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“Stanley! You absolutely should not be here! Xeno’s not feeling well and that’s why-”
“He wasn’t at school today.” The blonde teen finished evenly, undaunted by the alarm in Mrs. Wingfield’s voice, “he told me that he wanted the notes from today’s class.”
“Well you can give them to me right here,” Astrid asserted with her hand held out, “I’m not letting you near him, you could catch whatever he’s come down with.”
“I’ll be fine ma’am, I got my flu shot last week,” Stanley said, standing his ground, “and it would probably help if I explained what was taught in class today anyway.”
The black-eyed woman stared at him for a bit, then stepped away from the front door briefly with an audible sigh as she reached to retrieve something. When her hand came back into view, Stanley eyed the folded fabric that appeared to have loops on both ends. A surgical mask.
“Fine, but put this on when you go see him. He hasn’t been coughing, but he’s had an on-off fever since this morning.”
“Thanks!” Stanley grinned and adjusted the bands around his ears before discarding his shoes and lumbering into the house.
“And don’t linger too long!”
After rapping his knuckles upon Xeno’s door in warning, he stepped into the bedroom and found his friend sitting up in bed.
“Hey.”
“...Hnn, Stannn?” The ashen-haired boy frowned, “...you should not…be here.”
“But ya wanted the notes from class, right? I got ‘em here.”
“Hnn…yes, but…” Xeno mumbled groggily, “...you could have…given them to my mom. How…did she let you in?”
“Chill out ‘bout that,” the blonde said and waved his hand. He opened his backpack to retrieve a stapled packet from the pocket of his binder, “yeah she did, gave me this mask too. But don’t worry, ma made me get my flu shot last week. Ya didn’t get yours?”
“I was supposed to…it was scheduled three days from today,” Xeno sighed out, slumping slightly against the headboard of his bed, “...I am quite certain that I caught this from Miss Wright. She was sniffling in class the other day and practically sneezed on me–”
“Blech. Ya got it from Luna?” Stanley grimaced.
The white-haired teen nodded defeatedly with a sigh, “...Your mom would be upset if she knew you were here, she’d say what an idiot you are–”
“Then she doesn’t need to know,” Stanley shrugged and laid the little packet of papers across Xeno’s lap. He settled into a nearby rolling chair, and adjusted the ridge of material against his face.
“...Thank you, Stan.”
Xeno exhaled and began to hazily peruse through the papers that he was holding in his hands.
“Heh. Rarely do I see ya with your hair like that.”
“...Hmm?”
“Your hair. Down, like that.”
Normally, the budding scientist would have scoffed and made some attempt to fix his appearance. But seeing Xeno smile in a fuzzy, self-deprecating manner was enough testament that his current appearance was the least of his concern at that moment.
He must be feelin’ really shitty.
…God, I could pinch those cheeks.
“Hoo…I must look so inelegant right now.”
With flushed cheeks, glossy eyes, and white hair framing his slightly pudgy face, Stanley found this current picture of Xeno ironically endearing. He fought down the intrusive thought of rising from his chair just to lay his hands on that face.
“Nah we all look shitty as we feel when we’re sick,” the blonde huffed out, rocking in the chair slightly, “...if you’re feelin’ too bad, you can just text or call me later to go over the notes. Not gonna talk your ear off if you’re not up to it.”
“Hnn…” the young scientist murmured, “...I took some medication a short while ago, so the fever is manageable. My muscles and body ache are still sore and I just feel heavy…I would not mind…if you could read to me.”
Stanley felt himself smirk behind the band of fabric across his mouth.
“Stanley!” Astrid scolded gently as she hovered near the doorway, “you’re still here! Xeno, you need to be resting!”
After stiffening slightly, Xeno mechanically slid beneath his comforter once more in an overly-exaggerated fashion, causing the blonde to chuckle quietly.
“I see you’re well enough to still be funny,” the woman muttered quietly as her hands moved to tuck the blanket about his body.
“It’s the drugs, mom,” Xeno smiled lazily.
Shaking her head as she rolled her eyes, Astrid turned to the teen sitting in the chair:
“Stanley, I’m off to meet a client at the gallery now, so it’s best that you head home. You’ve passed him the lecture notes?”
“...But Stan was going to read them to me,” Xeno mumbled with a wrinkle between his bushy eyebrows, “I asked him to read them to me.”
“Xeno! You little tyrant!”
“It’s fine, ma’am,” Stanley waved his hand and took the packet of papers from the other teen’s lap, “I can make it speedy, ya don’t hafta worry.”
Astrid opened her mouth to respond, but raised her hands in an “I give up” gesture.
“Fine,” the woman sighed out and waved her finger toward her son, “since you are awake, you might as well eat something if you are up to it. Do not eat anything crazy, there’s some cans of soup in the cupboard that you can heat up. Stanley can have some too, if he wants.”
“Thank ya, I’ll take care of him ma’am.”
Astrid nodded and after pressing her lips against her hand, waved it toward the two teens, “Yes, yes, I’ll have to be going now! Text or call me if either of you need something.”
After the procession of steps down the hallway and the door closing & being locked, there was the sound of the car starting up and pulling away from the driveway. Stanley straightened the papers in his hand and looked over to his friend, prepared to read from the text, but noticed that even in his miserable state, Xeno was staring at him with a glint in his ebony eyes.
A mischievous sort of glint.
“Xeno.” The blonde deadpanned with narrowed eyes, “don’t start.”
“But you said that you’d take care of me, Stan.”
“I am, just lie there while I read this to you and I’ll make us the soup afterward-”
“...I don’t want soup.”
The blonde tilted his head with an outward sigh, already preparing for some ridiculous request.
“...What do ya want, Xe.”
“Well…maybe a burger…and a milkshake…would be quite elegant. I would feel better then.”
Stanley felt his eyelid twitch.
“Are ya serious right now? You’re sick as a dog, that’s the last thing that you should be eatin’! The soup is a better choice, your mom’s right!”
Exasperated, Xeno threw off the edge of his blanket and clambered to his feet, reaching for the other boy.
“Whoa, whoa, don’t get too close!” The blonde chastised as he maneuvered away, “I’m not gettin’ you those things! Get back in bed!”
Xeno clenched his hands into Stanley’s shirt anyway…and instantly turned on the waterworks.
“Stanley Snyder, pleeeeease, I don’t ask much from you–”
“That’s bullshit,” the young marksman laughed out, trying to push the other boy away, “you’re always askin’ me for things.”
“And you ob…lige!”
They paused momentarily in their scuffle, regarding each other quietly. It was true. But secretly, Stanley was all-too-happy to spoil the other teen if it meant seeing the galaxy of stars in his eyes…
“Should-should you even be havin’ that kind of stuff when you’re sick?!”
“But it will fight off the sickness! When the body’s immune system is at war with a foreign invader, protein is essential for fighting infection!”
Stanley narrowed his eyes, “...And the milkshake? That’s nothin’ but sugar.”
Xeno’s pout stretched wider.
“...Correct, but it would just taste nice and stimulate the dopamine in my brain…Now open your phone and order for me.”
The blonde wrinkled his mouth and fished for his cellphone in his pocket, “...Fine, but I’m gettin’ somethin’ too…Now lay back down and let me read the notes to you.”
“Oooh, Stan,” Xeno sighed out in ecstasy as he grasped his hands to his chest with a slight wobble, “I could kiss you right now-”
“Shut up and get back in bed before I change my mind.”
ᝰ🚬🚬🚬 ( – ⌓ – )
“Okay, I got the food,” the blonde teen announced as he re-entered his friend’s bedroom holding two brown paper bags in one hand and a large milkshake in the other.
“Hmm…” Xeno murmured, tilting his head upward groggily and sniffing the air, “...perhaps I have made a grave error.”
Stanley frowned, not liking where his words were going.
“What does that mean.”
Xeno began to rub his hand over his abdomen with a deliberate pout.
“...Hmm, perhaps it would be an unwise decision afterall–”
“Xe. I ordered this food for ya…” the young marksman started with an ominous shadow crossing his pretty face, “and now you’re sayin’ that you don’t want any of it?”
The white-haired teen blinked and attempted a sheepish sort of smile, eyes swinging between the brown bag and the milkshake.
“...Well, I suppose if I am to have one…”
Give me the milkshake.
“...I’ll have the burger then.”
YES!
Masking the internal glee that he felt, Stanley proceeded to hand the brown paper bag to Xeno, who unfolded it eagerly with a quiet ‘thanks’. As the two boys began to eat, the savory smell of cheap, greasy fast-food started to pervade the room.
Warily, the young marksman slid his gaze over to the ketchup and mustard on his friend’s face.
“...Is it good?”
“Scrumptious,” Xeno hummed as he pushed the remaining portion of the burger into his mouth and cleaned his fingers with a napkin, “...hm.”
Suspicion crossed the blonde boy’s face.
“What.”
“Is there…is there still some milkshake left?”
“SERIOUSLY?!”
Xeno was back to pouting again and he stretched out his hand in a tentative manner.
“Let me…have just a little bit, Stan…”
“NO!” Stanley bellowed and wrenched himself away, “the burger was enough!”
Xeno chewed on his bottom lip, shooting the other boy a reprimanding look. Stanley sighed out in irritation and took a particularly large gulp from the cup that he was holding and roughly held it toward the pale-haired boy.
“Jesus Christ, here! And don’t blame me if you feel worse!”
As disheveled as his overall appearance was, Xeno’s smile was like the sun.
"Oooh Stan, where would I be without you?"
[fin]