#like my lymph nodes were lymph nodeing

[themmatennant]

feeling much better now and i gotta say, my immune system IS that bitch

[aerosolsprite]

hey how many of the homestuck cast have probably ever been to the dentist? it's gotta be like rose, john... maybe dave? possibly jane... do trolls have dentists? they have actors and authors (we know this bc karkat watches movies and reads trashy airport romance novels) so clearly there are careers other than Die For Your Country And Kill The Poor... but then again it's a survival of the fittest society... what about the dancestors? did beforus have dental care?

^ (pharmaceutical fine print voice) this post sponsored by me going to the dentist yesterday and projecting the awkward situation of Cold Stranger Hands On Face And In Mouth on dirk strider. ask your mutuals if homestuck is right for you.

[ambersky0319]

okay but like seriously

if my body could chill tf out that would be great

[topnotchquark]

I got mumps and Pecco got P1. What a Sunday it has been.

[lesbianlenas]

i will b real i have not felt this bad when sick in a really long time i didn’t even feel this bad when i had covid it is like my throat is trying to kill me……like it hurts when i am just sitting here not even just when i swallow like it just aches and also my tonsils are so covered w white spots it’s actually crazy i didnt know they could get that many and on my one tonsil there is just this huge white spot and i have that lump on my neck and i can feel some of my other lymph nodes are also swollen and the pain from my throat radiates so bad i feel it in my nose like i am not congested i just feel the pain from my throat go up my nose. TERRIBLE.

[myglassesareinkansas]

My dad is a doctor and did his residency during the 80s, before there were better laws that are now in place (not good or great, just better). My siblings are also doctors. He called them soft for years during their own residencies because they were doing 90 hr weeks while he did 120-ish when he was a resident. And I'm over here like …your tone is braggy but your words are real sad.

[yahyabkheet-blog]

Updated today !

19/11/2024 Save my child, Mira, please

My beautiful baby Mira was suffering from a high temperature two weeks ago, so I took her to the doctor at Al Awda Hospital in Nuseirat Camp, which is the only hospital covering the central region. The doctor told me: There is nothing wrong with your child without examination or tests.

He literally told me your child is spoiled

When I got out of the hospital, I told my wife that our baby girl was spoiled, just like the doctor said

Every time my child, Mira, complains of pain, I tell her there is nothing you need, and when her temperature rises, I give her a fever reducer and she just sleeps.

This morning, my wife was surprised while she was changing clothes for Mira that there was a large tumor under her armpit

My wife started screaming and crying at me. I took Mira to the hospital immediately and we were referred to a pediatric surgeon. She was examined and a television imaging was done. It was found that my child suffers from three masses in the lymph nodes, one of which is very large.

The doctor told me that she needed a gland removal operation As soon as possible within a week due to the rapid growth of the tumor

My child, Mira, is one of the most active and energetic children today. She is sick and cannot play. She's tired. I don't like to see her in this state.

Since we received the news, my wife and I have been crying. We do not know how to react. What will happen to us next in this damned war?

There are no hospitals, no electricity, no treatment, and not even anesthesia for surgical operations

I don't know how to act

My child, Mira, needs an operation and quick treatment

Please help me, my hands are tied 🙏😭

‏@palhelp @shinydreamtacoprune-blog @mistress-- kanzaki @a-shade-of-blue @rainy-fog

‏@gryficowa @good-old-gossip @ashwantsafreepalestine @heritageposts @myceliacrochet

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‏@schoolhater

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‏@el-shab-hussein @feluka @paper-mario-wiki @imiustheretotrvtohelp @iranan

‏@c-u-c-my-4-40k @wellwaterhysteria @stuckinapril @boochanz @cantsayidont

[snckt]

went to the urgent care after all. the physician’s assistant was pretty ☹️👎

[nanabanonana]

me: scrapes the inside of my jaw with an oreo

my entire jaw, my gums, and lymph nodes for a week:

[swagging-back-to]

think my left helix is getting infected

[amermaidsecretdiary]

A recent success story

Ok so few days ago I woke up and instantly felt a pain under my armpits. I went to check in the mirror what's going on and it turned out that my lymph nodes were really swollen. I had no idea what exactly caused it but I tried not to pay much attention to it. Then the next day nothing had changed, I was still in pain. So I was like hold up. Why the fuck am I just sitting around in pain? I decide what's going on. So I told myself that my armpits were completely healthy and continued my day. For the rest of the day I was still in pain but I didn't get worried because I had decided that the infection is gone, no matter what I saw or felt in my physical word. Today I woke up and both of my armpits were completely fine, not swollen at all and I didn't feel any pain!

I am sharing this small story just to show you how simple it is. I decided that my armpits are completely healthy and not infected at all and this is exactly what I woke up to today.

Decide something → It's yours.

[andforyouevan]

♣: Back scratches please?

oooooh another back scratches! I had to sit on this one for a little bit since I just did one, but I think I've come up with another idea for you. I hope you like it! This mentions a bucktommy kiddo in this snippet. This got really long for some reason lol.

Tommy's not sure he's ever been this tired but he's pushing through it because there's also nowhere else he'd rather be.

"Papa," Riley says and Tommy can feel his little body vibrate with a cough from where he's curled around him in his and Evan's big bed, where Riley had insisted on sleeping and Tommy hadn't the heart to tell him no, not while he's wracked with this cold. "Papa, hurts."

Tommy scratches his nails up and down Riley's back. "I know, baby. Daddy went out to go get more meds, okay? He'll be right back."

Riley coughs again and Tommy feels like his heart is in his throat. It's just a cold is what he and Evan have been telling themselves but it's not any easier.

Tommy can feel his phone go off in his back pocket and he reaches for it, expecting it to be his husband, but instead it's Hen.

Hey, I thought I'd check on our boy. Can I come in?

he breathes a sigh of relief. "Buddy, I'll be right back, okay? Auntie Hen is here."

"Okay, Papa," Riley's congested little voice says and Tommy gets off the bed and rushes out to the front door. Opening it, he practically collapses against her.

"Ooof," she says with a little laugh, wrapping her arms around him and patting his back. "You okay there, bud?"

Tommy lets her go and stands back so she can enter the house. It's a lot different from when it was Eddie's all those years ago, completely remodeled and repainted when they'd bought it after getting married. He marvels at it sometimes, this life they've made.

"Yeah," he says wearily. "Yeah, just our first cold."

He leads her to their bedroom and she pats him on the shoulder. "The first time Denny was sick, Karen and I were out of our minds. We're first responders, you'd think we'd be used to it, right?"

"I'm discovering that it's not the same when it's your own kid," Tommy says wryly as they reach the bed and Riley reaches for him. Tommy scoops him up, turning him in his lap so Hen can do her thing.

"Hi sweetie," Hen says, pulling her stethoscope.

"Hi Auntie Hen," Riley answers tiredly. "Gonna fix me?"

"Aw, baby," Hen says, shooting Tommy a soft look. "I wish I could. I just want to make sure your cold doesn't get icky, okay?"

"Mmk," Riley says and sits placidly. "Where's daddy?"

Tommy checks his phone again, and sure enough, there's a text from Evan.

Accident finally cleared, home in 10.

He text back a heart. "He's gonna be home soon, baby."

Hen checks Riley's lungs and looks at Tommy. "No fluid or anything, lymph nodes aren't swollen. Really is just a cold."

Tommy squeezes his son to him. "Thanks, Hen. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. I'll stay with you guys until Buck gets home, okay?"

Tommy squeezes her hand. "We'd love it."

When Evan gets home ten minutes later, they're still curled up on the bed, Riley under a bundle of blankets, watching old episodes of Full House on Nickelodeon.

"It's so cheesy," Hen groans.

"I know," Tommy admits with a grin. running his fingers up and down Riley's back again. "That's why I love it so much. Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi," Evan says setting the bag from the drugstore on the bed by Tommy's hip. "How are my boys?"

"Your boys are good," Hen answers. "One of them just has a simple cold and will be fine in a couple of days."

"Thank you for checking," Evan says gratefully. "Buddy, daddy got you some children's medicine, some soup..."

"Chicken and Stars?" Riley says, showing excitement for the first time in hours.

They all laugh. "So much Chicken and Stars," Evan confirms.

"Yay!"

"I'll go," Hen says, climbing off the bed. "Get some sleep, boys. Call if you need anything."

"We will," Tommy says, not moving from where Riley has now decided he's a toddler bed, sprawled across him like a tiny starfish.

"Thank you, Hen," Evan says. He walks her to the door and Tommy scoops the four-year-old into his arms to follow them out. "Say bye to, Auntie Hen, Riles."

"Bye, Auntie Hen!"

"Bye sweetie."

She leaves and Evan turns to them, giving them such a look of love that Tommy's heart is in his throat for an entirely different reason. These are his boys.

"Well, my guys," Evan says, clapping his hands together. "Shall we make some soup?"

"Chicken and Stars!" Riley cheers.

"If that's what he's excited about," Tommy mutters to his husband as they get to the kitchen. "I'll take it."

Evan grins at him. "Same."

[ebullientheart]

second opinion. spencer reid x reader

content — fluff. humour. reader has a rough cold. blurb. established relationship. implied fem!reader. some medical talk.

spencer takes advantage of his title.

“spencer, put it down.” you warned, approaching him slowly, “it’s not worth it.”

his eyes widened, almost dropping the medicine bottle, “don’t be so dramatic! now, sit back down and take your cough syrup.”

you sighed, falling back to the sofa where he’d had you confined since the first sign of a sore throat. at first, you’d fought him for it, trying to get dressed for work, but he’d pressed one hand to your burning forehead and all but forced you into joggers and a sweatshirt. he’d even called in sick for you.

begrudgingly, you swallowed the syrup and frowned at your boyfriend, “is this really necessary?”

he nodded seriously, “absolutely. i’m a doctor.”

you groaned, “oh stop it. i want a second opinion.”

he screwed the lid back onto the bottle and returned it to your kitchen cupboard, before clambering over to join you. once again, he felt your temperature and frowned unhappily, “opinion one, you’re very ill…”

then to your surprise, your germaphobe boyfriend leant forward and kissed you on the head, “opinion two, you’re very beautiful, and opinion three, you should stay still and let me take care of you before you unleash this plague on the rest of humanity.”

your cheeks suddenly held a similar heat to your forehead, grumbling, “i only asked for two.”

spencer shrugged, “i always say more than requested.”

“understatement,” you scoffed, recalling the ninety minute conversation you’d had that morning on the function of lymph nodes in advanced drug trials, “but i don’t mind. makes me smarter.”

a fit of coughing overtook you then, and for all his knowledge, spencer didn’t know how to take away the burning in your lungs, nor did he know how to not feel bad for that. your suffering wasn’t something he revelled in, and the thought of you going to work through this made him worried about your commitment. not that he was one to question someone for overworking themselves.

you deadpanned him after enduring his fretting, “it’s just a cold, babe, you can stop looking at me like i’m dying.”

spencer sighed, mumbling, “i don’t like it when you’re sick.”

you teased, “it’s not a picnic for me either,” but upon seeing the pained look on his face, “but i appreciate you looking after me, it’s nice.”

he surprised you again, seemingly unafraid of contracting your ‘plague’ as he sat close enough to you that you could lay your head on his shoulder. you weren’t sure where his spark of bravery came from, remembering the one time you sneezed while walking into a dusty room and he didn’t touch you for two days.

“what’s the sudden change of heart with these germs?” you poked his side, only playing. the guilt on his face, however, was unmistakable.

you sat up straight, he didn’t meet your eye, “spencer. why are you not afraid of my cold?”

he cleared his throat, “i… was sick, on our last case. i might have still been contagious when i came home, so this may be my fault.”

you gaped, “hey! you told me colds were most contagious before symptoms were even present!”

“that’s true. most contagious. they’re still slightly contagious after, especially if say, you were to make out with someone…”

“i can’t believe you.”

“i love you?”

you rolled your eyes at him, “yeah, i love you too.”

[lesbianlenas]

i have said before i have really bad hypochondria anyway i was doing better on my meds but recently i was really badly triggered bc my lymph nodes r swollen & one of them is like more swollen than the others & now i have white spots on my tonsils which indicates a throat infection not really a terminal illness but having a lump on my throat has been like my biggest hypochondria fear for 10 yrs or so so having a lump on my neck has really just like sent me & anyway i usually do not share my hypochondria fears bc ik they’re irrational but as i said this is like 100x more upsetting to me than usual bc it is my exact hypochondria fear so i had a breakdown & started crying to my mom so she made me get a doctor’s appt all this to say that i also have severe avoidance issues so before i could just pretend the bump wasn’t there & distract myself but now that i know i have a doctor’s appt it is much worse & i can’t stop thinking abt it 😔 thats my story. plagued in many ways.

[rouge-the-bat]

needing help to pay for a vet expenses for my cat! if youre able to, please send what you can to my girlfriend's cashapp $nalathequeen2186 or paypal @nalathequeen2186 !

me and my girlfriend ( @ashtwinproject22 ) are needing at least between $250-300 as soon as possible for vet expenses. (hopefully the estimate we were given at the vet will be accurate to the final payment and we wont have to pay for anything extra...)

⬆️ this is my sweet silly boy yayo!

we've taken him in to be checked out at a vet and were prescribed some anti-bacterial medicine for him, but we will need to bring him in again both for getting the lump on his side removed, and to deal with a really bad ear infection thats caused his lymph nodes to swell. we have about $5 left over from previous donations after yayo's examination and prescription.

i had a previous post asking for help to also get some strays cats fixed- but they are now fixed and recovered, so i'm making a smaller post just for yayo. but you can check the old one for more information if you'd like.

⚠️ the gofundme we started was canceled and the account was deleted with no warning or explanation, and we have no idea what could have caused this. apparently this is an issue with gofundme we werent aware of :/ so anything anyone may have sent through that should have been returned to the donators, and we did not get anything through it.

[stinkyturd]

Beats Per Minute

Fandom: Tokyo Debunker

Pairing: Haku Kusanagi/You

Comments: I got an anonymous Haku request, so let's call this a response to that! If you guys like this one, I can make a part two. Waiting for the next Tokyo Debunker Chapter tomorrow, then I will start back on Fever Dreams :').

"Alright... now see if you can remember how to conduct a general exam on your own," Jiro instructs.

This had been the fourth week or so that you had been spending the majority of your free time under the tutelage of Jiro and occasionally Yuri of Mortkranken. You were taking a few electives that were related to anomalous medicinal research, but truthfully-- your grades in that area were abysmal. Jiro had very reluctantly agreed to help you with your studies, but only if you could assist him with check-ups and various demands made by the Mortkranken Captain. 

Today, you called in Haku to one of Jiro's unoccupied exam rooms to be your guinea pig. The Hotarubi vice-captain seemed eager to help when you had phoned him earlier that day, which you had been banking on. You considered Haku to be one of the most, if not the most reliable Ghoul you had met at the academy. After all, he is the one who helped you when you had picked up that nasty curse and even continues to be there for you now, with pretty much anything he can reasonably assist with.

The two of you had become quite close, by your standards. At least enough to frequently eat lunch together, study, or even walk back to your dorms together. Haku's mild-mannered sensibility and facetious attitude were a breath of fresh air in comparison to some of the other Ghouls that you had been assigned to as an inspector for in the past. 

"Alright, Haku. Looks like we will be taking your vitals! Let's see... we logged your weight at seventy-two kilograms," You say as you scribble down the digits on a sheet of paper at the office desk you sit at. "Height at one-hundred seventy-eight centimeters..."

Haku clicks his tongue and tents his eyebrows, feigning a troubled expression. "Could you add about six more centimeters to that? I can't let it get out that I'm below one eighty-four. What would that do to my reputation?"

The Hotarubi vice-captain sits casually on an operating table next to you, while Jiro observes you from a rolling chair somewhere off to the side. 

Setting your pen down, you wheel your chair around to face him. "Lucky for you, my eyes are the only ones that will view this," You pause. "And Jiro's... maybe Yuri, too."

Haku hums, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. The deceptively coy look he's sporting evokes a fluttering sensation in your chest. "I guess if you already know, but find me dashing anyways... I think I can live with that," Haku drawls.

Always with the flirtatious jokes.

Said jokes were once few and far between, but you swear that you feel like they've been making more frequent appearances in the vice-captain's banter as of late. "It sounds like someone's fishing for compliments," You tease. 

Haku leans back on his palms and tilts his head, eyeing you mischievously. "Maybe I'm just waiting for you to bite."

You want to come back with something cheeky, but any and all words get caught in the back of your throat from the remark. It was actually downright criminal how Haku could be such a proper and polite gentleman one minute, and then the next be spewing out suggestive one-liners with double entendres. Even right now the Shinto priest's expression is shifting into one of self-satisfaction from your silence. 

Jiro clears his throat, catching your attention. "The exam..."

"S-sorry...!" You sputter out, getting to your feet. Taking a few steps closer, you move your hands out, hovering them over Haku's neck tentatively. "May I?"

"Please do." Haku's aurelian eyes remain locked on you, brimming with amusement. 

Holding your breath, your fingertips make contact with his neck, gently searching for any abnormalities with his lymph nodes. "No pain, or anything out of the ordinary, correct?"

"No, ma'am," Haku replies.

"Okay, good." You lift the stethoscope around your neck to your ears and walk behind him. "Okay deep breaths," You instruct, placing the chest-piece of the instrument against Haku's upper back. 

Haku obeys your instructions as you listen for anything unusual, sliding the piece throughout the expanse of his back after each breath. 

"Do you have any history of illness or conditions?" You ask, once you've placed the stethoscope back around your neck.

"No, not really anything serious." Haku pauses as he ruminates. "Well, I think the only thing I had was a slight arrhythmia as a kid, but it has long since passed."

You pull a blood pressure reader from a hook on the wall behind you. "Could you please remove your jacket?"

"How scandalous," Haku teases, giving you an impish side-eye. "If you insist, Doc." 

You snort at his antics as you watch him remove his jacket, leaving his torso clad in just a white button-up. Wrapping the cuff around Haku's right bicep, you secure the velcro and begin pumping the inflation bulb. After a few seconds, you mouth the reading to lock the number in your brain before removing the device. 

"Okay the only other reading we need to do is pulse." You reach into your pocket and pull out an oximeter and clamp it to his right index finger. While you wait for the device to get an accurate reading, you take out a penlight from your coat pocket and shine it on Haku's eyes. 

"... Looks like your pupillary reflexes are just fine," You remark, as you click the light off, tucking it back into your pocket. 

Haku's lips curl into a sheepish smile. "So, I'm in peak health, hm?"

"So far it seems that way, at least from what a general exam can deduce." You glance down to study the screen of the pulse reader and your expression quickly falters into one of concern. "Oh wow, your beats per minute is really high right now."

Haku follows your gaze. "One twenty," He reads aloud, unperturbed. 

That was unusually high considering Haku had been sedentary since he got there twenty minutes ago.

"Do you feel anxious, or typically suffer from anxiety related symptoms...?" You ask, gently removing the clamp from his fingertip. 

"Nope, never have," Haku states matter-of-factly with a lopsided grin. 

"I see... No current medications?" You ask, lifting your right index and middle finger to check the pulse against his neck. 

Haku shakes his head. "None."

"Do you have feelings of your heart racing often, or spontaneously?" 

The Hotarubi vice-captain hums, averting his gaze to somewhere off to the side. "I wouldn't say it's spontaneous... more often lately, yeah."

"I see..." Your gaze finds Jiro's. "Should we perform an electrocardiogram?"

Jiro nods, leaning forward in his chair. "It would be a good idea to eliminate any potential concerns. I can set up the machine right now." 

Haku laughs a bit. "Uh, I really think that's unnecessar--"

"Okay, sounds good," You say to Jiro. 

Jiro gets up to leave the room for a moment and you redirect your attention to Haku in front of you, beaming at him encouragingly. "Don't worry, it's a quick test! Plus, I want to make sure everything is squeaky clean! Especially since you said you used to have an arrhythmia. It's better to not leave any boxes unchecked since you're here, you know?"

Haku lifts an eyebrow, displaying an awkward smile. "Well... have you thought about the other reasons someone may get a racing heart?"

"Hmm... other reasons?" You repeat, unsure of where he was going with this. 

When Haku nods, you glance up at the ceiling, tapping your chin. "Cardio, vitamin B12 deficiency, panic attacks, anemia, dehydration, stress, low blood sugar..." You gasp and slap your closed fist to your palm as you draw a fresh conclusion. "That's it...! We should do your blood work too."

Haku gives you a tired look. "I don't need my blood work done, (Y/N). And I really don't need an ECG, but for you I'll oblige."

"You shouldn't be so sure, you never know!" You wag a chastising finger at him, before returning to sit in your chair to fill out the rest of the general check-up prompts. "You're my good friend and a valuable asset to Darwick. I want you to be in peak health! Subaru and Zenji would agree with me, too." With that, you start scribbling in the blank spaces on your sheet that you had yet to fill out.

Haku forces a chuckle from behind you. "Okay, but... have you considered the possibility that you're just so cute that it makes me nervous? Not to mention, your face was so close to mine."

The pen in your hand involuntarily slips from your grip and skitters off the edge of the table. 

Hah... again with the jokes, huh? 

You swing your chair around to face him and fold your arms over your chest with an unimpressed look. "Save the stand-up routine for when we wrap up the check-up, vice-captain."

"I'm not joking," Haku deadpans.

The Hotarubi vice-captain's expression does, in fact, read as sincere. To say that the idea of your presence eliciting such a reaction from Haku makes you excited would feel like a severe understatement. You study him, continuing to search for any signs of humor or deception. 

When you don't find any, you pivot around, reach into a desk drawer and pull out a clean hospital gown. "You'll need to remove your shirt for the ECG, so you can wear this," You say, tossing it in his lap. Hastily, you pick your pen up from the floor and redirect your attention back to your form, effectively hiding the blush threatening to creep up your neck.

"...Ouch," Haku mutters, laughing despite himself. "So this is what it feels like to get rejected? Now I really don't get how Kaito can shoot his shot so much."

"...Rejected?" You echo, in disbelief. The mere suggestion heightens your courage enough to look over your shoulder to address him. "I would never even consider committing such a heinous crime."

From the angle you're at, you can't really read Haku's expression. Just when you're about to face him again, Jiro finally comes back into the room, wheeling in the ECG machine towards the side of Haku's bed. 

"While I set this up, please remove your shirt and replace it with the gown," Jiro requests, unfolding a bundle of cords.

"Sure," Haku replies.

"(Y/N), come over here so I can show you how the settings work," Jiro adds.

"Okie dokie." Without hesitation, you flip around and get to your feet. You nearly trip over yourself when Haku comes into view. 

The Hotarubi vice-captain is seated with his unbuttoned shirt now pooled at his hips, exposing the entirety of his bare, toned, torso. Sliding off the bed, Haku stands and unfolds the gown, shifting his eyes towards your leering gaze. When you fail to look away after gawking long past the point of it being considered appropriate, Haku's lips curl into a suggestive smile. 

Jiro sighs, rolling his eyes. "(Y/N), if you don't come over here, I may have to report you for misconduct."

"Right, misconduct," You nod, tearing your gaze away from Haku's tantalizing state of undress. "Can it really be misconduct if you opt to change in public? There's a restroom down the hall," You ramble as you make your way to Jiro's side. 

"Takes too much time," Jiro interjects before Haku can defend himself. "We have other patients."

You swear you can see Haku giving you a smug look out of your peripheral vision and you choose to ignore it, lest your face burn brighter. 

After the electrocardiogram machine is set up and attached to Haku, it takes about ten minutes to run the test and get results. 

Once that happens, Jiro announces the conclusion. "Haku is in picture perfect health. Nothing to worry about." The Mortkranken vice-captain begins to remove the wires secured to Haku's chest. "This was good practice, regardless. Good work, (Y/N). Maybe in the near future you can do some general check-ups while I'm preoccupied with other tasks."

"Yeah... right." You sit at the desk again, recording the results of the test on the paper in front of you. 

If Haku's fine, then what he said was true. He's been nervous around you lately...? And then he went and made a comment about you rejecting him. What the hell is going on?

"Are you about finished with that, (Y/N)?" Jiro asks, peering over your shoulder. 

"Oh, yeah. It's done." You briskly thrust your hand in the air, the paper in it.

"Okay, good," Jiro takes it from you, glancing over it. "I will be right back to prepare for the nex--," Jiro randomly turns green and clamps a hand over his mouth. 

It was a common occurrence, but you express concern anyways. "You okay? I think it's about time you take your medicine. It's been a few hours, no?"

Jiro nods. Slowly, he turns his back to you and trudges out of the room.

Poor guy, really.

"Are you going to be done soon?" Haku inquires as he gets up from the bed and stretches. Thankfully, he's properly clothed again by the time your eyes drift in his direction. 

"I'm sure it won't be too much longer, though Jiro's schedule isn't always predictable," You explain as you subconsciously try to calm your jittery nerves. Turning your chair slightly, you muster a friendly smile. "Thanks for coming, you've been an excellent test dummy."

"Anytime, (Y/N)," Haku replies easily, returning a smile of his own. 

A momentary silence falls on the two of you. It looks almost as if the vice-captain intends on saying something else, but you make a point to beat him to it. 

Abruptly, you lift yourself from your chair. "I can walk you out, if you want." 

"Yeah, let's do it," He readily complies. Haku from a few months ago would be quick to insist such a gesture was unnecessary out of courtesy, but not today evidently. 

You lead Haku out into the hallway and towards the entrance of the building. Typically, you'd be talking his head off right now about various things, but your brain continues to swim with thoughts of your conversation earlier. Did you brushing off what Haku admitted to earlier genuinely bother him? You're pretty sure he would never tell you if it had. Haku is the type of guy who's always too preoccupied with worrying about others to let anything get to him too much. Should you apologize? Is he expecting something from you?

"Hey, Haku," You start, quelling your internal conflict as you walk ahead of him. 

"Hey, (Y/N)." 

"If I said something to upset you earlier, I'm super sorry," You say, tossing a wistful glance over your shoulder. 

Haku smirks, tilting his head. "Upset me? Not at all. Quite the contrary, actually."

"...How's that?"

"I'm delighted to find out that I am immune to the friend zone," Haku explains with a breezy chuckle. 

Your cheeks burn at his comment. He must have been referring to you saying that you'd never reject him. The comment was flippant– made without any thought at all. And maybe Haku wasn't joking about being nervous around you, but was he really being sincere with such a conspicuous statement?

Averting your eyes, you turn your head forward again. "I didn't know that kind of thing occupied your mind," You admit. "Are you dead ass?"

Haku hesitates. "...Would it make you uncomfortable if I said yes?"

Holy cow, this was actually happening? You always thought Haku was cute and had harbored a little crush on him for quite a while. Considering the severity of your curse and all the unknowns that come with it, you really hadn't seriously considered romance. Didn't Professor Hyde strongly advise against it, too? 

"Sorry, you can forget I said that. It's totally irresponsible for me to be putting something like that on you," Haku pushes out an apology, likely having taken your prolonged silence as an answer.

You stop in your tracks and turn to face him, wearing a reassuring smile. "I was just thinking, that's all. You didn't make me uncomfortable."

Haku smiles abjectly as he rubs his neck. "That's a relief."

Swallowing away your anxieties, you take a deep breath before speaking again. "Jiro will be expecting me soon, so we may have to talk more about this later. But to be clear, you're saying you like me? Like... not platonically?" 

Haku holds your gaze and he nods with conviction. The faintest hint of pink dusts over the vice-captain's cheeks as he slips his thumbs in his pockets. "Yeah. I probably could have timed this better, but since you're asking– I may as well be transparent. I think very highly of you, truthfully."

Your heart beats rapidly in your chest and you feel as if you could melt into a puddle of mush from that doting look on Haku's face. It was probably dumb and totally unnecessary, but you have the urge to get further clarification. The uncertainty you feel has to be a result of being so accustomed to his glib way with words. 

"So, like... you know when I say not platonically I mean like, um..." You stutter, finding it to be increasingly more difficult to hold his gaze. "You w-want to do stuff like go on d-dates, hold hands... kiss?" The pitch in your voice increases at the last bit of criteria. 

Haku laughs a bit and he nods reassuringly. "Yeah, definitely. That about checks all the boxes for non-platonic relationships." Haku brings a finger to his lips in deliberation. The corners of his hazel eyes crinkle with mirth and you just know he's about to embarrass the shit out of you. "Well, not all..." Haku drawls, correcting himself. 

A nervous laugh stumbles awkwardly out of your mouth. "Anywho...! Gotta go help patients or whatever, haha! I think this is far enough, you know your way out!" You spin on your heel and head back from where you came. Not bothering to turn around, you call back to him, waving your hand in the air. "Talk to ya later, Haku! Text me, or something!"

Haku snorts, returning the gesture with a wave of his own even though you can't see it. "I'll do that, (Y/N).”