[one of the headcanons that I've come across is octolings having venom and needing to expel it every few months, this is inspired by a specific fic on AO3, I read it ages ago but if I come across it again I'll link it here. Big etomophobia warning]
Shiver lay on the bed, hot and cold flashes passing by in a constant cycle. A red plastic mixing bowl, dubbed the spew bucket, sat on the bedside table, along with a box of tissues and a water bottle. As the front door opened Shiver buried their head within the pillows to block the sound out. A series of more doors opening and closing once more.
Out of the corner of their eye a yellow inkling crouched down. Shiver slowly turned their head towards Frye.
"Hello dear" She said softly, placing her hand on the octolings forehead "Your burning up again, I'll grab the wash cloth from the fridge for you."
Shiver let out a small groan in response. Frye stood up, leaving the shopping bag by the bedside table. She quickly left the room, slipping out of the door that was left slightly cracked. She came back nearly as soon as she left with a damp wash cloth in hand.
She crouched back down next to Shiver "Can you roll on your back for me?"
Shiver looked up slightly, letting out a small whine before rolling over.
"Thank you dear." Frye placed a quick kiss on the others forehead before placing the cloth on as well.
Shiver sighed in contentment as the coolness of the cloth eased into their skin. Frye smiled before taking the bowl and walking into the bathroom. She emptied the contents into the toilet, scrunching her nose at the sight. She quickly rinsed it under the sink before returning it to its place on the bedside table. She reaches into the bag and grabbed a bottle of medicine and some cold and flu tablets.
"I bought some medicine for you, it took me a while to find some octolings specific stuff but I did." Frye said, smiling.
She opened the bottle and took the medicine cup it came with, reading the instructions on the back and pouring the appropriate amount of medicine. The popped two pills from the packet. Right before placing the tablets on the table the sound of retching caught her attention. She snapped her head the the source, Shiver was vomiting a flourescent blue venom into the bucket. Frye's ears drooped in worry.
Frye placed the tablets down before placing her hand on their upper back, avoiding their shoulders. Shiver started wheezing and dry heaving, it between a small breath they mumbled "Shoulders.."
Frye took the hint, having dealt with venom expulsion a few times before. She gently placed her hands on the ends of their shoulders, right before their upper arm and massaged upwards of the inflamed glands. Obviously some venom was stuck within, sometimes congeling due to the small percentage of ink in the venom. Shiver let out a went cough before proceeding to throw up once more. Frye swiftly took her hands off the octolings shoulders. Moving to sit behind Shiver.
Shiver quickly washed their mouth out with water before placing the bucket back on the table. Frye grabbed the cup of medicine and pills and handed them to Shiver "Take these, they should make you feel better, plus, according to your chart you only have three days left of this."
Shiver nodded, quickly drinking the cup and taking the pills. Lying back down amongst the nest of pillows, blankets and random items of clothing. They grasped Frye's wrist, gently tugging. Frye got the memo, softly falling down next to her lover. Shiver tuned onto their side, adjusting the wash cloth to stay on their head.
"Sometimes I hate being an octoling.." Shiver said weakly, voice cracking.
"I can understand that, but life is life, and were just on for the ride, at least we have people along with us."
Shiver nodded, smiling slightly.
"I love you dear." Frye said, placing her hand on the side of the others face.
"I love you too." Shiver replied quietly, closing their eyes and dozing off as the medicine kicks in.
[I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well as the return of this series. Let me know about any criticism and anything you want to see in the future, the updates on this will be slow but I'll try my best to keep updates consistent also formatting may be weird as I'm doing this on my phone instead of my iPad now]
