[Hibari is gone, as far as Kino can tell—even if not, the kid wasn't paying him any mind (for now), too busy focusing on Nic. The traveler wasn't exactly medically-minded, but they tended to know when someone was too far gone. The way blood loss gave the skin a kind of deathly pallor, and there was something in the sound of his jagged breath that sounded... Kino's expression darkens. Fluid in the lungs, most likely.
He's dying.
He's dying. He's dying. He's dying, he's dying—
Kino actually functions surprisingly well under duress. They'd always had a level head, and Master had taught them well (though many might take issue with her methods). But this is different. This is—this is Nic, and Kino knows the nanites can help a lot but can they help this much? But—it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, because Kino is already reaching for their nanite gun in the things they keep in the pouch on their bag,] Nic, hold on, I'm... [even though they know he can't hear or understand and...
Instead they pull out something else. Something that they had, in a moment of panic, forgotten that they had up until this point. Something they kept along at all times. Just in case.
But what was that case? The question in Kino's eyes asks that: is it now? Will it help? Will it? He hadn't given them proper instructions—
The kid drops to their knees by Nic's head, popping the cap off of the pen and without second thought pressing the needle into the dying man's neck. He'd done the same for them, not too long ago.
UGHHHHH
He's dying.
He's dying. He's dying. He's dying, he's dying—
Kino actually functions surprisingly well under duress. They'd always had a level head, and Master had taught them well (though many might take issue with her methods). But this is different. This is—this is Nic, and Kino knows the nanites can help a lot but can they help this much? But—it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, because Kino is already reaching for their nanite gun in the things they keep in the pouch on their bag,] Nic, hold on, I'm... [even though they know he can't hear or understand and...
Instead they pull out something else. Something that they had, in a moment of panic, forgotten that they had up until this point. Something they kept along at all times. Just in case.
But what was that case? The question in Kino's eyes asks that: is it now? Will it help? Will it? He hadn't given them proper instructions—
The kid drops to their knees by Nic's head, popping the cap off of the pen and without second thought pressing the needle into the dying man's neck. He'd done the same for them, not too long ago.
It has to help. It has to.
Kino doesn't want him to leave.]