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It was going to be a bad day.
Fyodor knew it from the moment they woke up. Maybe it was the sound of the rain hitting the windows outside, or the dull ache along their spine, or maybe it was from the slight stinging sensation behind their eyes.
No matter the cause, she knew today was going to be a bad day.
As much as she wished she could just stay in bed and sleep the pain away, she knew she had work to do. So, with a huff of annoyance, she pushed herself out of bed.
They almost sat back down at the overwhelming wave of nausea that washed over them. They stood still for a moment, squeezing their eyes shut as their vision went black, supporting themselves on the wall.
Fyodor let out a sigh once the nausea went away, taking a deep breath and continuing on her way to the kitchen. She didn't think she could stomach any food right now, but some water would be nice.
Okay, she could do this. Get a cup, turn on the sink, get some water, easy.
Fyodor worked her jaw, squinting at the ache that ran through it. She popped it once, then twice, to try and make the ache go away to no avail. Maybe she wouldn't drink that water. She felt cold.
Okay, that’s alright. She'll just wash the dishes. There weren't that many, easy job.
They turned on the faucet again, ignoring the growing ache in their head as they waited for the water to get hot, reaching for a plate. Fyodor blinked as she leaned forward, vision going dark momentarily, her grip on the plate loosening as it clattered down into the sink.
Luckily, it didn't break. Maybe she shouldn't do dishes right now. Okay. That was fine. What else?
She turned the faucet off, squeezing her eyes shut as she leaned against the counter for support. This was fine. She was fine. She had work to do, what else could she do?
She cleaned the counters just the night before, so they were still clean, at the moment, she swept everyday, so that was taken care of, it wasn't laundry day, so that wasn't a task to be done. Paperwork? Sure, she could handle that.
Fyodor isn't really sure when it happened, but somewhere on the way to their office, their body decided they couldn't handle that. So they ended up lying on the floor instead, eyes squeezed shut as pain coursed through just about every part of their body.
Today was not a good day.
She could sleep? Maybe she'd feel better after. Yeah, okay, sure. She could sleep.
Fyodor forced out a breath, easing herself up off of the ground and immediately leaning against the wall for support. She waited a moment before heading back to her bedroom, plopping down into bed.
Her vision blurred as she slipped under the covers, legs growing cold, achey. This was fine. The thrumming of her heart in her chest said otherwise, but she could ignore that. Just sleep. Everything will be fine after she gets some sleep.
--
Obviously, Fyodor was wrong about this. They awoke to a terrible migraine, practically shivering under the warmth of their covers.
Maybe they shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning. Or they could have drank that water?
The ache in their jaw quickly reminded them of why they decided against that in the first place, rolling onto their back as their jaw went slack.
This was not fine.
Fyodor groaned as she blindly reached for the phone she had left on the nightstand, turning it on and squinting against the harsh light.
She pulled up Nikolai's contact after a moment of searching, typing out a poorly written message about the situation, asking Nikolai if he could come home early.
To be entirely fair, Fyodor wasn't really sure what Nikolai got up to on the day's they weren't home. She didn't really question it, nor did she really want to.
She didn't wait for a response, shutting her phone off and tossing it to the side as she buried her face in her arms.
Maybe she could just sleep until Nikolai got home?? That'd be nice, right?
They huffed, rolling onto their side and closing their eyes, trying to fall back asleep.
--
"Fyodor? You awake, Magpie?"
Fyodor groaned, rolling away from the unwelcome noise and onto her other side.
The bed dipped beside her, causing her to force her eyes open, turning her head to meet Nikolai's gaze.
Fyodor blinked, startled, before she offered a tight smile. "You're home."
Nikolai nodded, running a hand through their hair, smiling back at them. "Mhm. I couldn't just leave my little magpie all alone, could I? How terrible a bird owner that would make me." he teased, flicking Fyodor's forehead. "Now, I do believe I came home for a reason, yeah? You still having a bad day?"
Fyodor's smile faltered, frowning as she rolled onto her back, closing her eyes as Nikolai shifted so they both had more room, the clown turning to take their shoes off.
Fyodor didn't speak for a moment, enjoying the comfort the silence had provided.
"Everything hurts"
Nikolai blinked, turning back to the other. It wasn't uncommon for Fyodor to have bad flare ups, but it was uncommon for Fyodor to admit it so easily. He frowned, putting a hand on her head, trying to gage her temperature.
Fyodor huffed a sigh, opening her eyes to look up at Nikolai. "I'm tired, Dove. I don't feel like arguing about how I need rest, or whatever it is you always say." Nikolai chuckled, moving stray bits of hair out of the others face as they spoke.
"I say you need to let yourself rest, especially when you're hurting. Overworking yourself isn't gonna do anyone any good. I know for a fact that you decided to try and be productive today, you wouldn't be so tired if that weren't true, yeah?"
Fyodor grumbled, not offering a response. They both knew Nikolai was right in his assumptions, anyways.
"Have you eaten?"
Nikolai asked, trying to veer the topic into something helpful, fingers halting from their place in Fyodors hair. He had started braiding it into two separate braids. He unravelled the braid after a moment. Fyodor's hair wasn't long enough.
She frowned, shaking her head. The thought of eating made her stomach churn, and she couldn't tell if it was from hunger or nausea. Probably both.
"Couldn't imagine stomaching anything earlier, or right now, honestly. I tried drinking some water, but my jaw keeps going slack."
Fyodor knew that wasn't really what it was, nor was it the best way to describe it, but she wasn't sure what else to offer. Their jaw would "go slack" sometimes, and in a literal sense, the muscles would grow slack and she wouldn't be able to do much with her mouth, and it made her feel cold, shaky. It made her head foggy, caused her face to feel numb in a sort of painful way. It used to be a sort of warning, back when she had more frequent seizures. Now it just happened on particularly bad days and made her feel sick.
Nikolai frowned, humming in acknowledgement as they combed out the pieces that had gotten stuck in the braid, tilting their head. "How about this. I heroically carry you to the couch, I make you some soup, the good stuff, not the crappy weird flavored soup, and we can cuddle and watch movies on the couch until you go back to sleep. Sound good?"
Fyodor smiled, nodding. It wouldn't really help with the pain, but atleast it was food and comfort. She could ignore the pain in her legs and behind her eyes and in her hands until it eventually went away for that.
Easy, right?
Yeah, yeah that sounded nice.
"Sounds perfect, dove."