“Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Give me a second—” Generator said, holding up a fist to his mouth to hold back a gag.
Narcissus paused, bewildered by Generator’s sudden retching. He didn’t say anything the entire time Generator was bent over gagging; he just stared at him, frozen.
Generator composed himself and straightened back up. When he finally caught his breath, he turned to face Narcissus again, but froze, almost like he was remembering something.
“Sorry, can you—uh, cover up your… injury?” Generator grimaced, still looking away from Narcissus.
“Oh. Yeah, sure.” Narcissus pondered the implications of the interaction as he wrapped his wound. He did not particularly expect this. Sure, he’d noticed that his rival never used sharp weapons, but he just thought it was simply because Generator didn’t have the skill set to wield such weapons. He didn’t think it was because of a mental hurdle. “D’you still wanna—?” Narcissus trailed off.
“Yeah, no. Not sure if I could still fight like this.” Generator squatted down on his heels, looking rather pale.
“So you’re squeamish? There a story behind that?” Narcissus sat down across from him.
“Of course you’d wanna know,” Generator mumbled, pouting, “damn gossip.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “There’s always a story.” Generator relaxed from his rigid squat to sit cross-legged.
“It happened when I was 12, I think. I remember that my parents took me and my sister to the carnival that day. It was really fun. We went on a few rides, and Dad even won us the largest plushie from one of the games.
“It was on the ferris wheel. We were going up and about to stop at the top when someone—a villain—crashed into our car, and it ended up tipping the entire ferris wheel over from the force. It crushed them.” Generator’s voice cracked on the last syllable.
“I remembered my parents talking about how there was a fight in the area before we got on the ferris wheel. They were debating whether they should suit up and help or make sure me and my sister got to safety. I don’t think they ever got to finish that argument.
“The worst part, though, was when I got up. I was looking for my parents and my sister in the rubble that I somehow avoided. There was so much blood. I don’t… I—I can’t…” Generator choked up.
Narcissus thought about reaching to comfort him, but decided against it; it was too sensitive of a topic to comfort someone like his rival. So he didn’t.
It took several moments for Generator to collect himself, and when he did, he took in a shaky breath. “I… I think I’m just gonna—gonna go.” He stood up and wiped his palms on his pants. “See you next time,” he mumbled. He walked away hastily and took off without much trace.
“See you.” Narcissus watched him leave and laid in the dirt.
