Content Warning: Vomit
This isn't happening. This can't be happening!
Pierce was staring at him. King Hippo was staring at him. A whole crowd of people, all staring at him.
And there he was, James Vincent Prince, standing shakily in a puddle of his own vomit.
Pierce jumped into action. "It's over! TKO! King Hippo wins by default!" He called over the medic to handle Narcis. The medic took Narcis to the back room to have some medicine and get cleaned up, while Pierce radioed a bouncer to clean the mess.
When he emerged, Bear Hugger picked him up and hauled him over his shoulder. "Come on, let's get you home."
Everyone was still staring as they left the arena. This was the most humiliating thing to happen to anyone ever!
Once Bear Hugger got him home and to bed safely, Narcis opened his phone to message Lacey.
James sent: Can you come over? (5:29 pm)
. . .
Lacey sent: Sure (5:37 pm)
Lacey sent: Why? (5:38 pm)
James sent: I'm not well. (5:38 pm)
Lacey sent: Okay I will be there soon (5:39 pm)
Once sending the message, Narcis huddled into his bed. He wanted to disappear.
The next morning, while she was eating her cereal, Katrina spied her father pouring some ginger tea into a thermos. "What are you doing?"
"Je vais visiter James," said Joe. "Ce thé va l'aider à se sentir mieux." (I'm going to visit James. This tea will help him feel better.) He packed the thermos into a small travel bag.
"Dem kleinen Kerl ist es wahrscheinlich sehr peinlich wegen gestern," said Von Kaiser, taking a sip of his coffee. "Ich wette, er wird es wirklich zu schätzen wissen." (The little guy is probably very embarrassed about yesterday. I bet he'll really appreciate it.)
Joe hauled his bag over his shoulder and set off, and when he arrived at his destination, he knocked on the door. A teenage girl answered; Lacey, if he remembered correctly. "Hello," said Lacey. "What brings you here?"
"Je viens pour visiter James." (I came to visit James.)
"Oh, he's in bed," said Lacey, bringing him inside. "I came up to look after him until he's feeling better. Last night, he cried ever so much. He told me he won't ever box again."
Never box again? Why, that sounded very serious. Lacey led Joe to Narcis's bedroom, where Narcis was laying down, asleep, with one hand over his heart and the other on his forehead. He looked like something out of Romeo and Juliet.
Joe nudged Narcis. "James?"
Narcis blinked his eyes open and looked up at Joe. "Oh, Joseph, it's terrible," he whimpered. "I shall never enter the ring again."
A sting of dread ran through Joe's heart. "Pourquoi pas, est-ce que c'est sérieux?" (Why not, is it serious?)
"Oh, it's most serious," said Narcis, pushing himself upwards. "Didn't you see how everyone was looking at me? I'll never show my face in that arena again."
"Oh, James, mon gars," said Joe, putting an arm around the smaller lad, "ce n'était pas vraiment si pire." (Oh, James, buddy, it wasn't really that bad.)
Narcis sniffled weakly. "Have you ever been sick in the middle of a match?"
"Bien sûr," chuckled Joe. "C'était une de mes premières batailles, et j'ai mangé quelque chose de bizarre ce matin." (Of course. It was one of my first matches, and I had eaten something weird that morning.)
Narcis swabbed at his nose. He was very quiet. He supposed it wasn't that bad if he wasn't the first to do it, but he was still very iffy on coming back.
"Je vais te raconter une histoire. Quelques années en passe, je suis tombé malade, et Viktor me rend visite pour me prendre soin. Nous n'étions pas marié quand c'est se passe, alors c'était un gros gesture pour moi. Je pense que c'était le moment de réaliser que j'étais vraiment en amour avec lui." (Let me tell you a story. Several years ago, I fell sick, and Viktor came over to look after me. We weren't married when this happened, so it was a big gesture for me. I think that was the moment that I realized I was really in love with him.)
Joe brushed a lock of hair from Narcis's eyes, and this time, Narcis didn't fuss about it. "Nous tenons à nous autres dans cette league, James. Je peux t'assurer qu'il n'a va etre un probleme quand tu retourner." (We care about each other in this league, James. I can assure you, there won't be a problem when you come back.)
Narcis clung a bit closer to Joe. "It's certainly not becoming for a Prince. I bet if Mum were here, she would have been right furious."
Not quite knowing how to respond to that, Joe opened up his bag and offered Narcis the tea. Narcis took the thermos and (dare I say) gingerly sipped on the sweet beverage. Lacey then came into the room and sat at the foot of the bed. "Are you really sure you're going to leave the league?"
"No," mumbled Narcis. "I think I'm going to go back."
"You're sure?" Lacey cocked an eyebrow. "You were so certain about quitting last night.
"It's okay. I think I'll be alright now." Narcis yawned and rubbed his eyes. Joe had him finish the tea before he fell back asleep.
Some days later, Narcis had recovered, and made it to the arena. He was expecting that the other boxers would pick on and mock him over what happened, but instead, they seemed to mostly ignore him. "There he is," said Bear Hugger. "Told ya he'd be back by Wednesday."
King Hippo picked Narcis up and squeezed him. "ああ, 優しい, ルル," said Piston Hondo, looking up from the bench he was sitting on. "彼はまだかなり壊れやすいかもしれません." (Oh, gentle, Lulu. He may still be rather fragile.)
"So," said Super Macho Man with a smirk, "you gonna toss your guts in the ring again today?"
Mr. Sandman cuffed him upside the head. "Quit it."
Narcis looked around, and went over to Pierce. "Is Joseph here yet? I really must thank him for encouraging me to come back."
"He's not gonna be in today," said Pierce…
"...he called in sick!"
