Chapter Text
Mono had just wanted to help, that was all. He wanted to save his friend from the Thin Man after cowering in pain and fear, then they would get the hell out of this city.
But when he finally got to the tower, when he finally got to her, the transmission had stripped her of her innocence and turned her into a monster. Her limbs twisted and broken, hair grown out to cover her face. Six had become the spitting image of all the things they’d faced together, and yet she still offered him sanctuary in that little room.
She offered her music box, a replica of the one she’d had when he found her in the Hunter’s cabin. All that time ago when he’d accidentally set into motion a series of events that they weren’t prepared for, most importantly, they were events that had put his best friend in danger again…
And again…
And again.
He was sure he’d never forgive himself, he certainly wouldn’t expect Six to. What kind of best friend was he, letting the Thin Man take her and turn her into something she wasn’t. He sat and watched from his spot on the ground, arms rested on his knees and chin rested on his arms, as the crank of the music box spun endlessly. It’s eerie tune keeping the both of them captivated.
Mono came to realise that Six had gotten what she wished for.
The Tower had turned her into a Monster, bigger than any they’d encountered before. She was strong and formidable, nothing would ever hurt her again, that fact settled heavy like a stone in the pit of his stomach. The Tower had taken her plea for safety and strength and twisted it until there was little of Six left, what was that old saying, something about being careful with wishes?
It should’ve shocked him but given the world they’d grown up in, this outcome couldn’t be more unsurprising. Taking her whispered prayers and laughing at her, a big cosmic joke being made at their expense. Just what they’d always been used to, no matter how much they did to stay alive, to prove to the universe that they belonged there, it would continue to spit in their faces and kick them while they were down.
How hilariously cruel.
Mono had felt the call of the Signal Tower long before he knew what it was, and when he’d brought the Tower to him the doors had opened as if in greeting, like he was being welcomed home. This building that felt alive, static fizzing in the walls and humming in the air had offered more to him than anyone or anything else in his short life time, and he supposed that was just the Towers trick.
To pull him in and deceive him, he could feel the static prickle against his skin and wrap itself around him like a safety blanket, he had to force himself not to buckle under the weight. The weight of what, he wasn’t sure, but it felt nice to feel wanted even if he knew the Tower was only looking for its next host, drawing him in like a moth to flame.
If it weren’t for Six, he thinks he would’ve let it happen, let the Tower put that hat on his head and shut him behind the door to start the cycle again. Mono had never felt at home anywhere, his pack in the orphanage barely tolerated him, letting him stay because he could make himself useful. When that fire began and kids started being snatched he hid away in a TV unit, shutting his eyes tight as the creature that had trapped them all peered down on him, wishing with all his might to be anywhere else.
Not a moment later was he spat out into long grass in the middle of a forest and found his way to Six, as they became closer she had started to feel like what he imagined home must be.
Mono knew what he had to do, he couldn’t leave her like this. The Tower offered false promises, her monstrous form wasn’t sustainable, and eventually the great monolith would consume her too. He could feel it in the way the transmission prickled against his skin, he could stay, but she wasn’t welcome.
He tried to reason with her, tugging on her sleeve, waving and jumping for her attention but nothing worked, he gave a sigh and then called to her.
“Hey, Six?”
In response she gave a shrill shriek, flinching and brushing Mono away as he hung off of her arm. She shook her limb gently and he tumbled to the floor with a thud. Mono huffed exasperatedly, getting to his feet and brushing himself off.
“I’m trying to help you, you know?” He explained, but Six only covered her ears with another pained yell. Mono was completely at a loss of what to do.
Then he saw it, an open suitcase at the back of the room, on top of the folded clothing was a mallet. His heart sunk at the implication. He had to hurt her again.
And surely, this time, she wouldn’t forgive him.
He approached the suitcase hesitantly, Six ignoring him completely, lost in her own world as she hummed along dryly to the music box. He took a deep breath and picked the mallet up, the wooden handle felt like ice in his hands as he dragged it to his friend, like he was about to seal both of their fates—which truthfully he knew was exactly what he was doing.
He could feel Six looking down at him, could feel her begging him not to do it, pleading to stay like this for just a little longer, but ultimately she did nothing to stop him. With a heavy heart he swung the mallet over his shoulder, agony blazed through his chest so fiercely he thought he would start crying.
It all happened in a split second, the tune he often found Six humming when they bedded down for the night coming to an abrupt, horrifying stop. The sound of a yelp and twisting metal was cut short and when he opened his eyes all he could see was darkness. He wondered for a moment if the entire world was standing still, but just as quickly as that sensation came it was replaced by pure terror.
All it took was a blink and he was back in her room, the toys that had been lying in the corners in almost ceiling high piles were replaced with undulating flesh. At that moment the Tower groaned and buckled under its own weight. The walls and floors almost seemed to shake with his friend’s rage, and while he didn’t blame her, he was quick to move, running for the door.
Six was at his heels, screaming in gargled distress. He felt his heart breaking for her as he once again tore her safety from her, he hoped to all hope that she would forgive him for this, but until she was herself again he had to focus on not getting flattened.
He weaved expertly through the hallways, jumping the chasms and trying to keep himself oriented as the Tower’s influence changed the forms and order of the rooms with each doorway he passed through. He suspected the Tower wanted him dead, or at the very least trapped. He scoffed inwardly at the idea, considering it was the Tower that had left the mallet in her room in the first place. He’d only jumped to the most logical of conclusions.
Six screamed again, as he flung himself through a hole in the wall, scrambling to take cover under a table. He held his breath, keeping as still as stone while she tore through the room looking for him. When she came up empty handed Six pushed her way through a closed door, thumping down the corridor and out of sight.
He made a run for her, but just missed her as the door she walked through slammed shut behind her. Mono looked around frantically for a solution when he saw it sticking out of a door, a familiar axe lodged in the wood, the light seeping through the cracks an unearthly purple. The Tower was mocking him and just like when he’d doomed Six in the Hunter’s cabin by carelessly chopping down the door to free her, he would have to doom her here too.
This time he swore it would be different, he was never going to let anyone lay a finger on Six ever again.
With steeled determination, Mono jumped for the axe’s handle and broke through the door. Six was in the centre of the room, her large, emaciated hands covering the music box protectively. The sound from the trinket played out of tune, lilting uncomfortably as the crank continued to turn. The static in the air raked over his body, it felt different now, Mono picked up the axe and yelled.
“Hey!”
Six tore forward, smashing her fists as she went. He slipped through the hole in the door and was transported to the other side of the room. Mono sprinted as fast as he could, swinging the axe head down on the music box just as Six turned back around. The impact on the music box, which he now understood was some kind of tether causing her monstrous form, split the concrete floor, changing the shape of the room before he was plunged again into darkness.
Mono rushed pained, frightened breaths between his teeth as felt the force of being thrown against concrete settle in his bird-like bones. He called out again, his voice echoing through the empty plain as he wandered aimlessly. Eventually he stumbled across his axe, stuck in the door like before. The axe clattered to the ground as he jumped up to grab it, and with a powerful grunt he broke through the door again.
He continued on like this for what felt like ages, each time he made head-way with the music box the room became harder to traverse. He had to think clearly about his movements or he’d be killed. Every yell hurt and aggravated her, drawing her away from the music box to move in on the static form he was leaving behind, it became a cycle.
Call out, run for your life, hit the music box, wake up in the void, find the door, do it again.
He’d lost count of how many times he’d opened his eyes to complete darkness, and by what felt like the millionth he almost couldn’t find it in himself to get up. Hot tears streaked down his face, his throat closing up as he tried his best to stop crying, the feeling of complete hopelessness was all consuming. His body ached, his vision was blurry and he could taste blood in his mouth.
The Tower would continue to make him fight her, he was sure this was his Divine punishment, for sentencing her to a fate worse than death all those weeks ago in that cabin, forcing her back onto the street where it was infinitely more unsafe than being kept alive by some Hunter who was playing happy families.
This was all his fault.
He wiped his eyes and tried to get a handle on his breathing. This was it, he was putting an end to this now. If he and the Thin Man were alike enough that Mono could beat him at his own game, then he could bend the Tower to do his bidding too. He swung the axe, feeling it disappear from his hands as he passed the threshold, he counted the doors and when he spotted the axe again he screamed.
“HEY!”
Six shot up, leaning down to swat at him as he tore through the doorway. He warped to the other side, jumping for the axe and when he had it in his grip he moved swiftly to avoid her next swing. He was through another doorway, yelling again, making the most out of the few options he had.
They did this dance over and over until finally he was spit out at the top, Six had her back to him, he knew this was it.
Mono ran for the trinket, heaved the axe over his shoulder and with an earth-shattering blow, the music box bent. There was a great flash of light and when he pushed himself to his feet the room was different. The flesh having closed in around them, it reeked of death, silt and ash. Across the floor lay Six, reaching forward in a final attempt to protect her music box.
She covered the bent metal trinket with her hands as Mono pulled the axe from the floor, when he approached he looked up at her. Her eyes were bloodshot, tears welling up in the corners as she pleaded silently with him one last time. Mono cast her a sad look, there was nothing he could do or say, none of it would fix this.
It wouldn’t fix his mistake in the Hunter’s Cabin, or her kidnapping at the School, it wouldn’t fix them setting the Doctor alight in the Hospital and it definitely wouldn’t fix his decision to not reach out to her in that apartment when the Thin Man cornered them. The Thin Man that he’d freed due to his own morbid curiosity.
“You just had to know what was behind that door, didn’t you?” He whispered to himself.
Mono felt sick, but he couldn’t leave her like this. Six had been endlessly generous and kind to him despite it all, helping even though she wasn’t obligated to. At first, maybe she had stayed out of necessity, knowing that most of the city would be dangerous to traverse alone, but he was sure by the time they’d made it to the Hospital that she was staying because she wanted to.
They’d played for hours in that toy room, trading secrets and knowledge. She’d taught him how to play “proper” make believe and he’d taught her how to draw flowers, and when she’d curled up to take a short nap, her head rested in his lap, tension leaving her body, he promised himself that he’d do everything in his power to protect her.
But Mono was never good at keeping promises, he’d always been unlucky and just like every other thing he wanted but could never have, Six was torn away from him too.
He called out to her one final time, fury at himself, the city, the Thin Man and the Transmission for ruining everything was poured into his desperate scream. Six flinched and he took his opportunity, the axe head collided with the music box and both he and Six were thrown backwards, Mono was on his feet quicker this time, his heart being shattered by the sound of her agonised cries as they bounced off the walls.
She reached for her music box, its form glitching and tune warping as its true form became clear. It was a vessel keeping her distorted, Six’s monster form shifted and bowed under the pressure, limbs changing length while ragged, pained breaths wheezed from her throat. She was so close, almost touching the metal but Mono swung faster than she was able to reach.
Everything went dark and then that strange purple light filled the room again, the music box was destroyed and his best friend was sitting there, looking at him. She stood and stared him down, her face obscured by the shadow her hood cast, Mono stood too, relief flooding through his whole body. As he went to take a step toward her to celebrate, reality came crashing in, literally.
The Flesh that was the Tower’s true form was closing in, Mono looked to his friend and then they raced down the hallway, the only thing occupying his mind was the instinct to run. Don’t look back, just keep moving, don’t get caught he told himself, a mantra he’d repeat whenever something gave chase. He was acutely aware of his blood rushing in his ears and the feeling of his heart high up in his throat as he hurried to keep up with Six, the brick and mortar collapsing around him on all sides as the walls of flesh inched closer to them.
They jumped, climbed and weaved, fighting to keep ahead of the greatest monster they’d ever encountered, Mono’s bruised ribs screamed as he ran, the pain was unbearable. Then the white glow of a TV screen cascaded through the doorway, a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, they were so close.
The monolith heaved, the brick and mortar shaking as the Flesh collided with the wall behind them, the very force sending both children to their knees. For a moment it felt like time had slowed to a snails pace, Mono could see Six pull herself to her feet to continue racing toward the TV screen across the skinny, crumbling walkway in front of him, chunks of it falling away under her feet.
Six jumped the small chasm that had been created and collapsed to her knees on somewhat solid ground, catching her breath and then turning back to him and reaching out her hand, like she’d done a thousand times before.
She had seen it before Mono had, he was going to run out of road and he’d need to jump the gap, he would fall short without her help. He started to sprint down the walkway, reaching for her as he leapt, the stone he’d once been standing on disappearing beneath him. Mono screwed his eyes shut and hoped she’d catch him, just one more time he pleaded in his head.
He felt her fingers around his wrist, gripping for dear life.
Mono chanced a look up at his friend, the Flesh had stopped moving in, he could feel the eyes watching the two of them carefully, hoping something terrible would happen without their interference and with the blank expression Six was currently regarding him with he didn’t feel confident that the Tower wouldn’t get exactly what it wanted. There was nothing in her eyes as Mono hung limply, helplessly, vulnerably over the ledge.
Was she going to drop him? She wouldn’t, would she? He thought briefly that she’d be right to do it after everything he’d put her through. His legs swung nervously, sweaty free hand scrabbling at the concrete of the broken walkway for support but he couldn’t get a solid hold,
“Six!” He yelled, casting a look at the abyss below. He wouldn’t survive a fall this high, “please pull me up.”
She didn’t answer, continuing to stare through him, like she wasn’t really there. He looked down again, the dark feeling ever closer as he started to slip in her loosening grasp.
His heart plummeted into his stomach, she was going to drop him.
“SIX!” His frantic, panicked desperation seemed to snap Six out of whatever trance she was in. She shook her head minutely and breathed his name with a kind of horror he never wanted to hear again.
Once she’d pulled Mono up and over the ledge the Flesh started to recede slowly, its many eyes squinting in disappointment. Mono shook violently as he placed his hands and knees on solid ground, Six looked perturbed, unsure of what to do or say, which didn’t last long as Mono rushed forward to crush her to his chest.
“I thought you were going to drop me.” He repeated over and over again in a terrified whisper, Six couldn’t bring herself to say anything, too afraid she’d make things worse but she did melt into the hug, burying her face against Mono’s shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered as she stood, pulling him up with her, “together.”
Mono nodded, squeezing her hands in reply. They hobbled to the TV screen that sat within the wall, arms slung over each other’s shoulders to keep them standing upright, the light was blinding and the static felt warm on their skin as they pushed against the glass.
They passed the threshold, tumbling through the Flesh tunnel and then being unceremoniously spat out onto the floor. The TV they’d been transported through beamed behind them, as they both struggled to catch their breath. The room was dark, windows and doors boarded up, the smell of dust and damp in the air.
Six made a frightened noise before getting to her feet, her legs shook and a pit opened up in her stomach, in her casted shadow was a glitching image of… herself?
Mono couldn’t tear his eyes away, was the Tower not destroyed? Surely it couldn’t survive without the Thin Man and he’d made good work of doing away with him, so why was there a glitching remain of Six here of all places. No, there was something different about this one, he could tell by the way it stared Six down.
Six’s hands shook with terror as the mirror image of herself turned its head toward a flyer laying on the floor in the corner, it looked back at her and giggled, the sound making Mono’s blood run cold. He got up, ready to collect it the same way he had with the others they’d found when it suddenly vanished.
Everything was silent and then Six’s stomach growled painfully, she keened forward, hugging her torso and falling back down to her knees. The TV flickered momentarily and then powered itself off completely, the room now bathed in total darkness. Mono grabbed Six by the shoulders, her face twisted in pain.
“Are you okay?” He asked, she grabbed one of his wrists and shook her head frantically.
Mono turned his attention to the flyer the shadow had been so preoccupied with, he patted her shoulder in the hopes of being comforting and then went to investigate. The flyer had a picture of what looked like a big fish head floating on top of ocean waves, the word “MAW” was emblazoned at the top of the page in big, bold lettering.
“Always the same time… never the same place… all-you-can eat ocean ves…sel exper..ience…” Mono read aloud, taking time to pronounce the words he didn’t quite recognise. “All-you-can-eat! Six, come look at this!”
He rushed over to her, paper in hand. Six took the flyer from him, eyes flicking back and forth as she read. Curious, she flipped the page over, there were three words scrawled across the back in shaky, black ink.
“East… Coast… Harbour?” She read slowly, eyes squinting at the near illegible handwriting. “East coast? Do you think that’s far from here, which way is east?”
“Some of the older kids I used to stick with said that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so if we wait for the sun to come up we’ll know where to go!” Mono explained excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet, “I think that’s our best shot.”
“Wait, what is?” Six tilted her head, furrowing her brow at her friend.
“The Maw! It’s our best shot, there’ll be an endless supply of food, we’ll be far away from the shore and the city. It’s perfect!” He paced back and forth, only getting more animated as his plan fell into place. Six wasn’t convinced, waving her hands out frantically to grasp his attention.
“Woah, woah! Hang on, let’s think this through-”
“What is there to think through?” Mono argued.
“Oh I don’t know, the fact that the Maw is something specifically designed for adults!” Six argued back. Mono’s shoulders sagged, she did have a point. “If we sneak in there and get caught, you know as well as I do that we’ll be killed. No kid who boards the Maw escapes.”
The stories of the Maw were basically living legend to the kids in the Pale City, everyone had heard at least one story if not several, all warnings to try and keep as many of them away from the ship as possible. They’d both been given hundreds of examples of what happens to kids who are found in the bowels of the Maw, what was allegedly on the menu. The Janitor is blind, not stupid.
It was desperate kids who boarded the vessel, desperate kids with nothing to lose and certainly nothing to gain. Mono and Six shared a terrified look, they were becoming those kids.
“Okay, but what about the kids who get shipped out there?” Mono tried.
“You mean the dying ones?” Six countered.
Mono sighed, trying a different approach, “maybe the stories aren’t as bad as everyone makes them out to be, and even if they are that bad it’s not like we can’t handle ourselves. I mean, we just escaped the Signal Tower!”
“By the skin of our teeth, I almost dropped you.” Six wrapped her arms around herself in a hug, her voice drawing thin as she recounted the fate she’d almost doomed Mono to. She refused to make eye contact with him, blinking tears from her eyes.
Mono put a hand on her arm, “but you didn’t drop me.”
“I didn’t today, but what if next time we aren’t so lucky?” Her voice shook with a fear he’d never heard before, she was usually so brave and confident. “What if next time, something really bad happens?”
A silence was drawn between them. Mono didn’t have an answer for her and they weren’t going to come to an agreement on this anytime soon, he had to find a compromise.
“We need to keep moving, so maybe we should just head that way anyway. We don’t have to board the Maw but at least if we’re close it can still be an option if we need it.”
“I don’t want to need it.” Six mumbled, Mono took her shaking hands in his own.
“I know, but if whatever is wrong with you is going to continue,” he paused, swallowing unsteadily, “or get worse, having a near constant supply of food won’t be a bad thing.”
Six squeezed Mono’s hands, looking up at him through her bangs with stormy, teary eyes, “Swear to me that we only board the Maw as a last resort.”
“I swear."
It took them a little under a week to travel the eastern coastline from the lonely little apartment they’d been spat out into, and all in all their dynamic hadn’t really changed. They still talked and messed around, scavenged for food and shelter to share, granted they hadn’t really discussed what happened in the Tower but that wasn’t particularly important at current.
What was important, Six had decided, was finding Mono a replacement paper bag mask. She’d been keeping her eye out for one ever since he’d told her how he’d lost it, initially he worried that his face might have freaked her out and that’s why she was on the search, but she reassured him that wasn’t the case.
“It’s just so… you!” Six had exclaimed, rambling on about how it felt like an important piece of his outfit was missing. He couldn’t exactly argue with that, despite now having a very healthy collection of hats and masks, that paper bag had always been his favourite.
Today he’d swapped in his yellow rain hat to protect from the ice cold deluge. Six and Mono’s bare feet splashed through the surface flooding, hands clasped tightly as they ran for cover, barely able to see against the grey, sheet-like rain. Six spied an opening in a wall, pulling Mono along and slipping through.
Once inside both of them tried their best to shake the rain water from their hair and eyes, the room was freezing cold but dry, boxes and trash bags piled high in every corner.
“It’s no use trying to walk around in this weather, we can barely see anything in front of us!” Six leant against one of the many boxes, wringing water from the parts of her hair that hadn’t been completely covered by her hood.
“No, you’re right. Last thing I want is for us to get caught by something ‘cause we can’t see. Besides we’re so close!” Mono said, Six scrunched up her face.
“I still don’t think we should get on that boat.”
Mono shrugged, starting to sift through the open boxes on the floor, “maybe we won’t have to, you haven’t tried to bite me for a while.”
“Your definition of ‘a while’ is less than a day?” She turned to him with a raised brow. Mono scoffed but she was right, it had been only the day before when she’d last had one of her ‘fits’ and tried to attack him.
“Yeah, that feels long enough for me.”
Six shook her head, “whatever, you weirdo.”
They fell into comfortable silence as they scavenged, although all they were managing to turn up was useless junk. Broken dinnerware, rusty tins, mouldy newspaper. Six was just about to give up out of total boredom when she spotted it, a yelp of joy leaping from her throat, she scrambled over the piles of cardboard and rubbish to retrieve what she’d seen.
“Mono, look!” She announced, Mono turned to face her and in her hand was a brown paper bag.
He rushed to meet her, watching as she shook out the stack of loose newspaper that had been left inside with an ecstatic grin, Mono wasn’t sure who was more excited by the find. Once the paper bag was in his hands he tried it on, a perfect fit! He carefully pushed his finger through near each of his eyes, then took the bag off to make each eye hole the right size.
Once he was happy he modelled his new mask, “How do I look?”
“Perfect!” Six giggled, reaching forward to adjust the bag. “It’s just like the one from before.”
Mono gave a silly bow at her acceptance, which she returned, the pair couldn’t help but laugh at themselves. Then Mono pulled the bag off, folded it up and put it away in his coat, Six tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
“You know what I look like, and you don’t think I look scary so I don’t need to wear it around you.” Mono’s genuine grin made Six’s chest fill with warmth, happy that her friend felt so confident around her she pushed her bangs from her eyes in kind. “I’ll keep it though, it’s a gift from you so it’s even more special now!”
The already dim light in the little room started to darken so the two gathered what they could to bed down for the night, the opening they’d slipped through was the only way in or out so they didn’t need to worry about barricades or taking turns to keep watch which was a nice change of pace. They curled up under scraps of cardboard and sheets of newspaper, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
Well, Mono did anyway.
At some point deep in the night Six started to become restless, tossing around fitfully and starting to sweat. Mono was woken up by her a handful of times but wasn’t able to rouse her, which he thought was odd, when she had nightmares it was easy to wake her but no amount of poking, prodding or shaking did him any good.
He decided he’d leave it, put up with her shuffling and occasionally kicking him. Whatever it was could clearly wait till morning if she was sleeping so heavily, though when the morning finally came Six’s skin was hot to the touch, she stirred slowly and needed Mono’s help to sit up.
“You were really moving around last night, what were you dreaming about?” Mono asked, all he got back was a confused groan.
“Six?” Mono put his hand on her shoulder, heat radiating through her clothes. Six’s head slumped forward, resting against her arms as they cradled her knees, lolling back and forth in a way that made Mono feel uneasy. “Are you okay?”
Six all but whimpered, lifting her heavy head to hoarsely declare, “I’m cold.”
“Well you don’t feel cold, your skin is boiling hot!”
Six only dropped her head with another groan in response. Mono’s brow furrowed, this was different to the fits she’d been having, the pangs of hunger that were so painful it was like they were turning Six into another person, someone aggressive and cruel. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it before, being hungry turned even the nicest kids nasty, but Six’s rage and subsequent inability to remember that rage was unlike anything he’d experienced, it was frightening.
What had initially been an easy enough problem to fix with a few food scraps was becoming a dangerous exercise in making sure they were carrying food around in case Six lost the plot, often turning on Mono when he’d try to help. He knew not to take it personally, that she wasn’t angry at him, that she was sick and in pain, but that didn’t stop his feelings from getting hurt every time she’d lose her temper or shove him around.
“Do you think you can walk?” Mono tried, getting to his feet and offering his hands.
“I’ll try,” Six murmured, he had to use all his strength to pull her to her feet. This wasn’t good.
“It’s just a little bit further, then we can stop and you can rest again. I’m right here, I’ll make sure you’re okay.” Mono asserted, knowing they needed to be much closer to the coastline before it was truly safe to stop. Getting to the harbour, whether they decided to try and board the Maw or not, was the most important thing.
She nodded slowly, leaning on Mono’s shoulder for support as he lead them out of the room.
Six could not have accounted for how awful it would feel to push her body to its limit to walk the rest of the way, their trek was much slower, given she could barely put one foot in front of the other without Mono’s help. The fever made her memory hazy, she knew they had been walking, but it was like every time she blinked their surroundings were entirely different. Then she opened her eyes and she was laid out on her back, a water-stained ceiling above her head and Mono fretting over her from the corner of her spotty vision.
She used what little strength she had to try and fight Mono off as he removed her multiple layers in hopes of cooling her down, it all ending in her sleeping fitfully once again, her blue cardigan resting under her head and her yellow raincoat draped over her lower body.
Mono chanced a look through the kitchen cabinets in the other room, finding a couple of cans of soup. He wasn’t able to warm them up, the oven unit being too big to use on his own. He was just relieved that the cans had pull tabs.
Despite her hunger, he found it impossible to feed her. She wasn’t really awake enough to eat but they’d gone so long without anything he wasn’t sure what else could be the cause of her sudden illness, it was hours before her fever came down enough for her to be lucid, Mono hadn’t slept a wink, terrified that a stray Viewer might find them.
“Six, are you awake?” He wondered as he stroked her bangs away from her sweaty forehead, she made a small noise but didn’t say anything else. “You don’t have to worry about anything at all! I’m gonna take really good care of you, and before you know it you’ll be back on your feet and we can get onto the Maw and you’ll never have to go hungry again.”
Mono worried his bottom lip between his teeth at her lack of response, her breathing was shallow and something about that put him on edge, but he wasn’t sure why.
“You know I’m really worried about you, when you fell down outside I thought you’d died, and it was so hard to drag you in here. I didn’t realise how heavy sleeping people are.” He paused. “You are just sleeping, right? ‘Cause if you’re just sleeping, it’ll be okay! And I’m your best friend, you can tell me anything you want. So if it’s bad you can tell me.”
Mono curled in close to Six, letting her rest her head on his chest. Continuing to comb his fingers through her damp hair.
“Yeah, you’ll tell me.”