Summary: Laurence learns what a hangover is. Micolash wants to experiment with explosives.

(Author's note: Oh my god! The video game came out and world building GOLD is inside! With the new manga chapters, the second season of the Anime AND the game, the fandom seems to get strong as well, so it is finally time to update this fic.

I also am done with my two other long fics which were MUCH more popular than this little niche thing, so I can concentrate better on it. I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter. More Blue Whistle shenanigans are happening.

Honestly, it will forever be my favourite part of MiA world building that the Blue Whistles are mainly teenagers and young adults. The author himself stated that their usual age range is 15 to 22.)

Laurence entered the orphanage with a basket full of ingredients and a smug smile. Gehrman noticed him first and walked towards him.

"Judging from your expression, you were successful in getting some ingredients?", he said, gesturing to the basket.

"Oh yes, indeed.", Laurence said and lifted the blanket that was covering the basket, "I got fresh demon fish, just fished up this morning.", Laurence handed three truly massive fish to Gehrman, "And eggs from the hammerbeaks, stolen out of their nests. I got quite a few.", Laurence put the eggs on the table next to Gehrman and rummaged further in the basket, "And gintokos and when I already was there, I got some glow berries, but remember, not too much of them at once."

Gehrman just stood there and stared when Laurence got more and more ingredients out of the basket. Once Laurence got some saiona greens out, Gehrman raised his voice.

"Laurence... all this stuff is from the Abyss!"

"Yes, of course.", Laurence said, not batting an eye, "It's the best source of food around here."

"...You haven't been authorized to go into the Abyss on your own yet.", Gehrman said, his hands at his hips.

Laurence went defensive right away and took a step back. "Gehrman, I have stayed in the first layer and I didn't even go deeper than 300 metres. I know the first layer like the back of my hand. I was totally safe."

"Even though that might be true, Laurence, you still broke the rules.", Gehrman sighed, "When I told you to get ingredients, I meant from the marketplace and from around the island. Like harvesting some magototos or fish up some sardines or stuff."

"Nobody even noticed that I was there.", Laurence retorted, "I snuck in when they were busy checking some other delvers. Who cares where the food is from? What counts is that I got back alive and with plenty of ingredients."

"That is not the point, you can't get into the Abyss on your own yet!", Gehrman yelled and suddenly a presence was looming behind Laurence. Laurence stiffened when he felt a very shrivelled hand upon his shoulder.

"Laurence, you know the rules.", Master Willem said, nothing but disappointment in his voice, "You need to be punished."

Laurence' face fell and his earlier smugness evaporated in thin air. "Please Master Willem, nothing even happened. I was careful. Please don't punish me..."

Horror flashed over Laurence' face when he remembered the punishment methods of Orth and the humility that came with them. He never ever wanted to face that again.

"You will tidy up and clean the cellar where I store my booze.", Master Willem said and Laurence visibly relaxed. That was a LOT better than the other thing. "However, I better not catch you sneaking into the Abyss on your own again or you'll regret it."

Laurence made a high pitched noise and ran to a closet to get all the cleaning supplies he needed. "I am ready, Master Willem, where is the cellar I should clean located?"

"It is just here.", Master Willem said and opened a trap door. A ladder led down to it and Laurence stared down, it was dark, he would need some light. Gehrman stepped near it, laying a hand on Laurence' shoulder, saying: "I would help, but it is your punishment. Anyway, I am taking these ingredients."

Laurence watched as Gehrman put everything back into the basket and said: "Heeey, you can't just take my work when I am punished for it!"

"It would be a waste.", Gehrman said, moving towards the kitchen. Laurence had the feeling that Gehrman would probably cook Laurence' most hated dish today.

"Tell me once you are done with cleaning.", Master Willem said, "And I expect that you are doing a good job."

"Yeah yeah...", Laurence said, his relief about the punishment being mild replaced with annoyance. Punishment was still punishment and he would have to spend the next several hours down there and cleaning instead of having fun. Laurence fetched his helmet and switched on the light, then descended into the cellar.

Once his feet hit the ground, he got hit with a coughing fit because of how dusty it was. When was the last time someone had cleaned here? He could see some footprints in the layers of dust that indicated that Master Willem would come down here once in a while, but other than that, the place was a mess.

With a sigh, Laurence began to sweep the dust together. It took him quite a while but once he had removed it, he could take better stock of his surroundings. Rows of rows of bottles were stacked there in racks, just waiting to be opened.

"I never know why Master Willem likes this stuff so much.", Laurence took one of the battles and studied the label. It seemed to be some kind of booze made of apples. "He never lets us drink it. But isn't that just made out of fruit? How bad could it be?"

Laurence kept staring at the bottle and he knew that the idea brewing in his head was a bad one. He had already gotten in trouble today, he could get into even more trouble... but his annoyance and curiosity won and he opened the battle to take a sip from it.

The taste felt like it burned his throat and tongue. "Ew, that is awful.", Laurence coughed, lowering the battle, "I really don't know why Master Willem likes this so much..."

However, once Laurence continued cleaning, the burning subdued and left something... pleasant behind. He stared back at the bottle, fighting an inner battle that he only could lose and was back for a second sip. This one didn't burn as bad as the first and Laurence could actually taste the thing.

"That isn't even bad...", he murmured and tried a third sip, then putting the bottle away. He probably shouldn't drink the whole bottle, that would get him into a heap of trouble.

Nothing was amiss at first but after a while, Laurence started to feel weird. He had to giggle and laugh all the time for no reason. He felt a bit like he was floating and he was bumping into the walls constantly, but he also felt good. It was a strange sensation. He felt fantastic even, who cared if he ran into the racks, he felt like he could move the whole world.

As Laurence moistened the rag once again, he noticed how dark and murky the water had become. Oh, he couldn't clean further with this. With a giggle because for some reason he found the thought of making more dirt by cleaning extremely funny, he lifted the bucket and started to ascend the ladder to change it.

The next thing that Laurence knew was that he was on the floor. His body hurt, but not his head. Oh right, he was wearing a helmet. The bucket with the murky water had spilled over the whole floor and Laurence felt a bit nauseated as he tried to orientate himself.

"Holy shit, Laurence, what happened?!"

Laurence could make out the face of Maria who looked down the trapdoor to the basement, her expression horrified. He raised a hand to wave to her.

"Heeey Maria.", his words felt slurred and strange, "Huh... since when are there twooo of yooou...?!"

"Did you hit your head?", Maria asked and descended the ladder, helping Laurence up, who still had to giggle. He winced a bit when Maria touched him, some parts of his body were hurting. "You must have hit your head.", Maria concluded, "You wore a helmet, but that doesn't mean that you can't get a concussion."

Maria took Laurence piggyback which was not a problem at all, even though she was almost a year younger than him. She had grown a lot and had surpassed his height. Almost nobody believed her that she was only fifteen years old.

Normally Laurence would have complained about it, but his legs felt like pudding and he still was in a far too good mood to complain. Once Maria had ascended the ladder, she let Laurence down.

"Heeey, pick me up agaaain.", Laurence complained, thinking that it had been nice to be carried like that. Maria looked at him with a bewildered look.

"You definitely hit your head.", she said and supported Laurence so that he could walk without falling down. It turned out, walking in a straight line was really difficult and when Laurence and Maria first passed Rom and then Gehrman, both of them gave him grave looks of concern.

Maria led Laurence to Master Willem who had been busy in his office. He looked up when Maria entered, supporting a giggling Laurence.

"Master Willem, Laurence has fallen down a ladder and must have hit his head.", Maria said, "He has acted strange ever since I found him."

Master Willem only took one look at Laurence' glassy eyes and flushed face. A deep sigh escaped him: "Thank you, Maria. However, I don't think that Laurence hit his head."

Master Willem laid his pen down and stood up, closing the distance to the two children. "Laurence... have you drunk from my booze?"

Laurence' good mood suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving only a very strange feeling in his head and his stomach. "Nooooo?", he lied, not very convincing.

"Laurence.", Master Willem stated, "Be honest with me, please."

Laurence could feel the gazes of both Maria and Master Willem at him and then murmured: "Maaaaybe..."

Master Willem's eyes narrowed and Maria's gaze pretty much drilled itself into him, so he quickly added: "It was just a little bit. Just a few sips. I barely had anything. It was burning and awful anyway."

"Laurence...", Master Willem sighed, "Do you know how much alcohol is in a single sip of booze?"

Laurence shook his head, which he regretted, because his stomach didn't agree with that at all.

"You are DRUNK?!", Maria shouted, "And here I was worried about you!"

"Ouch, don't shout like that.", Laurence hissed as a sharp pain flashed through his head. Then, the door creaked and Laurence turned his head around to see Gehrman, Micolash and Rom all coming tumbling into the room.

"Ah, perfect timing. Gehrman, take Laurence into bed. He is not in the condition to clean anymore today.", Master Willem sighed.

"You are not going to punish him?", Maria said, taken aback. Laurence winced, this transgression surely wasn't as easily forgiven as him sneaking into the Abyss. Why did Maria have to remind Willem to punish him?

"He will be punished enough when he wakes.", Willem smirked.

Gehrman helped Laurence stand up and Laurence had a sinking feeling in his stomach while he was led to be laid down in his bed, hearing his other three friends discuss in the distance.

Laurence awoke with a head that felt twice its usual size and throat so dry that it felt like he had swallowed sandpaper. He was absolutely parched and his first thought was to get something to drink as soon as possible.

He rose in his bed and regretted the motion instantly. His intense need of water was replaced with a sickening nausea and Laurence knew that he would not be able to keep the contents of his stomach inside of him. Despite his head screaming in protest, he ran into the bathroom where he spent a good while puking, sometimes some of the other orphans even knocked on the door of his stall and asked if he was feeling alright.

Of course Laurence was not alright, but there was nothing that they could do for him, so he sent them away. Laurence now knew why Master Willem hadn't punished him. He felt awful. His head hurt, his whole body felt weak and his stomach was not fond of anything inside of it. Besides, the vomit tasted vile. It never tasted good of course, but this... apparently puking the burning stuff up was even worse than getting it down.

Eventually Laurence' vomiting ceased and his feeling of thirst came back. It was even worse and it didn't surprise Laurence, after all he had just puked out the little fluids that had been in him. He staggered towards the kitchen (he was feeling more than dizzy) and filled a glass with water, drinking it in one go, a second one with only stopping once and then filled a third one, sitting himself down at the table and drinking this one a little more slowly.

His head didn't stop hurting and Laurence laid a hand on it, groaning softly. He felt awful and he never wanted to feel like this again. Was that really the fault of this drink? Laurence only looked up when someone sat opposite of him.

"Master Willem told me that the booze you drank has 80 % alcohol in it.", Micolash said, as casually as if he was telling Laurence about the weather, "Which meant that you were absolutely pie-eyed."

Laurence stared at Micolash, taking a sip of water, not trusting himself to get words out and not more vomit. Eventually, his face crashed on the table and he groaned in response.

"You have to tell me how it was once you feel better.", Micolash said, "We are not allowed to drink yet and I don't think I ever want to end up in your position."

"I barely can remember anything...", Laurence murmured. He could remember that Master Willem didn't want to punish him, but the rest of the day was kind of... blank. As if someone had wiped his mind blank.

"You went into the Abyss without permission to gather food, Master Willem caught you and punished you and instead of carrying out the punishment you got drunk and fell down the ladder. Classical Laurence without the last one, that one is new."

"Oh...", Laurence said, slowly raising his head, his hand still grasping the water glass on the table, "That explains why my whole body hurts."

"I want to tell you that you can be glad to not get strung up naked, but when I look at you, I think that punishment would be preferable.", Micolash's casual tone had never left his voice.

Laurence shuddered at the thought of the traditional punishment method, he preferred to have an intense headache instead of living through that humiliation.

"I still think we should replace this punishment with something else...", Laurence said, mainly to distract himself. He didn't want to get reminded of his headache.

"It's a tradition, they will never change it.", Micolash stated.

Someone put a bowl with a steaming something next to Laurence then, startling him. As he raised his head a little more above the table, he could see Gehrman standing there.

"Hangover breakfast.", Gehrman said, "Very salty oatmeal. It's good that you actually like salt. It should stay down."

"Thanks, Gehrman...", Laurence said, groaning only a little bit, finally managing to sit himself straight. He finished his water glass and pulled the oatmeal closer, hoping that his stomach wouldn't revolt once the smell hit his nose.

It didn't and Laurence slowly managed to eat.

"The next time that Master Willem sends you to clean there, sneak me some booze.", Micolash said and Laurence dropped his spoon into the bowl.

"Micolash! You don't want to know how this feels."

"Maybe I can drink more responsibly as you.", Micolash crossed his arms and averted his gaze in fake offense, "I actually need it for an experiment."

"Well...", Laurence murmured, "I surely am not allowed down there for some while, so you should get it elsewhere. What kind of experiment?"

Micolash smirked and his tone changed for the first time once he had sat down: "Remember that I wanted to provide the explosives?"

Later that day, when Laurence was feeling a lot better, but not feeling up to leave the building (both because he was still worried about his stomach and because he had a LOT of water), he and Micolash were staring at the trap door.

"This is a bad idea.", Laurence murmured, "If we are getting caught, we will get punished for sure. They might even forbid us to delve for a whole month."

"Master Willem has gone into the Abyss with the Red Whistles and won't come back soon.", Micolash demurred, "Gehrman has taken the Bells to play outside. Maria and Rom wanted to go to the market and the other Blue Whistles are either on delves or otherwise on errands."

Micolash looked up to lock his gaze with Laurence.

"That means we two are the only people around."

"And the other teachers?", Laurence asked. Balchero normally had around two or three Moon Whistles present to look after the orphans.

"Went to the guild for some business.", Micolash said, "Let's open this and get a little bit of alcohol. Just a little bit. For science."

"Okay, but how should we open it?", Laurence crossed his arms and examined the trapdoor with his foot, "Master Willem was opening it with a key yesterday."

"Oh, Laurence, someone had to clean up your mess from yesterday so I volunteered. And once I was done and got Master Willem to close the cellar, I memorized the key aaand-", Micolash had a wide grin on his face, "it wasn't hard to borrow the key once Master Willem had to organize the Red Whistles."

"You are one fucking sly fox.", Laurence murmured, "Still, we have to be discreet about this. Nobody can ever know we were down there."

"Understood.", Micolash said, "I am going down there and you stay watch. If you go down, we risk that you get drunk again."

"That wasn't on fucking purpose.", Laurence rolled his eyes, but accepted his role and watched the door while Micolash went down. He only stayed for five minutes and came back with a vial of alcohol.

"That's all?", Laurence blinked at the vial. Could they really make explosives with that?

"The concoction I have in mind doesn't need much.", Micolash said, closing the trapdoor behind him and locking it, "Besides, taking a whole bottle would have stood out."

"You are right, I suppose...", Laurence murmured, checking if the door was truly shut. The duo then returned the "borrowed" key to Master Willem's office and met outside, near Gehrman's little workshop, determining that they shouldn't experiment with explosives inside.

"So, what is your idea?", Laurence asked, sitting himself on the ground, waiting for Micolash to explain himself.

"My idea was an explosive bottle.", Micolash said, producing an empty bottle which once might have housed juice.

"And just how do you want to make the bottle explosive?", Laurence asked further, shifting his weight, the ground was rather uncomfortable.

"This is where the booze comes into play.", Micolash opened a little satchel and removed a few petals of a bright red colour.

"Oh, flame petals.", Laurence recognized them right away. They could be used to light fires and were really useful in the Abyss. You just had to rub them a little bit and hold them near flammable materials like wood and you had a nice fire going on. "It seems I am not the only one who went to gather stuff in the Abyss."

"The difference is that I gathered them on my last official delve.", Micolash defended himself, "And you know that we are allowed to keep what isn't treated as relics."

"Yeah yeah, just put the finger on the wound.", Laurence crossed his arms and rolled his eyes and then stood up, the ground was not doing his butt any favours.

"My idea is that I put them into a bottle with the alcohol and once I throw them, they will explode.", Micolash explained.

"It could work...", Laurence had to admit, "But maybe we should move a bit farther away from the shack, we don't want to start a fire. Oh, and we should get some water. Just in case."

"I am leaving that honour to you.", Micolash said, "I need to prepare the petals."

"Yeah, let me do the heavy labour.", Laurence murmured, but he got up and filled a bucket with water in the orphanage bathroom, carrying it back outside. "Micolash, I got the water."

"Perfect.", Micolash said. He had just finished grinding the petals into a fine powder. "I will now put some booze into the bottle and add the flower petals. Then I'll throw it and if my calculations are correct, it should explode on impact."

"I, uh, better keep the bucket ready.", Laurence kneeled down to grab the handle of the bucket, ready to douse a fire whenever it would happen. His eyes were fixated on the bottle.

Micolash opened the bottle and added a spritz of alcohol from the bottle, then he added a generous amount of flame petal powder. Laurence looked curiously at the bottle, waiting for Micolash to throw it, when he saw a reaction happening.

The moment the powder had touched the alcohol it had started to burn and in this tight place, the fire would need a way out soon.

"Micolash, throw the battle away. NOW!", Laurence shouted.

"What?"

Micolash had taken his eyes off the bottle to search for a place where he could throw it when the thing went off while still in his hand. Micolash yelped in surprise and in pain as the bottle exploded into several sharp bits. At the same time, Laurence poured the bucket over Micolash, the horror of his friend in flames in front of his inner eye.

"Well... that was a failure.", Micolash said and Laurence dared to open his eyes, seeing Micolash standing here, sopping wet and with a few new cuts and a rather burned looking right hand.

"Micolash, fuck.", Laurence said, "You are hurt. You need to go to the hospital."

"Yeah, let's go to the hospital.", Micolash said with a sigh, "But can you first help me dry off?"

Laurence nodded, still shocked, far more shocked than Micolash who had been the one who had been hurt by a bottle exploding in his hand.

"How can you be so calm?", Laurence asked once they were in the bathroom and he helped to dry Micolash off.

"I was expecting stuff like that.", Micolash simply said, "I must have used too much flame petal powder, so the reaction was right away and not once it was thrown. I have to adjust the amount."

"...Then why didn't you wear any gloves?", Laurence dared to ask.

Micolash just gave him a look and then murmured: "That would have prevented that injury, huh..."

"You didn't even fucking think about it?", Laurence ranted, "Though, I didn't too, but in my defense, I was very drunk yesterday and my brain might not be fully back. Why was I even enabling you? Probably because I was bored."

"You must feel tip top already, you are starting your ramblings.", Micolash said, looking at his hand which looked painfully burned, though it didn't look much worse than having touched a surface that was a little too hot.

"That doesn't look too bad.", Laurence said, "We still get you to the hospital of course. I am just... surprised. I thought this would have more power."

"Me too.", Micolash said, "Maybe flame petal powder is too weak after all? I will continue to experiment."

"But only after you healed and after we agreed on a lie to tell Master Willem.", Laurence said, finishing drying Micolash's hair.

The both of them decided to tell Master Willem that Micolash had accidentally touched the hot stove and then went towards the hospital. Of course Laurence had dressed all the cuts with band-aids, but some of them seemed to bleed through already. Micolash probably would need stitches.

"...You know, Micolash.", Laurence said, "I said back then, when we all still were Red Whistles, that I would learn first aid, but I have been so busy with everything that I didn't really have the chance to learn yet..."

"You are telling me that is it a good opportunity to ask if they teach you?", Micolash asked. Laurence shyly nodded. All of them had started to work on their roles for their dream already, just Laurence had been too busy with himself to be even remotely of use.

"If stuff like this happens in the Abyss then I can't get you to the hospital.", Laurence said, "I really need to learn this stuff now. We are already delving into the second layer. Our chances of survival will be much higher when one of us knows how to dress wounds. We can't rely on the Seeker's camp all the time."

"Especially because you dislike going there.", Micolash murmured, "Even though Ozen isn't there all the time."

Laurence flinched at the mention of the name. Ever since Ozen had punched him "lightly", he had been deeply afraid of her and often felt uneasy going to the camp, fearing that she could be present again. It hadn't happened in the past year, but Laurence still was so nervous that the curse always got to him on the gondola up to the camp.

"Don't mention her.", he murmured, even quieter than Micolash and then, a little louder, "Ah, there is the hospital." Laurence was happy to change the topic and entered it with Micolash in tow, approaching a nurse that was sitting at a desk at the reception.

The Orth hospital usually wasn't too busy. The most it had to do was taking care of some broken bones, stitching wounds and giving medicine to people who had gotten a bit more sick than usual. For anything really serious they would rely on the hospital fleet which usually had at least one ship anchored in the harbour.

That wasn't the reason why the hospital usually wasn't too busy however. The reason was that most of the life threatening injuries happened in the Abyss and the chance of the hurt person making it back up, surviving the curse in their state, was practically zero. Certain injuries in the Abyss were a death warrant.

Which made it so important that someone of the group should know first-aid, with first-aid the survival rate in the Abyss would significantly rise.

The nurse looked up at them and then pointed at a chair. "Sit down, a doctor will come look at your injuries soon."

"Come, Micolash.", Laurence said and sat down next to his friend while the nurse got up and moved into a backroom. "Aren't you in pain?", Laurence asked, looking at the cuts and the burn another time.

"It hurts, of course, but it is barely as bad as the stuff my dad did to me.", Micolash said. Laurence shuddered, both at how unfazed Micolash was about having injuries from a bottle exploding in his hand and of the tale of his abusive asshole of a father.

"I am sorry that happened to you...", Laurence said, kneading the fabric of his pants so that his hands would be occupied.

"At least it means that I didn't need to cry when they found his whistle.", Micolash said, "At least it means I was spared that kind of pain..."

Laurence shuddered again, knowing well which pain Micolash talked about. The pain he had experienced himself, when a member of the guild had handed him two black whistles and Laurence knew even before they told him what had happened.

"Sometimes I wish they had left me in front of the orphanage...", Laurence whispered, "And then I feel bad about it instantly, because I had what so many others hadn't. It feels like you can't win, no matter how you are raised..."

"I don't blame you.", Micolash said, "I also wish I had been left at birth, just... for a different reason."

Their conversation died off and Laurence looked at his hands until a doctor appeared and led the two of them into one of the treatment rooms. Once Micolash had sat down and she looked over his hand, she asked: "How did this happen?"

"I accidentally touched the hot stove.", Micolash said, keeping the lie they had agreed on earlier, "I did withdraw my hand as fast as possible, of course, but it was very hot and it got quite burned."

"And the cuts?", the doctor asked, not seeming to be entirely convinced. Micolash went a bit pale and looked at Laurence, they hadn't agreed on a story for the cuts.

"Oh, that was my fault.", Laurence chimed in, making up a story on the go, "When I saw him getting burned, I was holding a glass with water. I panicked and thought that he would catch fire, so I tossed the water glass at him and it shattered..."

"...You know you could have just poured the liquid over him, right?", the doctor said while applying an ointment to the burned hand.

":..I wasn't thinking straight.", Laurence said, face flushing red, embarrassed that he had to present himself in a bad light for a lie.

"If you do this in the Abyss, you die.", the doctor sighed, wrapping Micolash's hand into bandages and then went to take a look at the cuts that had bled through the band-aids. Micolash all took it with minimal trouble, only wincing a little bit now and then.

"Speaking of the Abyss.", Laurence said, deciding that now would be the best idea to bring it up, before he got so embarrassed that his mouth refused to speak. Which was very rare for him, but it could happen. "I want to learn first-aid. So that I can help my team when they get hurt."

"Can you see blood?", the doctor asked, not even looking up from Micolash's treatment, "Or vomit? Anything gross? Have you ever seen gore?"

"I can see blood, I see vomit regularly thanks to the curse, and in fact, I kinda vomited the whole morning, and I have seen a lot of corpses in the pit, some of them really mutilated.", Laurence said, counting it all on his fingers.

"You vomited the whole morning? Do you need treatment as well?" It was the first time the doctor looked up, some concern in her eyes.

"Uh, no, I was... having a hangover...", Laurence admitted, not able to look the doctor in the eyes.

"You are too young to drink.", the doctor concluded.

"It was an accident.", Laurence asserted.

"No, he got curious. It was the same when he ate a fruit from the Abyss and poisoned himself.", Micolash chimed in. Laurence glared at him, the whole time he was silent and right now and then he had to speak up.

"Micolaaaash.", Laurence whined.

"Whatever, that isn't my problem, it's the problem of your assigned Moon Whistle.", the doctor said, finishing stitching up the latest cut on Micolash, "Don't show up here drunk or I'll kick you out right away. You can start tomorrow. Come here at 7 AM on non delving days, then I'll teach you everything you need to know about first-aid."

"I... thank you.", Laurence said, bowing to the doctor. She seemed to be rough around the edges, but a good person deep inside.

"Of course I can't teach you heavier stuff.", the doctor continued, "For this you would have to visit the hospital fleet. A year with them and you come back as an excellent healer."

"But...", Laurence said, "Then I couldn't go delving..."

"You delvers are all the same.", the doctor sighed, "You went down there once and now you can't stop."

"We have to see the bottom.", Micolash said, "Because I refuse to let the Abyss stare at me, I am staring right back. One day I will see the bottom."

"You better work on getting that white whistle then.", the doctor said, "You are fixed up. I am sending the bill to Balchero, that is where you are from, right?"

"Yes.", Laurence confirmed, "And thanks again."

"Thanks for dressing my wounds.", Micolash got up and bowed to the doctor, then he turned around and left the room. Laurence followed him.

"That went better than expected.", Laurence said, "And what are we doing now?"

"Oh, I was thinking of new solutions for the problem, so I want to get right back to experimenting.", Micolash said, a bit too enthusiastic.

"...Shouldn't you let your wounds heal first?", Laurence asked, pointing at the hand.

"That is why I have you.", Micolash grinned, which made Laurence feel a lot smaller despite them being the same height.

"...I am wearing gloves and goggles."

(Author's note: This doctor doesn't have any fucks left to give. I think I will give her a name.

I have to admit, I was at a loss what to do with the rest of their Blue Whistle days, so I just started to write a scene I had in mind and well, the characters took over and now I have a nice chapter ready.

I have a few more scenes I wanna write before they move on to being Moon Whistles, though I probably will skip most of the Moon Whistle story like the third layer of the Abyss got skipped in the manga and come to the juicy stuff once they are Black Whistles ^^ But maybe the Moon Whistle arc takes over, who knows?

Even though the game always says cave raiders, I hate this word and I will continue to refer to them as delvers. Cave delver because they delve into a cave. It is also a translation of the German translation, which is "Höhlentaucher". It feels so much more fitting than cave raider to me. The game also stated that Red Whistles only delve 450 metres deep, but I call that bullshit and so my Red Whistles are allowed to delve deeper the older they get.

Anyway, I hope that you continue to enjoy this fic. I look forward to write some of the most interesting scenes ^^)