#painkillers: take pain away

[semiotomatics]

me: oh my god i feel fantastic i should clean my room i should climb a mountain why do i feel so good

also me: has taken 1200mg of ibuprofen in the last 6 hours

[houseswife]

we spend the entire show watching house do anything to treat his pain — he goes to (understandably) insane, destructive lengths just to ensure he never has to suffer being sober. his entire life is focused around a cycle of distraction, thrill-seeking, and avoidance. we know that his home is filled with hundreds upon hundreds of pills, so he can always prolong and maximise those moments where his agony is muffled. and yet, in the final scene, we see him dive head-on into the end, and despite this being the most gruelling, insurmountable prognosis of his entire life, we see him smile bathed in the sunlight; those muted tones are dauntingly lifted, yet there’s no echo of a bottle rattling.

[danielnelsen]

things aren’t going well with peach. while i think my dad’s very right to be concerned that she hasn’t eaten anything in nearly 60 hours (obviously i am too), im becoming increasingly concerned that she hasn’t slept at all in around 36 hours and prior to that she was under anaesthetic, which isn’t exactly restful, so it’s closer to 48 hrs

like dad took her back to the vet today and we’ve got injections for her painkillers now because she’s not eating, and also injections for fluids (because she doesn’t drink; she only gets water from her food), so the not eating is Bad but also kinda under management, but if she doesn’t sleep soon i’m extremely worried. dad was like ‘if she doesn’t eat by tomorrow afternoon we’ll take her back because the injections will run out’ but like. if she doesn’t sleep tonight we have GOT to take her back first thing in the morning so they can sedate her or something

[petrichorvidae]

Mushy May Day 3: Massage

Rating: Teen Word count: 1,375 Pairing(s): Zephyr/Aether (can also be read as platonic) Additional: They/Them nonbinary Zephyr and chronic pains Summary: Zephyr's been having a bad back day, but thankfully Aether's here to help with his magic hands. Here's a link to it on AO3 for those who prefer!

Some good ol' hurt/comfort that was born after I started projecting my recent back issues on Zephyr lol

As always, a huge thanks to @forlorn-crows for organizing Mushy May!

~~~~~~~~~~

Zephyr whines as the pain in their lower back decides to flair up again, prolonging their misery. They had been in their room for most of the day, waking up with the most horrible back pain and not keen on finding out whether or not getting up and walking around would make it get better or worse. They had to leave eventually though, after a few hours of reading the closest book they could reach without moving much didn’t do all that much to keep away the biological need for food.

That’s how they ended up here, curled over in pain against the side of the aisle separating the band ghouls’ kitchenette from the main space of their den, not even able to grab a sandwich from the fridge. It truly is a huge shame too, they know Mountain had prepped one of their favourites just for them, only to be stuck just two feet away, so close yet so far to that spicy and delicious chicken sandwich that their stomach yearns for. Maybe, just maybe, they could try to slowly inch their way closer to the fridge. Just before they could enact upon their plan, another spike of pain hits their spine. They groan into the countertop, cursing their dark lord for giving them such terrible pains so often. Sometimes they truly wonder if they pissed in his cereal or something in another life. 

“Why me? I just wanna eat a sandwich, goddamnit!” They wail, thumping their fist against the counter in despair. So close, they were so damn close, if only they could just get to it. Surely they could do just this one thing and go back to back. Screw their chores, Terzo would hopefully understand, plus they’d probably already missed most of them anyway.

“Need some help there?”

Zephyr nearly gives themself whiplash with how just quickly their head snaps up and over to the doorway leading out into the rest of the abbey, and they swear they could cry tears of joy when their eyes lay upon their would-be saviour.

“Aether! Please!” They would usually be embarrassed by how desperate they sound right now, but their back really does hurt beyond belief, and they needed that chicken sandwich ages ago. Pride be damned, they can swallow it just for a while if it meant being free from this invisible prison.

The burly Quintessence ghoul doesn’t chuckle even a little bit at Zephyr’s pleas for help, which really just goes to convey how much of their pain he must be able to feel with his Quintessence right now. Without a word, Aether is taking long strides over to Zephyr and before they know it he’s helping them stand up to hopefully lessen their pain, if even just a little. They’re leaning back slightly to press against his broad chest for support, and they don’t even realise the tears that had been slowly but surely wetting their cheeks and leaving salty trails in their wake until Aether is already wiping them away with gentle hands.

Aether rests his chin against Zephyr’s short and fluffy hair atop their head, carefully nestled between sharp and curving horns, placing kisses everywhere he can reach. When he starts scratching at their scalp Zephyr is helpless to the purr it pulls out from them.

As nice as it is though, and how much they both truly wish they could, they can’t stay like this forever, they both know it and yet Zephyr still whines a little when the scratches stop and Aether pulls away from them, even if just a little. “You want me to massage your back a little, help with the pain?” He offers gently.

Zephyr sighs, they’re not super keen on the idea of him using up his Quintessence for their back pains when there are far more serious injuries he could save it for, but they suppose it’s their only hope of walking any time soon without crumpling in on themself. “Yeah, sure, Quintessence me up with those magic fingers of yours.” They earn a chuckle from the large ghoul and consider it as a win for the time being. At least they still have their charm.

“Okay, sure buddy. I’m gonna step back a bit now, so you’ll probably need to support yourself on the counter or something, okay?” Zephyr ‘mhm’s in response, but even with the heads up they wobble a little and let out the tiniest of squeaks when the support they had from him being behind them is gone, though they do manage to place both of their hands on the counter in time. They croon when they feel that tell-tale tingle of Aether’s Quintessence before being joined by the feeling of his hands finally touching their back. Aether begins to work his magic, massaging away all the tension with his hands while he pumps them with a minimal dosage of his magick with each and every touch to help with their pain. It works wonders, truly, and within a matter of mere minutes, Zephyr is purring up a storm and fighting the weightlessness that washes over them and urges them to melt into his hands, rather favouring standing upright instead. Their tail has even come up and begun to wag and thump against the counter and Aether has to wrap around it with his own to prevent them from knocking it a little too roughly against the hard surface.

“Could you go a little higher, maybe? Yeah, to the left a little like tha- oh-”

“Here?”

“Oh yeah, that’s the spot~” They moan and they lean into his magic touch, pun not intended. 

After a little while Aether pulls away, able to sense now that Zephyr is much more comfortable than they had been when he first found them, and steps back to give them a little space, just enough for them to try out standing and walking on their own without support.

Zephyr takes a few steps and wow, just wow. “Wow. How do I keep forgetting that you can do that?”.

“I’ve told you, you should call me when your back gets bad like this.” Aether reminds them, and Zephyr thinks for a second about saying something along the lines of ‘it always gets like this’ but decides against it, recognizing that Aether almost definitely felt it all the time too, and that this was his own way of saying that he was always there for them should they need him. “Now, while I have pumped you full of enough Quintessence to put a one and only water ghoul by the name of  Dew to sleep for a night, you should still probably rest. You wanna do anything?” ‘Do you want me to join you?’ he left unspoken.

Zephyr thought about it a little, they knew deep down what they wanted right now, but they felt a bit awkward to ask it of him. “Do you… Could you read a book to me? In bed?” They pick at their fingers a little, looking at their feet. “I just wanna cuddle or something right now, I guess, but I’ve also got this book I’ve been reading but there’s not really any comfortable ways to lie down with it.”

Aether smiles at them, pure love in his eyes, free of judgement. “Of course, little wisp, how about you go change into some fresh clothes and I’ll grab you whatever it was you looked like you were trying to get from the fridge when I came in?” Zephyr doesn’t reply with words, just nods their head a little too enthusiastically before padding off to their room. 

Aether looks over to the fridge and realises he doesn’t know what exactly it was that Zephyr wanted from the fridge so bad, but before he can even open his mouth to call out to the Air ghoul, Zephyr’s already shouting down the hall; “Spicy chicken sandwich!” and a few seconds later “Heat it up, please! Don’t like when it’s cold.”.

Aether chuckles to himself before grabbing Zephyr’s pre-prepped sandwich from the fridge and popping it in the microwave. It looks like he’s in for an afternoon of cuddles with Zephyr and some light reading, and honestly, what more could he ask for?

[oschonseleven]

I'm sorry I'm not being very brave about this but MOUF HURT

[bluetheoutcast]

My headache isn’t strong enough for me to take a med but it’s annoying enough for me to not be able to do my daily activities so i just don’t know what to do

[mite75]

Woke up in the middle of the night because tummy hurt 😞 im so tired why does God give his stupidest battles to his most pathetic warriors. I just want a good hug.

[californiaquail]

i have minor ass surgery this afternoon unfortunately (cyst) and i made the mistake of watching youtube videos of the procedure. fear

[britcision]

So I saw my GI doc again today and he asked me just the wildest question

He asked what painkillers I take when my guts get bad

And I just

It had not occurred to me that this was a problem I should take painkillers about?

Because usually? Well, it’s a pain with a pretty immediate solution. I go to the bathroom for like an hour and it is gone

And I don’t tend to worry much about pain if I know it will be over soon. This gets me through basically any tattoo work in one session cuz I do not need a break

I spend A Lot of time in pain

I’m not gonna remember the part where I’m in pain in a week

[iero]

Totally real question for y'all (and don't make fun of me), but how do you guys distract yourself? Especially if you're in pain and you're trying not to think about how you're in pain?

[krikeymate]

tara with a painkiller addiction. discuss.

[kirk-goes-to-gallifrey]

having a kidney stone crisis on the day before a huge interview for a position that I *really* want it

The

Last

Thing

I needed. Thanks very much my dear body...

[gayhoediaz]

.

[rascheln]

Had the weirdest headache? migraine? the last two days where especially my eyebrow right by my eye would hurt and then last night the ache would wander down my nose and then up the center of my forehead.

[silasbug]

*looks between the WIPs wearily* ........... i..... really want to finish something. haven't in days. but i. my hands. don't want to. and my brain says no. my head hurts. i am frustrated because i just wanna enjoy drawing/writing. but it's not working at the moment.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

I think people over seventy years old should have unrestricted access to prescription painkillers. Not to take home or anything (they might get sold or stolen, although frankly I think pain meds should be less regulated in general and the fact that such a market exists for that is a sign that they're over-restricted in the first place) but like, they should be able to show up at the hospital and flash their ID and be like "morphine please" and have a nurse shoot them up then and there. Yes this is about my stepfather who had every health problem and finally became a tolerable human being after he was put on constant pain management medication but also if you're over 70 you know how your own body works and what pain feels like and frankly if you throw away your life to a painkiller addiction at that age (way less rare than the media would have you think, most "abusers" of painkillers are self-medicating *to manage their pain that they're not being prescribed enough medication for*) then all the more power to you.