Chapter Text
Merasmus stomped down the steps of his castle as hard as his fluffy slippers would allow.
"Who dares invade the sacred sanctum of Merasmus, the all-powerful wizard!" he shouted out towards his library where the suspicious sounds had come from. "Soldier, if it's you, you better not have broken a window to get in again!"
He threw open the door to his library with his eyes blazing, a curse at hand to lob at the roommate he'd been cursed with. Instead, he saw a tall, straight-backed figure with one of his tomes in hand, looking down at the pages. At the sound of his entrance, he looked up at Merasmus with a cheery grin.
"Hello, Merasmus!" Medic waved to him like this was entirely normal. Of course, if it wasn't Soldier, it had to be one of his equally irritating teammates. What had he done to deserve this? Well, he'd actually done a wide assortment of evil things and sold what passed for his soul to whatever hellish lord would take it for his dark powers, but surely this was excessive. "You really have an astounding collection!"
Merasmus pointed a gnarled finger at him, shouting with righteous fury. "Merasmus's forbidden tomes cannot be viewed with human eyes! The secrets within will tear your flesh asunder!"
"This one is really good." Medic looked back down to the book as if Merasmus hadn't spoken, turning a page with that same infuriatingly chipper smile. "It goes into so much detail about casting spells! I could probably cast some myself now!" He giggled at the thought, the awful pest.
"You put that book away! Such knowledge is not meant for foolish mortals!"
"I like this one here." Medic pointed at one section of the page as he ignored him, like there was any way he could make Merasmus angrier. "Fireballs! Oohoo, the things you could with these! Ah, I love magic!"
"How did you even get in here!" Merasmus shouted, the dramatic flames and wind around him dying a little as he succumbed to much more mortal fury. "My castle is protected with a hundred deadly curses! I even had a guy rig up a burglar alarm!"
"Soldier gave me a key," Medic said, still not looking up, as he flipped another page. "Can I borrow this?"
Merasmus reached out with a tendril of green magiplasm to yank the book out of Medic's hands. "You have taunted the dark wizard Merasmus long enough! Now you shall pay the price!"
"Oh, are you going to read that one? Well, this one was also interesting..." Medic turned back to the shelves, a hand outstretched to take another book. Merasmus reared back, the dramatic wind and flames around roaring back to life. The effect was somewhat diminished when it was his bathrobe billowing instead of his normal cloak, but he was too angry to care.
"I lay a curse upon you!" Merasmus pointed at him again, hovering somewhat in the air with flame flowing from his eyes, lighting the room with a sickly green. "A curse among curses! A curse... unto death!"
"Ooo, a curse!" Medic looked back to him, still smiling. "What kind of curse?"
"A wizard never curses and tells!"
"Oh, but how am I going to know what it does?" Medic looked a little disappointed, tilting his head as he rested a hand on his cheek. "Will it be physical? Mental? Luck-related?"
"It will destroy your life and all those you hold dear! You will beg for the sweet release of death!"
"Just a little hint?"
"Fool! Brazbo Barrabus!" A bolt of green energy shot from his fingertips to strike Medic directly in the chest. He startled a little at it, his hands naturally going to where it had impacted to investigate. "Your suffering shall be eternal!"
"Was that it?" Medic patted his chest, then looked himself over. "I don't feel any different."
"Oh, you will feel it! Merasmus made sure of that!" In lieu of his cape, Merasmus pulled his bathrobe closer around himself. "You will rue the day you toyed with such dark powers!"
"Oh, I've toyed with dark powers before and have yet to do any rueing." Medic waved a careless hand, then turned back to the bookshelf. "Can I borrow this one-"
Meramus opened a portal beneath Medic's feet that would hopefully dump him out into a ditch somewhere before he stomped over to his bookshelf to replace his books, muttering to himself.
"For the rent I pay, I should not have to put up with this..."
---
Medic did indeed get dumped into a ditch, but it wasn't the first time and it didn't bother him unduly. He watched carefully for signs of a curse for the next few days and to his disappointment he noticed nothing. The spells Merasmus had cast on them on the battlefield were always temporary and very obvious. What kind of curse was subtle? And more importantly, how was he supposed to study it if he couldn't even detect any effects?
Finally, something happened. He'd been sitting in the kitchen beside Heavy as they were having lunch. Heavy was talking about Sasha and a dream he'd had about her, and Medic was nodding politely and zoning out thinking about his birds in spite of his best efforts not to.
"Doctor was in dream too," Heavy said, which jerked Medic back to the present. He felt his heart skip a beat - showing up in Heavy's dreams was unusual.
"Really? What was I doing?" Medic leaned his head on one hand to try and look non-chalant.
"Was there to look at Sasha and make sure she was not sick," Heavy said, as if this was normal, and Medic held back a sigh of disappointment. He'd been hoping for something a little more... well, more like he'd hoped for a little less gun. "Was nice to see you there. I knew Sasha would be in safe hands."
That caught his attention though. He felt a little tremor of adrenaline as he rolled the words around in his head. "You trusted me with Sasha?"
"In the dream, I did this," Heavy said, a little guarded now.
"And it made you happy?"
"In the dream, it did this," Heavy said, with an even warier tone. He was like a parent warning someone away from his daughter. It was endearing in its own way.
"Ah, that sounds nice." Medic smiled back at him to try and put him at ease, that little bit of adrenaline running down to make his fingertips in his gloves feel cold, and then he felt an odd itch in his throat.
He coughed, but that itch didn't stop... it felt like something was lodged in there. Ugh, he hated this feeling! He coughed again, more forcefully, and he felt whatever it was move, but it still refused to come up. He felt Heavy's hand on his back, his voice warm with concern.
"Doctor is alright? You drink down wrong tube?"
Medic wanted to respond but he could only manage a strained wheeze. With each struggling breath he managed to draw in, he coughed it out almost immediately, desperately. Heavy patted his back.
"Doctor! You need help?"
Medic could feel it moving a little more in his throat as he coughed harder, his chest spasming and aching with it, panic starting as it was getting harder and harder to breathe. He almost had it, just a little more...!
Heavy's hands held him tight in concern, and with another body-wracking cough, Medic finally spat whatever it was on the table. He was too desperate to get it out to think about how rude that would be. He panted for breath thankfully once his throat was clear, gulping it down as he tried to still the trembles from the effort.
"Hoo, that was unpleasant!" He adjusted his glasses, glancing at Heavy to see him staring at the table with wide eyes and a hard line for a mouth.
Medic followed his gaze. About four large yellow flower petals rested there, along with one leaf.
They both stared at it in silence for a few seconds, and then Medic leaned over it to get a better look. He prodded it delicately with his finger. As far as he could tell, they were ordinary petals.
"Doctor ate flowers...?" Heavy asked, confused but not entirely disbelieving. Did he really think Medic would just eat a flower? Well... it depended on the flower, he supposed.
"I did not!" Medic poked at the petals some more, the exhaustion from his coughs fading now into a more natural excitement. "Ooo, how fascinating! Why did I cough up flower petals?" He snapped his fingers. "Oh, this must be the curse!"
"Curse?"
"Oh, Merasmus cursed me." Medic leaned back in his chair, regarding the petals with one hand to his chin.
"Old wizard cursed you? Why?" After a few moments, Heavy gave him a severe look. "What did you do?"
"I just looked through his library! He has an amazing collection, you know." Medic had no idea why Heavy, or anyone, would have a problem with any of this. "He didn't want me reading through it for some reason. He's so selfish! I can see why Soldier has such issues with him."
"And he cursed you just for looking at his books?" Heavy didn't sound pleased at this information, no doubt because he was offended on Medic's behalf at him being so unfairly targeted for such benign behavior. "What was curse?"
"That's the thing! I don't know! He didn't explain it!" Medic turned to him with a smile. "But now I have a clue!" He looked down at his chest, touching the center of it with a few fingertips. "Did the flower petals manifest directly in my throat, or are they growing in my lungs? Oh, I have to investigate immediately!"
The rest of his lunch forgotten, Medic got up and headed for the infirmary with a spring in his step, while Heavy watched him go with a shake of his head.
---
Heavy watched Medic carefully throughout the rest of the day, and fortunately everything seemed to be alright. The battle that day went fine, the two of them working together without issue, and with a victory under their belts, they were all in high spirits afterwards. Heavy kept his eye on him at the post-match party, but Medic seemed entirely normal.
He was catching more of his smiles though, more of the way his eyes lit up when he was interested, more of the stiff movements of his hands that slowly softened after a few beers into more fluid, flamboyant flourishes. There were lots of little things about him like that when he looked.
At least Medic didn't seem particularly bothered by Heavy staring at him. Either he hadn't noticed or he knew that Heavy was looking for signs of the curse, which probably pleased him.
The party was in full swing, music and shouts and laughter filling up the empty hallways of the base. Everyone was clapping for Engineer and Spy, their arms hooked as Engineer spun them in a circle with a happy woop and Spy looked like he wanted to die. Heavy sat beside Medic on the couch, laughing heartily at Spy's misery, and he set one hand down on something warm and soft.
A glance down revealed he'd set it on Medic's thigh, and he pulled it back with a quick disarming laugh. Medic grinned back at him, his face red, laughing and then his breath caught. His eyes widened, he pressed a fist to his chest, and sure enough, he started coughing again.
The others didn't notice at first, but when it didn't stop, gradually attention was drawn to him.
"Doc, you okay?" Scout called out to him.
"The curse!" Medic managed to wheeze through gasping breaths, and he sounded delighted. At least, as much as one could when coughing their lungs out.
"Doctor!" Heavy really didn't like how it sounded; these coughs rasped even deeper, shaking his body. He patted his back with more force now, hoping he could knock whatever was in his throat loose. Every second Medic spent bent over in wracking spasms felt like an eternity, and he could hear murmurs of concern all around them.
"Is he goin' tae be okay?"
"Should we do somethin'?"
"Give him some harder whacks, son!"
This time, Medic held out his cupped hands as he finally coughed it out, and a battered, but intact, daisy bloom tumbled out of his mouth.
"What the hell!" Scout reeled back with a flail of his arms, nearly falling off the other couch he was sitting on and almost clocking Pyro in the face, which got him some angry mmphs. "What the hell is that!"
"Uh... Doc, you been eatin' flowers?" Engineer had his hands on his hips, although with his eyes covered it was difficult to tell if he was concerned or disapproving. Everyone else had landed on confused.
"No!" Medic's attention was entirely caught on the flower in his hands. He carefully turned it this way and that, inspecting it from all angles. "Merasmus cursed me!" As if this was the best thing in the world.
"Cursed ye?" Demoman sounded offended on his behalf. Of course he wouldn't like curses. "Ye been readin' some books ye shouldn't?"
"Yes, actually! What a good guess!" Medic beamed at him before looking back to the flower. "Ooo, this one is intact! Are they going to get bigger as the curse progresses? Does a curse progress...?" He tapped his chin with one finger in thought. "Perhaps it'd be better thought of it as a malady...?"
"That's the curse? Coughing up flowers for no reason? Lame!" Scout leaned back on the couch, his hands behind his head, now trying very hard to appear unbothered by all of this. Pyro watched him silently until he scooted a tiny bit away from them.
"I'm not sure what he cursed me with!" Medic tugged, gently, on the petals to see if they'd come off the bud, but they stayed attached. It was in remarkably good shape for having been stuck in Medic's throat. Heavy found himself wondering if it had just appeared there after all. Or... "He didn't explain it, the tease."
"How many of these flowers have you coughed up?" Spy asked. He looked clearly relieved that he'd been saved from yet another dreaded hoe-down. "How long has this been going on?"
"Oh, just this one and one before. Well, that one wasn't a flower exactly, it was just petals." Medic poked at the center of the flower. "This one is complete though! Oh, maybe it's getting worse!" He again sounded delighted at the prospect.
"You're breathin' okay?" Engineer said, settled on concerned about this entire thing. No one was sharing Medic's enthusiasm for whatever this was.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine! Well... when I'm not coughing." Medic started looking through his pockets for something. "It's a shame I'm not a botanist! I'm not sure if the past petals were from this type of flower or not... maybe I'm manifesting different types of flowers randomly!"
"Doesn't seem like much of a curse to me." Sniper had his arms crossed, slouched deep into the oldest and softest armchair. It had the habit of suddenly giving out and sucking whoever was sitting in it into an awkward pile of cushions and wood. Most nobody chanced it but Sniper. "If you made 'im mad enough to curse you, then you'd think he'd make it a real whopper."
"How mad was wizard?" Heavy asked, frowning.
"Oh, he was furious!" Medic carefully set the flower bloom on his thigh so he could look through his pockets more effectively. "He said, hmm, what was it? Something about suffering eternally and cursing me unto death, destroying me and everyone I love..."
"Oh, he always says that." Soldier shook his head dismissively, and he probably rolled his eyes although it was impossible to tell under his helmet. "Just ignore him! He's always talking."
"He wouldn't even lend me some of his books! Some wizards are so selfish." Medic finally pulled out a small notebook from one of the pouches on his belt, then began looking around for something to write with.
"Why would ya want some of his books?" Scout said with clear distaste for the entire concept of the written word.
"I want to learn more about magic! It has so many possibilities!"
"Like making Doctor cough up flowers." Heavy crossed his arms with a frown. This did not have the intended effect as Medic just kept smiling.
"Yes, exactly! Oh, I can't wait to see how this turns out!"
"S'pose he didn't tell ye how to break the curse, did he?" Demoman sounded very skeptical.
"He didn't really tell me anything about it. Wizards!" Medic shrugged with a scoff, then fished a small pencil out of the same pouch. He began writing busily, taking regular glances at the bedraggled flower.
"Soldier, you are still living with wizard?"
"Affirmative!" Soldier thumped a fist against his chest. "He is the worst roommate! He refuses to complete even the basic regimental drills and he will not mop the floor, even after he drops his potions all over it!"
"Think you can ask him what he did t' Medic, exactly?" Engineer jumped in ahead of Heavy, which was a tad annoying, but he let it go. "'less you think one of us might have a better chance a' gettin' the answer outta him..."
"I accept this mission!" Soldier saluted. "I will report back with my findings the next time I encounter the lollygagger!"
"So, you have only coughed up two flowers so far?" Spy took a drag from his cigarette. "Too few to narrow down the cause, yes?"
"Ja, that's true." Medic poked at the flower with the pencil before going back to writing. "It'd be easier if I could trigger it on demand, then I could gather more efficient data on it..."
"Doctor has done x-ray on himself?"
"Oh, to look inside my lungs? Yes, I did with Archimedes' help, but I didn't see anything at the time." He looked up thoughtfully. "Perhaps now though with this second flower there will be something noticeable."
"Do you think this will affect your performance in battle?" Spy said. "If so, perhaps we should inform the Administrator."
"Well, it hasn't so far. Perhaps it will though!" Medic was still grinning wildly.
"Does Doctor want to look at x-ray now? Heavy can help you."
"Oh, yes! That's a good idea! And I can put this somewhere safe..." He put his notebook away and scooped up the bloom in one gloved hand. On the other couch, Pyro looked at him with a disappointed mmph. Medic made a questioning sound, and Pyro's shoulders slumped.
Engineer came over and gave them a pat on the shoulder. "He's gotta take a good look at it, pal. Maybe later he'll let you burn it. Right, Doc?"
"Oh, yes." Medic waved a hand. "If I don't need it you can have it." Although there was a bit of an edge to it. Heavy got the impression that Medic was lying, and he found that more likely. Why would he give up such a unique specimen to be burnt that easily?
On the other hand, no one really wanted to make Pyro angry. Engineer's promise, whether or not it was actually going to happen, seemed to soothe them though.
"Let's go, Heavy!" Medic stood up, bright and cheery although Heavy wondered how genuine it was, and he followed dutifully behind him.
"Well, considering what time it is, I think it's best we all-" He heard Spy say, then yelp.
"Do-si-do!" Engineer shouted, the clapping started up again, and Spy groaned miserably. Well, at least Medic's coughing hadn't killed the party entirely.
---
Medic set the flower down carefully on his desk in the infirmary, then cast about to look for an empty jar. He wanted to preserve this, as he had to preserve all of these specimens. Imagine burning them! Well, Pyro didn't need to know he had no intention. Hopefully when well distracted, they'd forget about the entire matter.
He found another jar the same size as the last, and he carefully placed the flower inside. He set the two next to each other. The singular petals and leaf looked much smaller than the full bloom. How curious! How had it maintained its shape in his throat? Under the strength of his coughing, surely it would have fallen apart? Had he swallowed any petals in the process without even realizing?
"Doctor?" Heavy stood behind him, that comforting looming presence he so enjoyed. With that feeling of safety came a corresponding feeling of freedom - nothing was going to harm him while Heavy was around, which meant he could do anything with the promise that he'd be fine. Theoretically, anyway.
"Look at them, Heavy!" Medic crouched down to to get eye-level with the jars, and Heavy set his hands on his knees to kneel down to look. "Already, the kind of flower has changed significantly! Do you think this indicates a sharp increase in size as the malady continues?"
"Malady...?" Heavy said. "This is word for sickness?"
"Well... it is a curse, but it feels right to call it a malady for now. It has a biological component and is attached to such a common immune system response. Perhaps there are other symptoms I haven't noticed?" At the thought, Medic straightened up and shed one glove to hold his hand to his forehead. "Hmm... I don't feel warm..."
"If it is sickness, let me see." Heavy set one hand on his shoulder to turn him towards him, then rested another gently over Medic's forehead. His hand was huge and warm, the palms of it rough against his skin, worn down from long years and long hours spent with Sasha on the field. Medic went still, everything in him tense for a few moments, his breathing suddenly a little loud in his ears.
And there, he felt it again, that tickle in his throat. He coughed, then fished through his coat again to find his notebook. "Ah!" He gasped out, his hands jerking and shaking with the strength of each cough. "Again!"
It's happening again, he wanted to say, but he couldn't find the breath. The flower, or petals, clung to his throat, refused to move, blocked the passage further with each cough it felt like, until he was gasping desperately for air, leaning over the desk as his stomach and chest ached with the effort of it, as he rocked from Heavy's hard pats on his back to try and help him dislodge it.
Eyes watering, finally he coughed out another full flower bloom, then several loose petals of a different color, along with some leaves. As soon as they were clear his chest heaved to bring in air, and he shivered as he tried to regain his vision and balance.
"Doctor, you are okay?" Heavy sounded very concerned, which made sense. This kind of deep coughing felt terrible, and it left him shaking and sore. "You can breathe again?"
"Yes, yes. Thank you." Medic rubbed at his throat, trying to clear his thoughts and calm his heart. "Hoo! That's not pleasant at all! I suppose that's what Merasmus meant about suffering."
"Do not like this," Heavy said. "Is there way to break the curse?"
"We don't even know anything about it, Heavy!" Medic wiped his eyes, then looked down at the desk at the latest specimens. The flower bloom was intact, the petals a little bruised and misshapen but otherwise still in place. Still so mysterious! The other petals didn't seem to come from the same flower. Did he have another still in him somewhere...? Where were they coming from?
"Doctor?"
"There's still so much to learn about this! Really, we only have three data points, and still no sign of a cause! If it's something simple, then all I have to do is avoid the stimuli and it's hardly a curse at all!"
"Why avoid triggering curse when you can just break curse?" Heavy frowned.
"Look at this, Heavy." Medic deftly side-stepped the idea, gesturing at the two new bits of flora on his desk. "Different types of flower at the same time now! Perhaps they aren't even the same as the previous two?"
"Doctor, we need to break curse."
"But there's still so much we don't know about this, Heavy! Aren't you interested?"
Heavy paused, then furrowed his brow in disapproval. "Doctor, this is curse. Not science. You do not play with curses. Wizard said it could kill you."
"Not exactly." Medic was disappointed Heavy didn't share his enthusiasm about this. How could he not? "He said I'd rue it until death. Something like that."
"So curse will kill you."
"We don't know that!"
"So we should talk to wizard and make him break curse!"
"Soldier is already doing that!" This topic was rather distasteful, and Medic took the opportunity to scoop up the new flowers to find them a new jar. "So we'll see what he says when he comes back. Merasmus didn't want to tell me about it, so there's no point in me also going to talk to him. We'll just have to wait."
Heavy crossed his arms over his broad chest. "I think Doctor likes being cursed."
"Well, isn't it a little bit fascinating?" Medic said, conceding to Heavy's disapproval with the little clarifier. It was obviously incredibly fascinating, but maybe softening it would make Heavy be more reasonable about it. "Have you ever heard of something like this happening before?"
Heavy shook his head, still stoically unimpressed. "Does not matter if happened before, it is happening to you now. Need you to heal team, do your work, help us kill cowards. How will you kill cowards if you are coughing up flowers all the time?"
"We don't know that will happen! We don't know a lot of things." Medic reminded himself why they'd come in here, and he headed towards one corner of his infirmary where he'd put together his own modified x-ray machine. A normal one might have served a normal doctor's purpose, but Medic was not a normal doctor (not a doctor at all, really, but who's counting?). Maybe some parts of it were duct-taped together, maybe some parts of it gave off alarming bits of vapor for what could only be not-good reasons, but the x-rays were exceptionally clear and detailed! Wasn't that what mattered?
"That's why I want to investigate!" Medic rummaged around one of his cabinets to find some prepared unexposed film cassettes, then loaded up the machine. Engineer had talked about finding a way to store the radiographs electronically, which would be very convenient, but at the moment, he had to settle with this. "We don't know what causes it, how long it lasts, how it progresses..."
"So we should talk to wizard."
"Soldier is already doing that!" How annoying! Usually Heavy was more understanding about this kind of thing. "In the meantime I'm doing my own research! There's nothing wrong with that!"
Heavy shook his head again. "You are not taking this seriously. This worries Heavy."
"I'm taking this very seriously!" Medic stood in front of the x-ray detector, lining himself up with the hastily drawn markers. "I'm being very scientific about this. How else can we deal with something unknown than by gathering more data? Stand over there by the machine, bitte."
Heavy did as he was told, taking position behind the x-ray generator. The machine looked much smaller when he was standing behind it. "Doctor does not care about himself."
"Oh yes I do, don't be silly." Medic turned around to face the detector. The radiograph would look better from the back. "There should be a large marked button there. Press it and it'll take the photo."
He heard Heavy shuffle his feet a little, and Medic looked back over his shoulder. Heavy had that uncertain frown again. "X-rays are... radioactive, yes? You need protection to use machine?"
Medic blinked, then snapped his fingers a few times in thought. "Protection, protection... oh, yes!" He left the detector to search through his things, digging through scattered metal carts and stretchers and behind medical curtains before returning with a thick black vest. "Here, put this on, it should protect you from the rays."
Heavy frowned as he took the vest from him. "This is what Heavy means. Doctor is not careful."
"I'm very careful." Medic sniffed, then went back to position in front of the detector. "And this doesn't have half the radiation in it that Scout's little sugar drinks do, and I don't see anyone complaining about that."
"Everyone complains about that."
"Oh, that's just because he gets hyperactive- Heavy! Just take the picture!" Medic puffed out a breath in exasperation. "I want to see what's happening to my lungs! Particularly since we just had another incident..."
Heavy gave him a clearly disapproving look, which Medic returned, then pressed the button. The machine gave a brief whine, then clicked as it took the shot.
"It is done?"
"Yes, that should be fine." Medic stepped away from the detector and brushed off his chest. He didn't feel a thing! Radiation was overrated. "Now, let's see..."
He took the cassette out of the machine and headed for a small utility closet he'd repurposed into a tiny darkroom. He fed the film into the automatic processor and came out, dusting off his hands.
"It should only take a minute or two." Medic said, although Heavy still didn't look pleased at any of this. "Engineer has really sped up the process enormously!"
"What do you think you will see?" Heavy watched as Medic went to the film viewer on the wall, straightening out one of his favorite shots. It was a beautiful radiograph of Heavy's chest with his massive heart in plain sight, his magnificent Ubercharge device as clear as day. A beautiful marvel in so many ways! What was all of this but proof of his unmatched creativity and genius? He'd cheated death! For only eight seconds, but he'd done it! With enough time, he'd defeat it entirely.
The machine in the darkroom beeped, and Medic went in to retrieve the newly developed x-ray. He pinned it up beside the other.
"Oh, look! Between the ribs!" Medic pointed at the area with a smile. "There's definitely something in there!"
"White shapes." Heavy leaned over his shoulder. "Flowers?"
"Some of them are longer..." Medic adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps roots? Stems? Vines?"
He felt Heavy shudder a little beside him with an uncomfortable noise. Strange.
"This is bad."
"If there are roots, I suppose the flowers must be growing in there." Medic stroked his chin. "Amazing! Flowers growing without sunlight, water, or soil! This truly is magic."
"Doctor is breathing okay?" Heavy sounded more concerned now. Medic took a deep breath to check, and it came in and out without issue.
"Not bothering me yet! Although, if this progresses, I'm sure I'll feel the effects eventually..." Medic went to get his notebook from his desk where he'd left it. "I'll have to keep a very close eye on all of this."
"Doctor is just in lab... what about when Doctor is on battlefield? Doctor will have trouble breathing then?"
"I don't know!" Medic smiled. "We'll have to find out! Ah, that's the thrill of it all! Scientific and medical curiousity!" He breathed a happy sigh. "Of course, an x-ray won't give me as accurate a picture as being able to open my own torso to look... and if I did, I'd have to puncture one of the lungs to look inside it..." He stroked his chin again. "Yes, that'd be very awkward."
Heavy shook his head with a worried look. "Do not ask me to do this for you."
"Oh, I won't. I don't know how workable it is." He looked up at the ceiling where his doves peered back down at him, cooing softly. "We'll see if it becomes necessary!"
"Doctor..."
"Now, I'd like to run some tests on these new flowers that I've produced... if you don't mind, a little privacy please?"
Heavy gave him another unhappy, uncertain look, but he did as he asked and left. Medic sat down, pulling out some of his smallest scalpels, forceps, and some glass slides for his microscope. This was going to be a long, and very interesting, night.
---
Heavy found it hard to rest, his thoughts returning again and again to those disturbing shapes he'd seen in the x-ray. The thought of something growing in Medic's lungs, sinking its roots into his flesh, invading him, made his skin crawl. How could Medic be okay with it? How was he interested in all of this instead of horrified? Medic had always been fearless on the battlefield, but he'd never thought of that in this kind of context. It was, in its own way, frightening.
Mostly, though, it worried him. He needed Medic. They all needed Medic. And as unconcerned as Medic was about all of this, this was serious. Perhaps he could breathe easily now, but if the curse kept getting worse, then whatever it was that was in his lungs would overflow and choke him. It was hard to think of a worse way to die. And who knew if Respawn would cure the issue? This was magic.
Heavy slept fitfully, plagued with bad dreams of his skin infested with plants and fungi, and eventually he gave it up for a loss and got up. He found himself heading to Medic's room without thinking about it, and unsurprisingly he got no answer when he knocked. With a sigh, he headed to the infirmary.
He found Medic slumped over one of his medical tables, a notebook filled with his scratchy German writing under one limp hand. There were a few empty cups of coffee near him, many loose pieces of paper with more scratchy notes and diagrams, several slides with slivers of petals trapped between them, and a number of bottles of chemicals and solvents Heavy couldn't read. No doubt Medic had run every test he could think of on the flowers.
Medic was breathing easily, thankfully, and his skin was flower and mushroom free. Seeing him this peaceful was a welcome relief. In one of his manic states, Medic wasn't too concerned with taking care of himself, and there was likely nothing on his mind right now but investigating this awful curse. Certainly not something as sensible as sleep.
Heavy shook his head as he set a hand gently on his shoulder to move him. "Why do you not take this seriously?" he said, quietly so as not to wake him. He peeled Medic from the desk, noting a loose leaf of paper stuck to his cheek that made him smile a little. "Always you tell us to take care of you, but you do not do the same."
If Medic had been awake, he would have scoffed at the accusation in that ridiculous little way of his, as he always did whenever Heavy said something true that he didn't like. They were unbreakable partners on the battlefield, bonded through life and death, but sometimes the man drove him crazy. For someone so smart, it was like he had no common sense.
It was easy to lever Medic off the chair enough to get his hands underneath his legs, and Heavy lifted him up easily. The paper stuck to his face fluttered to the ground, and Heavy shook his head with a sigh. It wasn't the first time he'd done this when Medic worked himself to a stand-still, but he was more aware of the sudden fragility of the man as he took him back to his room. Medic slept easily in his arms, but Heavy couldn't shake the image of the vines within his chest, the tiny roots spreading through his flesh, their tendrils choking the life out of him.
He hated it, he hated it. They had to break the curse as soon as possible, if only so he wouldn't be tormented by such thoughts. He shouldered the door to Medic's room open and set him gently on the bed, pulling a blanket over him. He'd probably be uncomfortable still fully dressed, but Heavy didn't want to go that far. He could wake him, and he needed to sleep.
He stood there, watching him a little longer. His chest rose and fell evenly, and Heavy pictured curling vines, bright red and yellow and white bursts of color amid pillows of green leaves, all of it growing and twisting like snakes, pressing harder and harder against the cage of his ribs until it'd burst forth in a spill of grotesquely beautiful gore.
The thought made him shudder, not just with disgust but with worry. He needed him. He needed Medic. He was normally fine with death, he accepted it as an inevitable part of life, but thinking of Medic dying... it made his heart tighten and sent a cold feeling running down his neck. And not only that, but to die in such a hideous way...
Heavy reached out one hand to gingerly, gingerly rest a fingertip against Medic's chest. He wasn't sure what he was listening or feeling for, but everything seemed to be in order. Medic breathed easily, and all he felt was the beat of his heart and the lift of his ribs.
He pulled away from him with one last, lingering stare, then turned to leave. He had to talk to Soldier. He had to get the curse broken. He had to do this as soon as possible.
Heavy strode to the kitchen to wait for the others to wake up, trying with all his might not to picture vines bursting through the doctor's mouth and eyes.
---
Again? Again? He'd just managed to fall asleep with all the moaning of the dead and damned around him, and again he had to deal with this? Who would it be this time? The fat giant bald one? The skinny little loudmouth? Spy?
Merasmus rubbed his eyes as he grumbled his way towards the unwelcome strange noises in his evil castle, again. They were coming from the library, again.
"If it's you again, you will regret ever having been born-!"
"Hello, Merasmus!"
Merasmus's head spiked with pain as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The worst roommate in the world, his apparent karmic punishment for all his evil dealings with the dark powers, was standing in the midst of a large pile of books, waving at him with a vacant smile. Is everyone on that team a moron?
"Soldier! What are you doing in here! The library is off-limits! You can't even read!" Merasmus said, definitely not shrieking.
"No self-respecting American knows how to read!" Soldier kicked several books out of the pile, sending Merasmus scrambling to the floor to try and catch them before they got any further damaged. "I was looking for one with pictures!"
"Why are you looking for books at all!" Merasmus gathered up more of the books in his arms, looking up in dismay as Soldier just went to another shelf and began tossing books to the ground. He wasn't even looking in them at this point. "Do you have any idea how valuable these are? The secrets within would shake the world to its very foundations!"
"I'm looking for one about curses!" And as if remembering what he was doing, Soldier turned around and puffed up his chest, his hands on his hips. From Merasmus's vantage point on the floor, he could catch a glimpse of Soldier's eyes beneath his helmet, and they looked worryingly intense. "Because you cursed one of my teammates, Merasmus. And guess what? That's a really stupid thing to do."
"He was looking through my books!" Merasmus looked away to make it clear he was not at all intimidated as he kept gathering his books off the floor. With some focus, he managed to get some magiplasm to start to replace them on the shelves. "I told you, their contents are forbidden!"
"You made him cough up flowers!" Soldier pointed at him. "And I'm going to make you cough up your own ass!" Then he paused, the anger fading in an instant to puzzlement. "Why did you make him cough up flowers? That's a weird thing to do, Merasmus."
"It's an ancient and fearsome curse, well-known throughout history for the sorrow and suffering it wrought!" Merasmus said, very pointedly avoiding eye contact. After an awkward silence, he coughed. "And Merasmus has been... on the dating scene recently and it was on his mind," he mumbled very quickly.
"You? You were trying to get a date?" He could hear the mockery in his voice, which made him flush red with anger. "What kind of dating scene is there for wizards?"
"A difficult one!" Merasmus shouted at him, busying himself entirely with fixing Soldier's destruction instead of looking at his smug face. "Merasmus was puzzling over its intricacies when your doctor wandered in where he wasn't welcome!"
"What do flowers have to do with dating, Merasmus?" Soldier said, as if this was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of. It was a particularly infuriating tone of voice coming from him.
"That's where they come from!" Merasmus snapped, picking up the last of the books from the floor. "That's why they grow!"
"What?" Soldier said, in that same irritating tone. Merasmus threw up his hands.
"Ugh! They come from your feelings!" Merasmus rounded on him finally, and Soldier was just staring at him in that uncomprehending way. "The more you hide your feelings for someone, the more the flowers will grow!"
Soldier pursed his lips in thought at this. "That's weird, Merasmus."
"It's a curse!" Merasmus did shriek at him this time. "What do you expect!"
"So, all you have to do is admit your feelings and the curse goes away?" Soldier stroked his chin. "That really is a devilish curse. What kind of man could ever do something like that?"
"You see!" Merasmus pointed at him victoriously. "It is the perfect curse! I warned you, you will all rue the day you toyed with the dark wizard Merasmus!"
"Yeah, yeah." Soldier waved him off casually as he walked past him to the door. "Anyway, I'm going to go. Also the front window is broken."
"Why is the-" Merasmus started, then went rigid with anger again. "Why did you break the window! You have a key!"
"You have to use the key from the right side, Merasmus." Soldier shook his head with what had to be an eyeroll.
"No you don't! That's the entire point of having a key!" Merasmus screamed.
"And keep it down!" Soldier said as he disappeared into the hallways, heading for the front door. "You'll wake up the raccoons."
"What raccoons?!"
---
That day's battle was scheduled later than usual and as such, most of the mercenaries were having a lazy breakfast. Heavy sat there in silence, staring into a cup of tea and trying to think about nothing, while the others filed in and went about their business. Boxes of cereal were set out on the table, coffee was brewed, eggs and bacon and toast all made their way onto the table and just as quickly into someone's stomach. Even Scout seemed a little tired, yawning every now and then as he stared into space, half-starting stories before he'd go back to eating.
Heavy was about to go and check to make sure Medic was alright when the man came in himself, wearing his pajamas and bathrobe. He had bags beneath his eyes, which were somewhat red, and a grimace on his face and an odd gait that indicated a backache. It served him right for dozing off in his chair. He wasn't young anymore.
He sat down beside Heavy and Engineer, as he usually did, and Heavy handed him a cup of coffee he'd set aside for him. He mumbled a "danke" under his breath almost too softly to hear, his eyes closed. "Doctor is feeling alright?"
"Ugh, why didn't I sleep in a bed...?" Medic groaned before taking a long sip. "I'm going to need the Kritzkrieg later..."
"Doctor was working too late. I warn you about this."
"Yes, yes, I know." Medic sighed and waved a hand. "There was just so much to study..."
"You workin' on that flower thing?" Engineer said from Medic's other side. He looked around the table for a moment, then got up to check the counter for any leftover pancake batter. He set to work without anyone even asking. "You make any progress? 'Cause you sounded real bad last night."
"Aye, it was a bit worryin'." Demoman raised his head from the table where he'd been half-dozing. "Thought maybe ye'd just keel over an' drop dead right there."
"Oh, don't be silly." Medic took another sip of his coffee with his eyes closed. "I'm never going to die."
"If you don't start taking curse seriously, you will," Heavy said, and Medic waved a hand at him vaguely in a "shh" motion.
"I did a little research myself." Spy looked up from the newspaper he was reading, a glass of wine in his hand even this early. "There sadly are not many reliable resources on wizard curses."
"They're all in his library! And he won't let anyone see them! It's a waste!" Medic frowned, then rubbed his temples. "Completely unreasonable."
"Did'ya ask if you could see 'em first?" Sniper said, then chuckled to himself. "Heh. Imagine any of us askin' to do somethin' first. Forget it."
"You're not gonna croak in the middle of battle, right?" Scout spoke around another mouthful of cereal. "'Cause we kinda need you out there, Doc."
"I'll be fine, I'll be fine." Medic took in a deep breath, as if to prove a point, and it came and went easily. He jolted as Engineer tapped his shoulder, then handed him a plate with a pancake on it. "Oh! Danke, mein Freund."
"Ain't nothin'." Engineer sat back down by Medic's other side. "But didja get anywhere on the whole thing? What'cha got so far?"
"The flowers seem to be normal flowers." Medic reached across the table for the butter and syrup. "They don't seem to have any magical properties themselves... although, they seem rather hardy for making it through my throat unscathed. As far as I can tell, they're being brought up by plantlife that's taken hold in my lungs, so they aren't just appearing in the esophagus."
"There are flowers growin' in your lungs?" Scout stared at him wide-eyed, and the others at the table didn't look any less alarmed. Pyro made a concerned mmph.
"Yes, isn't that amazing? Without water or light or soil, they're growing! Well, that's magic for you." Medic took another sip of coffee as he poured syrup over the pancake. "It doesn't always appear to be the same flowers either! Perhaps they're constantly changing in there... it's difficult to say because I can't get a good look without cutting my chest open and puncturing-"
"Doc, we're tryin' to eat."
"What?" Medic blinked, bemused. "What did I say?"
Spy shook his head with an eyeroll while Engineer sighed. Medic turned his attention to his plate, a fork in hand, and then his eyes darted around his plate in search of something.
"Doctor, here." Heavy held out his knife. "Use mine."
"Ah, danke." Medic smiled at him, reaching out to take the knife. Heavy couldn't help a smile in return. Their hands touched and they lingered for perhaps a second more than most would, staring into each other's eyes, and then Medic's eyes widened. His shoulders hitched, and there, he started coughing again.
This time, the others were quick to rally. Heavy moved Medic's plate and cup out of the way as Engineer patted his back, and the others gathered around behind him trying to think of what they could do.
Medic gasped and wheezed for breath, the strength of the coughs shaking his body and making the plates on the table clatter. Each intake seemed more desperate and raspy than the last, his eyes wide and his face red.
"Doctor, please!" Heavy said, patting his back in hopes that he could do something. Engineer, Pyro, and Sniper were doing the same, wherever they could find space. "Get it out!"
Finally, Medic hunched over and coughed out two full blooms this time, with a scattering of leaves afterwards. He was left shivering and weak, his eyes teary as he gasped desperately for breath. Heavy rubbed his back, much as he had when he was younger and one of his sisters had been sick, and he noticed the others hadn't left his side either.
It took a while for Medic to find his voice, and at first it was just a pained groan. He rubbed at his throat, staring blearily down at the new flowers mocking him from the table.
"Well, that's not getting any more pleasant," Medic said, his voice scratchy and rough. He reached out with a shaking hand to take another sip from his cup, taking his time as he swallowed it. He wiped his eyes with one hand. "Hoo! I feel dizzy."
"Oh man, look at 'em." Scout leaned over the table to look at the new flowers, gingerly reaching out as if to touch them before jolting back as if he thought they'd bite him. "They're freakin' huge! How'd they even fit in your throat?"
"Blimey." Sniper leaned back, scratching his head. "Doc, this is real serious. Even Spy don't sound that bad when he's coughing."
"Excuse me. I'm right here." Spy hadn't been patting Medic's back, but he had gotten out of his seat and was standing nearby. "The bushman is correct, however. This is much more serious."
"Lung cancer's plenty serious."
"Not when the doctor can just give me new lungs when I require them."
"Cheater," Sniper said under his breath, and Spy shot him a look.
"Isn't Soldier supposed to be talkin' to the wizard?" Scout went back to sit in his chair, pulling his cereal back towards him to resume eating. "He's takin' his sweet time, the load."
"Attention!" As if on cue, Soldier burst into the kitchen, then immediately went to the table and shoved Scout's face down into his bowl of cereal to shout over him. "I have vital news, men!"
Scout choked on some milk as he wriggled out from under Soldier's grip. "What the hell, man!"
"What is it?" Heavy looked up at him.
Spy went back to his own chair, and the others slowly followed suit. "Tell me this is good news. The doctor has already had another episode while we were waiting."
"Merasmus told me everything! He didn't last a second under my interrogation techniques! And he told me that, one!" Soldier held up one finger. "This curse is based on feelings!" he said, with some distaste in his voice. "Not righteous, patriotic devotion to home and motherland! But feelings!"
"Feelin's?" Sniper frowned. "Since when have any of us had any feelin's, mate?"
"It seems our doctor has some, if the curse works as Soldier says." Spy gestured to him with one hand. Medic was staring intently at the flowers while trying to eat his pancake from one side of his mouth. After a moment, Spy raised his eyebrows. "It would not have been my first guess."
"It is not only feelings!" Soldier tucked one hand behind his back and began pacing back and forth, as if he was delivering a speech to his heads outside. "But these have to specifically be unspoken feelings!"
"Secret feelin's?" Scout wiped his face with a paper towel, then leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. "Man, that's even stupider. What kinda moron has secret feelin's? If you got feelin's, you just say 'em! Get 'em out there! Hit 'em with it, pow!" He slammed one first into his palm. "They won't even see it comin'!"
"How is it going with Miss Pauling?" Spy said dryly as he took a sip of his wine. Scout sputtered.
"That's totally different!"
"Merasmus told me that the stronger the unspoken feelings for someone, the more the flowers will grow!" Soldier turned sharply on his heel to begin marching the other way. "So, the clear solution to the curse is simply to speak those feelings out loud! Then..." Soldier paused to stroke his chin. "Well, I'm not sure what'll happen then. The flowers will disappear, maybe?" Abruptly he straightened up again, his voice back to a bellow. "But the curse will be broken, and victory will be ours!"
There was a moment of silence as everyone considered this, and then rough and scratchy laughter started to bubble out of Medic's chest.
"Oh, is that it! Is that all! Wunderbar!" Medic tapped his fingers against each other and cackled like he was the villain in a science fiction movie. "That's so easy! I have complete control over how long the curse lasts now! I can study it at my leisure! Oh, this is perfect!"
"Doctor!" Heavy shot him a disapproving look. "This isn't a game!"
"Of course not! It's an opportunity! Oho!" Medic was beside himself with delight, the flowers and the half-finished breakfast in front of him forgotten. "I can set up any parameters I want! This is so exciting!"
"Doctor," Heavy said, more severely now, to no avail.
"Mmph mmph...?" Pyro raised a hand, their head tilted. The others gave them a look, then Engineer scratched his chin in thought.
"Well... it's gotta be for one of us."
"But who!" Soldier shouted.
Everyone, except Medic, looked directly at Heavy. He blinked a little at their sudden attention, although he couldn't say it was surprising exactly. That didn't make it comfortable.
"No I don't!" Medic said with a bright smile. "I don't have feelings for anyone-" And then he started coughing again.
"Doctor, please." Heavy patted his back as his body wracked with coughs. "You are hurting yourself."
"This is nothing!" Medic croaked out once another full bloom had made it out onto the table. "What's a little discomfort in the face of scientific discovery?"
"Doctor, if you, eh..." Heavy paused like he was searching for a word, mostly to try to hide the sudden spark of uncalled-for awkwardness. "If you have feelings for someone, just say. No one will care."
Scout coughed "feelings for you" loudly behind his fist. Heavy shot him a look.
"Wait..." Sniper said, looking a little aghast. "Medic's cheatin' on you?"
One could have heard a pin drop in the ensuing silence. Spy mouthed something that looked a little like idiot but had a lot more words to it.
The weight of so much disapproval forced some reconsideration, and Sniper's brow furrowed with further thought. "If-... hold on now, if that ain't... then you two aren't together?"
"That's a li'l rude." Engineer frowned at him. "Ain't none of our business if they're together or not."
"It kinda is our business now." Demoman shrugged. "I don't want the doc' dead, and I'm willin' tae bet none of you do either."
"I'm not going to die," Medic wheezed as he drank slowly from his cup, which the others ignored.
"You guys's whole thing is weirder if you aren't together, frankly," Scout said.
"Mmph mmph."
"Is none of Scout's business," Heavy said, his voice low, and Scout leaned away from him with his hands up in surrender. "Is no one's business."
"You have an important role to play in this unit!" Soldier pointed at Medic. "If anything is keeping you from fighting at 120% at all times, then that thing must be eliminated!"
"C'mon, lad." Demoman lounged back in his chair. "We all already know, yeah? Just tell 'im and get it over with."
"I don't know what you mean!" Medic was still shaking from his last coughing fit, not that that stopped him from smiling. He set his cup back down with trembling hands. "I can't imagine having feelings for any-"
"Doctor, no-" But it was too late, Medic was coughing again. All Heavy could do was pat his back and make concerned sounds until it was over. This time it was simply a mess of petals, and a few of them stuck to Medic's face once the initial coughing spell was over. Then when Heavy brushed them away without thinking about it, it just started up again.
"Doc', you're killin' yourself!" Engineer shook him a little from his other side. "Jus' man up and say it already!"
"No." Medic gasped for breath, shaking like a leaf, pale with faint tear tracks running from his eyes. When he inhaled he winced, like it caused him pain. "No, this is perfect! I have complete control, I can study it as long as I like-"
"Just tell me-" Heavy caught himself with an awkward grunt. "Just tell them, Doctor! This is dangerous!"
"There's nothing to worry about!" Medic reached out to gather the flowers together, his hands shaking. "Now that I know how it functions, I have complete control over when each episode starts! With proper finesse, I can probably even control the amount of flowers I create!"
"Doc, I know somethin' or two about curses." Demoman gave him a stern look; an unusual sight from him. "Ye don't go playin' around wi'em. If yer not careful, Merasmus will have us fightin' your flyin' flowery head or somethin' like that. Have ye vomiting flowers all over us."
"Gross, pal." Scout made a face.
"Doctor, I agree with the others, this is ridiculous," Spy said. "As happy as you seem, you clearly don't enjoy the process of making these flowers. Who would these studies even be for?"
"You said no one had written anything about curses before," Medic said, with a smug smile. "This is exactly how to remedy that!"
"That's not what I meant..." Spy shook his head with a resigned groan.
"If you wrote somethin', wouldn't the wizard just take it and put it in his library again...?" Sniper said, looking up at the ceiling in thought.
"Not if I can help it!" Medic stood with the flowers gathered between his hands, although he nearly stumbled. Heavy held out a hand to steady him. "Now, I have a lot of work to do before our battle today!"
"At least finish eating." Heavy took loose hold of his bathrobe. "Doctor can do research later, now you eat."
"Bring it to me later!" Medic tugged his robe out of his grip and whirled on one heel, striding out of the kitchen with purpose.
"Doctor!"
It was no use, Medic didn't turn around, although he did wobble a little and nearly run into a wall. Heavy let out a great sigh and looked back to the table, where Medic's half-finished plate drew in all of his attention.
He leaned his head on one massive hand, rubbing his temples. "Doctor drives me crazy sometimes," he said, mostly to himself.
"Are you guys really not together?" Scout said, then yelped a little as Spy swatted him with a newspaper as he walked by. "Hey!"
"The curse wouldn't be working if they were, boy," Spy said with an eyeroll as he went to make himself another piece of toast. "Were you not listening?"
"It's just weird! I really thought you guys were doin' it every night. Ow!" Scout shielded his face as Spy swatted at him again. "What! We all thought that! Snipes can back me up!"
"S'truth," Sniper said, his hands behind his head. "Don't go denyin' it, you did too."
"Yes, and it made you make an absolute fool of yourself." Spy shook his head with a disapproving ugh. "What is wrong with everyone on this team?"
Engineer shook his head at them both with a sigh, then turned to look at Heavy. "So, y'all aren't together but ya know how he feels...?"
Heavy leaned back and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "Is no one's business."
"Soldier, did it say anything about, er..." Engineer tapped his metal fingers against the table. "Unrequited love?"
"I do not know the meaning of the word!" Soldier saluted. "And by that I mean I literally do not know the meaning of that word!"
Engineer's mouth worked as he searched for the right phrasing. "Like... did Merasmus tell ya that the other fella'd hafta feel the same...?"
"Oh." Soldier deflated for a moment, his hand to his mouth in thought. "No, he didn't say anything about that."
Pyro made a stricken "mmph" at the thought, their hands to the cheeks of their mask.
"Well, that simplifies matters somewhat." Spy was back to looking through the newspaper in his seat like he didn't care about any of this. "All we need to do is make the fool doctor say it outloud. It does not matter if our Heavy does not feel the same."
"Did not say that," Heavy said without thinking, then tightened his frown. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell they were all staring at him again.
"See! See!" Scout held out his hands. "This is weirder! This is what I was talkin' about!"
"I don't like pokin' ma nose in other people's business..." Demoman shook his head. "But if these flowers make it harder tae fight today..."
"I don't know how you can make someone say somethin' like that though," Engineer said.
"I'll do it!" Soldier was back at attention in a moment. "I can make anyone say anything! These fists can interrogate a hippie to death in five minutes!"
"You don't kill people when you interrogate them, Soldier."
"That's how you know it's working!"
"The doc's a smart bugger. He knows he can't keep this up. He'll get tired of it and break the curse eventually." Sniper shrugged. "We just gotta be patient."
"Your solution to everything is waiting," Spy said with barely hidden distaste, then made an offended sound as Sniper pulled one of the newspaper sheets out from under his hand. "Are you going to pretend you can read now?"
"Nah. Y'just gave me an idea." Sniper began rolling the sheet up in his hands.
"Well... really, I know it ain't our business... but like Demo said, it kinda is now." Engineer scratched the back of his head, ignoring Scout and Pyro's encouraging sounds at what was clearly about to happen. "Don't really want to pressure the doc', but he can't keep doin' this, it's goin' to kill him."
Sniper thwapped Spy with the rolled up paper, who made a very offended noise now, and he began rolling up what he had left as quickly as he could. All attention was drawn to the two of them swatting each other in fevered combat while Heavy and Engineer sat quiet in thought.
"Big guy, you want to go check on him?"
"Could make things worse," Heavy said quietly. Engineer hummed.
"Yeah, that's true... maybe that'll make him realize how serious this is." Although he didn't sound hopeful. "You can bring him his breakfast at least."
"Thank you for making for him, Engineer." That was enough to get Heavy moving again out of his stoic wall, and he picked up the plate. "When he is focused, he does not pay attention to anything."
"Nah, I know, I know. I get the same way." Engineer waved his robotic hand. "Jus' hope one a' the things he finds in there is some common sense."