Given An Unwanted Second Chance

Chapter 57

Another 2 weeks.  More shenanigans and worries.

I stopped going out as Pen since Dream knew I was both Pen and Eclipse.  It was easier to function in my somewhat bigger form, anyway, both magically and physically.

Gradient's condition changed more.  Frighteningly so.  I actually got contacted by Cryo in the middle of a mission and dropped everything to rush home.

Gradient was in a power coma of sorts.  It only lasted a couple days, but Cryo felt extremely guilty the whole time.  They accidentally overdid the power transfer and it overloaded his consciousness.

When Gradient came to after those two days, he was heavily disoriented.  He briefly thought Cryo was me (which was understandable considering Cryo's physical form IS me) before remembering.  His binary numbers were ever-present, but the side effect of this overload became...achingly obvious once Gradient spoke more.

He was stuttering, but it wasn't in the nervous way.  It was glitchy...as if his words came out normal but then stuttered before reaching our hearing.  He grew immediately frustrated when he said he wasn't stuttering at all, but Cryo quickly consoled him.

"You do not hear yourself stuttering because your mind has processed your words correctly.  However, we are not in your mind.  Something is causing your words to stutter about before reaching us."

"Tha-at's so an-nnoyin-ng."  Gradient whined, burying his face in his hands.  "I real-l-lly hope it's tempo-ora-ary..."

I grimaced.  "I...wish I could say I hope the same, Gradient, but...well, I DO hope, but there's no optimism to mine."

"Perhaps we can find some way to mitigate it later after we finish honing your skills."

"As an-n-nnoying as i-it is, yea-hh...I'-dd ra-tthe-er fo-ccu-us on sav-ving the om-m-mniver-rse tha-an thi-is st-tu-upid, weir-rd stut-t-ttering."  Gradient sighed, crossing his arms.

I frowned slightly, trying to process what he was saying.  It was frustratingly difficult to parse out what was said, but I managed to understand after a noticeable delay.

We should go to Dusttale today...better to prevent our energy from getting too low.

I looked to the side, huffing.  "Ugh...yeah..."  I murmured.

"Wh-ha-at's wr-rong?"  Gradient asked.

"Just...Nightmare's telling me we should go to Dusttale...better to replenish while I still have a decent amount of energy rather than waiting til I'm about to collapse."

"He definitely has a point.  I know you're still worried about Gradient.  You can give me a nudge when you're finished gaining energy, okay? "

I nodded.  "Yeah.  I'll do that.  Gradient, get some rest.  Yes, yes, I know you were in a coma.  That does NOT count as resting."

Gradient sighed, giving a short nod to me but not saying anything.

I think he noticed I had issues processing his words...

I gave the bond a slight tug, smiling softly.  "I will see you later, okay?"

"Oka-ay..."

I looked at Cryo.  "And don't feel bad about what happened.  This is a situation none of us know how to traverse.  You're doing good for having next to no base of reference."

Cryo smiled faintly.  "I appreciate the support, Eclipse.  We'll see you later."

We all waved at each other as Cryo closed the portal.