tw // panic attack
and we're back to the anxiety boys !!
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M had dragged Sabre to the red kingdom almost immediately, rushing to get to Professor Red. His priority was making sure whatever Sabre ate wouldn't kill him, and he didn't waste a second to deal with that. Anxiety was fresh as he sprinted down the stairs, skipping the final step.
"M- M!", Sabre tried to slow him down. It didn't do anything.
M didn't pause until he quite literally ran into the professor, knocking him down. Before he could say anything, M was already yanking him up and shaking his shoulders.
"PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR!-"
"Apprenti- Leader- M, calm down, what's the issu-"
"SOMEONE DRUGGED HIM-", M wildly gestured to Sabre, not caring how his crown was sliding down his head, and especially ignoring how Sabre was trying to push it back up onto his head, "SOMEONE BROKE IN AND DRUGGED HIS FOOD, PLEASE- I DON'T KNOW IF HE'S POISONED OR-"
Professor Red yanked Sabre away from M and brought him to the lab table quickly, shoving him down onto it. Sabre grunted from the roughness, but didn't complain considering the harsh situation. Professor Red ran to his counter and yanked out a syringe, along with grabbing more medical supplies for the needle.
As the professor rubbed the numbing pad onto Sabre's arm, he winced. He hated the feeling of it, how cold it was. The needle pinched in, and Sabre bit his lip. It didn't hurt, but god it felt so uncomfortable. He squeezed his eyes shut as Professor Red- or maybe M- darted around the room, yelling what to do or where to do it.
"O-Okay.. Results. Results."
Professor Red spoke to the Assistant with his anxiety barely laced in his voice. He was too scared to /be/ scared, not wanting to worry Sabre if he was poisoned or not. Staying calm was theoretically the best option, so why did the professor feel like his insides were tied into a knot?
*"Results Clear. Blood type A, mixed with extra blood. Steve blood. No toxins or poisons entered. Side effects of drugging are expected however."
M breathed in relief, although confused by the note of the steve blood. The professor's entire posture changed, his shoulders slacked and he clutched his chest in relief, exhaling a breath he didn't know he was holding. He quickly went over the effect of drugging in his head. Nausea was most common, along with stomach aches and headaches. Drowsiness too.
As he silently went over the side-effects and which ones had the highest chance of effecting Sabre, M tried to comfort him. Sabre tried to act unaffected, telling himself that he only felt sick right now because of his anxiety (which was partially true). He pulled himself up so his knees were pressed against his chest.
'Someone broke into my house, they drugged me'
'What did they do when I was out? What if-'
He didn't notice how quickly his breath sped up, and how his stomach churned. Maybe he was just hungry.
"S-Sabre, calm down please." M tried to reason with him but Sabre didn't respond. He just lowered a hand to his stomach and stared at M, his eyes- at least the only one that wasn't covered by the blindfold- were filled with anxiety, stirred with fear, shaken with dread.
M could tell he was trying to ask for something, with the way he began tilting his head, holding his stomach and faintly holding his throat, but he couldn't tell what and was too nervous to do anything. Was he hungry? Sick?
"...'m gonna be sick.."
Sabre mumbled out, forcing himself to talk within his panic. He could feel the acid and bile rising in his throat. M quickly nodded and helped him off the table, bringing him to the bathroom as quickly as he could.
The professor sighed and tapped the desk restlessly.
"Assistant, make sure he's okay?"
*"You're concerned ab-"
"Assistant." Professor Red cut him off before he heard a sassy remark, running his hand through his hair, "Please."
He heard the clanks of metal feet, then a faint rolling as the Assistant went off to catch up with Sabre. Professor Red sighed, he wanted to get some information out of Sabre but he supposed it could wait for a bit. He didn't think much about the housing now, he knew M would already pry for Sabre to live with him now. If he didn't do it, the professor would just do it himself.
Although Sabre would probably spend more time here anyways, because the professor had /no idea/ why he also had steve blood. Until he reconsidered the injuries Sabre sustained, and it became a little more transparent.
Blood transfusion was common when there was an extreme loss of blood.
/
"...ugh"
Sabre had basically spent the entire day at M's place, and god did he feel horrid. The side effects the professor mentioned had absolutely kicked in. His head pounded, his appetite would switch from alright to starving within seconds, his stomach had been aching all day even after he felt like he threw up his own guts.
"Want some soup?" Sabre had been drinking soup all day. He didn't want more, but maybe he could get a different type. He'd just had beef and mushroom soup, since M didn't have anything else.
A different type meant M would have to buy some though, and that either meant buying some or ordering some. Sabre didn't quite trust any restaurant food right now, even if he knew it was safe in M's hands. He did want a different type. Would it bother M to buy some? It's not like Sabre would be left alone, he could see the Assistant standing in the corner of the room, turned off to conserve power.
"... Sure." Sabre decided not to bother M by making him leave (although he did request M to make the soup a bit differently, which he obliged to.). With a quick glance at the clock, Sabre could see it was a bit past 3pm. He'd been here for about 5 hours.
Professor Red popped by a few times too, giving Sabre medicine. Once he looked at his veins, seeing their color and looking over it as if it would pop. Sabre was confused, until he remembered what the Assistant said about his blood, and had to explain it all to the Professor.
Long story short, the fight with Demon Void had taken a lot out of him, literally. A scythe through half his torso, a finger or two missing, and a wing chopped- ripped- off. When he'd arrived at Thera's house, he'd practically been bleeding out. He'd lost a lot of blood, and needed more.
While they were lucky enough to be able to get a blood transfusion despite Sabre's exile, and the same blood type, it was an entirely different species than Sabre. Thera said if steves and humans weren't so closely linked in biology and form, they wouldn't have been able to do it at all.
Nonetheless, it left him feeling similar to how he was now, except that's how he felt for a week before his body began processing it (most likely with the help of the darkness). Professor Red said he'd only feel like this for a day or two. Sabre couldn't be happier about that, at least he wouldn't be bedridden for a week.
He zoned back in as M placed the soup bowl on the table, the firm clink of it bringing Sabre back to reality. Sabre groggily leaned over and picked it up. Meat and chicken, along with some noodles and carrots. It smelled nice, although it was boiling hot.
"Thanks M."
M chuckled lightly, getting Sabre's attention. He looked up at M to see what was so funny, only to see nothing. Just a small chuckle from nothing.
"..What?"
"You- You do realize I have a name, right?"
"Oh." Sabre felt a bit embarrassed by that. He forgot M was just a nickname. It was sort of hard to remember when the professor had begun calling him that too. He reached for the soup and took some with a spoon. It still was a bit hot, and just slightly burned his tongue, but he didn't want to ask for a drink especially with this awkward conversation.
"..S-So uh.. What's your name then...?" Sabre muttered out, stirring the soup as he did so, watching the food inside it swim around in the broth.
M chuckled again, and Sabre kept his eyes trained to the bowl.
"Amory. It's Amory."
"O-Oh... nice name A-Amory, should I call you that or-...?"
God this was awkward. It didn't help that Sabre didn't know what to say with his fried brain. He took another portion of the soup, it was a bit cooler this time. Warm enough where he could feel it in his throat, but not burning.
"You can call me what you want."
"I'll just stick with M for now.. Unless you prefer-"
"Nope, it's alright. That's fine." M reassured him, rubbing his shoulder, "It's not my main worry right now anyways."
Right. Sabre thought back to the reason he was even here.
"You're staying here for the night, Sabre." M said firmly, leaving no room for any protest, which Sabre didn't quite mind. He definitely didn't feel safe anymore in his house, but did he really need to stay with M? He was a leader, he had bigger problems than him. Sabre could just find an inn.
"I-I appreciate the offer but-"
"Sabre."
"No, I'm not staying at the village for now!- I'm just.. You're a leader are you sure tha-"
"Yes. Sabre, you're not taking this seriously enough, you were drugged. What's stopping this from getting worse? You said it was from the restaurant we went to yesterday. It could've been a coincidence, but.."
Sabre caught onto what he was saying fast, "T-They could've been watching us before."
M nodded slowly. They let the room fall silent as Sabre's skin crawled over his bones, full-on shivers and chills fell down his spine despite him being covered in a blanket. He didn't think this would happen when he got back, he thought..
He thought he would be loved somehow. Was that selfish?..
Yes it was
"Sabre? Sabre?"
M shook Sabre's shoulder slightly, noticing how Sabre suddenly zoned out. He didn't respond, just stared down into the soup. His mouth was slightly agape, his eyes were unfocused, and M began to panic.
"Sabre?! Hey, cmon, you alright?!-" M quickly took the soup out of Sabre's hands and put it on the table, not caring how some of it sloshed out. Sabre stared blankly, still visibly breathing. His breathing seemed to get heavier. M began to panic and he shook Sabre violently, now starting to doubt the professor's work with the drug test.
"SABRE-!"
Suddenly Sabre shoved him off, yelping as he did so as if someone had shocked him through his spine. He huffed heavily, suddenly panicking. His arms became shaky, and his eyes were even more unfocused, looking back and forth constantly. His thoughts spiraled downwards, he gripped the blanket as if it were his lifeline.
M kept calling Sabre's name, but he wouldn't respond. He could tell Sabre was having a panic attack, and felt horrible that he rashly began yelling. Even worse, he didn't know how to help him. He just sat there and watched Sabre hold back tears, too scared to touch him, too scared to leave, to do anything.
Eventually, Sabre began to calm down, finally noticing M as he did so.
"...o-oh.."
Sabre looked down, and curled into a ball. His stomach screamed at him for it, but oh well. Now his head only hurts more.
"A-Are you alright...?"
Sabre didn't respond, just fidgeted with his hands. M paused, and looked back down to the soup bowl. It was still steaming a bit. Slowly, he reached down for it and held it up, silently offering it to Sabre.
It took a second for Sabre to look up, and he took the bowl in his hands, picking the spoon out of the broth and taking a sip. Still warm. He looked at M, then back at the soup. Slowly, he uncurled a bit, letting his legs lie out in front of him.
"..Wanna talk about it?" M asked cautiously. Sabre shook his head without looking at M.
"S-Some space please.."
His voice was small, shrill, M hardly ever heard him sound like that. It worried and pained him, as well as confusing him. He didn't know why Sabre had suddenly began to spiral so violently, or what caused it. He assumed it was something related to the stalker, but Sabre had been fine minutes before it.
Regardless, he got up off the couch and sat back down onto the chair, but Sabre shook his head.
"I.. want to be alone... just leave the Assistant in here..."
M picked up that Sabre sounded like he was forcing himself to talk, and nodded.
"I'll be upstairs if you need me?"
Sabre nodded, fully knowing he wouldn't accept the offer if it came to it. He felt too dumb right now to think that M actually cared. He was too dumb for anyone to care. Maybe that's why Time hasn't come back yet.
Maybe he didn't deserve it.
•
You'll find out why he began panicking so hard later I love writing this angsty white boy ✌️
(well technically I kinda already implied why but oh well)
Anyways how was it?