Before China even opened his eyes, he reached for his needle and solution. His clumsy movements knocked it off the table, and he swore and groped around on the floor until he pricked his finger, causing him to curse again. Bleary-eyed and queasy, he dropped his knife on the table, filled up the needle and shot up.

"You've got to get off that stuff, you know," came Dragon's voice, from where he lay curled around the legs of the bed. "Remember what it did to you last time."

"I need it this time!" China snapped. Dragon sighed and lay down to wait for the high to wear off.

Some hours later, China tottered to the bathroom and vomited. Dragon's tailtip wiped away the cold sweat on his brow, and he mumbled thanks.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Not great." China wiped his mouth. "Shit, I started a fire last night, didn't I? I probably ought to go and check that out ..."

"Well, not right now, you can hardly stand up," Dragon told him, letting China lean on him to make his way back to bed. "Maybe I let you go back to work too early."

"I'll be fine," China protested, even as he collapsed limply back into bed. Dragon tugged the blanket up over him. "Okay, you're right, I'll stay. Just one day ..."

China refused food, but Dragon insisted he drink plenty of water. He swirled the cup gently, staring into the spiral of water as he'd stared into his pipe smoke. "Hey, boss, do you mind leaving me alone for a bit? I want to call my brother?"

"I don't think you can bring his memory back over the phone."

"My iother/i brother."

Dragon left the house, and China dialled Japan's house, holding his breath until Korea picked up the phone.

"China? You're calling again? Sheesh, it must be important ... Sorry, Japan's at work. Did you forget you were calling from the wrong time zone or something?"

"No, I guessed he'd be out. I wanted to talk to you without him bothering us."

"I'm not sure I'm allowed to talk to you either."

"I don't care. I've had a bad few weeks and I just need to hear a friendly voice, even if it is from the most annoying person in the world."

"Aww, brother loves me!" Korea squealed.

"Yeah, yeah. What's that clinking sound?"

"Oh, that? I ran away again and Japan got mad, so ..." The clink sounded again. "Chained my ankles."

"He's shackled you?"

"Don't sound so upset! I take it as a challenge!"

"Yes, you would." China chuckled weakly. He could say this for Korea; it was impossible to remain depressed when talking to him, even if that mood did get replaced by irritation. And he wasn't so bad on the other end of a phone line, when one was out of reach of grabby hands. That would have been the last thing China needed. "At least you're optimistic."

"As always!" Korea declared proudly. "I invented optimism! Shame Japan's people don't appreciate it. I got picked up by the police again, I think he sent my description around, and these two guys from the military base came and drove me home again. Same guys as the last few times - I tried to start a conversation, but I don't think they like me."

"So, uh, you spent some time alone with these people?"

"Just in the car back to Japan's place a few times. Why?"

"Do they ... touch you?" China asked hesitantly.

"Well, duh, they kind of have to. I'm hardly going to go quietly. Running away is hard work, I'm not willingly wasting the effort!"

"That's not what I mean. Do they hurt you?"

"Sometimes they slap me around a bit. One of them said something about my face makes him want to hit me because I look too happy for a slave. Then he smacked me again when I told him I understood what he said."

"How can you be a thousand years old and still this naive?"

"Huh? ... Oh! No, nobody's done that. I think one of them was thinking about it one time, but the other guy said he didn't know what Japan would do if he found out. Said he thought 'Honda-san' was reserving me for himself. He's not," Korea added hastily. "Not like that. I'm still saving myself for you, brother!"

"Great," China said unenthusiastically.

"Why did you even ask?"

"Just worried about you."

"Why? It's not that big a deal."

"Yes it is. It really is. I don't want to catch you letting your humans do anything like that again either, okay? It's not funny, it's not harmless, it's not just something mortals do. Okay?"

"Okay, okay. Sheesh. What brought this on?"

China remained silent, hoping his brother wouldn't put two and two together. Would be a fine thing if he chose now to start paying closer attention to what China said. "... Nothing. Just take care of yourself, okay? And fuck the no-friendly-contact orders, you can always talk to me. If it's important, I mean, I don't want you calling me to brag about inventing whatever it is this time, okay?"

"I'm not allowed to make calls."

"If you're badly hurt that's more important than the rules. Okay?"

"It's nothing I can't handle!"

"Regardless."

"Okay. Um." Korea paused. "Thanks."

"Okay. Good to talk to you. Goodbye."

China hung up, leaving Korea staring at the phone. He shrugged, and went back to the washing-up, moving carefully so as not to trip over the chain linking his ankles. He could walk quite easily, but it was too short to let him run. Still, the guy next door had a hacksaw ...

"Huh, that was weird. Eh, Balhae?" Korea said, apparently to himself. "I can't imagine he just suddenly decided to get worried about me. He doesn't usually. Sure, he loves me and all, but he knows I can take care of myself! Japan's a jerk, but I can handle him ..."

An observer would have seen him stop speaking, apparently listening intently. Suddenly his eyes widened, his curl sagged, and he dropped the teacup he was washing.

"Oh. Oh."