(A/N: Don't know if I should've written this instead of canon WH content but I did anyway. Think of this as a mini-AU of the "Holding On" chapter. It's kinda... self-indulgent and it only took me a few days to write. Sorry if you guys don't like it.)

But Seto had had enough. He couldn't take it anymore. His whole body started to shake as he began hyperventilating, drawing in ragged, heaving breaths that made everyone stare at him in concern.

"Seto, please calm down!" Tyler begged. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-!"

Seto couldn't think, couldn't breathe as he backed away from the group. "I just make everything worse, don't I?" he choked out from under his breath, his tears blinding him before he fled the room...

~~~

Annie watched as Tyler kept staring blankly at the spot where Seto had been. "No," he whimpered. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to say that-" He staggered forward in Seto's direction, but Annie grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I'll go talk to him," Annie muttered.

"But I need to apologize!"

"No, that's not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because you're the last person in the world he wants to see right now."

"Annie!" Bodil cried out, horrified.

"What? It's true!"

"You didn't need to say it like that!" Bonks hissed.

Annie looked at Tyler, whose shell-shocked expression was that of a completely shattered man. Okay, maybe that had been a little harsh.

She sighed. "...That's why I'm going to talk to Seto first. He just needs to calm down, that's all. I know what he's going through, I can get through to him. You got that, Tyler?"

Tyler didn't reply. He just continued to stare blankly forward, even when Annie let go of his arm.

Welp. She'd fucked up.

Bonks stepped forward and guided the lost man to a chair. "Annie's got this! She'll talk to Seto, don't worry about it!" she tried to say hopefully.

"Y-Yeah-! Everything will be okay!" Bodil piped up.

Thankfully, the other two were far less blunt. Annie nodded in approval and swiftly left them to handle Tyler. Hopefully, Seto hadn't reached his room yet...

To her surprise, she didn't have to go far before she found him kneeling on the ground.

"There you are," she said as she approached him.

He flinched but didn't look back at her. She went over to him and knelt down beside him.

"I would've expected that kind of outburst to come from me instead of you," Annie admitted. "You've always been the one to keep calm about these things. Yet you suddenly accused all of us, especially Tyler, and I can't understand why. It's just not like you-"

"I'm sorry."

Annie blinked. "What?"

To her surprise, Seto was quivering as he stared down at the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that, please don't hate me-"

"Hate you?" Annie felt a cold unease sink into her stomach.

Seto whimpered, a pitiful sound she'd never heard from him before.

Something was wrong.

"Please- Please don't hate me- Please-" He whispered desperately before covering his mouth with his hands and drawing further into himself. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared blankly forward, utterly terrified and shaking violently.

Something was very wrong.

"Um..." Annie faltered. "Look, no one hates you, okay?"

Seto shut his eyes tightly and shook his head.

"No one hates you! It's true!"

Seto slightly moved his hand away from his mouth. "I ruined everything," he whimpered. "I always ruin everything. And now everyone hates me."

"No, we don't. I can prove it to you!" She got to her feet and offered her hand to him. "Here, get up and I'll-"

"NO!" Seto shrieked before smacking her hand away.

Annie flinched and drew back. "What the hell's gotten into you?!" she shrieked louder than she wanted to.

Seto also flinched like he'd been shocked. "No- Nonono-" he stammered as he scrambled backward, horror etched onto his pale face.

"Annie?"

Annie turned and saw the other three standing there, shocked at what they were seeing.

Seto looked at them as well. "I'm sorry!" he wailed. "I didn't mean to do it!!!"

"It's okay!" Tyler immediately said, relief washing over him. "I forgive you! I know you didn't mean to say those things!"

Annie realized he had completely misinterpreted the situation. "Tyler, wait-"

Tyler rushed over to Seto, but Seto screamed in pure terror and threw his hands over his face.

"DON'T HURT ME!!!"

Tyler stopped, stunned. For a moment, he thought that Slotty had returned, but Seto forced himself to peer up at him with terrified brown eyes.

After a few shocked moments, Seto started to sob. "I'm sorry- I'm so sorry- Please don't hurt me, please..."

"I would never do something like that!" Tyler cried out in horror. "Why would you even think that?!"

But Seto merely shielded himself further by drawing his knees to his chest, still sobbing.

"Annie, what happened?" Bonks demanded.

"I- I don't know," she replied, disturbed by what was going on. "He was already panicking when I got here."

"Did MonoWither say something to him before you got there?" Bodil asked.

"Did we?"

Everyone flinched as MonoWither appeared. "Wow, isn't this an intense situation! The strong and stoic leader, Seto, brought down and reduced to a sobbing coward for seemingly no reason!"

"What did you do to him?!" Tyler shouted.

"Instantly accusing me is so overrated at this point! We didn't do anything! Well, at least not directly!"

"So you did do something!" Bodil said.

"It's his fault for going to the VIP Floor anyway! No one forced him to do that!"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Bonks cried out.

"Everything! You see, the first challenge was to survive a toxic gas! It wasn't fatal, but the effects were pretty nasty!"

Tyler stiffened.

"Oh yeah, Seto told you about it, Tyler! So you already know it forced him to see his worst fears, right?"

"So you gassed him again," Annie muttered, glaring daggers at them.

"Nah, what's the point in doing that? Frankly, we're annoyed this is happening now of all times! Hopefully this isn't canon in some other universe, because this requires us to delay the final trial!"

"Why?! What's wrong with him if you didn't gas him again?!" Bodil asked.

"Well, the gas mostly left his system, but we guess some of it still lingered. Then the stress of almost dying and accusing you guys, especially Tyler, really messed with him. So now he's having a 'relapse' of the effect!"

Tyler looked at Seto, who was still cowering on the floor and sobbing hysterically. "Can't we stop it?"

"Honestly? No. It has to leave his system the natural way. Don't ask why! That's just how the gas works!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Annie asked.

"Umm, you should probably try to get him to the infirmary. He doesn't look too good," MonoWither admitted. "Plus, we think the hallucinations will start intensifying soon-"

Seto suddenly shrieked and slapped his own right arm. "No! Get off of me! No!" He kept smacking his arm, waving it wildly, and swatting at it as though it was on fire.

"Seto!" Tyler cried out, kneeling in front of him. "Please, stop that! You're just hurting yourself!"

"B-B-Bugs-!" Seto stammered out frantically as he scrambled to his feet and started to swipe his hands all over his torso. "Centipedes- They're crawling all over me, help-!!!"

"There are no bugs!" Tyler tried to say.

Seto stared up at him like he'd grown three heads. "NO!!!" he screamed again before suddenly lunging at Tyler, shoving him away. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!!!"

Tyler backed away in a panic. "I don't know what you're seeing, but it's just a hallucination-"

Seto suddenly whipped out his knife. "GET AWAY!!!" he shrieked, swinging his arm to point the knife at everyone. "ALL OF YOU!!! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!"

He was shaking violently, his eyes wide and crazed, and his chest heaved with every frantic breath he drew.

"Okay, okay, we're staying away..." Bodil whimpered as they all stepped back slowly, hands in the air.

"I'm not your SLAVE anymore!" Seto hissed, glaring at them. "I just wanted to be free! I just wanted you to love me!!! But- But you-" Seto suddenly wheezed as he struggled for breath. His eyes glazed over in horror as he dropped the knife.

"What am I doing?" he asked, covering his mouth with his hands and staggering back. "I can't kill my Master. That's not allowed. But I already killed my Master. Now he hates me. Of course he hates me. Master is always right. I'm the one who's always wrong. Wrong, wrong, WRONG-!" Seto wheezed again and clutched at his chest, collapsing to his knees.

"Seto!" Tyler cried out, but they were all too scared to approach him.

"I can't breathe-!" Seto strained desperately for air. "I- I can't-!"

-THWIP!-

A dart hit Seto's neck. Seto flinched and feebly raised his hand to touch it, but it only raised a few inches before his eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the ground.

"Phew!" MonoWither exclaimed. "That worked!"

The others all rushed to Seto.

"Seto..." Tyler whispered in anguish as he rolled the unconscious man over to lie on his back. At least he was breathing normally now.

Bonks reached over to touch his forehead. "His head is really hot!" she said.

"Oh goodie, a fever," MonoWither lamented. "Now our final trial will really be delayed..."

"Who cares about that?!" Annie snapped. "How are we supposed to help him?!

"We should get him to the infirmary!" Bodil suggested.

"But then what do we do?" Bonks asked. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Oh, he'll be sick for awhile," MonoWither muttered. "The hallucinations will lessen over time, but the fear will still be present since that's the whole toxin's schtick. Your main concern is making sure he's calm enough to breathe properly and that he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else. Now, our suggestion is that one person"--MonoWither glanced meaningfully at Tyler--"watches over Seto to make sure those things don't happen. Having too many people runs the risk of him freaking out more. Makes sense?"

"What if Seto hurts him?" Bonks asked.

"Wow Bonks, you really think Seto would hurt his beloved Tyler? We won't stand for this slander against our ship!"

"But that literally almost just happened!" Bodil pointed out.

"That's irrelevant! Won't the power of looove prevent that from happening?"

"Seto's strong and not in his right mind, and adrenaline would just make it worse. If we aren't there to stop him..." Annie trailed off.

"Fine, fine! You have our word that we'll intervene in that case!"

"...Okay, then," Annie said reluctantly.

"Good! We'll get him to the infirmary right away, and someone take his cloak off! It's just making him feel hotter cuz the heat's coming from Seto himself!"

Barely registering MonoWither's words, Tyler gently brushed the hair from Seto's face. "You're going to be okay, I promise," he whispered, unsure if he was saying it because he meant it or just to reassure himself.

"Everything's going to be just fine..."

~~~

Seto didn't wake up in the subsequent hours that passed. Tyler wondered how many times he'd seen Seto's unconscious body at this rate. They'd gotten him out of his cloak and put a damp rag on his forehead in an attempt to relieve his fever. They'd also left a glass of water at the bedside table, since he was clearly losing a lot of fluids from sweating. The crying earlier probably made things worse.

To his surprise, it seemed like everyone had silently agreed to let Tyler look after Seto. He'd felt slightly embarrassed, even tried asking if he was really the best person for the role, but the resulting silence answered his question.

He didn't know how to feel about it. Why were they so certain? Was it just because they'd gotten close? But that didn't mean he was the best option! Knowing him, he'd probably mess something up. What if he only made Seto even more scared? What if he couldn't do anything to help Seto?

What if Seto never got better?

"You're being ridiculous," Annie said immediately after he asked the first question, and that was that.

The others had eventually left the infirmary, not wanting to be there when Seto woke up and overwhelm him as MonoWither had implied would happen.

Tyler was exhausted. The mental and physical stress (especially from climbing up all those stairs with Slotty and walking through the passageway) had gotten to him.

He'd tried to fight it off, wanting to be there for Seto the moment he woke up. But then, after jerking awake on his chair for the fifth time, he realized he'd be no good to Seto like this.

I'll just take a short nap... he told himself as he climbed onto the gurney next to Seto.

It'll only be for a few minutes...

~~~

Someone was shaking him and shouting his name. Tyler jolted awake with a yell, instinctively shoving the person off of him.

Masked person! Masked person! the alarms in his head shrieked.

But instead of that horrid smiling mask, he saw Seto's terrified face.

"Sh-Shit, I'm so sorry..." Tyler said softly, horrified as reality came crashing back. "I didn't mean to do that, I swear-"

"Oh thank God," Seto whispered shakily, tears welling up in his eyes. "I thought they killed you..."

"Huh?"

Seto hiccuped as the tears spilled over. "You weren't waking up- I thought you were dead- I thought they killed you- I thought-!" He started to hyperventilate. "I- I thought I lost you- I thought I lost you forever-"

"Woah, hey..." Tyler got up and gently grasped Seto's shaking frame as the man started to sob. "I'm fine, I'm okay. I was just sleeping, I promise, I'm sorry I made you worry..."

Seto just gripped the front of Tyler's jacket and sobbed in anguish for awhile. "Please don't be dead, Tyler, please, please, please..." he repeated desperately, clutching him as though he would disappear at any moment.

So one of Seto's worst fears was Tyler dying? Tyler couldn't help but feel touched, but that was quickly drowned out by heartache as Seto continued to wail. It was a different side to Seto that he knew never showed up except under the most extreme of situations. Usually Seto bore his pain with stoicism or ran away to break down in solitude. He rarely showed such vulnerability to anyone else. Admittedly, the only other time had only been less than a day ago, when Seto had been so relieved to see that someone had come looking for him after his failed execution.

Now he had a fear toxin running through his system...

Oh, Seto. Why can't life just give you a break?

Suddenly, Seto stilled and looked up at Tyler, a new horror glazing over his eyes. "Th-They got you too?"

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"They got you too," Seto whispered, letting go of Tyler to cover his mouth. "No, no, this can't be happening..."

"It's not happening," Tyler tried to say. "It's just a hallucination-"

"Why did they have to take you too?" Seto asked desperately. "Why couldn't they just hurt me- Why did they have to get you involved?"

"Who are you talking about? Who took me?"

Seto breathed heavily as he looked around, glancing at things Tyler couldn't see. "Th-The Order, of course."

"Oh, no, Seto, they're not-"

"Now's not the time to be in denial," Seto choked out. "They're going to torture you- They're going to cut all your organs out one by one while you're still conscious- Quick, we have to kill you before they hurt you-!"

"No, we don't need to do that!" Tyler yelped, gripping Seto a little harder to keep him still. (CUT OUT MY ORGANS???)

"I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!" Seto wailed.

"How is it your fault?!"

Seto crossed his arms over his heaving chest, gripping himself tightly. "They- They found me somehow- I don't know how but they found me and they took me and they must've taken you too to punish me- They want me to watch you suffer as punishment- Punishment for killing my Master and all those people- They're going to torture you and everyone I care about and all I'll be able to do is just watch- I won't even be able to kill you when that's all you'll be begging for-"

"The Order's not here. They're gone," Tyler said as gently yet firmly as possible, trying to quell the disturbing implications. (Had Seto seen that kind of torture happen to people? God forbid...)

Seto went still and let go of himself, lowering his arms. For a moment, Tyler thought he'd succeeded in convincing him.

"No," Seto said solemnly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "They're back. I should've known they'd come back. No one escapes the Order. No one ever escapes. They always find you in the end. And when they do, they always make you pay what you owe them. Always..."

The fact that Seto wasn't even crying anymore scared Tyler. Was this how he'd lived all these years, worrying in the back of his mind that the Order would suddenly come back and punish him and his friends for what he did?

"Can I hug you?" Tyler asked, feeling foolish the moment the question left his mouth. Seto was spilling his worst fears out to him, and he thought a simple hug could fix anything?

To his surprise, Seto nodded. "Please," he whispered in a hoarse voice.

Tyler had never heard Seto sound so vulnerable before. Without hesitation, Tyler wrapped his arms around Seto and held him tightly. He was a lot smaller and thinner than expected without the cloak. His heart was beating much too fast for Tyler's comfort, and his body was still hot and shivering from the fever. The primal fear running through his veins probably didn't help.

Seto hesitantly raised his arms to hug Tyler back. It was as though his muscles were confused, like they had long forgotten how to make the motion and were trying to remember where to position themselves.

Tyler swore to himself that after this, he would make it his duty to give Seto a lot more hugs. He had to make up for the obvious lack of hugging Seto had had in his life. (With Seto's permission, of course.)

"Is the Order really not here?" Seto asked in a fragile, barely hopeful voice.

"No, they're not here. You're in the infirmary. Do you remember when you were gassed in the VIP Floor?"

It took him a few moments, but Seto nodded slowly.

"Yeah. You're just having a relapse and experiencing your worst fears. It's just a hallucination."

"...So the Order really isn't here?" Seto mumbled. "You're telling the truth?"

"Would I lie to you?" Tyler replied without thinking.

"Of course," Seto said calmly, as though it was an obvious fact. "You always lie to me."

Tyler felt like Seto had somehow reached in his chest and squeezed his heart into an empty pulp. "No I don't..." he said faintly.

"You do, just like everyone. But you lie the most. You lie so much, you even convince yourself you're telling the truth."

"What... What do I lie about?"

"A lot of things..." Seto rested his forehead against Tyler's chest. "Like how you trust me."

"I do."

"No." He laughed half-heartedly. "You've just convinced yourself. Like how you convinced yourself I'm someone enjoyable to be around. Or someone worth your time and energy and... and kindness." Seto choked up and Tyler felt his shoulder dampen with tears.

"But... You are... I swear, I..." Tyler trailed off. What could he even say? Seto just wouldn't believe him. He felt so helpless...

"It's okay," Seto said after a few moments. Tyler could hear his bitter smile. "That's what I like about you. The fact that you go through the effort to lie to me and yourself... Just to be nice... I like that a lot. I like you a lot. You make me feel safe... even though I know I freak you out..."

Tyler couldn't speak. He felt frozen in anguish. How could he hold all this care for Seto in his heart that he often had to restrain just so Seto wouldn't feel weirded out, yet Seto wouldn't believe any of it if he told him? Without really thinking about it, he started rubbing comforting circles across Seto's back with one hand, while the other reached up to gently stroke through Seto's curly locks, as though the actions would prove to Seto that he wasn't lying about how much he was worth to him.

Seto seemed to melt further in Tyler's embrace, liking the soothing actions, as he closed his eyes. "Feels nice," he admitted, his voice muffled by Tyler's jacket.

Tyler couldn't help but smile. "Yeah?"

Seto nodded. "Mmhm..."

For awhile, they just stood like that in peace. Time seemed to stand still.

Then Seto started to tremble more violently.

"Seto?" Tyler asked, concerned.

"Sorry," Seto mumbled as he let go of Tyler and pushed him back. "I'll stop bothering you. You can- You can stop pretending now."

Tyler's heart sank. "I'm not pretending, I promise-"

"It's cuz you're an actor," Seto mumbled. "That's why you're so good at lying to me. That's how you can convince me you care sometimes. That's the only reason."

"Why would I act for something like this?"

"I don't know. You have to be. There's no other explanation. You probably hate my guts but you're just pretending like you don't because you're too nice for your own good." Seto started to gasp for breath. "No, wait- I don't want you to hate me- How do I make you stop hating me?"

"I don't hate you!"

"Yes you do! Stop lying! Stop- Stop it-!" Seto suddenly wheezed as he stepped back and sat down on his bed, clutching his chest.

"What's wrong?!' Tyler asked hysterically.

"I can't breathe-!" Seto choked out, tears streaming down his face as his chest heaved violently. "I- I can't-! Help me, please-!"

"Okay, okay, um... uh..."

Great, now they were both starting to panic. Pull it together, Tyler!

"Let's- um- Let's take some deep breaths, okay? We'll do it on my count."

Seto nodded frantically.

"Okay. Let's inhale for four seconds, hold it for four seconds, and exhale for four seconds. Ready? We'll do it on my count. One..."

Tyler counted, trying to keep his voice steady as he guided Seto through it. Seto shivered with each breath, but his eyes were glued to Tyler as he struggled to control himself.

It seemed to be working, but then Seto started to hyperventilate again. "No, it's not working-! I still can't breathe-!"

"It is, Seto, I promise! You just have to keep trying!"

Seto stared down at his lap with wide eyes, his face strangely pale. "I feel sick," he whimpered, touching his abdomen. "Like I'll throw up."

MonoWither didn't mention that being a side effect...

"That's- um- probably just the panic attack. It'll go away, you just need to breathe with me, okay? Here, you should drink some water, you're probably all dehydrated-"

Seto's breath hitched as he looked up at Tyler. "You poisoned me."

He flinched. "Wh-What?!"

"You did- I should've known, that soup you gave me- You must've-" Seto doubled over, dry heaving. "Nonono- I don't wanna die-" he sobbed out. "Please Tyler, please don't do this, I don't want to die like this, I'll do anything for you, anything, I promise, just don't let me die..."

"You're not going to die! I swear, I didn't poison you! I mean, I fed you hours ago, right? Poison wouldn't take that long!"

Tyler didn't actually know if that was right, but this seemed to calm Seto down a little. "That's true..." he mumbled faintly. "But- But maybe you injected something when I was asleep-"

"No, I didn't. Why would I do something like that?"

Seto choked out a laugh. "What else is poison for? To get rid of me, of course."

Tyler recalled MonoWither mentioning something about how Seto had been poisoned by the Order, leading Slotty to fight back for his life. Now it all made sense.

"If I wanted that, I would've just left you down there after your execution," Tyler tried to rationalize.

"Maybe you changed your mind, I mean- I yelled at you and accused you of being the Puppetmaster..."

Oh, right. He'd completely forgotten about that.

"I'm sorry- I know it's not you- I know you're innocent- I don't know why but I just-"

"It's okay. I forgive you."

Seto shook his head violently. "No! Stop that! I'm a horrible friend! I don't deserve forgiveness!!!" To Tyler's horror, Seto started to beat at his own head.

"Stop!" Tyler cried out, but Seto didn't listen. He didn't want to touch Seto without permission, but he had no choice. He grabbed Seto's wrists and tried to force them away.

Seto immediately went still in his grasp. "Nonono- I'm sorry- Don't hurt me- Please don't hurt me Tyler..." he sobbed, shrinking into himself and trying to shield his face with his elbows.

Tyler's blood ran cold. He knew Seto was much stronger than him. He was no match for Seto in a fight. If he ever, for some ungodly reason, tried to attack Seto, Seto would immediately beat him down. Yet Seto was somehow terrified of Tyler hurting him, and he was trying to defend himself rather than resist. This wasn't like Slotty, who had his Master's authority preventing him. Or... was it?

"I'll be better," Seto whimpered. "I'll be a better person, a better friend, a better everything. I'll do anything you ask, I'll make myself useful, I'll make myself worth your kindness, just... I know I don't deserve it, but please be nice at least one last time..."

Tyler's whole body shook as he let go of Seto. Seto immediately turned away from Tyler and curled up into a fetal position on the bed. He trembled and sobbed fervent apologies to Tyler into the mattress, convulsing with each gasp for breath.

Tyler sat down on Seto's bed next to him, his hands clutched on his lap as he watched him. There was a painful lump in his throat. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said faintly. "I'd never do something like that to you, ever. It already hurts seeing you like this, I can't imagine ever wanting to hurt you myself. I want so badly to take all your pain away..."

He didn't know if Seto was listening, but he didn't care.

"You are a good person. I don't know how you don't see it. I-" Tyler laughed and ran his fingers through his own hair. "I wouldn't even be here without you, you know? You've almost always been there for me. I appreciate that. I appreciate you."

He wasn't sure if he was just imagining things, or if Seto was calming down a little. He'd stopped sobbing, at least.

"You... mean so much to me. I care about you so much. You're my best friend. I trust you. Maybe that scares you, but... I really don't expect anything from you. I don't want you to change. And... All those people who thought otherwise, I'm not a sadist, but... I think they got what they deserved. Because who you are... It's more than enough for me." Tyler's breath hitched as his tears spilled over.

Seto slowly sat up and turned to look at Tyler in disbelief. His freckled face was a tear-stained, ruddy mess, but his eyes were shimmering with emotion.

"D-Do you really mean that?" Seto asked in a shaky voice.

Tyler's eyes didn't leave Seto's as he smiled. "Of course I do."

"You're not... lying?"

"I'm not lying. I've never lied to you about this stuff. I really do care."

Seto's face lit up with an almost childlike delight. Then, to Tyler's surprise, Seto suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around his chest, burying his face in the crook of his neck. "Don't leave me," he begged. "Everyone who cares about me always leaves, but please... Don't leave me too... Don't leave..."

Tyler released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I won't leave you," he replied, hugging Seto back and resting his chin fondly on his soft, curly locks. "Believe me."

"Don't leave me," Seto repeated feverishly, clutching at him with desperation. "D-Don't leave me, Tyler, please don't leave..."

"I'm here to stay," Tyler vowed. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't... Don't leave... Don't..." Seto started to sag against Tyler as he drifted off, but then he jerked awake. "Don't leave."

"...I won't, but you should really get some rest," Tyler admitted, letting go of Seto with one hand. This, however, sent Seto into a panic.

"Don't leave!" Seto pleaded, pressing further into him. "Don't leave me!"

Tyler tried to pry Seto's fingers off of him and get off the bed. "I'm not, I promise, I'll stay with you-!"

"NO!!!" Seto howled as he moved his legs so he was straddling Tyler. He then pinned his shoulders to the wall and looked at him, crazed desperation in his eyes. "DON'T LEAVE ME!!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

Even though he was sick, Seto was still much stronger than Tyler, who was now trapped in a... not-so-platonic position. "I'm- I'm not leaving the room! I promise, I'm not. It's just that you need to sleep. You have to rest. You're exhausted, see? Your fever's still going..." He found the discarded rag and tried wiping away the sweat that was making Seto's hair cling to his burning face.

The sick man let out a content moan at the cool touch and almost swayed off to the side, but steadied himself. He shook his head and tightened his grip on Tyler. "Don't leave me. I need you. Stay."

Tyler's face blushed red. How could he say no to that? "Well, um... I guess there's no other choice..."

It required a lot of coercing and words of reassurance, but Tyler finally managed to get Seto to let go of him so he could drink some water. Then, he made them both lie down. Seto draped himself over his torso, still babbling delirious pleas to stay as he clung to him like a koala.

A terrified and sick koala, Tyler reminded himself, as he held Seto tighter and stroked his back to help him relax. Still, he couldn't help but find it a little endearing.

Slowly, Seto regained some clarity. "Tyler?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah?"

"How do I know you're real?"

"...Why wouldn't I be?"

"You feel real." Seto grasped at Tyler's jacket to confirm it. "But the situation doesn't feel real."

"Do you... want it to be real?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, I feel the same way," Tyler admitted.

"You do?"

He nodded. "But I guess... If you wake up and I'm still here, that means it's real. Right?"

"...Right..." Seto nodded in satisfaction as he closed his eyes and rested against him. "Promise you'll stay?"

"I promise."

Seto smiled the brightest Tyler had ever seen him smile, as though all his stress had been lifted off of him like a feather in the wind.

Tyler wondered if his heart could float out of his chest.

A few moments later, Seto's breathing evened out. He was asleep.

Oh, this had to be real. Please let this be real, Tyler begged. But even he was starting to feel like it was just some exhausted dream...

He yawned and sank further into the pillow, still holding Seto dutifully.

He'd deal with it when he woke up...

~~~

Someone was giggling.

"You're going to wake them up!" someone hissed. That sounded like Bonks.

"Yeah, shut it!" someone else whispered. That sounded like Bodil.

"But it's adorable! How can we possibly contain our excitement for our OTP?!"

That sounded like-!

Tyler's eyes shot open and saw MonoWither peering over them.

"Ah!" Tyler flinched.

"You woke him up!" Bodil complained.

"Well sorry!" MonoWither said, rolling their eyes.

"Just go away before you wake up Seto too, will you?" Annie muttered. "He needs his rest."

"Mmph?"

Someone was gently stirring against him. Tyler looked down and saw Seto clinging onto him.

Oh. Oh my god. It was real. And now everyone was watching.

"Guess that's our cue to leave!" MonoWither cackled before leaving.

Seto rubbed his eyes and yawned, pushing himself off of Tyler. "Who's leaving...?" he mumbled before opening the one eye he wasn't rubbing. He froze when he saw Tyler staring back up at him.

Tyler felt all the blood rush to his face. "G-Good morning?" he choked out with an awkward smile.

Was it even morning???

"...Oh my god."

Yep. Tyler wanted to die.

"That was- That was real???" Seto climbed off of Tyler and turned around to see the other three standing there. "EEK!" He covered his face with his hands.

"We didn't mean to bother you!!!" Bodil cried out.

"Yeah, we told MonoWither not to wake you up!" Bonks said.

"It's not what it looks like!!! Go away!!!" Seto wailed.

"All right, we're leaving now," Annie said as she pushed them both out of the infirmary. But Tyler saw her wink at him and flash a thumbs-up before leaving herself.

Seto was still sitting there, face hidden in his hands.

"...Um... I'm so sorry about that..." Tyler said, laughing nervously. Why was he laughing??? This wasn't funny!!!

"...This is another hallucination, right?" Seto demanded.

Tyler couldn't help but feel his heart sink. "No, it's real. Sorry."

Seto exhaled shakily. "Where's my cloak?"

"It's over there, you can... Actually, I'll go get it for you..." Tyler shuffled out of bed and walked over to the door where his cloak was hanging. He got it and walked back.

Seto glanced briefly at Tyler before grabbing the cloak and putting it on. "Let's just forget about this, okay? Forget this ever happened." He was avoiding Tyler's gaze. He was ashamed.

"...Okay. Already forgotten." Why did his voice sound so hollow? This wasn't about him and his stupid feelings! This was about Seto and how absolutely uncomfortable he felt!

Seto clutched the edges of his hood and hunched over. "...God, I'm a mess," he mumbled, lowering the hood even further over his face.

"No you're not. You were sick. You didn't know what you were doing."

"I did know. I remember what happened. I knew what I was doing, what I was saying, what I wanted..." Seto shook his head. "It's not an excuse. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It's not like you chose for the gas' effects to relapse."

"I- I can't keep doing this to you, though."

"Doing what?"

Seto shrank further into his hood and mumbled something.

"What?"

"...Making you look after me."

"That's... not a bad thing..."

Seto cringed. "It's irresponsible."

"Like I said, it's not like you chose for this to happen."

"I chose for other things, though. Like the time I almost starved."

"W-Well, you... you could've told us that earlier, but that also wasn't your choice. It would've happened sooner or later with a motive like that."

"Well, what about after that? When I almost drowned? And then Steven felt the need to sacrifice himself? And- And then-" Seto shook his head. "And then there was when I escaped my execution and once again, you had to look after my sorry self. You even had to deal with Slotty."

"...None of those things were really your fault, though. I don't get it. I chose to look after you. It was my decision."

"Yeah, well, you're nice." Seto laughed bitterly. "I'm taking advantage of you at this point. I'm making you cater to my stupid wants that aren't important."

Tyler sat down in front of Seto on the adjacent bed. "Seto... I care about you. I want to help you."

Seto stiffened.

"That's not you taking advantage of me. That's not me being nice. That's just... what people who care about you do. They help you when you can't help yourself. You did the same for Bodil, didn't you? When he was injured?"

"That's different."

"It's really not."

"Yeah, well, I don't need your pity," Seto spat out, glaring at Tyler. "My fever's gone, I can take care of myself now. Go find some other weak person to look down on." He flinched and looked down at his lap again. "Wh-Why did I say that? I didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry. Why am I such a mess?"

"It's okay."

"Stop saying that! I don't have an excuse to act like a jerk to you after you put so much effort into looking after me."

"I don't think you're a jerk. You're just... not used to people taking care of you, I guess."

Seto laughed sadly. "It's that obvious, huh?"

"You lived in a house in the woods all by yourself, so..."

"Yeah. Ever since I left the Order... It's always just been me looking after myself. If I got sick or hurt... I had to solve it on my own." Seto glanced briefly at Tyler only to wince at his sad expression. "It wasn't that bad. I was pretty good at it."

"Maybe. But... I don't know. You shouldn't have had to do all that. You deserve better than that."

Seto looked away, flustered. "You think so?"

"Of course. I mean, jeez. You already look after everyone here. It's the least we could do."

"It just feels embarrassing," Seto admitted. "Like I'm a child. Like I can't even take care of myself despite being an adult."

"Well... You could think of it as my new job," Tyler joked.

"What?"

"I'm promoting myself from your annoying assistant to your annoying nurse."

Seto snorted. "Stop."

"I may not be medically licensed, but..." Tyler couldn't help but giggle. "...but I am- I see you laughing-! I am licensed to diagnose you when you're feeling down-!"

Seto shoved Tyler's shoulder as he finally burst into laughter. "Well am I sick right now, Nurse Tyler?"

"I don't know if you are, but if you are, the treatment I recommend is a hug."

Seto stopped laughing and turned red again.

Wow, did he say that out loud??? That was the lamest, cheesiest thing he'd ever said in his life!

"Um- That was- Um-"

"I know you're joking, but..." Seto fumbled for words. "Just to clarify, when I was sick, did I ask for a hug?"

"Uh... Technically I asked first, but you said you wanted one. So I did."

"You didn't need to."

"Well you looked like you needed one."

"No one needs a hug. It's not like I would've died without one."

Tyler sighed. "Seto, you're allowed to want nice things from other people."

Seto pursed his lips as he stewed on that for a bit. "I guess... It's like you said. I'm not... used to it. I'm not used to thinking that's okay." He sank a little lower. "I'm not used to thinking... that's not weakness. When I woke up and realized I was sleeping with you like that in front of everyone... that I really said all those embarrassing things to you... I felt like the world's most pathetic idiot. Like you and the others wouldn't respect me anymore."

Tyler stared at him sadly. "You're only human, Seto. If we lost respect for you based on something like that, that would be on us."

"...I guess I haven't been doing a good job of acting human, then. If hugging is human nature."

"Well... What about now?"

"Huh?"

Tyler hesitated before pressing on. "Is a hug okay right now?"

To his relief, Seto laughed and smiled a little. "If you want, I guess."

"Well I'm asking you if you want it."

"I..." Seto's eyebrows narrowed in concentration as he swallowed. "I... do. I... want a hug."

You would've thought he was admitting to murder...

Tyler grinned and leaned over, hugging Seto. "Better?"

Seto chuckled as he hugged Tyler back. "Better."

"That's good."

"Yeah? I'm starting to wonder if you're just insistent on hugging me because you want a hug."

"No!" Tyler said quickly.

Seto smirked and buried his face further into Tyler's chest. "Sure... I see right through you..."

"It's not my fault you're so huggable!"

He choked. "H-Huggable?!"

"Yes," Tyler said smugly. "You're the world's most huggable sorcerer."

"You're lucky I'm too tired to move," Seto replied. "Though I guess MonoWither will come bother us soon..."

"Who cares?"

"Well, we do have an important trial coming up..."

"Okay. You're saying I can't hug you during the investigation?"

"We're supposed to be serious about this!"

"How dare you accuse me of not taking this seriously! Hugging is very serious business," Tyler said in as snooty of a voice as possible.

Seto laughed before sighing, his smile turning bittersweet. "Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thanks," Seto murmured. "Thanks... for everything. I'm glad I have you with me. I should've said so earlier, but... I really do appreciate what you do for me."

Tyler wondered if Seto could feel his heart skip a beat. "Y-Yeah. No problem. If you ever need anything..."

He looked down at Seto and smiled. If only he could preserve this moment between them forever.

"...don't be scared to ask."