Dr. STONE[D] ✿ I.S.

Space Boy

While most of the steps in Senku's diabolically messy road map to the antibiotic had been completed, it took two more nights to arrive at the finished product. The Grant Feast would be postponed until then. Right now, all that was left (more or less) was to combine the previously prepared chemicals and wait, but that in itself was no easy feat.

The first of these nights, you found the scientist still working in the lab well past two a.m., looking like a zombie as he stared lifelessly at the dripping solution on the table in front of him. He sat on a stool with an elbow on the glass, cheek resting in his palm, and eyes so weary that just blinking seemed tiring. The dark circles under them told you the boy hadn't gotten even a wink of sleep.

Chrome was already knocked out on the floor.

"You're looking... creepier than usual," you said as you walked through the door, yawning. You'd stayed up, too, but had taken a nap earlier after helping Kohaku hunt for sea sponges on the coast.

Senku scoffed, pupils flicking to you for a second before returning his attention to the beaker on the table. Candlelight flickered in them like tiny sun drops and he blinked slowly, seeming that he might drop dead at any second. He hadn't slept in over 24 hours and the tournament had definitely exhausted him. 

"You should get some sleep, dude. Seriously."

You stood next to him with your arms crossed and brows creased, a halfway scolding smile on your lips. Too tired to speak, he could only groan softly in response.

"C'mon, I'll finish whatever step this is. You need to go to bed before you pass out. Unless you want me to carry you?"

He shook his head, frowning, but didn't budge.

"Almost done," he rasped. "Ten... ten minutes."

Those words must have taken that last 1% of his energy because as soon as he finished speaking, his eyes started to flutter shut, struggling to stay open.

You clicked your tongue and laughed. "Okay, yep, time for bed."

When you gently took his wrists and put his arms over your shoulders, Senku groaned in protest, but couldn't do much to stop you. You pulled him onto your back without much difficulty. Lanky as he was, the boy was unsurprisingly light.

You hooked your arms under his knees and stepped over a snoring Chrome. As you walked out of the lab and towards the former sorcerer's hut, you felt the scientist's head drop onto your shoulder, his face falling into the crook of your neck.

"Not... necessary..." he grumbled.

"A-huh." You rolled your eyes before mercilessly teasing him. "Even if it's for your wife, I'm sure you know this is no way to spend your wedding night~"

"Mnh-nh," he tried to argue. "...Divorced."

You chuckled, feeling stupidly giddy thanks to the way his drowsy voice reverberated against your skin. You could tell he'd fallen asleep almost immediately. There was a shift in his breathing, his quicker, conscious breaths fading into longer, deeper ones.

When you reached the base of the ladder, you looked up at the raised hut and hoped climbing wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Senku might not have been very heavy, but his long limbs still made him bigger than you. Following a determined sigh, you hoisted him up higher on your back with a little hop.