The Living Doll (Jason the Toymaker X Reader)

Sickly Sweet

A/N: Double Update??? Can you believe? Also, there was a character that I briefly hinted at last chapter that you may have noticed. Consider this your prize if you caught it >:)

A chill raced down your spine as you shivered violently. There was no reason for you to be cold- covered in blankets, a fire crackling nearby. And yet your teeth chattered, lost in a strange delirium. 

You weren't quite sure where you were anymore. Hands made of porcelain and wood brushed against you, checking your temperature, and offering you food and water. Were you still in your room? You vaguely remembered strong arms lifting you out of bed, carrying you somewhere else. Maybe this was a hospital, came a thought from your addled mind. You were so tired. So cold. So warm. You could barely make sense of anything, and it scared you. You let out a soft, pleading noise.

And then someone was there in the room with you. Maybe they had been there the whole time, or maybe they had entered upon hearing you wake. In your delirium you couldn't recognize the person, but something in your mind registered the red hair and soft eyes as a friend. He sat on the end of the bed. His lips moved, but the sounds were incomprehensible. You pulled yourself up, ignoring the way his hands laid themselves delicately on your shoulders in an attempt to keep you lying prone. Clumsily you pushed his arms away, grabbing his shirt and using it to pull yourself up and towards him. You practically fell into Jason, clinging to him as you shivered, sweat trickling down your forehead. 

There was a pause, before you heard him huff out a laugh, and his shoulders relaxed as he wrapped his arms around you, firm and strong enough to hold up your weak form. His fingers carded through your hair as you whimpered, muttering incoherent pleas for him to help you. He hummed, pressing a kiss to your forehead, before bringing you closer to his chest. You were so cold, but your skin felt like it was on fire, Jason's embrace burned you, and yet, you gripped him tighter than before, your whimpers turning to sobs.

"Shhh," he hushed, his voice feather-soft. "I'm here. You're alright, love, I've got you. You're going to be fine, this fever won't last forever. You're safe." He continued to whisper affirmations to you as you cried, holding you as long as you needed until eventually, finally, you succumbed to sleep.

***𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕡***

Jason slipped out of the room after tucking you back into bed, pausing to look at you one more time before he closed the door. There was a faint sheen of sweat on your forehead, your cheeks flushed and your lips dry. Your temperature was still high, your body emitting warmth like a radiator. Your fever was far from breaking, and Jason would be lying if he said it didn't worry him. Humans were so weak, so fragile. His dolls, as dainty and breakable as they were, were immune to sickness and disease. They could be fixed. But you...Jason closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. No, he couldn't turn you into a doll just yet. The temptation was certainly there, to save you from your sickness. But there was the law of Occam's razor- the simplest solution is often the easiest one. It was best to just let this fever run its course, rather than go through the exhaustive process of turning you into a doll.

He closed the door softly behind him. He had moved you from your room to another one, closer to his workshop so he could keep a better eye on you. He had also asked the dolls to check in on you frequently, but it did little to stop him from fretting over you himself.

Jason moved some stuff off of his worktable- he really needed to clean this place more often, but alas, creativity always causes a mess- and began to work on his current project. He was building a clock, carving and sanding down wooden pieces, forming it in the shape of an owl. The work was exactly what he needed- a distraction- and soon he quickly found himself lost in the project, his attention consumed entirely by it.