(Just a heads up, I (the self insert) am transmasc, so no feminine terms will be used in reference to me, but the anatomy of an AFAB person will be referred to.)
The sun rose, glaring at me through the curtains as if it was screaming at me to get out of bed. I sat up, burying my face into the palms of my hands. Hardly 7 in the morning and I already had the worst headache.
All the while, Red was in the kitchen fixing breakfast. Swedish pancakes and lingonberries. He knew very well those were my favorite, and apparently he'd decided that today would be special. His foster son, Doi, was in the room next to me, fast asleep. Anyone could tell he wasn't awake yet, because if he was, he'd be shouting the lyrics to some children's song and wake everyone in the house, if not the whole neighborhood. And god knows what Duck was up to.
I sighed and got up, tossing the covers aside. At least I had woken up before chaos ensued. That was always a guaranteed event. Always.
Throwing a blanket over my shoulders, I walked out to the kitchen. Upon hearing my footsteps, Red flinched and turned around, nearly dropping his spatula. "You're up early," he said in his usual monotone voice.
"Tell me about it." I sat at the table and laid my head down on my arms, like a student napping in class.
"It's worse today, is it?"
"Yeah."
Red and I had been together for a while now. He knew me more than I knew myself. Of course that meant he knew that the headaches usually came around noon rather than this early in the morning.
He opened up a cabinet and pulled out a pill bottle, then got a glass of cold water. I felt a smile make its way onto my face. He was such a caring person. Of course he was already used to being a caretaker, as he had Doi. I remember he told me a while back- "If I can handle someone as challenged as Doi, I can sure handle you. You're not that hard to care about."
Red set a few pills in front of me and handed me the glass. I took the medicine and tried not to put my head back down. It was about time I wake up anyway.
He took the pancakes off of the stove, the sizzling noise still echoing in my head. The sound ceased as Red poured the berries onto the pancakes. He plated the food and handed it to me, with a fork and knife wrapped in a napkin as if we were in a restaurant. I smiled and began to eat my food, but not before Red sat down across from me. He had made himself some scrambled eggs and french toast.
As we sat there eating, he could tell something was off. I was moving slowly, and couldn't keep my eyes open for more than three seconds at a time. He brushed it off though- he knew I'd only insist I was okay.
Red cleared his throat. "Could you pass the syrup please?"
I was too tired and spaced out to even hear him.
"Spyro?"
"Huh?"
"I said, could you pass the syrup please?"
"Oh, yeah, the syrup, yeah, yeah..."
I passed it to him. As he drizzled some onto his food, he looked at me with a bit of a concerned expression. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, just a bit tired is all."
"Doesn't seem like a bit to me."
"Red, there's no need to worry, I'm okay-"
He slammed his hands on the table, his silverware falling onto the floor with a loud, echoing clink.
"That's it! I've had it with you saying that! Something is clearly upsetting you, and I want to know what it is!"
