Work Text:
"I'm only… shlightly shick." AJ mumbled in her defence, voice high and nasally, sounding as if every p]art of her nose was clogged up. The sickness made it hard to speak, so her words came out wrong, sounding slurred. AJ only hoped that Megii and Drift wouldn't—
"Shick? You're shick?" Drift laughed at her quietly, pointing at the sick Mage, who was curled up on Megii's couch, trying to stop the bright light from hurting her eyes. "Oh, do you hear that, Megii? AJ's shick."
"Ah…" Magpie nodded with a teasing tone, her lip pouting cutely. "See, I thought she was just sick. But shick? The poor baby."
AJ wanted to die.
She was hot, and sweaty, and her hair was all wet, and her clothes were sticky, and her friends were giggling at her voice. Of course, the Mage knew it was all in good fun, but she whined nonetheless. "No… I'm not a baby."
She only got cooes from the two girls, who seemed to be coming closer to her. "Are you sure, baby?" Magpie asked with a grin, her fingertips lightly combing AJ's sweaty hair. The Death Mage didn't expect it to feel so… nice.
"Yeah, I am." AJ mumbled in reply, unable to hide the little giggle in her voice. God, she was out of it.
"Oh, yeah?" Drift bent down to AJ's height, which was on the couch. The light hitting Drift from the back made her look like a sun Goddess. Or maybe AJ was just incredibly delirious. "Why do you smile when we call you baby then?"
I do?
Oh, fuck.
"Ugh…" The girl groaned loudly, instinctively hiding her face in the blanket Megii had given her. Even with the fever, her face seemed to be growing hot.
"Aw, she does do that!" AJ could hear Megii agree with a tease, her voice only slightly muffled by the blanket.
"No, I don't…" The sick was still evident in her voice, but AJ tried to defend herself, again.
Her eyes were shut, trying to calm the blushing on her face as the blanket around her was pulled down by Drift.
"Yeah, you do." Her fake girlfriend awwed at her. "Do you like being babied, AJ?"
AJ knew she should have felt humiliated, or angry, but oddly enough, her body didn't cower in on itself. Instead, her head shifted to the side and avoided eye contact which she mulled over her answer. "No…"
"No?" Megii asked her, crouching down next to Drift, who was still holding her precious blanket up. "Are you sure?"
She couldn't help but laugh. Ugh. What the fuck? She was acting like a damn toddler. "No…" She said again, in the same exact tone as before, smiling the whole way.
"Aw, she does. She admitted it, Megii." Drift turned to her best friend, whose face was pouted at AJ with a mocking, funny grin. "I think we should get a bottle for her."
Megii gasped at that, turning to look into Drift's eyes. "That's a good idea!"
"Hey! I don't want a bottle!" AJ shot up from her curled position. Immediately, a wave of nausea hit her stomach like sucker-punch, twisting around her stomach and squeezing. She immediately leaned back, watching as Megii moved to the side of the treehouse and pulled out a small water bottle seemingly from air. "Please, I'm not that shick—"
"No, we'll take care of you, baby." Drift's face inched closer to AJ, who whined in frustration once again. The fake girlfriend's hand moved to graze the sick girl's face, hand them moving to her forehead. "Oh, you're so warm." She muttered to herself, standing and turning to Megii with a concerned but smug look. "Do we have a hand towel? And cold water? Baby's got a bad fever."
"I'm not a—" AJ began to hiss at them, trying to wipe the smile from her lips, but was just shushed by Megii. Shushed! Shushed! Like a little kid!
"Yeah, I have some—" the Woodland Mage looked around. "Oh. Here." Her hand reached out to a table with a convenient jug of water and a handtowel, bringing the two over, with the water bottle. "How warm is she?"
AJ tried to close her eyes, eyelids feeling heavy and weighted. It was somewhat nice, how they talked about her like they cared.
"Maybe high thirty-eights? Thirty-eight-point-eight. From what I could feel, at least." Drift muttered, and Megii laughed at her. "Hey! Pyro taught me a few things, okay? Scott, too."
"I know! Just think it's funny." Magpie continued to laugh, the sound comfortable in AJ's ears. If it continued, she might just fall asleep this way. "You're like a human thermometer."
"I—" Drift snorted at the idea, and AJ felt a nudge by her lips, something plastic pushing against it. "I guess so. AJ, open your mouth, we have your baby bottle."
She opened her eyes hesitantly, the light already bright and painful as her lips automatically sucked on the straw. It was a green water bottle, small, only a bit longer than the length of AJ's hand, with a straw poking out from the top, pushed between AJ's lips as she sucked on it naturally. The water slowly entered her mouth as she heard awwes from her fake girlfriend and friend.
It tasted nice, like it had a hint of strawberries in it, but the water burned as AJ swallowed, her sore throat too inflamed to comfortably drink. She groaned as it went down, making Drift take the straw from her mouth. "You okay?" She asked, the two girls giving her a slightly worried look. "Joke over?"
She shook her head at the question about the joke. "No, just— throat sore… ugh." AJ muttered, readjusting herself on the corner of the couch to be more comfortable. She was not drinking that. It hurt like a bitch.
"Oh… hm." Megii made a thinking sound. "She needs more water."
"Yeah. Sip." Drift pushed the straw back into AJ's mouth, making the girl whine again and push away. The feeling of it scratching her throat was horrible — if it wasn't alcohol, AJ would just wait until her throat was normal again.
"No, AJ, you need to drink." Magpie scolded her lightly when she pulled away, urging Drift to push the straw into her mouth more forcefully this time. It caught AJ off-guard, but she still managed to grab onto Drift's wrist and push the hand away, freeing her mouth of the straw.
"Oh, seriously? AJ, you're not going to feel better unless you drink!" Drift groaned at her, giving the sick girl an exasperated look, similar to the one Megii had.
"It hurts." AJ told them, shaking her head slowly. "But I'll have vodka..."
It was quiet for a moment, and AJ peeked her eyes open to look at the two Mages.
They stared at her, then glanced at each other, before sound exploded. At the same time, both Drift and Megii began laughing at AJ boisterously, Drift even turning away and beginning to crouch as she laughed at the girl's request.
AJ rolled her eyes and looked away as Megii spoke to her between giggles. "Oh, AJ… no. No vodka, no cigarettes, no."
For a moment, AJ wasn't sick. Her nose cleared up, her throat went back to normal, and she didn't feel nauesous. "What?"
Drift laughed at her again, giving her a proud look. "You're sick, drinking and smoking just make it worse." AJ opened her mouth to speak, to beg or disagree, but Drift kept speaking. "Flick already gave me all your packs yesterday anyways."
What?
"No. No. No—" AJ muttered and shook her head, looking around. She needed her cigs, and the pub… drinks… "But I need them."
Neither of the two said anything, no longer laughing. Megii bit her lip while Drift just looked at her with a bit of worry. Magpie shrugged slightly. "Maybe this'll be healthy for you, then. You can take a break!"
"But I don't want a break." She cried out softly with a numb shake of the head. AJ let her mouth part in shock as her shoulders slumped, letting Drift slowly put the straw back between her lips and sip a small bit of water.
"I know…" Megii rubbed her head, almost patting it apologetically. "But it'll make you feel better. And, hey, you know what else'll make you better?"
"…what?" AJ muttered sadly, her eyes looking at the floor like they hurt to pull up.
"Rest." Drift said, pulling the straw from out of her mouth and picking up a bit of the blanket which had fallen to the floor. She pulled it up to where AJ's chest was, letting the sick Mage grab onto them. "Shick babies need rest, AJ. Don't they, Magpie?"
"Aw, they do. They really do. Look at her." Megii leaned down to AJ, who glared at her, pretending she wasn't enjoying it, that her body wasn't suddenly buzzing and warm from how they spoke to her just this once. "So tired, poor thing."
Still staring at AJ, Drift leaned into Megii's ear and smiled. "I feel like we should leave her here to rest." The Earth Mage whispered, still loud enough for AJ to hear and roll her eyes.
"I think so." Megii whispered back with a cooing grin. "Oh, look, her eyes are closing."
No, they're not.
I just… can't see anymore. It's dark in the treehouse. In daytime. With no walls.
AJ wanted to protest, but she couldn't help how her body felt oddly heavy sick. How her bones felt more decayed than normal, or how her eyes seemed to fight to close. It was just hard to stay awake and fight against the teasing and the soft, melodic voices speaking, when her body wanted almost the opposite.
Despite the fever and the sweat beading on her back, AJ found herself getting increasingly comfortable. Safety felt like the name of the blanket wrapped around her, and the Mage's body melted into the couch before she could even stop herself. Before she could feel a familiar hand drift through her hair and voice whisper next to her.
"Sweet dreams, AJ."