FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

Curing What Ails You: Chapter 1

Chapter Warnings: Swearing

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"Looootus... my skull hurts...," Rurik's muffled wail drifted into the kitchen from the living room.

"Yes, I'm aware," Lotus sighed loudly, dialing the number for the shipping company with one hand as he retrieved an ice tray from the freezer with the other, "I'll bring you something in a minute."

A miserable groan answered him, but the silence proceeding it was all he could ask for as the line clicked on the other end, "Breakneck Shipping; Mark speaking."

Pushing down the anxiety that came with talking to a stranger, Lotus said, "Hi, this is Rurik Roller's roommate, Lotus. I wanted to let you know he's sick, so he won't be able to come in today."

"Rurik?" the man on the line repeated, "Oh, you must be that boyfriend he's always talking about; he's not dying, is he?"

"That shameless bastard...," the skeleton grumbled under his breath; his partner really had no filter sometimes, "No, he'll live; he's got a low-grade fever, but he's really whiny about it. I figured I'd save everyone the trouble of listening to him bitch and moan all day by keeping him home."

The guy on the other end chortled, "Rurik, whiny? Holy shit, I'd pay to see that! In any case, good luck with him."

"Thanks," Lotus replied, ending the call while leaving out the fact that he was leaving for work after Rurik was situated; the guy on the other end didn't need to know what his plans for the day were, after all.

Cracking the ice tray into a plastic bag and pulling out a hand towel to wrap around it, Lotus returned to the living room. Rurik looked up from where he was laid out on the couch with a box of tissues nestled beside him, asking in a stuffy voice, "Who were you talking to?"

"Your work; you have the day off, so get some rest," Lotus instructed, placing the wrapped ice bag upon his boyfriend's skull. He grimaced at the moan the simple action produced as the feverish monster sunk into the couch, closing their sockets and pressing their hand into the cold pack in relief. A sick Rurik really was a pathetic sight to see; it was also jarring considering how the skeleton normally acted so indomitable.

He supposed everyone had their moments of weakness, even Rurik.

Releasing a sigh, Lotus listed off the items on his fingers, "You have tissues; your medicine, water, phone, and the T.V. remote are right here on the table; I left an extra blanket on the end of the couch if you get cold; there's soup in the refrigerator that you only need to heat up in the microwave; there's a new tray of ice cooling in the freezer, so empty out and refill the bag if you need to; there are crackers and tea bags in the second and third cabinets from the left, and the kettle's on the stove... I think that's everything."

Rurik reached out, wrapping his arms around the Lotus's waist, "Don't goooo; I'm sick and I won't remember all that. Stay here with me today."

Lotus stared down at their attempt at a puppy dog face, wholly unimpressed, "Rurik, you're a grown monster; you can handle being by yourself for a few hours. You should be spending the day resting anyways, so there's no point to me sticking around."

"But I'll be looonely," the skeleton whined, attempting to pull him onto the couch, "do you reeeally have to go?"

The smaller easily pried their hands off while reminding him, "People and monsters don't stop dying just because you're sick. Besides, you have my number if anything serious happens," a grin began to appear on Rurik's face, prompting the threat, "and if you spam me with messages, I'll turn my phone off until my break." The skeleton's smug expression fell and Lotus considered the matter settled, heading for the front door and slipping his boots on, "I should be home before five, but I'll call if anything happens." A dissatisfied grumble answered him and he chided the grumpy monster as he opened the door, "Get some rest, Rurik; you'll feel better afterward."

Shutting the door and locking it behind him, Lotus shivered as he pulled his scarf up over his nose and mouth to block out the chilly morning air; while he would prefer to spend the day at home rather than deal with the bullshit that came with going to work, he also didn't want to deal with the bullshit that came with calling out when he didn't have to.

Pushing the thought from his mind, the skeleton shoved his hands into his pockets and began his walk to work.

---

"Come on...," Lotus growled to himself, fumbling to slot the key into the deadbolt so he could escape into the warm house. Finally getting the door open, he sighed in relief at the pleasant heat that rushed out to greet him.

Shutting out the cold and kicking off his boots beside the coat rack, he turned around and was forced to stifle a laugh. Rurik was passed out in a haphazard sprawl with only one leg still covered by his blanket as his mouth hung open mid-snore. The hand towel and a bag of water laid forgotten on the floor among the empty tissue box and a few wadded-up tissues, with the rest littering the table around an empty bowl, empty glass, and an open packet of medicine.

Readjusting the blanket and feeling his partner's warm forehead, Lotus let his hand trail down to their scarred cheek and smiled softly as he murmured, "Even when you're asleep... what am I going to do with you?"

Figuring he should tidy up before waking the beast, the smaller monster gathered up all the tissues, the box, the medicine wrapper, the bowl, and the water glass; tossing them in the trash and dishwasher respectively, washed his hands, and refilled the ice pack before reheating the soup. Jogging upstairs to change into a more comfortable hoodie and sweatpants as the microwave ticked down, he came back down and popped the door open just as the first beep sounded.

Walking back out into the living room with a bowl in each hand and the new ice pack draped over his arm, he set everything on the table before reaching for Rurik's shoulder, "Supper time, sleeping beauty."

The taller jerked awake with a snort, blinking owlishly up at him; once the monster registered his presence, a smirk played across their face, "Don't I get a wake-up kiss?"

"Not until you're germ-free," Lotus rolled his eye light, dropping the wrapped bag of ice on their skull and reaching for the soup; he took it as a good sign when a relieved groan didn't follow. He waited for his boyfriend to shimmy into a sitting position before handing over a bowl and taking a seat; as the pair slurped at their noodle soup, he asked, "So, what did you do with yourself all day?"

Rurik shrugged, depositing his already empty bowl on the table and reclining back, "Ate, went through the box of tissues, tried to find something interesting on T.V., got bored and thought about pestering you, remembered your threat and decided against it, played on my phone instead, took some medicine, and slept; pretty standard sick day stuff."

"At least you took me seriously for once," the smaller sighed, setting down his bowl and reaching for the remote, "Anyways, are you feeling any better?"

"Nothing I can't handle," a pair of arms wrapped around Lotus's waist, pulling him back onto the couch as a voice whispered next to his skull, "but I think I've earned a reward, don't you?"

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Word Count: 1,286