Caretaker Dialogue, Feel Free To Add To The List

Because everyone needs a fevered man curled up in a red blanket…

Another one for Tolga Sarıtaş from the Turkish series Söz episode 57.

Febuwhump, Day 1 - Touch Starved

This is late, and turned out to be mostly a bunch of idiots fighting with each other. Oh well, it's still done. Doesn't matter if it's good or not - it's out. Unbeta'd, might post on AO3 later if it's worth cleaning up.

Snakemouth Den was dark, dank, and absolutely full of mushrooms.

Kabbu could have come up with a better description for it, really, but considering the amount of mythology surrounding it, the number of adventurers rumored to have died in its depths, the treasure rumored to lie within, and the century-and-a-half of people who had vanished into it never to return, he likely could have come up for a better description for it a week ago, when he was still taken in by the splendor of its myth and the many stories about it.

A lot of mythologized places lost their glamor, once you’d been wandering through them for a week and seen nothing but mushrooms and crystals. It certainly didn’t help that most of the cave was too clogged with spores to smell a foot in front of you. The place’s gory reputation certainly didn’t help – he’d been smelling hemolymph on and off for at least the past few hours, and he didn’t want to know if it was multiple corpses or if one of the undead ants that had attacked them earlier had followed them.

At least he had company.

Vi was quite the fierce fighter, doing away with foes far faster than Kabbu could on his own, and finding Leif was a stroke of good fortune all on its own. The moth had a sharp sense of direction, which was a boon and a half when every tunnel in the place looked the same, and had likely saved them from running in circles more than once. With his aid clearing their path-

“Vi.”

Kabbu’s train of thought abruptly derailed as the moth’s voice cut through the silence. He slowed, seeing Vi do the same out of the corner of his eye, her wings flicking open with an annoyed buzz.

“What?” Vi asked. “D’you need something?

“You’re injured.”

That made Kabbu stop in his tracks. Injured? When had-

“Your thorax. Under your secondary claws.”

“I- no, I’m not! I’m fine! I’m not- I didn’t get hit with shit!“ Vi hissed. She fluffed her fur up, glancing to Kabbu for rapport- but now that he was looking for it, the hemolymph plastering her fur to her body was unmistakable.

“You’re not very convincing when you smell like a crime scene.”

Now that he got a closer look at her… yes, she did kind of smell like a crime scene. He wouldn’t phrase it like that himself, admittedly, but it explained where the hemolymph smell was coming from. Kabbu wracked his brain, thinking of when she could have picked up an injury without her noticing. It couldn’t be the spider, or the fall, or the-

“Those… reanimated ants. They must have-“

“Those fuckers didn’t do shit to me! I’m fine!” Vi swung her weapon for emphasis- only to aggravate the wound, making her bite back a sharp hiss.

“Vi-“ Kabbu tried to say, but she just snarled at him.

“Shut it. I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding all over the ground,” Leif pointed out. Vi growled at him.

“Team, stop fighting,” Kabbu tried to intervene, stepping between them. “We just need to bandage it, and she’ll be-“

“You don’t need to bandage it,” Vi interrupted. “I’m fine.”

“If that gash was half an inch longer, you’d be spilling guts out your sides,” Leif said.

“I’m not spilling guts out my sides now, am I?”

That… was not a particularly compelling point.

“If something gets in a lucky shot, you will be,” Kabbu said. “Just- let me take a look at it, and-“

“And what?! Do you think I’m just gonna lie down and let treat me like one injury’ll take me out of the running just because we’re teammates? I’ve only known you for a week, and-“

“Vi, I-“

"That's enough of that." Leif deftly weaved around him and plucked Vi off of the ground, and she went stiff, freezing like a weevil that had only just realized they'd wandered into the path of a northern moth. Kabbu poised himself to intervene – even he knew she disliked touch, after a week with her – but Leif just tucked her stunned body into his ruff, securing her into place under his wings with a secondary limb like she was a plush toy, and kept walking.

Kabbu just stood there, feeling as stunned as Vi looked, as Leif simply wandered off into the cave.

Finally, his brain kicked back into gear and he burst forward. “Leif, you can’t just-“

He was cut off by a purr. A very loud purr, the sort he’d only really seen from extremely contented bugs, and yet-

Kabbu looked into Leif’s arms, only to see Vi… melted into them. It was as though she’d lost any pretense of shape, simply dissolving into Leif’s claws like a slug or a snail. It was…

Leif shrugged. “If she won’t take care normally, then we’ll have to resort to manhandling. Usually bugs don’t take to it that well, admittedly.”

“Shut it,” Vi grumbled. Her voice was hard to hear through the purrs still swelling in her throat, rattling through her tiny frame like she was in the middle of the world’s smallest earthquake. She fluffed herself up, which only really served to make her look more ridiculous – Leif’s fur was far thicker than hers, and the fur on her side was still plastered to her shell with hemolymph.

“We’re just saying, most bugs don’t react like they’re being cuddled by a swarmmate when you give them a tiny bit of handling, especially not while they’re-“

“I said shut it, okay? How I’m doing is none of your business, and-“

“It might not be our business, but it is your teammate’s business, unless you were planning on never telling your teammates about anything.”

“My business is mine, and you’re not even part of the team-“

“And you were planning to bleed to death in a cave over asking your teammate to slow down so you can bandage your wounds.”

Vi’s mouth shut with a click, and she looked away from him. Leif tilted his head at her, waiting for a response.

A long moment passed.

Finally, Leif huffed, handing her over to Kabbu. “Fine, be that way, then.”

Kabbu silently plucked her out of Leif’s arms, feeling her melt into his carapace without another word. Her fur was surprisingly soft, even with the blood trickling down his claws as she shifted her weight. She didn’t say anything as he reached for their bag, pulling their medical kit out of the bottom.

He patched the wound in silence, Vi seemingly trying her best to ignore him as he tied the sturdy leaves over her shell. It was… gory, rough-edged and ragged, and every poke seemed to make it drip blood again. He had no clue how she’d managed to hide it for so long, let alone walk with it. She leaned into his touches, half the time, pressing the rough edges of the wound right into his claws and making her chitin grind against itself in a way that made him wince.

He had hardly taken three round of it before he broke.

"Vi, can you stop-"

"Stop doing what?"

"Stop leaning into my claws. It-"

"I'm not doing anything, okay? Just- keep going, and maybe you'll be done soon."

He gave an affirmative hum, and got back at it.

She kept leaning into his hands. He didn't know if she was even conscious of doing it- she'd lean, then pull back, on and on in a cycle as if she only just realized she was doing it after the fact.

He was just finishing the knot when she finally spoke, sounding like she was dragging the words out of her throat with a prybar.

“…Sorry,” she grumbled. “Just- I’ve had worse, okay? It’s not worth making a fuss over.”

“You’re soaking your fur with hemolymph,” Leif pointed out. “You weigh- what? Four ounces? You don’t have enough blood to spare for injuries like that.”

“I have plenty of blood, and I’ve had a lot worse, and you don’t have to go into this trouble over- over this.”

Leif looked like he was about to say something, but Kabbu darted in before he could escalate it further. “I know we don’t have to, but- we’re partners, Vi. We’re supposed to take care of each other. Don’t you…”

Kabbu trailed off, tying off her bandages. Vi turned her head away from him. “I can handle it. I don’t need you fussing over me every time I get a scratch in the field.”

Her side was a lot more than “a scratch”, but Kabbu kept that thought to himself. He brushed a claw over her back, testing the strength of the bindings, and Vi shivered. Kabbu stopped, holding still.

“Vi, are you-“

“Shut up, it’s fine, I’m- look, it’s embarrassing, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore, and-“

“Didn’t get held enough as a grub, did you?” Leif asked. Vi’s hackles rose, and Kabbu quickly pushed her down just in time to keep her from jumping at him.

“Shut up! You’re a moth, you don’t know shit about things-“

“We’ll take it that’s a yes, then.”

Vi growled under her breath, fluffing her fur. She was about to say something else, but Kabbu pressed her into the ground before she had the chance. “Now isn’t the time for a fight! Venus, you two, at least try to get along! We have a mission, remember?“

Leif stood still for a long moment, fur fluffed, hackles raised, and for a moment Kabbu thought he might have to mediate between them, or tear them apart from an attempt at a duel. Thankfully, Leif’s shoulders relaxed, tension bleeding from his form. “…fine,” Leif muttered. “We’ll try to get along for now. Don’t expect us to drop it, though.”

“Fuck you,” Vi hissed weakly from under Kabbu’s claws. Leif didn’t respond to her, simply wandering back to the other side of the cavern.

She had gone mostly limp, thankfully, all the fight drained out of her. Kabbu carefully released his claw, checking her bandages to make sure he hadn’t worsened her injuries.

He… needed to redo the bindings.

She seemed fine, thankfully. No worse than she was when he bandaged her, at least, though that was a low bar. He gave her a quick pet on the back after carefully plastering the bandages back into place, and she arched into it, grumbling.

Thank Venus that hadn’t escalated any further.

“I think we should make camp for tonight and have some rest before going deeper, all right, team?” Kabbu raised his voice so Leif could hear it, and saw the moth raise his head from the opposite end of the campsite.

“Sounds fine to us. We… could use some rest, before anything else happens.”

Vi grumbled, but didn’t protest. Kabbu went about the motions of preparing a campsite – scooping out nests for everyone, setting out the bedrolls, packing up the medical supplies for later. Vi settled down to watch, after a while, uncharacteristically silent.

Making camp was meditative, almost. The same set of steps nearly every time, it was easy to get lost in it until it was ready to sleep in. Leif settled down quickly enough, Vi staying balled-up into a lump of resentful bee, and Kabbu could almost forget the argument if he just… laid down and tried to sleep.

Hopefully, tomorrow would be less… stressful.

It had scarcely been fifteen minutes before Kabbu felt something tapping on his shell.

Kabbu pulled himself out of the space between sleep and wakefulness, head still full of fog. He looked up at the source of the tapping to see Vi, fur fluffed and hackles raised like she was about to face down a horrid beast.

Vi took a deep breath, and Kabbu’s half-asleep brain could hardly keep up with her before she spoke.

“…look, I’m sorry about- that, but I’m not weak, okay?”

Kabbu was sure his startled look must have shown on his face, because Vi plowed forward. “I mean it, I’m not- I don’t need help, I’m fine on my own, I don’t need a team to prop me up, because I-“

“No one is saying that you’re weak, Vi. Are you sure you’re-“

“I’m fine, and you don’t have to worry about me, and- look, you don’t have to treat me like a cripple, okay? I’ve worked with worse, and I don’t need your pity, because it’ll heal over anyways-“

“I’m not trying to treat you like an- an invalid, Vi! You’re injured, I thought-“

“I can handle it! I don’t need you to- to kiss it better, or whatever. I’m fine!”

Leif stirred in his nest, and Vi quieted down abruptly, shrinking in on herself. She abruptly looked much, much smaller than she had before.

“…Sorry.”

She didn’t meet his eyes, staring off to the side. “I’m- look, it’s just… frustrating. Okay? I don’t…”

Vi trailed off, shuffling her paws. Kabbu shifted to the side of his nest, easing his elytra open just enough to shield it.

“…It’s okay, Vi. I believe you.”

She grimaced, avoiding his gaze. Kabbu shuffled a bit further to the side, eying the bandages over her side. She looked…

“…do you want to sleep with me tonight?”

Vi startled back into motion, fur fluffing up as far as it would go. “What?-“ she started. before wincing as her voice echoed off the walls. She shook herself out, whisper-shouting at him. “Why would I want to-“

“I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, you just- you look like you need it.”

Vi looked like she was trying to decide if she wanted to be insulted or simply surprised at the offer.

“I understand if you don’t want to, I-“ Kabbu hastily added, but she cut him off.

“It’s fine, I just- if you want to, I guess.”

“If you don’t-“

“Just move over before I change my mind.”

Kabbu shifted to the side, opening his elytra to allow her passage. She nestled into his side, curling close enough that he swore he could feel her shape imprinted into his underbelly, worming her way into the space between his belly and the nest.

…there was more space for her than just there, but Kabbu felt like bringing it up would be- poor.

Slowly, he resettled on top of her, feeling her shift under him. She was startlingly warm, especially compared to Leif, a miniature heat pack against his shell. It was a welcomed addition against the cold of Snakemouth Den, and he found himself quickly drifting off to sleep.

Yes, tomorrow would be better.

Sociopath Profile: Mothiva

Species: silk moth (Bombyx mori or Bombyx mandarina) From the 2020 video game Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Mothiva here is one of the interesting occasions of having a heroic sociopath. She is firmly allied with the side of good and abhors the atrocities committed by the Wasp King (another sociopath). However, being a hero doesn't exactly mean that she's a selfless individual.

She is a popular celebrity with dozens of fans, but it's mostly a way of fueling her ego. The hero gig is something she does because she wants to have some recognition to be seen as the star she believes she is, not necessarily for the good of other bugs. All she wants from the expedition is fame and glory, and she's willing to hinder the other groups to get it for herself. The fact that she decides to attack Team Snakemouth and take their missions just because they were getting more popular than her.

This translates to a distinct lack of empathy for others. While she may project the idea that she loves all her fans and cares about her allies, she could not care less about them. If her partner Zasp gets knocked down in battle first, she'll reprimand him before reviving him without showing a bit of concern for his safety. It is noted that he does have affections for her, but she doesn't return them at all. Although she draws the line at Wasp King treating his forces like cannon fodder, she still isn't above using violence against her allies.

While she is an unpleasant person, Mothiva knows how to act around her adoring fans. She has a very superficial persona of the bubbly and caring celebrity who adores all her fans with all her heart. However, after Snakemouth discovers her true nature, it goes to show how calculated that persona was. And they were formerly fans of her until they experienced her true personality.

She also displays no remorse for any of this behavior. Eventually, she is on the receiving end of two beatings and losing the support of her fans in the Termite Kingdom. The problem is that she suffers no real consequences aside from that. In fact, she still has a wide following since knowledge of her crimes hasn't gotten out further. Chances are she has not learned much.

Mothiva may not be a criminal, but she's still rather sociopathic despite this.

Female Sociopath List

Common cold

I love a good sickfic with a full on fever and delirium and all that just as much as most of us, but as someone who gets a cold at least once every winter but is literally never actually stay-home-in-bed-sick, consider:

it starts with a sore or scratchy throat for a day or two and your character just knows

when the throat finally stops hurting, their nose gets all stuffy and no matter how hard they try to blow their nose, it doesn’t help one bit so they’re left basically unable to breathe through their nose at all

there is also this pressure in their head which is pretty much a constant headache

and because they have to breathe through their mouth their lips get dry and sore and they lick them frequently in an attempt to wet them a little which just makes them more sore, and that’s another thing that hurts, just great

they’re miserable but there’s no fever and technically no reason to stay home from work/school/stop doing their duties/whatever they’re doing, so there’s no choice but to suffer through the day

when they finally get home all they want to do is sleep, but it’s really hard when your nose just won’t let you breathe

and then

after a few days of struggling through breathing and dealing with persistent headaches, their nose finally decides to stop being all stuffed

instead, it won’t stop running all of a sudden and they’re left going through an entire pack of tissues a day

when they’re not blowing their nose they’re sneezing because their nose won’t stop tickling

and when they aren’t doing either of the two, their eyes just keep watering from the constant tickle in their nose and honestly they feel awful

but still, there’s no fever so it’s actually just an inconvenience, and they’re doing their duties as usual, so if they’re still in school or working an office job or are in the middle of a meeting, they’re torn between trying not to blow their nose too often because it’s disruptive, and trying not to sniffle because everyone thinks that’s gross

and the headache is still there

but of course that can’t be everything so during the entire thing there’s also a really persistent cough that brings frequent coughing fits

starts out with the constant urge to cough where the coughing won’t bring any relief at all and the urge is still there, then turns out into a painful cough from deep within their chest

the coughing is also something that is disruptive in their working space or at school so they try to hold it in as long as possible which makes the resulting coughing fit honestly even worse

plus it keeps them awake at night

they’re terribly cold all the time so they go about their days bundled up in a warm hoodie and a scarf, which, combined with their pale face and tired expression and drooping eyes, just serves to make them look extra vulnerable as they’re holding onto a mug of hot tea with both hands because it provides some warmth and the tea soothes their throat

the whole thing lasts for at least a week and even after their cold is technically gone, the cough might linger for another week

One trope that I really like for Shiro is having him fall asleep somewhere when he’s not feeling well.

He comes down with a cold? After a terrible night, his throat is sore, his head hurts and he’s tired and achy as hell. He takes a sit at the sofa, lays his head back, just for a few minutes, and closes his eyes, but two hours go by, and meanwhile someone has already gone by, taken his shoes off and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.

He injures himself? Same thing. He hadn’t been sleeping well and his body aches, and staying still feels better than moving. He wakes up a while later, pillows and blankets all around him, and he’s so comfortable, he just closes his eyes again and drifts off to sleep.

Shiro being comfortable and rested and cared for is so great.

Bugtober Day 14: Spore

something much sillier 🍄 (just dont think about it too hard lol)

Okay but what about a situation where character A loves giving character B massages/foot rubs to show their affection/character B loves physical affection and loves it when character A massages their neck and back and feet and stuff.

One day character A is sick with a really cruddy head cold, but they insist on rubbing B’s feet and back while they watch a movie since they had a long day at work. The whole time they’re sitting there, A slowly works their way to different places to massage, every so often letting out super congested sneezes and tired, stuffy coughs and sniffling quietly the whole time. B is getting more and more concerned and finally halfway through the movie just kind of scoops A up close to them and kisses their neck and tells them they need more loving than B does right now.

I love when characters have tells when they’re sick. Like specific tells unique to them, like one character has really messy hair when they’re not feeling well. Another wears one certain t-shirt because it’s the most comfortable thing they own. Another falls asleep at exactly 8:00 every night when they’re getting a cold. Another is more enthusiastic and energized and everyone noticed because it’s the exact opposite of anyone else when they’re sick.