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There were many things that Miko had planned to do that day. Babysitting Mitchell freaking Williams of all people was not on that list.
Well, maybe babysitting was a bit of a stretch. It was more like sitting on the opposite end of the break room couch playing videogames while the biggest jerk in Henobi Tech was pretty much dying a few feet next to her; but it sure felt like babysitting.
He wasn’t doing much though, which made it slightly less annoying. Mitch was simply curled up in a ball with his jacket wrapped around his shoulder; he had barely moved an inch since he laid down. His usually flawless hair was covering most of his eyes, which were glazed over and exhausted. Miko honestly would’ve thought he was dead without the thick, wet little sniffles every now and then that alerted her to the fact that he was still in fact alive. The clicking of her controller was the only other sound in the otherwise quiet room.
Miko hadn’t prepared to be stuck in a room with one of the people she despised the most, so none of her preferred games were in there. Not wanting to sit in awkward silence, she had turned on the game that was already set up. It was called “Jujitsu Legends,” some fighting game with a ridiculous amount of lore– enough that Miko was lost by the fifth level.
She was halfway through level 7 when the rustling of fabric drew her attention. Pressing pause, she glanced over at Mitch, who had shifted ever so slightly. It wasn’t much, he was still curled up, but he was slightly more upright, rubbing his eyes like a sleepy child as he looked towards the screen, and then to Miko.
“Uhh… what’s up?” She offered an uncomfortable smile.
“Why’d you stop?”
Mitch’s voice was pretty much a faint croak, cracking before the sentence was even halfway done. It was a far cry from the passive aggressive, arrogant tone he normally used.
“Oh,” Miko hadn’t been expecting that, “I don’t know. I mean, you’re pretty distracting.”
Mitch didn’t say anything, just settled back into the couch cushions with another sniffle. Miko unpaused the game.
“There’s–” Mitch broke off, coughing roughly into his shoulder before painfully clearing his throat, “There’s a platinum weapon in the potted plant. Makes the boss 20% weaker on level 10.”
“Seriously?” She asked, a look of mild surprise gracing her features.
He nodded. Skeptical (for obvious reasons), Miko checked the plant; sure enough, the game let out a successful chime as a new weapon lit up the screen.
“Wow. I honestly thought you were just trying to fool me. Thanks.”
Miko honestly hadn’t expected that. If anything, she had figured it was some instant-death mechanic that would reset her progress or something. Mitch being helpful wasn’t a common occurrence. The guy practically lived off of making everyone else’s lives harder.
The room fell back into silence. After another few moments though, she glanced back over at Mitch. He was still watching her play, though his eyelids kept drooping with exhaustion before he snapped them back open.
“So… why’d you come in today if you knew you were sick?” Miko finally asked.
She didn’t stop playing. That would’ve made it seem like she cared, and then it would’ve felt deep and awkward, and neither of them wanted that.
“I felt perfectly fine this morning,” he turned his head away, looking embarrassed, “And I’d still be working if Phil didn’t tell me to go home. Technically, I’d have ignored him if he didn’t call my sister to pick me up. It’s really not that bad.”
Miko let out a snort of laughter.
“Seriously? ‘Not that bad?’ You sound like a seventy year old chainsmoker who gargles rocks for fun, and then stuffs his nose full of slimy cotton.”
Mitch let out an irritated huff, hand moving to massage his temples, “Really? That’s what you’d compare a little cold to?”
“A ‘little’ cold? Holy cheese sticks, you really are delusional,” She laughed.
“Delus– I am not!” He sat up looking offended, although the motion seemed to throw him slightly off balance, as his arm shot out to grab the couch before he could fall.
“Careful there, wouldn’t want to mess up your perfect hair. Oh wait, that ship is long gone.”
Miko had set down the controller by then, giving him a smug smirk.
“Listen here, you–”
“Dude, you don’t scare me. What’s the worst thing you can do right now? Cough on me?”
Mitch’s cheeks flushed red for a reason that was completely unconnected to his fever. His mouth opened, clearly ready to spit out one of his usual comebacks, but nothing came out. He sat there for a moment, expression blank, before he slumped back down, crossing his arms and looking away.
Winning didn’t feel as good as it normally did. Rather than feeling a sense of accomplishment, Miko just felt kind of guilty. She sighed, shoulders dropping a bit as she looked back over at him. He really didn’t look good. His face had gone pale, and she could see the beginnings of faint red circles on the highs of his cheeks. The normal arrogant pride that he constantly emitted had pretty much vanished, almost like it had never existed at all.
The sound of shifting started up again as Mitch rolled onto his back, slinging his arm over his eyes with a groan. He was starting to shiver, Miko noticed.
“Oh boosh, my head… Does Phil have to buy the brightest bulbs they sell,” He mumbled.
“Yeah..” Miko trailed off, looking around.
Her eyes landed on the lost and found bin in the corner. It was a banged up plastic storage tub, the label (a piece of copy paper written on with sharpie) taped up haphazardly. It was overflowing, to say the least; teenagers didn’t really think about where their missing stuff went, they just knew it was gone and don’t look past where they remember having it. Miko could see waterbottles, a few chargers, some jackets, and–
And her missing coat.
She’d been wondering where that went. She had brought it in a few months ago during a particularly cold winter day, and forgotten to bring it home (it wasn’t uncommon, she had a habit of forgetting things). It currently wasn’t nearly cold enough outside for it, considering it was early spring; a big, fluffy, neon pink winter coat wasn’t made for that kind of weather. But for someone with a fever…
Miko stood up, pulling the jacket out from the bin, before heading back to the couch. Rather than sitting back down on her side though, she moved over to where Mitch was laying and draped the coat over him. Mitch moved his arm from his eyes, giving her a scathing look.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He deadpaned.
“You were literally shivering,” She crossed her arms when she finished, sticking her tongue out at him, “Excuse me for having a heart, Mitchel. Should I take it back?”
“... Thank you.”
It was so quiet that Miko almost missed it.
“Wha?”
“Don’t make me say it again,” He muttered, curling up on his side to face the couch, fingers tightening on the fabric. “Don’t you have a level to beat?”
Miko smiled, a small, real one this time. She picked the controller back up and sat back down. The room fell back into silence, the only sounds coming from the game and Mitch’s eventual snores.