Work Text:
Pillow woke on the floor. Weird. She hit her head when they sat up, "Ow!"
Today started off wonderful! And what made things better? They felt oddly warm, and their voice was deeper than usual. Not that it would be too noticeable, but Pillow has a really high voice, so it kind of was. Oh well! What should she do? Nothing! Nothing in their research accounts for this unfamiliar lurching feeling, and she doesn't think it's a big deal.
Despite their throbbing headache, and generally terrible state of being? Pillow got up and trudged down the stairs of the hotel. The sun felt awfully bright. Quite frankly, it hurt their eyes, and head, and their entire body. Pillow didn't care though. It was fine, they had other things to do- like research!
But...right now...it took a lot- no. It took way to much energy to stay standing, they definitely weren't gonna faint...but god did she want to collapse. Pillow bit their tongue and shuffled over to a nearby tree, where she then gave in and fell limply to the ground, hitting their head against the tree- but it was worth it. Now she just laid there, staring at the sky, occasionally looking at the sun. It was really tempting too. They couldn't help it.
...
...
The longer they laid there the less they could keep their eyes open. Maybe it was cause she kept looking at the sun. That damages your eyes or something. She'll note that's bad luck in her notepad later, right now they just want to lay down.
...
...
Pillow doesn't know how long, but she laid there a while, time was a blur right now. She felt a urge to throw up, a subtle one, but still. She could hear footsteps every now and then, sounds of people talking, though she couldn't quite make out voices or words. Everything just kind of passed by. It all just kind of, became white noise,
Well, until some footsteps drew awfully close.
"Uh-- Pillow?" Huh.
Pillow didn't want to move to see who it was, they usually wouldn't have to but they couldn't focus for the life of them.
Pillow just stared blankly at the sky. Then, they heard more movement, and then they felt someone's hand- on their case? What?
The owner of the hand shook her slightly, eliciting a grumble from them.
"Pillow..? You...uh...are you tired? You've been laying here, a long time..."
Despite all her previous inner-ramblings, Pillow reluctantly sat up, turning to the source of concern, ah. Who else would it be other than Book? Practically their only friend.
"No. I'm not tired." Pillow responded bluntly, and dismissively, much not to quell Book's growing concern. "Well, are you feeling well?" Well? Feeling well? What an odd question.
"I can feel the grass" Pillow responded honestly, eliciting a sigh from Book. "No- I mean, uh...here, just- hold still for a moment.." Book reached their hand to feel above Pillow's eyes, and expectedly, the fabric of her case was quite hot to the touch. "Ah! You're burning up!"
"Silly Book, no I'm not!" "Yes...you are." Book spoke bluntly. Book doesn't understand Pillow, but that doesn't mean she won't help them! Especially when it's clear...they're not gonna help themselves. With that established, Book had to first get Pillow inside. "Hey, uh," the novel spoke up. "Let's go inside?" Book's voice was filled with in-confidence, but luckily, Pillow seemed compliant. "Okay!"
Book stood up, and after a moment of Pillow not following suit, Book gently grabbed their hand, and started leading them into the hotel.
[Book: "Your palm's really sweaty."] [Pillow: So is yours!"] [Book: "It- it is?"] [Pillow: "Yup!"] [Book: "O-oh.."]
When the two got to Pillow's room, Book slowly creaked open the door. Normally, she'd feel rude about entering like this, but Pillow was with them, and she'd been in her former-teammates room before for things like Yoyle Chess and G&D.
Book led her friend to the bed, where the two stood for a moment. "Pillow, uh, you should lay down." Book gestured to the bed "But I said I'm not tired-" "Pillow, you're sick. You need rest." Book tried to speak more firmly, mentally punching themselves for fear it didn't work, but much to the dictionary's surprise, Pillow let go of their hand and crawled onto the bed averting eye contact.
Book smiled, kneeling down to put the blanket on them. They looked cute snuggled up like this. "I'm going to go get a few things, okay? Just sit tight for a bit." Book pat Pillow, before turning to leave the room.
~--this is so bad what am i doing--~
Book went down the stairs of the hotel on route to the kitchen. The hotel was pretty empty, normally all the objects either go outside or stay in their rooms so there's not much foot-traffic anywhere but the lobby. Still, Four was always quite grumpy when there were visitors to the kitchen. Book generally tries to avoid asking for anything, but, she felt a surge of necessity this time. It was for a friend!
A...friend.
Before Book knew it she was in front of the pink door that led to the kitchen. She swallowed down all her anxieties and knocked.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
She waited a moment, and nothing happened. Huh, maybe she knocked to lightly?-"AH-"
"What do you want!? If you want snacks, WAIT UNTIL LUNCH!" Book didn't respond to the blue number in front of them, god damnit, why does she always end up with someone who jump scares her? "I- No! I don't need snacks- uh.." Four tapped his foot impatiently. Book didn't interreact with Four much, and she was very glad for it.
Book snapped out of her thoughts at the much higher and calmer voice of a much more pleasant to work with yellow variable.
"Hi Book!" X chirped. Book sighed in relief, X wasn't so bad. Book liked X. They were friendly, and silly, and their high voice reminded her a lot of Pillow- oh yeah. Back on track.
"Uh- hi X. I think Pillow's sick, uh, do you guys have anything like medicine?" X scratched the top of their- uh, X-shaped form while Four excused himself at the blatant ignoring. "Mmmm, I dunno, let me check!"
X creaked the door to be a crack open. Book stared at the door, now there were just a bunch of sounds- from frayed little footsteps, to random 'Mms', 'No's', and squeaks, until X finally came back and opened the door.
"I don't really know what you guys need when you're sick, but uh, here's this bag of stuff that might make you feel better!" X spoke optimistically. They really had tried their best to help. Book grabbed the bag and nodded appreciatively. "Thanks." "No problem! Get better soon!" "Oh- uh I'm not the one si- or...yeah, thanks." X waved before closing the door again, leaving Book alone in the lobby, save for Robot Flower who was diligently manning her shop.
And with that Book started back up the stairs, a lot of back and forth today, but it was for an important cause! Speaking of which, would Pillow even still be there? Knowing the murderous, mischievous, apathetic contestant, there was a high likely hood she wouldn't. Book didn't really account for that. Whatever, she could find them! After being on a team together, and being friends for a good while, Book surely knows them enough to do so!
Surprisingly, Pillow was actually still there! Fast asleep, and still there.
Book pulled a chair over by the bed, and set the bag on it. Looking through the bag, Clock had done a good job! There were band-aids, ointment, wet wipes, but most importantly! A water bottle, and a couple different things of medicine. Book wasn't quite sure what Pillow had, but a general uh...pill should probably do the trick! Yeah. Reading off the names of the two different pill bottles, Book couldn't really tell the difference. She just had to trust Clock, and popped the lid off one of the bottles.
She then remembered she had to wake Pillow up.
As Book turned to do so, she hesitated. They looked so peaceful. It was an almost adorable contrast to their usual violent or numb nature. It was reminiscent of a sleeping bear cub. Book wouldn't disturb a bear, and if she woke her up she'd probably not fall back asleep...
Book sighed. She was making excuses, wasn't she? Book gently nudged Pillow's sleeping form, to no response, just the soothing sound of their snoring.
She then nudged them a bit more harshly. "Pillow, wake up," this time she was met with a grumble. Book giggled softly, they were so sleepy. "You need to take some medicine." she cursed her raspy voice, and tried to speak quietly as to not startle them.
Pillow, unsurprisingly, didn't like the idea of medicine. "..why" Book wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or amused by the amount of genuine curiosity she spoke with. "Because it'll make you feel better." Pillow frowned, "No it wont..las time it made me feel wors.."
"It did?"
"Yuh"
"Well how much did you take?..." Book questioned them skeptically, "A whole bottl!" they proclaimed proudly. Book only cringed at the idea, "Of course it'll make you feel worse if you take the whole bottle!" Book practically lectured them, "You're only supposed to take, usually one to two. For example, right now, you need to take just one!" Book reached the pill towards them. Pillow just stuck their tongue out. "Bleh! No.."
"Pillow, c'moon, it's just one pill."
"I'd rather just go back to sleep.."
"You can after this,"
Pillow opened their mouth as to say something, before stopping. After a moment, she'd come up with a new idea. "I'll do it under one condition,"
Book was hesitant to take 'one condition' from Pillow, but if it got her to eat the pill willingly... "Fine. What's your condition?"
"You'll snuggle with me."
Book's brain short-circuited briefly upon hearing the word snuggle, though once it did finally process she suddenly had to consciously breath. "O-oh, uh...is...are you sure t-that's your condition?-" "Yes." they responded with zero hesitation. She was definitely sure.
Book took a deep breath. "O-okay, deal." The novel had to hope Pillow was too delirious to notice the small blush that'd appear on their cover.
Book quickly gained her composure again. Right, she had to take care them. Book offered the pill towards Pillow, who, instead of simply taking it, opted to just eat it out of Book's hand- almost biting the dictionary in the process.
"You could've just- n-never mind" Book thought she would be used to Pillow by now, but her former teammate somehow always caught her off guard.
Before she could dwell on that too long though, she noticed the water bottle still in the bag. Wait- "Wai- AH! I'm sorry! I forgot to give you water, uh- here!" Book frantically handed them the bottle between apologies, though Pillow just pushed it out of her hands and onto the floor. "I'm not thirsty. And I ate the pill. Now you uphold your deal."
"I- right, uh...okay. S-sorry." Book knelt down to pick the bottle of liquid up, and set it back in the bag. She should probably return that to X, not that the variable would need it, though other hotel residents probably could use it.
Book quickly shook her thoughts, and just stood by the bed awkwardly. She didn't want to be rude and overstep her former teammate's boundaries, though luckily for her, Pillow would grow tired of her hesitance and just pull her into the bed next to them.
"Wa- mm?!-" Pillow covered their mouth. "Quiet. Sleep." was all they said, before choosing to tune out their surroundings in favor of sleep. Pillow clung onto Book like she was a stuffed animal, and though it took the dictionary a moment to adjust, Book eventually gave them a gentle hug back.
It didn't take long for the comfortable silence to be filled with the soothing snoring of Book's current cuddle-buddie, though Book would soon follow, drifting off into a comfortable slumber, holding the other in a secure, yet gentle embrace.
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Their so yuri