When the Dawn Breaks [TBAU]

☆ Chapter 19 ☆

TW: sickness, throwing up/vomiting, we got an ill boi in the house
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Tango knew something was wrong with Zed the moment he walked through the door.

He looked drowsy and incoherent, as if he'd only just dragged himself out of bed, that is, if he'd actually gone to bed at all. Tango knew that Zed had recently had a few nights without sleep, so much so that it was causing a growing worry amongst him and the other hermits. It felt like someone else had replaced the Zedaph they knew and loved, someone dead and dreary.

Tango recalled the last town meeting, when he and Xisuma had confronted Zed about what was going on. They told him that they knew something was wrong and that him denying it was hurting them more than he could imagine. Tango asked if he was having nightmares again, and all he'd done was shrug. Xisuma asked if it had something to do with Ex, and Zed had looked at the voidwalker in a mix of fear and grief before giving the slightest of nods.

A stammer of false reassurance had followed and Zed's voice had filled with the regret of telling them.

He wasn't okay. If only he knew it was alright not to be.

They'd told Zedaph they were there for him. They gave him hugs and comfort and careful affection and he gave back that same old blank stare, and sometimes a forced smile or laugh. At least Tango made him promise he'd get some sleep.

Tango thought he and X had gotten through to him that day. Clearly they hadn't.

If they had, the Zedaph at his doorstep wouldn't be wearing the same fake smile under a hollow gaze and unkempt hair.

"Pancake day?" Zed forced his face into a wider smile. Even his voice sounded terrible, quiet and disused, rough and nasally like he was sick. He even looked sick with his pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes.

Tango didn't have the heart to tell him it was waffle day. They could make pancakes instead if that's what Zed wanted. "Yep, come on in. I've got the ingredients out and everything." An almost dullness resonated through his own words, as if Zed's sadness had brushed off on him.

Zed didn't respond other than stepping inside and closing the door behind him, and Tango wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he led them to the kitchen. Tango discreetly swapped out the waffle maker on his stove for a frying pan, and the two got started.

The mere five minutes it took to make the pancake batter should've been calm, but it was unbearably tense. Tango was failing to make small talk and every millisecond that passed felt horribly quiet without Zedaph to fill the space with his excited chatter and unbridled glee. He should've been going on and on about a new contraption, and Tango should've replied with excited remarks and ideas for how he could make it work. Their conversations weren't supposed to be this one-sided.

Once they'd whisked the batter enough, Zed moved to grab the bowl and bring it to the other side of the kitchen where the stove was. When he lifted the bowl, however, his hands shook and trembled, and the batter threatened to spill onto Tango's kitchen tile.

"Zed, you wanna sit down for a bit?" Tango asked, taking the bowl from his hands, "I think you might be a bit sick, bud." Zed really did look unwell, and if he was indeed sick, Tango didn't want him exerting himself too much.

Zedaph didn't have the energy to protest like he usually would have and just nodded, letting his eyelids droop a little. Tango placed his bowl back down and took Zed's hand, leading him over to the kitchen table and sitting him down gently. Turning away for a moment he grabbed another bowl off the counter, this one full of sweet strawberries and sugar to make into sauce, and placed it in front of Zed along with a fork.