou pulled up her magic displays and analytics again, continuing to assess Marikin's state. "Marikin-san, what's the last thing you remember?" she asked as she did so.
"...last... last thing... uh...." Marikin stared down at the grass they sat on. "....uhh..."
"It's okay if you can't remember right now," she reassured him upon his lack of proper reply. "Just... You seem to have strained yourself a lot, Marikin-san. Accidentally short-circuited your brain, essentially... Try not to use your magic again for the next few days or so," she advised.
"....r...right..." Marikin responded in a subdued manner, wearily squinting at Fukurou's magic displays around him. The weight of his head was leaning into Sigkin's shoulder, currently unable to lift itself.
"...Don't make us worry like this again," Sigkon grouched, lightly pinching Marikin's shoulder that he still held.
"....."
Fukurou eventually dismissed her magic, standing up after. "...In any case, I guess you should just fly him back for now, Sigkin-san. I'll meet you two back at Souhonzan's infirmary."
"Got it." Sigkin spawned his wings back in, before moving to carry Marikin on his back. "See you there."
"You really don't remember anything...?" Sigkin asked, facing Marikin who was sitting on the bed in the infirmary room.
"...nothing about why i was like that," Marikin muttered, leaning forward in his seat. His hand moved to tiredly hold his head. "What I do remember was going to sleep at Pakaparka's inn, after doing some tasks with Adu there. And apparently that was..."
"...3 days ago," Sigkin nodded, still looking him over. "...You really should lie down, you know..." he commented.
"...when's Fukurou getting here?" Marikin asked, seemingly ignoring Sigkin's comment.
"...Should be soon," Sigkin simply replied.
.....
"...stop looking at me like that," Marikin grumbled quietly, squinting at Sigkin's concern in a discontented manner.
...Sigkin sighed exasperatedly. "...Do you have any idea how worried we were...?" he exhaled, his concern remaining on his face.
...Marikin's half-glare faltered, and he averted his gaze after. "...no, i... i guess not," he responded.
....
...Sigkin huffed, moving to sit next to Marikin on the mattress. He glanced at the closed infirmary door for a moment, before turning to Marikin again and leaning towards him to speak in a hushed manner.
"...listen to me," Sigkin said in a whisper, bordering inaudible. "...never tell anyone about what I'm about to say to you here, alright?"
"...?"
"....i... owe... you... a lot, in... more... ways... than... one," Sigkin spoke, like he was struggling to get the words out, like he wasn't used to being so honest and baring his heart out like this. "...you... mean... a lot... to me, to us, and if... if anything... happened... to you... then...
....
...i don't know... what... i would... do."
.....
Sigkin very suddenly and abruptly shot up from his seat, practically sprinting to the door and kicking it open. "ANYWAY JUST WAIT AROUND IN HERE FOR FUKUROU OKAY" he yelled out, immediately slamming the door shut behind himself as he fled from the room.
"...??"
"...From what I can tell, it seems like you had quite an amount of combat injuries on you - but the subconscious magic energy that your body was constantly emitting managed to heal them up sufficiently," Fukurou mused, continuing to look through her magic displays analysing Marikin's body where he sat on the bed.
"...combat... makes sense. I guess it's not like much else could have led to a magic overload like that," Marikin commented with a nod.
"Anyway, I will reiterate - Get lots of rest and don't use your magic for a while," Fukurou declared in a commanding tone, fully aware of Marikin's habit to ignore medical advice.
"...do i--"
"Yes, you have to."
"....."
...Fukurou dismissed her magic displays with a heavy exhale, her hands raising themselves up to Marikin's head to hold his face. He let her.
"...Sigkin-san said you don't remember anything about what happened. Is that really true...?" she asked softly, staring into his eyes.
"....."
.....
"....i... remember one thing," Marikin mumbled quietly, eyes squinting away. "...i... i remember... feeling... something."
"....?"
....
"....fear."
.......
"...marikin-san...." Fukurou sighed, lightly rubbing the sides of his head. "...you have a tendency to get into trouble, don't you...?"
"....i've been told that before," Marikin exhaled, leaning into her hands. "...i'm sorry."
"...just... be more careful. please."
"....i try."
They simply remained like that for a while, with Fukurou gently holding Marikin's face.
"...do you want to lie down for a bit?" Fukurou eventually asked.
"hm? no, i... i'm good, really..."
"You look sleepy..."
"i'm not, i'm just...." Marikin just leaned the weight of his head into her hands, eyes shut. "...tired."
"All the more reason to get some rest..."
"....."
"...come on." Fukurou began guiding Marikin into lying down on the infirmary bed. Marikin still seemed hesitant, but eventually gave in.
"...sorry about this," Marikin sighed, beginning to relax into his pillow.
"You always say something like that when you end up in this infirmary room..." Fukurou remarked as she moved to sit on the chair next to the bed, still looking over him. "...Why is that...?"
"...'m just... sorry to bother you guys like this," Marikin huffed, eyes closed as he faced the ceiling, beginning to ramble somewhat. "...'cause of some... some mistake on my end... dumb mistake, probably... then you guys had to... deal with... me. i'm... sorry. i'm sorry. you-- you can leave now, you can... do other things, i'm... i'm fine now...
....just... don't worry about me, i'm fine..."
......
"i'm going to Watch You Sleep" Fukurou declared.
"Is that a threat..?? scary..."