Henry Stickmin Oneshots And More!

Self-Care

 Fluff? Comfort? I'm not even sure what to call this? 

This is set after the Toppat Recruits ending, and Henry, Ellie and Sven all have a chaotic sibling bond, with Sven as the 'tf am I even here' character.

Whatever. Hope y'all like this! Remember, requests are open so long as they aren't lemons or x readers. Anything else is up to you.

Hope y'all have a great day, or night depending on where you're at, and I'll catch y'all later!

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It was a normal day when Sven collapsed.

They were on a break- for once the young workaholic agreed to rest for a bit- and Henry and Ellie were playing Duel Monsters. They were both anime weebs, and refused to call the game Yu-Gi-Oh. Sven was sitting back against the table, talking mindlessly about some subject Henry was ninety nine percent tuning out.

Ellie was winning by a lot, and Henry was trying to keep up. He had stronger monsters than she did, but she used more spell/monster combos than him.

Henry played a monster, this time in defense mode. It would be wise to have some line of protection against Ellie.

Ellie smirked. She knew her deck was superior and Henry was just grasping at straws at this point. She placed a magic card face down.

Henry drew a card, then paused. Something was off. What was it...

After a second, he realized what it was. Sven's endless chatter had stopped.

It's not like Henry minded, really. After a while even the most interesting conversations got old. But Svne didn't stop talking unless he was really deep in focus.

Or something was wrong.

Henry and Ellie stood up at the same time, then simultaneously noticed Sven on the ground, unconscious.

"What the- he just collapsed!" Ellie said.

Henry nodded and crouched next to Sven. He checked for a pulse- there was one, thank god. Then he felt the younger Toppat's forehead. It was almost too hot to touch.

'He's burning up,' Henry signed.

"What happened to him?" Ellie said, then shook her head. "Never mind. We should take him to the medbay. Doc'll know what to do."

Henry nodded again and picked Sven up with ease. He motioned for Ellie to lead.

Let's go, He said, without actually saying a word.

~Time Skip~

"A fever?" Ellie asked. "That's why he passed out?"

The doctor nodded. "Normally something like this wouldn't be a cause for concern. 103 is high, but not terribly dangerous. What worries me is Sven's history of ignoring his own physical needs in favor of wok."

"His history of WHAT?" Ellie asked, worried overprotective sibling mode on.

"Sven has a habit of putting his work over his own needs," The doctor said. "We've all tried stopping him, but he never listens."

'So he doesn't take care of himself,' Henry summarized, calmer than Ellie but still worried. 'Why not?'

"Well, he gets it from his father," The doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Who gets it from a long history of inept Toppat leaders. In addition, Sven has diagnosed OCD and anxiety, which means he mentally and emotionally cannot rest until everything is absolutely perfect. Again, not a problem by himself, but he does it far too often to be healthy."

"Well, he'd better start taking care of himself," Ellie growled, angry/worried. 

The doctor barked a laugh. "I'd pay money to see you try. Just wait, this time tomorrow he'll be trying to work again."

A quiet groan made all of them pause. Henry turned to see Sven standing in the infirmary doorway, clutching the frame for support.

"Sven!" Ellie said. "Why are you awake?!"

"Uhm... Because I woke up...?" Sven said, obviously weak. "Jäkla, my head hurts..." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Hmm. That's a new record," The doctor said. "A full five minutes in the infirmary. Wow."

As he stared at Sven, Henry noticed all of the small details he'd formerly overlooked, or ignored. The dark shadows under Sven's eyes, the way he looked like he was about to fall over, the skinny pale form- almost to an unhealthy level. Even his actions raised a red flag- the way he would refuse to take breaks with Henry and Ellie, the fact that he was always up before Henry and turned in later, if he even turned in at all, the fact that he always had some sort of coffee or energy booster in his hands. It was all glaringly obvious, yet Henry had never cared enough to notice.

How many times had Henry pulled Sven along on some silly quest or adventure, noting with annoyance his friend's lack of enthusiasm, but never picking up on the reasons why? How many times had Sven used his nonstop talking as a barrier, a buffer between him and the rest of the world, to distract himself from his own pain? How many nights had he sat in his office working, his only source of energy coming from caffeine because he hadn't slept well in weeks?

How many months- No. How many years had Sven spent, lying about his health until everyone was convinced he was fine- until he was convinced he was fine? 

But it wasn't fine. Sven wasn't fine. He looked terrible, he probably felt terrible. He couldn't keep pretending he was okay. No one could survive like that for long.

'Sven,' Henry signed, clearing his throat to get the Swede's attention. 'When was the last time you slept?'

Sven stared at him blankly for a second. Then he rubbed his eyes again. "Three days...? Four? It all blurs together..."

Henry and Ellie exchanged a glance. This was not okay.

Henry crossed the room and picked Sven up, causing a yelp of surprise from the younger Toppat.

"You need sleep," Ellie said, and Henry nodded agreement.

"What? N-no I don't!" Sven said, weakly protesting. Henry noticed that even though he was protesting, he wasn't actually struggling. Even if his conscious mind would rather stay in denial, his body craved sleep.

"Sven," Ellie said sternly. "You are not a machine. you are a human being who needs to take care of himself to function. And right now, you are sick. Until further notice, you are not going to work at all."

"Wh-what? No!"

"Let us take care of you," Henry said, his voice hoarse from long time disuse. It showed just how much he cared about Sven, his younger brother in everything except name, that he would actually speak for the first time in longer than anyone could remember.

Sven didn't seem to noticed the significance. Instead he just closed his eyes tiredly. "Well... I guess a small break won't hurt..." He mumbled.

~Time Skip 2~

"You mean he actually talked?" Sven asked with disbelief. "Because I was sick?"

Ellie nodded. "Yep."

Sven sat back, crossing his arms. "I don't believe you."

It had been a week since he'd collapsed, and Sven was still recovering. At least he wasn't delirious anymore, like he had the first day. To Henry and Ellie's annoyance but no longer surprise, a simple week long recovery was one of the longest Sven had ever taken.

"It's true," Ellie said. She looked at Henry. "Isn't that right, Hen?"

Henry nodded. 'Yeah,' he signed. 'I did.'

"Nope. This is a joke or something," Sven insisted stubbornly. "There's no possible way Henry Stickmin, a selective mute, would talk purely because of me."

Ellie stifled a sigh. So self-esteem issues were on the table as well as physical neglect.

Well, they could work on that.

From now on, Sven was not allowed to hurt himself like this.