Lean on Me Ch. 4: Intervention

Badgerclops' eye widened in shock, and he just registered the familiar small, sharp object shooting from Mao Mao's palm towards him.

"Whoa, dude!"

He gave an undignified shriek, and he quickly forced his exhausted body into a duck. A light gust of wind brushed against the disheveled fur on top of his head and, somewhere behind him, there was a dull thunk. Badgerclops slowly craned his neck around to look at the source of the sound, his heart beating loudly in his ears. Once his gaze settled upon the mystery item, his eye nearly bugged out of his head and his jaw dropped down slightly. Embedded deep into the thick wooden beam - right where his head originally was, Badgerclops noted - was none other than a large ninja star. The pointy tips of the small, lethal projectile glinted brightly in the lights of the Dojo, and a small orange halo encircled a small black drawing in the middle of it. Badgerclops gradually rose to his feet, the general terror that came with almost being impaled dissipating as quickly as it appeared. (Yet, another side effect of trekking with Mao Mao). Once he stood firmly on his own two feet, the cybernetic badger stared accusingly at the feline.

"What the heck, man! You could've killed me!"

Mao Mao gawked back at him, seemingly shocked to see the badger standing there. Now that Badgerclops was actually face-to-face with the feline, he could blatantly see how fatigued Mao Mao looked. Red lightly tinged the corners of Mao Mao's eyes, loudly announcing to anyone who peered at the cat that he had yet to get any proper rest. Sweat sprinkled Mao Mao's forehead, rolling down the sides of his face in rivers. His form trembled in front of Badgerclops - although the cybernetic badger was unsure if it was from cold or exertion - and the cat appeared extremely tense. Once Mao Mao recognized there was no imminent threat, his shoulders slumped and his hand dropped from wherever he got the ninja star.

"Sorry," Mao Mao huffed out, his breaths heavy. "You just, uh, surprised me."

"Yeah," Badgerclops agreed, shortly, and he gestured dramatically at the ninja star. "That makes two of us."

A sheepish expression briefly crossed Mao Mao's face before it was wiped away and replaced with a frown. "Well, you should've knocked or something."

Badgerclops inhaled deeply because he, honestly, did not want to have a fight with the feline right now, especially when he's exhausted, and it's been a long day. Instead, he exhaled and silently regarded the cat, tentatively chewing on his next words. "Mao, dude, what are you doing?"

Mao Mao furrowed his brow. "What?"

The cybernetic badger pointed a firm finger at the night sky, the stars twinkling brightly in the atmosphere. "It's the middle of the night, and you're training, man?"

Mao Mao shrugged his shoulders, dismissively, temporarily sheathing his sword. "So?"

"So," Badgerclops drew out. "You're injured and, instead of resting, you're messing around?"

"Excuse me?" Mao Mao hissed, offendedly. Badgerclops internally winced; he probably could've phrased that better. "Messing around? I'm not messing around! It's called training, Badgerclops. Something you would've known if you actually did it!"

"Mao Mao, I'm not trying to insult you," the cybernetic badger stated, calmly trying to defuse the situation. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't be doing this right now."

"I think it's a perfect time," Mao Mao insisted, crossing his arms. He almost seemed to challenge Badgerclops. "So, I don't see the problem."

"The problem is that you're obviously tired, hurt, and oh! Should I mention that you're bleeding."

Badgerclops waved his hand at Mao Mao's leg, and the cat followed his hand to look at it. The limb in question was partially concealed in several layers of white bandages which were red with saturated blood. Several small rivers of the life-giving liquid dripped onto the wooden floorboards, leaving red sticky patches. Mao Mao's expression shifted to something unreadable at the sight, and his already pale face - something that Badgerclops just noticed - seemed to grow paler.

"Oh," he murmured, his voice somewhat distant. His expression blanked out, and the cat's eyes slowly became unfocused. The sight uneased Badgerclops, and he considered saying something when Mao Mao suddenly moved. The feline shook his head, supposedly returning from wherever he was, and he placed a shaky hand on the hilt of Geraldine. Subconsciously, Mao Mao drew his injured leg out of the light and into the shadow of his cape. "It'll be fine."

The cybernetic badger just barely resisted the urge to face-palm. He was quickly approaching his limit for how long he could deal with Mao Mao's attitude before he absolutely lost it on him. Breathing out through his nose, Badgerclops took a large step forward. "Dude, is that all you know how to say?" Mao Mao opened his mouth, but Badgerclops quickly cut him off. "You look like you're about to pass out. That's not exactly the picture of fine."

"I'm not going to pass out!" Mao Mao demanded, hotly, gritting his sharp teeth. His left hand wrapped around the tip of his worn sheath, and he slid out a little bit of his sword with his thumb against the hilt. Badgerclops had a sinking feeling that this particular conversation was going in the exact opposite direction he wanted it to. "And, I'll prove it to you that I'm fine."

Mao Mao shifted his weight, pulling Geraldine all the way out of her resting place. It wasn't hard to tell that the crazy cat fully intended on continuing where he left off in his "training."

"Mao, no, stop. Just give it a rest and come inside."

Mao Mao ignored his advice, and he began the usual routine with his sword, slicing the empty air aggressively. Badgerclops threw his hands up into the air, exasperated with the current turn of events. Maybe he should just leave Mao Mao to his own devices. If the feline wanted to be an unappreciative jerk, then why should Badgerclops help him? Besides, his bed had been steadily beckoning him for the past hour or so, and the bruises he obtained from the fight were starting to catch up to him. Badgerclops gave the cat one last hard stare - which was, unsurprisingly, ignored as well - before he turned around, content on leaving the suicidal cat behind. It wasn't like he cared about Mao Mao's well-being or anything -

There was a short sharp cry of pain from behind him - from Mao Mao, and Badgerclops abruptly twisted on his heel to look at the cat. He was just in time to witness Mao Mao's injured leg crumble underneath him, and the feline, once again, fell to his padded knees where he then stayed. Badgerclops frowned, and he paused for a moment. Sleep tugged him in one direction, and the ominous feeling pulled him towards the downed cat. The two sensations briefly battled it out in his mind before the victor was announced, and Badgerclops found himself walking back over to Mao Mao.

"Yep," Badgerclops said, sarcastically, once he reached Mao Mao's side. "You totally proved that to me."

He patiently waited for Mao Mao to reply; for the usually hot-headed retort from the cat. To his extreme surprise, there was no immediate verbal response from Mao Mao. In fact, the only sound in the surrounding area was the gentle chirp of several crickets and Mao Mao's constant heavy breathing. Badgerclops rose an eyebrow, and he squatted down to try and peer at the cat's downturn face.

"Mao Mao?"

At the sound of his name, Mao Mao finally reacted. The feline picked his head up and, wearily, looked at Badgerclops, several pants slipping through his lips. Yet, Mao Mao remained unresponsive to his comment. Badgerclops felt his general annoyance with Mao Mao drain from his body and the concern that he had shoved on the back burner suddenly reignited.

Plan B, it is.

"Alright," Badgerclops stated, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. "You're done."

"What?" Mao Mao finally croaked out.

"You're going inside. Now." Badgerclops declared, firmly. It wasn't often that he used a commanding tone; he left that kind of thing up to Mao Mao. But, in this case, it was absolutely necessary to bust it out. "And, I'm redoing your bandages."

He leaned forward, stretching his hands out to pick the cat up. Badgerclops didn't want to give Mao Mao enough time to properly react to what he was about to do. However, even in his worn-out state, Mao Mao still quickly caught on to what Badgerclops was doing, and the feline vainly struggled against the badger's larger hands. He went so far as to try and reach for his sword -

"Wha - no!"

But, it was too late.

Badgerclops easily scooted Geraldine far away from Mao Mao's loose hands; the last thing he wanted was the feline attempting to stab him with it, after all. Then, Badgerclops gingerly plucked the cat from the floor, and he ceremoniously slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The second Mao Mao's small body brushed against him, an army of goosebumps raced across Badgerclops' body. Mao Mao was a literal block of the ice, and it was a large indicator of how long the cat had been outside. Mao Mao vigorously squirmed underneath the pressure of Badgerclops' cybernetic arm, his feet just mere inches away from actually kicking the badger in the face.

"Badgerclops!" Mao Mao yelled, his voice breaking in the midst of saying the badger's name. If Badgerclops wasn't currently tired and at the end of his rope, he might've considered pointing it out. "Put me down!"

"No way, dude," Badgerclops said, firmly, and he left it at that.

Mao Mao, apparently, wasn't happy with that particular response. With a loud growl, the black feline balled up his small hands into fists and repeatedly slammed them against Badgerclops' back. Except for the few strikes that dug into the tender contusions along the spine of his back, Mao Mao's punches lacked their usual strength, and they felt like mere taps. Badgerclops was able to easily ignore them - and Mao Mao's half-formed protests - and he strolled towards the entrance of their home. Mao Mao's assault - if Badgerclops could really call it that - died down after a few seconds, and he limply flopped against Badgerclops' shoulders, mumbling inaudible words underneath his breath. The simple fact that Mao Mao had given up his escape attempt so quickly worried Badgerclops, and he, unconsciously, quickened his pace.

He peeled open the door of their home with his unoccupied hand, and the stored warmth from within peppered Badgerclops' face. He sighed, contentedly, and he stepped inside, allowing the door to close shut behind him. Badgerclops let the heat soak into his body, melting away the cold from his weary body. The only remnant of the frigid temperature of the outside world was Mao Mao's frozen body pressed against his shoulder. Speaking of the feline, Mao Mao had fallen silent, and Badgerclops couldn't help but wonder if he'd gone back on his earlier statement and passed out.

That particular hypothesis was quickly proven incorrect when, as Badgerclops tried to make his way through the blackness of the living room, he stumbled over the small step near the entrance to the Dojo. Luckily, he was able to right himself before the two of them ended up in a heap on the floor.

"You better not drop me," Mao Mao suddenly warned Badgerclops from over his shoulder, startling the cybernetic badger and loudly verifying that he was very much still awake. "You need to watch where you're going."

Badgerclops opened his mouth, fully prepared to inform the feline that he was the only individual in their small group who possessed the ability of night vision. Well, there was Adorabat but the way she explained it, she could only see in the dark by screaming at the top of her lungs and that was not something Badgerclops was practically a fan of. Instead, the cybernetic badger swallowed his sarcastic retort, and he settled for satisfying his slight desire for revenge by lightly jostling Mao Mao. The action drew a short yelp and another weak punch from the cat, but Badgerclops merely disregarded them in favor of heading towards their couch. They made it there without another incident, and Badgerclops lifted Mao Mao from his temporary perch on his shoulder and delicately placed him on the dark pink cushions. Mao Mao gave a small grant from the force of the light impact and, before the feline could say anything else, Badgerclops pointed a stern finger at him. Or, at least where he hoped that Mao Mao was because the cat was literally a dark blob in the darkness, except for his bright green eyes.

"Stay," Badgerclops commanded.

Mao Mao's eyes narrowed, and it didn't take a genius to realize that he was firmly glaring at the cybernetic badger. "I'm not some kind of dog," he spat.

Then, don't act like one, Badgerclops muttered within his mind, rolling his eye.

He briefly considered voicing this particular line of thought to the cat, but he thought better of it and decided to ignore Mao Mao and his usual bad attitude. Instead, Badgerclops left Mao Mao to stew on the couch and tried to navigate his way through the dark for the light switch. But, when that proved to be way too far away for him - both because he was tired and because he didn't trust Mao Mao to not make an escape attempt - he simply went for the lamp standing innocently near the couch. Badgerclops tugged the brown chain hanging from underneath the lampshade, and a warm golden glow enveloped a small portion of the living room, giving him just enough light to see Mao Mao's slumped form on the couch.

Badgerclops strolled back over the feline, and he was pleased to find that the first aid kit still sat upon their coffee table where he left it. As Badgerclops kneeled in his temporary spot between the couch and the table, he could feel the back of his head practically burning under the force of Mao Mao's glare. It was a sensation that the cybernetic badger had become numb to, and he was easily able to ignore it. He focused his attention upon the first aid kit and his clawed fingers popped the silver clasps at the side with a loud click. Badgerclops scoured the innards of the small medical box, searching for any extra bandages and antibiotic ointment. He also made sure to keep his ears peeled for any extraneous movement from Mao Mao in case the feline would take the opportunity to make a break for it while his back was turned. Thankfully, that never happened - because heaven knows Badgerclops was not going to chase after him - and he was able to gather up the medical supplies and turn back to Mao Mao. With the dim light bouncing off of the cat's face, Badgerclops noticed that, underneath the hero's harsh stare, Mao Mao's face was several shades paler than it previously was.

It's probably the blood loss, Badgerclops internally mused.

He'd best get Mao Mao patched up - again - and strap him down to his bed.

Just as a precaution.

"Alright," Badgerclops began, quietly. He held out his flesh hand to the cat, the palm facing upward. "Let me see your leg again, Mao."

Mao Mao merely stared at his hand in distaste, and he drew his bleeding limb closer to himself. "No."

Badgerclops groaned. "Mao, please."

"No."

The cybernetic badger just barely resisted the distinct urge to simply snatch Mao Mao's injured leg up and fix it himself - with or without the cat's permission. The last thing he wanted was the feline fighting against him and making everything worse than they already were. But, he has to admit it; Mao Mao appeared to be a lot more stubborn than before. Then again, there had been one deciding factor that had kept the cat from fussing so much.

Adorabat.

Whenever the young bat had been around, Mao Mao's attitude shifted, and he did whatever it took to make the raw concern in Adorabat's big eyes dissipate. That included reluctantly letting Badgerclops bandage his wounds. Now, however, with Adorabat safely slumbering in their bedroom, Mao Mao seemingly believed that he no longer had a reason to drop his guard. Badgerclops imagined that, that particular behavior of Mao Mao's involved what he saw in Adorabat.

"You remind me of me-"

Badgerclops suddenly wanted nothing more than to wake Adorabat from her peaceful sleep. If he did, then maybe Adorabat could help him - wait, no. Adorabat had already seen enough terrible things today, and Badgerclops didn't feel like adding onto that. Besides, the young bat needed her rest; she had skewl tomorrow - or was it today?

Badgerclops moaned. Man, he needed some sleep. "Mao Mao, come on. It's the middle of the night. You're bleeding everywhere. And, we're both tired." Mao Mao loudly scoffed at the last part of his sentence like the badger had told some sort of funny joke. Yet, here Badgerclops was, not laughing. "Just let me get this over with so we can both get some sleep."

When Mao Mao still refused to budge, Badgerclops slyly added, "Unless, you'd rather have me get Adorabat, so she can help out.

Those specific words finally reached Mao Mao's stubborn ears, and the feline's stare only seemed to harden, a scowl pulling at the corner of his lips. "You wouldn't dare."

Badgerclops skillfully hid his growing smirk behind the large hand he placed upon his chin, pretending to mull over Mao Mao's challenge. He had the feline right where he wanted him. "I don't know, dude. I'm preeety tired."

Mao Mao's eyes narrowed at his response, the warm glow illuminating from the lamp causing them to glint sharply. The feline silently explored the cybernetic badger's face for a few seconds - searching for what, Badgerclops wasn't quite sure - and, after apparently finding whatever he was looking for, Mao Mao begrudgingly lowered his injured leg into Badgerclops' awaiting hand with a singular huff.

"Fine."

Badgerclops grinned a bit, happy that he was the victor of the minor standoff between him and Mao Mao, and - while swallowing back a comment that most likely would've reversed everything he'd accomplished in the past minute - he gingerly grasped the cold limb in his palm. Upon closer inspection of Mao Mao's bandaged leg, Badgerclops found the small smile slipping and being replaced with a thick grimace at the worrisome sight of the previously white bandages soaked through with blood. He barely suppressed the strong urge to shudder at the unsettling sensation - of which he was becoming annoyingly familiar with - of slick, warm blood spilling into his thick brown fur. After struggling to pay it no heed, the cybernetic badger used a clawed finger to slice through the bandages, and he slowly unwound the dressings in a counterclockwise rotation. The scarlet-colored cloth gathered in a small mound of red at the foot of their dark pink sofa. As they fell away, the soaked bandages constantly caught on Mao Mao's exposed flesh, and he could feel the cat's leg muscles fluttering under his fingers in response. When he snuck a quick glance at Mao Mao, Badgerclops noticed that the feline's expression was pinched. Finally, the rest of the bandages came undone, and he, once again, found himself face-to-face with the true extent of Mao Mao's injury. As soon as his eye honed onto the wound, Badgerclops felt his chest tighten.

It looked worse.

Blood heavily welled up from the deep crevices of the tender wound, matting and darkening the already black fur alongside the cut. Around the edges of the injury, Badgerclops could easily see that the naked skin was a dark shade of pink - almost red - and inflamed, a negative difference to what it was originally; a direct result of Mao Mao pushing his unsteady body so much. The sharp odor of copper - and, thankfully, not infection - coated the previously clean air in the room and tickled Badgerclops' nose, making his stomach churn with nausea.

Welp, he wasn't hungry anymore.

Badgerclops slowly picked up his head to look at Mao Mao - completely prepared to say something to him - when he became aware of the cat's current condition. Mao Mao was heavily slumped against the back of their couch, his face still visibly damp with sweat and his eyes closed tight. Badgerclops could tell from Mao Mao's uneven breathing and hard expression that the feline was anything but asleep, and, instead of continuing with his next words, Badgerclops swallowed and went back to working on Mao Mao's leg. He managed to, singlehandedly, wrestle a large wad of gauze from his pile of supplies, and he pressed it against the tidal wave of blood. Badgerclops silently waited until the life-giving liquid slowed to a mere dribble, and then he gently applied more of the odorless ointment to the injury. A scowl plagued his lips when he felt the slight warmth emitting from the wound underneath his fingertips. Briefly ignoring it, Badgerclops wrapped a brand new layer of bandages around Mao Mao's leg and, once he was satisfied, he tied it off.

"There you go, Mao Mao," Badgerclops declared, loudly, eying the feline as he returned the medical supplies to their home within the first aid kit.

The suddenness of his voice startled the cat out of whatever stupor he'd been in, and his eyes flew open. Mao Mao blinked a few times - like he was disoriented - before he looked at Badgerclops, his eyes glassy and still tinged red. The disconcerting feeling returned in the form of a lump in the back of Badgerclops' throat, and he fought to swallow it down.

"I'm finished with your leg, man," He repeated, pointing at the said limb.

Mao Mao stiffly straightened up, checking out his newly bandaged leg. "Thanks, Badgerclops," he murmured, his voice unusually quiet.

Badgerclops paused, surprised by the sudden gratitude, before bobbing his head. "No problem."

Mao Mao's behavior only seemed to be getting weirder. The feline's gone from being his usual loud, aggressive self to being quiet.

It felt… wrong.

Badgerclops closed the lid of the first aid kit, and he lingered there for a moment, thinking - considering - his next course of action before he stood to his feet. Fatigue pulled at his body, tugging him back towards the ground, but he dismissed it in favor of getting down to the bottom of his current problem.

Usually, Badgerclops would've left Mao Mao and his weird problems alone for another day - or, you know, the morning. But, with the apparent way that Mao Mao was acting, that was no longer becoming an option. He preferred giving Mao Mao his personal space when he needed it, and he knew it was better if he let Mao Mao come to him of his own free will. However, that concept immediately went out of the window the exact moment Mao Mao concluded that the best time to train himself to the bone was at an ungodly time and while he was still freshly injured. If Badgerclops simply left this alone, he had no doubt in his mind that he'd find Mao Mao lying face down in a pool of his own body fluids in the Dojo.

Mao Mao was strangely self-destructive that way.

"So," Badgerclops began, slowly, deliberately. "Are we gonna talk about before?"

Mao Mao squinted his eyes, his brow furrowing in response as if he was trying to properly comprehend the question. "Before?" He eventually questioned.

"Uh, yeah, dude. You were outside in the middle of the night, training in the cold while also - may I mention - being injured-" Badgerclops yawned in the midst of his sentence. "And, even before all that, you've been acting all outta wack. Probably since… yesterday? Yeah, yesterday."

Mao Mao loured, briefly looking Badgerclops up and down with a skeptical gaze before he sharply twisted his head to the side. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Badgerclops rubbed his flesh hand down his haggard face, annoyed. "Mao cut the act. It's literally just you and me now. You're allowed to lower your guard, you know."

Mao Mao sniffled, loudly; for dramatic effect or a side effect of staying outside in the cold too long, who knows. "There's nothing wrong, Badgerclops."

"Uh, of course, there's something wrong, dude," Badgerclops huffed. "Why else would you be training in the middle of the night?"

Mao Mao pawed, tiredly, at his eyes. "To hone my skills?"

"No. It's because you're upset about something," Mao Mao's mouth popped open, ready and willing to disagree with his statement, but Badgerclops quickly interrupted him. "You always train this hard whenever you're upset about something."

"I do not-"

"Uh, yeah ya do, Mao," Badgerclops pressed. "Trust me, you do."

Mao Mao's frown deepened, and he crossed his arms close to his chest. His trademark scarlet red cape hugged his shoulders and, for a split second, Badgerclops swore that he saw the feline shiver underneath the thick fabric. "Badgerclops-"

"Look, Mao Mao," Badgerclops stepped closer to Mao Mao, and he didn't miss the subtle way that the cat stiffened at the movement. "I know you don't want to have this conversation and all and, honestly, neither do I-"

Mao Mao sighed, audibly, and he finally twisted his head towards Badgerclops. Although, his bleary green eyes were primarily focused upon something beyond Badgerclops' current field of vision. "Then, go back to bed," The feline softly murmured, reclining against the lumpy back of the sofa. "I'll be fine."

"I would," Badgerclops yawned again, his jaw slightly cracking from the force. He waited until he had control over his mouth before continuing with the rest of his sentence. "But, I have a feeling that you'll just continue hurting yourself if I did."

Mao Mao's eyes abruptly snapped to him, his ever-present glare increasing in intensity, and the feline bared his shark-like teeth. "I'm not going to hurt myself. I'm not some kind of child."

Badgerclops rose an unimpressed eyebrow and, without even missing a beat, he pointed a finger at the ground. "Those say otherwise."

Mao Mao's eyes smoothly followed Badgerclops' sharp finger to the hardwood floor where he easily found his blood-soaked bandages coiled up in a messy pile. The feline silently studied the dressings, refusing to voice any opinion on the matter.

Badgerclops exhaled through his nose, and he extended his flesh hand towards Mao Mao, intending to place it upon the cat's stiff shoulder. "Hey, man. I'm not going to judge you or anything with whatever is going on with you. You know, unless it's something embarrassing." The simple tease failed to draw the usual hotheaded response from Mao Mao. "Come on. You can talk to me-"

Mao Mao slapped his hand, knocking it off course from its destination. "There's nothing to talk about," he assured.

"Seriously, man," Badgerclops grumpily rubbed his hand; the slap in itself barely stung, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt his feelings. "Come on. You were training in the middle of the night-"

"Because I wanted to," Mao Mao butted in, tensely, his fists clenched in his lap. "And, I felt like it. That's it."

Badgerclops dropped his hands, his lips thinning out into a line. "You haven't eaten anything."

"I wasn't hungry."

"You slept in this morning, too," Badgerclops pointed out. "And, you never sleep in."

Mao Mao weakly shrugged his shoulders, though they barely moved, and he dismissed the observation. "I was tired."

"Dude," Badgerclops directed a firm finger at the cat. "You can't keep making up excuses."

"I'm not-"

Badgerclops rolled his only eye, a hand coming up to rest on his hip. "Then, explain yesterday's battle to me."

"What about it?"

"Hm, I don't know," Badgerclops said, sarcastically, placing a tentative hand to his chin as if he actually needed a moment to consider Mao Mao's inquiry. "How about the fact that you were totally off your game?"

"What?"Mao Mao hissed, low and dangerous. He made it sound like the idea in itself was absolutely ridiculous.

"Yeah, man. You were, like, constantly spacing out half of the time. And, you weren't - I don't know - acting like yourself."

Something negative seeped into Mao Mao's facial expression, or, at least, what Badgerclops could see in the dim lighting. "Am I not allowed to have an off day?" The cat asked, darkly. The sudden shift in his tone suggested something more than he was verbally saying.

Something that Badgerclops didn't like.

"What?" Badgerclops took an uneasy step back, staring hard at Mao Mao. "You're more than allowed to have an off day. You know that's not what I meant."

Mao Mao's face didn't change; that unidentifiable look still plastered across his expression. "Then, what did you mean?"

Badgerclops huffed, and he ran a hand through the fur on top of his head. It was blatantly obvious to anyone peering in on their current discussion that Mao Mao was trying to flip the conversation on him and lead it away from himself. "I just meant that you've been acting differently lately. And, you know, doing stuff you don't usually do. For instance-"

Badgerclops held up a finger. "During the entire battle, your fighting style was completely off-kilter."

Mao Mao straightened up, glowering at the cybernetic badger. "Badgerclops-"

Badgerclops ignored him and raised another finger, completely focused on getting his point across. "Then, you kept stumbling all over the place. Which you never do-"

Mao Mao aggressively snarled, and he used his arms to push his weary body up onto his feet. His seemingly permanent annoyed expression briefly faltered once he placed some of his body weight upon his wounded leg, but he quickly recovered from the pain and stood firmly before Badgerclops. "Stop it-"

"What the-?"

Badgerclops instantly neglected his one-sided discussion of Mao Mao's suspicious behavior in favor of setting his sight upon the feline's current idiotic attempt, and he reached out with both hands to stop him.

"Hey, man! You need to calm down-"

"No!" Mao Mao roughly shoved advancing hands away, his body slightly swaying on the spot as a result of the action. "You need to leave me alone-"

Mao Mao unexpectedly paused in the midst of his sentence, the rest of his words seemingly dying on the tip of his tongue. His countenance wavered and his body went rigid, a choked sound slipping between the feline's lips. Badgerclops furrowed his eyebrows at the unusual sound but, before he could voice his thoughts on it, Mao Mao lurched forward, a cough bursting from out of his mouth. Mao Mao's eyes widened in response, and the cat slapped a hand over his mouth.

Badgerclops took a hesitant step forward, his concern intermingling with confusion. What just happened? "Mao Mao?"

At the sound of his name, Mao Mao's eyes slowly met Badgerclops', a wide-eyed reddish-green colliding with a concerned burnt blue. Their unintentional staring contest lasted only a few seconds before another cough seeped out from between Mao Mao's fingers, and the cat squeezed his eyes shut, inadvertently losing the competition. Shortly following the involuntary action, yet another cough jarred Mao Mao's body, this time forcing him to double over and drop his hand from his mouth.

Then, there was another.

And another.

And another.

Badgerclops' heart plummeted into the dark abyss of his stomach, and he couldn't but compare himself to a bystander as he witnessed the start of a worrying scene.

And, it was not good.

Mao Mao's form shook and heaved as he descended into a coughing fit, his body nearly curling in on itself. In between each cough, Badgerclops could vainly hear Mao Mao struggling to suck in a breath, although those attempts were foiled each time. The cybernetic badger noted that the sounds the cat produced were extremely harsh and loud - just like how Mao Mao did everything.

He cringed at that specific thought and, for a moment, Badgerclops found his gaze wandering away from Mao Mao's shuddering form and towards the direction of their shared bedroom. His eye scoured the outline of the doorway leading into their kitchen, almost expecting a small blue head and a pair of round, innocent eyes to suddenly pop around the corner. Thankfully, that never occurred, and he silently thanked his lucky stars that Adorabat was such a heavy sleeper. He didn't know how he would've been able to handle an upset Adorabat and a distressed Mao Mao at the same time.

Speaking of the feline-

The cybernetic badger shook his head, and he refocused his attention upon Mao Mao. The samurai cat was still in throes of his coughing fit, the involuntary body action giving him little to no opportunity to breathe. Badgerclops frowned at the unsettling sight, and he quickly moved towards Mao Mao. As he approached Mao Mao's side, Badgerclops extended his hands out towards his caped back, desiring to somehow support the feline. He knew that there was a definite possibility that Mao Mao was going to shrug off his attempts to help - as to be expected of the crazed feline - but it was better to try than sit back and do nothing, right? Badgerclops swiftly made up his mind, and he firmly pressed his palm against Mao Mao's heaving back.

Two things happened at that moment.

Firstly, Mao Mao didn't even so much as flinch like Badgerclops anticipated he would. In fact, it didn't seem that Mao Mao had even registered his touch, too immersed within his coughing fit. Then, the second thing occurred at the exact instant that Badgerclops' fingertips brushed against Mao Mao's caped back.

Mao Mao was warm.

Whereas Mao Mao had practically been a literal block of ice when Badgerclops had him slung over his shoulder, the feline now felt like a roaring furnace. Heat poured off of him in small waves, warming Badgerclops' hand even through the thick scarlet fabric of Mao Mao's cape. The cybernetic badger quickly withdrew his hand and stared at it, investigating the surface of his palm as if he expected there to be some sort of a burn mark. When he, unsurprisingly, found absolutely nothing there, Badgerclops looked back at Mao Mao. The cat's face was angled down towards the wooden floorboards, his expression locked into a permanent grimace as the coughs tore through his body. Badgerclops scrunched his eyebrows together, his mental gears turning softly within his mind.

Where did all of this even come from?

Badgerclops quietly hummed to himself in thought, and he replaced his hand upon Mao Mao's back. From there, the cybernetic badger reluctantly began to rub several circles along the feline's spine, his movements awkward and a little hesitant. Even though he knew Mao Mao for a while now, Badgerclops was still unsure of how to properly comfort him. The feline had only permitted it a couple of times throughout their partnership, and even those times were very few and far between. But, Mao Mao didn't negatively respond to the sensation - not like he could anyway - so Badgerclops could only assume that it was okay for now. As he continued with his hand gestures, Badgerclops snuck a quick peek at Mao Mao's freshly bandaged leg. The wrapped limb was just barely visible underneath the bottom of the cat's signature cape but, from what he could plainly see, the dressings were still a pleasant shade of pristine white.

Did his wound cause this?

Did it get infected?

Badgerclops gulped, the inklings of worry developing into a thick lump in the back of his throat and leaving him with a sour taste in his mouth.

No.

The cybernetic badger had a sufficient amount of knowledge on the topic of injuries, and he could confidently say that he was more than capable of dealing with them. (He did mostly fix Mao Mao's bones after he practically liquefied them during his ridiculous rival with Orangusnake, after all). When Badgerclops had redone Mao Mao's bandages - you know, after the feline was being his usual reckless self - he paid close attention to the current state of the battle wound. The cut had been noticeably swollen, the surrounding skin slowly turning an interesting shade of red. Those were all general signs of irritation (and stupidity), not an infection, however. Then again, hadn't the wound felt a bit warm, too?

Badgerclops chewed on his bottom lip.

But, that didn't make any sense. Besides, adding the simple fact that Mao Mao had been training outside for-who-knows-how-long to the equation, the feline had acquired the initial injury only a couple of hours ago. Infection couldn't have possibly circulated throughout Mao Mao's system that fast to produce this kind of negative reaction.

As if knowing Badgerclops was thinking about him, Mao Mao quivered under the cybernetic badger's palm. Badgerclops steadily increased the pressure of his rubbing, tracing longer and harder circles alongside Mao Mao's back and shoulder blades.

So, if this wasn't from the injury, then what could it -?

Wait a minute.

Badgerclops abruptly stilled his hand motions, momentarily distracted by several thoughts racing through his mind.

The lack of appetite.

Sleeping in late.

The abrupt change in attitude.

The constant deflecting.

Several pieces of the impossible jigsaw puzzle that was Mao Mao suddenly clicked into place within Badgerclops' head, and the corners of Badgerclops' lip tilted downwards at the image that began to develop before his eye. Ironically, the said image looked unpleasantly familiar to something that happened a couple of months ago. But, before Badgerclops could even think about trying to confirm his conclusions, he, first, needed to deal with Mao Mao.

With that in mind, the cybernetic badger slowly lifted his hand from Mao Mao's jerking back, raising the appendage a couple of inches in the air. Badgerclops spread his palm wide and flat before he swiftly smacked his hand hard against the square of Mao Mao's back. The force of the hit practically sent Mao Mao's body lurching forward, a choked gasp breaking through the feline's relentless stream of coughs for only a brief moment.

"Come on, Mao," Badgerclops encouraged, smacking his palm against Mao Mao again. This time, the heroic cat managed to draw in a single breath before he was drowning in the actions of his body once more. "You gotta breathe at some point."

It took two more strong thumps along Mao Mao's spine before the cat was even remotely capable of following his advice, the coughs dwindling in strength until Mao Mao was able to regain control of his body. Badgerclops stepped back a bit to give Mao Mao some room to breathe, but he quickly changed tactics when the feline's body wilted, and it appeared that Mao Mao would end up face-planting against the floorboards. Badgerclops reacted quickly, and he pushed his fatigued body to snag Mao Mao firmly around his waist with his metallic arm. The cybernetic badger held the cat against his stomach, supporting some of Mao Mao's body weight. Meanwhile, Mao Mao sagged against Badgerclops' cybernetic arm, his chest heaving as he wheezed.

That particular moment lasted for close to a minute - not like Badgerclops was counting or anything - with Mao Mao propping himself up against the cybernetic badger, openly panting in exertion. Eventually, Mao Mao managed to scourge up enough energy from deep within his reserves. The feline weakly wiggled like a dying fish in Badgerclops' grasp, mere inches away from elbowing the badger in the stomach. Badgervlops took this as a huge sign that Mao Mao had enough of him coddling him, and he gently relinquished his hold. Mao Mao staggered for a split second once his main support had abruptly disappeared, but he still managed to collapse onto the surface of their couch. There, he turned his back to Badgerclops, and he hunched over, his sharp gloved fingers digging into the sofa's dark pink fabric. Badgerclops said nothing in response to the action, instead he simply stepped back, quietly listening to Mao Mao suck in several full breaths.

Now that whatever-that-was is over, Badgerclops could officially get down to the bottom of this.

Many questions buzzed around Badgerclops' mind, but he kept the dominant one locked and loaded on the tip of his tongue, ready to release it out and into the air as soon as Mao Mao managed to catch his breath. Thankfully, that didn't take too long, and Mao Mao's breathing quietened to the point that it was barely audible.

"Hey, Mao Mao," Badgerclops started, nonchalantly. Mao Mao's black ears perked up - since when were they droopy? - at the sound of his name, but otherwise, he didn't make any other attempt to physically nor verbally acknowledge Badgerclops. The cybernetic badger assumed that it had something to do with the fact that Mao Mao had completely lost his composure in front of him. His pride was probably injured or something weird like that. Either way, Badgerclops didn't care as long as Mao Mao was paying attention to him and heard what he had to say. "Are you-?"