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There was just something peaceful about being alone.
Iceberg Lettuce certainly thought so, which is why he savored any moment of peace he got. And sometimes there was truly nothing better than to just settle down with a nice cup of tea and a good book.
Maybe a park bench wasn’t the most comfortable spot for some, but Iceberg really didn’t mind. There was no way he’d be getting any peace inside the hotel, that’s for sure.
Between Popcorn, Comic Book and Apple Bomb, he couldn’t tell who the worst offender was. Though his money was on Popcorn, because at least the other two didn’t play loud party music at two in the morning.
He was glad, really, that there was so much to do inside the hotel, making the small park out front, well, empty yes, but also calming and tranquil. The only people other than him that usually came out here were Bookmark, for the same reasons as him, and Guitar Pick, who liked practicing her guitar away from everyone else.
Iceberg had been here since earlier this morning, having come out right after breakfast to enjoy his free time before the next challenge started.
The book he was currently in the middle of had been recommended to him by Cough Sirup, something generic in plot but still captivating enough to comfortably pass the time. The tea he had taken with him had long since cooled off, not that he minded, and the sun was already up in the sky.
It was late morning by now.
This morning was particularly peaceful, he had to admit. Some would even call it perfect.
…
Too perfect even.
It had admittedly already been hard to focus on his book for a while, but he was just about to give up. Something was, plain and simply, bothering Iceberg.
Except for once, nothing was bothering him. Literally nothing, null, not Poker Chip, not Popcorn or Comic Book or Apple Bomb, not anyone from,
his team.
Not even Starfruit.
…
Wait, where was Starfruit?
Putting his book down, Iceberg took a look at his surroundings. No Starfruit in sight, which was pretty weird as it sometimes felt like there was nothing Starfruit loved more than bothering him.
Not that he would describe her as a bothersome person, not even in the slightest. For all her loudness and cheer, Starfruit was extremely smart and understanding, easily making her a great teammate and valuable alliance member.
He just… didn’t really get her.
Her energy, her optimism, it was all just very confusing to Iceberg, and the way she had constantly been hanging around him since they had started their alliance was flattering, if a bit weird.
Well, not weird enough that her absence was welcoming.
Honestly, her absence was kind of disappointing, even though they had only just seen each other at breakfast.
Except, Iceberg paused, they hadn’t.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her at breakfast, no, Starfruit had for once been entirely absent. Which was weird in itself because she loved mingling and talking with the others, especially over food.
He hadn’t noticed it back then, between Popcorn and Comic Book talking/yelling with each other, Lighter and Almond Milk getting into a hissy fit, Emerald nearly destroying a table and Flora almost managing to set something on fire with her blunt, Iceberg had been entirely preoccupied with playing damage control.
So please do forgive him if he hadn’t noticed one person being absent.
And he probably shouldn’t worry anyway. Starfruit was an adult, she could take care of herself and if she decided to skip breakfast then who was he to stop her.
He should just ignore it and focus on his book.
He really should focus on his book.
…
He really couldn’t focus on his book.
A frustrated sigh left him as he finally snapped it shut.
Iceberg had no idea why Starfruit’s absence was bothering him this much, he could just ask her during the challenge later where she had been, but it just-
It felt wrong.
She wouldn’t just ditch him without telling him why, or not talk to him at all, Starfruit simply wasn’t that kind of person. There was probably nothing Iceberg was more sure of than that.
Which is why he felt entirely justified in his decision to check up on her.
Picking up his things, he quickly walked back inside and headed to the elevator.
He wasn’t about to use the stairs, all of their rooms were located near the top of the building after all, as the lower floors were understandably still used for tourism.
But of course, his journey could not be undisturbed, since as he was walking past the rooms a voice called out to him.
“Hey, Iceberg Lettuce!”
Turning around, Iceberg saw Dice running towards him, a determined expression on her face. He sighed, tiredly.
“Please, I told you to just call me Iceberg. What’s up?”
Her much smaller form came to a standstill in front of him and he had to admit that despite her size, Dice had been able to establish her presence in a way that was hard to overlook. She was honestly a good pick for a team leader, especially out of everyone here.
But that was probably not why she wanted to talk to him.
She took a moment to collect herself.
“I simply wanted to thank you for this morning. I know my teammates shouldn’t be your responsibility but I will admit, I would’ve gone under in the chaos had I tried to handle it on my own.”
Iceberg blankly looked at her.
It’s true, even if Dice wasn’t both the smallest and only armless contestant, she also had the unfortunate luck of leading the team consisting of mostly all the less responsible objects. Maybe not Bookmark, but Bookmark had also no interest in getting involved in everyone's chaos, that much was obvious.
Still, he simply waved her off.
“It’s fine, it doesn’t really matter on who’s team someone is if they’re about to blow up the cafeteria.”
“Still!” Dice insisted, following him as he started to move once again. “Thanking you is the least I can do.”
“You’re welcome then,” he hummed, expecting her to leave now that the conversation was basically over.
She didn’t, though.
“Where are you going?”
“Checking on Starfruit,” he replied easily, “I haven’t seen her at all today. She’s not really one to skip breakfast, you know?”
Dice huffed in response as they came to a stop in front of the aforementioned’s room.
“Well she’s an adult, isn’t she? She can take care of herself, you shouldn’t be expected to look after her.”
Iceberg didn’t respond to that, instead knocking on Starfruit’s door. A minute passed as they waited in silence, but no response came. He knocked again, just to be sure, but again there was no response.
“She’s probably not even he-”
And just as Dice started talking again, a dull thump sounded from behind the door, as if something had just fallen down, before shuffling could be heard.
It still took a minute before the door swung open, but oh man, Iceberg was really glad he decided to check up on her because, and he means this in the nicest way possible, Starfruit looked awful.
The other was badly shivering, grasping harshly onto the doorknob to steady herself, barely standing on weak legs. She was incredibly pale as well, and Iceberg and Dice could see bruising forming under her eyes.
For a moment she just stood there, her eyes glossy before they finally focused on the people in front of her, but even then she only let out a confused “Huh?”.
“Oh god, are you okay?” Iceberg immediately sprang into action as held out his hands in case he had to steady her. Looking past her into her room, it was obvious that they had just woken her up, as her curtains were still drawn shut and her blanket was crumpled on the floor next to her bed, her glasses still laying abandoned on her bedside table as well.
A violent shiver visibly ran through her as she tried to collect herself.
“Huh? Uh, yeah, I think so…” she mumbled, leaning against her door in an attempt to stay upright.
“That’s not true,” Dice stated bluntly, “you can’t be okay, you look terrible!”
Starfruit, still well enough to be offended at the others' words, let out an indignant noise.
“Hey! That’s- that’s not very nice…” she sniffled through her stuffy nose.
“I’m just saying it how it is-” “Okay,” Iceberg interrupted them, “what she means is that you look unwell. You should really go back to your bed.”
He quickly shooed her back into her room, as she didn’t seem too keen to move on her own, and even the room had that distinct smell of sick to it, as well as just being really stuffy in general. Making Starfruit sit down on her bed, he went to open one of the windows while Dice kept an eye on her.
Starfruit, more stubborn than she usually was, still protested.
“That’s not… true. I’m- I just didn’t sleep well! Just a bit tired… I’ll be back in top shape by the- next challenge…” she insisted, even though she was heavily slumping and talking through labored breaths.
“Uh huh, you said the same thing yesterday, remember?” And she had. Iceberg had noticed over the course of yesterday that the other had been a lot quieter than usual, talking way less and being silent in general. Upon being pressed, she had given almost the exact same answer.
And by her confused look, she obviously did not remember, not that it mattered.
As he headed back over to the bed, he slightly shooed Dice to the side so that he could kneel down in front of her.
Pressing his head down onto her forehead, he quickly realized that this probably wasn’t the best way to check for a fever. Iceberg’s body naturally ran a lot cooler than others, making his hands permanently cold. He normally didn’t mind, but right now it made it almost impossible to tell if she was actually warmer or if his body just made it seem that way.
Either way, Starfruit let out a surprised gasp out the feeling of his hand, before quickly leaning into it.
“And?” Dice asked impatiently.
“It’s hard to tell,” Iceberg responded.
“It would probably be better to check with an actual thermometer. If it’s not too much to ask for, could you please get Cough Sirup? She’ll be of more help than either of us right now.”
“Sure, why not,” she looked between the two of them, a weird look on her face, “you just make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
There was almost a smile on her face as she said that, but Iceberg had no time to ask her about it as she left, as two warm arms suddenly decided to wrap around the hand that was pressed against Starfruit.
Surprised he quickly turned back to her, discovering that the other was now hugging his arm to her chest, practically cuddling it.
The sight of it set off a weird buzzing feeling inside of him, and as she relaxed against him he almost wanted to call her… cute.
Which set off a really weird and embarrassing feeling inside of him.
He really shouldn’t think about her that way, he wouldn’t even really consider them friends yet. Teammates, yeah, alliance members, yes, but friends?
Well, she probably already viewed them as friends, of course. And it wouldn’t be wrong to reciprocate that sentiment, would it? Maybe…
He huffed, slightly frustrated.
He really shouldn’t be dwelling on this right now, he should make sure that she was settled in again and comfortable so she could get better quickly. Confusing feelings could be left for literally anytime else.
Getting her to settle down again was a lot easier said than done though, as Starfruit seemed hellbend on keeping a hold on his arm. It took a lot of fighting, but eventually he managed to get her under her blanket and against her pillow.
He didn’t manage to get her to let go of his arm though. And he didn’t have to, right? If she was content like this, then why shouldn’t he let her be?
It wasn’t long before someone knocked on the door and Cough Sirup walked in, a small bag in hand.
“Hey, Dice told me Starfruit wasn’t feeling well…” She trailed off towards the end, and then smiled as she took in Iceberg’s predicament.
He could only roll his eyes.
“Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. Got a thermometer with you?”
Cough Sirup did laugh, though it was more a good natured chuckle.
“Of course. Here, let me-”
It took some maneuvering on both their parts, but eventually they managed to take Starfruit’s temperature and it really wasn’t good. Like, at all.
“102.7… That’s a lot.” Worry was evident in her voice.
“I can get her some medicine that can help. Other than that you already had the right idea,” she gestured towards the open window, “open the windows, keep the room cool. A cold rag would also be good. Can you do that in the meanwhile?”
“I can try,” he responded dryly, once again carefully trying to extract his arm from Starfruit’s grip. But it didn’t work as she tightened it every time he even tried to move it the tiniest bit. He tried his best to maneuver his arm in a way that wouldn’t displease her, but that took long enough that even Cough Sirup eventually stopped shuffling through her bag, an amused expression on her face.
He flushed just the tiniest bit in embarrassment.
“Yeah, this is not working. Can’t Dice do it instead, where is she anyway?”
Cough Sirup shook her head at that, still smiling.
“No luck, I sent her to talk to the hosts. Best to make them aware quickly that we’re down one person. But if you give me a bit, I can do it for you.”
He just nodded, absentmindedly. I mean, what else could he do?
And as he stayed there, still kneeling on the floor, peering down at Starfruit, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering, and the weird feeling returned once again.
And this time, he had nothing to distract himself with, at least if he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
He didn’t really know how to describe it.
It made him feel warm, warmer than usual, which was almost nice, but it also felt like there was a hive of bees buzzing in his stomach, making it hard to focus. Trying to focus on the person in front of him didn’t help, honestly, that made it worse.
Starfruit was dozing by now, not asleep but not awake either, still holding his arm in a vice grip. But now, she looked a lot more relaxed, making her face look less ghostly. It made the buzzing worse, seeing her content like this, but at the same time he just- couldn’t look away.
Didn’t want to, really.
Iceberg sighed internally.
Not like he didn’t have all the time in the world to dwell on it, seeing he was stuck here for the foreseeable future.
But he was just able to accept the fact that they were… friends. He didn’t want whatever this was to ruin it.
Maybe it would go away when she’d get better. Hopefully.
But as he brushed his free hand across her forehead, a smile crossing her face as she sighed at its coolness, a part deep inside of him knew.
Yeah, definitely not.