#still at least it gives me germs of ideas for my own stories etc

[quantomeno]

I always found Metru Nui so interesting and I feel part of why it is less well-regarded (and probably why every location except Mata Nui is overlooked) is because we never got to spend as much time exploring it the way we did in MNOGI&II.

The promotional CD roms (I think they came with the toa?) gave a bit of a taste of each metru, and so did the movie and the Metru Nui guidebook, but it never felt enough. To this day I still want to see more of Ga-Metru.

I think we as a Fandom are so in love with Mata nui that we forget just how cool the other locations in this universe are

[whumpmatsus]

Do they have to be whump related? Also Ichimatsu getting a shot pls

wasn't sure if you wanted a draw or a fic, so I did both!

and yeah, any draw or fic requests you send here should probably be whump-related since this is a whump-focused blog

though if you wanna send any draw or fic/scenario/reaction/etc. requests that AREN'T whump, you can send them to my general Osomatsu-san blog at @kisskissmatsu!

enjoooooy <3

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Usually Ichimatsu is the sextuplet who’s fine being left all by himself.

Being in the hospital without his family, though, is a much different story.

It started innocently enough ― with a persistent cough that was almost certainly the herald of a cold or sore throat on the horizon. As much as he hates being sick, he sort of resigned himself to it. He’s the one among his brothers who’s forever catching what happens to be going around, despite the fact that he doesn’t spend a lot of time around other people. That’s why he started wearing a face mask when he does leave the house.

It was about a week or so of sneezing, coughing, and sniffling his way through various attempts to rest. His throat felt worse than it usually did with a cold, and even more alarming was that his chest felt like it was on fire, especially when he started coughing. Even though he started having trouble breathing, he thought maybe this was just something that would linger for a bit, something that needed more sleep to recover from.

When things didn’t taper off after that, since a week was typically all it took for him to start feeling better, the others started commenting on it.

When Ichimatsu started to spend more time in the bathroom with a sink full of hot water in the hopes that the steam would help him breathe easier, and it didn’t seem to be having any effect, they all got worried.

When Karamatsu blurted out, “I secretly took Ichimatsu’s temperature with a forehead thermometer while he was sleeping and it read 39.4!”, Mom and Dad immediately carted their fourth son off to the hospital.

It figures Shittymatsu would get him into this mess, but Ichimatsu supposes that the sneaky gesture was only out of care, otherwise Karamatsu wouldn’t have spoken up about a number that concerned him.

That doesn’t mean he has to like it. After a distressing, panic-inducing few hours of waiting and a date with the X-ray machine, the doctor diagnosed him with bacterial pneumonia. That particular diagnosis ensured that he had to be admitted into the hospital under quarantine, because as the doctor explained, bacterial pneumonia is extremely contagious and potentially life-threatening, particularly to someone with a fragile immune system like Ichimatsu. They can’t send him home to infect his brothers or the rest of the community, and even though he isn’t technically immuno-compromised, his tendency to get sick easily means that it’s better for him to be here in the hospital in case things suddenly take a bad turn.

Being in here is like he’s trapped in hell and can’t get out. Because he’s in quarantine, he never sees anybody. Which would be fine normally. Feeling so poorly is a significant reason for wanting his family nearby, though… and he can’t have them.

The most they can do is visit outside his room and talk to him through the speaker system. That’s even worse, seeing them all and not being able to have any real contact with him. Right now more than anything, what he wants is a hug from his mom. God, he wants a hug from his brothers.

It’s hard to even get any rest like he’s supposed to be doing. Most of his time is spent sitting up, trying to get a sufficient breath in while he listens to various TV channels. The idol news reminds him of Choromatsu, sports statistics remind him of Jyushimatsu, game shows remind him of Osomatsu, American dramas remind him of Karamatsu, and fashion shows remind him of Totty.

Those are just distractions, because it’s still hard to breathe. He’s struggling for most of his breaths, but too deep a breath will trigger a coughing fit. Which, in turn, makes it more difficult to breathe.

It’s barely been a day since he was admitted and already he wants out of here.

His brothers visit sometime after lunch, and they spend a few hours. Eventually the nurse gently chases them out, telling them that Ichimatsu needs to try to get some rest. Shortly after that she comes into the room, rolling her little cart with the tray on it.

“How do you feel today, Ichimatsu?” she hums, pulling on a pair of gloves. “Any better than when we admitted you?”

He shakes his head and tries to answer when another series of coughs interrupts him. Although it’s hard to cover his mouth when his whole body is aching, he does his best. After all, he doesn’t want to get anyone else sick. He’s already in quarantine, so all the doctors and nurses are taking their own precautions; still, he shouldn’t just give up and spread his germs carelessly. “N-not really.”

She nods and picks up a wrapped packet from the tray. “Well, to be honest, that’s understandable. It hasn’t been very long.” The packet is ripped open, and the distinct smell of alcohol fills the air as she carefully pushes his sleeve up. “The lack of improvement does concern us, though. So I just have to give you an injection of some medicine, okay?”

Shit. He thought that might be what was going on here. He knows he’s too exhausted to fight it, and yet, his brain evidently isn’t too exhausted to not be fucking anxious about it. “I… I have to get a shot?”

The cold wipe is rubbed against the top part of his arm. “Yeahhh… I’m sorry. This is penicillin, and it’s one of our standard treatments for pneumonia. The doctor thinks you’ll have better luck sitting still for one shot than for a whole pill-and-water deal, since you’re coughing a lot. I kind of have to agree, since you might accidentally inhale some water if you cough while trying to take the pills.”

Immediately he starts to panic. Most of the time the idea of a shot doesn’t bother him more than it might the average person ― he gets the yearly flu vaccine without any problems. Right now, however… the idea of a shot while he’s already feeling so terrible, the initial pinch and the ache that might happen afterwards and being alone, it just feels scary.

The nurse must hear the way his breathing starts to quicken, or maybe the way his hands start shaking. She gives his shoulder a little pat. “Ah, I know on your chart it says you suffer from some anxiety. Are you a bit anxious right now?”

“Y… yeah…”

“Okay. That’s totally fine, you know? Different people get anxious about different things. Would it help if I distracted you, or if I gave you a countdown so you know when it’s coming? Sometimes that helps so it’s not a surprise… or, sometimes people prefer it to be a surprise. Which one do you think would be best for you?”

… Oh. He wasn’t expecting something like that. It almost feels like he has a little control over this, despite the fact that he has to get the injection either way. “C… can you… count down?”

“Sure, of course. No problem.” Then she reaches over with one hand, grabbing the syringe with the other. “Would you like to hold my hand?”

That’s kind of… babyish, isn’t it? “I-I’m not a kid… I don’t wanna…”

She chuckles. “Well, you know, earlier today I held the hand of an elderly lady who was getting a shot. It’s not just a kid thing. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

He takes a moment to consider that, then silently slips his hand into hers.

“Alright, just squeeze if you feel like you need to. I’m all set, are you?”

“I… I think so…”

“Okay, I’m gonna give you the countdown then. Here we go. Three ― two ― one.”

As soon as she says the last number, he feels the needle pierce his skin. It’s uncomfortable, a sharp kind of pinprick pain. There’s a slight feeling of tightness and soreness as the medicine is emptied into his muscle, and a brief jolt when the nurse pulls the needle out.

All in all, even though it isn’t a pleasant experience, it’s not as bad as it could have been. It’s certainly better than choking on a pill and a glass of water if he had to try to swallow the medication.

And, at least, it’s over now.

“There. You did great, Ichimatsu. Probably my best patient of the day!” With that, she sets the syringe back down on the tray and gingerly smooths a bandage with a cotton ball over the injection site. “That should keep you clean just in case any blood trickles out from the shot, and someone will come take it off later if the adhesive starts to make your skin itch.”

He nods and coughs into his arm again, giving a soft groan. He’s just so tired, from the fever, from the coughing, from not being home. “Is it gonna m… khh… make me tired?”

“Haha, it shouldn’t, no. You might feel a little nauseous, or you might have to go to the bathroom more, or you might get a small itchy rash… just press the call button if any of that happens or if you feel strange otherwise, okay?” Her cart is all packed up already, and she’s heading out of the room. “If you get tired, it’s probably because you’re sick and need rest. So, try to sleep as much as you can.”

“’Kay.” He just feels like this illness has drained everything out of him, and there’s a little throbbing where he got the injection. But, the more he sleeps, hopefully the sooner he can recover and go home.

On her way out, the nurse dims the lights. Practically as soon as she does, Ichimatsu’s eyes start to drift closed. God, he’s so tired.

He lies down, though the bed is still a little elevated since sleeping flat will just make him cough more. Sleep tugs at him, and he has to move a little bit so he’s not putting any pressure on the area where he got the shot.

Soon. Soon he can go home.

Just as soon as he gets better.

[kaspbrak-tozier-reddie]

Kaspbrak vs Tozier

Pairing: Reddie, side of Benverly

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of homophobia

———————————————————————

Sonia Kaspbrak and both, Wentworth and Maggie Tozier, never got along. It went as far back as 3 (maybe even 4) generations of Toziers and Kaspbraks before the three had a son each. Edward ‘Eddie’ Kaspbrak and Richard ‘Richie’ Tozier grew up hating each other.   

Eddie and Richie never fully understood the story, it made little sense as to how both families hated each other. There was a blurred line between the two, something to do with different beliefs. During a time when being gay was seen as unacceptable (and an illness), the Tozier’s were accepting as were a few families in the community (like the Marsh’s and the Uris’). But Eddie and Richie never understood why the disparity was only between the Toziers and Kaspbraks, not the others that accepted the constant changing community? It was blurred, neither had the full story, so the two boys made up their own stories. 

Eddie, being raised in a highly religious household, thought that maybe 4th generation Tozier was friends with 4th generation Kaspbrak and then said something that didn’t agree with the way of the church. i.e came out gay or had pre-marital intercourse etc.  The idea of loving someone of the opposite gender was drilled into every Kaspbrak family, that it was evil. Since Frank Kaspbrak was an only child, the only hope was for Eddie to continue the legacy. But Eddie was seeing different and all the lies his mother had told completely changed his view on life. 

Richie, on the other hand, thought that maybe the two families were friends until a Tozier fell in love with a Kaspbrak. The Kaspbraks, being part of the majority of the unaccepting community, stopped being friends with the Toziers due to them being part of the ‘infected’ and scared that they’d be ‘infected’ also. The Toziers general thought was that everything they did and said were immoral, as the Kaspbrak’s are highly religious.

****

Now in college, Eddie was certain that he was rid of Richie but that thought’s gone when the tall, curly-haired, punk-styled boy sits beside him in a psychology lecture. “Fuck!” They both mutter harshly as they realised. Richie and Eddie start to gather up their belongings only to realise that there are no more empty seats in the entire hall. Both fall into their respective seats in a huff and lean away from one another to take their notes.

He takes a quick glimpse at the boy sitting beside him, eyeballing him up and down. It’s obvious that Richie’s still hot, he killed the whole skater/punk vibe. It was the slightly baggy black ripped jeans and the oldish, slightly baggy, hole-ridden Nirvana t-shirt, the whole vibe of a skater dude. His dark, almost black, hair was untamed, curly, it falls nicely over his hipster black glasses.

“Quit checking me out Kaspbrak,” Richie whispers.

“I wasn’t,” Eddie mutters and he focusses back to the lecture but can’t help but continue to steal a glance at the boy beside him. Unbeknownst to Eddie, Richie is doing the exact same thing. Richie focusses on the details to give him an implication as to who Eddie is. A germaphobe.

Well, the fanny pack kinda gives it away, the deep denim blue skinny jeans are matched to a light pink polo shirt. His hair’s tamed, a gentle wave is starting to poke through, he clearly straightens his hair, Richie thinks. All Richie can now think about is pinching Eddie’s cheeks and calling him ‘cute’. 

“Stop staring Tozier.” Richie looks away from Eddie quickly but could hear the obvious smirk in Eddie’s voice. Both boys suddenly forget why their families hate each other. Eddie knows that his mum was wrong, it isn’t a disease, and with one final glance at Richie, before the end of the lecture, he finally accepts (after 2 years of debating), that he is gay. 

****

Eddie takes the hike up to his dorm room, “Sorry man but you’ve been bumped up a floor, your roommate’s really sick of something.” Some dude says to Eddie, handing him his new room key and number. 

Great! Just what he needs. Thankfully he had taken his computer (and charger) plus his 3 lecture books. “How long before I can go back?” Eddie asks.

“Unfortunately not, you’ve been moved permanently for the year.” Eddie huffs and hauls himself up another flight of stairs. That means that the college had touched his personal items and moved them to his new room. Well, that’s a breach of privacy.

“43?” Eddie whispers to himself, he walks slowly down the hall and stops just as he sees the boy walking into the room. “I’m rooming with you?!” 

“Edward!? You’re the ass that’s bunking with me for the rest of the semester?” Richie yells back.��

There has to be some sort of mistake. He feels like Juliet Capulet, or maybe Romeo Montague, he doesn’t know. One of them at least. Eddie tries to find a nicer example considering how it ends in Shakespeare’s play but it’s the only acceptable parallel, only he hopes it won’t end in tragedy.

Eddie walks in through the door in a huff, throwing his backpack at the foot of his new bed and falls back onto the bedding, his head narrowly missing the top of the bed. “Okay, our families have an issue but we haven’t spoken or done anything mean to one another,” Richie reasons. “Why don’t we get to know each other?”

“Sure.” 

Eddie doesn’t see the harm and he knows that Richie is right. Why was there ever an issue? The line was blurred as to how it truly went down as every generation messed up what actually happened. It finally came down to Richie and Eddie, and both of them had no idea why they were supposed to hate each other. If it had something to do with the homophobia way back then, then it shouldn’t be a problem now. 

****

A few months later, the pair have become great friends, hidden from their parents. Now being a day before the start of Spring break, both of them have finished exams and are sitting on their respective beds reading. “I’m going to my friend’s beach house, well her dad’s. He died a couple of years ago and she inherited the house a few months ago after turning 18.” Richie says but then doesn’t follow through. The actual invitation getting lost on his tongue.

“Are you inviting me or just saying for a conversational purpose?” Eddie asks.

“Huh? Oh right, would you like to come? I was given an extra ticket.” 

The truth was Richie told Bev (and Stan) about his little crush on Eddie (that he had developed a little over 2 months ago). So when she booked the flight (which Richie had paid for), she paid for an extra ticket so that Eddie could also go. 

When Richie received the e-mail 2 days ago, Bev had written, “I booked an extra ticket for that cutie that you told me about.”

“Ah, yeah sure. Better than being cooped up in here or in Derry.” Eddie replies.

With Spring break just around the corner, Eddie is keen to just get out of the dorm room and out with friends or even back at Derry. But he doesn’t want to travel back to his overbearing mother. If she ever finds out ... Eddie doesn’t want to fathom on the thought, so he trails off.

“We leave tomorrow,” Richie says nonchalantly 

“Way to throw that at me now, dickhead!” Eddie cries but doesn’t get up.

Richie pulls out a suitcase from under his bed, he packs 3 of his hideous Hawaiian shirts and a couple of pairs of board shorts. Eddie watches intently, the suitcase is a little big for that little amount of clothes. Even with a swim towel, jeans, leather jacket and a hoodie, it was still too big. Richie waltzes over to Eddie’s side of the room.  

Eddie’s frozen as he watches Richie grab a shit ton of his clothing, normally he would be pissed for the invasion of privacy but Richie still did whatever he liked. Richie takes into account of Eddie’s personality and fears, finding shorts and board shorts, t-shirts (& Polo tops), pyjamas and underwear. He whips out a jacket, hoodie and jeans. In a plastic bag, Richie grabs some flipflops and two pairs for Eddie (germs ya know). 

*

As the pair seat themselves, in the seats that Bev had booked, Eddie starts to question the chairs. Every known fact about plane accidents and worst seats come into his mind. He reaches into his pocket for his inhaler, a terrible habit and mechanism that seems to be the only thing to stop his panic attacks. Richie doesn’t question it, the only thing that seems reasonable, is to get him distracted, especially for take-off. Richie passes him a novel from his own carry-on and a stick of gum. Eddie tightens his seat belt and willingly takes the gum and the book from Richie, he glances at the punk styled man beside him and smiles briefly. He feels pressure grip his knee and slowly moves upwards towards the middle of his thigh. It’s a subtle notion that brings Eddie comfort.

“Richie, can I tell you something?” Eddie asks, just as the plane starts to move towards the runway. It’s weird wanting to tell the guy you’re gay when you’re 1) supposed to hate them, 2) have a crush on them and 3) only just became really good friends with.

“Sure Eds.” Now he’s dreading it and wants to back down. He tries to think of anything else to say to Richie.

“Okay, first off, don’t call me that. Second of all, I think I’m gay.” Richie doesn’t say anything, he blinks a couple of times and then smiles. 

“So am I.” Eddie reciprocates the smile. “What do you think happened between our families?” It ties in, so Eddie wasn’t at all surprised by the question. It had, of course, been burning into his mind ever since he found out that Richie was actually a really nice guy. Richie decides to impulsively pinch Eddie’s cheeks, Eddie wacks his hand away and rubs his cheek and tries to cover the crimson colour that his face is turning.

Once Eddie gets a hold of himself, suppressing the butterflies and the blush that had occurred, he says, “I don’t know, whatever it was, it must’ve been bad. I was told that it was something to do with homophobia.”

“I was told something a little more broad, just a disagreement that went against church beliefs.” 

****

By the time they reached Beverly’s beach house, it’s almost 8pm, Richie pays the taxi driver and collects his suitcase from the trunk of the car. “Right, shall we?” Richie says in his terrible British accent. The house looks fairly fancy, considering it was owned by Alvin Marsh, parts were still a little old-fashioned like the outside light fixtures and the original part before the odd & modern extension out the back, other than that it was pretty modern. The squared look, the clear open floor plan, since the curtains are drawn back, you can see in from the curb. 

“Molly, how are you?” Richie greets as the redheaded girl opens the door.

“Great Richard, and don’t call me Molly.” She steps aside to let Richie and Eddie step in. “So this is the guy you’ve been blabbing to me about. Wait! Isn’t he -”

The look in Bev’s eyes ... Eddie knows that she knows. Even though he had never hung out with her in high school, it was obvious that she knows who he is. 

“Edward?!” Stan spits. “This is the guy you’ve been whining about!?”

“Give him a break Stanley, Eddie was almost valedictorian, tutored, did babysitting and volunteering.” Ben pipes up. 

Ben wasn’t part of Richie’s friendship group, but Eddie did know that he had a massive crush on Bev. It was obvious, he would stare hopefully all English class, Eddie found it kinda pathetic but knew what it was like to be pining for someone he couldn’t have. His crush on Richie went away after high school but came rushing back at the start of the year when they had inadvertently sat beside each other in psychology. 

“It’s the obvious story of Romeo and Juliet!” Beverly cries cheerfully. 

Before Richie or Eddie could butt in, Ben comments, “Can I make a Degrassi reference babe?” Bev rolls her eyes and nods towards Ben, “It’s Romeo and Jules.” 

Richie looks at Eddie cautiously, trying to eyeball and sudden change in demeanour that may signal that Eddie doesn’t like him. “I’m the Capulet, Bill is my Tybalt!” Eddie screams, Richie only laughs and kisses Eddie.

“So, Eddie Spaghetti, does that make Bev and Stan my ‘Benvolio’ and ‘Mercutio’?” Richie whispers against Eddie’s lips.

“If you want them to be.” The two laugh into yet another kiss.

“Okay okay, keep it PG-rated! We don’t want any nonsense!” Beverly says jokingly.

Now that they were far away from Derry and far away from their parents and their parents’ feud. The two took it upon themselves to start a clean slate for the Toziers and Kaspbraks. Eddie ponders on the thought that if Romeo and Juliet didn’t die, they’d unite their families, just like he hopes for Richie and him.