Hidden in the Depths

Chapter 36

Even with Techno's exhaustion, it took far too long for him to fall asleep. Not that it was anything new, falling asleep had always been a struggle. Racing thoughts spinning around in his head, like little voices whispering new ideas or embarrassing scenarios, just to keep him awake. But once his mind did finally drift off, he was out for good.

The next time he woke, the lights in his room were still dimmed low, but Quackity's bed was empty. Quiet voices drifted through the open door, suggesting that multiple people were up and about for different reasons. For a moment he just laid there and listened, letting his tired brain catch up to being awake. He couldn't fully understand what was being discussed, but he's pretty sure he could hear his own name being mentioned a few times.

Techno eventually pushed himself upright, only to immediately groan in pain and let himself drop back down. Shit... his head was killing him, a splitting headache pulsing right behind his eyes. The headache throbbed sharply when he tried opening his eyes again, each pulse sending a spike of pressure through his skull. For a brief moment he wondered if he was getting sick, only to immediately remember that he had hit his head last night. He must have fallen harder than he thought. "Fuuuck..."

"Techno?" He cracked one eye open to see Tubbo peeking through the open door, looking a little worried. "You okay?" Even just shaking his head no was a mistake. It made his vision spin and a spike of pain flare from the back of his head, once again pulsing right behind his eyes. He hissed and squeezed his eyes shut, arm thrown over his face like it might shield him from the agony. Somewhere by the door Tubbo swore under his breath. He could hear footsteps leaving, but didn't bother looking. All he wants is for his head to stop hurting.

Only a few moments later two sets of footsteps returned, coming much closer this time. He peeked out under his arm eventually, only to see both Tubbo and Cellbit now standing beside his bed. The other three also stood by the door, looking equally worried. "Here, turn your head so I can see," Cellbit muttered quietly, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He held something in his hand, but he couldn't fully make out what it was.

Techno hummed in acknowledgement and did as he was told, immediately regretting it when the world started tilting again the moment he moved his head. Cellbit moved carefully, fingers gently moving aside his hair. Something cool and wet pressed against his scalp and Techno sighed at the contact, the next spike of pain weaker than before. "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurts... everything's spinning." Cellbit gave a thoughtful hum, pulling back the wet cloth just a moment to check if it had blood on it before pressing back down. It shouldn't, realistically, but it still was good to check. "I think you did get a concussion when you hit your head after all. Probably just a minor one, but still." Great. Just perfect. Just one more thing to hinder their progress. Cellbit didn't allow him to linger on the thought for long.

"You should rest for a few days, at least. I'd prefer more, but we might not have the time for it. Roier needs to heal anyways and Foolish obviously won't leave his side, so we can't do much right now. Moving around won't do you much good and we don't have active pain medication either." Techno exhaled slowly, frustration curling in his chest. Another delay. Another thing he couldn't brute-force his way through like he usually would. And perhaps he blamed Kristin a little for it as well. "At least we don't have to smear salve in your hair," Tubbo added after a moment of silence, attempting to lift the mood a little bit.

Techno did huff with a bit of amusement, because he does agree, he definitely does not want to have his hair covered in salve. It was already messy enough as it is. "Small mercy I guess." Cellbit adjusted the cloth one last time before straightening. "I'm going to grab you some water," he said quietly. "And food, if you can manage it."