Venn stood quietly on the edge of the group. He felt exhausted, it was hard to even keep his eyes open. But he had to. This was Zip's birthday, he couldn't disappear to sleep.

He took a sip of his water. Quite suddenly, he heard his blood pounding in his ears. His mind felt thick and his thoughts sluggish. He tried to push the feeling away without success. Darkness overtook him and he fell forward.

Zip was the first to react. He ran to Venn, getting there as Venn hit the floor. By some miracle, his glass didn't break. Reed was there second, but Zip shoved him away as Venn went completely rigid. "Keep everyone away."

Reed did as he was told. Venn started convulsing, nearly punching Zip as the short boy turned him on his side. Zip looked to his watch, remaining completely calm as he backed up.

Brielle obviously wanted to get close, but had heard Zip tell Reed to stay back. Giovanni, however, had no such control. He tried to run to Venn.

Reed grabbed Giovanni's arms. "Stay back Gio."

Giovanni struggled in Reed's grip. "What's happening?! You're not even helping him! Let go!"

Zip barely looked over. He was laser focused on Venn. His thrashing slowed, then stopped. He lay there panting, his eyes closed. Tense silence filled the room as Zip carefully approached.

Giovanni turned away and hugged Reed tightly. He was obviously terrified. Reed held him close, watching Zip.

Venn's eyes opened slowly. He looked up at Zip, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What... why am I on the floor?" His voice was quiet and raspy, like he'd just woken up.

Zip checked Venn's pulse. "You had a seizure. Hold still. Don't move. Focus on just breathing. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm dizzy," Venn murmured. "But it's fading."

"Good." Zip waited a couple minutes before he helped Venn sit up.

Venn was paler than usual. He still looked confused and tired. He looked around at the small group, then down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Zip said before anyone could respond. He was the calmest and he didn't even seem to be that surprised. "Since this has never happened before, I'm going to guess that it was probably caused by sleep deprivation."

Venn raised an eyebrow. "That's a thing?"

Zip rolled his eyes. "Yes that's a thing. There's many more worse things that could have happened and I'm frankly surprised you've gone this long without having any of them happen. I mean you get, what, maybe twelve hours of sleep a week? And you've been doing this for how long? Fifteen years?"

Venn looked down at his hands. They were still shaking slightly.

Zip snapped his fingers, making Venn look up again. "Go get some sleep, Venn," he said gently.

"But-" Venn started to object, but stopped. "Alright..."

Zip helped him to his feet, glancing at Brielle. A tip of the head was all he needed for her to come over.

Brielle slid her arm around Venn's waist. She said something quietly and gently guided him toward the stairs.

Giovanni looked up at Reed. "Is he going to be okay?"

Reed smiled. "He'll be fine. He's bounced back from worse."

The celebration was much more subdued after that. Zip decided to stay rather than returning to his home. Nobody objected.

It's always better to be safe than sorry.