Burning Ice & Freezing Fire

Hidden?!

"...Toilet..." parrots Sportacus lowly, without understanding the meaning of this word at first while blinking slowly.

He's so worried about Robbie, even more so after his research, that he's expecting his condition to worsen each time he becomes even slightly paler or stops in the middle of a sentence or a motion...

He knows that this is paranoid.

That this is no good.

That this is exactly what his teachers have always warned him of.

That his feelings for a person - for Robbie endanger his ability to help and take care of him.

But how can one remain objective if a person you love so much is in obvious danger and suffering?...

"...Yes... I... I really need to..." Robbie's voice already is barely audible, but now it lowers even more "...pee... The... The tea..."

Sportacus blinks again "...Yeah... Of course..." he shakes his head and pulls himself together "Sure! The airship has a toilet! I'm sorry! I was...thinking... Wait, let me help you up..." he jumps from the bed and offers Robbie his hand, still eying the obviously slightly embarrassed villain with concern "...Would you...like me to carry you?..."

"No, no. It's fine! I... I can manage!" assures Robbie quickly, averting the hero's eyes while he forces himself to move and shift closer to the edge of the bed.

It's harder than he thought.

He's still shaking violently and when he pushes himself up on his feet his vision blurs and his legs nearly give way.

"It's okay, I got you," Sportacus wraps his arm around the villain's waist within a blink and keeps him upright. Reflexively, Robbie leans on the hero's shoulder for support, blushing heavily "...Thanks... I'm...really sorry I'm such a burden..."

"Robbie..." sighs Sportacus a little tiredly and grabs the other's hand with his free one "...You..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." murmurs the villain and smiles weakly "...Sorry, I can't help it. I... I just feel so... I'm simply not used to...rely on somebody this much... And I feel so...useless..." his voice breaks and he fixes his eyes on the ground.

"I know that this feeling of being cared for is...new for you... But you're not useless!" Sportacus gently strokes with his hand along the villain's waist and smiles softly while he slowly guides him through the room to a door that looks just like any other door of one of the closets "And I'll make you realize that you aren't. Just give me some more time for that... Here we are..." he pushes the button and the door opens. Robbie raises his eyes again and takes a careful look into the small room.

A shower, a toilet and a washbasin.

Everything completely white, of course.

"...I...really never thought that... Well... That you'd have a...bathroom... I mean... I thought..." he laughs weakly "I don't know... I thought that superheroes don't need such...ordinary things..."

Sportacus laughs, as well but corrects "I'm no superhero. I'm just..."

"...slightly above average. And an elf. Yeah, I know!" the villain chuckles "...Well... At least you hid it well..."

"It's not hidden."

"Sportacus. In this airship everything is hidden. You just know where to find it!" Robbie gently taps him on the shoulder and smiles exhausted "...However... May I use your not-hidden-toilet now to get rid of that tea?..."