Fault Line (Joe Tazuna x GN!Reader)

Day One

As time went by, people crossed in and out of the lobby. Joe lied on his side, his head resting on your thigh, as you waited for him to awaken.

Really, just a shitty situation overall.

Sou cleaned himself up but wasn't allowed to leave his room. But, oh, he complained, I won't be able to finish the attractions in time!

And despite your bitter feelings toward him, you wouldn't be the reason he died.

You wouldn't stoop to his level.

The suggestion from Keiji that you keep Joe's head elevated left you flustered. You commented on the lack of armrests and pillows on the couches, and he shot back saying you could be his headrest. You started by sitting next to the sleeping boy, holding his head up with your hands, but it didn't take long for your arms to feel strained and tired.

How to make this easier? You rested his head on your thighs. Nao walked in with a few rags and other cleaning things to help clean up the vomit on his clothes, but there wasn't much else you could do about the situation. Looking into his eyes, you knew he was tired. More than just his eyes, his body language communicated it. Your peers must be blind not to notice.

Or maybe they were aware but didn't care.

The way he dragged his feet and slouched. He wore a constant frown. His resting face had gone from something curious to... well... something other. The number of times you reached out for him as he tripped was more than you could count on your fingers, and he'd only been awake for a little over an hour.

And you couldn't change his clothes. And there was no way anyone else would do it. Joe would have to sleep in his puke-drenched uniform until the stench unwelcomingly woke him up from his otherwise peaceful rest.

But it didn't take much time for him to wake up this time.

...Thankfully.

"...Y/N?" He whispered your name, taking your attention away from the Monitor Room, where you heard Nao talking to the Mishima AI again. You looked down at him and smiled softly.

"Hey, sleepy." He sat up, giving the two of you a few inches of space on the couch. "Are you alright?"

"I feel... my throat hurts. Oh my god, it smells..."

"Oh... yeah those are from the same cause. You... threw up on Sou, earlier."

Joe's eyes widened. "Oh my god... I hope he's alright... I don't... remember doing that... What happened?"

You paused, taking a moment. How should you approach the situation?

"You... might've eaten something bad earlier. You were talking to Sou because someone hit him over the head with a piece of wood, and he passed out because of it. I think you vomited because of what you ate earlier. Maybe... the vomiting used up the last bit of your energy... and that's why you passed out?"

Who god damn knows.

"Really? The food didn't... taste bad when we were eating it... Are you alright? You also ate earlier."

"I... After you had your little incident, I had my own problem but I was able to contain it until I could do it safely." Another lie.

An author.

"...What were you looking at?" He turned his head towards the monitor room.

"Well Miss Nao," You heard the AI say from the room, "It seems you've made some wonderful friends despite the circumstances."