(IMPORTANT UPDATE) vanished (airy x reader)

7

why is the ao3 tag for this series so fucking gross

It had been a quiet day. Unusually quiet. It was unnerving for you.

You wondered where Airy was. You hadn't seen him since the previous day. Usually he would've come to tell you where he was going, or you would've spotted him when you walked outside.

But it was eerily quiet.

You frowned to yourself. Maybe he was oversleeping? It wouldn't be unlike him, given his slow personality. But he had never done such a thing in the time you'd known him.

You decided it would be a good idea to keep yourself occupied until you ran into him again. It was immensely boring when the only other person on the planet wasn't around to talk to you.

You decided to start with collecting some reeds. You'd never done it by yourself before, but you had watched Airy do it and had even helped out plenty of times.

Seriously, how hard could something like reed collecting be?

You made your way up the trail, making sure to pick up Airy's basket before you left. This shouldn't take long. Maybe you could find out where Airy was when you were done. He should be back by then.

Reed collecting was rather boring, it turned out. And you kind of sucked at it. You weren't sure which reeds were good for you to take. All of them looked and felt the same to you. How did Airy know what he was doing?

Speaking of Airy, you still hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. You hoped he was okay. You didn't think he could've gotten lost or something, seeing as how he'd been here for so long. You were sure you'd see him soo—

A piercing scream split the air, causing you to drop the basket.

You immediately looked to the cave. Only one thing could've made that sound. Airy.

You hastily made your way back, the basket forgotten, not caring as you almost slipped off of the wooden bridge. You practically ran down the trail, shoving the vines out of the way of the cave's entrance.

Airy was stumbling away from the computer, groaning and clutching his face as he fell to his knees. He was panting and trembling, barely noticing as you ran to his side. "Airy?!"

"(O-O/N)..." he gasped, voice full of more emotion than you had heard from him before. He stared up at you, his remaining eye unfocused, a spark of recognition igniting in his expression. "(O/N)..."

"Oh my gosh...oh gosh...wh-what happened to you?!" You bent down to help him up, wincing as you stepped in shards of glass. His glass.

This was bad.

"Come on...stand up...I-I'm gonna get you to safety..." you coaxed, helping Airy to his feet. He let out a pained whimper, slumping against you. He was trembling.

You helped him out of the cave, going excruciatingly slow so as not to jostle your companion's injury. He limped at your pace as you guided him over to the shed, sitting him gently down on your bed of reeds.

"Airy...what happened?" You sat in front of him. He was still holding a hand up to his injured eye, demeanor guarded and pained.

"I...slipped..." he mumbled through heavy breaths.

"L...Let me see. Please." You gently pulled Airy's hands away from his face, sucking in a breath at the sight. An entire half of his face was gone, broken off. Those must've been the shards you stepped on, you realized with a sickening feeling.

You looked around. How were you going to help him? You didn't see any sort of medical wrap you could use. To cover up the wound, if nothing else.

Speaking of which, you winced at your own wounds, the cuts on your feet from the glass aching sharply. You forced yourself to ignore it. You were more focused on helping Airy.

"I...I'm sorry...I can't..." you were at a loss for words, and opted to stare at the ground instead of meeting Airy's gaze.

Airy, still delirious with pain, stared at you unwaveringly. He didn't know why you were apologizing. He couldn't comprehend your shameful expression, or why tears had started to pool in your eyes.

He didn't understand.

You sniffed, wiping your face in an attempt to hide those tears, looking back up at Airy. "Sorry. I shouldn't be crying right now. It's fine. You're gonna be fine." You were more trying to convince yourself than him.

Airy blinked. His head was ringing. He barely heard you. The edges of his vision had started to grow dark. Maybe he should...sleep it off...yeah. That would be nice. His eye began to flutter and droop, much to your dismay, as he gave into the darkening edge of his consciousness.

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(not) sorry for the cliffhanger ahaha :)