Page 2814

~~((Thanksgiving Special - page 30 of 30))~~
"You were wounded in the battle," said Hector, displeased--both with Garovel for hiding it and with himself for having allowed it to happen in the first place.

'It was nothing. I'm already back in top form.'

"...Are you?" said Hector. "That's why you had to let Dimas carry the Scarf, isn't it? Because you couldn't revive me?"

'Listen, I was just feeling a little woozy. I could still talk. Kinda. For a while. Anyway, I'm fine now.'

Hector's frown only deepened, however.

'There's no point in worrying about me. And besides, reapers are more durable than you give us credit for, Hector.'

"...I just killed one of you, Garovel. And it wasn't that difficult."

Garovel fell quiet at that remark.

"I knew you should have stayed behind with Voreese," said Hector.

'And I knew you would reach that conclusion if I told you about my wound. Hector, I'm not going to just keep sitting on the sidelines while you do all the heavy lifting, alright? I need to be with you when shit hits the fan. I need to be useful. I'll lose my fucking mind otherwise.'

"Garovel, this isn't... agh..." How was he supposed to explain? Technically, the reaper was supposed to be the one in charge here, but Hector didn't know if he could put up with this.

'I helped, didn't I?' said Garovel. 'I warned you about that missile from Bloodeye. Gave you the chance to intercept it with a big dome, remember? Maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but if that thing had hit, it could've shifted the entire tide of the battle. I mean, when you think about it, I saved all our lives.'

Hector just sighed.

'And besides, the safest place for me is by your side,' said Garovel. 'You may not think so, but it's true. With all those invisible assholes in Abolish, you're one of the few people who can actually sense their presence and protect me from them. Am I wrong?'