Under the Weatherwilt

Chaotic Caretakers

Gage was laying on their lounge, snuggling their blanket and trying to brush leaves off of them. They were reading a book about the periodic table of elements. They were met with a noise of scrambling near their front door. They stared at the door. The chaos group members suddenly started climbing through the doggie door, pulling a bag with them. "Hey nerdy werdy!" Fries greeted, walking towards them. The other members followed behind, carrying the bag they had brought. "Hello." Gage said, reading their book again. They put the bag on the floor and surrounded the couch.

"We got you some things, hopefully it makes you feel better." Alex stated. Gage tensed up, expecting a very chaotic plan of theirs. They pulled out some packets of chicken noodle soup, a thermometer, an ice pack, fuzzy socks with cartoon ghosts sewed into them, some cough lollies and a small bouquet of daisies. Gage glared at the collection of items and sniffled. "Do you want some soup and tea?" Alex asked. Gage nodded their head silently, smiling at their kind gesture. Alex went to the kitchen with a packet of chicken noodle soup and began cooking it, also preparing to make some tea.

Gage put the book down on the coffee table, and Carbs handed the daisies to them. "Smell them!" She excitedly said. She then picked up the ghost socks and shuffled to the end of the lounge, changing Gage's pair of socks. Gage sniffed the daisies, instantly feeling delighted. Fries then shoved the thermometer in their mouth as Cassie put the ice pack on their forehead, trying to avoid the leaves that were still falling from their antlers. "Why would you put the ice pack on as the thermometer is measuring my temperature?" Gage asked Cassie. "Because you're so hot, you need to cool down." She smirked.

Gage's face turned red and Fries' eyes widened. "Your fever is getting worse!" They screamed, running to the freezer. They came back and threw some ice cubes onto Gage. The thermometer beeped as soon as Gage got assaulted by cubes of frozen water. Fries pulled the thermometer out of Gage's mouth as they screeched at the sudden cold spots due to the ice cubes. "38.4°, that's not too bad. Why did your face turn red then?" Fries was confused, but relieved. "My face wasn't red." Gage said in denial. "It was! It had me worried." Fries squeezed Gage's cheek and took out a cough lolly from the bag.

"Open wide!" Fries forced the cough lolly into Gage's mouth. "Does it taste good?" They asked. "Surprisingly, precisely!" Gage declared. "Let me taste it!" Carbs made Gage spit out the lolly and ate it herself. "Carbs... That's mildly unsanitary." Gage gave a concerned look. "Oh. Well at least you were right!" Carbs smiled and Fries shoved another lolly past Gage's lips. Alex walked out to the living room, placing a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a cup of tea down on the table. Gage sat themselves up, feeling how soft their new socks were against the floor. The melted ice cubs ran down their skin, making them shiver.

Gage grasped onto the soup bowl, placing it on a cushion that sat on their lap. The chaos group members watched as they ate the soup and drank their tea. Fries dived from behind the cough, yanking the TV remote from the table. They sat next to Gage, with the other members also gathering closer to the nerd. Fries opened Disney+ and played Toy Story. All 5 of them watched the movie together, falling asleep on the lounge that night.