#love a needlephobic fred ngl

[faofinn]

DAY 5: “that’s gonna scar”

@febuwhump

It had been a long while since the Daniels had been on holiday, and longer since they'd been abroad. With Finn reasonably under control, both behaviour and now seizures, they'd used the summer holidays to get away. Of course Fao was invited, simply part of the family.

They'd not gone too far away, just in case, but it was still exciting. Finn had been a nightmare on the plane, and the bus to the hotel, so everyone was quite glad when he finally crashed out that evening. 

Finn wasn't the first one awake, surprisingly, Fred up long before anyone else. He'd made some notes about the place, where they just had to go to, but he had more to add to it. When Finn finally woke Fao up (with a rather excited shove), they headed down for breakfast before a day of well deserved rest. Sheila had said it from the start, that there was to be nothing done on the first day but rest.

Fao grumbled as Finn woke him, protesting the rude awakening, but it was soon forgotten at the prospect of breakfast. He got dressed and headed down, making sure Finn was somewhat presentable as they made their way down to eat. There was nothing quite like a hotel breakfast, after all. They met Fred and Sheila outside their room, and as a family they got a table and started to eat. It was an excuse for Fao to eat far too much, but they were on holiday, why shouldn’t he enjoy himself? 

Once breakfast had been consumed, it was off to the beach. Sheila, of course, lathered everyone in suncream before anyone made it near the sun. Fred and Finn immediately charged for the sea, Sheila choosing to have a few minutes relax on the shore.

Fao let Fred and Finn charge about for a while, hanging back with Sheila. They’d found a spot on the sand to relax, Fao finally confident enough now to take his top off and enjoy the sun. It had taken a year or so, but now he was in the best shape he’d been in, and he felt confident. It was strange, but nice. Uni had really brought him out of his shell, and despite Finn’s accident, he felt much more in control. 

Stretched out on a sun lounger, he watched his brother and his adoptive Dad hare up and down, and glanced over at Sheila. 

“Taking bets on who falls over first.”

"If Finn doesn't hurt himself first, there's something wrong." She laughed. 

“I don’t know…” Fao said. “My money’s on Fred. I don’t think he’s run that fast for years.”

"That's true…though you've not seen him on opening day when they've got a new exhibit."

“Well, that’s true.”

"You not fancy going and joining them?"

“In a bit. I was going to chill out for a bit first, get some sun. I’m pretty full from breakfast.”

"Don't get burned, mind."

“Impossible, the amount of suncream you forced me to put on. I think I’ll be paler.”

"Good." She laughed. 

“I did want a bit of a tan.”

"Come here, I'll draw some shapes on you."

“Don’t you dare.” He shot backk. 

"Spoil sport."

“I know, I’m so terrible.”

She laughed. "The worst. Just wait, I'll get you when you're asleep."

“Good luck with that.”

"I'll get Finn to do it."

“He’d laugh too much, wake me up immediately.”

"That's true."

“Can imagine him just giggling to himself.”

"Of course."

With the pair distracted, Finn had seen his opportunity. While he had initially just reappeared for a drink, the temptation to cause mischief was too much. He gave a giggle as he threw the bucket of water over the pair, seaweed and all.

Fao squealed, the water cold on his skin. He leapt to his feet, shaking off. Seeing Finn stood there with the bucket, he grinned. 

“Oh, now you’re for it!”

Sheila had to laugh, drenched too. She caught sight of Fred paddling in the surf, and the pair shared a smile, watching the kids, their kids cause mischief. 

Fao charged after Finn, laughing as he caught up to his little brother easily. He had a considerable advantage, obviously, and once he was alongside him he grabbed his waist, tackling him to the ground. The sand was soft, and Fao was careful, not about to send his brother to the hospital again. He was breathing heavily and laughing, soaking wet with his hair in his face. 

Finn squealed in delight, even as he was tackled. He wriggled under Fao, struggling to catch his breath between giggles. He stretched out, grabbing a piece of seaweed and throwing it at Fao's hair.

“Urgh! Finn!” Fao grumbled. “Gross!”

He laughed harder, squeezing out of the gap he'd made. He scrambled off, sprinting away. 

Shaking out his hair and getting rid of the seaweed, Fao pelted after Finn again, laughing. 

Fred shook his head, watching the two cause the chaos they always did. He figured he might as well go sit with sheila while the two played, so began walking back up.  He'd managed to find some rocks to walk on, giving him a bit more of a steady footing. Small shoals of fish sped away from his feet as he walked, and he glanced down, watching them go. 

He glanced down a second too late, barely catching sight of it before the jellyfish stung his foot. He yelped instinctively, jumping away from it and slipping off the rocks he was stood on. His ankle rolled as he did so, his other leg getting caught between sharp pieces of coral and limpets. Swearing under his breath, he struggled to shore, grumbling on his way back to Sheila. 

Fao and Finn were still tearing across the beach, covered in sand and seaweed and god knows what else. Finn had thrown another bucket of water over Fao, and so it was all out war, naturally. 

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Fao saw Fred trudging up the beach, blood running down his leg. He rushed over, immediately worried. 

“Dad? You’re bleeding.”

"It's just a scratch."

“Looks like more than that.” Fao said.

"It feels it." He admitted. He just didn't fancy looking at it, the nausea already threatening. 

“Come and sit down.” Fao said protectively. “Let me have a look at you.”

"It's fine, Fao. Go enjoy yourself.'

“You’re bleeding all over the place.” Fao said, taking his arm. 

"I'm fine." 

“You don’t look it.” 

"Oh, Fred. What did you do?" Sheila shook her head, grabbing his other arm. "Come sit, let me sort it out."

"Okay."

“Have you got some supplies or something, Mum?” Fao asked. 

"With you three around? Of course I do."

He laughed. “Good. What the hell did you do, Dad?” 

"I slipped, I think." He winced. "It wasn’t my fault, a jellyfish stung me first."

“Christ.”

"Here we go, sit down, let me have a look." Sheila said softly. 

Whilst Sheila fussed over Fred, Fao dug around in the bags, looking for the first aid kit. When he found it, he set it down on the side, glancing over at his mum. 

"You two look so serious. What's wrong?" Fred barely dared to ask. 

“Just a bit of a cut.” Fao said, knowing full well his Dad was likely to panic. 

"It might be an idea to pop up to a hospital." Sheila murmured, rubbing Fred’s arm.

“Yeah, it could do with being looked at. I’ll dress it, make sure it’s all sorted first.”

"I'm sure it's fine."

“Who are we listening to? The history professor or the nurse and the med student?” Fao shot back.

Fred shook his head, and then dared to steal a glance at it. His stomach flipped as he paled, leaning back into the sand. "Oh, that's gonna scar."

“Yeah, maybe. But you know what they say - chicks dig scars. Maybe you’ll impress mum. Tell her it was a shark attack or something.”

Sheila moved so Fred could rest his head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair. "Mm, yeah. Definitely a shark attack."

“She’ll swoon at your feet.” Fao said, grabbing supplies to dress it. 

"Oh, definitely." She laughed softly. "

Fao dressed it and wrapped it tightly, aiming to stop the worst of the bleeding. “Right, there. Think we should probably get to hospital now.”

"No, no. No. No hospital." Fred shook his head.

“We’re going to have to.”

"No. They’ll have needles and I'm not doing that."

“It needs doing, though.” Fao said. “We’ll distract you.”