Fever

Sicktember 2021 - Day 1

As the back of their fingers reached A’s cheek, B paused. A felt warm. Slightly too warm.

A comes down with a fever, their partner B takes care of them.

B chuckled at the program. It was a Friday night tradition to get take away and spend the evening on the sofa watching whatever entertainment show of the week happened to be on, followed by a movie. Tonight was no exception.

A was curled up next to B with their head on a pillow in B’s lap. This was one of the standard arrangements.

Sometimes B would lay with their feet in A’s lap (and if they were lucky, get a foot massage). Sometimes it was the other way around. Some days they would push the table to the side and put their feet up on the ottoman, snuggled together under the same quilt.

But tonight A had felt a bit chilled and wanted to cozy up under a warm blanket. Which led to the current situation, with a blanketed A resting their head in B’s lap.

What was unusual however, which B just noticed, was that A was sleeping. Sure, it wasn’t that out of the ordinary for A to fall asleep. But normally it would happen later in the evening, towards the end of the movie.

B smiled fondly down at A’s sleeping form. “Hey, sleepyhead,” they began in a low voice, barely louder than a whisper. They raised their hand to stroke their cheek and continued, “you’re gonna wake up at 4am if you fall asleep now.”

As the back of their fingers reached A’s cheek however, B paused. A felt warm. Slightly too warm. They pressed down just a tiny bit more firmly, then slid their hand up to press their palm against A’s forehead.

This confirmed it. A was definitely running a fever.

B had just decided they should go get the thermometer when they heard a small voice.

“Mmh, that feels nice,” A said in a sleepy voice and let out a small sigh.

“What, this?” B asked as they adjusted their palm on A’s forehead.

“Yeah,” A said, eyes still closed.

With one hand still on A’s forehead, they touched the back of their fingers of the other to A’s cheek.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” B said softly, concern lacing their voice.

“M’okay, just a bit of a headache,” A replied sleepily.

“I think you’re running a temperature,” B said, feeling A’s neck with the back of their fingers, then stroking A’s cheek again.

“Stay right here, I’m gonna get the thermometer,” B said, carefully sliding out from underneath the pillow, trying not to jostle A too much.

A pouted but didn’t say anything. They did however wrap the blanket tighter around themselves. B noticed.

“Are you cold?” B asked.

“A bit,” answered A and pulled the blanket right up to their chin.

B leaned down and rubbed A’s arm, more for comfort than to create heat. “I’ll be right back.”

B returned shortly, carrying a thermometer, a glass of water, and A’s duvet. They began by putting the first items on the table. Then they gently laid the duvet on top of A’s already blanketed form and proceeded to tuck them in tightly.

“There we go, that should make it better in a moment,” B said with a soft smile. Then they knelt down next to A. Picking up the thermometer they continued: “Okay, let’s see what we’re dealing with here.”

A looked up at B as they held the thermometer close, and somewhat reluctantly opened their mouth to let B insert the thermometer.

Once B was sure that A held the thermometer in place by themselves, B let go and looked up into A’s eyes. They were bright and glassy with fever.

“Oh, honey,” they all but whispered while reaching out to cup A’s flushed cheek. A sighed and leaned into B’s cool touch.

B stayed kneeling next to A until the thermometer beeped, at which point they took it out and read the verdict.

“101.2,” B stated and looked at A. “Would you like something for the fever, for the headache?” A nodded.

B fetched a pill from the medicine cabinet which A gratefully accepted.

“Do you want to go to bed now?” B asked once A had swallowed the pill.

A pouted. “No, I want to stay out here with you.”

B couldn’t help but smile. “I’d go with you of course,” they said, ruffling A’s hair slightly and then immediately smoothing it down again.

A considered for a moment and then said “No, I want to watch a movie. We always do.”

B thought that if A had already fallen asleep once, they’d most likely not stay awake for the movie. But they didn’t argue. They just smiled warmly and nodded. “Okay. Let’s watch a movie.”

B slipped back in under the pillow so that A was once again resting their head in B’s lap. They decided on a movie and settled down to watch.

B would alternate between slowly running their fingers through A’s hair, gently massaging their neck, and tracing their fingers along the shell of A’s ear; all things they knew A liked and which would hopefully make them feel more relaxed and comfortable.

Occasionally B would look down and see how A was doing. They managed to stay awake for much longer than B expected. But it was only a matter of time before A fell asleep, softly snoring into the pillow.

Once the movie was over, B slowly woke A up. They hated to do so, but knew that A would sleep better in the bed, in their pyjamas, teeth brushed. And A would need lots of restful sleep, so B insisted. A was a bit dazed but didn’t complain.

But after only a few hours, A woke up. It was still dark and they knew they should go back to sleep. But no matter how much they tried, they just couldn’t.

They’d been so cold earlier that evening, but now they were starting to feel too hot instead. They pushed away the duvet. But then their feet got cold so they pulled it back over their feet and legs.

They kept turning over to try and get more comfortable, but nothing was helping. And the pyjama shirt was suddenly very rough on their skin. Even when they were perfectly still it felt like every seam was digging into their skin.

A’s movements had slowly been waking B up, and when they heard A whimper they were instantly awake. They sat up quickly, turned on the bedside lamp and looked over at A. “What’s wrong?”

A winced and covered their eyes at the brightness. Then their hands fell to their pyjama top, pulling at the collar.

“It hurts,” was all they managed.

B looked A over in concern. “Where?”

“This,” B said, pulling on their pyjamas once again. “And it’s too hot and too cold and I can’t sleep,” they added in a voice sounding more and more as if they were going to cry at any moment. Their breathing was shallow and more rapid than usual.

B leaned over and put the back of their hand to A’s forehead. It was dry and very warm.

Looking over at A’s bedside table they noticed that the glass of water was empty.

“I’m gonna get you some water,” B began, sliding their hand down to caress A’s cheek with the back of their fingers. “But first I’d like to take your temperature again. I think your fever’s gone up.”

First they helped A out of their pyjama top. Then they propped up A to a slightly more seated position and placed the thermometer under their tongue.

“I’ll get you some more medicine, okay,” B more stated than asked. A nodded. B’s heart broke for them. They looked exhausted, and the feverish flush had spread, covering most of their face and was creeping down their arms and chest as well.

B hurried away, returning soon after with a pitcher of water and a fever reducer.

They refilled A’s glass, and when the thermometer beeped they checked the number and frowned. 102.6. B looked over at A with concern. Their eyes were even brighter and glassier now.

“Here, take this,” B said, handing A the pill and the glass. A swallowed the pill.

“I want you to drink all of it, I don’t want you to get dehydrated,” B said with a concerned voice.

A emptied the glass. B refilled it from the pitcher and placed both back on the nightstand.

Then B helped A lay down again. Doing so they felt how hot A’s skin was. No wonder they were feeling uncomfortable.

They wanted to give A a hug, but were afraid that doing so would only hurt them or make them feel worse. They settled on trying to make A feel better in other ways.

“Here, see if this helps a bit,” B said, slipping their hand under A’s neck and carefully lifting A’s head and torso up so they could turn A’s pillow over.

As A settled back down on the cool side of the pillow they closed their eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

This gave B an idea.

They hurried away and returned with another pitcher of water and a few cloths. They sat down next to A and put the first cloth in the pitcher. They wrung it out, folded it once, then used it to very gently dab A’s face.

B let the cloth rest on A’s warm skin, cooling it down. First they held the cloth to their right cheek, then their left. Then they proceeded to wipe their chin and nose, before folding the cloth again and placing it on their forehead.

Then they wetted another cloth and held it against the sides and front of A’s neck, before slipping it in behind A’s neck and letting it rest there.

B continued with the rest of the cloths, wiping down A’s shoulders, arms and chest. All the while they noticed how A’s breathing was slowing down, and they were beginning to take deeper breaths. A good sign, B thought.

Once the final cloth was placed over A’s collarbones, they seemed to have calmed down enough to possibly be able to go back to sleep. Plus, at this point the medicine should have started doing its job.

B turned off the light and laid down on their side of the bed. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon they could see the rise and fall of A’s chest. They were now breathing so steadily and deeply that B hoped they’d fall asleep soon, if they hadn’t already. But suddenly they heard a small voice.

“Thank you.”

B almost chuckled at that. “Oh sweethart, you don’t need to thank me.”

A turned their head to look at B. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

B would have pulled A into a tight hug, if they weren’t afraid that would counteract much of the effort they’d just put in trying to cool A down.

“And I you,” they replied, settling for caressing A’s cheek with the back of their fingers, relieved that A was sounding calmer and more coherent now. It was still too warm, but slightly cooler than it had been. “Do you think you can sleep?”

A paused for a moment, then said “Will you trace my back?”

B smiled fondly. “Yes, of course.”

As A turned over to their side, facing away from B, the cloth on their forehead slipped down. B reached over and picked it up, turned it over and placed its cooler side back on A’s forehead.

They then laid down facing A, reaching out their hand to start tracing their fingers up and down A’s back in featherlight touches.

A gave a deep sigh and B could feel them become even more relaxed.

“I love you.”

It was barely audible, but B was just able to hear it.

“I love you too,” they whispered back.

B kept lightly touching A’s back in long, slow strokes, until they could hear the soft snoring which let them know they A was finally getting the restful sleep that they so desperately needed.

Feeling Unwell

So this is a somewhat follow-up to Semi-conscious Sonder where Yuuri comes down with a cold. (Can also be read as a stand-alone.) Takes place in St. Petersburg post-canon.

~2000 words

Continuar lendo

108 notes View Post

lillcarolyn

2 years ago

Prompt List

1. "Everybody needs a break sometimes, I get it."

2. "Please be careful, I don't want to see you hurt yourself."

3. “I know it hurts, we’re almost done”

4. "what can i do for you? please, i want to help."

5. "Just shut up and let me hug you."

6. “when was the last time you slept?”

7. “i didn’t know you slept like that. it’s cute.”

8. “you lay a hand on them one more time and i’ll take it clean off of you.”

9. “don’t you dare put yourself in a position like that ever again!”

10. “i just wanted to come by and check on you. yesterday was a rough one.”

11. "I won't spoil you just because you have been so careless to injure yourself."

12. "How do you always know exactly what I need?" "You're obnoxiously vocal when you're uncomfortable."

13. "You need to wash your hands." *shaky* "I couldn't save them."

14. "You don't have to worry about me." "Why would I be worried?"

15. “i couldn’t find you and i just thought something happened, alright...”

16. "You woke me up at 1 in the morning because you wanted to cuddle?"

17. "You're wearing my clothes"

18. "Don't touch that it's not safe."

19. "You better have a good reason for being out of bed."

20. "I know it bothered you, what they said-" "Forget it, it doesn't matter."

21. "You're trembling."

22. "It's a hobby of mine to prove you wrong."

23. "Did you mean what you said/Your opinion means more to me than anyone."

24. "When was the last time you slept?"

25. "Could you leave a light on? I'm not ready to be in the dark again."

26. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh like that before."

27. "Don't scare me like that again."

28. "Should I stop talking?" "Don't, your voice is soothing."

29. "What're you laughing at?" "Your little snores are cute."

30. "Get behind me."

31. "I've never been good at accepting hugs." "You haven't let go of me for ten seconds." "Mmhm."

32. "Here let me just-" "No please don't let me go!"

Scenarios

1. Character B yelling Character A’s name while they’re hurt

2. Character A cooking Character B’s favorite meal after a tough day

3. Character A clinging to Character B in the aftermath of a serious event

4. B is trying to distract A when they need to get an IV because A hates needles

5. Character B runs their fingers through Character A''s hair and Character A panics because they should NOT have liked it that much

6. Character A finds out that Character B is ticklish and Character A realises life will never be the same again

7. Character A catches Character B crying and realises they love them because they never want to see them this sad again

8. Characters A and B are stuck somewhere waiting for help but B is bleeding out. A is just desperately trying to keep them awake.

9. Characters A and B huddling for warmth

10. Character A taking care of Character B when they're sick

11. Taking a bullet/punch/stab etc.

12. Character A catches Character B dancing around in the kitchen

13. Character A swapping out B's coffee for tea, driving them up the walls

14. Academic Rivals

15. Character A covers Character B with a blanket after B falls asleep on the couch

16. Frantic Love confession in the heat of an argument

17. There was only one bed

18. Delirious with pain or illness

19. Character A shields Character B from danger

The ones that are crossed out have been requested a few times (not bad about it but I am running out of ideas for them)

Requesting Guide

62 notes View Post

lillcarolyn

2 years ago

anyways I’m still yoi trash so here’s another fic. This one takes place entirely over text message and features a sick Yuuri who is in Japan while Victor is in Russia (from Victor’s pov)

900~ words

～～～

Received 8:32pm hypothetically speaking, what’s the best way to get over a cold?

Sent 8:34pm✓ rest, soup and tea, and snuggles!

Sent 8:34pm✓ why do you ask?

Sent 8:35pm✓ also isn’t it super late where you are right now?

Sent 8:36pm✓ !!

Sent 8:36pm✓ wait

Sent 8:36pm✓ are you sick??

Received 8:37pm …

Received 8:37pm um… maybe a little?

Keep reading

58 notes View Post

lillcarolyn

3 months ago

Please tell me if any of the links aren’t working

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240K notes View Post

lillcarolyn

2 years ago

Go Home

I’m back with more snide restaurant coworker bullshit. No plot, just vibes - I used 3 different prompt posts in this, this one, this one, and this one, which are all just *chefs kiss*. Unbetad, unedited, just a big pile of garbage I threw together and shamelessly present unto you all. Hope you guys enjoy :)

In case you didn’t read my first story posted here, Elijah is a restaurant owner/General Manager and Greyson is a chef. That’s all you really need to follow along lmao.

Go Home

“Greyson. Go home.”

Greyson’s head snapped up and his eyes locked with his boss’s as Elijah breezed out of the office and into the kitchen. “Why would I go home?”

“You’re sick. You have a cold.”

Greyson let his jaw fall open in mock aghast, put down his knife and placed a hand on his chest as if he needs to center himself after such an indoctrination. “I do not. How dare you. Why would you say that?”

Elijah rolled his eyes at the chef’s theatrics and placed his phone and laptop on the prep table where Greyson was working. “I say it because I’ve been here not even three minutes and the only things I’ve heard out of your mouth are sneezes and coughs.” He picked his things back up and poked the chef in the chest. “Go home.”

“That’s not even true, we just had a full conversa- HFTSHH-uhh!” Greyson caught the sneeze in an elbow, hastily brought to his face at the last moment. Elijah bleated out a laugh as he pushed through the kitchen doors and into the server’s station. “Bad timing!” Greyson called behind him.

“Go home!”

***

Greyson wasn’t about to just go home.

It was January, which meant it was painfully slow in the restaurant, but that didn’t mean he had nothing to do. They had a few big events coming up, and his team was only just recovering from some nasty bug that had taken them down one by one through the busy holidays. The guys needed the support of their chef, and Greyson certainly wasn’t one to take a sick day when his team needed him – especially when he wasn’t even sick.

“Huhh…huhETSHH-ue! Fuck me,” Greyson said, turning away from his prep station to sneeze into his shoulder for what felt like the millionth time that day. He walked to the sink nearest to him, pulled out a paper towel, and wiped his nose before washing his hands. He definitely wasn’t sick, but whatever was making him sneeze like it was his job was really starting to piss him off.

There were still several hours til service began, so Greyson decided to work on some new menu recon while he had a few moments of down time. The mushroom risotto dish he’d spent some time on still wasn’t quite there yet, but he’d tasted it so many times it had turned to mush in his mouth. Greyson scooped the less-than-perfect dish into a deli container and went out in search of his boss.

He knocked on the open office door at the front of the kitchen, where Elijah was seated and working on a schedule. Greyson scooped a bit of risotto onto a spoon and held it out. “Hey, boss, can you give this a taste?”

“I most certainly cannot,” Elijah said, not looking away from his work. Greyson couldn’t help but laugh.

“Uh…any particular reason why?”

Elijah raised his eyebrows and lolled his head to the side to look at the chef. “Two reasons, actually. One, you aren’t supposed to be here, so I’m ignoring you. And two -”

“Onesec – HGSTHH-ue! HRSHH-uh! Shit, sorry, ’scuse me, go on,” Greyson rubbed his nose on his shoulder and Elijah gave him a look of revulsion.

“Two,” he continued, pointedly placing a box of tissues at the end of the desk, facing Greyson, “I’m not eating off of your spoon because, as I have said, you are sick.”

Greyson rolled his eyes and held the spoon closer to Elijah’s face. “C’mon, man, I need some feedback.” He sniffled, trying not to sound pathetic. “Please?”

“If I try it, will you go home?”

“Probably not.”

Huffing exasperatedly, Elijah grabbed a fork off of the plate that had held his lunch earlier and stuck it pointedly into the deli container Greyson was holding. He took a bite while looking into Greyson’s red-rimmed eyes. “More parmesan,” he said, putting the fork back on the used plate beside him. “And too much truffle oil. Now go home.”

Greyson smiled and grabbed a tissue from the box Elijah had placed before him. “Thanks, boss,” he said, shoving the tissue in his pants pocket. “Can always count on y-yuhh…HGTSHH-uhh! Snf. Coundt ond you,” he finished, stuffily. Elijah glanced at the chef, eyebrows raised as if to say, you ready to admit defeat yet? Greyson just shrugged.

“I’ll take sombe claritin,” Greyson said lamely, pulling the tissue back out of his pocket and wiping his nose. “I’mb ndot sick.”

Elijah looked back at his computer. “Whatever you say, Grey.”

***

Whoever the fuck had given him this shit was about to feel his wrath.

…not that he was sick or anything.

It was four pm and the cooks were all sitting at the back of the kitchen eating staff meal before the restaurant opened. Alternatively, Greyson was crouched on hands and knees in his office, cursing under his breath while he searched for the ibuprofen he and Elijah kept in one of these drawers.

He figured it was most likely his sous chef, Matt who was the culprit. Kid couldn’t cover his mouth if you forced him with a gun to his head, and he’d been so sick on New Year’s that Greyson forced him to go to urgent care at the end of the night. Fucking Matt. Didn’t he know better than to come to work si -

“HuhETSHHue! GTSHH-uh! HRRSTCHH-oo! Fuck.”

Greyson abandoned his search for ibuprofen in lieu of the rapidly depleting tissue box on the desk. He pulled himself back into his desk chair and reached for the box -

Only to see Elijah holding it hostage at the entrance to their office.

“You’re not going to eat?” Elijah asked. Greyson, whose nose had begun running in earnest post-sneezing, gave a lame eye roll from behind his hand.

“Ndot hungry. Give mbe the tissues, please.”

“Oh, these?” Elijah asked, holding up the box theatrically. “Why ever would you need these? I mean, you’re so clearly well and spry. Healthy as a horse as they say.”

“Dude, just give them to mbe. Shouldn’t you be in pre-shift?”

“I was coming to get you for pre-shift, you bozo,” Elijah said, tossing the tissues at Greyson. “But now I’m beginning to question if the servers would even be able to understand what you’re saying.”

Greyson gratefully blew his nose facing away from Elijah and tossed the tissues in the trash. “Fuck directly off, Lij,” he said, the words punctuated with a hoarse cough. “I’m coming. Give me two minutes.”

“I’ll give you two days, how about that?” Elijah said, turning to leave the kitchen. “Go. Home.”

Greyson stood, reinvigorated by fury. “Fuck. Off,” he said in the same cadence as his boss. “I’m fine.”

Elijah threw his arms up in defeat and held the swinging door open for the chef. “C’mon, then,” he said, gesturing Greyson towards the dining room. “Let’s go infect my entire staff.”

***

An hour into service, Greyson felt his phone buzz. Twice.

It wasn’t a busy service – people were out of money post-holiday it seemed – so Greyson was working on menu ideas and scheduling in the office while Matt held down the line and his cooks did some deep cleaning. Or, he was attempting to do scheduling between bouts of -

“Huhhh…HGTSSHH-ue! HRRSHH! HPTSSH-oo!”

“Bless, Chef,” Matt called to him from the line. Greyson flipped him the bird and pulled his once-again-vibrating phone from his pocket. Who the fuck was blowing him up? Everyone he knew was here.

Greyson wiped under his nose with a tissue and unlocked his phone. Eight new messages – all from Elijah. Jesus Christ. Was his boss really that lazy that he couldn’t walk the twenty steps from the dining room to the kitchen?

Greyson opened their text thread and immediately rolled his eyes.

5:21PM

Bless you.

5:46PM

Bless you.

You know everyone out here can hear you.

5:59PM

Bless you.

6:12PM

Bless.

Ok, seriously you sound like fuckin shit.

Greyson felt his face go hot as he typed out and sent his response.

6:15PM

Fuck off, Lij.

“HTSHHH-uhhh. Godammit.”

Greyson pulled the last tissue out of the box and blew his nose. So maybe he was kind of sick. A little bit. Nothing he couldn’t handle. He was a grown man for God’s sake, he couldn’t deal with a little cold at work?

The chef rubbed a hand down his face and used all his willpower not to groan. A little cold. A few hours left of work. A slow evening. If anyone could handle it, it was him.

***

Greyson was fairly sure he’d never been more miserable in his entire life.

It was ten pm, and the last table had finally cleared the building; not that Greyson would’ve known it. The chef was holed up in the employee bathroom, finally taking a minute to himself to blow his nose and wash his hands. What was supposed to have been a quiet night had suddenly picked up around seven – and with it, so did his cold.

He wasn’t sure how it worked out this way, but the moment five tickets printed at the same time on the line, Greyson felt the first whisper of a fever slither up his neck and make itself home behind both of his eyes. The tickets had continued to print, much to his chagrin, and after a few moments Matt had turned to his boss with panic in his eyes and frantically called, “Chef?!”

Greyson did what he was trained to; he pulled it together and hopped on the line to help his guys. He cooked and shouted orders and garnished and sent food out. He remade steaks when they came back overcooked, and he apologized when he yelled at his grill cook, who was new and clearly petrified. He ignored the massive headache blooming in his temples, and his cooks ignored the near-constant volley of sneezes he smothered into the inside collar of his chef coat. It was a rough one. Ticket times weren’t what they should’ve been, and he definitely screamed at his cooks more times than they deserved.

But it was over. And now, hours later, he stumbled out of the employee bathroom and into the office and slammed his ass into the chair, fully and completely spent. To his left, he felt Elijah’s hand firmly place itself on his shoulder.

“You killed it tonight. Truly,” Elijah said, his voice low. “We’re lucky to have you.”

Greyson looked at his boss, defeated. “I was an ass,” he said, his voice congested and hoarse. “I’m a dick. I yelled at Juan, and it wasn’t even his fault. Ticket times were trash. I wasn’t on top of it the way I should’ve been and I – huh…HUGTSSH-uhh! HUHESHHHOO!” Greyson swiped angrily under his nose and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “And I have a fuckigg cold.”

Elijah sat silently for a moment, and Greyson figured he was getting ready to gloat or make some sort of snide comment about how he knew Greyson was sick, and Greyson was an idiot for being there at all, but instead he heard his boss get up and leave the office. Greyson looked up from his hands after a few minutes of silence to see Elijah standing over him with a new box of tissues and a bottle of whiskey.

“I know,” he said, sitting down and pushing both of his peace offerings towards Greyson. “But you did it anyway. And that’s badass.”

Greyson had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could look his boss in the eye again. “You’re a kndow-it-all prick,” he said, taking a tissue and unscrewing the whiskey cap. He took a swig, and blew his nose, unsure what else to say.

“I’m aware,” Elijah replied. “But I’m right.”

Greyson looked at his boss and managed a smile. “I thindk…I mbay have to call out tomorrow.”

Elijah couldn’t help but laugh. “Grey,” he said, “if I see your ass in this building anytime before the weekend, I’ll send you home in a bodybag.”

This time, it was Greyson’s turn to laugh. “Honestly…body bag doesn’t sound too bad at this poindt.”

Elijah smiled and pushed the whiskey towards the chef once more. “Get yourself nice and drunk, chef. I’ll drive you home.”

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lillcarolyn

2 years ago

The team having a long night’s rest by the campfire. Looks comfy

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lillcarolyn

2 years ago

I want to play

Character A and Character B are on an adventure together. Character A has a streaming cold. Character B gets injured. Despite being terribly sneezy and ill, Character A is totally concerned about Character B and protects them and takes care of them all the while worrying about giving Character B their cold. They finally get to safety, Character B gets bandaged up by Character A, and B finally gets to take care of poor A, who is quite a cold-ridden mess by this point.

94 notes View Post

lillcarolyn

2 years ago