#THE BUBONIC PLAGUE EDDY!

[deyasworld]

I can’t believe it’s HARD to find a good Double D still for this

@deyasworld

I bought a new pen :)

[murmaiderii]

It’s dangerous to go alone take this

[mangoloversblog]

buck: sorry i have the bubonic plague i cant hang out tonight

ravi: aw rats

eddie: thats a load of vermin

bobby: alright thats it you've all lost your google privileges

[eddiegettingshot]

my watching the upcoming episodes "eddie stop having sex with shannon's ghost you literally have the bubonic plague. get yourself to a hospital king!!!"

eddie is patient zero for the bubonic plague outbreak!!!! he gets it from shannon's ghost!!!!

[choppedcowboydinosaur]

Double D dressed as the Bubonic Plague for Halloween so he really was pretentious.

In case you need a costume idea for tomorrow…

[theboarsbride]

Bloodborne AU doodles…

Sophie isn’t really a hunter, but rather a protector as she protects beast!Edgar from other blood beasts in Yharnam. She can’t bring herself to end his suffering, which becomes more and more morally dubious and selfish as Eddie is CLEARLY suffering in his beastliness, which essentially makes him a living, open, festering, oozing infection (almost akin to being a living embodiment of the bubonic plague)😭

(Not concrete yet but Thinking that Edgar was once a respected librarian/archivist at Byrgenwerth and started to slowly be infected with beasthood after being poisoned by bad blood)

Calling them “Sophie the Beast Protector” and “Edgar the Poisoned” for now lmao

[bunnyanqel]

A Simple Favor (3)

[1]  [2]  [3]  [4]  [5]

Summary: In return for subbing in their D&D campaign, Lucas's cousin Aliyah asks for one simply thing: a date with Eddie Munson. Unfortunately, he's kind of an idiot and will have to do some groveling to get back in her good graces.

Warnings: nsfw content, MDNI, 18+, a dash of angst, oral sex, vaginal fingering, profanity, mentions of drug use

She showed up on the dot when he texted her the address to some cheap burger joint on the outskirts of town, dressed in a sweeping velvet skirt and oversized, holey sweater. Her battle armor did nothing for her nerves but at least she felt like herself in her outfit.

The table she picked had a good view of the parking lot, so she stared out the window as she waited. And waited and waited. Ten minutes passed after she’d ordered a diet Coke. She checked her phone. No texts.

Maybe he was held up in traffic. Maybe he was ha ing car troubles.

Ten minutes gave way to thirty, and there was still no sign of Eddie. Her first-date jitters were steadily moving headlong into anxiety and embarrassment. She avoided the pitying eyes that cut to her.

Maybe work ran over. Maybe something happened to his uncle.

Unable to help herself, she shot him a simple text.

‘Where are you?’

The waitress showed up to take her order, a polite customer service smile fixed on her face.

Aliyah had no doubt everyone in this stupid place was judging her, laughing at her. Look at the silly girl, waiting for a boy who stood her up.

“Uh, can I just—can I just pay for the drink?” she muttered as she avoided the woman’s pity-filled eyes. Her head began to pound with a headache, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry. But not right now. Not until she was home, with the door locked.

Now she really felt pathetic. Pathetic and—and angry. Beyond angry, even, livid. It burned in her fingertips as she handed a few crumpled bills to the waitress and opened her phone again. Stupid fucking Eddie Munson. She’d kick his teeth in next time she saw him. And then cry. Preferably in that order.

With a remarkably cold mask, s he paid for her drink, gathered her purse, and stormed out, wondering where she went wrong. If she’d misread him. That was given considering the circumstances, but it still stung.

Once she was inside her car, she opened her phone, typed two words, and buckled in, turning the music to her favorite whiney, angry rock station. She peeled out of the parking lot and scream-sobbed along with the pain-filled lyrics, pounding her steering wheel, and feeling very proud of her response.

‘Fuck you.’

She avoided Eddie and any of his little Hellfire minions like they had the Bubonic Plague. Which wasn’t all that difficult considering she was a loner that hid in the background. Not to be mistaken with being meek but she digressed.

After she’d bawled her eyes out, she decided pretending like he didn’t exist was her best course of action. Revenge required too much energy she didn’t have to spend. Maybe she’d misjudged him. Maybe that compassion she’d seen had been a facade. A lie.

“Uh, hey, do you have a minute?”

She turned to find Lucas standing beside her, his face pinched with discomfort, his entire body language screaming it. Then she spotted Mike and Dustin peeking around from the corner, making everything clear.

“Sure, I guess,” she bitterly muttered as she slammed her locker and leaned against it. “What do they want, dear cousin of mine?” She crossed her arms as she spoke, digging her long nails into the skin of her biceps so her hands wouldn’t shake.

Lucas, no doubt seeing their was no point to in pussy-footing, sighed and began to explain. “They, uh, told me about Eddie standing you up.”

“And?” Despite her attempts to remain stone-faced, her brow rose. “Wait, how’d they find out? I didn’t tell—” The words seemed to be plucked straight from her throat as the realization hit her. Hard. Hard enough she had to close her eyes and beg any deity that she didn’t start crying.

It wasn’t enough that he’d stood her up; oh no, he’d fucking bragged about it to his friends. Like it was some hilarious, amazing joke.

“It’s not what you think,” he insisted. “Eddie—they treat him like a freak, a monster. You don’t know how many pretty girls the basketball team and other sports guys have sent over. All to ask him out.”

“The fuck does that have to do with me, Lucas?” she demanding, realizing a fraction of a second too late that she’d betrayed herself. Her voice had risen several octaves, full of anger. And hurt, if she were being honest. Who wouldn’t be after being stood up? “Seriously, Lucas, what the fuck does that have to do with me?”

Lucas glanced back at his friends before he turned back at her, his discomfort gone, replaced by earnestness. A genuine need to explain. “He thought it was a joke.”

“So that makes it okay for him to stand me up?” she sneered and straightened, pushing away from the locker. Her boots squeaked when she stopped an inch away from Lucas, almost eye-to-eye with him now that he’d shot up over the summer. “Tell Eddie Munson he can go to fucking Hell.”

She adjusted the strap of her worn messenger bag as she stalked off in the direction of one of the corridors that would lead to the parking lot. Which took her right past Dustin and Mike, where she stopped and addressed them calmly and quietly.

“Next time you want to talk to me, do it yourself.”

She stormed away with a calm she didn’t feel. Anger roiled beneath her skin as she shoved open the door to the senior parking lot, snarling under her breath. The door swung wide, with a force that should’ve sent it careening into the exterior of the building, but instead it stopped mid-swing, and someone cried out.

Her heart sputtered and her stomach dropped. Stepping out hurriedly, she made to apologize at the unsuspecting victim of her violence and stopped mid-apology.

Dark eyes stared back at her, squinted with pain, as Eddie Munson clutched his face with one hand.

“Hi,” he said in a muffle voice as his watery gaze found hers, his grimace fading.

“Fuck you,” she replied and hurried to her car.

Tried to, at least.

If it wasn’t for the hand that suddenly caught hers in the most gentle grip, she’d have been in her car by now and peeled out to go scream into her pillow.

With a groan, she turned to face him.

[abandonedaccount1234]

LETS DEEP DIVE TOGETHER! I always love hearing other people's thoughts

First I was like Ring Around The Rosie? The creepy ass nursery rhyme about everyone dying?

I don't know if I like the symbolism but I'm intrigued to see where it takes us.

I personally always grew up singing this version:

(If 9-1-1 tries to do an episode arc about someone having the bubonic plague or someone starting an infectious disease spread on purpose, I'm gonna be flabbergasted. I doubt it but literally anything is possible in the 9-1-1 universe.)

Back on topic:

I keep thinking Bobby's gonna have to relive another apartment building fire or a call eerily similar to the one that took his family.

Or the team gets stuck in a building collapse and we'll be left on a cliffhanger or get a really emotional finale about found family, forgiveness, and trauma.

I can feel the angsty flames from the title already.

Then I was thinking, you know, why Ring around the Rosie? That's such an interesting choice.

First I thought, Titanic. Jack and Rose. The shipwreck. Makes sense as a call back to someone from that. Maybe this is where the ceremony takes place, only for an emergency to happen?

Then I thought Rosary Beads. Is this gonna be about Bobby and his own catholic guilt about how alcoholism destroyed his life? Do we get to explore Bobby's religious side a bit more? What his upbringing like in regards to religion? I would love to see any of this explored.

I decided to procrastinate my coursework and do a bit more research.

I know there's supposedly might be an appearance of Bobby's brother, Tim Nash. I wonder if that's who he has to make amends with?

Or if he at least gets closer to that relationship and what happened because the brother theme is big this season with:

Buck and Eddie's stance in each other's lives being something that can't be changed

Chimney and Kevin and his grief and love for the family he's had to create

Even Buck and Chimney with Buck finally getting an older brother to look up to.

And the overall brotherhood throughout the 118, being open and able to care for one another beyond heteronormative measures

I would love to explore Bobby's upbringing more. I would love to see what he was like as a kid (Mr.Figure skater.) Or how he met his first wife.

Or even how did the building fire affect his relationship with his own biological family because I don't know if they've ever really touched on that...? What about his parents, his brother, or even his in-laws? Not that I can remember. Let me know if otherwise.

I also know Jennifer Weiner has a book called "All Fall Down" about an upper middle class woman who is struggling with addiction.

Could be a coincidence, could not be. Who knows?

The weirdest thing about this all is I'VE BEEN HAVING DREAMS ABOUT 9-1-1 IN A FLOODED FIELD OF ROSES.

It was such a weird and almost symbolic series of dreams I feel like a sign has been forced upon me.

From what I remember, Athena bulls Buck back from the deepest part of the flood (i mean you have to swim to survive this thing, like the tsunami) because she's afraid he'll drown. She does this many times, trying to talk some sense into him about patience and personal safety. That it's not his responsibility. But Eddie, Hen, and Chimney are all on the other side of this barrier. If he just makes it across, he can save them. This barrier is almost like a magnetic force, the closer you get, you almost get pushed away. And before he can, there's no longer a storm. The flowers all start blooming and re-grounding themselves as the sun comes out. They all feel a sense of peace and new beginnings. Buck didn't need to save them but he was going to anways.

It was so entirely random, I haven't been able to forget about it.

Anyways, it's late now and I need to get some sleep.

I'll continue this before or after tomorrow's episode.

I know it's very unlikely but a reference to this song would be cool. Specifically these lyrics in reference to literally any of their trauma and the growth they've had with healing from it. Because healing isn't linear, especially in a job where you see people's worst days of their lives unfolding. The song is upbeat but the lyrics are like damn, I need therapy which I feel like describes 9-1-1 quite accurately.

Okay night lovely people!

EDIT:

I saw this reblog and I couldn't sleep. Someone's house is definitely burning down. I swear if it's Buck's-

And PLEASE not Eddie. My man is too broke for that shit.

I'm imagining a TK and Carlos situation where Buck and Tommy leave a candle burning or something.

Also this song "all fall down" by  Alan Walker, Digital Farm Animals, and Noah Cyrus

Hoping it's more OneRepublic style

Mom. I'm scared. You're gonna be hearing my theories for WEEKS.

7x09 title has been changed to "Ashes, Ashes"

7x10 (the finale) title is "All Fall Down"

[ruleof3bobby]

BLACK DEATH (2010) Grade:C- 

Had serious potential to be a cool horror film set in the middle ages. They blew it. Good actors but the 3rd act was a mess.

[lifewithaview]

Eddie Redmayne in Black Death (2010)

as Osmund

[ededdneddy-artrefs]

[theyaremanycolours]

OP mentioned Pumpkins in the tags as being the only safe costume, but I have a few suggestions:

While Snakes are definitely off the table, Dragons aren't, (as long as they don't do any water dragons)

Samurai could definitely work (Would of also suggested ninja, but well-)

Vampires (assuming no red contacts cause Evil Staff trauma)

Butterfly/fairy/mothman costumes

Witches and Wizards

Stereotypical aliens (NOT the s3 metal eating bugs)

Cake (Come on, Cole would)

They could dress up as Nindroids in a similar style to Zane, with Zane dressed as a human

Characters from series *not* featuring Cliff Gordon

Kai being put into a Pillow costume after season 10 feels like a really funny in joke

Frankenstein

There is a fic (not made by me) where the ninja all dress up as Lloyd and it's hilarious (Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59410513 )

Also, in the same vein, dressing up as each other

Fruit (coloured ninja-!)

Knights

A pack of crayons

Super Sentai Outfits

Sports Stars

The Bubonic Plague (Referencing Ed Edd and Eddy)

Dareth

Sensei Wu (Poking some lighthearted fun at him)

Flowers

Though, I can definately see how in-universe the ninja might struggle for costume ideas too.

So I was thinking of what the ninja would dress up as for Halloween and I realized. There is not a single costume in this planet that wouldn't remind them of some trauma.

Any type of snake is just straight up out of the equation.

A ghost? Ohohu that's a big nono for Lloyd and Cole because of s5.

Skeletons remind everyone of Samukai and that one time Nya got kidnapped.

A zombie is way too similar to the crystal people in Crystalized.

Like not even non-horror costumes are safe!

A pirate? Jay's trying to not have Skybound flashbacks and failing. A genie would be the death of him.

Some sort of animal? Zane would like to not be reminded of all the war crimes he commited against the formlings, thank you very much.

Some little girl dresses up as a princess? Lloyd is side eyeing her every five seconds to make sure she doesn't pull out a knife.

Dress up as a dancer? Oh fuck there goes Cole's family issues.

Heck someone could even dress up as Fritz fucking Donnegan and it'll remind Jay of his dead beat father.

[poppy-metal]

i hope u feel better soon poppy <3 thinking of how eddie wouldn’t care u have covid and still try to kiss u better :’)

and i know he acts like he has the bubonic plague when he even has a cold so im locking myself in my room. trying to go an hour without giving him a kiss.

[unsureandpure]

Richie: Come on, babe. It’s not that bad.             

Eddie, wearing one of those bubonic plague bird masks: IT SPREADS THROUGH THE AIR!!!!!!!

Could y’all even imagine if Eddie had moved out to Los Angeles with Richie and now the fucking Coronavirus is there??? That spreads through AIR?? Not my hypochondriac son  

[tlbodine]

Pandemic and Pandemonium: Sickness in Horror

Well, it’s official: Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, has been declared a pandemic -- ie, a new and widespread infectious disease actively infecting people throughout the world. For most of us currently alive, this is the first time we’ve seen a pandemic. It’s certainly the first time any of us have seen the kind of city-wide or country-wide quarantine measures currently being employed. 

It’s an anxiety-inducing situation for sure. And people are dealing with that fear in different ways. Some folks are hoarding bottled water and toilet paper. Some folks are checking the news compulsively. Some folks are finding 20-second-long songs to sing while washing their hands. 

And some of us are looking for horror fiction that might just mirror our anxieties and give a momentary but welcome catharsis. 

Germs have existed since, well...the beginning of life as we know it. And for as long as humans have been alive, we’ve sometimes gotten sick from these microscopic invaders. It’s just a part of being alive. Everything gets sick sometimes, and humans -- who live in large complex groups and have a lot of casual contact day-by-day -- get sick a lot. 

There’s a lot to fear from widespread illness: 

Germs are invisible to the eye, so you can’t necessarily see the threat coming for you

Because infection is carried from person to person, mistrust and even hostility can grow toward people who appear ill (whether or not they really are sick)

Controlling the spread of disease often requires social isolation and can invite a loss of rights (ie, confinement)

The disease itself can have terrifying effects, from gross symptoms to death 

If enough people get sick, it can disrupt the machinery of society, causing problems with food, electricity, healthcare, law enforcement, you name it. 

Now, in real life, things don’t usually get that bad, especially in modern times when we have advanced healthcare and science and great communication. History’s greatest pandemics, from the Black Death (bubonic plague) of Europe in the 1300s to smallpox in the US in the 1700s to the worldwide Spanish Flu epidemic in the early 1900s, have been devastating -- but obviously, humanity has survived them all, and the numbers have been less terrible each time. With the power of antibiotics and vaccines and anti-virals and advanced medical interventions, we can save a lot of lives. 

But we can’t save all of them -- which is why anxiety still lingers, and why stories about pestilence remain compelling. 

The Magic of Fictional Viruses 

When it comes to fictional illness, viruses usually end up in the spotlight. Some of the nastiest diseases in history have been bacterial infections -- Bubonic Plague, syphilis, typhoid, tuberculosis. Now that we have antibiotics, these once-deadly illnesses are essentially wiped from the modern consciousness. 

But viruses are trickier. We have not yet developed a singular treatment as effective against all viruses as antibiotics are against bacteria. Instead, we rely on vaccines to immunize us against them. But vaccines are individualized, working only for the specific disease they’ve been developed to treat -- and if a new virus pops up, it takes time to craft the response against it. 

Viruses also function in ways that make them especially attuned for horror: 

They are smaller and less complex than other microorganisms, and it’s debatable if they are even, strictly speaking, alive.

Their only method of reproduction is by invading a cell and injecting it with its own genetic material; viruses cannot reproduce without a living host.

Because they reproduce quickly and rely on their host cells, viruses can swiftly mutate and change 

Some people can be carriers, able to spread the virus without ever knowing that they’re sick or showing any symptoms 

It’s little wonder then that viruses in fiction can cause all kinds of things -- zombies, werewolves, insanity, infertility, even turning your body to stone. In modern horror fiction, viruses often fulfill the role previously occupied by magical curses. 

Horror Recommendations for Disease Fiction 

With a global pandemic currently active, the CDC is recommending that people self-isolate whenever possible -- working from home, avoiding large crowds, and abstaining from touching people. So do your part to protect yourself and the vulnerable people around you by staying home and watching movies or reading a book instead. Here are some thematic lists. 

“Realistic” Contagion Stories

If you’d like to watch a tense medical thriller rooted at least partly in realism, try one of these: 

Outbreak - A california town is quarantined to stop the spread of an Ebola-like virus.

Contagion - A woman brings home a deadly virus that triggers a quarantine, complete with social upheaval and looting.

Pontypool - A radio disc jockey reports on a dire, apocalyptic pandemic while in isolation in Ontario

Containment - A TV series about a city that falls under a quarantine to prevent the spread of an Ebola-like disease; it's partly medical drama, partly commentary on social conflict

Apocalyptic Stories 

Curious about what happens after the fall of mankind? So are a lot of authors and filmmakers. 

The Last Man - Did you know Mary Shelley wrote an apocalypstic novel about a world-ending epidemic as a way to process grief about her husband's death?

The Stand - Perhaps Stephen King's greatest epic, the book details the fall of civilization as we know it and its brutal, power-struggle-fueled rebuilding in the wake of a devastating flu.

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood conceived of a trilogy of near-future dystopia focused on genetic engineering, a plague, and the horrors of technology. Start with this one and read all three if it grips you.

I Am Legend - Richard Matheson's short novel is often adapted, but you can't beat the original. A plague novel, a zombie novel and a vampire novel all rolled into one.

It Comes At Night - A story of isolation following a deadly outbreak, and also a question of sanity and the choices people make in difficult positions. (full disclosure: I didn’t like this movie much, but it’s very well-reviewed so you might like it more) 

Weird Chaos Viruses 

I’ve talked about zombies before at great length, so I won’t recommend anymore traditional zombie tales -- just go read my other list for those recommendations! But sometimes apocalypses come by not-quite-zombies, so let’s talk about those: 

Bird Box - The novel by Josh Malerman or the film starring Sandra Bullock, take your pick. Both are about a woman trying to survive in a world torn asunder by a an eldritch evil that drives you to madness if you see it.

The Happening - One of M. Night Shyamalan's more ridiculous films, but one I can't help but guiltily enjoy. An unexplained event drives people to commit suicide (in increasingly ridiculous ways), creating a world-threatening pandemic.

The Crazies - The original 1973 film and the 2010 remake both deal with an outbreak of a bizarre illness that causes people to go, uh, crazy. In a murder way.

Cabin Fever - Eli Roth’s directorial debut, this is a classic gross-out film franchise about a flesh-eating virus that chews its way through a bunch of young campers. 

Dreamcatcher - Basically exactly the plot of Cabin Fever, except with aliens and some It cross-over cosmic horror. A decent Stephen King novel and a fun, if cringey, film, take your pick. 

Mimic - A sci-fi approach involving cockroaches, genetic engineering, and bad ideas. Did you know this was co-written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and was the first Norman Reedus movie? 

Cold Storage - A wonderfully gross debut novel by David Koepp featuring mind-controlling fungus. 

The Troop  - Nick Cutter’s gross-out novel is billed as “28 Days Later meets Lord of the Flies” which is basically everything you need to know. Monstrous tapeworms + boyscouts = bad times for all. 

The Thing - A research team encounters a terrible alien parasite in an isolated frozen wasteland. 

Historical Horror

The Black Death is one of the oldest, best-known, most-historically-significant illnesses in the Western world, so lots of people have told stories about it -- but it’s not the only epidemic in town. If you prefer your disease horror with a side of history, try one of these: 

Black Death - Not a great movie, but it has Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne and some exceptional gore, so it gets a vote just for that. It’s not about the plague so much as it’s about witchcraft, but it fits. 

The Masque of the Red Death - One of Edgar Allan Poe’s finest stories, in my opinion. You can read this online in multiple places if you don’t have a Poe collection handy, and there’s a lot of audio and short films for it too so take your pick. 

Love in the Time of Cholera - Like it says on the tin, this is a book about life and love and a cholera epidemic. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a masterful writer, so this is well worth picking up for the quality of prose and storytelling alone.

The Plague - Part social commentary, part plague story, this Albert Camus novel is heavy on philosophy, if you’re into that sort of thing. 

Cabin Fever and Isolation 

A lot of the stories already mentioned touch on themes of isolation, quarantine, and cabin fever, but if you’re staring down the long barrel of social distancing and want more stories about going crazy in enclosed spaces, consider adding: 

The Shining  - The Stephen King novel and the Stanley Kubrick film are both excellent in their own ways, and I recommend both. A family makes the unwise decision to stay alone in a haunted hotel through a long snowed-in winter. It ends badly. 

Devil - However bad your life is, it’s probably not as bad as being trapped in an elevator with the literal devil, which is the premise of this film. 

The Cabin at the End of the World -- You didn’t think I’d write about apocalypse scenarios without finding a chance to plug my favorite Paul Tremblay novel, did you? Part home invasion, part psychological horror, part cosmic apocalypse, 100% terrifying. 

Now, go forth and enjoy many a movie night, or curl up and treat yourself. Social distancing never felt so deliciously spooky ;) 

[quatschmachen]

Icicles

.A small fic set in the 80′s; probably like 1984 ish.

Edward visits Étienne.

PG

Étienne was wearing too many layers.

Sure it was winter and probably cold but no one should be wearing a fully zipped up jacket, toque and scarf ensemble inside the airport, Edward thought.

“Why are you dressed for an arctic expedition?” Edward asked his friend.

Étienne’s voice was muffled by the scarf, “Because I have a slight cold.”

“This is overkill.” Edward teased, “Do you need my jacket as well?”

“Non.” Étienne sneezed then added, “not yet.”

They were heading away from the airport in a taxi, Étienne apparently not patient enough to wait for a bus.

Edward had packed light, he had managed to establish a Drawer for his Montreal clothes at Étienne’s, an accomplishment he tried not to think about too hard (but which, if he could admit to himself, he was delighted over). He had noticed in the brief interim that they had been outside that it was not that cold, and he figured it was probably just an Étienne thing that the man was dressed in so many layers.

It was only when Edward won the fight of paying the entire cab fare that he felt something was off with the other man.

This was confirmed as they entered Étienne’s place, and the man was refusing to de-layer his clothes.

“Étienne, it’s hot as Hades here, and you’re trying to put on another sweater – alright what’s going on – did you get a shitty tattoo? Do you have scarlet fever?” Edward huffed feeling very annoyed at his friend, his hands reaching out to bat the sweater away.

It was like unwrapping a wriggling child, dodging, and weaving away from him, as Edward firmly grabbed one end of the scarf and unwound it from his friend’s face.

Étienne’s eyes were red, his nose was red and dripping, his cheeks flushed, and he looked as if he had just crawled out of the frosty pits of Niflheim.

“Jesus Christ you look like shit.”

“Thank you Eddy I appreciate the commentary.”  Edward realized Étienne sounded weird because his nose was plugged. Étienne grabbed the scarf and rewrapped it around his face. He did however concede in removing his jacket.

“So uh can I assume we’re not going to the club tonight?”

“Excuse me? Obviously we still are, you flew out to have a good time and I’m-” Étienne had to pause to hack a lung out, “am going to show you a good time!” he did a dramatic arm flourish, over tilted, banged into the wall, cried out in pain, and then nobly righted himself, attempting a more subdued ‘we are totally going out and getting dick’ pose.

“No we’re not.” Edward said firmly as he finished taking off his boots, “We are going to stay in.”

“Eddy!! Even if I don’t go out you should go out, you didn’t come all this way to just sit on my couch and watch TV.” Étienne protested as the other man gently guided him to the couch.

Giving his friend a Look, Edward said darkly, “Do you think I fly my ass all the way out to your beautiful city to see some guy’s cock?”

“Well, you always complain that you can’t really do the same stuff in Edmonton so, yeah. I guess. You come here to get tail and I don’t blame you. Nor do I want to hold you back. And I don’t want you to get sick!”

Edward was busy firmly tucking a blanket around Étienne, ensuring that max cozy was achieved.

Étienne was still fussing, and unthinkingly, Edward leant forward and gave the other man a small kiss on the forehead to calm him down. It immediately worked.

“I’m not worried about that. Anyways. Just so you know. I happen to haul myself these many miles to see you. Since you are, you know… my friend. Now I am going to make you a hot drink, and then get take-out, ok? Wong’s is still open, yeah?”

Étienne nodded.

“And if you move from the couch for any reason other than going to bed or peeing, I will look not happily upon that.”

“Ok maudit mardeux.”

XXX

When Edward returned with take-out (he had gotten a lot, with the plan that the leftovers would tide them over for a couple days), he was happy to see that Étienne was still on the couch, the mug of hot tea in his hands, still slowly sipping.

“Eddy,” Étienne turned a plaintive look to the man, looking at the giant bags of take-out, “I’m suffering… can you get me some tissues?”

“Sure, sorry for not getting you them before I left.” Setting the take-out on the coffee table, Edward went in search of the tissues. He also figured the other man would want a personal garbage, and while he was at it, he also grabbed two bowls and cutlery.

Returning, Edward immediately worried as the other man was crying.

Étienne had moved out of his blanket fortress, one of the take-out bags were open, and before him was a round Styrofoam container, lid off, gently steaming.

“How did you know?”  he asked quietly. Soft teary eyes looked at Edward; a look that could almost be classified as tender.

Edward looked at Étienne in confusion. “Know what?”

“That I love hot and spicy soup when sick.”

“Because you once wrote me five pages of a letter dedicated to Wong’s hot and spicy soup and how it cured you of the bubonic plague, Étienne.”

“I… I don’t remember that.”

“Judging from your spelling I think you were still high off soup or something,” Edward paused as he watched his friend happily slurp the soup, “However I greatly enjoyed reading it… even if it didn’t quite make sense, especially that weird part where you tried to rhyme in iambic pentameter.”

“I have no fucking memory of this. You’re bullshitting me right? Iambic pentameter? You’re gonna have to show me this letter.”

“Only if you promise not to destroy it,” Edward teased. “Plus, hold on let me see if I can remember.” Edward sat down beside the other man, setting down the items, and then moving to help himself to the food. “Shall I travel the world for a potion? Nay, for the cure exists in Montreal. Dew of the gods in comparison pales. For yea the cure is at Wong’s; Hot and Spicy.”

“Oh my god that’s not even good,” Étienne choked slightly, and then coughed, “That last part isn’t even proper iambic pentameter.”

Edward shrugged, “Hey, you at least tried. I nearly hurt myself laughing, and I mmmmmmaaaaybe hung that up on my fridge to look at for a solid week.”

Étienne narrowed his eyes, “You better watch out Murphy, I’m sure we both have an arsenal of blackmail material in our decades of letters.”

“When did one’s life and feelings become blackmail material, Maisonneuve?” Edward quietly teased, his gaze focused to the news report on the television. The low murmur of the day’s events filling up the strange gap between them.

Étienne blew on the soup and then took a slurp. Slyly he asked, “So that letter where you drew images of your favourite buffalo can be shown to anyone?”

Edward quickly looked at Étienne, “That image was only for you ok – not for the world!”

“But it’s so cute, if I had had a refrigerator at the time it would have gone on that. Though I guess I have one now I can put it up.” Étienne paused, frowned, “Actually, Eddy, you haven’t really drawn anything for me in a while. Why did you stop?”

“Because…” Edward was surprised to find he did not have a ready answer. Life got busy? He got more self conscious? It was something that had simply fallen to the wayside without him noticing? He had grown up and decided drawing was a childish thing? “Huh. I guess I just stopped.”

His friend was wiggling, that wiggle he did when he had one of his brilliant ideas.

“’Tienne, what is it?”

“Since I am so sick, and dying, you should entertain me by drawing me a story!”

“A story?”

“Yeah! One about… buffalo.”

“Draw on what?”

“Oh uhm, let me get you-“

“Just tell me. You stay put… but can we eat first?”

“…Fine… but you are going to draw me a story.  Even if it’s in crayon, ok?”

“Yes sir,” Edward laughed, “So do I get any hot and spicy soup?”

XXXXX

“Once upon a time there was beautiful prairie, where the sound of the drums was the heartbeat of the land. Upon the prairie roamed the buffalo, strong majestic animals in whose footsteps sprung new life.”

As he drew the story, Edward narrated. The art items he found were pencil crayons and a pad of paper. The buffalo on the green grass was probably akin to a five year old’s drawing, but as he glanced over to his friend, who looked absolutely thrilled and despite suffering from a sort of plague, who was sparkling in happiness that this was even taking place, it was worth it.

“There was a very tiny calf, whose legs still wobbled.” Edward added little shaky lines to his badly drawn tiny calf, “who got separated from the herd.”

“Edward if this is going to be a sad story I want you to stop now.” Étienne interrupted.

“Shhh.” Edward settled in more, as he paused in his story telling to draw the next page. “This calf, whose name was Stardreamer, had gotten separated from the herd when following a butterfly to a small river. When Stardreamer realized he was no longer with his mother, he called and called, but got no reply.”

“Eddy…”

“Instead a wily old Magpie appeared, letting out  a cheeky laugh. Stardreamer attempted to hide, and stayed very still as the Magpie flew down and sat upon him.

<Fear not little one,> the Magpie said, as it began to pick ticks off the calf, <I am a friend.>”

As the story progressed, Edward found himself adding more twists and turns, and what was originally supposed to be only ten pages it became thirty. Étienne’s full rapt attention was addictive, and the man’s slightly wet eyes when Stardreamer reunited with the herd he found endearing.

The story of Stardreamer continued throughout the week as the two of them, instead of simply vegging out and watching movies, found themselves cooped up as the snow piled up outside. The only times Edward left was to get more food and to shovel the sidewalk (which apparently dumbfounded Étienne, who informed Edward that clearing the sidewalk was the city’s job, to which Edward rolled his eyes and asked if the people of Montreal were suddenly missing arms and shovels, which then lead to a heated debate of the role of the city when it came to snow, a debate which kept popping up).

As the week progressed, Étienne got better, his nose less plugged, his body less feverish.

As the week progressed however, Edward began to display the same symptoms of illness that Étienne had had. Something he attempted to hide from the other man… rather unsuccessfully.

He had taken himself to the washroom to blow his nose, only to bang his elbow on the wall when Étienne’s voice spoke up from the other side of the door separating them.

<Eddy, I’m so sorry, I never meant to invite you over and then give you the plague.>

Cursing and rubbing his elbow, Edward was silent a moment, then said, <I do not have the plague, it’s allergies.> This lie was quickly laid to rest as he started having a severe coughing attack. One severe enough that Étienne forced open the bathroom door to stride in and sit Edward down on the edge of the bath, gently rubbing the other man’s back as the coughing fit eventually passed.

As Edward struggled to breath, his nose and throat plugged up, his eyes red rimmed, Étienne shook his head. <Looks like it’s my turn to take care of you.>

Blowing his nose, Edward sniffled. Rubbing his forehead he managed to croak out, <I’m supposed to fly out.>

<Hmmmm, are you well enough to travel? Are you able to rebook?>

Edward was too busy coughing to respond.

<Will they even let you onto the airplane, Édouard?>

Edward shrugged, “I dunno.”

“If you insist on returning…” Étienne paused <I will simply have to travel with you. Make sure you don’t faint on the way.>

Looking over to his friend, his expression a mixture of surprised misery, Edward croaked, “You’d really do that?”

Raising one eyebrow, Étienne quietly responded <You are sick and my responsibility. I would be unable to rest at the thought of you travelling alone in such a condition.>

It was unclear whether it was the fever or something else that caused Edward’s cheeks to flush, as he looked away, his slumped shoulders relaxing, as he leant into the other man.

The only sound was his struggle to breathe, until finally he murmured, “I’ll rebook.”