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Prompt: Skull gets a migraine

Skull knew today wasn't going to be pleasant. He woke up with a pressure behind his eyes that would undoubtedly evolve as the day went on. Sooner or later, that pressure would become a mild headache. Then the headache would steadily grow into a migraine. Unfortunately, Skull had plenty of experience with it. Usually about once a month Skull would be forced to hole up in his room, hoping that he'd eventually drift off to sleep so that the pain would disappear sooner.

Skull sighed as he got out of bed, forgoing his usual biking outfit in favor of his favorite hoodie and a pair of sweats. He might as well attempt to work on the repairs he had been working on. Their last mission banged up the van a bit so Skull was working on fixing the damages the last few days. Most of it was caused by people shooting at them but there was a fair amount of damage caused by Skull's driving as they fled from their pursuers. If he was lucky, he could make a little progress before he would be forced to quit for the day.

He decided to skip breakfast, since there were several times his migraines had made him feel nauseous. Instead, Skull had some water and crackers stashed in his garage that he snacked on as he worked. He lasted about three hours before his headache became too much for him to focus. Honestly it was longer than he expected. After putting away his tools in their proper place and waving goodbye to Oodako, Skull headed back to his room.

He didn't run into any of the others on his way, which was perfectly fine with Skull. He didn't feel like socializing any time soon. It was getting to the point where he was becoming sensitive to noise and light. Which was why Skull let out a sigh of relief upon entering his room. Skull leaned against the door and took a second to relish in the darkness.

When he first moved into the manor, the only personal item Skull had in his room had been Oodako's tank. He didn't expect to be here long after all. But as he spent more and more time here, Skull decided to move her tank to the garage. It made sense as it was where he spent most of his free time. Oodako didn't mind. She loved helping him with repairs, often passing him tools he needed or holding things steady for him.

It took a bit of getting used to, the silence of not having her tank in the room anymore, but on days like today it was a blessing. Skull collapsed on his bed, not even bothering to get under the covers. The blackout curtains he had made the room almost pitch black, so Skull only needed to close his eyes and stay completely still.

Like this, Skull simply focused on breathing and trying to fall asleep. He had no idea how much time had passed since he laid down, but that was fine. It wasn't like the others would go looking for him. They were probably just happy he wasn't annoying them right now. That, or they think he went to town for something. Either way, Skull figured he wouldn't be bothered. With that thought, Skull felt himself drifting off into a light doze. If he was lucky then the worst of his migraine will have passed by the time he woke.

Skull was not lucky. Not only did he wake up with his head feeling worse, somebody was making noise in the hallway outside, which aggravated his migraine. There were people talking just outside his door, not bothering to keep their voices down.

"If he's not in his room then we can have Verde track his phone." It took Skull a second to recognize the voice as Colonello's. Then came the knocking, which sent a stabbing pain through Skull's head with each thump. He wasn't sure what kind of noise he made as he curled into a tight ball, hands clasped over his ears in an attempt to keep his head from splitting open. Thankfully the knocking stopped, giving Skull a second to breathe through the pain.

"Skull? Are you okay?" another voice called from the hallway. Fon.

Skull was pretty sure he didn't answer in any way that could be understood, but it must have appeased the two outside because Skull didn't hear anything else from them. Or that's what he thought until the door slowly opened and Skull was assaulted by the light pouring in from the hallway. His curled up position got even tighter if possible and Skull was pretty sure the whimper sound came from him.

The return of the darkness was a relief for Skull, but he didn't relax from his ball. There was a soft click from his door closing. A few seconds later the bed dipped next to him as someone sat down and a hand was placed on top of Skull's own.

"Come on now Skull. Let go before you rip out all your hair," Colonello said quietly, his voice barely a whisper and the gentlest Skull had ever heard from the soldier before. Colonello gently pried Skull's hands from his hair, allowing Skull to cling to his hand instead.

"Fon went to get Reborn. Between the two of us I reckon we can help you at least a little bit," Colonello explained.

"W-why?" Skull managed to croak out, wincing at the sound of his own voice. Colonello shh'd him softly, placing his other hand in Skull's hair and lightly massaging his scalp. Skull sighed in bliss at the touch. He immediately leaned towards the hand, seeking more which Colonello obediently obliged. Colonello's hands must have been magic because the longer the rain played with Skull's hair, the more his migraine was replaced with a floaty feeling. That was probably something Skull should be concerned about but the relief from the pain was more important to him. He barely registered Colonello chuckling softly at him, content to lay there and enjoy the feeling of Colonello's hands in his hair.

"We couldn't find you today," Colonello said suddenly. Skull blinked in confusion before he remembered that he asked Colonello why he was here. Skull did nothing, letting Colonello continue with his quiet explanation. "We thought something was wrong when you never showed up for lunch. It was Fon's turn today and you always love it when he cooks. After you never showed, we went to your garage to check on you but you weren't there. We all split up to look for you," Colonello said. Skull hummed to let him know he was listening but it appeared Colonello was done, as he didn't say anything else.

A few minutes later there was a quiet knock on his door, barely more than a tap of knuckles against wood. Skull didn't bother to react. The noise was soft enough that it didn't send any new waves of pain through his head so he didn't need to concern himself with it.

"Come in," Colonello said just as quietly as he had been talking with Skull. Those on the other side of the door would be able to hear it just fine. Colonello moved his hand from Skull's hair to cover his eyes just in time for Skull to hear the door open. He assumed people walked in because shortly after he heard the door closed again.

"How is he?" Luche asked as she came to stand by the bed.

"More relaxed than before. I've been giving him a steady amount of rain flames to help with the pain," Colonello told her. Oh? Is that what the floaty feeling was? It was nice.

Skull heard everyone move around, some sitting on the bed, and the rest he assumed on the floor. Someone sat in his desk chair but he was pretty sure everyone else ended up on the floor.

Skull felt a hand wrap around his ankle and almost immediately the tension bled from his body. Reborn then. He must be using his flames to help with the migraine like Colonello. Skull felt himself turning into a boneless mush thanks to both the Sun and Rain flames coursing through him.

For the first time in years, Skull felt safe. Content and happy, surrounded by everyone who mattered most to him. He fell asleep listening to the calming breaths of his family. He wasn't alone anymore. The thought made him smile.

Here's the second chapter of SCI that I finished. This is actually the chapter that made me want to go ahead and post everything ahead of when I was originally planning too. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Please Follow/Favorite/Review and I'll try to have the next chapter ready for you soon!