#but yeah no the pretend boyfriends fic has to wait bc that actually happens DURING the offseason

[27emailsicantsend]

Ok so I read ur muffy second kiss fic thing and I got an idea but I suck at writing so I thought I’d ask you to write it lol but like the idea is that Marty is always trying to be the brave one bc that’s his way of showing Buffy that it’s ok to be emotional but one day Marty has a bad day and it’s Buffy’s turn to be the comforter (this idea might suck oop)

Marty’s Loss: A Muffy One Shot

“Yeah, ok, thanks for letting me know,” Marty said as he hung up the phone. He turned around to see all of his friends laughing and having a good time. They had decided to go bowling again, but it was starting to feel the bowling alley was jinxed. He watched as the rest of the world faded around him and his friends seemed to be in slow motion.

Andi was making jokes, smiling wide as she watched Cyrus roll the ball granny-style down the lane. TJ playfully smacked Andi’s arm with the back of his hand telling her to “cut it out”. Jonah was sitting opposite them, talking to Amber. They were having a light-hearted conversation. And then there was Buffy. She was so relaxed. Her black curls bouncing as she held herself laughing with Andi, TJ, Cyrus.

Buffy was so real and raw. Marty couldn’t believe they had already been dating almost a month. Ever since she admitted she liked him, she became more available emotionally. She was never really bad at this, however. She was honest when she rejected Marty (Marty shuddered as he pushed this thought away), bold when it came to standing up for her friends, straightforward with liking Marty, and he’d even seen her get teary eyed when she was afraid he rejected her.

All he did was joke with her or get serious, but never really spoke about what upset him. Even when he was rejected (shudder), he just pushed her away and moved on quickly to Rachel. Which he now acknowledged was an extremely bad idea.

Rachel was here last time and made the bowling alley an extremely uncomfortable place for him to visit due to the bad memories. He agreed to come though, in hopes that his bad memories would be replaced with new ones. They were new memories, just not new good ones, after this phone call.

He continued to watch from a distance when suddenly he saw Buffy smile at him and wave him over. He smiled and walked up to her. She placed her hand on his arm and quietly asked, “hey, everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. Whose turn is it?” Marty said quickly, faking a smile, hoping to brush past having to talk.

The kids understood he wanted a change in subject and Cyrus said, “yours!”

Marty looked up at the score board. He and Buffy were about tied (since it was obviously a competition), TJ was in second, and Amber was doing surprisingly really well. It’s not that he didn’t think Amber would be good at bowling... well, actually it was. She seemed a little preppy for his taste and Rachel was too. Rachel wasn’t good at bowling because “germs” and not the right color of bowling ball, so Marty was surprised Amber was taking to it so naturally and easily. He liked this side of her, she showed progress, unlike his ex.

Marty bowled a strike with no hesitation. He walked off the platform as Buffy walked on for her turn, saying competitively, “Weak. I’ll do better”.

Marty tried to be flirty, but he knew that his comeback had a layer of sadness in his voice. “Nice try, Driscoll”.

The gang continued to bowl a couple more turns for each person. Even in one game of bowling, with this many people playing it took forever. They should have split the amount of people into two teams to make it quicker, but they all wanted to be on the same game, so it took a lot longer. Because of the time, Marty started to get pretty hungry. He walked up to the food counter and ordered some taco tots, Buffy’s favorite.

While he waited for the food, he heard a voice next to him, “one order of taco tots, please”.

Buffy.

“Hey, Driscoll, couldn’t stand to see my score so you had to walk away?”

“Wasn’t that what you were doing?” Buffy said with a polite grin.

They stood in silence for a second and Buffy turned to look at him again. “Marty, are you sure you’re ok? You’ve been really quiet since that phone call. I can tell something is up”.

“Buffy, I promise, I’m fine. Let’s just enjoy this time with your friends, ok?”

Buffy bit her lip, contemplating. She nodded and said, “ok” quietly.

Both orders of taco tots were set on the counter and they both walked back together in an awkward silence.

Marty continued to watch and smile, trying not to seem too obvious he was sad. He noticed Buffy look over at him a few times and even thought he heard Andi and Cyrus discussing him and Buffy having relationship problems at one point. They hadn’t had any relationship problems so far and Marty didn’t consider this one at all. He was just sad and needed space and he wished his friends respected that a little more.

The game was finally starting to come to a close and so he thought everyone was going to be done. They all wanted to play another game, however.

Marty pretended to check his phone and said his mom needed him home, but that they should all stay. He walked outside and around the corner of the building where no one could see him. He slid to the ground, pulled his knees to his chest, holding them with his arm, and then buried his head into his knees. He began to cry. A lot.

He sobbed and sobbed. It was a quiet alley way, thankfully. The bowling alley was far from a lot of people and he was hidden behind a dumpster.

He couldn’t stop crying.

He didn’t really have thoughts except for how sad he was and wondering how this could happen to him.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He panicked, thinking it might be an employee and that he wasn’t supposed to be there. He wiped the tears off of his face quickly with his sleeve and stood up. The moment he stood up he came face to face with Buffy.

She looked at him tenderly and then wrapped her arms behind his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and began to cry again. He sobbed into her shoulder. He didn’t feel embarrassed at all by this, surprisingly.

He was scared to be emotional in front of her because she already carried so much of that weight on her own. She dealt with so much. School, friends, Andi leaving, coaching... he just wanted to root her on and be a good boyfriend. He was afraid if he was too dramatic it might chase her away. That she couldn’t handle him being sad, because she already had too many emotions of her own and with her friends she had to deal with.

But this felt different. He felt a unique comfort in her embrace. One that said she wasn’t going anywhere- figuratively and literally. She continued to hold him until his crying slowed. When it started to slow down, he pulled away, their arms still locked in their same positions however.

Buffy gave him a small smile that seemed to say, “I’m here. I understand. You don’t have to talk, but if you want to. I’m here”.

Marty smiled at her and said, “thanks”.

She gave a polite chuckle and said, “anytime”.

Marty loved that about Buffy. She knew what to do and what to say. She knew her limits with him. He felt comfortable opening up to her. He had to at some point. He sat back down against the wall, extending his legs. He looked up at Buffy and patted the ground next to him, furthest from the dumpster.

Buffy slid down next to him, this time her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She laid her head down on her knees, looking at him with sincerity.

Marty let out a small breath through his nose and looked ahead of him as he spoke. He knew that if he looked at Buffy, he wasn’t going to be able to keep his emotions in tact.

“My mom called. My grandma has been in the hospital the last two weeks. She finally passed”.

Buffy could have said something during the silence, but didn’t. Instead, she just kept listening.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without her, Buff. I mean, I knew it was getting close, but I spent almost every weekend growing up at her house. Since my dad isn’t around anymore, she helped my mom to raise my sister and me”. Marty giggled. “She used to have a cookie jar. It had the same cookies in it my whole life, but my sister and I would fight over them every time we got there. We would race into the house. I remember grammy saying, ‘if you wanted the cookies so bad, you should have gone to the store and gotten them yourself, instead of running like heathens through the house’. Sometimes it had more colorful language than that, but you get the gist”.

Marty’s face dropped again. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Buff. I am going to miss her so much. My grandpa is gone too, so now we have to clean the house, go through their belongings, my mom is going to have to do the work... on her.. own..” His voice began to trail as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Why did this have to happen?” He asked, rhetorically.

Buffy finally answered. She didn’t have to, but it helped. “I don’t know, Marty. I don’t know why these things happen,” she said as she scooted close to Marty, wrapping an arm around him. “But, what I do know, is that I’m here for you. We are all here for you. You don’t have to fight your battles alone. In fact, remember when we first started talking again?”

Marty began to chuckle, “yeah and I wouldn’t stop blowing up your phone? I had it so bad”. His face began to turn red.

Buffy laughed with him, “yes, you were pretty smitten, but I don’t blame you because I’m pretty awesome”. Marty rolled his eyes, grinning. “Anyway, that day I kept telling you I was busy because I was at Cyrus’ grandma’s Shivah. It’s a long celebration or ceremony they do in memory of someone who has died. It was a beautiful event and I think it really helped people to mourn the loss. What I learned the most from it, though, was that it was ok to talk about your feelings and to remember those people for who they were. It’s ok to be sad, but also don’t be afraid to remember her either. She would have wanted that from you, I know it. I also know she loves you very, very much and is so proud of who you are today. I couldn’t be more proud”.

Buffy learned over and kissed him on the cheek. Marty smiled at her, as a way to thank her.

“I appreciate you telling me that, really. I needed to hear it. I don’t think too many people will see this emotion out of me, though. That’s not really who I am and it’s why I kept so quiet today- sorry about that, by the way. Thanks for listening to me, Buffy”.

“You’re welcome. I can see how hard this must be for you and I appreciate you being vulnerable. Don’t worry, I’ll keep this between us until you’re ready. You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone”.

Marty knew that was true, and he knew she wasn’t going to run in and tell everyone what she just talked to him about. She was the only person who seemed to understand what it was like not to want to cry in front of everyone, because she didn’t do it often either. She was the only person who gets that.

[ukulelewrites]

Veritaserum

A/N: my first nct dream fic!!!! this has been in the works for 5 months now bc i kept getting sidetracked with other fics and miscellaneous personal affairs but here it is~~~ i hope y’all enjoy!

Pairing: NCT Dream’s Jaemin x Reader

Genre: Fluff/Slytherin!Reader x Hufflepuff!Jaemin AU

Word Count: 5.4k 

Veritaserum:  "Three drops of this and even You-Know-Who himself would spill out his darkest secrets."

Don’t you ever feel like the universe ever just looked down on you and went, “fuck you, Y/N?” This was definitely one of those days.

See, you were mindlessly walking back to the Greenhouses since you had to ask Professor Sprouts an extremely pressing question regarding the cultivation of peaches for a certain potion you were concocting. Simple stuff really, no way you’d get harm doing something as simple as walking, right? Wrong, 100% completely wrong. Just as you turn the corner of the corridor leading to the Greenhouses, a sudden force comes barreling right into you, knocking you off of your feet and falling backwards onto the floor. The last thing you saw before screwing your eyes shut was a blur of peachy hair. Your back comes upon impact with the floor, and you could feel the weight of your barreller on top of you. However, your mind comes to a rushing halt when you realized that there was also something brushing against your lips very softly before the feeling is gone. Your eyes snap open when you hear a murmured apology, and all you could catch of your first-kiss-stealer’s appearance was his peach-colored hair and his yellow & black robes flowing behind him.

“What happened to you?” your best friend, Donghyuck asks when he spies you storming through the Great Hall’s doors and towards the Slytherin table. The moment you sat down, you slam your head down on the dining table and let out an obnoxious groan, earning a handful of curious glances from your peers. “Okay, Y/N, what crawled up your ass and laid its eggs?” Donghyuck doesn’t even look up from his mashed potatoes when he asks, already used to your dramatics. You give him a grunt in reply. “I swear, Y/N, with your dramatic ass, I’m surprised the Sorting Hat didn’t drop you in Gryffindor,” he says with an eye roll.

“That’s not a nice thing to say about us Gryffindors,” Mark pouts, arriving at the table just to check on you. Unfortunately for Donghyuck, he caught the Slytherin boy’s remark.

“Just look at them!” Donghyuck scoffs, waving his fork in your general direction.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Mark asks. His brows furrow in concern. You lift your head from the table and gave the upperclassman a pout. Donghyuck just scoffs.

“Don’t give my boyfriend that face,” he huffs. You stick your tongue out at the brunet.

“I lo...ss...day,” you mutter.

“What’d you say?” Mark asks, leaning in closer. Donghyuck does too.

“I los...my...irst...ss...day…” you say again, this time just a decibel louder.

“Yah, Y/N, how can you expect us to comfort you if we can’t even hear what you’re saying,” Donghyuck snaps. Mark hits his shoulder and sends him a warning glare.

“I LOST MY FIRST KISS TODAY!” you yell, causing the entirety of the Great Hall to snap their head towards you. “Great,” you mumble, trying very hard to sink yourself further into the bench, “just great.”

“Who would kiss you?” Donghyuck snorts, earning another hit from his boyfriend. “Fine, who kissed you?” Right when he asks, a certain peach-haired boy walks into the Great Hall; this time, however, his hair is much more mussed up, dirt and grass stains his shirt and cheeks, and the yellow and black robe was no longer draping his body but carelessly thrown over his shoulder. You freeze up once your eyes land on him. Your two friends quip their eyebrows at your odd behaviour before following your line of vision.

“Wait, hold up,” Mark starts, “are you telling me—”

“Na Jaemin claimed your virgin lips?” Donghyuck hisses. You quickly lunge forward and cover your best friend’s big fat mouth with your hand.

“Shush it!” you snap, your voice barely above a whisper. “He might hear you!”

“I can’t believe you let the biggest flirt in the entire school kiss you?” Mark questions, “Like, Y/N, our beloved cynical snake, let the smiliest, flirtiest boy kiss them? And it was their first kiss too?” The poor Gryffindor sits down for a second to process the overwhelming information. “Wow, that’s actually wild,” he utters.

“It wasn’t like I purposefully let him kiss me,” you mutter, suddenly becoming way more interested in your soup.

“Are you trying to tell me he accidentally kissed you?” Donghyuck teases, but at the notice of your miniscule nod, his eyes widen. “Oh shit, how’d that happen?”

“Muffliato,” you mutter, waving your wand under the table. Once you ensure none of your fellow housemates were eavesdropping, you retell to Mark and Donghyuck exactly how a certain peach-haired Hufflepuff stole your virgin lips.

“Think he knows what he did?” Mark asks. You look over to the Hufflepuff table. Jaemin has the sleeve of his dress shirt rolled up and his tie loose; he was currently in the middle of recounting some anecdote from Quidditch practice to the flock of yellow & black-robed girls situated around him.

“I doubt it,” you snort, “It doesn’t matter anyway; it’s just a kiss.”

“You’re a filthy liar, Y/N L/N,” you curse under your breath. Ever since the incident, you have been spying that cursed, albeit beautiful, boy much more often. Like, you knew you share classes with him, but now you find your eyes wandering towards his direction during Herbology and Charms and Potions.

“Y/N L/N?” Professor Flitwick’s voice breaks through your reverie, “May you go ahead and demonstrate the proper motion for Aguamenti? It seems that a certain group,” he sends a pointed look towards Jaemin and his friends, the party looking significantly singed, “seemed to have forgotten what we had learned in our previous lesson.”

“Of course, Professor.” You get out of your seat and stand in the center of the room. Your eyes flicker across the room for a second, briefly making eye contact with Jaemin before focusing back to the wand in your hand. You will your face to stop getting so hot after realizing exactly how intently the peach-haired Hufflepuff was staring at you. “Aguamenti,” you state, moving your wand in a fluid motion, mimicking the movement of the waves. A gentle stream of water spurts from the tip of your wand and into the potted plant placed on Professor Flitwick’s desk. The class gives you a polite round of applause, and Professor Flitwick beams at you.

“My pansies are quite happy they’ve finally been watered,” he jests, “10 points to Slytherin for Y/N’s excellence in the Augamenti charm!” His eyes then flicker back to the Hufflepuffs’ side of the classroom. “And I advise you,” he says looking pointedly at Jaemin, “to follow Y/N’s example the next time I ask you all to demonstrate the charm. Class is dismissed!” You gather your books and parchment into your bag and catch up with Donghyuck at the door.

“I think your 10 points just put us in the lead for the House Cup,” your best friend cheers as the two of you made way towards the Quidditch field; he sits on the bleachers and works on homework while you whiz around on your Nimbus 2001 and run drills with the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team. “Now just continue being the giant ass nerd you are, and we might finally kick Gryffindor off of their 3-year win streak.”

“I thought you told Mark you weren’t salty about them winning last year?” you ask, turning towards your friend and quirking a brow.

“Sometimes, little white lies won’t hurt the relationship. It’ll only preserve it,” he says sagely, “Plus, you’re always complaining about how they win everything, so don’t pretend you’re not plotting to steal the House Cup away from them this year.”

“Well-”

“Y/N!” a voice rings out from behind you, promptly interrupting your sentence. You whip your head around to see Jaemin running up towards you, his yellow and black robe billowing behind him. Immediately you tense up.

“Hi, Jaemin,” Donghyuck greets. The Hufflepuff gives him a nod of acknowledgement before turning towards you.

“Can I ask you something?” he asks you.

“You kinda just did,” Donghyuck interjects again. You glare at him, and he simply raises his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, I’ll leave. See you at the field, Y/N.”

“What’s up, Jaemin?” you ask, trying to play it at cool as possible.

“Um, well,” he dips his head, and you’re faced with a mop of peachy hair. When he looks up at you, his face is adorned with a boyish, shy smile. Jaemin rubs at the back of his neck before he asks you, “Can you help me with Charms?” You’re taken aback by his question. Mainly because you were surprised it wasn’t about the accidental kiss the two of you had shared. He must’ve sensed your hesitancy because he immediately spoke up. “I know we aren’t close, but you’re the best in our N.E.W.T level class, and I’ve been struggling a lot with the technical side of it. I figured you would be able to help me?” he pleads.

“I guess I can?” you reply, “I can’t today since I have Quidditch practice, but I’m free after dinner to help you.”

“Really?” he beams, “That’s awesome, Y/N. Thank you so much!” Jaemin’s smile catches you off guard because you never thought any guy with pink hair could look that beautiful. “I’ll meet up with you after dinner!”

“Watch out, L/N!” your team captain, Yuta, shouts from above you. However, his warning was absolutely useless when a Bludger comes barreling into you and knocks you to the left. The Quaffle you had in your hand went falling towards the ground. “Time out!” Yuta bellows, and the entire team flies back towards the ground.

“You alright, Y/N?” Hyunjin, a fellow Chaser, asks once everyone reached the ground.

“Yeah, sorry for being distracted,” you apologize, “I just had something on my mind.”

“Well get your head in the game, L/N,” Yuta barks, “We have a game this Saturday against Hufflepuff, and they’ve actually been good this year. I’m not about to lose our Quidditch Cup streak to them.”

“Got it,  Captain,” you reply, mounting your broom and heading back up.

“God, that looks like it hurts,” Donghyuck mutters as he peers at the blotch of red that mars your right arm.

“It’s definitely going to leave a bruise,” Yuta chimes in as he plops himself down across the table from  you. “Now, Y/N, I have some ideas for drills next week and-” Your captain stops talking to glare behind your head. “What do you want?”

You quirk a brow at Yuta, and he juts his chin forward in response. You turn around and find yourself greeted by the yellow and black tie of a certain Hufflepuff.

“Uh, I just wanted to see if you were still down with meeting up after dinner?” Jaemin asks, trying not to waver under your captain’s glower.

“Yeah, there’s an empty classroom we could use on the 2nd floor. Just meet me there,” you reply.

“Awesome! I’ll see you later then!”

The moment Jaemin settles back down at the Hufflepuff table, Yuta kicks your leg from under the table.

“What’s that for?” you snap, already fed up with the number of bruises accumulating on your body.

“I can’t believe you’re flirting with Hufflepuff’s Seeker! Right in front of my salad too!” Yuta exclaims, exaggeratedly gesturing towards his plate.

“We weren’t flirting,” you reply, “I’m just helping him with Charms.”

“But if you don’t help him with Charms, he’ll fail and won’t be able to play in the upcoming match!”

“Guaranteed win for Slytherin,” Donghyuck chimes in with his mouth full of cake.

“And this is why we’re considered the ‘evil’ House,” you mutter, not even sparing your friends a chuckle.

“Fine, but if we lose the game this Saturday, it’s on you.”

“Yeah, yeah, Cap'n, it’s on me.”

“How did you do that?” Jaemin exclaims as he watches water flow out of the tip of your wand.

“It’s the same thing Professor Flitwick has been trying to teach you for the past week though?” you say with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well, yeah, but I don’t really pay attention in that class,” he mutters at the end of his sentence.

“What do you pay attention to then?” you prod.

Jaemin averts their gaze. “I, uh, well, I just watch Yukhei shove copious amounts of Bertie Botts’ Every Flavor Beans in his mouth and pray he doesn’t die of sensory overload,” he pauses to run his excuse over in his head again before nodding, “Yeah, that’s what I do.”

You don’t believe his excuse at all, but you ignore his horrible lying skills and revert your focus back onto the task at hand. “Anyways, the trick to perfecting Augamenti is to make sure your arm motion is fluid. Even if you tense just a bit, the charm won’t work 100% like you want it to,” you explain, demonstrating for him again the motion. He stares in awe at the steady stream of water flowing from your wand and nods in understanding. You train your eyes on Jaemin’s form and pick up his mistake instantly.

“Uh, is something wrong?” he asks, shifting awkwardly under your gaze.

“Here, let me fix something,” you reply before moving towards him. You take his arm and position it just a bit further outwards and nudge his right leg forward a bit with your foot. Once his stance was correct, you take a step back to look over his figure again. “Tsk, you’re still too stiff. Loosen your muscles a bit, Jaemin.” He does as you instruct, but you could only grumble at how off it looks. His shoulders were slightly hunched over, and his arms were too tense. Your eyes drift meticulously over his body and your spirits dampen further when you see his locked knees. Taking matters into your own hands, you place your palms on his shoulders to slightly push them back. You then trail your hands deftly down his arms to loosen them up, trying especially hard not to notice the toned muscles that flex beneath your fingertips. Before you could even think about kneeling down to address the knee problem, Jaemin unlocks his knees. This time you notice the adorable flush dusting his cheeks.

“Well,” you awkwardly coughed, “your stance is right. Try the spell now.”

“Augamenti,” Jaemin says smoothly, producing a stream of water from his wand. “Woah!” he exclaims, “I did it!”

“Looks like my work here is done. Goodnight, Jaemin,” you state, turning around to leave.

“Wait, let me walk you back to your Common Room.”

“You want to come down to the dungeons? Even with curfew starting in 30 minutes?” you ask, quirking a brow at him.

“I can’t just let you walk back by yourself! That’d be rude of me!” he exclaims.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle walking by myself,” you say, trying to ward off the smile threatening to form on your lips.

“Still…”

It didn’t matter how many times you tell him that you were completely capable of walking to your Common Room by yourself, he still trails behind you, chattering away, and pulling laughter from your lips. You were enjoying his company so much that you didn't even notice the two of you already standing before the entrance.

“Morior invictus,” you say. The entrance opens up, revealing the long hallway leading to your Common Room. “Well,” you say, turning back towards the peach-haired boy, “Good night, Jaemin.” You want to smack yourself at how smitten you sound.

“Good night, Y/N. Sweet dreams,” he says softly. You watch as he turns around and runs back the way the two of you came from. His sweet voice still lingers in your ears, making you smile even brighter the more times you replay his words in your head.

“Ugh,” you snap out of your reverie, “He’s not even that cute.” You pause for a second to collect your thoughts before breaking the silence, “Don’t lie to yourself, Y/N. He’s extremely cute. The cutest, smiliest-”

“Who’s extremely cute?” a voice speaks out from your left, causing you to jump back.

“Donghyuck! Don’t scare me like that!” you scold.

“Anyways, who’s extremely cute?” your best friend goads while wearing a shit-eating grin.

“Not you, you toad,” you jest. He sticks his tongue out at you in return, and you just huff and start walking towards the stairway leading to your room.

“Is it a certain cotton candy-haired Hufflepuff?” Donghyuck asks nonchalantly, matching his step with yours.

“It’s actually peach-colored,” you reply absentmindedly. However, you catch your mistake quickly and whirl around to face your best friend with wide eyes. “Wait, actually-”

“Aha! I knew it! You do like Na Jaemin!” he exclaims.

“Donghyuck, please, I swear keep your voice-”

“Mark owes me unlimited butterbeers for a month now! Heck yeah, high five, Y/N, couldn’t have done this without you!” He cheers and holds out his hand for you. However, you could not find it in you to share his joy.

“You can’t tell anybody. Do you understand me?”

“Why not? It’s no fun to keep secrets,” he teases. “Speaking of that, when are you gonna tell the guy?”

“What?” you look at him in horror, “Never!”

“Aw, c’mon, Y/N. He obviously likes you too!”

“You’re shitting me, right?” you deadpan, “He absolutely does not!”

“Why did he ask you to help him with Charms then?”

“Because he’s failing Charms? And I’m the best in the class? Donghyuck, if he was failing Potions, he would’ve definitely asked you.”

“But, he didn’t have to walk you all the way back to the Common Room,” Donghyuck retorts. You don’t reply. “Heh, I gotchu there, didn’t I?” he teases, earning a smack to the head from you.

“I’m going to bed,” you deadpan, “And I’m promptly ignoring you for the rest of the week.”

You rush down the corridors towards the Great Hall while pulling your Quidditch jersey over your head. “God, I can’t believe I slept past my alarm,” you grumble, already dreading the earful you were going to get from Yuta upon your arrival. You barge through the throng of first-year Hufflepuffs and rush towards the Slytherin table, snatching the piece of toast out of Donghyuck’s hand, and plopping down next to him.

“You’re 10 minutes late, Y/N,” Yuta comments.

“Well, Hyunjin isn’t here yet, so I don’t see the problem,” you retort with your mouth full of food. Donghyuck silently hands you a glass of apple juice which you accept gratefully. However, you catch him eying you warily mid-chug, so you place the glass down and send him a questioning look.

“Are you still mad at me?” he asks.

“I’m not mad, just annoyed with you,” you reply, picking up the glass to chug down the rest of your juice. Donghyuck just hums in response, but you notice the mischievous glint in his eye. “What did you do?”

“What?” he feigns innocence, “Nothing! When I have ever caused you any harm?”

“The time in our first year where you turned my morning apple juice into orange juice, the time in our second year where you chucked a Quaffle at my head while I was trying out for the team, the time in our third year where you shoved a-”

“Okay, I get it! But, you know you love me.”

You open your mouth to give him a snarky response, but instead you reply with, “Yeah, I do,” much to your own surprise. “Huh,” you muse outloud, “I guess I’m in a good mood today.” Donghyuck just nods along, and Yuta rolls his eyes at the two of you.

“Finish your food, Y/N. We have a game to win today,” Yuta states before getting up and heading towards the Quidditch pitch.

“Nervous, Y/N?” Hyunjin asks as the two of you mount your brooms.

“Yeah,” you reply, frowning at your honesty. You never show people your nervousness. You’re gnawing away at your lip when you catch Jaemin’s eyes staring at you. You shoot him a small smile, and he beams right back before mouthing the words, “Good luck!” A sudden giddy feeling bubbles away in your stomach, and you could not help as your smile widens. However, you quickly remember you’re about to compete in one of the most important Quidditch games in your life, so you revert your attention back onto Madam Hooch. The moment she threw the Quaffle into the air, you fly towards it and easily gain possession of it before volleying it to Hyunjin, who was already racing towards the goalpost. A Hufflepuff Chaser named Felix tries to intercept your throw but gets knocked back by an expertly hit Bludger.

“Hell yeah!” you cheer when Hyunjin scores the first goal of the match. He sends you a smirk and a nod towards Yuta, who was smugly swinging his bat. Your celebration is cut short when the opposing Goalkeeper chucks the Quaffle back into play; however, you weave your way through the throng of Hufflepuff Chasers, narrowly dodge a Bludger, and catch the ball with ease. Hyunjin prevents any opposing Chasers from stopping your flight, and you score yet another goal for Slytherin. A cheer echoes throughout the pitch. The game continues with both sides scoring until the scores were neck-in-neck; Slytherin was only leading by a 20 point margin. If Jaemin catches the Snitch before Ten, the Slytherin Seeker, did, your team loses the match. You grit your teeth and lean your body forwards, keeping your eyes trained on the Quaffle currently in Felix’s hand. You’re just a hair behind him before you feel something whiz past your ear. Your eyes widen when you realize the Snitch fluttering in front of you. With a quick motion of your hand, Hyunjin assists you in body-checking Felix, allowing your third Chaser to catch the Quaffle and fly back towards your goal post. Hyunjin follows suit to ensure a Slytherin goal, while you pause to look for Jaemin and Ten. Soon enough, the two boys come barrelling through the pitch towards the direction of the Snitch. You curse under your breath when you realize Jaemin has a slight speed advantage over Ten.

“What to do, Y/N?” you mutter before it dawned on you. Slow Jaemin down. You knew Bludgers couldn’t be targeted towards him, and you couldn’t physically slow him down, but a little bit of heckling never hurt anybody. You zero your focus on the peach-haired boy and fly towards him.

“Jaemin!” you call out, not even sure if your plan was going to work. He falters for a second, head perking up at the sound of your voice, allowing Ten to gain an advantage in the pursuit for the Snitch. You could practically see Jaemin kicking himself over his rookie mistake and refocusing his energy on the Snitch, but you are persistent. “You know, you wouldn’t have lost the Snitch if you just brushed your perfect hair out of your eyes,” you taunt. However, horror dawns on you at the realization of your words. What the hell did you just say?

“Wait, what did you just say?” Jaemin throws back, but his attention doesn’t waver.

“I said your hair was perfect just like the rest of you!” What the hell are you saying? You couldn’t stop your cheeks from heating up, and you had absolutely zero clue why you couldn’t stop your mouth from saying the dumbest things.

“You think I’m perfect?” he asks, slowing down just a little bit. You don’t know how to respond, but your mouth moves before your brain could stop it.

“Yes.” With those words, you mentally kick yourself and fly back towards the Chaser action happening above you, arriving just in time for Hyunjin to throw you the Quaffle. You push back the odd interaction with Jaemin to the back of your head and throw the ball through the goalpost, earning another 10 points for Slytherin.

Suddenly, Madam Hooch’s whistle rings through the stadium, and you hear the Quidditch announcer, a seventh year Ravenclaw named Doyoung, call out, “And Ten claims the Golden Snitch, earning 150 points for Slytherin! With a game of 210-50, Slytherin wins the match!” A thunderous cheer roars from the stands as your Housemates rejoice in a landslide victory, ensuring Slytherin’s spot in the House Cup finals.

“Hell yeah we won!” Yuta cheers the moment all team members touch the ground. “Who knew Ten could overtake a youngster like that?”

“We’re not that old,” Ten retorts, wrinkling his nose at the idea of being one of the oldest on the team. “And I couldn’t have done it without Y/N being a little shit towards the guy. Who knew Jaemin had such a weakness for our star Chaser?” He shoots you a shit-eating grin.

“Shut up,” you mumble, “I’m the one that has a crush on him.” You freeze at the sudden confession, and your team does too. “Oh my fucking god, why can’t I keep my mouth shut,” you groan.

“It’s like you’re always telling us the truth, Y/N,” Hyunjin mentions, “Like this morning, they told me they were nervous.  For the first time in my entire life, Y/N told me they were nervous!”

You mull over his words before the realization hit. You suddenly recall a lesson from Potions a week ago.

“Professor Slughorn, what is that?” you ask peering into the cauldron that sat upon his desk. The liquid inside is  so clear that you could easily make out the scratch marks at the bottom of the pewter cauldron.

“It’s Veritaserum, you idiot,” Donghyuck chimes in, “Supposed to be the strongest truth potion. Three drops and even You-Know-Who would spill his darkest secrets.”

“Voldemort?” you ask with a quirked brow. Nobody calls him that anymore.

“No! Yuta, of course,” your best friend replies with a wave of his hand, “I always wonder where he disappears off to after curfew.” You shrug in reply, deciding to just head over to your seat as the rest of the class filed in. As Donghyuck answers every single one of Professor Slughorn’s questions like the snivelling know-it-all he is, you focus on doodling in your notebook. Somehow you were able to draw a quite perfect peach.

“Professor, how do you brew a Veritaserum?” Donghyuck asks, pulling your attention away from your parchment.

Professor Slughorn raises an eyebrow at him. “Considering how highly regulated it is by the Ministry, it is not in my best interest to let you know until your seventh year N.E.W.T course. However, you can expect it to be extremely laborious.”

“Is there no way to learn how to brew it, professor?”

“Well, the steps are written down, but those potions books are all in the restricted section of your library. We don’t want any students accidentally conjuring up anything dangerous,” he says with a chuckle. “Why do you ask, Mr. Lee?”

“No reason, professor. Just a little curious, that’s all,” Donghyuck replies smartly, and you snort at his words.

“Oh my god,” you say in horror. He did not. He absolutely could not have. But knowing how brilliant your best friend is in Potions, he most definitely had. You pull away from your team and march towards the stands. The moment you caught sight of him you bellow, “Lee Donghyuck! Get your ass down here now before I invert your ears!” He freezes under your glare and turns to his boyfriend for some sort of backup, but Mark just shrugs and walks off, leaving Donghyuck to defend for himself.

“I cannot believe you would pull something as irresponsibly illegal as pouring Veritaserum in my apple juice! Donghyuck, you idiot! How could you ruin something as sacred and holy as my morning apple juice?” you yell at him under the stands. A strong Muffliato charm keeps any peers or professors from eavesdropping on your tirade. Donghyuck withers under your voice.

“Sorry, Y/N, I was just tired of seeing you pathetically pine over that Hufflepuff, so I took matters into my own hands,” he mumbles.

“By drugging me?” you screech.

“You weren’t being honest to yourself or him, and it is so obvious Mr. Cotton Candy Headass likes you too! So I figured why not? I’m good at brewing, so I gotta use my powers for good!”

“How can you still be so arrogant at a time like this?” you mutter.

“But am I wrong?”

“...No”

“Well then, looks like you have someone to talk to,” Donghyuck says suddenly, pushing you out from under the stands, and making you slam into the body of an incoming person. You look up and see Jaemin peering down at you.

“Y/N?” he asks, “You alright?” You immediately back off of him and send him a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I should really look where I’m going. Anyways, good game, I gotta go!” Before you could create any real distance between the two of you, he reaches for your hand and stops you.

“We need to talk.”

“Ha, what do we need to talk about?” you ask, chuckling awkwardly.

“What you said today on the field,” he states, “Look, I don’t know if you were just messing with me to win or if you were being completely honest about what you said.”

“I was being completely honest,” you say bluntly. Well shit, looks like the Veritaserum still has some effect.

“Oh wow, really?” Jaemin asks. He ruffles his hair a bit, and you notice the flush creeping upon his cheeks.

“You know, you’re really cute.” He sputters at your comment. “Like, your hair is the same shade as a peach, and when you blush, your cheeks also turn the same shade as a peach, and it honestly makes me want to pinch your cheeks and cover you with kisses. Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that, but I also can because I’m under the influence of Veritaserum and-” Jaemin takes short strides towards you before cupping your cheeks with his hands and leaning down to capture your lips with his.

Your eyes flutter close at the contact, and you felt him smile into the kiss. When he pulled away, your eyes stay closed for just a couple moments longer before opening to drink in Jaemin’s face post-kiss, blushing cheeks, starry eyes, and all. He smiles gently at you and presses his forehead against yours, eliciting a shy smile from you. He then runs his thumb along your lower lip before whispering, “Even better than the first time.” You look at him questioningly before the meaning of his words sank in.

“You knew I was the person you kissed after barreling into me?” you ask, pulling away from him slightly.

“I could I forget? You have like, the softest lips known to wizarding kind,” he teases.

“Why didn’t you say anything beforehand,” you pout, “That would’ve saved me all the embarrassment on the pitch.”

“Well, I heard a very scary Slytherin complaining about how I stole their first kiss, and I prefer living, so I decided not to bring it up.”

“Then the Charms thing?”

“I actually was failing Charms. I guess fate wanted us to be together so much it made me bomb my last essay,” he jokes. “Plus, I started noticing you around more and figured why not get to know you better. Who knew I’d end up falling for you?” He says the last question so nonchalantly you don’t even notice it until you catch the teasing look he sends your way.

“Shut up,” you mumble shyly, “I have many likable charms.”

“Yeah, I know,” he replies before wrapping his arms around you tightly. “Now, if this Veritaserum is still working, what exactly do you like about my perfect hair?” he teasingly asks. You glare at him, but before the answer could bubble itself out of your mouth, you break from his embrace and run towards the locker rooms. Jaemin chases after you, but stops himself so he can watch on in amusement as you struggle to keep exactly what you liked about him to yourself.

“I’ll get it out of you, Y/N! Even without the Veritaserum!” he calls out.

“You probably will!” you reply, shortly followed by a, “Oh my god, Y/N, shut up!” Jaemin laughs at your adorableness before retreating back towards the stand where he spied Donghyuck lurking. Maybe their sudden “friend-in-law” status could help him procure some Veritaserum, you know, for emergency purposes; definitely not for getting the exact reason you liked him out of you, absolutely not.

[bibbleboo]

Could we get some headcanons/more background on Abbey and Doyle’s kids? 🥺👉👈 I love the premise of this AU

YEEEEE (im just gonna ramble a bunch about the backstory i have so far but ill put it in bullets so its easier to follow lol i apologize for it being long as fuck-)

OKAY SO,,, first of all,,, doyle and abbey timeline,,,, [i am looking respectfully]

in this au, they get back together and have a sort of ‘lovers pretending to be enemies’ chaotic on again/off again hookup thing off to the side just between the two of them thru like Most of the final season, they try to keep it a secret (especially doyle who doubts the saturdays would be hAPPY if he was seeing her again) but in the end, saturdays ofc find out, probably are unsure about it at first, but she gains enough of their trust to be there for the big finale battle in the weird world mansion.

when shit goes down and argost becomes the vessel for the two opposing kurs (regular kur, and the anti kur from zak monday) and they like. explode his matter or w/e, i imagine instead of kur just completely disappearing, the ‘anti kur’ gets shot back to its universe, while original kur gets forced into a new vessel in this universe... the closest of which happens to be the unborn child abbeys unknowingly carrying. basically, what if the two kurs just LOOKED like they evaporated but actually did what happens when you try to like tape two same sides of a magnets together and they YEETED-

So thats how we have Parker, their firstborn daughter! and this... also implies ‘Parker Monday’ exists which. 8^) i havent thought about yet so forgive me on that but hoo, 

they dont know parker is kur, they got no idea and rly just assume kur is gone for good. but after they find out abbeys pregnant (which is a huge emotional trip for both of them in its own right) they do eventually sort of agree they dont want their kid exposed to that whole world of mystery. like, ik its a vital thing to the whole family, and ik these two people were probably voted least likely to ‘settle down’ in high school, but i cant imagine they didnt escape the kur/zak situation without a LOT of trauma, so while the saturdays stay in the cryptozoology field, doyle and abbey slowly pull away from the mystery and mercenary stuff, and also instead of going for big dollar lifestyle settle with ‘independently wealthy’ parenting.

also, neither of them really . grasp the concept that theyve even started a family, and are ‘together’, and that this is REAL, until around when she gets pregnant with their second daughter, Kendall. and then theyre like. oh nooo wait are we actually like boyfriend and girlfriend EWW-

when kendall is born parker is 3, and the next like 10+ years are pretty smooth sailing. as far as what the kids know/see, they probably know the cryptids when theyre little but. (tw animal death sORRY TO BE DARK I JUST??????) idk,, how long komodo dragons live/how old komodo already is and i definitely dont know Anything about giant prehistoric birds and am not even sure if science knows that lifespan, so. im not sure how long they could really be in each others lives??? i almost imagine parker would have memories of them that she assumes she remembers wrong, like “oh yeah they used to have a lizard and a bird... my imaginative little kid brain thought they were a komodo dragon and a dinosaur”, and as for fisk im still working on it but i . actually kind of imagine he might have a much longer lifespan (since lemurians are like ancient or w/e? and also if hes by dna like a gorilla cat or w/e gorillas at least live long af) and also feel like once he got older and settled down a bit he might live somewhere in the woods, maybe even his old tree? and the saturdays see him ALL the time obviously, but hey zaks gotta go to college eventually, a gorilla cats gotta eat bugs in forest, we all have to grow up and leave the nest sometime,

so idk the last time parker has actually seen fisk and she might assume he was an imaginary friend or smth but, 1. if i do write a fic they absolutely have to meet again, 2. overall the vibe is they know the saturdays are cryptozoologists, like, the same way josh gates does destination truth, seeking answers and studying, they dont really. know that theyre REAL. to them its like, a hypothetical science. (this is also part of why they dont realize parker is kur, she isnt around cryptids and therefore whenever her powers would actually show up they wouldnt be recognized) anyways parker isnt embarrassed or put off by it but just thinks its a little wacky, meanwhile kendall is obsessed with the world of mystery/paranormal/cryptic lol

speaking of the girls personalities;;;

parker is like. not really normie/preppy, even if she seems it at first glance, shes nice and has a good head on her shoulders but also is a teenage girl (inherently unhinged) and shes THEIR teenage girl (+5 feral) so despite her success and charm shes also very witty/crass when she wants to be, and deep down shes closer to the kind of person that would on pure inexplicable instinct put something random in your mouth when you’re yawning so you bite down on it afterwards. or like. that video of the girl singing in the bathroom while her friends curl their hair and she grabs the curler to use as a microphone before realizing its burning hot??? shes. the voice of reason, but the voice is usually shrieking in fear, making a cursed joke, or half the time whatever shes saying is actually smart. she kinda wants to go to college and travel, but struggles with indecisiveness and anxiety, so she has no idea where to go, what to major in, etc. and is again kinda just livin thru the typical teen life in that regard

kendall on the other hand is like. weird kid culture, the kind of kid that believes they are secretly a new supernatural creature each year (mermaid phase, werewolf phase, alien phase, etc), probably completely accidentally starts cults or witch covens at school (didnt realize teaching peers how to become ‘blood brothers’ and ‘make potions’ from puddles and stolen school supplies would be taken so seriously by parents) , very into emo/scene/punk/alt culture but not rly in an overtly dark/edgy way, more of a having fun and expressing self way. she wants answers for everything, really loves mysteries and being open minded, and definitely a rebel/adventurer at heart, even if she gets naive or in over her head sometimes.

the girls get along well! parker is not dismissive of kendall she just. isnt really into the same stuff/is more freaked out by it most of the time, but she would tag along on certain adventures, especially if it was to keep her safe. and kendall definitely directs gentle mockery towards parker a lot but does see her as a good role model and guiding figure, their bond is really strong!

other details !

doyle and abbey prob decide to say fuck it and get married after kendall is born, they probably have a few rough patches but nothing is more important to them than the kids now and in the end they understand each other better than anyone else so . canon tension idk her! family ftw! power couple! they intimidate the teacher during parent teacher conferences together hand in shady little hand !

their parenting style is exactly what one would imagine, 70% fun and sass and controlled chaos where theyre the bigger children than their children, 15% ‘this is how you hack the government and dual wield swords-- i was not supposed to teach you that im sorry’, and 15% actual guidance / emotional depth / etc. flaws might be overcoming their own immaturity for the first few years, and then being lowkey overly protective (while claiming they arent, but just bc you semi jokingly tell parker she should join the football team doesnt mean you dont actually hide 60% of ur life from her and check that her bedroom windows are locked every night and have 24 people listed in her school emergency contacts and used to cut up her food till she was 7 and-)

so abouT THE BABY BOY (Phoenix), 1. his middle name is leonidas bc im gay and i love emotional turmoil babes , 2. fully unironically the idea behind such a late pregnancy is abbey would be mid fourties when hes born right. so like. [has two kids] ‘ok birth control time’ [when theyre teens many years later] ‘ok im old enough to stop taking this’ [the hyperfertility curse that plagues many women rears its ugly head with one last hoo-rah]

and finALLY a very quick elevator pitch of what id write an actual fic to focus on;;; kendall sneaks into the attic to look for old shit bc they BOTH know their parents have been hiding stuff over the years, she finds things like a cryptopedia (now offline), the claw, maybe even a piece of the kur stone, and ropes parker into the long haul of figuring out what all this stuff is. and ofc the second they ever find the naga relic and parker comes face to face with it, [rest in rip] time for mom and dad to find out and all this kur shit to start ALL over again-

[fevers-and-flus-blog]

Ayeee it’s my first time writing Voltron. (Also format might be wonky bc, yanno, writing on phones is hard).

The ending is suuuper abrupt I’m sorry, I hit that typical sick!fic wall.

📚: College au, sick!keith, klance

***

Keith wakes up in a panic. He bolts straight up in bed, hands immediately cupping his throat. It takes a few disoriented moments before Keith realizes where he is: his bedroom, stuffed into his twin sized excuse for a bed, and tucked tightly against Lance.

It was a dream, Keith tells himself, with a quick shake to the head. It was a dream, but he can barely remember what it was about, the narrative falling threadbare like a spider web that’s been hastily wiped away. What he can remember is choking and the guttural, almost feral noise he made trying to breathe.

Keith forces his hands away from his neck and takes a deep, even breath. A sharp sting scrapes down his throat and he realizes that the pain isn’t nightmare residue, it’s real. And it’s not just his throat. Keith aches - his head, his muscles, his chest.

Last night he’d gone to bed with a ghosting feeling that something was wrong. He assumed it was anxiety over his physics midterm, which Keith had handled like he handled most things: worked until he literally couldn’t keep his eyes open, and then promptly passed out.

“Fuck,” Keith says lowly. His voice isn’t rough, but speaking still shoots through his throat like a lightning strike.

“Mmmm” Lance stirs and rolls over, throwing a hand across Keith’s lap. “Lets skip today.”

“Funny,” Keith says absently, pressing his hands to his eyes. “I have my midterm.”

“Whatever,” Lance yawns and pushes himself up with one arm. “I guess you can do that instead.”

Keith takes a measured breath.

Any second now Lance is going to notice something’s wrong. Keith’s skin prickles with anxiety.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to deal with Lance in caretaker mode. Keith actually thinks it’s endearing – watching Lance fuss over people always fills his chest with a warm rush of pride. It’s only that Keith hates to be the one fussed over, as a general rule.

Of course, Keith’s self-reflective silence is a red flag in itself. Lance squints up at keith. “Whats wrong?”

“Nothing,” Keith says.

“Liar,” Lance sits up and stretches. “You’re stressed about the midterm, right? Babe, you’re gunna kill it, you’re like literally the smartest person I know.”

“I’m just tired.” Keith says, after a beat.

“Huh, really? You passed out pretty early last night. Well, early for you.”

Keith hums in acknowledgment and crosses his arms. All he wants to do is lay back down and burrow under the comforter. A chill runs through him, and his body shudders.

“Are you cold?” Lance asks, concerned.

“No,” Keith says.

Lance’s eyes narrow. He reaches over and strokes Keith’s cheek, then settles the back of his hand on Keith’s forehead.

“You’re really warm.”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Hold on, I’m getting the thermometer.” Lance crawls over keith and walks into the bathroom.

“Lance…”

“What?”

“Don’t make a big deal out of this.”

“I’m not!”

“You’re working up to it, I can tell.”

“Keith,” Lance says with a sigh, holding out the thermometer. “If you’re sick, you’re sick. It’s not going to help you take your midterm.”

Keith stares at the thermometer with derision. “I don’t care.”

Lance frowns and sticks the thermometer between Keith’s lips. “Well, I do. Keep your mouth shut.”

Keith scowls as aggressively as he can while they wait for it to beep. It doesn’t take very long.

“102.4. Aw shit, you really are sick.”

“It’s okay.” Keith says again, but the thermometer reading confirms the deep, pulsing ache in his muscles.

“No it’s not,” Lance says, his brows furrowed. “You have a fever.”

“It’s just a cold.”

“It’s definitely not a cold.”

“Please, stop.”

“I really think you should stay home.”

“I can’t.” Keith says. Lance starts to protest again, but Keith cuts him off. “I actually can’t. This test is 20% of my grade.”

“You can reschedule.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Keith asks, frustrated.

“Not really,” Lance says. “You never take care of yourself.”

Keith has a lot he wants to say, none of it kind. Instead he bites down on his tongue so hard it fills his mouth with a metallic tang. “I’ll come back right after.”

Lance just stares.

“I’ll come back after, and I’ll nap, okay?” Keith’s voice is coiled tight, but he’s trying to find a middle ground that won’t spiral into an argument.

Lance searches Keith’s face and sighs, brushing his hair away from his forehead. “Fine, but only because you basically admitted defeat. And only if you take medicine before you go!!”

“Yes, Shiro.” Keith clears his throat and tries not to wince.

“Don’t tease me, I might actually call him.”

“I hate you,” Keith says, but means thank you.

“Yeah, I hate you too jerk.” Lance says, and means I love you.

***

Later that morning, Lance’s phone rings. It startles him, and he elbows the back of the chair with a fair amount of force.

“Shit, shit” Lance grabs his phone still cursing, and answers. “Pidge, what’s up?”

“Your boyfriend is drooling on me, that’s what’s up.”

Lance looks to the ceiling and considers his options. There’s no audience, so he tempers the dramatics and settles for an eye roll.

“That was fast. You both finished?”

“Obviously, or I wouldn’t be calling.”

“Yeesh, alright!”

“Sorry,” Pidge says, “I’m exhausted and I kind of want to kill everyone. But Keith’s a wreck.”

“He’s sick.”

“Yeah I know dummy. I made him sit down, he could barely keep his eyes open.”

“Want me to come get him?”

“Yeah. I’d carry him, but -”

“Pidge, you’re like 2 ft. tall.”

“Um, fuck you, I’m incredibly strong. I just have weak arms.”

“Like a T-Rex.”

“Just like a T-Rex, I’ve never loved you more. Now come collect Keith before he infects me.”

“Okay okay on my way, bye!!”

Lance pulls on a sweater, slips on some sneakers, and heads over to Cochran Hall. Keith and Pidge are sitting on a bench outside. Keith’s awake now, but barely. He’s resting his forearms on his knees, hunched over and grimacing.

“Heeeey,” Lance says. “How’d it go?”

“Okay,” Keith coughs shallowly into his fist.

“This idiot couldn’t keep it together, Iverson almost kicked him out.”

“Shut up,” Keith says, shooting a dark look at Pidge. He wants to disappear, he hates this type of attention. More than that, he hates this type of weakness. He feels a little like a live wire - exposed and raw and dangerous.

Lance reaches out and puts a palm to Keith’s forehead. His humor evaporates, and he brings his hand down to the back of Keith’s neck. “You’re burning.”

“Yeah, he sounds terrible,” Pidge says to Lance. Keith coughs again, and this time it takes him a minute to find his breath. “You sound terrible.” Pidge repeats.

Keith flips her off with the last of his remaining stamina.

“I’ve got a comp sci midterm next, but I can help you guys get back to the apartment?”

“No, it’s okay,” Lance says, brushing his thumb across Keith’s heated skin a few times. “I’ve got him.”

“Okey dokey,” Pidge says, but she’s looking at Keith with concern. “Text me later asshole. So I know you’re okay?”

Keith nods. Everything around him feels once-removed, like he’s taking in information through a piece of dirty glass. He watches Pidge walk away and jolts when Lance grabs his arm.

“C’mon, let’s go home.”

Keith’s world sways.

“Woah, hey, Keith!” Lance grabs him tightly. “Do you need to sit?”

“No,” Keith says, out of habit. He’s starting to shiver, flashes of cold creeping through him. He’d been warm during the test earlier, so warm that he’d sweat through his shirt, which was thankfully hidden under his red, fraying hoodie.

“You sure?”

“Yes, sorry…” Keith trails off. His thoughts dart away from him like summer fireflies. He’s left with a pounding head and a loose tongue. “I don’t feel that good”

“Yeah,” Lance says, worry snaking through his voice. “I know. It’s okay. Let’s get you back home.”

The walk back is slow going. Keith notices the green of the grass and the way his sneakers scrape and scrape and scrape against the sidewalk.

Lance doesn’t notice anything but Keith.

When they get home, Lance sets Keith down on his bed.

“I’m gunna call Shiro”

“No,” Keith says.

“He can take us to the minute clinic.”

“I just wanna sleep, Lance.”

“Okay, okay.” He hesitates, “Let me just get your temperature, first.”

Lance waits for an argument. Keith knows he should protest, knows he’d normally want to protest, but instead he closes his eyes and puts his head back.

Lance sticks the thermometer under Keith’s tongue. It beeps shrilly, after only a moment.

Lance reads it and chews on his tongue. “103.9. Keith, babe. That’s - that’s really high.”

“I’m so tired,” Keith says.

“I know.” Lance says, with a hand pressed against Keith’s burning forehead. “Alright. Here, take some tylenol and lie down.”

Lance tries to help Keith out of his sweatshirt, but Keith swaps him away and tugs it off himself. He sloppily throws it to the corner of the room. His t-shirt is damp with sweat, and he tosses that too.

Keith loses time - it feels like each blink is a different dream.

Lance puts something cool on Keith’s forehead. Keith wants to say thank you but his mouth is heavy and his head is heavy and everything is better if he closes his eyes.

Lance grabs the soft knitted blanket at the foot of the bed and tucks it around Keith. He lets anxiety gnaw at his stomach while he watches Keith sleep. It’s a relief to worry openly, instead of pretending everything is fine.

It’s not that he’s never seen Keith sick, it’s just that he’s never seen Keith admit to being sick. And it happened so fast - Keith had been fine last night. It’s probably the flu but still, he wasn’t himself at all.

Lance watches Keith sleep some more. Eventually he crawls next to Keith in bed and tries to do some reading, but his hands keep finding their way back to Keith’s face, to test temperature and brush damp bangs back.

Lance doesn’t remember falling asleep, but he wakes up to whimpering. He’s up immediately, body thrumming with panic.

“Keith? Are you okay?”

Keith makes a small keening noise and curls deeper into himself. He’s shaking.

Lance can feel his own heartbeat in his ears.

“Babe, wake up,” he presses the back of his fingers against Keith’s cheek. Sharp, dry heat. He puts his palm on Keith’s forehead. “Jesus, you’re on fire.”

Lance blindly reaches out and feels around the bedside table for the thermometer. “C’mon I need you to wake up.”

Keith moans but blinks his eyes open slowly. “Lance? What’s - what’s…?” His breath hitches and he starts coughing. He coughs and coughs and coughs.

Lance rubs his back. “I’m here, I’m right here.”

For Keith, everything is topsy turvy.

Lance presses the thermometer against Keith’s teeth. “Put this under your tongue.”

Keith stares blankly.

“Open your mouth.”

Keith opens his mouth.

The thermometer beeps rapidly. 105.

Keith’s teeth are chattering together and Lance feels like he’s falling apart.

He calls Shiro with shaky hands.

“Hey buddy,” Shiro’s voice helps center Lance, “What’s up?”

“Keith’s really sick. I think we need to - can you drive us to the hospital?”