middleofsomewhere | Not with a Bang: Conclusion

Not with a Bang: Conclusion

The base camp is a mess by the time the fight is over. The heavy rain alone would have been enough, but the battle has churned up the earth itself. The previously peaceful clearing is pockmarked with craters and dark puddles where ash has mixed into rainwater, along with oil and blood that swirl unpleasantly through the shallow pools. The trees are bowed outwards with the force of the powers that waged through the area, trunks shattered and torn, boughs hanging haphazardly or draped with the remnants of tents and equipment.

Perhaps all that can be said is that it gives the Voidtrecker Express a decidedly clear landing spot. The train snakes its way through the jungle, coming to a stop in a familiar, though now lopsided, coil around the clearing, and opening its doors to allow injured to be carried on, or anyone from the train to disembark.

It’s clear that there are indeed people aboard - as the doors hiss open, activity is already visible inside, as well as voices audibly going back and forth over the tinny speakers of the ICP.

Now that the saboteurs are dealt with, the final repairs can be made to the damaged stations and the shields locked into place. By the time they are done, nothing and no one will be able to enter the planet - from space, anyway.

The train will remain in the clearing through the night of Imagination 12 and the morning of Imagination 13, until all the stations are prepared, the pandas returned to their rightful place and everyone has rejoined the train.

By midday of Imagination 13, the train is ready to leave. Everyone gets a message on their SCA to return to the train, if they haven’t already. Once all are onboard the doors shut and the train begins to snake through the jungle.

“Re-entering Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”

The train rattles and shakes as the greenery around them (and the purple of a few farewell pandas) fade into the colours of the void.

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"Hey, Senku."

Inigo smiles, but at least it's a slightly moderate smile compared to how over the top it can be at times. Like he's at least reading the mood, even though he wants to at least make things feel a little less heavy if he can. Just ignore the fact that the area around his eyes looks a little dark, okay, he'll catch up on that sleep at.. some point..

Besides, he's at least looking less like a zombie than Senku right now, so he's got that much going for him. (Even though that's a very low bar to clear, isn't it.)

".. are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you right now?" Said as if he hasn't spent enough time working and fighting without rest already.

Senku might look and feel like a zombie, because magical healing is only so magical, apparently.

He is, however, thinking clearly today and no longer confused.

"You can sit down." Senku snorted, sipping his coffee. Inigo shouldn't try that tired routine, he knew all about looking like a human raccoon.

There's a moment of hesitation.

But then, slowly - like a hesitant teenager at school - he does move to sit down. There, Senku. Are you magically happy now? This is clearly how it works, right.

"Fine, fine, I can easily do this much, but I was thinking of something a liiittle more significant. You don't look like you're doing great." Then again, that could be said about many people on the train at this point.

Happy was relative at the moment. He was glad that Inigo was sitting down. It didn't really make him smile though, that wasn't Inigo's fault. He was exhausted.

"Ah, yeah, blew up a little bit." He waved his hand slightly. "I got healed."

"Blew up a little bit."

There's a dry edge to the way Inigo repeats the words, because really, Senku? Who says they blew up a little bit and then proceeds to play it off like it's some common accident!

.. okay, maybe Inigo would. But he's a special case! An exception to the rule!

"Sheesh, I'm really glad that you weren't hurt worse.." Or well, worse enough that he wouldn't have been able to get healed up to this extent. Aka just straight up being dead. "Sorry that I wasn't able to help you out. Things really got hectic back there all of a sudden.."

"Ah, yeah, the room next to us exploded, it was crazy. You weren't around at the time, I was with Kaiba at the control station. Good thing too since it wouldn't have been that fun. I remember it not being fun."

Senku hummed. Some things seemed foggy about the whole thing, but that was fine. It's only because he hit his head.

"Healing hurt a lot, I remember that. But I'm fine now." Mostly, he figured, maybe. He'd even had a nap, granted it probably wasn't that long.

I remember it not being fun, UGH, SENKU.

It's a good thing he's fine now, that'll save him from getting an Inigo scolding!

"Are you sure about that?" That's what matters the most, after all. That the other is fine in the end. He reaches out to point at Senku's forehead. "Nothing wrong with that big brain of yours? We can't afford to lose it!"

Okay, of course Inigo cares about more than just Senku's brain. But under the current circumstances, he can't be the one to bring things down and make them all gloomy. He's got to joke just a tiny bit.

He definitely needed a scolding, but he would take the avoidance while he could get it.

He was surprised into a chuckle. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Bit slow today, but it'll be fine. I got healed up."

Senku sipped his coffee, keeping his hands there, feeling the warmth.

"Yes, you better take it slow today!"

Don't think Inigo won't babysit you all day if he has to, Senku. He'll stalk you like a loyal puppy. This is his speciality.

"Even if you got healed, you don't want to make it worse again! Especially if you went through something as big as getting blown up.. There are a lot of people who would be super shocked by that, you know!" Granted, this is also a very hypocritical lecture, since Inigo is the king of downplaying things. But look, he's very good at applying different standards to other people than to himself.

"Yeah." Senku agreed to taking it slow, although if he meant that, that was up for debate.

Inigo started talking in what seemed to him to be much more quickly and exhuberantly and Senku was...processing.

"Uh." A very coherent answer to that. "It was healed so I don't think it can get worse."

There it was, a delayed reaction but his brain was still working.

Poor Senku, having to deal with this. Especially since Inigo doesn't really have much of a slowing down setting - apparently not even when he himself is pretty tired after everything and really ought to catch up on some sleep.

"You could hurt it again!"

Who knows how. There usually aren't explosions on the train.

But if anyone would cause one through some experiment.. It would probably be Senku, huh.

"So that means it's time to stay away from any explosions." You know, as if that is not a general thing everyone should always be doing.

He nodded slightly, he could get hurt again. "I should go outside to do my experiments yeah."

He gestured. There was no way anyone should let him anywhere off the train at the moment. Or experiment with anything for good measure.

"I don't usually get hit by my own, I'm a master at dodging stuff that could explode. I didn't explode this thing."

"You saying you dodge stuff that can explode doesn't exactly inspire a whole lot of confidence in me.."

Because why is stuff exploding in the first place, Senku! Okay, he'll grant him that the explosion during the mission wasn't Senku's own fault, but please don't cause explosions yourself at any other time.. Please..

"But I'm sure there are enough people concerned about you right now that nothing bad could happen while you're still recovering." Because everyone will make sure he doesn't do anything too dangerous.

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be pestered a lot." He leaned forward, looking tired, but at least most of the injury was gone.

"Hey. I know. You can get me out of here. We can collect more stuff."

Inigo stares at Senku for a moment - but then his jaw drops.

"Wait, what?!" It's as if he can't believe what he's hearing here. At least he's trying to hold back on the volume of his voice a little bit for the sake of Senku's head and his current condition, but he still looks very much caught off guard by those words.

"I can't believe you'd ask me to sneak you out! Do you think I'm not worried about your health?"

Listen, Inigo may overwork himself to the bone, but this is a strictly hypocritical thing. Only he is allowed to do it, none of his friends are!

Oh come on Inigo, you can believe it a little bit.

"Yeah, but as I told you, I'm fine." Senku said, even though that wasn't true, it was probably hard for him to tell his own condition, but too bad.

"There's like a whole day here or something, let's go get some more stuff!"

Quick, Senku was going to escape.

"You're not fine." Inigo says, pointedly. Look, Senku may be doing better now than he was right after the explosion, but Inigo has seen people injured often enough to know that you still need rest after healing if you got injured badly enough in the first place.

"I'll go out there. Tell me if there's anything in particular you need, or anything that's different from the stuff you told me about before. I'll grab it for you."

Inigo didn't really get badly injured while fighting, after all. And while he's tired, sure, he'll be fine. A bit of exhaustion hasn't done him in during years and years of fighting back home, after all.

"I really could go on my own." He groaned and dropped his head on the table. "Fine, whatever." He complained, but there was no heat in it.

"I can't think of much, but I could use some more branches and rocks, actually. I think I've used a bunch of mine. Maybe?" He was trying to think.

At least Inigo is being kind enough here to not gloat his victory. He knows it sucks when you have to stay back because you've been hurt and have to recover, after all, so he actually feels a bit of sympathy for the guy. If anything, he's just glad Senku gave in so easily.

"I'll just keep an eye out for anything useful," he ends up saying. Because he's pretty sure Senku can't remember all the stuff he needs while his head is still not 100% back to normal.. "No worries, I'll be back soon enough. Don't go anywhere in the meantime, or I'll tattle on you!"

To who? Inigo doesn't even know, but he hopes the words are effective enough all the same.

"No don't." Senku complained at that, looking at Inigo from his very comfortable spot where his head was on the table.

"Gen will never let it go." He could tattle, he could tattle very much. Gen would probably turn up at some point and trick him back to bed, but in the meantime he could pretend.

.. wow, Senku. Are you giving him a tattling target that easily? Usually Inigo would have thought of Roland first, he'd probably drag Senku right back too, but with the mood the older guy has been in lately, Inigo wouldn't want to bother him.

But there he goes. The perfect way to keep Senku in here. Sorry, man, it's for your own good. When you're better again, Inigo will let you run around all you want!

"Oh, really? Then you better make sure to stay here, safe in the train!"

He may even wink.

Just a little.

"Hang in there, I promise to bring you something interesting in return! See you later!" And with that, he's already heading out.

He would give him a target willingly. He's too tired and muddled to think through what he just did. It was a clear sign he absolutely should stay put.

"That's not fair." He complained to Inigo's back.

It's quite possible by the time he returned his eyes might've closed, coffee or not.

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Not with a Bang: Conclusion

imagination 13

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