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Cw: eating disorders self harm
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Xisuma
X's hands were shaking. It wasn't like he didn't know why. In fact, he knew exactly why, but he couldn't fix it. Or rather, he wouldn't fix it, not until he solved all the issues he had caused. Certain parts of the world were having issues, and it was his fault they had caused his friends pain.
He pulled a book off the shelf of Cleo's shop, trying, and failing, not to drop it. As he crouched down to pick it up, Cleo appeared in the doorway.
"Hi, X," she said.
"Hello," he replied, grabbing the book and standing up. As he rose to his feet, his vision was swamped by a myriad of colors and he almost collapsed, stretching his arms out to balance.
"Are you alright?" Cleo asked quizzically. X blinked the darkness out of his vision, noticing they had their hands out to catch him if he fell.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit light headed is all," he said, trying to hide how badly his hands were shaking.
"Mhmm, definitely," she said, "Have you been getting enough sleep? I know the start of a new season gives you a lot of extra work."
"Yes, I have. Keralis has been making sure of that. Really, I'm fine."
And he was. Sure, he felt like he might pass out any moment, and his hands were shaking, and his stomach felt like a hollow, gnawing pit, but he was fine. He deserved this.
Cleo said nothing, just raised an eyebrow and continued watching X as he rifled through a shulker he had placed down for payment.
He stood up again, intending to pay, before his vision once again left him. This time was worse though. He felt his sense of where he was drop off until he was not even sure where the ground was, until he hit it.
Cleo
Cleo jumped forward, managing to keep X's head from hitting the floor.
"X? X!" she shouted, shaking him and knocking on the side of his helmet. He was out cold, completely limp. They lowered him to the ground, pulling out her comm. They opened up the world chat, typing out, 'Can anyone help me? X just passed out,' before deciding against it. If she needed any extra help, she could contact someone, but she was also aware that X would hate everyone knowing that he was hurt.
Instead, they pocketed their comm and picked X up. It was a bit awkward as he was a good eight inches taller than her, but she made it work.
"Fucking hell, Xisuma Void," they muttered as they took off towards their base.
She set him down in her bed, pulling the blankets over him and grabbing some food and healing potions for when he woke up.
Xisuma
Xisuma awoke in a place which was certainly not where he passed out. He sat up, looking around at what seemed to be an engineer's workshop.
"Where-" he started, before noticing Cleo sitting beside his bed. I must be in Cleo's base.
This stream of thought was cut off as the gnawing hunger in his stomach made itself known. He clutched at his lower torso, willing the agony to lessen enough that Cleo wouldn't notice.
They, however, still did, turning to him and asking, "You alright?"
X grunted, forcing himself into a less strained position and lying, "Yeah, I'm fine."
She offered him a restoration potion, "Take this, you need it."
"No, it's all right. You've already done enough for me."
"Let me rephrase that: I'm not letting you leave my house until you drink this."
X sighed, resigning to their care. He chugged the potion. It soothed some of the pain in his stomach, though the deep aching remained. He felt more aware, more centered, but that only enhanced the guilt.
"So, do you know why you passed out?" Cleo asked, "Have you had enough the eat and drink recently?"
To X's silence, she offered a glass of water and some carrots. He gladly took the water, but shook his head to the food.
"When was the last time you ate?"
X shrugged, glancing off to the side. "Don't remember."
"Not even a general idea? Because I'm starting to think that might be your problem."
Accepting that he wasn't getting out of this easily, he decided to tell the truth. He exhaled, muttering, "I don't know. Two weeks?"
Cleo's eyes widened. "Two weeks‽"
"I might have had some small meals, but yeah. Not really for about two weeks."
"Oh my devs, X!" they exclaimed.
"Sorry," he whispered.
"X, I'm not mad," they said, their tone softening, "I'm not mad at all. I just-why?"
He shrugged, explaining, "It's complicated. Why do you care?"
"Well, for one, you passed out in the middle of my shop, and two, of course I care! You're my friend; I'm not just going to let you starve yourself."
"But I keep messing things up for other people."
"So?"
"So I don't deserve to eat."
"That might be the dumbest thing you have ever said. Of course you deserve to eat," she said, shoving the carrots into his hands.
"But-"
"I'm also not letting you leave until you eat something."
X sighed, biting into the carrots. Through a full mouth, he grumbled, "That's kidnapping."
"Oh, I'm well aware. You're welcome."
He finished the carrots, saying, "Thank you."
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