#almost a year since burning sun began and they're finally starting to pick up the pieces

[lonely-lost-soul]

Since I've Been Gone

Request: what if...Platonic fluff things with reader and bench trio?... Like they're all in a flower field chilling then Tommy is like, "You guys wanna make flower crowns?" And reader, ranboo, and tubbo just look at him like 👁👁 what, Turns out Tommy picked up flower crown making from his big brothers techno and Wilbur so now he does it when he's either bored or stressed. Anyways hope this inspires you <3 -🐱 Anon

(Platonic!Bench Trio x Gn!Reader)

The server had been through a lot, Tommy was just recently revived and was coming off of finding out his two best friends were married. The young boy had a white streak in his blonde hair and was still trying to adjust to the life he missed. Especially when it came to his longtime friend and roommate (y/n). Tommy had recently found out they were off living with Karl and Sapnap in the Kinoko Kingdom...the bitch. After Tommy had disappeared after he...died Karl had found them hiding out in his old library. You had scared the time-traveler half to death when he found you camping out in a corner of the room. However, after seeing as you had nothing, no weapons or armor he concluded you weren’t much of a threat, especially after you told him your sob story. You told him you lived with Tommy and you couldn’t go back there now that he was dead, Ranboo and Tubbo were off doing married things and you had felt so alone. Karl decided at that moment he would take you in, no matter what the cost. Sapnap had a bit more trouble adjusting to your presence, but as soon as he saw you had some fire within your belly he began to warm up to you. It only took a few days for Karl to practically adopt you and since he was engaged to Sapnap the fire demon was stuck with you for a child.

Not that he minded, you weren’t a loud kid, very pleasant to be around hell even his dad took a liking to you. Sapnap was baffled when Karl told him you had previously lived with Tommy, the most obnoxious child on the server. The two of you couldn’t be more different, and when Tommy was revived, he and Karl weren’t enthused. Karl was worried he’d lose you to the trouble maker and it was well known Tommy and Sapnap didn’t have the greatest history. Their worries were quelled the moment you introduced them as your dads to Tommy, Karl burst into tears and Sapnap put you in a headlock much to your protest. Tommy stood by awkwardly, he had missed a lot, he hated the fact that he felt like his friends were happier without him in their lives.

He was brought back to the present by the idle chatter of Tubbo and Ranboo by his side Tubbo was on Ranboo’s back declaring walking was way too much work for him. You snickered nudging Ranboo in the ribs, he let out a yelp and glared down at you halfheartedly. Tommy watched you turn towards him a smile on his features,

“What do you think Tommy?” He blinked a few times at you, not wanting to admit he wasn’t listening to the conversation next to him.

“I don’t fucking know,” He scoffed “This conversation is bullshit anyway who cares.” You had a smirk on your lips that he was all too familiar with, he narrowed his eyes at you.

“You weren’t listening were you?”

“Of course I was listening bitch!”

“Oh really? What did she ask then big man?” Tubbo mused resting his chin on his husband’s shoulder. Hair covering his vibrant, green eyes, horns peeking from beneath his shaggy hair. Tommy glared at his long time friend flipping him off eloquently,

“Probably something stupid and useless.”

“She asked if you knew where we were going,” Ranboo piped up with a casual hum, bouncing in his step. “Cause we’ve been walking for a while, I know Tubbo’s tired.”

“Yeah Tommy, I’m tired.”

“You’re not even walking!” You argued as Tubbo stuck his tongue out at you, lifting his hair from his eyes to wink at you. His one eye glowing with a yellow nuclear symbol, “Put that symbol away! You’re not cool.”

“Says the person who doesn’t own nukes,” He mused letting his hair fall back into place while grabbing onto Ranboo’s horns. “Or who doesn’t have any cool powers,”

“Ow! Low blow! Just cause Tommy and I are the only two humans in the group doesn’t mean you can pick on us! Right, Tommy!”

“Yeah! Exactly! Fuck you guys!” Tommy agreed linking your arms together, “Plus, I know exactly where we’re going. We’re almost there, Wilbur used to take me here all the time when I was little.” Tommy said almost in an afterthought, the kids around him grew quiet, each one knew Wilbur was a touchy subject for Tommy especially after his time in the afterlife. Yet, people seemed to forget that Wilbur wasn’t always crazy, wasn’t always a manipulator, once he was an older brother. Once he cared for Tommy and wanted to protect him from some of Phil’s neglect, protect him from Technoblade’s voices. Tommy wanted to remember that Wilbur, not the one stuck in purgatory who blew up the country they all fought so hard to retain. He felt your hand squeeze his arm,

“I’m excited to see where Wilbur decided to take you, hopefully, it’s not a fish pond.”

“Oh gross.” Ranboo groaned pinching the bridge of his nose as Tubbo laughed loudly from above him. Tommy made a disgusted face,

“Stop talking about all the fish who fucked my brother!”

“I didn’t you did.” You hummed skipping ahead of the group feet crunching on the leaves on the ground.

“YOU BASTARD!” Tommy shrieked running after you,

“Onward steed!” Tubbo pointed at his two friends who ran off, Ranboo grumbled but trotted after the duo.

It only took a few more arguments and a few more minutes of walking before the quartet came to the destination Tommy was eager to show them. You stopped on your heels jaw-dropping in awe,

“Holy shit…” You murmured, in front of all of you was a gorgeous field of flowers a giant dark oak tree sat in the middle. It was giant spanning up far into the sky but it created a nice shade to keep all of you cooled off. Tommy had a rare peaceful smile on his lips as he let the sun touch his face, he slid off his boots and ran into the field of flowers.

“Take your shoes off so you don’t crush them or I’ll crush you!” Tommy snickered falling back, letting the flowers tickle his cheeks. He opened his eyes just a crack to see you sliding off your boots and joining him in the field, you didn’t lay beside him instead he watched your form head to the tree. Meanwhile, Tubbo kicked off his boots, Ranboo wasn’t far behind his husband. Tubbo laughed running over and flopping next to Tommy, holding his arm close much to the blonde’s displeasure.

“Ranboo! Help me reach the taller branches!” You called to the tallest member of your friend group. He nodded walking over to you, grabbing your waist gently he lifted you into the air. You grabbed onto the nearest branch and hoisted yourself into the air, Ranboo was always shocked at your upper body strength, but then again you trained on your own for years. Ranboo hovered at the base of the tree nervously, both of his tails flicking side to side.

“Don’t climb too high!” He called watching you slip and cling onto the trunk to steady yourself. “(Y/n) CAREFUL!”

“I’m fine, mom!” You stuck your tongue out at him from above, “I’ve fallen out of taller trees!”

“If you get hurt Sapnap would literally burn me alive! So PLEASE try not to fall!”

“Boo calm down a little!” Tubbo snickered, “if they fall I’ll film it.”

“Tubbo has the right idea,” you agreed as Tommy laughed from beside Tubbo. Ranboo frowned ears twitching in distress, you only continued to climb higher to his dismay. Eventually, you came down falling elegantly into the arms of Ranboo who caught you easily. He was breathing heavily, recovering from the shock of your sudden drop. His long nails dug into your skin as he clutched onto you like a lifeline, “Ranboo let go!” You huffed trying to wiggle out of his tight grip.

“Absolutely not! Are you a lunatic!” His voice broke, “I could’ve missed! You could’ve broken an ankle!”

“But I didn’t,” You poked his nose with a teasing hum. Ranboo groaned louder placing his head in the crook of your neck, you snickered as he finally let you onto the ground. You walked over to Tommy and Tubbo and sat down next to them, you leaned against Tommy’s back who grunted in distaste. “Deal with it gremlin, be my backrest,”

“Fuck you bitch!” He snarled but didn’t move or push them off, you smiled teasingly winking in the direction of Tubbo. He snickered into his palm as Ranboo pulled Tubbo into his lap, and the young goat hybrid got comfortable. The four of you sat in peaceful silence, letting the sun beat down around you all. A nice breeze blew through the area causing the leaves of the nearby trees to shake, a few animals rustled around in the bushes.

“We should make flower crowns,” Tommy spoke up suddenly his nails digging into the dirt. You titled your head in confusion and Raboo looked equally as baffled, the only person who didn’t seem surprised was Tubbo.

“Sure man but you gotta collect the flowers,” Tubbo said tiredly Tommy clicked his tongue stubbornly.

“We’re surrounded by flowers you’re just lazy.”

“Yeah obviously.”

You gave Tubbo a look and sat up on your knees, “What do you need to get started?”

“Can you grab me some of those daisy’s, tulips, and some bluebells?” You nodded standing up and popping your knees before heading off in that direction. Meanwhile, Tommy grabbed some lilacs and began stringing those together, his tongue poked out from his bottom lip as he gave his full concentration to the task in front of him. Ranboo watched curiously ears flicking every time Tommy let out a mumble, you came back and dumped the flowers beside him. He grunted out thanks making the final knot in the crown, “Done!” He declared looking over at Ranboo, he flushed a little under Tommy’s gaze.

“Didn’t mean to stare.” Tommy huffed holding out the crown to the halfling, he pointed at himself and Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Take it. If you don’t want it I’ll just give it to (Y/n)-”

“I want it!” Ranboo reached out to snatch the crown from Tommy, he placed it gently on his head mindful of the horns. Tommy’s eyes widened and he flushed red, he quickly turned back to the pile of flowers. “Teach us how to make them,” Ranboo offered to try to ease the awkward tension. Tommy huffed but nodded, a smile spread across your lips,

“Teach us your ways oh wise one.” You teased picking up the daisy’s spinning the stem between your fingers.

“Yeah! I am wise! Call me master innit!”

“I’d rather choke,”

“Fuck you!”

You snicked as Tommy punched you hard in the shoulder, you doubled over falling into the flowers. Tommy growled pulling you up by the shirt, “Pay attention bitch! I’m only telling you this once!” Sitting back up you nodded and followed his instructions carefully, he ended up taking the daisies and you the tulips. Ranboo grabbed the bluebells reaching over Tubbo to follow Tommy’s instructions as well, by the end Tommy’s was pristine. The one you made was decent but Ranboo’s looked worse for wear considering he was trying to put it together with claws. He put the crown on top of a snoozing Tubbo, he was proud of his work nonetheless, his husband smiled tiredly nuzzling against his chest. You on the other hand placed the tulip crown you made atop of Tommy’s blonde hair, he flushed and rolled his eyes. He brushed his fingers over the daisies and placed them on top of your head, you looked up at the crown and smiled warmly.

“Thank’s Big T,” you hummed falling back into the flowers and Tommy joined you in laying down. Both your fingers interlocked and Ranboo shuffled to the ground as well, although he didn’t reach out to take Tommy’s hand, Tommy reached out to take Tubbo’s. The four of you stayed in that field until your walkie-talkie screeched cutting through the quiet atmosphere, it was the gruff voice of Sapnap’s. One of your fathers

“Earth to (Y/n), come in (y/n). Your dad wants you here for dinner, George is joining us tonight. I grilled!”

“Ugh. Buzzkill,” Tommy sneered kicking the dirt with his barefoot. You shushed him and pressed the button in to speak,

“Yeah papa, I’ll make my way back soon. Give papa a big kiss for me and if you see Quackirty tell him hello!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Karl come here honey~” You snickered as Tommy gagged, you heard your dad meow before your walkie cut off then and you sat up. You stretched your arms above your head and popped your arms into place, you kissed your teeth hopping to your feet.

“I gotta head back unless I want dad to beat my ass. Thank you for today boys and Tommy thank you for sharing your place with us. I’m glad we were trusted with this special secret.” You winked wiggling your toes in the long grass, “we should do this again yeah?”

“Yeah!” Ranboo agreed as Tubbo gave a sleepy thumbs up, your smile only widened. Tommy nodded giving a thumbs-up as well, he watched you head off to collect your boots and head back home. Head to a family, a family who cares about your wellbeing, or if you’re staying out too late. Hell, even who cared about who you were hanging out with, Tommy couldn’t help but wonder what that was like, he didn’t think he’d be very good at listening to any parental figures. He didn’t have that, he would never have that, he looked at your retreating figure, then back over at Tubbo and Ranboo. They both were half asleep and he couldn’t help but glance at the golden rings on each one of their fingers.

He missed so much since he’s been gone.

But maybe all wasn’t bad, he touched the tulips on his head, thinking for a moment.

Maybe he didn’t need a normal family with a mom and a dad, or two dads or moms, he had a family right here. He brought his hand to the scarf on his neck and squeezed it in his fist, who needed that shit when he had everyone he loved in this field with him today.

For once in his life, Tommy was happy.

[illnessandinjury]

Okay so how about a thing where everything g goes to shit. Maybe Enoch and Elliot are out camping for a weekend (fall is the perfect time for camping) and they're telling ghost stories and stuff and eating the food they brought. But they didn't store something right, and it's gone off. Only one of them end up eating that though. Or maybe they picked something up just before leaving who knows. Anyways, they're hiking and the sick one has to stop and throw up/is really dizzy and stuff like that.P1

PART 2 And the not sick one hears them being sick, and runs toward them only to get badly injured somehow [there was a hole and their foot got caught and broke their leg/a camouflaged bear trap was set and he tripped it/sprained his ankle really badly on a root/anything in that vein that would make him have to be carried] so the sick brother ends up having to carry the injured one, stopping periodically to get sick. And it's just a ~Bad Time~

Omg, first of all, I love this prompt SO MUCH. Thank you for sending it in, and thank you for giving me a chance to torture my babies!

                 Elliot has begged, and begged, and begged, and begged his brother to go camping withhim. He used literally every excuse in the book, “It’s for my botany homework,”“The changing leaves make the perfect camping scenery,” and even, “You need toget out of the house for once.” Enoch tried to get his brother to understandthat he didn’t go outside because outside didn’t have internet, and withoutinternet he couldn’t do his job, get paid, and pay the bills – but of course,Elliot wasn’t having any of it.

                 Onday five of his twin brother’s nagging, Enoch finally broke down and agreed togo camping – but only for one night. They hadn’t gone in years, not since theirfather sent them away to summer camp (and forgot to pick them up when it wasover); and even then, Enoch really didn’t ever remember it as being “fun”, buthey, whatever made Elliot happy.

                 Andoh boy, was “happy” and understatement. After everything was packed up, andthey had left the car and started venturing into the woods, Elliot’s face litup. Every tree, plant, and shrub they came across, Elliot would inform theother of the name, if you could eat it, and its origin. Enoch would neverremember anything Elliot was telling him, but he didn’t have the heart to tellhim that – it was enough for him just to see Elliot so happy; which, if he wasbeing honest, wasn’t that often.

                 Afterwhat seemed like hours of hiking, and at least 20+ mosquito bites, the brothersbroke out of the dense woods and into a small, circular clearing. Enochimmediately threw down his heavy backpack, laid down in the soft grass, and letout a long sigh. When you sit in a computer chair all day and night, itshouldn’t be a surprise that trudging through the woods would be strenuous.

                 Elliot,on the other hand, didn’t even pause and began to set up the tent. Not once didElliot’s smile fall from his face, and that alone paid back what Enoch gave upto come out here.

                 “Ta-da!”Elliot yelled out, grinning ear to ear, and posing in front of the built tentwith his arms outstretched, “Welcome to Camp E!”

                 Enochsat up, chuckling, “Camp ‘E’?”

                 “Wellboth of our names start with an ‘E’ so it fits.”

                 “Alright,you got it. Camp E it is.”

                 Thefirst day in Camp E went off without a hitch. The brothers set up their firering, went out and found a stream play around in, and even saw a couple ofwhite-tailed deer. When the sun went down, the boys found out that the woodsdidn’t exactly have street lights, so they retired back to their campsite andlit their fire.

                 “Alright,chef, what’s for dinner?” Enoch washed his hands with water from their canteen,rinsing away all the dirt and grime from their day’s activities.

                 “Wellwe’re only staying for this night, so I only brought us each one meal.” Elliotopens his backpack and pulls out two cans, “Hopefully chicken and rice soundsokay to you.”

                 Enoch’srelationship with food was not a difficult one. You set food in front of him,and he’ll eat it. As a kid, he learned not to take food for granted. When itwas given to him, he’d better eat it because that could be the last time hewould get food for days. Despite having the same past, Elliot was alwayspickier, and barely ate much anyway, so he was the one that did all the groceryshopping; Enoch didn’t want to risk buying something his brother wouldn’t eat.

                 Elliotopened the cans and was preparing to cook them over the fire, when he stoppedand his eyes fixated on something, “Uh… Maybe we should just share one can.”  

                 “Don’ttell me you’re worried about the calorie count.” Enoch rolled his eyes, “Do youknow how many we burned today? There’s no way I’m only eating half of aportion.”

                 “No,calories aren’t the problem…” Elliot explained, “This one says it expired acouple months ago.”

                 Enochlet out a laugh, “As if. Canned goods last forever.”

                 “Idon’t know, Enoch…”

                 “Look,if you’re worried about it, I’ll eat that one.”

                 Ellioteither didn’t want to argue, or he thought that was a fair compromise, as hestarted to cook the cans over the fire. They both scarfed down their food, and made s’mores for dessert. For thenext hour or so, the brother’s sat there, the fire casting warm, dancing lightacross their faces, and told each other ghost stories. When Enoch saw thatElliot was thoroughly spooked, he called it quits, and they headed to bed. Assoon as his head hit the pillow, Elliot was gently snoring. Enoch thought thatthe forest would be quieter than their loft apartment, considering it was rightabove a main street in town, but the sounds of all the bugs screaming, and theanimals skittering around in the fallen leaves, almost made him crazy. But, theevents of the day caught up with him, and his heavy lids couldn’t stay open anylonger.

                 “Gooooooodmorning!”

                 Thesound of shouting startled Enoch out of his sleep, his body bolting up right,looking for danger. Instead, he found his brother holding the tent door openand looking in with a bright smile, that even rivaled the brightness of the sunshining behind him, “’Morning.”

                 “Sincewe’re going home today, I thought maybe we could take the long way back to thecar. Apparently there’s a small waterfall if we keep following the streamnorth.”

                 Howcould he say no? “Sure, sounds good.”

                 You’dthink Elliot won gold medal in an Olympic sport with the way his face lit up.

                 Themorning started off rather slow. They tore down the tent, and made sure thefire was securely out, and without hot embers. With everything taken care of,the brother’s started on the trail.

                 Awhile passed by, and a cold sweat started to break out all over Enoch.Something wasn’t quite right with him, that much was sure. The water he haddrank from the canteen this morning was sloshing uncomfortably around in hisaching stomach, and despite his sweating, he felt extremely chilly, to the pointof being wracked with a violent shiver every couple minutes. He cleared his throat,“Hey, how long did you say this hike was going to be?”

                 “Mmmm,”Elliot paused in thought, “Maybe about three hours in total?”

                 Enochhad to suppress a groan. Oh well, he’d gone through worse. Compared to some ofthe shit that they both went through as kids, hiking with an upset stomach wasa walk in the park.

                 Itdidn’t take more than an hour for Enoch to realize that: Nope. He was wrong. Hewas going to die. The ache in his stomach, had now developed into a full on,gut-wrenching pain – sharp and twisting. His shirt was sticking to his backwith sweat, and every so often, an acidic burp would burn its way up histhroat.

                 “-och?Enoch!”

                 “Wha-What?”Enoch’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting with his brother’s.

                 “Youhaven’t been listening to me, have you?”        

                 Wait.Was he angry? “Sorry, I was taking in all the… nature, and shit.”

                 “Sureyou were.” Elliot picked up his pace, and began walking quite a bit ahead ofEnoch.

                 Enochthrew up his arms in agitation – what the hell did he do? Enoch kept his eye onhis brother, but let him throw his fit of dependence.

                 God,when did the sun get so hot? It was the beginning of November; it should bechilly at least. Enoch’s breathing was hard and labored, coming out in hot,short bursts. Enoch checked the temperature on his phone, and it read 43° F. Then the brightwords on his screen blurred together, and he stumbled into a tree. He grippedonto it, using it as support to hold himself up as he tried to make sensethrough his muddled vision. His head was spinning, like he was on a boat, likewaves were moving him up and down, and up and down, and up-

                 Enoch slapped a hand over hismouth as he gagged loudly. The dizziness didn’t let up, and his shouldershunched up again with another gag. A wave of hot, acidic liquid spilled outbetween his fingers and splashed on the dead leaves below him. Enoch moved hissoiled hand out of the way for the next batch of vomit that quickly followed thelast. Despite the uncomfortable warmth he was feeling earlier, he wasuncontrollably shivering now.

                 “Enoch!”

                 The sound of his brotheryelling his name ripped him out of the hell he was currently experiencing.Enoch wiped the vomit from his mouth and his hand, and called out to hisbrother with a raspy voice, “I’m coming!”

                 “Are you oka- AGH!” Elliot’sworrying voice was cut off with a sharp scream of agony. Enoch’s heart fell outof his chest and landed in the puddle of vomit beneath him.

                 “Elliot?” Instead of ananswer, he was just met with another pained scream. Enoch took off running inthe direction of the sound he thought and hoped he’d never have to experiencein his life ever again, “Elliot!”

                 Finally, Enoch found hisbrother, crying and clutching his leg in pain, “What the hell hap-“, but thenhe saw it. The metal, and the blood. Sharp, silver edges of a bear trap hadbitten through his brother’s jeans and straight into the skin, “Oh, fuck, okay…okay. We’re going to have to get this off of you.” Enoch gingerly laid hishands on the trap to get a good look at it, but just the light movement wasenough to cause Elliot to let out another scream.

                 “Fuck, I’m sorry!” Enoch tookin a deep breath, trying to quell the queasiness that was still washing overhim from earlier, “Look, this is going to hurt, but as soon as it’s done we’llget you to a hospital and get you some great painkillers, a-alright?” Elliotwaited a second before giving a brief nod, “Okay, then… let’s do this.”

                 Enoch’s hands were shaking sobad, but he was able to get a firm hold on the trap to see what’s going on. Thetrap was imbedded in the middle of his calf, with his foot on the flat pan ofthe trap. Alright, he could do this.

                 “Elliot,” he looked at hisbrother’s tear filled eyed, “listen. I’m going to push down on these springs oneach side of the trap. When I do that, it’s going to loosen the jaws, and I’mgoing to need you to pull your leg out, okay? Can you do that?”

                 “Y-yeah.” The sound ofElliot’s pain filled whines broke Enoch’s heart. This is exactly the kind ofshit he wanted never wanted to hear again, not after… “Okay, on the count ofthree. One… Two… Three!”

                 Enoch pushed down on the metalsprings on each side of the trap, using his full strength and bodyweight. Theteeth of the trap slowly dragged themselves out of Elliot’s flesh, letting himpull his leg up and out of the metal contraption. Then, with the blink of aneye, Enoch let go and the trap slammed closed.

                 Elliot was laying on theforest floor, writhing in pain and gripping his leg. Blood had now coated hisentire pant leg, and was starting to color the fall leaves even more red. Lookingdown, Enoch saw that his hands were also covered with his brother’s blood. OhGod. Enoch stood up on weak legs, and ran to a bush just in time for anotherwave of vomit to spill out of his stomach. Enoch sloppily tried to wipe the bloodoff of his hands and onto his jeans.

                 “E-Enoch?”

                 He snapped his head back tolook at his brother. Elliot was trying to painfully drag himself on the groundtowards him, “Oh, Elliot, no,” Enoch wiped his mouth, and walked back to himbrother, “Don’t try to move.”

                 “Are you okay?” Elliot asked.

                 At first, Enoch just laughed,but then he realized Elliot was asking seriously, so he stopped. It was justlike his brother to worry about him when he was the one bleeding all over theforest floor. “Yes, Elliot, I’m fine.” Elliot tried to speak up, probably tocall his bluff, but Enoch didn’t let him have the time, “Here, get on my back,I’ll carry you to the car.”

                 “That’s almost two hoursaway!”

                 “Then we better hurry. Butfirst,” Enoch crudely ripped up his jacket and tied it around his brother’s legto staunch the blood flow, “Alright, let’s go.”

                 Enochwas pretty sure he was going to die. The sun was exactly on top of them, butthat wasn’t stopping his body from shivering. He felt absolutely terrible, andthe extra weight of his brother was just wearing him out faster and faster.Enoch was pretty sure he could feel a sticky liquid seeping into his pants legwhere Elliot’s injured leg was tapping his – but he just told himself that itwas sweat or something.

                 Elliot’shand reached around and slipped under Enoch’s shaggy bangs, starling him out ofhis thoughts, “Enoch… You have a pretty nasty fever.”

                 “It’sfine.”

                 “Andyou keep swaying and tripping.”

                 “There’sa bunch of roots and rocks.”

                 “Andyou’re really pale.”

                 “Well-”Enoch’s retort was cut off by a strong wave of vertigo that almost knocked himover. He roughly staggered over to a tree and held onto it’s rough bark for hislife. His vision was swimming, and his knees were buckling.

                 “-och?Enoch!” Elliot was screaming in Enoch’s ear, “Are you okay?”

                 Enochdidn’t trust himself to open his mouth to answer. He calmly sat his brother onthe ground, and stumbled away. His hands fell onto his knees and he hunchedover, gagging unproductively. Bitter tasting saliva that was pooling in hismouth splashed into the dirt and leaves below him. He felt so unbelievablysick. His shoulder’s hunched up to his ears and he vomited a small stream ofacidic smelling bile.

                 Elliotwas still yelling after him, worry clear in his voice. Enoch used his shirt towipe the sweat and vomit from his face.

                 “I-I’mfine.” Enoch walked back over to his brother, “It’s fine.”

                 “Noyou’re not, you look awful-“

                 “Comeon, it’s fine.” Enoch shook his head, “We’ve got an hour left to get to thecar, so we better hurry.”

                 Elliotlet his brother pick him back up and start carrying him back to forest exit, “Itold you not to eat that canned chicken and rice.”

                 Enochlet out a stained chuckle, “Yeah, maybe I should listen to you every once and awhile.”

                 “Foodpoisoning can be dangerous. When you drop me off at the hospital, you should goin and get checked too – at least to get an IV. You’re probably dehydrated.”

                 “Yeah,yeah, yeah,” Enoch shook his head. He knew that Elliot knew that Enoch wouldn’tbe able to go into a hospital, not with his record. It was way too risky,“Maybe.”