Chapter Text
In the past years they spent together, Chosen has never gotten sick, not even a little bug. How warm the black stick figure was scared Dark; a loud noise woke her up right? Maybe whoever was responsible for that probably had more knowledge about a sick stick than her – Dark has also never gotten sick; she did have a bug in her codes a few years ago though. Getting up from the bed, she covers Chosen up with the blanket gently, before leaving the room.
It's not long until a playful fight is heard from the kitchen, from afar, Dark watches whatever Blue and Yellow are doing, still in their sleep wear.
“You want to get banished from the kitchen twice, don’t you??” multiple giggles come from both sticks “NO!!!! I was just trying to HELP!” Dark would never admit out loud, at least for now, but the younger sticks have been gaining a place on their heart, they have been so eager to accept and forgive them into their lives.
It angers Dark.
Their presence is noticed by the other two sticks rather quickly.
“Morning!” They try to speak in unison, hiding the mess that Dark suspects it was Yellow’s fault, he says morning back.
“I know you just woke up-“ Blue glares at Yellow who sheepishly grinned at both “but do you know where Chosen is?” Ah… yes, Chosen. She got distracted “They’re usually awake sitting in the couch when I wake up…”
“I swear, I have never seen that guy relax, it’s scary!” Blue smacks the back of yellows head, Dark cannot help but let a chuckle out.
“He’s in my room asleep…”
“Asleep?! No way! I gotta se-“ Yellow receives a second smack on her head.
“Yeah,” Dark let a smile escape “I got them to rest a little, but when I woke up, they were way too warm… and I’m not sure, but I think they’re sick…” lucky Dark, the ones awake were the kid who hacked into her computer twice and the potion boy. They can tell Dark if Chosen is okay or not. It’s not long after both Yellow and Blue goes to check the red hollow-head stick’s room.
As he expected, his partner is sick. Blue tells him it’s a fever, nothing to worry about her code since Yellow checked, it could simply be her body’s reaction to her stress of the past few days. With proper rest Chosen would get better.
And so, the black stick figure spent the day sleeping, only being awaken to drink water and eat. The color gang soon learned that Chosen resting was an actual miracle, Dark being the source of the said latest information took the chance to tell a story or two from back when they lived together.
Soon night falls again, and Dark is tasked to take care of her companion during the night. It was going to be all right, Blue taught her what to do, she didn’t need to sit down on a chair in front of the bed Chosen slept and wait to something to happen, the blue stick figure said to simply check their temperature every now and then. It wouldn’t get worse.
But it did.
Chosen’s fever was getting worse. The black hollow-head stick was sweating like she ran a marathon, her breath hitched every now and then and squirmed under the blankets. Every time Dark checked how her fever was going, it seemed to get higher each time.
Blue did something this morning to cool Chosen! Yes! Wet towels maybe could help. Removing their hand from Chosen’s temple felt wrong, principally how she leaned for their touch, but they had to find some cloths for her. Dark swears they hear a whimper when they exit the room.
--
When he comes back, now with a bowl with cold water and some towels, he hears the whimpers more clearly, approaching the bed now he sees how Chosen’s face contorts, they’re not asleep as peacefully as they were previously – Dark had been worried all day about Chosen sleeping, after all, the reason the stick barely took a nap is nightmares.
She starts working, kneeling in front of her sick companion, she wets one of the towels, twisting it to remove the excess water, she places gently on Chosen’s forehead, Dark can see how the other visibly shivers “shh, it’s okay…” Dark whispers, about to reach the other’s hand, she hesitates “…it’s all right.”.
They should have woken up Blue, repeating the action as the cloth cools off has proven to be tiring, she probably had a potion of some sort to relieve how Chosen was feeling, plus, it hurts knowing the black stick is dreaming of something bad and they can’t do anything.
Chosen spoke once about their night terrors, claiming it has to do with the years he spent as a pop up AdBlock for noogai – Alan, both of them learned recently – and as his prisoner. ‘My ankle still hurts till this day, because of the god damn chains he attached to me’ Dark remembers what their partner told her, she loves when Chosen is comfortable enough to speak…
“D-Dark…” The red stick’s actions, and thoughts, are stopped, he looks at the troubled stick still asleep, tears forming at the corner of her closed eyes… is… is she dreaming about…
“Dark…no…” Dark’s heart sank, the nightmare is about her “Don’t…” Chosen groans, Dark can only watch as their friend talks in their sleep.
“Don’t go…”
What Chosen says next doesn’t reach Dark’s ears – and what they say is probably pure mumbling under their breath – but realization hits on the hollowed-head stick, tears start to form on the corner of his eyes, but there’s no time for that.
They remove the damp towel from the black stick’s temple, checking their temperature since the first time they started with the wet cloths, Chosen is definitely much cooler than before, they sigh in relief watching as the other leans into their touch.
Dark now doesn’t hesitates to reach for his hand, holding gently caressing his knuckles, watching with attention if Chosen’s expression changes.
“You know…” they support their head on the bed, using the other arm as a pillow, but never letting go from her hand “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”.
She doesn’t know how long she spends whispering sweet nothings to her troubled friend, but she does until she sees Chosen’s nightmare is gone. And Dark allows herself to fall asleep in that position: sitting on the floor, using her own arm as a pillow and holding the black stick’s hand.
--
Chosen feels awful.
Well, better than before, but they feel extremely groggy. They’re aware they have been sick, they’re not that clueless, they’re more concerned about how long they have been asleep. Sure, they woke up a few times but they weren’t fully forming coherent thoughts, they remember being fed, drinking water and…
He realizes his eyes have adjusted to the light, and he’s just. Staring at the ceiling – he usually does that, but it’s usually a wall, walls are cool.
Her body aches, she doesn’t feel like moving but her head turns to her hand, which has been held by someone. Her eyes meet anyone else but Dark and her face heats up… they have been taking care of her all night...?
They don’t take the eyes of their linked hands now, Dark’s thumb over their knuckles, Chosen imagines him caressing them with care. They remember the awful nightmare again, often Chosen would numb their mind to not be reminded of it but… they woke up once after the nightmare yes, not fully… he remembers their companion silly words of comfort, no shit it worked…
Chosen could relax, the red stick wasn’t going anywhere – more importantly, she isn’t dead – they can sort things out later, for now he’ll fall asleep with a comfortable weight on his hand and wish that this fever is gone, so he can be by Dark’s side again.