#i will be writing way more Dennis pots fics but for now have this

[vicvinegarandhughhoney]

Dennis and POTS

This is a headcanon you can pry from my cold, dead hands. I'm obsessed with it right now and here's why:

It embodies all that Dennis worries about, whether he's aware of that or not. It's a lack of control, a sign of some sort of 'physical imperfection' that he can't do anything about, a lifelong condition thrown onto his vitruvian back when he least expects it. He has to be reliant on others to a certain extent- to trust Mac to catch him if he faints, for Dee to carry something salty in her pocket for him when he runs out and needs a boost. It isn't something he can simply will away or deny.

If he's going to pass out, he's going to pass out. And yeah, it might even happen multiple times a day.

So what's the timeline?

Well, he probably gets diagnosed in his late teens. After all, it's hard to ignore a teenage boy passing out that often, even if Dennis tries to conceal it for a while (which he definitely does. After gym, Mac often finds him sitting in one of the bathroom stalls, his head between his legs, trying and failing to stay awake). Barbara doesn't care when he's diagnosed. She thinks he'll grow out of it, because her perfect boy would never be subjected to a lifelong condition. Frank cares perhaps even less. It's up to Mac, Dee, and Charlie to keep anything bad from happening to him.

When Dennis goes to Penn, things get pretty difficult. His frat bros aren't exactly the most helpful during flare-ups. They don't lower him to the ground when he passes out, they let him fall and then draw dicks on his face while he's unconscious. When he wakes up, groggy and confused and nauseous, there's nobody there to reassure him that he's okay. It's why he spends a lot of his time at Dee's dorm. The dorm parent there rolls her eyes whenever she sees Dennis ascending the stairs to get to his sister's room, but Dennis shoots her a glare and carries on anyway. Being with his sister means having somebody there who will look after him, even if she pretends to protest about it.

By the time they buy Paddy's, Dennis' flare-ups are growing more frequent. He doesn't know whether it's the stress of everything, the drinking, or what, but he often finds himself having to stop what he's doing to lay down in the back office. They keep a mini fridge in there filled with bottled water, ice packs, and snacks. It's mysteriously replenished every time Dennis clears it out during an episode.

With time, managing things gets easier. The gang knows more about what they can do to help things, and Dennis starts being able to identify what things are going to trigger him, and when he's about to have a pretty bad flare up.

Still, whenever his head starts to swim and the sweat prickles on the back of his neck, his heart races not only from the POTS but from fear. That bit- the loss of control, the eyes rolling back in his head, the all-consuming darkness- that doesn't get easier.

It probably never will.

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Where I Tell You:  Chapter 3

I purred? Yuuri couldn’t entirely believe that, but the idea that Dennis would lie to him about it made no sense. What would lying about purring accomplish? If it was the truth, so be it, and if it was a lie, then he would inflict punishment. Maybe carding. Or worse.

He knew quite a few things that could be worse. He rather looked forward to being able to inflict them on someone at some point. He’d never met anyone who could take all that he could dish out, though. Someone strong enough not to die if Yuuri frowned their way…

Yuuri continually promised himself that he would. It might take until the invasions began and he could explore other dimensions for his future plaything, but it would happen.

For right now, he wanted to get the proper wing oil and get his wings taken care of. He could feel the itch starting to rise again and he’d already enjoyed being without it.

There were several small stores scattered throughout Academia which provided for the students’ needs and desires. Multiple card stores, of course, that usually specialized in one particular type or other of cards. He patronized one that featured Plant-type cards in particular.

But this store that he swung into now wasn’t a card shop. Here all the varied needs of the Fliers were taken care of, especially for wing care.

Dennis looked around at everything, taking a few steps near one of the counters. “You need all of this?” He asked, wonder tingeing his voice.

“Me, personally? No.” Yuuri gestured for Dennis to follow him. If all worked out the way that he hoped that it would, he would send Dennis here for wing oil in the future. Best that he know what to get.

He came over to a small display, one that carried examples of all kinds of feathers or wing samples – as well as a sample jar and a clean cloth. Yuuri pointed to the jar and the cloth.

“Dip out some of that, rub it on the leather piece there. You’re going to do that to the dry spots, so I want to show you how it’s done.”

Dennis eyed it for a few moments before he obeyed, looking rather nervous as he did. Yuuri expected that. His wings twitched in anticipation of having a proper cleaning and moisturization. His sort of wings needed so much more care than some of the other types.

He enjoyed taking care of his wings. He couldn’t strike terror into the hearts of others if his wings dried and flaked.

He watched with a careful eye as Dennis picked up the sample piece, the most likely places where dryness developed marked clearly on it, and started to rub at them with the cloth.

“Not so hard,” Yuuri reprimanded. “That would take some of my scales off. Keep it easier, like you did before.”

He could tell Dennis had talent as a wing-tender. He wasn’t going to let him waste it. Especially not when he could be Yuuri’s wing-tender.

Would be Yuuri’s wing-tender, as long as he didn’t screw up too many things. Yuuri quite liked the way Dennis’s fingers soothed the various itchy places on his wings. Whether Dennis wanted to be his wing-tender wasn’t even an option.

He kept a careful eye on Dennis’s work, correcting him here and there, then once he was satisfied, he carried a vial of his favored oil and a new cloth up to the main counter. The student behind the counter – one who didn’t do all that well in classes and needed to work here – quickly processed his purchase.

“Is there anything else I can help you with, sir?” She asked, not bringing her eyes up to look at Yuuri. So far as he cared, that was quite proper. She could barely figure out the differences between attack position and defense position. He was one of the elite of his class and Professor Akaba’s personal right hand.

“No.” He gestured for Dennis to follow him as he headed out, considering where to settle for a good wing care session. He wasn’t entirely certain if he wanted to bring Dennis back to his quarters just yet.

The top. Every rooftop in Academia had been set up to welcome those with wings, be it as a place for them to visit easily or to get from there down to their personal quarters. Sometimes even both.

“This way.” Yuuri guided Dennis to his own building, keeping his wings close to his body as he made his way up the stairs. He hated using stairs anyway, but until his wings were in flawless shape, he wasn’t going to risk straining them.

Dennis kept his mouth shut the whole way up there. Yuuri approved of that; he’d already seen how Dennis entertained himself and he didn’t really feel like hearing a lot of babble and blather. He wanted his wings taken care of, first and foremost. Once he’d seen how well Dennis could really do as a wing-tender, then he might consider letting him talk about something that wasn’t dueling or Yuuri’s wings.

Maybe. If he could find something to talk about that could actually catch Yuuri’s attention. He wasn’t yet going to rule out just keeping Dennis around to care for his wings.

Up on top of the building there were several benches spread out to take advantage of the sunlight, with artificial pools here and there, hidden in the shade of carefully tended trees in long pots of rich soil. Platforms stretched out in odd spots as well, where people could perch and take off again. Several of these were used to teach younger students how to fly.

Yuuri had made use of them several times over the last year as he built up his wing-strength and spiraled outward, enjoying the time by himself. Now he settled onto the bench closest to his favorite take off point, then turned to Dennis, the oil and cloth set on the bench next to him.

“Rub the oil into my wings. Just like you did at the store,” he ordered, spreading his wings out so that Dennis could get to all of them. He didn’t bother to offer any threats about what would happen if Dennis hurt him. He thought that Dennis would understand without him having to say a word.

To Be Continued

Notes: And here we are finishing this one. I’m making progress!