#how could I not draw my oc valentina for this prompt

[assorteda]

Clown Art Month 2023 | Day 11 : Valentine

A little Valentine pin up for her girlfriend 😳

[i-am-too-sick]

(Valentine's prompt!) I miss your OC's!! I would love to see two on a date, one of them adamantly trying to make it seem like they /aren't/ catching the flu (they of course are) and struggling to make it through the dinner without throwing up. (bonus points for a lot of suppressed hiccups and burps)

Sawyer was always happy—that was just his nature—but Alex could not help the sudden swell in his chest as his boyfriend practically skipped to the front of the restaurant, towing Alex along behind him.

They had made reservations almost a month back at a place called, coincidentally, Valentina’s. The waiting area was packed with couples, most hanging all over each other, and it was enough to make Alex’s stomach turn. Sawyer gave the hostess his name at the stand, returning to Alex’s side where they waited a few more minutes before being called back.

“How are you feeling?” Sawyer asked quietly, latching onto Alex’s arm as they strode to their table. “You haven’t been acting like yourself.”

“What are you talking about? I’m fine.”

–

“Are you okay?”

Alex nodded, muffling another burp behind his napkin.

Sawyer looked skeptical. “Maybe you should stop drinking champagne.”

Alex swallowed deliberately before he trusted himself to speak. “I think you’re right. Do you want any dessert?”

“You’re finished? You barely ate anything.”

“I’m watching my figure. Do you want the tiramisu?”

Somehow, the smile found its way back to Sawyer’s face. He was never not smiling for long. “Sure,” he said, laughing. “I’m going to the little boy’s room.” He pointed to Alex’s barely touched alfredo. “Get a box for that. You’ll want it for lunch tomorrow.”

Alex doubted it. His unease from earlier has morphed into full blown nausea. He’d taken up glass after glass of champagne to fill himself up to avoid eating his food, but all the fizz had done was make him bloated, his burps threatening to bring up more than just air.

Sawyer left, leaving Alex to stifle an airy burp into napkin. He fought the urge to groan, the champagne sloshing and burbling nauseatingly in his gut. His body felt burning on the inside, but he wondered if maybe that was from the champagne and not from anything else. He didn’t get sick often and he definitely wasn’t sick now.

A waitress came by and cleared their plates, frowned a little when Alex vehemently turned down a to-go container. The waitress came back just as Sawyer was sitting down again, dropping off a square of sponge cake with thick, buttery frosting that glistens in the candlelight.

“That looks good,” Sawyer exclaimed. “Thank you.”

The waitress smiled and explained that the restaurant was giving them out to everyone after their meals, a special treat for Valentine’s Day. Across from Sawyer, Alex hiccuped around another swig of his drink. He did not want that cake.

Sawyer picked up his fork, a hungry sort of gleam in his eyes. He tucked into the cake, humming as he licked the frosting from his lips.

Alex muffled a belch into his hand, and Sawyer couldn’t help but notice how distinctly uncomfortable his boyfriend looked.

“Are you okay?”

“I just—” Alex swallowed thickly, surprising himself when his shoulders jolted with a short hiccup. “Finish your dessert so we can go home.”

Suddenly all the pieces began to fit together. “Are you sick?” Sawyer asked incredulously. Alex never got sick. “Oh my God, Alex, why didn’t you say anything?”

Alex didn’t have a good answer to that. He wanted to say because it was Valentine’s Day and Sawyer deserved to be treated special (not that he wasn’t on any other given day), but Alex knew that’s not the answer he was looking for.

“I feel disgusting,” he said pinching his eyes shut. As if to prove his point, his stomach rolled nauseatingly, a belch worming its way up his chest, and a thick, wet rumbling splitting the air before Alex had a chance to stop it.

A splash of something acidic hit the back of his throat, and Alex’s hand flew to his mouth as his retched.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Sawyer panicked, keeping his voice low. They didn’t need to draw anymore attention to themselves. “Alex—Alex, breathe. W-Why don’t you go wait outside, all right? Get some fresh air.”

Alex nodded, his hand still covering his mouth. He knew fresh air wouldn’t reverse this—nothing would, he was just going to have to let it out—but he stood shakily, his throat bobbing dangerously as Sawyer tried frantically to flag down the waitress.

Needless to say, when Sawyer found Alex emptying his stomach over the sidewalk after paying for their meals, it was the start of the worst and messiest Valentine’s Day night that either of them had ever experienced.