Skyline Gang One Shots and Short Stories

Recovery

This is just a short follow up of "Overworked". Enjoy!

The start of the day was unusual to say the least.

Normally Dude would be up first and depart for a short run. By time everyone else was awake, he'd already be back and have breakfast. And he'd make a head start on the minor daily tasks. However, now that the truth came out about how physically and mentally drained he was, he was pretty much forced to take some time off. It was so abnormal to not have Dude eating breakfast that morning. After checking in on him, the usually active member of the Skyline Gang was still fast asleep. He was so deep in his slumber that he might as well be playing the part of Sleeping Beauty.

Throughout the day, everyone else started to understand how and why he got so tired to the point of getting sick. At first, people demanded that he'd do the tasks that seemed to be forced onto him. Even after explaining why he was absent, he was still being demanded for. The others were fast to stand their ground, even Misty stepped up for a little bit (though she still tried to duck out of most of the work). As the day went by, things started to balance out a bit. Nonetheless it was still draining. How Dude did this all on his own was a mystery.

They were able to get a reprieve for a short while. Pip was crafting something at the house, while Bud was finishing off the remaining paperwork Dude couldn't complete from the night before. Mimi was redoing her nails in her room, while Misty was off doing who knows what. Sprout and Candi had rushed to the nearby town to do some shopping. Only Rainbow didn't seem to relax. For almost the entire day, he stayed in Dude's room, acting almost like a guard dog. He made sure that Dude remained in bed, even when he woke up a couple of times during the day. The only times he strayed from his duties were to go out in the garden and to eat and drink.

After some time, Sprout and Candi came back. Sprout was taking some things to the kitchen to put away, while Candi checked in with Bud and Pip.

"How's Dude?" She asked, wanting to nip the issue in the bud.

"He came down a little earlier to have something to eat." Pip said, looking up,from her mini project. Bud nodded silently as he proceeded with the paperwork and calculations. "He tried to weasel his way into helping but Rainbow helped us get him back into bed."

"Still drained huh?" Sprout asked, rejoining Candi.

"Yeah. The poor guy looked like he was going to faint again or worse." Pip sighed. "He could barely stand." Sprout didn't know whether to roll his eyes or give Dude a piece of his mind. Dude promised not to do any work, and he tried to anyway. Was he seriously that much of a workaholic?

Bud sighed himself as he put his pen down at last. Cramped up wrist and a dry throat felt like torture right now. Ans there will probably be more given to him tonight. It wasn't the first time he thought about why everyone else dumped all of this on Dude. Yes, he was the leader, but he had limits. Why can't people see that this is one of the reasons as to why he was so sick right now?

Taking full advantage of this small break, Bud turned to ask Sprout and Candi a question. However, he put that aside when he noticed Candi holding onto something that was blue.

"What's that the two of you have?" He asked, pointing at the object. Candi's worried expression turned upside down. She grinned proudly as she held the object high in pride.

"A blue dolphin!" She boasted, bouncing on her heels as she held the soft toy. It was unplanned to get it but as soon as she and Sprout saw it in the toy shop window, everything clicked for them. "Dude loves marine wildlife, so we thought that this might cheer him up!"

"It can guarantee that he'll be FLIPPING with joy!" Sprout grinned, gently taking the toy and threw it up in the air. It spun in mid air as if it were a real dolphin that was flipping freely at sea. Candi, Bud and Pip laughed at his small joke. After everything that has happened, it felt good to have a laugh.