Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination.
Dizzy: 4 Sickening Senses.
The van came to stop in an empty parking lot. Howard maneuvered into the back, it was dark and they had finished the day's scheduled driving time.
"Lets cook some food alright, I'm starving." Howard announced as he slumped down next to Vince, who had recently stopped sprawling to give him room.
"Yeah alright, Bollo, put some spaghetti on would ya, I'll do the sauce." Naboo and his familiar got to work with the portable shaman cooking gear.
"Do some vegetables too would you, Vince has malnutrition." Howard added.
Naboo seemed both surprised and upset by this. "We'll do peas." He concluded, pulling out a bag of petit pois from the freezer box he had brought with him.
Howard relaxed at the sound of the meal. It was strange just how relieved he felt that Vince would be eating properly, he made a vow to make sure Vince was always well fed.
"Howard?" Vince questioned, he was fidgeting slightly. "I don't think those bootlaces are right, they're all pale and stiff." Vince said with all seriousness, pointing at the spaghetti Bollo was putting in the boiling water.
"They aren't bootlaces Vince, they're spaghetti, pasta." At Vince's blank stare Howard sighed.
"Just give 'em a try yeah?" Howard pleaded.
"Alright, but none of its even colorful! Apart from those, they're genius." Vince grinned, indicating the peas. Howard smiled.
"Well Vince you can have as many as you want, as long as you promise to eat them all."
"Wow really Howard? I'll eat them I promise." Vince grinned in the dizzy manner he usually did, staring at the peas. Howard could have laughed at his success, but then he saw Naboo staring at him in a demeaning way, so settled for patting Vince on the back.
By the time the food was done, Howard's stomach was rumbling in a complaining manner. Naboo served them all portions, making Vince's smaller by quite a bit.
"What are you doing Naboo, Vince hasn't eaten properly in a while, he needs the extra food." Howard announced, Naboo seemed about to protest when Howard filled Vince's plate.
"Vince you don't have to eat all of it, just stop when you're full." Naboo stated, Vince nodded and tried a mouthful of the spaghetti Bolognese.
"This is weird, it's not sweet at all!" He exclaimed in shock after he'd swallowed, holding the back of his hand to his mouth.
"Do you not like it?" Howard asked worriedly.
"No, its nice, its just...different." Vince concluded, and continued eating. It wasn't long until Vince felt himself becoming full, but when he looked at Howard, he saw that the man had already eaten half of his plate. A sudden feeling of something squeezing his insides took hold of Vince, and he kept eating, as if in an impulse.
Eventually he managed to finish the plate, but he could feel his stomach churning uncomfortably. The feeling persisted until they went to bed. Vince had never slept so painfully, back at Bainbridge's house he had a bed with amazing fabric throws and covers, and the lights were neon and welcoming. Here he was sat up with a scraggly blanket and cold, he squirmed about as the others slept, trying to find a warm position where his stomach would stop moving.
As the morning rose the others slowly clambered into an awakened state, Bollo putting the kettle on swiftly. Vince hadn't slept a wink, and was looking the worst for it, dark shadows appearing under his eyes and looking pale and drawn. He brought his legs up to his chest for comfort, and immediately felt a white hot pain shoot from his ankle.
Everyone was too sleepy to notice Vince flinch painfully, biting his lip and holding back the tears that threatened to spill from both misery and pain.
"Right! Lets get on the road then!" Howard announced happily, patting Vince on the back as he got up. Vince's slight lurch because of it sent his stomach right back to its squirming, he lowered his head onto his knees, everyone seemed to take this as tiredness however, and so went back to whatever they were doing.
Howard started up the car and they trundled off on their way.
As Bollo and Naboo poured over the shaman equivalent of 'Argos', Vince sat biting his lip and breathing shakily. The movement of the truck was both jarring his foot and sending his stomach into somersaults. After a few minutes Vince had the distinct feeling that something was creeping up his throat.
All at once the truck jerked over a lump in the road, Vince wretched, a feeling he'd almost forgotten, but he knew what would come next pretty soon. Uncurling himself he turned to the drivers seat, holding his stomach with one hand and the door in the other.
"Howard! Howard stop the van!" Vince breathed out shallowly.
"Can't stop now little man! We're on a carefully planned mission! Oh yes sir, we-"
"Howard! Stop the van! Please!" At the keening sound in Vince's voice Howard pulled over in confusion, all members of the van turned to Vince as he threw the door open and fell out.
"Vince!" Howard exclaimed as he and Naboo jumped out after him, Bollo having had the magazine thrown at him. They leapt out to the sight of Vince on his knees throwing up violently whilst holding his stomach.
"Shit!" Howard said, dashing forwards and grabbing Vince as he swayed dangerously. Once quite sure he was done throwing up Vince leaned back into Howard's arms trembling.
Howard leant Vince backwards so his head rested on Howard's shoulder as he panted. Naboo came over and knelt beside Vince as well, putting his hand to the sweating raven-haired forehead.
"I told you not to give him so much! You've got to start with small amounts of food in these situations! Look what you've done to him!"
"S'not Howard's fault. I was the one who kept eating." Vince croaked miserably, Howard, desperate to remedy the situation, spoke up to comfort him.
"Vince, I'm sorry, you only have to eat what you can, you're doing really well alright?" Vince sought Howard's eyes for comfort, he was beginning to feel better. "Just tell us when you're not feeling well okay." Howard finished, seeing secrets in Vince's eyes.
"My ankle really hurts." Vince admitted quietly, Howard smiled softly down at him.
"Let's get you back in the van then." At Vince's nod Howard picked him up, Naboo keeping a close look on the shiny man.
Howard couldn't help but feel terrible as he wrapped the miserable Vince up in the two scant blankets they had. Naboo carefully removed the silver boots Vince wore and unwrapped the bandages.
Vince's ankle was swollen and crooked, and generally at odds to the rest of his appearance. Vince flinched slightly as Naboo felt the break.
"I've got something that'll help the break heal, but you've got to not put any weight on it at all until then alright?" Vince nodded in a desperate way. Naboo fished some browny orange balm out from a concealed pocket.
"Ugh!" Vince exclaimed as the foul goop was spread over his ankle and foot. Naboo wrapped it up securely in a fresh bandage, also changing the bandage on his forehead.
"Bollo make Vince chocolate milk." Bollo said, pulling out a bottle of 'Yazoo' and giving it to Vince, who looked amazingly happy for the treat. Howard scowled at Bollo in disapproval.
"What, chocolate milk has calcium, plus lots of calories." The gorilla said in defense, Vince happily sipped his drink through an electric blue straw.
"Fine, lets get going." Howard said, and at Vince's assuring dizzy grin, he took the driver's seat and they pulled out, heading for the mountains they could see in the distance.
Howard compulsively kept looking back at Vince in the rearview mirror, checking to see if he was still okay. Thankfully the raven-haired person continued to produce his dizzy grin throughout the remainder of the day, enjoying the scenery go past and the occasional wildlife.
The four didn't stop for lunch, Howard's familiar sense of unease had come creeping back, forcing his foot down on the acceleration. The slight inkling at the back of the jazz maverick's mind kept him driving for longer into the night then the day before.
They had just reached the foot of the mountains when Howard pulled over for the night. He would have carried on if it weren't for Naboo's suspicious warning glances for the last couple of hours.
It was about midnight and Bollo had already fallen asleep, Vince was blinking tiredly on the edge of sleep, and Naboo was hungry.
Diner was cooked quickly, Bollo woke up to the sound of dinner and sat grumpily.
"Its getting cold in here, why no heating on?" The gorilla grumbled moodily.
"The heating only works when the van is on, besides, we'll be at Naboo's house soon right?" Howard half pleaded, as if it would make the tiny shaman's house nearer.
"We should make it in a couple of days." Naboo answered to sighs of relief as he piled rice onto the four plates, this time making sure Vince got less, glaring at Howard as if to dare him to disagree.
"It really is cold." Vince moaned slightly as he pulled the blanket around himself. Howard looked at the slightly trembling figure, taking in the painfully thin clothing he was wearing.
"Don't worry Vince, not much longer." Howard promised, he couldn't be sure that Vince wouldn't just bolt if he got fed up with the cold and tiring trip. He glanced down at Vince's un-booted ankle, feeling a sort of relief that Naboo's miracle cure would prevent Vince from even touching the floor, let alone running away.
Howard was shocked by how much he had felt like Bainbridge when he said that. If this trip came down to forcibly keeping Vince here against his rule, what would he do? Would he resort to violence or bribery to keep the shiny creature in his midst? Or would he let Vince go, to be free and happy somewhere? But the later would surely result in Vince's death in his current state.
Howard hoped that he never had to make the decision, and tucked into the buttered rice with gusto.
This time Howard was careful to watch Vince eating, seeing as he steadily begun to take smaller bites of food, pushing the rice around his plate feebly. Vince had just barely made it half way through his plate, it made Howard's stomach churn at the thought of how much he must have over fed him last night.
Once he saw Vince's hand drift and begin to rub his stomach, Howard looked at his friend's face. Vince was looking pale and had his eyes shut, breathing awkwardly. The slight shivers traveling through the thin man's frame twinged Howard's gut.
"Alright little man, you've eaten enough." Vince jerked back to reality as Howard spoke, and held onto his plate slightly when he tried to remove it.
"Its okay, you've done well." Howard assured the panicked man, and gently removed the plate. By Vince's shy smile and look of relief Howard knew he had done right this time. Naboo even gave him a look that didn't hold too much disapproval.
That night Vince snuggled comfortably against Howard, sharing blanket and body heat. Naboo smiled at the peaceful sight of the two of them, but he too shared Howard's uneasy inkling.
This was only reinforced when Bollo leaned forwards and whispered 'I have a bad feeling', Bollo was never wrong, if a bit late sometimes.
They'd just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, and as the passengers of the van fell asleep, none of them saw the two pinpricks of headlights on the distance.
::Sorry for the long wait! But now that I'm back from holidays I'll be writing more. But reviews will endlessly speed up my writing, so please let me know what you think!
::Thanks for reading, shadowtheo.
