He lived in their rover. They spoke to him occasionally, though it always felt something like a chore. Kino usually erred on the side of politeness, though—a gesture here, an occasional question on how he was faring. Well wishes when one left to go on some sort of mission or other. And after all of this, after all that they had gone through today, withstanding tears in the sky and god-knows-what pouring from them to do them all harm, he had dueled with a dying man and only pushed him closer to the end. So close that Kino hadn't been able to pull him back.
Kino has witnessed a person go from a living, breathing, animate, conscious entity to an object before. They had caused such a transmogrification on many, many occasions—directly and indirectly. This one felt the most palpable, though. They had known Nic far longer than any other person they had seen die. They had... they had started to rely on him, in a way.
They can't look away from the wounds, the still chest.
Okay? That's the first thing that breaks Kino's gaze from Nic's body, looking to Hinata. Something new stabs at them. Guilt. He looked awful too, shock chasing the color from his face—pale, like a ghost. Kino should have tried to offer some consoling words, but—
Tess. Kino's eyes grow a shade darker. Right. Tess.
The kid's head bows again, and they reach forward to pick something off of the ground. A white pen, something written in English on it—the opened side bearing a needle. Kino puts the cap back on it. It was done. It hadn't worked. Kino still didn't even know what it was supposed to do. Apparently not enough.]
I don't know. He didn't say, and I didn't watch him leave.
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He lived in their rover. They spoke to him occasionally, though it always felt something like a chore. Kino usually erred on the side of politeness, though—a gesture here, an occasional question on how he was faring. Well wishes when one left to go on some sort of mission or other. And after all of this, after all that they had gone through today, withstanding tears in the sky and god-knows-what pouring from them to do them all harm, he had dueled with a dying man and only pushed him closer to the end. So close that Kino hadn't been able to pull him back.
Kino has witnessed a person go from a living, breathing, animate, conscious entity to an object before. They had caused such a transmogrification on many, many occasions—directly and indirectly. This one felt the most palpable, though. They had known Nic far longer than any other person they had seen die. They had... they had started to rely on him, in a way.
They can't look away from the wounds, the still chest.
Okay? That's the first thing that breaks Kino's gaze from Nic's body, looking to Hinata. Something new stabs at them. Guilt. He looked awful too, shock chasing the color from his face—pale, like a ghost. Kino should have tried to offer some consoling words, but—
Tess. Kino's eyes grow a shade darker. Right. Tess.
The kid's head bows again, and they reach forward to pick something off of the ground. A white pen, something written in English on it—the opened side bearing a needle. Kino puts the cap back on it. It was done. It hadn't worked. Kino still didn't even know what it was supposed to do. Apparently not enough.]
I don't know. He didn't say, and I didn't watch him leave.
[Kino keeps holding onto the pen.]