#gonna go eat a brownie for my troubles and struggles and victories

[appalachianapologies]

(long, but by no means bad or negative or sad)

My parents got up at 5:30 this morning (this is important, trust me), and so went to bed pretty early, around 8:30 PM. It's just my sister, her boyfriend, and me up, and now it's proper late, so she decides to take him home. One of the smoke alarms in the house begins chirping (no fire- it's out of battery).

It's okay, it's fine, I'm an adult and I've seen my parents change out the batteries plenty of times before, so i tell my sister to take her boyfriend home (he only lives a block or two away, but it's below freezing outside) and I'll deal with the smoke alarm. Slowly tracking the noise, i figure out which alarm it is.

The one in the master bedroom. The bedroom my parents are currently attempting to sleep in (and according to the soft snores, one of my parents is still asleep in)

Okay, so no turning on the lights, because that'll totally wake the other one up and again, they've been up since 5:30 so they really need to sleep. For practice, i take apart one of the smoke alarms in the other part of the house, where the lights are on and there are no sleeping parents.

Totally got this, totally doable.

Slowly, I bring a chair into my parents' bedroom, set it down as quietly as i can, and turn on my phone flashlight with it angled away from the bed.

Now. I am 5'2". I am very short, and ceilings are very tall- there's a reason why my dad usually changes our the smoke alarm batteries. But he's just woken up, is very unhappy about being woken up, and there's no way in hell I'm making him get out of warm and comfy bed. Second problem, socks are slippery on wood dining chairs, but my feet are covered in scars so I don't ever take my socks off.

This leaves me shaky on my toes, one hand holding the phone flashlight, the other trying to maneuver the chirping alarm off before it wakes up my mom.

Victory!

But only half the battle. Taking it outside back to the lit up part of the house, i sit down, take the old battery out, and put the new one in. It was really hard to close the area where the battery sits, but that's neither here nor there.

Now all i have to do is reattach the wires and screw the smoke alarm back in on the ceiling. It's not a one handed job, so my dad, who is still unfortunately awake, tells me to just turn on the hall light because safety.

It's still not bright enough though, so he tells me to just turn on the bedroom light. This'll surely wake up my mom, but so will falling to the ground and cracking my head open, so i do it anyway.

But here's the catch - the lights in the master bedroom are old. Like, really old. Old as in when you hit the switch the lights don't instantly turn on as bright as they get, but instead start really really dim and then brighten within a minute or two.

I still have time to do this without waking my mom, who has miraculously still stayed asleep. (Ironically, I was staying up to watch a speedrunning stream, so I'm ready to do this fast.) Attach the black, orange, and yellow wires, and then try to remember which way to screw the smoke alarm back in.

Delicately jump down from the chair and then turn off the lights before they become bright enough to wake up my mom. And somehow, it works. I wait around just to make sure the smoke alarm isn't going to start chirping again.

Somehow I get it, and about thirty seconds later, my sister comes back home from dropping the boyfriend off.

Huh.

[cuddlepilefics]

Five star Michelin

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Felix

Caregiver: Hyunjin

 No one’s POV.:

Hyunjin had wanted to learn how to cook for a while now but since he barely got to go home to visit his family, he couldn’t ask his mother to teach him. Next option was to maybe ask one of his members but who could he ask without getting made fun of? His first choice would be Chan but the leader wouldn’t even let him into the kitchen for fear of a disaster. Well, that fear wasn’t unfounded but how was the dancer going to get better if he didn’t practice? Then Hyunjin remembered their brownie-boy. Felix was certainly good when it comes to baking, so cooking should be fine. Also, the younger wouldn’t have a problem with letting Hyunjin be in the kitchen, he’d probably find his hyung’s struggle very entertaining. After one of their dance-line practices, the older waited for Minho to leave to the dorm, so he could have a talk with the Aussie alone. “Hey Lix, you know, I wanted to learn that thing for a while and I didn’t really know whom to ask”, Hyunjin started, fiddling with his water bottle. The younger perked up, eyeing his hyung suspiciously: “What thing, hyung?” – “Cooking”, the older admitted, “I really want to be more independent and therefore not starve when left alone. We both know Chan isn’t going to help me, so I thought maybe you could teach me?” The Aussie laughed when he remembered why Hyunjin wasn’t allowed in their kitchen anymore: “You mean because-“ – “DON’T REMIND ME!” – “Alright, I won’t but yeah sure, I can help you. Let’s just wait for the next time, the others go out for a few hours and we have the dorm to ourselves.”

That day came sooner than expected, bot dancers declining when asked if they wanted to join the others. Felix had already picked out a few easy recipes that Hyunjin could choose from and had made sure they’d also have the necessary ingredients. As soon as the door shut behind their friends, the older was pouncing on the Aussie like an excited puppy. Laughing, both made their way to the kitchen, where Felix laid out the tools Hyunjin would need. They picked a recipe and talked it through step by step before the older kicked his dongsaeng out, stating: “Alright, I got this now. Thanks, Lix.” – “You really don’t want me to stay?” – “Nope, but you need to try and give me feedback later.” – “Alright, if you need help just yell”, the younger sighed in defeat, worried their dorm would catch fire if he wasn’t in the kitchen too. He convinced himself that Hyunjin was old enough to do things on his own or would at least get Felix as soon as trouble started, so the Aussie prepared himself to be back in the kitchen within the next two minutes. Those two minutes passed and then another two. After that, he dared to go and play videogames to pass the time. As a precaution, he only put one headphone on and could hear the occasional clanking noises, accompanied by muffled curses. It never got bad enough though for Felix to go check on Hyunjin.

Almost an hour passed and Felix was starting to get worried since he would’ve been done with that recipe in around twenty to thirty minutes. But soon enough, the older popped up next to him begging for the Aussie to come to the table and try. The younger caught a short glimpse at the kitchen which to his surprise seemed….spotless? “Deja vu?”, he chuckled and Hyunjin flushed bright red, mumbling: “Sorry, I had to clean the crime-scene first before letting you come here.” They both broke into a laugh, images of the older’s last cooking attempt flashing in their minds. At least it was already cleaned up and they weren’t risking a scolding from Chan, should the others come back before they got the chance to clean. “Are you not gonna eat?”, the Aussie frowned when Hyunjin only sat one plate on the table in front of his dongsaeng. The older looked at the ground a bit ashamed before he admitted: “I might have gotten carried away, snacking while working, now I’m really full but relieved I at least left enough for one serving.” They laughed again because Felix didn’t judge, he was the same when it came to cookie dough. To say the younger wasn’t a bit hesitant about his first few bites would be a lie but he bravely picked up his chopsticks and dug in. The vegetables were only slightly burned, the sauce was a bit spicy but that could also just be Felix not being Korean and lastly, the meat was still a bit rosy inside, not to badly though. Hyunjin kept watching him expectantly, waiting for either Felix’ approval or his disapproval. At least he hadn’t pulled a disgusted face so far but his expression didn’t give anything away. “Alright, ready for the critique?”, the older nodded cautiously, “So first thing, keep an eye on the veggies when you put them in the pan, second, while you very generously fried the veggies, you could have been a bit more generous with how long you fried the meat. It wasn’t raw, so that’s fine, but it also wasn’t completely done. Otherwise, I don’t really have complaints, just don’t snack as much while cooking because I would have loved eating together and clean the kitchen after the meal, so it’s still warm when you serve it”, the younger concluded, patting his hyung’s head before the older darted of to do a small victory dance in the living room. The Aussie chuckled and went to clean his plate, noticing the kitchen indeed was spotless.

 Felix’ POV.:

Getting Hyunjin to calm down again was a difficult task and I only now realized how hard his lack of cooking skill was on him. We still had some time to spare till the other members would come back home, so we decided to watch Ratatouille together since it suited the occasion well. Sometime around halfway through the movie, my stomach started rumbling loudly. I was glad Hyunjin didn’t hear it because that’d be embarrassing, so I adjusted the volume to ensure it would stay that way. Carefully palming my stomach, I turned my focus back to the TV. It wasn’t painful or anything, so I just thought I was digesting. Only five minutes later, I started second-guessing my assumption because a dull ache had settled in the pit of my stomach and my meal just didn’t seam to sit right. I glanced over at Hyunjin, finding him seemingly perfectly fine although he had been snacking on the same food as me. It was probably just the spice getting to me, that’s why he was fine and I wasn’t handling it as well as he was. When we paused the movie to take a toilet-break, I went to get myself some water, which I hoped would do the trick. Apparently, it didn’t and when we resumed our movie, I could feel the food at the back of my throat while the nausea was rising steadily. It didn’t feel like I needed to throw up, it was just sitting there making my swallow convulsively. Despite the discomfort, I tried to just ride it out and focus back on the movie.

Everything seemed to go well, until my hyung decided it was cuddle time and pressed himself against me. His head ended up on my middle and the added pressure didn’t help my queasiness. Now I was certain I would be throwing up sometime tonight, the only question was when. That question was answered only a few minutes later when my mouth started to water and my throat burned from my quiet acidic burps, that I had been trying to muffle against my hand for a while now. Hurriedly scrambling to my feet, I shoved Hyunjin off of me before I darted down the hallway. My hand was firmly clamped over my mouth while my throat contracted with unproductive gags. I made it to the toilet just in time, bruising my knees on the bathroom tiles, as the first wave of my meal made its reappearance. It didn’t feel any less spicy the second time and the burning sensation in my throat brought tears to my eyes. My stomach was cramping badly now and I could feel it squirm under the hand I had placed on my middle. Hyunjin was by my side in an instant, still shocked from my sudden escape. Glancing at his face, I could see the worry etched in his features before I had to duck my head back into the toilet bowl as my stomach contracted again, sending a larger wave up my throat. It made me choke and no amount of coughing helped me catch my breath again. There was a hand on my back, firmly patting between my shoulderblades, and taking a shuddering breath, I shot my hyung a grateful look. There was a long silence but my stomach didn’t seem to want anything else out. “Are you okay?”, Hyunjin asked hesitantly. I shrugged because honestly, I didn’t know: “My stomach’s kinda upset but I don’t know if I need to be sick again.” – “Was it the food?” That question was expected but again I didn’t know. He had eaten the same stuff, right? “You ate it too, right? Do you feel okay?”, I replied. Lurching back over the bowl as a wave of nausea washed over me, I couldn’t understand his words as I was too focused on not choking on my stomach contents again. The chunks tickling my throat triggered another gag and I didn’t even get a breath in between.

Though it had seemed like the stream wouldn’t end, it eventually did and I flopped with my back against the bathtub waiting to catch my breath. I looked up at Hyunjin questioningly and he repeated that he had at least eaten bits of the different foods and was feeling perfectly fine, asking if maybe I was sick. “I don’t think so, I felt fine all day, no headache, muscle-aches or fever, at least I don’t think I have one”, I rasped and let Hyunjin press the backs of his fingers against my forehead. He shook his head, confirming: “Sweaty and a bit warm but not feverish.” He continued to study me with his brows furrowed only to witness me struggle back onto my knees, heaving dryly. My throat was straining, getting more irritated as I continued to gag uselessly. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get anything else up, so I started to press my fist into my middle and sure enough, it did the trick. I was still panting when I suddenly remembered something: “Hyung, did you also try the meat or just the other stuff?” It had looked a bit undercooked, I just hadn’t thought much of it. Not getting a reply, I waited till it felt safe to move and then sat back to look at my friend. He was biting his lip, looking extremely guilty and that was all the answer I needed.

He sat with me through my entire puking session, apologizing profusely although I tried to assure him I wasn’t mad or anything. At some point I just gave up because my throat hurt too much to talk. Hyunjin helped me back to the couch and made me comfortable with a heating pad, a bucket strategically placed next to me. He also fetched me some water and peppermint tea before we continued to watch TV as a distraction, though we switched to something that didn’t have anything to do with food. I was still way to queasy for that. Exhausted from the whole ordeal, I soon fell asleep with my feet in my hyung’s lap. I didn’t even hear our friends get back home.

 Chan’s POV.:

To say I was surprised to find my dongsaengs in a typical ‘we-have-a-sickie layout’ would be an understatement. Both had seemed fine and perfectly healthy when we left but the heating pad Felix was clutching to his middle and the bucket we literally only used as sick-bucked told me things had changed. The younger seemed to be asleep, so I raised my eyebrow at Hyunjin questioningly, while shushing our other members so they wouldn’t wake the sick Aussie up. It was to no avail and soon, Felix sat up, giving us a confused look. When we all joined them in front of the TV, Hyunjin admitted he had done something he wasn’t supposed to do and told us how he had made food, asking Felix for his opinion. Although Felix said it was fine and that it had even tasted quite good (considering it was made by Hyunjin), the older dancer was roasted relentlessly, unable to defend himself against the teasing. “Guys, please don’t bring up my cooking skills again”, he whined. Minho laughed at him devilishly asking: “Why? Felix did that too.” I had to admit that was actually pretty funny but Felix didn’t seem too happy about it. “Hyuuuung! In a week that joke will probably be hilarious but please shut up or I might do it again”, he whimpered. He did end up doing it again multiple times during the following night and it only stopped in the late afternoon of the next day but Hyunjin was there the entire time, making it up to the younger by taking care of him. We decided together, that Felix and me would be teaching him how to cook but not without our supervision to avoid a repetition of this incident.