Chapter Text
Charlie scrolled on his phone absentmindedly while he sat at the breakroom table. Alan was in the background counting paper clips, and Glep was at his usual spot on his bean bag chair, watching something Charlie couldn’t hear because the little critter had headphones on. Not like he was paying attention much to the other two anyway. Charlie, instead, was trying to wrack his brain as to why something felt different today.
Despite looking at his phone all morning, he barely looked over the time and when his eyes did wander to the top of his phone screen above his instaMeep feed it hit him. It’s been over an hour and Pim hasn’t come into the office yet.
“Hey uh-” the yellow Critter spoke up “Has anyone..has anyone seen Pim? It’s almost 9:00 and he’s not here” That was very unlike Pim. The little critter was so punctual about being on time every work day and if he wasn’t feeling well, he’d always give a heads up in the company group chat.
“How should I know” Alan replied, monotonously, “Isn’t he your boyfriend?”
“Just because he’s my boyfriend doesn’t mean I know where he is all the goddamn time, jeez Alan”
“Whatever” Alan shrugged and then went back to his paper clips.
Now that Charlie thought about it, if Pim wasn’t feeling well he would’ve told him. Charlie looks at his phone again to make sure he didn’t miss any messages. The sight of his empty messager app leaves him more perplexed than before. He opens it and decides to check in.
‘Hey it’s almost time to clock in. Where are you? Are you feeling okay? Please let me know babe love you’
He goes back to the app he was looking at before, anxiety building up as Pim fails to reply to Charlie’s text. Suddenly, the Smiling Friends alarm goes off and Charlie jumps, almost dropping his phone. He pockets it in his hoodie before heading to the Boss’s office.
Pim woke up this morning, feeling possibly the worst he’s ever felt in his life. He chalked it up to lack of sleep due to how many times he had to get up to take a piss last night. Maybe he should stop drinking water before bed.
Ever the optimist though, Pim thought it wasn’t anything a little coffee couldn’t fix! However, when the pink critter tried to get out of bed he immediately was hit with a sickly, woozy feeling. Okay, he should definitely just lay back down.
Maybe there was a bug that was going around, he should really let his co workers and boyfriend know that he wasn’t feeling well. That plan was discarded as soon as Pim slowly crawled back into bed. Still warm and just beckoning for him to cozy under the sheets. He fell asleep before he could even think of getting his phone.
The second time Pim awoke, he felt slightly woozy again. What could he possibly have caught? And from where? He couldn’t recall if anyone showed up to work sick yesterday, or if the weather was bad or if it was allergy season.
The critter scratched his head and went to retrieve his phone from his nightstand for answers. A photo of him and Charlie greeted him on his lockscreen as well as, Pim noticed, a text notification from….three hours ago!?
Charlie felt weird doing a mission without Pim, not that he was a clingy boyfriend or anything. It was just…well, in the workplace they were a team. It was going to be hard to make a client smile without Pim’s unrelenting optimism to balance out Charlie’s pessimistic worldview. Plus, Pim still hadn’t replied to his text which made Charlie anxious.
Mr. Boss must’ve taken notice in the way Charlie seemed a bundle of nerves, playing with the drawstrings of his hoodie and scratching the back of his head ever so often as he announced that Pim wasn’t in the office today.
“Aw that’s too bad” Mr. Boss says with a look of sympathy “Why don’t you go home early then, man.”
Charlie seemed surprised at that “Like, like right now? You don’t have a job for me to do or anything?”
“No, you’re good Charlie. I know it probably won’t be the same without Pim here. You boys just come back to the office when you’re ready!” Mr. Boss gave Charlie a smile.
Charlie smiled back, relieved that he wouldn’t have to do a mission alone or worse, with Alan. “Alright cool, thanks man! I appreciate it!”
“If you end up seeing Pim, say ‘hi’ for me!”
With that Charlie stepped out of the endless black void that was the Boss’s office and headed towards the front of the company building.
It was when he stepped outside that he noticed that Pim had finally responded.
‘Oh gosh Charlie I’m so sorry! I overslept because I felt a bit under the weather. I think it’s some sort of bug :(’
“Oh thank god, he’s alive” Charlie muttered before typing out his reply.
‘Nah you’re good dude! That’s terrible! want me to come over with some chicken soup? Boss let me off early today cuz you weren’t there’
‘Chicken soup sounds perfect! :) and I know I’ll feel better with you here <3 we can watch a movie or something while I’m resting up’
‘Sounds like an awesome plan! Omw’
After acquiring some microwaveable chicken soup and a bouquet of flowers, it didn’t take long for Charlie to start the route towards Pim’s apartment. He knew the place like the back of his hand. Crashed in it, maybe a few more times than he’d like to admit. What can he say, Pim’s apartment was always nice, proper, and clean. A complete contrast to the dump that was Charlie’s own apartment complex. He was never much of a tidy person.
Once he reached the floor Pim’s place was at, Charlie looked for the correct apartment room number before knocking on his boyfriend’s door.
Pim opened it swiftly, with his usual excited demeanor. Charlie briefly wondered if Pim had gotten better.
“Charlie!!” Pim exclaimed, flailing his arms “I’m so excited to see yo-” suddenly without warning Pim vomited on his doorway.
It all happened so fast Charlie barely processed it. Until he looked down and saw that puke was covering his shoes.
“…what the fuck…?”