[ Mt. Nibelhiem - Mana Spring ]

Variance keeps muttering seemingly random things to himself, proceeding slowly and warily into the clearing. His expression is not that of one completely confident in his sense of direction...

Seikou follows after, looking a touch annoyed with his superior. "Vari-kun, are you -sure- we're not lost...?"

"North, north..." Variance pauses in his musing to reply, "I would've been able to say yes about ten minutes ago," then goes back to looking around and trying to figure out where the heck he's gotten himself off to.

Seikou looks at the spring for a moment. "...That's... odd..." he says. Another headache is welling in the back of his mind...

Variance takes a few more steps into the bit of clear brush, suddenly stopping with widened eyes. He looks down to his feet, one of which is firmly planted in a thin stream of aquamarine liquid, then peers out to the spring in a sizeable amount of amazement.

You say '...Mana?'

Seikou steps forward, trying to ignore the still-building headache. "Whatever it is... it's beautiful..." He reaches forward with one hand and touches the liquid... and suddenly recoils in pain.
Seikou says '...Ow...'

Variance snaps out of his little reverie, noticing the sudden recoil. "You alright, Seikou?"

Seikou's headache is starting to become unbearable, but he tries his hardest to shake it off. "It's... nothing..."

Variance's brow furrows with worry as he further pushes the issue, clearly knowing Seikou's in pain by now. "Maybe we should rest..."

Seikou shakes his head, trying to straighten up fully. "I'll be fire, Vari-kun... It's just a headache..."

You say 'And headaches for reploids tend to lead to much worse things than just irritability and a craving for chocolate. I'll set up a tent.'

Variance begins walking towards a less mana-heavy portion of the clearing, somehow finding and starting to pitch a respectable tent...

Seikou starts to nod, but the pain suddenly overtakes him and he drops to his knees. "Bloody..."

Thankfully, Variance only -started- to act and has enough awareness to stop and run to Seikou's side. "Seikou!"

Seikou says '...Vari-kun... Don't worry...'

You say ''Don't worry'? How am I not supposed to worry? Look, we'll go back to base and rest there for a while, alright?'

Seikou nods and struggles to stand, failing and falling abck to his knees. "I think i need help getting up..." The crystal on his chest is glowing far more brightly than it usually does...

Variance kneels down to brace himself against Seikou before gently taking him further from the spring...

Seikou seems to recover a bit as they move away from the spring, although he's still clearly in pain and the gem on his chest still glows...

Variance pauses, the change in luminescence mostly noticed on his behalf. His eyes narrow questioningly, turning to the mana spring and back again before his eyes meet Seikou's in disturbed realization.

You say 'It's the mana, isn't it?'

Seikou blinks, then slowly nods. "...It would make sense... but... I didn't know about it before now..."

Variance looks to the ground again, slowly shaking his head as the few other moments similar to this one flash before him in a wind of recollection. Why didn't he see it before? "Then it's all the more reason to get you out of here as quickly as possible."

Seikou nods slowly. "I'm sorry, Vari-kun..."

You say 'There's nothing to be sorry for... If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me for getting us sidetracked in the first place.'

Seikou manages to recover some of his annoyedness. "That reminds me, Vari-kun. Do you even know -how- to get back to Base?"

Variance pauses again, staring into nothing. It was in this moment that Logic forcefully kicked him in the ass and began shouting curses in his ear. This, obviously, did nothing to help him remember how to get back.

You say '...er...'

Seikou sighs. "Well, going -down- would probably help."

Variance coughs lightly, standing and surveying the area for the closest thing to 'down' while offering Seikou a hand to help himself stand up on.

Seikou takes the hand and pulls himself to his feet, still breathing heavily...

[ Maverick Hunters Headquarters ]

Seikou walks in, looking a touched annoyed still at Variance's lack of navigational skill (like he can talk), but more worried. The headache has faded, luckily...

Variance follows not too long after, having kept a bit of distance from Seikou out of a worry of triggering the headaches involuntarily...

Seikou sighs and collapses into the chair. "Well, -that- was fun."

Variance takes his place against a wall, still looking more than worried. He couldn't find anything to say at the moment, but perhaps that was for the best.

Seikou says '...Vari-kun, don't worry about keeping your distance. If I could be injured just by being around mana users, I would've died a long time ago.'

"I figured that much." He still doesn't sound completely assured, despite Logic throwing the exact same thing at him, and Variance shifts a bit under the pressure of his conscience's berating.

Seikou says '...This is going to be annoying, though...'

Variance gains a bit of an irritated scowl, though it's directed more at his still-ranting conscience than anything else. "I don't think annoying quite captures it."

Seikou shakes his head. "I can deal with the minor headaches, I think, but using mana on me will probably be bad, and we can't -ever- go back to that spring."

Variance nods in agreeance, making a mental note to actually -try- to find that place again on his free time and examine the spring for himself. Of course, Seikou would be elsewhere.

Seikou sighs and closes his eyes. "And once again, I become a burden."

Variance lets out a small sigh and levers himself from his wall, walking back over to Seikou. "We all have our defects... It's not a burden, it's simply something that needs to be..." He pauses for a moment, trying to find something clever and/or motivational to say.

You say '...Nudged out of the way once in a while.'

Seikou nods, but still looks worried. "It just seems like... you deal with all your problems yourself, and I force all of mine on you..."

Variance settles himself on the desk, seeing as the chair's occupied. "We all deal with matters in different ways. I just happen to be able to sort myself better than most, and you reach out for support from those around you."

Seikou sighs. "...If you really don't mind..."

Variance finally breaks a soft smile, nodding fairly. "I wouldn't be much of a Hunter if I didn't help others in need, and I wouldn't be much of a friend, either."

Seikou nods and manages a smile. "...Arigatou, Vari-kun..."