#Day 25: Summer flu

[fairyniceyeah]

💎🍒 Day 25: Summer flu

@sicktember

Summary: Dance practice is hard when the A/C breaks down in the middle of the summer and you’re already sick.

CW: mentions of nausea

Sickie: S.Coups/Seungcheol Caretaker: whole team

“You did well! Let’s take a ten minute break”, Hoshi called out, causing cheers and a sigh of relief to run through the members. “Drink enough, please. We don’t need anybody to get dehydrated!”

Seungcheol collapsed to the ground where he stood, laying down against the warm floor. The A/C was broken, barely cooling down the air at all and causing the members to basically melt the moment they stepped into the practice room. Why did it have to break in the middle of a July heat wave? Maintenance had promised to fix it soon but that didn’t help Seungcheol’s situation now at all.

He had woken up with a headache and a slight feeling of general malaise, which had turned into coughing sometime around lunch. He had pushed through and back then he really had thought he would be fine. But now?

His head was pounding badly and his chest was aching with suppressed coughs. He could feel the sticky heat of the room around him, yet he was chilled to the core. His skin was sensitive against anything it touched, his drenched and sweat-soaked - though he supposed not only by produced by the dancing - clothes feeling like torture where they clung to him. 

Seungcheol was content to lie there forever, as long as it meant he wasn’t disturbed and had to dance again. He didn’t think he could make it through the rest of the practice, not even sure he could last the next hour. He felt awful and every sound the other members made, made him want to cry as they overstimulated him. 

Way too soon he was pulled from his daze by a voice by his ear saying: “You heard the man. Drink, Coups-yah.”

Blinking open his aching eyes Seungcheol was greeted by Jeonghan squatting at his side. The younger had his hair pulled back in a ponytail, two dark locks framing his face. He looked exhausted and yet a thousand times better than Seungcheol felt. Where did Jeonghan of all people get the energy to walk around in these conditions?

“Not thirsty”, he mumbled, closing his eyes again.

“Yah! Don’t do this. No thirst in these conditions can mean you’re already dehydrated”, Jeonghan scolded. Jeonghan might be right - he often was - but that didn’t mean Seungcheol wanted to sit up and drink. 

When Seungcheol didn’t act on Jeonghan’s words, his best friend decided to take matters into his own hands. Without any warning Seungcheol found himself flung upright into a sitting position. The changed position nearly made him cry; his head pounded even worse at the motions, everything swirled a bit and for a second he felt like he was about to be sick.

“Drink”, Jeonghan commanded in his no-nonsense voice.

Seungcheol withstood his urge to whimper in pain, instead just silently took the bottle from Jeonghan’s hand and took a few sips. It didn’t settle well in his stomach, so he stopped after a few drinks. Sharp cramps assaulted his stomach and he groaned.

“You okay?”, Jeonghan asked, instantly switching to worry at the sound.

 Seungcheol didn’t get a chance to reply because at that moment Joshua and Dino returned from their bathroom break and Hoshi clapped his hands. “Let’s continue, guys! I know it’s hot but we can do it. If you need a break, let us know. Don’t push yourselves!”

“Alright, come on”, Jeonghan said, worry pushed aside for the sake of much needed practice before their next shows, and stood up and reached his hands down to Seungcheol to help him up. 

Seungcheol grasped his hands but as he tried to get any leverage to pull himself up, he came up short. His joints were trembling and weak, every single muscle protesting movement and hurting. If he was honest with himself, Seungcheol knew he was done for the day. His energy was completely depleted and just thinking about dancing for at least another two hours made him want to cry.

Actually, there were already tears in his eyes, his throat tight with emotion. There was no way he could do this any longer.

“I can’t … I don’t think I can get up again”, he whispered, bowing his head in shame. 

💎

Instantly the room, previously filled with sounds of chattering and laughter as they took their positions, went dead silent. 

“Cheollie?”, Jeonghan filled the silence, sounding lost. He knelt back down in front of Seungcheol, just as the room exploded with questions and worries.

“Did he get hurt?”

“Is he alright?”

“Did I push you all too hard?”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“No, we’re fine.”

“Hey, Cheollie, look at me, please”, Jeonghan mumbled, brushing back Seungcheol’s hair from his face. His cold fingers were just a soft touch against Seungcheol’s burning forehead but he found himself chasing the feeling when Jeonghan moved to pull away again.

Instantly the cool hand was back, pressing against Seungcheol’s brow and he sighed in relief.

“He’s burning up”, Jeonghan announced to the other members, a hint of surprise in his voice. “No wonder you feel so wretched, huh?”

Seungcheol shrugged. It was then that the coughs he had been suppressing all through the practice wanted out. He didn’t even have the strength to lift his arm to cover his mouth, he just let it happen. His body shook from the force of it all, the dry cough shredding his throat. Jeonghan’s hand fell from his forehead and he whimpered at the loss, causing more coughs.

He coughed over and over again, causing tears to rise to his eyes again. He must look pathetic like this but for once he couldn’t care that his members saw him like this, sick and weak.

Instantly at least two hands came to rest on his back, another patted his shoulder and somebody took his hand, none of them caring about possible contagion.

When he managed to stop coughing minutes later and opened his eyes again, he found himself surrounded by his members. Jeonghan was still kneeling in front of him but now Wonwoo and Dino were behind him, comforting him, while Seungkwan now rubbed his shoulders and neck, and he recognized the soft hand in his as Jihoon’s.

Hoshi was standing behind Jeonghan, Dokyeom draped over his back, looking sad.

“I’m sorry, hyung”, he said shakily, “I should have noticed.”

Instantly Jihoon stood up and walked over to comfort him, Seungcheol’s hand instantly taken by Joshua. 

“It’s not your fault, Soonie”, Seungcheol whispered, wincing at how rough his voice sounded and how bad his throat hurt, “I didn’t think it would get this bad this quickly.”

“You could have let us know that you didn’t feel well, darling”, Jeonghan said, lifting his hand to cup Seungcheol’s cheek. 

“I thought I could get through the practice. I need it”, Seungcheol whispered, ashamed, “I was out so long for my knee … I didn’t want to let you down again.”

💎

“You have never let us down, Cheollie”, Joshua insisted instantly, a chorus of agreement following.

“Hyung, you were injured, you would never blame one of us for that”, Wonwoo replied.

“You’re being ridiculous, hyung. You could never let us down, even sick or injured or whatever”, Jihoon added.

At the kind words, Seungcheol’s tears spilled over his cheeks and then he was crying for real. The hands holding him never let go and he was pulled into a tight embrace by Jeonghan, who kissed the top of his head gently. 

“It’s okay, we got you. Let it out”, he whispered.

It didn’t take long for Seungcheol’s sobs to turn into renewed coughing. He tried to pull away but Jeonghan didn’t let him. Too exhausted to pull away, Seungceol violently coughed against his chest, shaking badly. He felt so hot in Jeonghan’s embrace but he didn’t have the strength to fight it and he needed a hug so badly.

At one point the coughing was so bad he feared he was about to throw up but luckily it didn’t happen. Instead, finally completely exhausted, he slumped bonelessly against his best friend.

“Oh, Cheollie”, Jeonghan cooed, “let’s get you home, hm? I think you caught yourself a lovely summer flu.”

“It’s not lovely, but yeah, I think so too”, Seungcheol mumbled. “I’m so hot.”

Nearly instantly an icepack was pressed to his forehead, courtesy of Vernon and Minghao. He hadn’t even noticed them leave the room but they currently were his favorite members.

“Thanks”, he mumbled.

“What are your symptoms, hyung?”, Seungkwan asked worriedly.

“Headache. Cough. Sore throat. Bit of nausea”, Seungcheol admitted.

“And an impressive fever, I’d say”, Jeonghan added. “Wonwoo, could you?”

Normally that would have been unacceptable but now he just closed his eyes and let himself be lifted into Wonwoo’s arms bridal style.

“Rest, hyung”, the rapper said gently, “we got you.”

“I’ll even make your favorite soup at home. How does that sound?”, Mingyu asked.

“Lovely, thank you, baby.” And then. “I’m so thankful to all of you”, Seungcheol managed to whisper, hoping the members heard him.

“You got it wrong, hyung”, Jun said, coming up to stroke Seungcheol’s hair, “we’re thankful to have you every day.”

“We would never have made it without you, hyungie”, Minghao added.

Dino agreed easily. “Best leader S.Coups!”

“What they said, hyung”, Vernon added, clearly a bit unsure on how to handle his hyung breaking down in front of them. When he opened his eyes to check on the younger, he found Dino and Seungkwan already clinging to him. Satisfied, Seungcheol let his head slump against Wonwoo’s shoulder.

“I love you all. More than you’ll ever know.” His voice was slurred with tiredness and another cough shook him.

“We love you too”, all the members echoed. Another kiss was pressed to his hair, Seungcheol was pretty sure it was Seokmin’s aftershave he smelled.

Seungcheol let himself be comforted by the rumbling of Wonwoo’s chest and if the younger felt the new wave of tears soaking his shirt he didn’t say anything.

Masterlist links: Fairy's Full Masterlist Fairy's Sicktember 2024

[side-shuffling-hyperfixations]

Sicktember Day 25: Summer Flu - Tolkien

Bifur’s capacity to withstand various ills and pains had dwindled ever since the near-fatal injury. The axe was of poor Orcish make—though, of course, not poor enough to be easily extricated from bone. Óin had gravely informed them it would be no surprise if the crude metals poisoned the body’s defenses, creepingly slow but sure.

Whatever the cause, Bifur had the strange, sorry misfortune of catching a chill long out of season. He hadn’t even realized it, assuming the sweats were due to the summer; Bombur was the one who had eventually noticed how he was shivering despite the sun beating overhead and with Bofur’s help he had eventually wrestled him to bed.

The axe wound was inflamed with his fever, an angry red contrast to the rest of his pallid face. Bombur glanced forlornly between his cousin and brother. Bofur was uncharacteristically quiet, eyes distant as he wet another washcloth to drape over Bifur’s forehead. Bombur could only hazard a guess as to what—and who—he was thinking of.

“Bifur is stronger than Ama ever was, nadad,” he murmured tentatively. “Even now. He’ll fight, he’ll bounce back.”

“…Aye. I know. If nothin’ else, I can trust his stubbornness well enough. I only wish he didn’t have to fight for it. He’s already fought so hard for our sakes; it was fightin’ for us that put this bloody thing in his head.” Despite his frustration Bofur patted the damp cloth around the axe with utmost gentleness. Although mostly asleep, Bifur flinched regardless, his inhale hitching into a groggy cough. “I wish we could fight this for him. I’d…I’d take it in my head, if I could.”

“But you never could. He’d fight you for it. He’d rather it be him every time than either one of us.”

[kohakhearts]

its wip wednesday and i have nothing to share. just wanted to say ive written a non-zero amount of words this week, which hasn’t happened since mid-june at best. everyone say good job taylor (please)

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Flu And Flushes - Christine 'Ziggy' Berman/Martin P Franklin

A/N: Day 25 for @sicktember

“Summer flu? That seems unfair…” Martin murmurs even as he tucks the blankets a little tighter around a sleeping Ziggy, smoothing hair from her eyes even as he looks up at Mary. “Is it the usual…. Treatments?” “Yes. Just… make sure she eats this time, she nearly collapsed on us last time she got sick.” “Yes ma’am.” Martin’s eyes flicker over Ziggy’s sleeping form before looking back to Mary. “She… will be okay, right?” “With you? She’ll be just fine.” Mary’s smile is soft as she squeezes his shoulder, leaving him watching a tired Ziggy finally peacefully resting without fear.

[eggmeralda]

my playlist was getting kind of stale so my options were either remove a load of songs from it or just make a new one. for some reason my entire mental state can change based on a playlist, and the vibes are not stable enough atm to make a new one, so I just removed like half the songs. but now I regret doing that to my playlist I feel like I've removed some of her vital organs :(

and I can easily add all of them back but the date they were added will never be the same :(

[darl-ingfics]

Sicktember Day 25: Summer Flu

Fandom: Seventeen

Sickie: Dino (flu)

Caregiver(s): Seventeen (mainly Seungkwan and Vernon, but also a handful of others)

Word Count: 1,715

“STOOOP!”

Chan jolted awake at the sudden shout, instantly moaning in pain. He touched his fingers to his forehead, body recoiling with achy pain from the sudden movement. He collapsed back onto one of his elbows, still massaging at his head as he desperately tried to find his bearings. The only thing Chan was fully aware of was that an incredibly loud noise had woken him (and something quite loud was still occurring just outside his bedroom door,) and that he was unbearably hot. 

And congested. No, sniffly. No, itchy. Shit…

“Huh’AHtuu! ITcshuu! HA��CHuu!”

Chan moaned again as he reached for the box of tissues on his nightstand with an all-too-familiar intimacy. He just barely registered the door of his room bursting open as he blew his nose, which prompted two more sneezes. 

“Oh shoot, yeah, we woke him.” That was Seokmin’s voice, whispered non-too-quietly. 

“No shit, Sherlock.” Jihoon that time. 

“This is the exact reason I told you all to stop fooling around.” Seungcheol. 

Chan finally looked up, squinting in the light of the doorway. He could see the three members he’d heard, as well as Soonyoung, Joshua, and Jeonghan. Great. A whole party. Just what he wanted right now.

“I’m right here,” Chan whined, sick of being talked about like an inanimate object. 

“Hi Channie.” Jeonghan waved gently. “How you feeling, love bug?”

Right. He had the flu. In August. That’s why he felt like absolute shit. Yippee. 

“Awful,” Chan rasped in reply. He followed that statement with a round of phlegmy coughs that even made him wince from how horrific they sounded. 

“Sorry for waking you.” Seokmin frowned apologetically. “Someone was being… cruel this morning.” He slowly turned to look at Hoshi. 

“Since when has offering a good morning hug been deemed ‘cruel?’” the dance leader shot back defensively. 

“Since you decided that said hug should also include tickling!” Seokmin replied. He was immediately shushed by Seungcheol, who had seen Chan wince at the volume of his retort. Seokmin’s hands covered his mouth in apology, and he mimed zipping his lips closed for good measure.  

“We’d hoped you would sleep through us all leaving for the day,” Seungcheol said with a sympathetic smile as he moved closer to the maknae. Chan frowned as the leader’s cold hand met his clammy forehead, as the sudden cool contact flipped his body’s switch from fever heat to chills. The younger man shivered, arms automatically wrapping around himself. Seungcheol watched the shift happen, and swiftly snagged a blanket from the end of Chan’s bed, draping it carefully around his youngest brother’s quivering frame. (Chan mentally sighed in relief that Seungcheol had chosen the blanket from the end of the bed, cause he hadn’t used that one yet, which meant this one wasn’t absolutely drenched in sweat. Small victories.)

“I wish I had,” Chan muttered, his voice so congested and husky and miserable that everyone in the room felt their heart break just a bit. 

“I’m sorry, honey,” Soonyoung said apologetically. “Kyeomie and I shouldn’t have been messing around. I’m so sorry we woke you.”

“I’d still be left out, though…” Soonyoung whined at Chan’s soft admission, dramatically falling against Seokmin’s shoulder. The vocalist melted too, unable to handle the sudden rush of guilt he felt. He had no real reason to feel guilty; it wasn’t his fault Chan was sick. But that didn’t make it easier to see their hard working maknae forced to stay behind. “Are you sure I can’t come to the studio? Even just to watch?” 

“Sorry, love, you know the rules: fever above 39.5 means no studio.” Seungcheol shook his head sadly. 

“And, no offense, babe, but you literally look contagious right now. Sound it too,” Soonyoung added. Chan’s pout intensified. Joshua elbowed Soonyoung’s side. “Ouch! What? It’s true! I said no offense.”

“Nah, I get it,” Chan replied, rubbing his hands through his hair. “But I hate it.’

“You know, only the performance unit has to leave early,” Jeonghan added from the doorway. “The rest of us can keep you company for a bit! We could even wash your bedding for you, if you want, love.” 

Chan shook his head. “You don’t have to…”

“What if we want to?”

Chan’s brow furrowed. “Hyung, you never want to do laundry.”

Jeonghan’s face fell into an unamused glare as the rest of the members in the room laughed. 

“Come on, Channie-bug. Let’s get you out of bed and into some fresh clothes.” Joshua extended his hands towards the youngest, and Chan obliged as if in a trance, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. He tried not to feel too embarrassed as he saw Jeonghan and Seungcheol stripping his bed, tried not to cry as the soft, gentle hands of Joshua and Soonyoung guided him out of his current clothes and into new ones. Sure, he’d actually been the one taking his clothes off and on, but something about being cared for like this made him feel helpless. 

But he did as he was told, including being ushered out to the living room. Chan felt ridiculous as he shuffled towards the living room. He was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, a hoodie, sweatpants, and Halloween fuzzy socks with a blanket thrown over his shoulders like a cape. In the hottest month of the year. And he was still shivering. How humiliating. 

With a huff of annoyance at the universe, Chan slumped onto the couch. He vaguely remembered Jihoon asking what he wanted to watch on TV, the producer turning on whatever program he’d suggested. He vaguely remembered Seokmin mentioning making tea. He vaguely remembered all of the members who had been in his room reappearing before him on the couch, saying things right out of the playbook for caring for a sick person. But none of it really stuck. Sure, Chan appreciated his members more than anything, and he’d be thanking them profusely for all of this in a few days time. But right now, when he was so miserable and forced to stay home from practicing with his best friends in the whole world, he wanted nothing more than to be left alone to sulk and sweat the rest of this bug out. 

“H’etkCHee!” And sneeze. That too. 

As Chan sat back after being thrown forward three more sneezes caught in his hands, he felt something light fall into his lap, and opened his eyes to a new box of tissues and a Hansol. 

“Bless you,” the older man cooed, folding smoothly onto the couch next to him, one ;eg tucked underneath him.

“What are you doing here?” Chan asked, pressing a bundle of tissues to his nose. 

Hansol shrugged, completely unfazed by his friend’s ill temper. “Making sure you don’t drown in your own snot?”

“Gross.”

“You’re gross.” Chan kicked Hansol’s knee, prompting the rapper to laugh. “No really. I haven’t properly seen you in two days. I wanted to just exist with you for a bit.”

“Don’t you have practice?”

“Well, Nonie and I don’t have to leave for another hour or so.” Seungkwan checked his watch just to make sure as he fell into the seat to Chan’s right. He held a mug of the tea Seokmin had mentioned earlier, set the steaming beverage on the coffee table for the moment. “We thought we’d chill with you, if you’re okay with that.” 

“Sure, if you’re not worried about catching this.”

“Pretty sure that ship has sailed,” Hansol replied. “I’m personally not too worried about it.” Seungkwan nodded his agreement. “We can mask up if that’ll make you feel better, though?” Chan bit his lip, ultimately shook his head. Hansol smirked. “Too touch starved to let us leave, huh?”

“Don’t make fun of meeee,” Chan whined, burrowing into Seungkwan’s side, much to the amusement of his friends.

“Hey, Dino!” The trio looked up, (Chan extracting himself from Seungkwan), to see Junhei in the doorway, miming a throwing motion, a blister pack of pills in his hand. Chan held up his hands, and Jun tossed the packet to him, aim effortlessly accurate as Chan caught the medicine between his palms. 

“Thanks, hyung,” Chan replied. 

Jun blew him a kiss. “Feel better, bud.” Minghao’s head appeared from behind Jun’s shoulder, a sympathetic smile stretching on his lips as he waved. The faint sound of their manager yelling from outside had both of them running out the door. 

As soon as the door slammed behind them, Chan’s whole body collapsed inward in disappointment. Hansol chuckled. “Pouting isn’t going to fix anything, Chan-ah.”

“This is just unfair.” Chan hated that he was whining, but was too tired to stop his mouth. “I just wanna go to dance.”

“I know, hon, but you have to let your body rest.” Seungkwan’s fingers pet Chan’s hair soothingly. 

“This is all Jeonghan’s fault! If he hadn’t locked the door during the last GOSE episode…”

“Oh, trust me, he knows,” Seungkwan said, Hansol nodding along enthusiastically. “He had no idea you weren’t feeling well before that whole incident, so when he found out that he’d locked you in the rain and then made you sit in the A/C for all those hours? It wasn’t pretty, let me tell you.”

“But Wonwoo and Seokmin were outside with me! Why aren’t they sick? Why just me?”

“Well, again, you told us you were feeling off before the rain thing,” Seungkwan pointed out. 

Chan shrugged. “So? Wonwoo-hyung’s immune system is shit. He should be suffering with me.” 

“True as that may be, the honest answer is that life isn’t fair.” Hansol lolled his head to the side, staring directly at Chan. “And I know that’s not what you want to hear right now.” The younger man whined in reply, falling forward so his face smushed against Hansol’s chest. The rapper laughed, patting Chan’s back affectionately. “You’re so cute!”

“Stop saying I’m cute. I’m so fucking gross right now. You said if yourself.” 

“Chan-ah! Language!” Seungkwan chided, his eyes teasing. Chan lifted his head just enough to stick his tongue out at Seungkwan before melting back into Hansol’s embrace. Seungkwan and Hansol shared a look of adoration over Chan’s head. Yeah, this was exactly how they wanted to spend their next hour. 

[royaltysimblr]

Charles, Prince of the Isle (1828-1875)

read about him below!!

The long-awaited prince was born in 1828 to Queen Mary III and her husband, Prince Charles, the Earl of Statford. Queen Mary showered her son and heir in love and attention while ignoring her older daughters. Prince Charles recieved an extensive education which was overseen by his father. The young prince was intelligent, bright, and cheerful despite being sickly most of his life. After his father's death in 1847, the prince spent more time with his family, with his mother heavily relying on him during her mourning period. Charles attended the Imperial University of Windenburg from 1848-1850.

In 1852, Charles became engaged to Princess Sophie Alexandrine of Mannheim, his distant relative. Charles fell in love with her the previous summer while she was visiting relatives in San Myshuno. His mother, Queen Mary wanted her son to marry a bride from a country which had more prospects. Sophie Alexandrine was a minor princess whose second-cousin was the Grand Duke of Mannheim, who ruled a small insignificant country. The princess also lacked a dowry and was a few years past the marriagable age of the era (She was almost 25) . Despite this, Mary allowed her son to propose after months of convincing. Sophie Alexandrine arrived in Windenburg two months before the wedding was scheduled and resided with her relatives who had grace and favour apartments at Kingston Palace. The Prince would visit his future bride almost every single day with the company of a chaperone. The couple enjoyed long walks and playing music together, with the prince playing piano, and the princess playing the harp. A month before the wedding, Sophie Alexandrine suffered from a fever which would result in her death. Charles was devastated from the death of his betrothed and would never be the same again. The prince demanded that Sophie Alexandrine have a funeral as if she was a Princess of the Isle, which Queen Mary agreed with. The Princess was buried at the Royal Burial Ground in San Myshuno, despite not yet being a member of the royal family. The court remained in mounring for eight weeks.

Queen Mary described her poor son as "a shell of his former self". The Prince refused to eat anything for days at a time and would never leave his apartments for months. The prince began to lose a considerable amount of weight causing Queen Mary to worry for her son. As the years went by, Charles gradually recovered from the death of his fiance. Most Windenburgians assumed that Charles would never marry and would later be succeeded by his younger brother, Edward who had gotten married in 1857. In 1863, Prince Edward became gravely ill with the Bricehster Flu, remaining bedridden for weeks. Prince Edward eventually recovered, but the Queen used this situation to urge Charles to marry. After two months, the Prince eventually relented and allowed his mother and sisters to find a potential bride. After rejecting many suitors, Princess Odette suggested her husband's cousin, Infanta Maria Christina of Selvadorada. The bride was beautiful and well educated, and like her husband enjoyed music. After meeting twice in Champes Les Sims, the couple became engaged that year.

In 1863, at the age of 35, the Prince was married to Infanta Maria Christina of Selvadorada. The Prince's mood initially became better after his marriage to the infanta, however Maria Christina gave birth to a stillbirth daughter on the anniversary of Sophie Alexandrine's death, leaving the Prince in a state of severe depression. In 1866, Maria Christina gave birth to a daughter, Princess Alexandra who would later on become Queen Alexandra II. Charles was delighted by the birth of his daughter and would spend an extraordinary amount of time with her. In 1869, Maria Christina suffered from a difficult pregnancy which would result in her death. Maria Christina gave birth to twins, Prince Henry, and Princess Charlotte. Maria Christina died in labor, and her son would die the next day. Charles was heartbroken after the death of his wife and son, and secluded himself away from court. Charles would never return, and spent most of his time at Dunkeld Palace in Victoria. The Prince rarely saw his children as they reminded him of his deceased wife.

In 1870, the Prince was remarried to Princess Adelaide of Brichester, a cousin of his first wife. Although Charles never wanted to marry again, his overbearing mother encouraged the match and stressed the importance of having a mother figure in her granddaughters lives. The prince ignored his new wife and continued to live seperately from her in Victoria. In the absence of their father, Princess Adelaide raised Alexandra and Charlotte herself, overseeing their education and wellbeing. In 1875, Charles succumbed to a fever and died alone at his lodge in Victoria. His daughter, Alexandra became heir to the throne and would succeed her grandmother, Queen Mary II, as the new Queen of Windenburg in 1885.

[shion-yu]

Sicktember 2024 Masterpost

Completed! :D

Day 1: "I'm not hungover, I'm just sick." (Cliff, Phoenix)

Day 2: Overindulgence (Alex, Ryo)

Day 3: Campus Crud (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 4: “Great, I got a cold for my birthday.” (Alex, Shu)

Day 5: Rogue Organ (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 6: Dizziness/Vertigo (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 7: Borrowed Hoodie (Alex, Ryo)

Day 8: Hospital Bed (alt) (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 9: Overdramatic Patient (Alex, Ryo)

Day 10: The Sniffles (Alex, Ryo, Cliff, Elliot)

Day 11: Medieval Treatment (Rey, Felix)

Day 12: “You’re not fine, you’re throwing up.” (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 13: Mononucleosis (Shu, Mathias)

Day 14: Clean Sheets/Fresh Pajamas (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 15: “Who decided soup is sick people food?” (Al, Theo)

Day 16: Toxin/Poison (Rey, Felix)

Day 17: Brain Fog (Cliff, Shu)

Day 18: My body is one big ache (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 19: “I didn’t mean to wake you up.” (alt) (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 20: Medication Bribery (Al, Theo)

Day 21: Anaphylactic Response (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 22: "You didn't use my cup, did you?" (Elliot, Alex)

Day 23: Under a Spell (Julian, Shu, RATED M)

Day 24: Tales from the Waiting Room (Cliff, Elliot)

Day 25: Summer Flu (Shu, Alex)

Day 26: Cardiac Arrest (Shu, Alex)

Day 27: This is non negotiable (Alex, Ryo)

Day 28: Pulling a Ferris Bueller (Rey, Felix)

Day 29: Sick on a Road Trip (Al, Theo)

Day 30: Contagion

[tastydoge]

Last month, I participated in Sicktember!

I wrote 27 fanfictions total in the Don't Starve fandom. It took me about three months to write them all, and I'm still missing three days. It was really hard and time consuming, and I lost a lot of sleep for it, but it was fun.

I put them all into a series for ease of access, and here's a link to that:

Below the cut are links to all of the individual fics w/ their prompts & the involved characters. Hope you find something you like!

Day 1: “I’m not hungover, I’m just sick” (Or vise versa) - Woodlegs

Day 2: Too Much of a Good Thing/Overindulgence - Webber & Wanda

Day 3: Campus/Con Crud - Wanda/Wickerbottom

Day 4: “Great. I Got a Cold for My Birthday.” - Maxwell

Day 5: Rouge Organ (tonsils, spleen, appendix, gall bladder ect…) Alt 5: Doctor’s Note - Winona/Genny

Day 6: Dizziness/Vertigo - Wheeler

Day 7: Borrowed Hoodie - Wilson/WX-78

Day 8: “The closest doctor is probably hours away from here!” - Wickerbottom & The Kids

Day 9: Overdramatic Patient/Caretaker - Wigfrid/Wes

Day 10: The Sniffles ™ - WX-78/Wilson

Day 11: Medieval Treatment - Wonkey

Day 12: “You’re not fine, you’re throwing up/coughing up a lung” - Wolfgang

Day 13: Mononucleosis Alt 4: Flushed Cheeks - Wormwood

Day 14: Clean Sheets/Fresh Pajamas - Walter & Woodie

Day 15: "Who decided __ is ‘sick people food?’" - Warly & Woodie

Day 16: Toxin/Poison - Wilson/WX-78

Day 17: Brain Fog/Spaced Out - Wilba

Day 18: “My whole body is one big ache.” - Wendy & Maxwell

Day 19: Hypochondriac Tendencies - Wigfrd

Day 20: Medication Bribery - Wurt & WX-78

Day 21: Anaphylactic Response Alt. 3: First Aid Kit - Walani

Day 22: “You didn’t use my cup, did you?” - Reader & Maxwell

Day 23: Under a Spell - Wortox & Willow

Day 24: Tales From the Waiting Room - Woodie

Day 25: Summer Flu - Wendy & Wigfrid

Day 26: Heart Condition/Cardiac Arrest Alt 1: Hospital Bed - Wagstaff & WX-78

Day 27: incomplete

Day 28: incomplete

Day 29: Sick on a Road Trip - Willow

Day 30: Past Prompt of Your Choice! - incomplete

[queenarahbo]

Is Anyone Going To Say It?

Fluff ensues when Diantha takes care of a sick Cynthia on vacation. Sicktember Prompts Filled: Day 17: Brain Fog/Spacing Out Day 25: Summer Flu

Cynthia prided herself on her composed nature. She maintained a sense of calm and rationality in all situations, never succumbing to anger or agitation. This unwavering demeanor was her defining trait, or so she believed until she encountered Diantha. The presence of the other woman seemed to effortlessly dismantle Cynthia's composure, leaving her flustered and disarmed. Despite Diantha finding Cynthia's reactions endearing, it only served to exacerbate her unease. Their rapid bond led to sharing intimate details about their lives, and while others in their circle teased Cynthia about harboring feelings for the model, she dismissed such notions as absurd. Yet, as she lay cocooned under a mass of blankets on Diantha's expansive sectional, Cynthia couldn't help but ponder whether someone as extraordinary as Diantha could possibly reciprocate her feelings.

"Are you still cold?" Diantha asked, her voice low.

Cynthia's attempt to reassure Diantha with "I'm fine" was dismissed when a sudden shiver shook her body. She looked sheepishly at Diantha, who disapproved of her attempt to downplay how she was feeling. Diantha responded by clicking her tongue and bringing an extra blanket to help keep Cynthia warm.

Diantha settled back next to Cynthia and gently chided, "You should just tell me when you need something. I'm here for you."

"I can manage though. You have enough to do without worrying over me." Cynthia let out a deep sigh as Diantha carded her fingers through her hair.

"So you don't want me to take care of you?"

Cynthia's heart ached as she detected the hurt tone in Diantha's voice, and a sense of guilt washed over her. "That wasn't what I meant..." She longed to offer more comfort to her friend, but a dry sensation in her throat triggered another bout of coughing. She expressed her gratitude with a nod when Diantha kindly offered her some water. "I understand that you have a lot on your plate."

"And I took the time off to spend the week with you." Diantha countered "Sick or not."

"Trust me when I say this was not planned." Cynthia rasped with a wince. In truth, she hadn’t realized she was sick at first. It was only when they were walking around the city in the heat that Cynthia began to realize that something was wrong. It had started with a small headache and rapidly turned into the dizziness that had caused her to pass out. At first, the pair had attributed it to the heat, but once they were back in Diantha’s house it only seemed to get worse. The chills set in and Cynthia began to lose all interest in food.

I understand," Diantha murmured with sympathy. "You're the one who ended up with the short end of the stick in this situation. Dealing with flu in the middle of summer is certainly challenging.

Cynthia sighed in frustration as she set aside her book. "I wish I could focus and think clearly," she lamented. She had tried to read the same page four times, but her mind just couldn't seem to concentrate.

"That would be from the fever. Once it comes down you will feel better. Did you tell the others about this?"

"Yes. Lucian is worrying as always." Cynthia groaned as her phone buzzed with another text from her right hand. "He's acting like I am dying."

"To his credit, he is really putting in a lot of effort. You should hear how Seibold dotes on me," Diantha chuckled. "He's constantly checking in. I think I know how we can get them to give us some space." Diantha's lips curled into a small smile as she motioned towards the vacant spot next to her on the couch. "Scoot over here.

"What are you planning?" Cynthia questioned as she moved. Her head was still pounding.

"This." Diantha swooped over and pulled Cynthia onto her lap and pressed her lips against Cynthia's cheek teasingly before quickly snapping a picture. She let the other woman go when she pulled away, face bright red.

"Dia! What are you doing?" Cynthia demanded. She was surprised that she could find the words that she wanted at the moment. "Don't send that!"

"Too late." Diantha winked "I bet they leave us alone now though. It will be nice to have some peace."

"And it will give them the wrong idea about us. Did you send that to Lucian too?" Cynthia did her best to glare at her best friend. Was she trying to make their league members think they were dating now? Lucian was sure to question her when she returned to Sinnoh.

"I most certainly did." Diantha grinned triumphantly.

“Naturally…” Cynthia let out a resigned sigh as she collapsed onto the soft, welcoming couch. Without resistance, she allowed Diantha to cradle her head in her lap and gently run her fingers through her hair.

"Now, I'm going to turn on a movie and you are going to relax.” Diantha soothed as she reached over and took the remote from the table “You need to rest. Your fever won't come back down otherwise. The sooner we get that down the sooner your head will stop hurting."

"You could tell huh?" Cynthia craned her head up to look at Diantha. She shouldn’t be surprised anymore. It was like Diantha always knew what she was thinking. It was unsettling having someone who knew her so well, but she also found it comforting. The thought of not having Diantha around was horrible.

"I know you. I could tell when it started."

Lucian stared in confusion at the photo displayed on his screen.

"Okay, seriously." Flint groaned "Is nobody going to say it?"

"Say what?" Aaron tilted his head to the side.

"Those two are in love." Lucian supplied without missing a beat. He shoved his phone back into his pocket "What I do not understand is why they keep involving me."

"You should really give her some space." Drasna scolded as she plucked Seibold's phone from his hands.

"Especially since she is with Cynthia. Maybe this will finally get those two to admit that they are more than friends." Wikstrom agreed.

"Those two are clueless." Seibold sighed, lunging after Drasna "Return that at once."

"Or what?" Drasna smirked darkly.

"Fine. Have it your way." Seibold pulled out a pokeball from his pocket, his sharp glare fixed on his fellow league member.

[myzzjolanda]

Eat. Please?

I might have done something again. Took me a while to write this out because I wasn’t really sure hów I wanted to write it out, but I’m pleased with the result. Enjoy again! 

Show: Wednesday

Pairing: Larissa Weems x reader

Warning: none, I think

Wordcount: 1923 

__

Larissa Weems was a really busy woman, but she usually made sure she could spend time with you for lunch and in the evenings. Even if she had tons of work to do, she would find a way to have at least a quick lunch and half an hour together with you before bed so you could talk (or vent) about your day.

But this is the last week of the schoolyear. The week you both had been dreading for a while already. Both of you had tried to prepare for this week, but when it had started, the workload was still wáy more than any of you had anticipated on. There were so much papers and tests to be graded, students who needed help with resits or trying to fix subjects so that they could continue their studies in their next year, even more parents who demanded some of your time you didn’t had to talk about their children grades. Larissa, of course, had to put even more time in those things than you do. She had to oversee the processes and had to deal with most of the parents who wanted to complain about the grades of the students. This meant you barely saw her this week. You saw her just before going to sleep when she crawled into the bed and pulled you closer to her, and in the mornings when she woke up early, and placed a kiss on your forehead just before she got out of bed.

And you saw her in the hallways during the days of course, when you gave each other small smiles and had really short smalltalks. To everyone else, she looked as calm and relaxed as ever, as if everything was under control. But when you looked at her, you could see she felt tense and perhaps even a bit stressed. You even wondered if she even ate enough. You knew she always struggled with eating breakfast, even when she wasn’t stressed. And earlier this week, when you needed something from her, you stepped in her empty office, and more than half of her sandwich was still on her desk. ‘At least she finished her tea’, you could only think to yourself. When on Thursday you heard her assistant say the day was a four out of four of which she didn’t finish her lunch, you had enough of it. You decided that you’d work extra hard to cook her a simple and light, but her favourite meal. And then you’d bring it to her. And you would sit with her until she had finished her plate. You’d shove the food down her throat if necessary.

 Luckily, you just had one class with a test today and that class was in the morning. This afternoon, you had 2 meetings with students who wanted help with your subjects in the next semester. You gave them a bit of reading to do for in the summer, and afterwards you could finally grade the tests. Luckily again the test was 75 percent multiple choice and the other 25% open questions. You’d have a hard time finishing on time if you put more open questions in the test, but it was 3:30pm when you where done. You entered the grades in the schoolsystems and in an excelsheet, and then made your way to the shops. Luckily, you’ve made this dish quite often for Larissa so you knew where to find everything quite quickly. Larissa loved fish and especially a salmon salad you made for her on one of the first dates you had. In the beginning, you thought she was joking, or that she would just say it was her favourite just to please you, but she just kept asking for this salad when you asked her what she wanted to eat. One time, when she was really terrible sick with a bad flu, she was half asleep in her bed. You didn’t think she would feel like eating a lot, but then out of a sudden, with a sad voice, she had stated: “My salad. Yóur salad. I want your salad.”. When you looked at her with confusion in your eyes, she sleepily continued: “The salmon salad. I want your salmon salad. Please?”. And surprisingly, she finished the whole familybowl in one setting. 

When you got home, it was already 5pm. It was a blessing you didn’t have to cook or boil anything, since it was quite a hot day. You just had to wash the veggies and cut them, put them together with the salmon and the dressing and then you’d be finished. Before you started cooking, you decided to take a shower and put on some more comfortable clothes. After the shower, you put your still wet hair in a messy bun and started to put together the salad. You also cut the baguette you bought in pieces, put them in a bowl and put some garlic butter in a smaller bowl. Eventually, you put the salad, the baguette, the garlic butter, two plates and the cutlery on a big tray. You were happy Larissa’s office wasn’t far away. You were doubting if you’d go to her immediately or that you’d wait a bit longer, since you didn’t want to disturb her. But then you reminded yourself of the fact that she doesn’t plan meetings or calls after 5PM, so you wouldn’t disturb her with such things. And she needed to eat anyway, especially since she didn’t finish her lunch.

When you got to Larissa’s office, you noticed her door was open a tiny bit. You didn’t hear any voices, just her working on her computer. Since your hands were full with the tray, you pushed the door open with your shoulder. “Oof, I’m glad you left that door open a bit, love, thanks for that.”, you stated. Larissa’s head twitched up from her computer at you when you spoke. “Y/N, what are you doing here?”, she asked you, with a tone of surprise in her voice. “Making sure you eat.”, you answered. You put the tray down on an empty corner of her desk. “And I missed you, so I decided to make a big bowl of your favourite salad to eat together”. You saw a twitch of panic in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Y/n, but I don’t have much time. I still need to answer a ton of emails, I have four tests to enter into the system, I-“ “Make time. Please. I’ve heard you didn’t finish your lunch for the fourth time in a row already. I don’t even want to know what you’ve had for dinner the last few days.”. A look of guilt appeared in Larissa’s eyes. “but…” “Please?”, you continued. “I’m sure you haven’t eaten much dinner these days, have you?” “Wasn’t hungry.”, Larissa mumbled back. You sighted. “Please eat? I’ve made your favourite salad, and brought a baguette with garlicbutter as well. We can eat together if you like and I’ll help you entering those grades if we’re done.”.  With this, you earned a little smile from Larissa. “Alright then. If you insist. And I of course can’t resist that salmon salad of yours.”. 

For a few minutes, you both sat there, eating in silence. “So how was your week up until now?”, you asked Larissa. She stayed silent for a few moments and then something in her face changed. “Oh no, sweety!”, you said to her while you run to her to hold and hug her close. Her face changed to show pure panic and stress. A tear fell down on her check. “I’m sorry”, she said with a soft voice, “I’m used to last weeks of semesters and even to last weeks of schoolyears, but this one seemed to be the worst of them all and I don’t even know why. I’m not even doing anything differently, but I started to feel overwhelmed and then there was miss Adams as well and…”. You shushed her. “It’s okay. Why didn’t you tell me? It’s okay to be a little overwhelmed at times. It’s also okay to ask for help. What is nót okay is that you forget to eat. Please, ask for help the next time you start to feel overwhelmed and I try my best to help you. We can sort everything out together, remember?”, you whispered in hear ear, remembering her of the promise she made you when the two of you where just together. She nodded, and cried for a few more moments with her head on your chest. When her sobs started to be more soft, you made eye contact with her again while wiping away her tears. “Are you feeling better again?”, you asked her. She nodded slowly. You smiled at her. “Good. Now, empty your plate, as the good girl that you are.”, you told her with a grin. She smiled at you and started to eat again. After a few more bites, Larissa put down her fork again. “Y/n?” “Yes, love?”. Her mouth opened. And then closed. And opened again. She took a deep breath and then said: “Marry me.”. Your face jolted up. “I’m sorry?”, you said, your mouth still full with a bite of the bread. She looked a bit taken back with your answer, but at least she didn’t panic. “Marry me y/n y/l/n. Please. I know this is a weird question asked at a weird moment and I also know I should’ve bought you a ring but you’re fantastic and I love you and I just realised how much I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and-“ “Yes.”, you answered blankly. You felt your throat get thicker. You tried not to cry. “…What?”, Larissa said softly, with a somewhat worried, but also somewhat surprised look on her face. “Yes. I’d love to marry you, Larissa Weems.”,  you answered. Tears started to fill up your eyes while you let out a giggle. Larissa stood up, still with a look of surprise on her face, and walked over to you. She took your hand and pulled you up so that she could make eye contact and she could hold your closer. She cupped your face with one hand while she placed her other hand on your waist. “Really? Do you really want to marry me?” “I’d love to marry you. Wouldn’t want to trade you with anyone in the universe.”, you answered softly. Larissa started to laugh uncontrollably while her eyes filled up with tears of joy. She kissed you passionately. “I love you, y/n. I love you so much.”, she told you when she hugged you. You started to cry too. “I was so worried you’d say no.”, Larissa whispered softly in your ear. That surprised you. “Really? Why would I want to say no?” “Don’t know. But it bothered me ever since I decided I wanted to marry you earlier this week.”, she answered. You looked at her with a surprised look. You giggled. “You liar. You told me the school was what stressed you out this week.”. Larissa giggled back. “It was. But this week I had something extra on my mind as well.”. Laughing, the two of you kissed again. When you let go of each other again, Larissa looked at the table with the salad on it again. “How much salad do you have left? I’m starving.”. You laughed. “A lot, I wanted you to eat properly again.”. “Good, let’s finish this bowl of salad. I need it.”. 

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

As flu season nears, so do new COVID-19 variants.

A newly discovered COVID strain known as XEC continues to spread rapidly across multiple countries, including the United States and California.

First appearing in late June in Berlin, the XEC COVID-19 strain has spread across Europe, North America, and Asia, totaling around 550 samples, according to Australia-based data integration specialist Mike Honey.

The variant has been recorded in 27 countries, including China, Ukraine, Norway, and Poland.

COVID in California XEC is spreading rapidly worldwide, but there have been only 23 cases in the United States, including three in California.

“We are still in early days, so it could be a dominant strain, or it could fizzle out and die. It’s very difficult to predict. It does have some advantages in the lab over currently circulating strains, predominantly the KP strains," Chief Dr. Dean Blumberg of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Health told ABC Sacramento.

Omicron variant KP.3.1.1, also known as deFLuQE, made up over half (52.7%) of COVID-19 cases between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14. However, XEC and a variant known as MV.1 seem poised to become the next dominant strains, scientists say.

"At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next," Scripps Research Translational Institute Director Eric Topol wrote on X.

California has seen a slowdown in COVID-19 infections and deaths since late August, the California Department of Public Health reported.

"While COVID-19 levels had increased over the summer to levels comparable to last summer, they are now decreasing as seen in both decreasing SARS-CoV-2 test positivity and detections in wastewater," officials told KCRA 3 Sacramento in a statement.

COVID XEC symptoms The CDC has not confirmed whether the XEC variant has any unique symptoms. USA TODAY has contacted CDC officials for comment.

The agency continues to outline the primary COVID-19 symptoms, which can appear between two to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe.

These are some of the symptoms of COVID-19:

Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache Loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea

The CDC said you should seek medical attention if you have the following symptoms:

Trouble breathing Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion Inability to wake or stay awake Pale, gray or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds

What is variant MV. 1? First documented in Maharashtra, India, in late June, COVID-19 variant MV.1 has been recorded in nine countries, including the United States, Honey reported.

It's spread across four continents in countries including Portugal, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. In the United States, it's mainly been seen in the northeast, according to Honey.

How can we protect ourselves from XEC and other variants? The CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older, with some exceptions, receive an updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus, regardless of whether you have previously been vaccinated or infected.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Rules Suck (flu's suck worse)

by alchemistsarego “Shower,” Batman said. “You shower.” Robin pouted, curling tighter. “Robin. Shower, then bed, I’ll have Alfred bring you some water.” “Don’t want water.” Pulling down his cowl, it wasn’t Batman that reached out to feel Robin’s forehead but Bruce. Robin tried to avoid the touch so Bruce kept the hand an inch away, making it clear that while Bruce would not force it on Robin, there was no way that he was going to give up on it. Robin glared for a long moment but then he gave the most dramatic sigh an eight year old possibly could. Bruce still waited until it was Robin who tilted forward, pressing his forehead against the hand. “Not too high,” Bruce said. “But still higher than I would like.” Impossibly, Robin’s next sigh was even more dramatic than the last. Sicktember 2024, Day 25, Summer Flu, Day 10, The Sniffles tm Words: 2093, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 72 of What's A Little Bafam Without A Whole Lotta Trauma?, Part 20 of Sicktember 2024 Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth Additional Tags: Sicktember 2024, Day 25, summer flu, Sickfic, Dick Grayson Sickfic, Baby Dick Grayson, Whump, barely, Day 10, The Sniffles tm via https://ift.tt/MPcf5bQ

[fairyniceyeah]

🧚🏻‍♀️ Fairy's Sicktember - Masterlist 2024 🧚🏻‍♀️

Below, the fics are sorted by group and within the group by member, as always.

⌛ ATEEZ ⌛

🐿️Hongjoong Day 16: Toxin/Poison “Are you feeling okay, Jongho?” Jongho wondered what prompted the question. Hadn’t he just established that he was fine and enjoying the tour a lot? [CW: emeto, diarrhea in the context of illness]

🐶Yunho Day 1: “I’m not hungover, I’m just sick” After going out drinking together, Yunho is sick and Jongho is hungover. [CW: emeto, alcohol]

🧸 Jongho Day 1: “I’m not hungover, I’m just sick” After going out drinking together, Yunho is sick and Jongho is hungover. [CW: emeto, alcohol] Day 16: Toxin/Poison “Are you feeling okay, Jongho?” Jongho wondered what prompted the question. Hadn’t he just established that he was fine and enjoying the tour a lot? [CW: emeto, diarrhea in the context of illness]

💎 Seventeen 💎

🍒S.Coups/Seungcheol Day 25: Summer flu Dance practice is hard when the A/C breaks down in the middle of the summer and you’re already sick. [CW: mentions of nausea]

🦌 Joshua Day 4: “Great. I Got a Cold for My Birthday.” Joshua gets sick on his birthday. What was supposed to be a nice day quickly turns into a disaster. [CW: /]

🍚 Woozi/Jihoon Day 9: Overdramatic Caretaker “You should sit out for the rest of the concert.” Had Hoshi finally completely lost his mind? [CW: emeto, fainting]

🐕Mingyu Day 6: Dizziness/Vertigo       The aftermath of Mingyu passing out on the rollercoaster. [CW: emeto, fainting]

🐢Vernon/Hansol Day 17: Brainfog/Spaced Out Hansol keeps spacing out. The 96-liners are working to help him. [CW: emeto]

🦖 Dino Day 7: Borrowed hoodie Dino throws up on himself during recording. But, seriously, whose hoodie is it that Jihoon gives him? [CW: emeto]

🧭 Stray Kids 🧭

🐰 Lee Know/Minho Day 12: “You’re not fine, you’re throwing up" Han wakes up to a commotion at night.  [CW: emeto, cursing]

🌹 The Rose 🌹

🤍Woosung/Sammy Day 18: "My body is one big ache" Woosung is feverish, queasy and downright miserable.  [CW: emeto, talks of fainting]

Link to my full masterlist: Fairy's Full Masterlist

[dollgutzzz]

Sicktember Update! 🚨🚨🚨

As Sicktember draws ever closer, I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming and got some amazing suggestions from some of you!

Here is the masterlist so far (Everything with *** at the beginning is a prompt I do not yet have a specific idea in mind for yet. Feel free to suggest!)

⭐️ Day 1: “I’m not hungover, I’m just sick.” (Kavehtham) https://archiveofourown.org/works/58622329

⭐️ Day 2: Too much of a good thing/Overindulgence (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 3: Campus Crud (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 4: “Great, I got a cold for my birthday.” (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 5: Rogue Organ (TighCyno)

⭐️ Day 6: Dizziness/vertigo (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 7: Borrowed hoodie (TighCyno)

⭐️ Day 8: “The closest doctor is probably hours from here!” (Genshin modern AU: camping: 4ggravate)

⭐️ Day 9: Overdramatic patient/caretaker (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 10: The sniffles

⭐️ Day 11 (ALT): “I didn’t mean to wake you up.” (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 12: “You’re not fine, you’re throwing up/coughing up a lung.” (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 13: Mononucleosis (Stardew Valley Sambastian)

⭐️ Day 14: Clean sheets/fresh pajamas (FFXV)

⭐️ Day 15: “Who decided ____ is sick people food?” (Kavehtham)

Day 16: Toxin/poison (FFXV)

Day 17: Brain fog/spaced out (TighCyno)

Day 18: “My body is one big ache.” (FFXV)

***Day 19: Hypochondriac Tendencies

Day 20: Medication Bribery (Kavehtham)

Day 21 (ALT): Doctor’s Note (FFXV)

***Day 22: “You didn’t use my cup, did you?”

***Day 23: Under a Spell

***Day 24: Tales from the Waiting Room

Day 25: Summer Flu (FFXV)

Day 26 (ALT): Flushed Cheeks (FFXV)

Day 27: “This is non-negotiable.” (Kavetham)

Day 28 (ALT): Hospital Bed (FFXV)

Day 29: Sick on a Roadtrip (VenXiao)

Day 30: Past Prompt of Your Choice!

Also yes, I am finally branching out to writing more than just Genshin and FFXV! I’m gonna be ushering in some other fandoms as well. So far I have one prompt I have chosen to write as Sam and Sebastian from Stardew Valley :)

[shion-yu]

Day 25: Summer Flu

A cute Shu, Alex and Fulu (Shu’s mom) sickfic for @sicktember, taking place when Alex was 16. Nainai is the word for paternal grandmother in Chinese. 2,339 words, no TWs.

Out of all the times to get the flu, Shu didn't expect it to be in the middle of July. He was all too familiar with waking up with the viral infection each winter, vaccination status be damned. Getting the flu every year felt like an annual tradition for him at this point. But in the summer? Definitely unexpected.

Last night at dinner, Alex had been coughing and irritable, clearly under the weather. Shu sent him to bed early and told him if he still felt icky in the morning, he should stay home. Based on how pale Alex was, and the low grade fever he definitely had, Shu suspected exactly that to happen the next day. Waking up to his own full blown fever was the surprise. 

Shu groaned and sat up, fumbling to turn off his alarm. His head was pulsing and his chest was tight, signaling to himself that he needed to use his rescue inhaler. First, though, he wanted to check on Alex. Shu got out of bed slowly, feeling dizzy as he unsteadily went next door to Alex’s bedroom. He knocked and let himself in, where he saw Alex still asleep under a pile of blankets in bed. This included the extra blankets that were kept in the closet for winter, despite it being nearly eighty degrees outside. 

Shu sat on the edge of Alex’s bed and pulled back the mound of covers to reveal a flushed teenage boy. He sighed and pressed his hand against Alex’s cheek. At first he was surprised not to find it warm, but then he remembered he himself was running a fever and wouldn't be able to feel anything. “Alex, honey, wake up,” Shu said. He wanted to at least get Alex to at least take some Tylenol before they both went back to bed for the day. 

Alex whined and pulled the covers back over his head. Shu decided to get the thermometer, water and meds first before he tried any harder to wake the boy. He gathered the supplies, blinking away the little black dots that floated in the edges of his vision. “Open up,” he told Alex. His son, still mostly asleep, allowed Shu to take his temperature. 

101.8. Shu grimaced, wiped the tip of the thermometer off with the sheets and then popped the instrument under his own tongue. “Take two Tylenol and you can go back to sleep,” Shu said, voice muffled around the thermometer. After another beep, he got his own reading. 102.2. 

Shu sighed and wiped the thermometer off again before placing it on Alex’s bedside table. “Alex, c'mon, just wake up for a second and swallow your pills, and you can go back to bed.” He interrupted himself with a harsh, wet sneeze into his elbow that made his head throb. 

Alex finally seemed to gather enough energy to lurch into a sudden sitting position and downed the pills in one gulp. He flopped back down immediately, but noticed Shu’s own look of misery before he did so. “You’re sick too?” He asked incredulously.

“‘Fraid so,” Shu said with a loud sniffle. “Not sure what’s hit us so suddenly.”

Alex shivered and piled the blankets back on top of himself, the mystery clearly not important to him. “Call if you need anything,” Shu told him. “Or come join me in my bedroom.” Alex didn’t answer, but Shu knew Alex had heard him. 

Shu retreated to his own bedroom where he called into work, then was halfway through calling Alex’s high school to report that Alex wouldn’t be in attendance today before he remembered it was summer vacation. He hung up hastily before anyone could answer and then made sure to take his own dose of Tylenol, as well as his rescue inhaler. 

There was nothing else to do now but hopefully sleep off this sudden cold. Shu fell asleep relatively quickly and woke up around noon, teeth chattering and shivers coursing through his body involuntarily. He felt terrible and struggled to sit up, looking around to find Alex sleeping next to him in his bed. He glanced at his alarm clock - it had only been five hours since they’d had Tylenol, but even without the thermometer he knew they were both running a high temperature. Dragging them both to the doctor sounded painfully complex.

Shu fumbled with his phone, finding he had a text from his mother, Fulu, mentioning a random sale at Kohl’s that he definitely didn’t care about. It prompted him to call her though, feeling like backup was needed. If only he or Alex was sick, he could deal with it. But he didn’t want Alex to suffer because Shu wasn’t well enough to take care of him.

“Shumei?” She answered the phone. Shu could hear the tumble of clothes behind her - she was at work at the laundromat. “What is it?”

Shu didn’t usually call her during work hours. His mother was as much of a workaholic as he was after all, and he didn’t like to disturb her. “Ma,” was all he said before he had to cough. It already sounded far worse than it had this morning. Shu reached for his water on the bedside stand, only to find it empty. He swallowed several times trying to breathe normally instead. 

“You are sick?” Fulu asked, her voice already concerned. 

“Alex and I both,” Shu choked out.

He never had to ask his mom to come over. Any struggle and she was there immediately - and this why Shu tried not to rely on her much, otherwise she’d be there all the time. “I come after work,” she said. Then she hung up. Shu sighed, feeling a little better than his mom would be there in a few hours. She was not warm and fuzzy, nor did she have a way with words in either Chinese or English. But she was always there when they needed her, and Shu didn’t know how he would survive without her.

“Nainai’s coming?” Alex’s sleepy, congested voice came from beside Shu.

“Yeah. Thought we could use some backup,” Shu said, coughing some more. He really needed water, but the kitchen was oh so far away. “How do you feel?” 

“Probably as bad as you look,” Alex responded.

Shu looked at the clock again, as if these five minutes could have possibly moved time forward an entire hour. “It’s a little early for Tylenol, but to heck with it,” Shu said. He tapped out two Tylenol for each of them and then finally forced himself to get up and get two new glasses of water. He grabbed the thermometer from Alex’s room on the way back, but he didn’t think he wanted to know the number at the moment. 

He and Alex both took their pills and Alex fell back asleep quickly. Shu, on the other hand, simply felt too sick to relax. His whole body was aching, the pain all over and feeling like a heavy cloud that squeezed him from all angles. He could feel his heartbeat in his aching head, and the shivers didn’t stop for another half hour before the Tylenol finally kicked in and let him sleep.

The next time he woke up, his mom was there coaxing him to sit up and drink a cup of tea. “Alex,” Shu said immediately.

“Here,” Alex said. He was still next to Shu, already sitting up and sipping on his own cup of tea. Shu knew for a fact that Alex didn’t really like tea, but he drank it for Fulu’s sake. They had a tender spot for each other, ever since they’d formed a connection when Shu had first brought Alex into their home. Alex had trusted Fulu first, and they seemed to be able to communicate without actually exchanging words most of the time. 

“He fine. You sicker,” Fulu said disapprovingly. “Drink tea.” Shu did as he was told. The hot liquid was soothing on his swollen throat, the familiar herbs his mom used whenever someone was sick comforting. “Foolish boy. Who gets sick in summer?”

Shu rubbed his eyes, the headache still piercing. “It feels like the flu,” he croaked. “But it can’t be.”

“Actually, Ryo looked it up,” Alex piped in. “The news said there’s a random wave right now.” 

“Seriously?” Shu groaned. If there was a wave of flu, especially a strange one, he was definitely going to be the one to catch it. “Ugh.” Sitting up was making him feel nauseous and Shu handed the cup of tea back to his mom, suddenly paler. 

Fulu caught the look on his face and offered him the small plastic trash bin, but Shu leaned back and was able to breathe through the wave of nausea before he needed it. 

For the next two days, Fulu doted on both Alex and Shu in their home. Alex stayed in Shu’s bedroom - partially because it was easier to keep an eye on both of them when they were together, but he also always seemed to end up in here when he wasn’t feeling well anyways. The bedroom was a mess of used tissues and empty mugs of tea that Fulu kept bringing them. Alex was feeling better, but Shu was not. Whereas Alex’s fever had retreated to something low grade and manageable, Shu was still spiking high numbers that left him with severe chills every few hours. Was this the difference between being sixteen and late thirties, Shu thought miserably? He was getting too old.

By the third night, Alex went back to his own bedroom. At this point there was less camaraderie and more just being kept up by Shu’s terrible cough. Fulu was getting worried now, wondering aloud if Shu should go to a doctor. Shu tried to brush it off, but when he began coughing so hard that it was making it impossible to hold anything down, she forced him into the car and drove him to his primary care provider..

Shu’s PCP did swab him for flu, which immediately came back positive. He went downstairs for a quick chest x-ray, which also came back with findings that indicated he had double pneumonia. Shu had had pneumonia a handful of times before, but he found it utterly unfair that he had a bad case of it while Alex was very much on the mend. Not that he wanted Alex to be any worse off - he was just envious of his son’s clearly superior ability to deal with this stupid summer flu. 

Fulu set him back up at home with his nebulizer, steroids, and of course, more tea. It reminded Shu of all the times he'd been sick growing up and his mother had doted on him whenever she didn't have to be at work. He had a different appreciation for her now as a parent himself. Had she done everything perfectly? Certainly not, and Shu liked to think he was able to provide Alex a more stable home life than Fulu had for him: constantly on the verge of eviction. But he most certainly knew his mother had tried her best.

As he slept, Shu dreamed about the time when he was sick with the flu in sixth grade. His mom had to work, leaving him at home alone with a blazing fever. He’d woken up delirious and scared, and remembered crying until she had hurried home to check on him during her lunch break to find him a complete emotional mess. They couldn't afford for her not to go back to work though, and she’d dragged Shu under the cold shower in a desperate ploy to quickly combat his fever. 

“Please stay,” he had begged her as she had put him back to bed, hurrying to dry him off so she could return to work. She was already late, and her boss would doubtlessly chastise her. Shu knew this, but in the emotional state of slight delirium, he just wanted his mom. 

“Shumei, you will be fine, you are big boy now,” she told him. Shu knew now if she could stay, she would have. But that day he'd just cried as his mother left him, feeling like she didn't love him enough to call her work and tell them he was too sick to be alone.

As he woke now, he found he had tears running down his cheeks from reliving that painful memory. “He’s okay,” he heard his mother’s voice say. Shu looked up and found her sitting at his bedside, addressing Alex who was standing in the doorway. A wave of emotion hit Shu as he realized now, twenty years later, his mom was in a position where she could call into work to take care of him, and Alex. And it was in no small part that thanks to her, he himself had never had to even consider leaving Alex’s side when his son had needed him.

“Shu, stop crying,” Alex told him awkwardly. “We’re both right here.” Shu looked at Alex in confusion, unclear why Alex would say such a thing. “Oh. You were calling for me and nainai,” Alex explained, obviously embarrassed. 

Shu wiped his eyes and managed to smile for Alex’s sake. His mom was right, he was okay. He had his whole family close by, that he loved and cherished regardless of how unexpectedly life had turned out. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I just love you both very much.” 

Both Fulu and Alex looked put off by this openly sappy confession and Alex scurried off to his own bedroom without another word. His mom shook her head. “So soft,” she muttered. It was something Shu had heard from her many times over the years - sometimes in disapproval, but always with a touch of buried affection too. Shu chuckled and closed his eyes. He felt better now, far away from the past of his dreams and in his own home with his whole family. He slept better after that, and later his fever finally broke.