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Lizzie’s hurting. Well, she’s always hurting, that’s the major reason it’s called “ chronic pain” after all. But today, she’s hurting more than usual.
She stands up from her desk and grabs her crutches. Her legs hurt, numbing pain blooming from around her knees and ankles. Lizzie groans. Her hips also hurt, and so does her lower back. Curse having bad bones. Scratch that, curse having bones at all.
Dammit. No ship work for her. Lizzie sighs, knowing that even if she attempted to do any work in a pain flare, Caspian would sniff her out and put her back in bed. It’s futile. No work ever gets done while she’s in pain.
She limps along, groaning to herself as she reaches the edge of her ship with a slight wince as she accidentally puts too much pressure on her left ankle.
“Ay! Chip!” Lizzie yells over to the Albatross, sailing right beside them.
“Yo!” Chip yells back, waving from his spot near the mast. He grabs his cane and pulls himself up with the help of the rope ladder to the crow’s nest, then grins as he limps over nearer to Lizzie.
Lizzie nods. Just as she thought. Their pain flares are weirdly synced.
“Pain flare?” Lizzie asks as Chip slowly crosses the wooden board connecting the two ships.
“Yeah.” Chip sighs. “You?”
“Same.” Lizzie sighs right back. “Come on, cuddle time.”
“Fuck yeah,” Chip says, grinning and following Lizzie slowly back to her quarters.
It’s a thing they’ve been doing ever since Chip discovered his fire magic. A ritual of sorts. Chip becomes Lizzie’s heating pad for the day, and in exchange, Chip gets to cuddle with someone. A mutually beneficial arrangement.
Lizzie pulls back the mess of blankets and drops her crutches, crawling over the net barrier that keeps her in her bed in stormy waters and then into bed. Chip sets his cane down to the side and follows, hopping over the net and landing right next to Lizzie. Lizzie flings the blankets back over them both. Instant relief comes when the heat is trapped between Lizzie and Chip, as he’s already a naturally warm person. But as Chip draws closer and tangles his legs with hers and wraps his arms around her while heating up his body slightly, everything suddenly feels a lot better. Lizzie could fall asleep right there. And they both probably will, eventually. That’s how these days tend to go.
Chip lays his head next to his sister’s and closes his eyes, smiling. They rarely share contact, even since they were kids. And even though it’s unfortunate that both of them have chronic pain, Chip views it as an opportunity to show his love for Lizzie. Lizzie’s never really liked hugs or cuddles, but the fact that she’s tolerating it and even initiates it sometimes when she’s feeling sick means she loves him, too.
“How’s it been going?” Lizzie says, letting out a small yawn. “On the Albatross ?”
“Eh, fine,” Chip responds, copying her yawn. “Gillion’s doin’ his usual waking up at five in the morning to pray and train, Jay’s doin’ her usual tinkering until ungodly hours at night, and I’m doing my usual being the normal one.”
“Normal one… sure.”
“Hey!”
“I find it unlikely.” Lizzie smirks, and cracks her eyes open to grin at her brother.
“Whatever…” He rolls his eyes playfully and punches her in the shoulder lightly. “How have things been over here?”
Lizzie winces at the contact of Chip’s fist on her shoulder, but shakes it off as he rubs it lightly with a silent apology.
It’s not like they have no time to catch up besides these times, but Lizzie can’t find herself wanting to know exactly what’s going on in Chip’s crew at all times. But now, it’s just something to talk about before they inevitably fall asleep.
“Things are… fine.” Lizzie shrugs lightly. “We’re surviving.”
“How are things with you and Caspian?” Chip teases, grinning.
Lizzie groans and shifts Chip so that his knees are touching hers. She sighs. Much better.
“How are things going with you, Gillion, and Jay?” Lizzie teases back.
Chip rolls his eyes. “Come on, Liz, you don’t tell me anything about your life!”
“It’s because it’s not interesting, Chip.” Lizzie sighs. “I get up, I’m in pain, I go work, I eat, and then I go back to bed. There’s nothing interesting in there. I don’t know how you manage to have fun, do work, and be in pain.”
Chip’s silent for a moment. Then, he takes a shallow breath, and says, “You know, they make potions for your pain.”
“I don’t do drugs, Chip-”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Chip sighs. “They’re expensive, but I recommend getting some. It’s a good investment.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Painkillers.” Chip shrugs. “I drink them when I’m having a particularly hard day. They help me finish my ship work, they help me go to sleep, they just… they help. And y’know, sick sibling to sick sibling, I think you could use them.”
“I’m not sick -”
“And that, Lizzie, is what we call ‘internalized ableism’ in the business,” Chip jokes lightly. “Come on, Liz. We both know you’re disabled, and there’s no shame in that. You’re always just as worthy. And you’re my sister. I love you no matter what.”
Chip wraps his arms around Lizzie. Lizzie sighs heavily and shakes her head.
“What if, say, I took them,” Lizzie starts slowly, “and then I become dependent. I become addicted. It drains all of our ship’s money, and our crew is left in shambles while I’m unable to do anything without my painkillers.”
“Lizzie…” Chip sighs. “Being addicted to something is very different than taking it when needed. If you need it every day, take it every day. Gillion’s not addicted to his antidepressants, right? He just takes them every day because he needs to.”
“Right…”
“And I’m not addicted to my stimulants, right? I just take them every day, because if I don’t, my brain is all over the place.”
“Right.”
“And Jay’s not addicted to her insulin, right? She takes it to stay alive.”
“Right.”
“So if you need things for your pain-”
“I don’t.” Lizzie grumbles. “I already have crutches. I don’t need extra stuff.”
“Would it help?” Chip pulls away from Lizzie slightly and frowns. “Would it make your life at all better? Come on, Liz.”
Lizzie hisses at the lack of heat on her knee and then sighs. “Chip…”
“Lizzie.”
She sighs. “...I’ll consider it.”
“You’ll never be weak for takin’ something you need, okay?” Chip moves in for a hug.
“Sure I won’t.” Lizzie pats him on the back.
“Hey. I mean it.”
“I know ya do.”
“So believe me, Liz.”
“...I’ll try.”
“Thank you.” Chip hugs Lizzie tighter.
Lizzie sighs heavily, but then closes her eyes and drops her head on top of Chip’s.
“I love you, Lizzie.”
“...Love ya too.”
“We’ll be sick together, okay? We take care of each other.”
Lizzie nods slowly. “Yeah. Always.”
“Promise me you’ll consider painkillers.”
Lizzie sighs heavily. She still has her concerns, and it still seems mildly terrifying to take something nearly every single day for the rest of her life. But Chip cares about her. This she knows.
“I will.” She sighs again. “I’ll consider.”
“Good,” Chip responds.
Chip pulls her even closer than before and shoves his face into the crook of her neck. He wraps his arms as tight around Lizzie as he can and sighs happily.
“I love you, Chip,” Lizzie mumbles softly, wrapping her arms back around him.
“Love ya too, Liz.”
“Sick siblings together…”
“Always.”