qiuthewhumps

[qiuthewhumps]

my wwe experience is so funny because it was going so good for half the month then somehow the latter half involves divulged into scifi worldbuilding, a plethora of new ocs to write about (the scarabs), a plethora of ocs to Flesh Out that range from concepts to just a name (vosvato and the shit ton of au ideas)

no regrets though.

tldr: how many wwe prompts can i do in the last week to flesh out an abundance of new ocs.

[qiuthewhumps]

A minor annoyance: [11/07/2024]

Stuffy nose / Hate to be sick / “I'm fine, I can work.”

[KLEIO & SHOU] + [ARCHIE & SIMON MENTION (by @whumpbug)] — 837 words

CW: sickfic basically actually, hangover, fever, weed mention

Context: Kleio & Archie got drunk. Shou & Simon got high. Post-night happenings on Kleio & Shou's side. Late posting catching up is so silly (Yuuto i fucking blame you)

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

“You’re sick.” Kleio mentally groaned as Shou had told him that thrice in the last hour. The words were said as if it was a worldwide revelation—which wasn’t too far since his condition must be terrible for even Shou to notice.

“Shut up,” Kleio hissed out, which was followed by a sniffle. He wanted the ground to swallow him up already. He looked away from his laptop and over to Shou before stating, “I’m well. I’m fine. I can work.”

“It’s not a hangover,” Shou bluntly stated again. Which was fair. Kleio had thought he was just having the worst hangover in his life. But no, it got worse. He had apparently started a drunk fight with Archie about climbing a fridge, so his body was sore and bruised. “It’s not going away any soon.”

But the cherry on top? He actually caught a fever as well at some point. Which led to a stuffy nose and fever that Kleio was stuck with for the rest of the day. Fantastic.

“I’m not even going out. I’m just working on some MEP drawings. Electrical pazaz if you want to be so sure.” Kleio rolled his eyes as he showed his laptop screen which had AutoCAD MEP opened on a 3D project. His eyes hurt from staring at the screen but laying in bed was just worse. “I can work just fine.” He smiled like he still wasn’t still having a headache from the hangover.

“Okay, so what’s the perimeter of a building that has a size fifty by twenty?” Kleio rolled his eyes at that.

“A hundred.” The silence was stiffening. Kleio mentally groaned into his hands after a moment, “Fuck off, you know I’m terrible at quick math.”

“Contrary, I think that says alot about your current status.” Shou kicked at one of the chair’s legs that Kleio was on, making Kleio yelp as the chair shook. “Get off your laptop.”

“Love,” Kleio started, as if using a pet name would make Shou reconsider, “I’m fine. I promise. I can work.” The sniffle that came out of his mouth right after wasn’t very convincing.

“Huh, maybe I should call Archie and tell him that your body is still aching. I’m sure he’d love to apologize and beg for your forgiveness—” Kleio never shut down his laptop so fast at Shou’s words. Project be damned he was not going to deal with a sobbing hungover Archie in his condition. Shou’s little laugh at his action was only salt in the wound. “You… You really can’t handle him crying, can you?”

“Shut it. What am I supposed to do when he starts weeping for no reason?” Kleio huffed as he got off from his chair. His legs felt weak, gods. He almost tripped over Qiu, who was trying to get his attention. He sneezed as the cat stood up on her hind legs, trying to make him crouch down. Kleio eventually obliged as Qiu rubbed herself against his hand. “Not my fault he’s kind of a crybaby.”

“He beat you, his friend, half to death. Drunk. That’s certainly a reason to be crying.” Shou pointed out as he walked over before picking up Qiu to drag her away from Kleio. The cat made a meow in protest; Shou didn’t show mercy as Kleio watched his lover drag the giant mainecoon of a cat away into a different room before shutting the door with a click before Qiu could scamper out. “You have bruises all over you.”

“Yeah? My dad did worse, and he was sober. I don’t see him begging for my forgiveness.” Kleio deadpanned as he heard mewling from the closed door. He looked back to Shou with a sniffle as he stood back up. “Are you seriously going to jail Qiu until I get in bed?”

“You need rest.” Kleio rolled his eyes as he sluggishly and dramatically walked toward the bedroom. He sat down on the bed before laying down, slowly breathing. His vision was blurring as his brain seemed to have caught up that he had—forcibly been—stopped from working. The bed sank beside him as Shou sat beside him, softly assuring, “Just for a bit.”

“We are never all getting high and drunk with Archie and Simon again… Ever...” Kleio muttered as he draped his forearm over his eyes. It was dumb decision on all accounts. Four adults, two getting wasted and the other two getting higher than kites. Something was bound to go wrong. “Shit… Now, I feel the fever and hangover…”

Shou got up, pulling the comforter from under Kleio before covering Kleio with it properly. “I’ll get you some fever and hangover medicine.” Gods, Kleio could never understand how Shou could care so much with also such little understanding of pain,

Kleio curled up under the comforter. Well, some rest wouldn’t hurt after last night. He wasn’t that sick… He could work during the night… Yeah…

He fell asleep before Shou even came back with the fever pills and some green tea.

[qiuthewhumps]

Your work is never finished: [10/07/2024]

Forced to work while ill / Workplace emergency / “...sit down, I'm calling HR.”

[VENERE & SAORA MIRAI AU] — 1848 words

CW: Anaphylaxis caused by food allergy, Injection (Venere was rushing)

Context: Raspberry and rhubarb pie can look very similar at times. Chances are you also lose your sense of taste and smell when you have the flu. Never mind the fact the scent of pies become duller the longer they're out. Venere & Saora relationship building or something.

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

“You're up.” Venere hummed as she walked over to the balcony, eyeing the other who was taking a smoke break.

“Hm,” Saora hummed, putting out their cigarette before glancing over with a quirk of their lips. “It’s five in the afternoon, is there a problem or do you need something?”

Venere stepped closer before leaning against the balcony railing as well. “Yuuto told me you called in sick today… So, is he lying to me or did you come here sick?”

“I was at the med bay,” Saora softly answered. Not as positive, Venere absently noted. Something was wrong, she inferred. “Then, I got out. Nothing special. Need something?”

“That’s irrelevant to my question, Saora.” Venere sighed as she sighed, looking up. The clouds were sparse, no rain risk for now, at least. “I’m sure I don’t have to explain why. So, instead, do you have another cigarette?”

The metal cigarette case was offered to her without a question. Their hands brushed as Venere took it, picking a cigarette out of it before pocketing the case into her coat. She glanced at Saora who was looking at her incredulously.

“You shouldn’t smoke when you’re sick.” Venere clicked her tongue as she looked for her lighter in her pockets. “Go home.”

“I’m not sick. What proof do you even have of tha—” Venere rolled her eyes before placing the back of her hand against Saora’s forehead. She scoffed as she pulled away to find her lighter again.

“You’re heating up. Go home.” Venere mirrored Saora’s original smile before lighting the cigarette. She took a drag, blowing the smoke up. “You’re a workaholic, but you’ll get someone infected.”

“I won’t. Data handling department got understaffed due to what happened yesterday. Whether I like it or not, I gotta be here,” Saora finally admitted softly. “I went to the med bay for some antibiotics, that’s all. I’m fine. I’m taking my meds too, and I have a mask.” They brought out a face mask from their pocket.

“Have you eaten?” Venere raised an eyebrow at Saora, suspicious. “Don’t tell me you went to the cafeteria while being sick.”

“I’m not that dumb, I just asked a trusted person to get me some food. No harm done…” Venere continued to stare Saora down. “... And it may still be on my desk, but I got busy.” Venere sighed as she took out Saora’s cigarette case from her coat, waving it as if luring a dog with its favorite toy.

“Let’s make sure you don’t die from stomach failure in the next two hours.” Venere started to walk back into the facility, She threw the cigarette in the trashcan near the balcony entrance after putting out its butt. “C’mon, puppy. You need food,” she jested with a wave of the cigarette case.

“You’re terrible.” They both made a slight laugh before Saora put on their face mask.

The walk to Saora’s office was filled with small talk, nonsense even to both of them. One moment it’d be how Saora even got sick; the next it was about how Muri was doing. Their steps were almost silent with the business in the walls. Some were already going home; others were still performing or recording. There was a salad with some dressing and a pie slice with a reddish filling in plastic containers on Saora’s desk when the two finally got to Saora’s office.

“At least it’s healthy.” Venere sighed as she took a chair from the corner closer to Saora’s desk. “Eat,” she demanded, and so, Saora sat down and dejectedly opened the salad first before removing their face mask.

“Don’t you have something else to do?” Saora queried as they took a forkful of the salad, slowly chewing and swallowing. Venere clicked her tongue before shaking her head. None immediately came to mind. If anything, she was just waiting for results. “My taste buds feel kind of dead…”

“Waiting. That can be done anywhere, no?” Venere replied with a small huff. She eyed the pie then the salad, analyzing and thinking. She could recall there being salad in the cafeteria but not the pie, must be personally bought then? “It happens when you’re sick. You like pie?”

“I like baking, so more or less. Yeah, I do.” Venere absently noted that to memory. Perhaps she could get them some sweets from that bakery she always passed by on her walk. It’d be better than the silent time they caught each other on the balcony in the early hours. “I usually bake pastries like cupcakes, pies, cookies, brownies… Stuff like that in general.”

“Favorite pastry?” She said instead to fill in the space as she watched Saora eat the salad. The soft clack of utensils against a plastic box or the table below it was the only other sound really. “Where’s Chelo as well? It’s usually trailing behind you more often than not.”

“Rhubarb pie. It’s a pie my mom used to make, so I learned it too.” Saora smiled lightly before pointing at the salad with their fork. “It looks like this. I wonder if it is. Chelo had some type of maintenance. The last time they had something like Meniere's disease. An error on the experiment, so they’re trying to fix it. There’s still a vomit stain on my couch from the vertigo they got, actually. Should get bleach or something for that…”

“So, it technically failed at its job,” Venere deadpanned. She leaned back in her chair. Saora gave her a look, so she switched the topic. “What does rhubarb pie taste like?” 

“Well, rhubarb looks like celery! It has a similar texture to it as well. Though in terms of taste people compare it to being like a sour cherry—it’s very tart. Rhubarb pies are basically tart pies. They taste good, I promise. It also goes along quite well with something sweet if you don’t like the tartness too much… Strawberries are one. People do use rhubarb for baking, mostly pies and cakes are what I know it’s used for in baking. It makes a great jam when mixed with strawberries; it takes more prep, but it tastes really good.” Saora smiled as they talked between mouthfuls of salad they swallowed. “I can bring you some rhubarb pie or crisps next time. I’m planning to bake some on one of these weekends.”

Venere hummed along as Saora went on an entire ramble about rhubarb. She didn’t mind, she hadn’t heard much of the vegetable before. “Sure, I’ll hold you to that.”

Saora nodded at her before continuing on talking about random things, relating to their home. Venere wasn’t sure if she enjoyed Saora’s talking or not; the other seemed to spill information about themself almost carelessly… Yet, it also let Venere fill in all the little details about Saora. It satisfied her need for knowledge. In some way, it was pleasant. Others, it was reckless.

Before either of them knew it, Saora had finished their salad. They easily placed the plastic container into the trash can in their office. Venere quietly watched as Saora opened the container with the pie next.

“Does it taste good?” Venere couldn’t help but ask as she watched Saora take their first bite of the pie. Saora gave a shrug; she couldn’t help the amuse scoff that came out of her lips.

“Can’t taste it, but the texture is interesting,” Saora clarified before taking another bite. “Probably because it’s been on my desk for a few hours.” Venere hummed in agreement at that. Time could certainly change the texture.

She let the silence sit between them, letting Saora enjoy the pie—their favorite type of pastry so it was only right—while she thought of what to do after… Till she heard a wheeze, making her immediately look toward Saora. The fork fell to the floor with a clatter as they put a hand over their throat as their breathing became shallower.

Venere immediately stood up, crossing to Saora’s side of the desk as she gently moved Saora’s hand away from their neck as she tried to investigate. Their skin was flushed but Venere had a feeling it wasn’t because they were running the flu. She pressed her fingers a bit tighter on Saora’s wrist—Venere could feel their pulse. It was weakening but rapid. An allergic reaction?

Venere didn’t have time to think about it as Saora moved out of her grip, stumbling to a cabinet against one of the walls. She followed almost instinctively as Saora doubled over—their hand covering their mouth instead. Nausea? It didn’t matter, she rushed over to look into the cabinet.

Epinephrine. That was the first thing she noticed as she looked into the cabinet. Epinephrine injections. Anaphylaxis. Venere didn’t hesitate to take one of the injections. She prepped it quickly before coming close and practically stabbing Saora in the middle of their thigh through their pants with the injection. The priority was making sure Saora wouldn’t die in the next half hour.

A pathetic little whimper of pain left Saora as they sunk to the ground. Venere followed their movements, injecting them properly before tossing the needle away. She gently massaged where she had stabbed Saora for a few moments before getting up, rushing out of the office and calling out the first worker she saw. Her voice was low and threatening as she demanded for the worker to call for some medics. Venere scoffed as she watched the man scurry away to find help before hearing a thump behind her—

Saora was stumbling around despite having just been injected with epinephrine when they suddenly had anaphylaxis. She clicked her tongue as she went over and pushed Saora to sit down on the ground again. She crouched to their height. “Saora, don’t get up. Sit down. I’ve called medics and I’m going to call HR. You’re going home right after they discharge you from med bay.”

She received a pathetic whine in response, but Saora stopped struggling.

.

.

Bonus:

Venere sighed as Saora was brought out of their office and to the med bay. She stared for a moment before glancing over to their desk. The half-eaten pie was still there. It didn’t make sense. Saora had adamantly explained the taste of rhubarb, so did they suddenly develop an allergy? But that wouldn’t explain why Saora would have epinephrine in a cabinet—

Whoever said it was actually rhubarb?

She paused. Venere stepped closer to the desk before dipping the tip of her finger into the filling, taking a small taste… It tasted like raspberries, not this rhubarb Saora explained of. It had a taste of sweetness—not remotely close to tasting like a sour cherry.

While Saora wouldn’t have an allergy to rhubarb, they had mentioned once being allergic to a type of berry during one of their rambles in the past. Raspberry. Venere scoffed. At least the cabinet with epinephrine injections made sense now. It was a “just in case”.

Which also meant, either someone attempted to trigger Saora’s allergies, or it was an honest mistake.

Either way, Venere was going to fucking sue someone.

[qiuthewhumps]

White and red handkerchief: [09/07/2024]

Coughing up blood / Can't speak / “You just can't shake that cough, can you?”

[YUUTO MIRAI AU^2] — 4070 words [@mellowwhumps owns Ida]

CW: hanahaki, unintentional SH (he clawed at his throat trying to get rid of it), slight vomit (blood and flowers), brief mention of child experimentation, medical inacuracy but it's hanahaki okay

Context: Yuuto gets hanahaki for a co-worker. Five times where he's tried to ignored it. Then, the one time he does acknowledge it. Late because guess who said 4 pages maximum and hit 10 pages instead.

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

I.

Yuuto didn’t know what happened. He had been in the employee lounge, listening to Saora’s new fixation on Porbeagles, some sort of shark from what Yuuto understood.

Yet, for once, he zoned out to Saora’s voice. His eyes automatically fell on someone else in the lounge. Ida. His thoughts slowly switched from sea creatures to Ida. Their last interaction, the check-up results he got for all the people he had under him, the simple way Ida looks, how Ida’s arm had been—

Then did his throat feel sore—as if something was trying to crawl out. He had to excuse himself from whatever Saora was talking about, running to the bathroom. Somehow that took more breath out of him than usual. He hunched over the sink; his lungs felt smaller almost. He wretched into the sink.

Dry cough after dry cough—till it was wet and suddenly, the sink bowl had a stain of red… and a bloodied petal.

What the fuck?

Multiple thoughts ran through Yuuto’s head as he stared at the blood. That couldn’t be normal. His breath hitched as the sound of footsteps neared. The blood and petal flushed down the sink’s drain as he turned on the tap, wiping off the blood on his lips.

A co-worker he couldn’t remember walked in as Yuuto turned off the faucet. He paced out of the bathroom. A petal? Why would there be a petal? It made nonsense—and yet the metallic taste in his mouth haunted him.

He tried to retrace his steps. Had he eaten anything odd today? He skipped breakfast and hadn’t had lunch yet. Yesterday’s dinner was some simple instant noodles since he was tired—so not food. Had he gone near flowers recently? Hells, he hadn’t been out since the hectic week started.

Was it because he looked at Ida? He couldn’t help but scoff. What type of insanity was that? He took a deep breath in, trying to get his nerves to settle as he walked back to the lounge room. Saora still waited for him there at the table. Ida was, thankfully, not there—

Gods, why did that make his heart hurt out of nowhere?

II.

“These are…?” Yuuto trailed off as he flicked the petal in his hand. His gaze focused onto the full flower on the table.

“Carnations,” she supplied as she held the full flower in her hand. He could almost feel her stare on him. “They’re not native here. I’m surprised you got some.”

Thanks. He threw them up in the bathroom. Yuuto nodded along with Venere’s words. Carnations. He swore he heard of those flowers before. “Do they mean anything?”

Love and admiration, usually.” Venere shrugged, She eyed him in curiosity. Yuuto could almost hear the questions. “Secret admirer?”

“Secret admirer,” Yuuto lied through his teeth with a soft smile. He wished it was a secret admirer—that he didn’t just vomit out an entire bulb of petals in the confines of his own office before rinsing it and handing it over to Venere for assistance.

“Oh? Serious?” She asked, surprised. Venere clicked her tongue in thought. She placed the flower down on the table between. “I have a few guesses. Would you like to hear them? It seemed they went to quite lengths to get these too.” She pointed closer to the center of the bulb. “Bled over the flowers—must think you love carnations if they bled for it.”

“Maybe they do…” Yuuto sighed as he flicked the petal upwards. He watched as it slowly floated back down to the wooden table. He got up; the chair he sat on screeched against the floor. “Thanks, but no. I can wait. I’ll see you around. You can keep the flowers.”

“Mh…” He could almost feel Venere’s stare at him, scrutinizing. “Okay, take care. Don’t stay up too late like last night.”

Yuuto paused at that, turning back to look at the woman. “You were awake?”

“No, a guess.” Her smile was wry. It made Yuuto chuckle a bit as he ran his hand through his hair. “Seems like I was right.” Her smile became a scoff.

“We have our work,” Yuuto weakly argued with a shrug. He gave a charming smile. He turned away, ready to walk away. “Late nights are inevitable—”

“Ludicrum told me something interesting.” Venere hummed. The screech of her chair was almost too loud in the room. Her steps were almost louder. Gods, some part of him hated the woman for all that she was competent. “Something is wrong, obvious enough for it to notice. That’s not like you. You hate that amount of vulnerability. You can usually keep its mouth shut.”

“Since when were you my therapist? And where have you been if you were my therapist?” Yuuto sighed desperately. He looked toward Venere again. His eyes narrowed unintentionally. He was certainly less than pleased with the direction of a simple flower identification conversation. “When did you visit Ludi? That’s not like you, and last I’m aware I didn’t sign them off to your care any time soon while I’m busy.”

“Coughing. Frequent bathroom breaks,” Venere listed out nonchalantly. She tilted her head. “Are you sick? Ill? No, can’t be. You’re talking to people without a mask. You’re not that reckless. Something else is wrong. Spill.”

“Nothing. You're overthinking. I ordered spicy food and my stomach hasn't been having it with me.” Yuuto huffed and quickly stepped out before Venere could bother him more. The clock outside her lab greeted him.

Three o’clock. A meeting at half-hour. No point in getting pissed off at her.

III.

Yuuto felt hazy. He wasn't sure when he had started finding the floor so interesting that he started lying on it—oh, right, he could barely breathe moments ago. The comfort of the cold tiled floor below him was little to none. He came from…? The lounge? Ida’s office? Cafeteria? 

It was awkward, trying to push himself up off the floor. His heart was thumping against his chest, as if trying to break his sternum. His breaths are short, stifled. That wasn’t normal. What’s wrong with him? Gods, what even happened before this? His knees felt weak. Okay, can’t put his weight on those. Sitting, then. No problem.

Breathe in. Breathe out. A lot harder than it usually was.

Something was against his back, a wall, presumably. Hopefully. He was fine. Wonderful, even. He choked the next second. His throat was full. Too full. Why couldn’t he breathe? His hands scratched at his throat—choking. Something was choking him.

A guttural sound left him as he gagged on something he didn’t know what. He was digging into his skin. His nails no doubt would draw blood but if it just meant to get the damn thing out of his throa—He vomited.

It stained the pristine tiled floor. Worse, it wasn’t even the usually yellow or green bile. It was red. Blood, if the scent didn’t already tip him off. Almost tauntingly, in the middle of his bloody—literally—throw up, were two carnations. Pale red and pink.

Didn’t matter. It didn’t matter. His neck was bleeding. That was more of an issue than some stupid fucking carnations.

Standing up hurt. His knees still felt like paper. His vision was doubled, or maybe it was dizziness. Self-diagnosing was never his strong point, but that was better than telling people he was vomiting flowers—and he was back there again. No, no. Bandages. Bandages and warm water was what he needed. Not thoughts. Not inferences.

Just one step at a time. One step forward to the bathroom. He could use the wall as support. Just had to reach the bathroom. One step forward. Left. Right. The bathroom door was right there. He was okay.

He was fine. Fix. Clean. Do his job. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just as Salomea needed him to do.

IV.

“The hell happened to you?” First headache of the day, Yuuto noted as he glanced at Frances across his desk. He bit on the tip of his pen, gnawing. He let go of his pen tip.

“If I told you I had an appointment with—” A cough. “—a feral experiment who clawed me.” Yuuto tilted his head to her. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Would you believe me?”

“Frankly, out of the certain handful of… various personalities here—yes, yes, I would.” Frances nodded as she hummed before glancing away at the clock in the room. “Unfortunately, it is ten in the morning. I know for a fact you don’t do appointments with clawing things until noon at the earliest.”

“Fucked up.” Yuuto sighed as he lifted his legs onto the corner of his desk. He bit harder on his pen as he looked through the paper Frances had submitted to him. A request form for specific equipment for a certain experiment.

“Are you talking about me or yourself?” Frances asked back, curious.

“Well, for one, your request form is shit. I know you’re—” Another cough. “—better at persuading me with your speeches so start talking.” Yuuto slid the form back onto his desk before clicking his tongue. “For two, yeah. I fucked up. That’s why I have bandages on my throat. Thanks.”

“I am simply asking for a respirator for one of the experiments—” Frances started, and Yuuto swore he read this on the paper already.

“Respirators aren’t something you commonly request. Why now? What’s the difference?” Yuuto queried as he tilted his head, coughing into his hand for a moment. “Something changed. What is it?”

“An experiment had started to show immunity to a certain gas,” Frances reiterated. She gestured to the form. “Mithridatism. That’s what I intend to accomplish. Giving me a respirator is the easiest way to further this as quickly as possible.”

“Hm, and?” He narrowed his eyes on the other. “What benefits? Tell me pros and cons. Why do you need this respirator instead of the injecting way? Why gas?”

“I have a belief that if we are able to get this experiment to have immunity to toxic gas. We have just made a fellow co-worker who can help with highly toxic experiments. A docile one.” Frances sighed as she leaned back against her chair. “Pros, we get a kid we can manipulate into assisting us with more dangerous matters without worrying about killing a staff member. Cons, it’s a kid. Gas because we have enough poison swallowers for chemicals. We need a poison breather for other experiments.”

“Hn,” Yuuto hummed with a nod. He placed his legs down. He opened a drawer from his desk, flicking through the files before tossing one onto the desk. “Tell me how you will avoid this outcome, and I'll approve of it.”

He watched as Frances took the file, having to cough into a tissue after feeling some warmth in his throat. Bloody cough since seven a.m. in the most literal way possible. He wasn’t taking chances of staining the papers with blood by accident.

“You just can't seem to shake that cough, can you?” Frances suddenly pointed out while still looking at the file. Yuuto felt the headache hitting. “What did you do to yourself?” There was an almost strong underlying question with the fact his bandages were on his neck that he refused to acknowledge.

“Doesn't matter. You had a request, and I gave you an answer. “ Yuuto stared her down for a moment. “Deal with it. Unless you have questions, I encourage you to write another request form asap.”

“Venere has your blood sample.” Frances tilted her head. He bit his lip. The stupid flower. Well, there was someone he could visit later when his schedule cleared up. “Thought you were against that thing? Maybe she’ll grow a plant with your blood or something.”

“If she does, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Yuuto sighed. He picked up his pen, twirling it between his fingers. Venere was always too curious for her own good. Maybe it’d be fruitful for once. He closed his eyes, rubbing his temple before making a shoo-ing motion at Frances. “Now out with you. I have to meet Salomea in ten minutes, and honestly, I am nowhere near prepared.”

He heard the screech of a chair. Then, footsteps. The door closed. His headache hadn’t gone away. The silence wasn’t better. An acute awareness of his shortness of breath, settling in. Ten minutes.

V.

“Good morning, lovely Venere.” Yuuto opened the door, not bothering to knock as he entered the middle room between the greenhouse and the rest of the lab. His fatigue was getting worse. Gods, he was sure he walked into two different walls before entering here.

Venere was evidently there, leaning on a table while reading a paper. She glanced at him from the paper. “It’s two in the morning, why are you here?”

“It’s morning and you’re awake. Good morning.” Yuuto smiled wryly as he stepped toward her. His vision was getting worse, looking around was already testing him with how dizzy he got. “Paper.”

He was blankly stared at for a moment before a sigh from the other. Venere took out a folded paper from her back pocket. Yuuto took it, unfolding it before sitting on the table Venere was leaning on. A CBC test, wonderful. How Venere was able to do this with—probably—diluted and a small amount of blood, was beyond him.

“So, what’s wrong with me?” Yuuto huffed as he looked over the results. The numbers looked normal to him, which meant he got dizzy from the small font. “If you’re having a bet with anyone else. It was Frances, Wednesday, ten in the morning.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. You should ask me at a more reasonable hour.” Venere took out a pack of cigarettes. She offered one of her cigarettes. “Take one, I just won ten dollars.”

“I don’t like smoking.” He took one anyway, placing it between his lips. Yuuto placed the paper aside, taking out his own lighter. “Differential diagnosis?”

“Unless, you want to hear insanity, none. You’re fine… And have a concerning amount of blood loss and lack of oxygen.” Venere clicked her tongue. A habit, he noticed. “You hate smoking.”

“Insanity is welcomed. Have you seen where we work?” Yuuto blew out the smoke, glancing up. An open ceiling window despite the time, at least. “I know. Smells horrible. Horrible for the lungs. Nicotine is addictive. Half of the people who use it don't know how to dispose of it. There’s a lot of reasons to hate cigarettes.”

“Hanahaki. A disease. Lungs. Not contagious…” Venere paused. She glanced at him. He could almost feel her overanalyzing him. He didn’t like it. “You already know what I’m going to say. Don’t you? That’s why you are smoking.”

“Sounds Japanese,” Yuuto replied, ignoring the rest of what Venere had told him. “Is that why you are assuming I know? Don’t even know if I’ve been there in all honesty.”

“It’s when flowers find your lungs very compatible for growing compared to actual soil,” Venere explains quietly, slowly. A bit too soft, a bit too loud for him. “The cause… Undefined. Too few patients, too few similarities.”

“Fun.” Yuuto took another drag. Flowers. Carnations. In his lungs. Dizziness, nausea, irritability, headache, short breaths, lack of coordination. “Cool. I’m a living bouquet.”

“There is a way—wait, you’re not going to ask for a cure?” Venere asked incredulously. “Are you stupid? Has the lack of oxygen in your head made you mad!?”

“You know why I’m smoking,” Yuuto took another drag as if to make a point. “Connect the dots. Isn’t that what you’re so great at? A need to know everything?”

The silence was almost stiffening.

“You know you’re dying.” Venere clicked her tongue again. “That doesn’t explain why you won’t hear out a solution to, I don’t know, not die.”

“Because you would have mentioned it first and not the sickness. As much as you like putting bets on me, you need me alive.” Yuuto clicked his tongue, copying out of boredom. “Which tells me that there’s a side effect. Something, I won’t like. That’s why you need to tell me what’s wrong to convince me to take whatever cure you found.”

“... A surgery, medium-risk failure. Surgically remove the flowers.” Venere started after a moment. “The drawback… People claim to have lost all sense of emotion to someone they know. No pattern. Sometimes, it’s their spouse, another it was their friend, in another case it was a business rival, sometimes they don’t even know who… But I know you don’t like losing things.”

“Wonderful.” Yuuto got off the table, taking the CNS results paper with him. “I’m not getting it. I’ll see you around, have a nice sleep. I’ll be burning this if you’re curious.”

“Why?” He had to hold back a sigh. He looked back at her. Venere's eyebrows were furrowed, frustrated, confused. It almost felt amusing, seeing someone who always had the need to know be confused.

“I think I know. I know who I’ll lose my emotions for.” Yuuto shrugged as he started walking again. The clock was almost taunting, two-thirty a.m. “And if, just if, one in billions of a chance I am right, I’m not taking that surgery. Good day, Venere.”

I.

Yuuto watched as the ashes of a medical paper burned into a trashcan. There was at least a window open nearby. There wasn’t too much to worry about. He pocketed his lighter. His breathing wasn’t getting better, even more so after smoking.

Breathe in, breathe out. He was going to die… because of carnations. Love and admiration. He sighed. He needed a walk. Around this wretched place he called home would be just fine.

The corridors were quiet. The lights were still on, fluorescent. Empty offices, empty labs. The floor below him was the same as any grounding in the entire building. Venere would probably fall asleep in the greenhouse. Saora was probably in the lounge. Elowen would be asleep. Frances too. Ida—

He felt his chest constrict. Almost as if another flower had bloomed. He slowly breathed, leaning against the wall. Fuck, he should have asked Venere how long he had. Then again, would it have changed anything?

Questions were only meant for asking if they changed something. Somehow, knowing when didn’t feel like it was going to change anything. Yuuto was still going to die. No point in planning it all out. Extra stress and he’d probably die faster too. It’d be nice to just do a final round of his resting place in case he was more doomed than he thought—

An office light was on.

Yuuto paused. A shuddered breath before taking slow steps over. He glanced in through the small window on the door. A familiar mop of hair, half-shaved, laid atop the desk. A silence, contemplating.

He opened the door almost soundlessly before closing it. He sighed as he glanced at the plaque on the desk, “Seong Ida”. Then, he looked over to the man on the desk. A match, he’d say. Yuuto wondered where Ida’s assistant was. Maybe they already retired for the night like any sane person. He hummed as he glanced over to the couch in the corner of the office. 

Carrying someone the same height and heavier than him, should be a problem. It was in fact a problem, if Yuuto wasn’t used to carrying boxes and children around when he was younger. He took it slow, gently sliding Ida out of the chair and into his arms. Just to the couch. Even the limited oxygen he was breathing wouldn’t stop him too much. He stepped slowly, less likely to get dizzy.

Yuuto carefully placed Ida onto the couch. He quietly stared at the other, gently tucking a stray hair away from Ida’s face. He had a guess. A one in eight billion chance of being correct. He stood up, only to be hit with dizziness—too fast of a movement. Yuuto cursed under his breath as he shut his eyes tight. Blanket, he needed to find a blanket or fabric. He doubted the cold would be any more forgiving than it usually was in the night.

He found himself waltzing around the office, searching despite his less than acceptable state. He found an old blanket in a deep drawer. It did get too cold at times. Maybe he should ask for more heaters especially when winter was heating.

“One in multiple billions of people…” Yuuto unfolded the blanket, trying to make sure it wouldn’t get on the floor as he stalked over to Ida. “In percentage… That must be incredibly low…”

He draped the blanket over the sleeping man, hopefully this would make it more comfortable. “Low… But not zero… It could be you… Maybe not…” Yuuto mumbled as he carefully tucked the blanket under Ida’s chin, observing. Every little detail of his co-worker’s face. The flat nose bridge to the chapped parted lips that were properly breathing air unlike his own. “What makes you different…?”

Yuuto made a quiet laugh as he looked for a couch cushion. He’d rather not be the reason for Ida’s neck pain tomorrow. “They were all here before you… Venere, Saora, Frances, Elowen… And yet, it’s you… It’s always involving you when my throat dies… I got a fainting spell after that one time in the cafeteria with you… Or was it in your office? I’m not sure.” He held a stiff cushion in his hands, good enough. He smoothly slipped the pillow between Ida’s head and the couch. “Lack of oxygen does that, Venere would probably say.”

He wasn’t sure why he was talking. Maybe to fill in the silence. Maybe he needed to be heard. To voice out thoughts that would never have left his mouth but he could pretend they did and that Ida heard them.

“Are carnations your favorite…? I think they’d suit you, at least…” Yuuto sighed as he crouched down again. What was he doing? “They could be any color you dream of… They could be any color we want them to be… and no one would be none the wiser to any color being abnormal. People would still think they’re pretty and not fake…”

Yuuto watched as Ida seemed to relax as the blanket started to warm him up. It was pleasing to see him relax. To be calm. To be somewhat happy even in the confines of a couch and old blanket. His chest hurts, pain that came into bloom. A flower, maybe. He couldn’t bring himself to care. He smiled, it hurt. He felt like coughing blood. It could wait.

“Maybe… Maybe you’d be happy…” Yuuto huffed as he sat on the ground. He was talking to no one, but he could pretend. “I doubt you ever liked me that much…” He wanted to laugh, cough, throw up, cry, anything—and yet, he could only seem to smile. He was lost. He didn’t know what to do. What was he doing?

“But I like you… Does that count for anything…?” He mumbled out, a query he didn’t want an answer for. Because it didn’t. A fool he was, warned and yet kept going. Salomea always said that the underlying reason science wouldn’t progress was because of emotions, and at the same time it was the only thing keeping it going. That meant there were useless ones.

This warmth from being close to Ida. The admiration he held for the other. The simple enjoyment of seeing Ida relax. Were they useless? He felt queasy.

A waste?

Then, why did it feel so good to keep? The pain it caused didn’t matter. He still walked into Ida’s office. If these emotions were useless, then, why does it make him feel? Why did it feel good? Why couldn’t he let go even if it hurt?

Yuuto was going to die. Yuuto couldn’t let go.

He breathed slowly. It was getting harder; was he getting worse? He felt like he couldn't speak almost. Yuuto stood up. He could at least not faint in Ida’s office. His vision was failing him as the pain burnt his lungs and heart. It felt like a flame that was to punish him. For what? Being human? He wasn’t sure.

The door was in front of him. The knob was cold. His dizziness got worse. His throat was closing up again. He should sit down. Let his body try to recalibrate. He opened the door.

He blacked out.

[qiuthewhumps]

Put your head on my shoulder: [08/07/2024]

Migraine / Light & Sound Sensitivity / “I can close the curtains…”

[YUUTO & SHOU MIRAI AU] — 1120 words

CW: Migraine that may be depicted wrong

To contextify: Mirai AU where Salomea attempts to surgically fix Shou's CIPA (he has it in this AU too) and it ends up not working. Instead it gives Shou the worst migraine in existence and Yuuto is here to care for him. They're kids again here 11 (Yuuto) & 7 (Shou) like yesterday (Causes of migraine is speculated due to changes to the brain stem or a specific nerve)

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

“Would he be up yet by now?” Yuuto couldn’t help but ask again. He wondered if he had annoyed Salomea with asking the same question over and over again. “It’s been an hour since you came back.”

“I understand your concern, Yuuto, but you can’t expect Shou to wake up so soon after a surgery.” Salomea sighed as she leaned back on her chair. Yuuto stared at her but made no comment; once again, staring through the large window that practically made one wall of Salomea’s office.

The rain was heavier than usual; the sound against the glass was soothing Yuuto’s nerves. The surgery went fine as far as Salomea confirmed; all that was left to check if the surgery actually worked.

“Why do the clouds turn gray when they’re raining?” Yuuto absently asked, trying to pass the time and out of genuine curiosity. “If the clouds just have water in them, does that mean water is colored gray?”

Salomea gave him a deadpan look before gently ushering him over to her desk as she grabbed some scratch paper and a pen. “Do you remember how clouds are made?” Yuuto walked over to beside Salomea’s chair before giving a nod. “Good, so what happens…”

They talked for a while, most of it was random questions spurred by Yuuto out of curiosity. Why something was a certain color, why ships float but not rocks, why things rust. They go on about it. Salomea patiently explained each of Yuuto’s questions in simple enough terms for the eleven year old to understand.

“—that’s why bark comes in different colors. Understand?” Salomea glanced over to him, and Yuuto nodded. He was sitting on the floor beside Salomea’s chair. Scratch papers with all the answers to his questions surrounded him as he took the newest scratch paper Salomea used to explain the bark question. “Good—”

Salomea’s phone rang and Yuuto took it as their QnA time over. He zoned out a bit, fixing the papers in an order that pleased him—no real rhyme or reason. His eyes traced over the prints on some of the papers on the opposite side of Salomea’s writings. The printer ran out of ink at some point which led to the printed text to fade out. He fumbled with the page a bit, trying to read the printed text… Half of these words sound like nonsense. Well, he knew what ‘experiment’ was at least. The other words, however…

“Yuuto.” He automatically placed the paper down to look at Salomea, who was looking over what he was reading before she hummed. “Shou’s awake. He’s in the room you share already. He’s been awake for a bit, but they only discharged him as of half an hour ago to get him settled.”

Yuuto smiled a bit, excitement filling him up inside, as he piled the papers together before standing up. “See you later, miss!” He replied before rushing out of the office door. Salomea sighed softly behind him.

He found himself running through the hallways, passing the adults who were twice his size. Some were carrying papers or tablets, and on one corner he saw a glimpse of a kid in a white dress. He soon found himself in front of the room Salomea had allocated to both of them. He knocked on the door before entering, finding his younger brother tucked under the sheets a pillow over his head.

Yuuto blinked before placing the papers on the desk in the room before approaching Shou. He sat on the bedside—

“Go away…” was the muffled reply Yuuto immediately received as Shou pressed the pillow harder against his head as if to block the outside world. “It didn’t work… I get it, okay…”

Well, that answered one of Yuuto’s questions. He couldn’t help the slight frown that pulled his lips before he moved to sit on the ground beside the bed. “Hey, Shou, what’s—”

“I told you to go away!” A pillow was thrown directly at him that Yuuto blinked at. Shou was on the bed, staring at Yuuto but he looked frustrated and annoyed before Shou pulled the sheets over himself, trying to hide once more. “Don’t be so loud, please.”

Yuuto decided to not mention that he wasn’t even yelling. He gently placed the pillow back near Shou’s head. He made sure to keep his voice closer to a whisper as he looked at the lump on the bed. “What are you hiding from…?”

“The light.” The response was almost a hiss. Yuuto blinked as he glanced at the white light that illuminated the room. He went over to the light switch, flicking the switch off. The room dimmed considerably. He walked back to Shou, crouching down by the side of the bed again, tilting his head.

“The light is off,” he quietly mumbled. Shou peeked out of the sheets—which, in Yuuto’s opinion, is a solid improvement since a pillow wasn’t thrown at him. “Do you need anything else…?”

Shou seemed to stare for a moment before shaking his head before quietly mumbling, “Stay… I don’t like the other adults… They made my head hurt…”

And of course, Yuuto nodded. Shou moved over a bit, and Yuuto went under the covers with him. There’s a comfortable silence between them despite everything. Yuuto could feel how Shou’s hand found his, idly playing with his fingers.

“I’m guessing they don’t feel warm..?” Yuuto questioned quietly. Shou shook his head in an almost defeated manner. Yuuto had to hold in a sigh before nodding. Nothing to do but accept it didn’t work.

“I—” Thunder cut Shou off who immediately flinched, covering his ears with his hands. Yuuto inwardly felt dumb—it was raining hard, how did he forget?

“I can close the curtains, hold on—” Yuuto murmured out before getting off the bed. He pulled the curtains to drown the room in darkness. He walked over to his desk, feeling for the broken pair of headphones he had planned to ask Salomea to repair. The moment he grabbed it, he dashed back to the bed. Shou was still there, cowering from the storm outside, and so, Yuuto carefully slipped the headphones on Shou’s head. The moment Shou seemed to relax as the headphones were around his ears.

While they were broken for playing music, it worked well to drown out the general noise. Yuuto took a sigh of relief as he laid beside Shou again, smiling as his brother seemed to get less stressed over the rain.

“Don’t worry, we’re safe now,” Yuuto quietly assured as he watched Shou start to settle. He was unsure if Shou even heard him, but the fact was enough to calm his own worries.

They were safe now.

[qiuthewhumps]

HI GUYS

consider this my formal apology for my previous drawing. they deserved some fluff.

i love these sillies im going to Eat them

✮⋆˙

text: "sorry for almost dying..." / "shut up."

(pose ref from @/mellon_soup)

tagging @lemlem21 because i finally drew them happy. Rare Occurrence.

✮⋆˙

[qiuthewhumps]

Accidental Cryotherapy: [07/07/2024]

Falling through a frozen lake / Hypothermia / “Hey, c'mon, you gotta stay awake.”

[YUUTO & SHOU] — 1778 words

CW: Post-hypothermia liberties, A bit of manipulation and abuse by a character at the end

To clarify: Yuuto & Shou are kids here (around 11 & 7, respectively), an excerpt from their past. Shou has CIPA which means he can't feel pain or temperature but can certainly get afflicted by such. A bit late bc I wrote for a bit too long.

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

Yuuto hummed as he sat on the patio of their estate. The house was empty except for him & Shou since their parents had left for a work emergency, leaving the estate rather peaceful. The snow had already thickened on the ground of the garden in the middle of their estate which made a pleasant sight. Which, of course, led to Yuuto’s current problem. The current noise in an otherwise peaceful house.

“Please…” Shou whined as he shook his older brother’s shoulders, pleading and desperately trying to convince Yuuto. “Just by the lake! That’s all I’m asking!”

Yuuto stared dazedly at the garden. Surely, surely, if he ignored Shou long enough, his brother would go away—Shou only moved into the direct sight of Yuuto.

“You can’t. Mom and dad would kill me.” Yuuto sighed as he looked away from Shou. “You have CIPA. Remember?” Yuuto gently shoved Shou out of his sight. He couldn’t give in, no matter how much Shou begged him otherwise.

“Ten minutes,” Shou tried to bargain. Yuuto didn’t even look at his brother. “I’ll get mom to get that new game you wanted.” Yuuto’s resolve started to crack. “I’ll help you sneak out of the house whenever you want.”

“... Five minutes.”

Yuuto was already regretting his decision as he quietly walked out of the estate with Shou beside him. The snow crunched under their boots as they walked toward the lake that was frozen at this time in mid-winter.

“What’s so exciting about a frozen lake?” Yuuto mumbled as he stood at the snow covered shore. Shou had already walked toward the ice, looking at it curiously. “Seriously, it’s just ice.”

“Yeah, and unlike you I don’t get the privilege of being out in winter.” Shou huffed before stepping onto the ice. Yuuto’s gaze narrowed, immediately walking closer to the lake. “Besides! I’ve heard that looking down through an ice lake is a really cool sight!”

“Shou, don’t walk on that—” Yuuto started as he stared down at the ice by his feet before at Shou. Concern ate him from the inside. This couldn’t possibly end well.

“C’mon big bro! Don’t you want to see it together?” Shou interrupted with a chirp as he walked further onto the lake. His steps were confident despite only ice being his only support. “It hasn’t been five minutes yet!”

Yuuto stared at Shou, uncertain. He carefully stepped onto the ice, walking slowly toward Shou. His eyes were trained on the ice. The ice only seemed to become more dark the closer he was to where Shou was. It didn’t bode well. “Fine, fine, we get the sight, and then we’re going home. Don’t want mom to find you frozen dead.”

“Yes, yes! Just come here!” Shou ushered as he crouched to look at the ice in amazement. “You can still see the fishes moving!”

The dread in Yuuto’s gut became heavier as he walked over to Shou till he was right beside his younger brother. He looked down, a few blobs could be seen moving under the ice that could be made out to be fish. “Cool,” was all Yuuto could bring himself to say with his head feeling faint from the risks of standing on ice.

“See? Nothing to worry about. It’s pretty cool!” Shou smiled up at his brother from where he was crouching beside Yuuto. Yuuto wasn’t convinced but he gave a strained smile back to Shou. At least Shou was enjoying it.

“Yeah, maybe I was overthinking…” Yuuto quietly admitted, glancing around the lake. It was fine. Just let Shou admire the view and then could go home, no problem. Just a bit more waiting. “C’mon your five minutes are almost up.”

“Yeah, okay. Fine.” Shou sighed as he stood up to his height with that pout of his. Gods, what Yuuto would do to punt his younger brother. “Thank you, though… For bringing me out.” Or not.

Yuuto sighed before ruffling Shou’s hair with his hand. “Yeah, yeah. You and your condition.” He couldn’t help but smile a bit genuinely himself. “Let’s go home?”

“Yes, yes, captain.” Shou chuckled as he started to walk to the other side of the lake’s shore. Yuuto followed quietly behind. Nothing went wrong after—

Crack.

Yuuto stopped. The dread came back full force as he glanced back. A small crack in the ice right behind him, slowly breaking through the ice. No doubt from their walking. He immediately glanced back at Shou, worried. HIs brother seemed unbothered. He took another step, slowly trying to close the distance to the shore. Another crack.

Yuuto felt lightheaded from the sound. The cold suddenly felt more blistering as he took slow steps behind his brother who was none the wiser. Every other step made an all too familiar crack. Yuuto was all too afraid to look back.

A crack, another step.

His breathing wavered, even worse when Shou turned around in confusion. The way his brother looked at him from the shore, tilting his head at Yuuto who was still standing on the frozen lake. “Brother?”

“Just, just give me a moment,” Yuuto replied. He was frozen in place, unsure where to step next.

“Pfft! Are you still scared?” Shou chuckled from where he was on the shore. “Don’t worry! I’ll help you back!”

“Shou, don’t—” The words came out too late from Yuuto’s mouth as Shou immediately came rushing to him. The cracks became louder behind Yuuto—a split second was all he had. There was only one option, really.

He watched as Shou stumbled back, tumbling toward the shore from Yuuto’s harsh shove—the ice broke from underneath him, dropping him into the lake underneath the ice.

His hair stood on edge as the water engulfed him whole. The temperature made his fingertips numb. He tried his best to hold his breath, but as the light seemed to get smaller, it became harder. His eyelids seemed to only get heavier as he sunk deeper into the lake. His consciousness slowly flickered in and out as he body numbed with the lowered temperature.

He wondered if Shou was running back to the estate, formulating some excuse to why he was missing. Maybe he was staring down from the hole—gods, Yuuto hoped he wasn’t too dumb to jump into the lake.

Maybe… It wasn’t too bad to die this way if Shou was still alive.

The air slowly left his lungs. The icy water flooded his mouth that filled him with an odd taste as his eyes slowly closed. The light coming from the spot he fell through slowly dissipated.

The water stopped feeling so cold.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad…

“—were…….. Doing…………lake…?”

What…?

“We…… mean…..”

Where was he?

“Miss… He’s… up…” That sounded like Shou? What happened? Why did he feel so woozy? He tried to slowly blink his eyes; he could see snow but other than that... It didn’t work. 

“Hey…… you… gotta….. awake…..”

He couldn’t stay awake. Just… What happened…? His eyes shut again…

He processed seeing the unfamiliar ceiling after a moment. He blinked once, then twice. The smell of antiseptic was processed next. How long has he been out? It was still a bit hard to breathe… When was his breath this warm? His eyes tried to glance around. He could see a face framed with white frame to his right. Shou? Where were they?

He glanced to the left, processing an adult? A woman? She was talking to Shou it seemed. His eyes closed again. When he opened them, the lady was gone and for once he had energy to sit up. Shou was immediately at his side. His brother was saying something, but his mind was in a haze.

“Shou…” Yuuto could barely bring himself to mumble out as he brought a hand to his temple. An iv was connected to his wrist. He looked around; it looked like a hospital room. “How…”

“A lady helped save you—How do you feel? I’m, I’m so sorry for what happened—” Shou started to sputter as he ran through his words at a record speed. “I should have just listened to you, and you, you wouldn’t have fallen into the lake and—”

“Shou, shou. Relax… I’m okay…” Yuuto tried to reassure despite how weak he still felt. Right, he fell into the lake. Then, apparently, someone saved him. He didn’t even know who. “Are you okay…?”

“Yes, of course—I’m more worried about you! You fell into a lake in winter!” Shou sorely pointed out again, but before Yuuto could be berated more the door opened with a slam. It was their mom who rushed in immediately.

“Shou, are you okay?” She quickly rushed over to Shou, checking him over. Yuuto belatedly realized that Shou was still in winter clothes. He doubted that would be good for his CIPA when they’re in a more controlled temperature environment, the hospital.

He didn’t have much time to think about it as a harsh slap resounded in the room. His cheek slowly started to bloom in pain. He slowly turned to look, only to see his mom staring down at him.

“What is wrong with you?! Why would you bring Shou outside in this weather, Yuuto?!” She scolded him, and yet Yuuto had no answer. “What would have happened if Shou fell in the lake instead?! He’d be dead! Dead! You would have killed your own brother!”

But Shou didn’t fall into the lake—Yuuto did.

“I… I’m, I’m sorry…” Yuuto could barely mumble out as he looked away, peaking at Shou who seemed distraught that their mom had just slapped Yuuto. “I didn’t mean to put… Shou in dang—”

“Yuuto, you know exactly how his condition is!” She cut him off, irritated as she rubbed her temples. “You’re supposed to be the more responsible one! Can’t I leave you two alone for just a day?!”

Can’t his mom bother to be concerned? He's in a hospital bed. Yuuto looked down at the iv bag connected to his wrist. He wondered if his mom noticed or not. His cheek stinged in pain; it was uncomfortable. “Mom, I—”

“Sweetie, I know I might seem rough right now, but I’m concerned!” He wasn’t given a moment to speak. “You both did something dangerous! Don’t you see where I’m coming from? What you did could have killed Shou!”

Yuuto could only stare before nodding as he looked down at the sheets again. His eyes felt warm and blurry, and his chest felt tight. Breathing felt harder all of a sudden again. The sting against his cheek only seemed to get worse. Was this what concern felt like?

Then, Yuuto didn’t want to be concerned by others anymore,

[qiuthewhumps]

Summer is a curse: [06/07/2024]

Heat Stroke / Panting / “Why don't we… find some shade, quick?”

[ALEKSY & CAIUS AU] — 876 words

Retired General & Retired Child Soldier found family, and the kid gets heat stroked. Aleksy is the same one from yesterday's post so highly recommending reading that one first! This is about 1-2 decades after yesterday's post. This is a bit late since I got a bit too busy than expected.

CW: Heat stroke, flashbacks of slightly graphic scenes (yesterday post)

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

Admittedly, this wasn’t the first heatwave the two experienced. There were always hot days in the military where the sun posed just as much of a threat to them as their enemy across the battlefield did.

Yet, it never felt this hot. Then again, global warming and all had been plastered on the news for a while now.

Aleksy sighed as he sat in front of a fan as he flicked through the TV shows for any type of distraction. The AC was already on full blast while he and Caius had individual fans pointed at them to lessen the heat in their apartment and toward themselves as much as possible.

“Need to get some more of those cold drinks…” Aleksy mumbled out loud as he laid on the couch, thinking about the contents of the fridge. Well, certainly not now, the heat would strike him, or whichever poor delivery man, dead on the pavement. He turned to where he knew the kid was, drawing on some paper.  “Hey, Caius, what do you want from the convenience…”

The kid wasn’t there. “Caius…?” Aleksy called out quietly again before he heard the front door close with a click.

… The gods must be joking with him.

The time between noticing Caius left and Aleksy switching to something suitable for outside and getting into the elevator was a blur as he found himself running out of the apartment complex. The sun was far from kind as he started to run down the streets, heading straight for the convenience store that was a short ten minute walk usually.

But in this heat? It might as well be a death sentence for the kid.

Aleksy was taking ragged breaths as he finally spotted the kid, staring at the convenience store and not entering. “Caius, fuck… Kid, don’t just… Leave like that for fuck’s sake.” Aleksy sighed as he stared at the kid who seemed confused.

“General… Store’s closed… Sorry…” Caius mumbled out in reply. His voice almost sounded slurred. Still staring at the closed store. He looked like he had failed a mission that would have cost thousands of lives. Aleksy simply sighed as he walked over to the child.

“Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t even mean for you to just… Rush out like that.” Aleksy lightly placed his hands on Caius’ shoulders, only to realize how heated the other’s skin felt despite the shirt the kid was wearing. That couldn’t be normal. “Why don’t we… find some shade before going back, yeah?”

Caius didn’t object as Aleksy led the kid to a nearby shaded building. He placed the back of his hand on Caius’ forehead. Concern painted his face at the temperature and how dry Caius’ skin was when it should have been soaked with sweat from the heat.

“How do you feel, Caius?” Aleksy questioned as he carefully observed the other. The way the kid’s breath was shallow. Did the boy run here? Or was it due to the heat?

“Fever…I think? No… Not a fever…” Caius swayed a bit as he tried walking around. Disoriented. Aleksy quickly went to help the boy stand straight and held the boy close. “I… Feel weird…”

Aleksy could feel the boy’s heart rate rushing as if attempting to burst through his chest. He quickly picked Caius up. Panic ate him whole as thoughts ran through his head. Caius leaned against him—the boy’s broken breathing became even more obvious as his eyes were fluttering. His legs moved before he could think.

He couldn’t be oblivious this time. He couldn’t let someone else die when he could do something.

The soles of his feet burnt as he ran through the empty streets; the heat discouraging everyone to go outside except the one person he promised to protect.

“—stay still, be quiet and shut your eyes—”

He didn’t want to. He was running till he ran into his apartment complex. Immediately telling the reception to call for the hospital, any hospital. His eyes wide as he took the stairs, the steps made his calves sore. It didn’t matter.

His feet were sore. The material of his shoes rubbed bruises into parts of his ankles as some person yelled at him for running by the pool when it wasn’t even open due to cleaning. It didn’t matter. He turned the shower on, feeling the temperature before laying the kid under the cold water. His breath tried to keep up with all the exertion as he frantically opened his phone to call 112 just in case the receptionist didn’t bother. His eyes weren't concentrating as he fumbled through his keypad.

“Hey, you can’t be here—” The security guard grabbed his wrist—

“My kid is fucking dying! Spierdalaj!” Aleksy cursed as he tugged his wrist away as the line connected to an operator. The conversation was a blur as he checked on Caius. The boy was completely passed out even under the cold water.

—the body of once friends laid motionless. Bullets that dug themselves into every patch of skin they were aimed at. A disgusting mix of blood and fat—

He shook his head. He wasn’t late this time. He wasn’t defenseless. He wasn’t weak. 

Right?

He was too scared to feel for his child’s pulse.

[qiuthewhumps]

Stealing my breath (give it back): [05/07/2024]

Wheezing / Light-headed / “I'll count, you just breathe.”

[ALEKSY & JANUARIUS] — 1240 words (whumpee & caretaker, respectively)

CW: Major character death, Descriptions of graphic violence, War setting

theres technically a whumper but also not. it's just aleksy failing to cope with seeing corpses of people he knows

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

Aleksy wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Hells, no, he did expect it.

But to expect was far more different to face.

Januarius, his lieutenant, had instructed their platoon to set up camp to observe the enemy’s camp nearby. And so, they did. A subtle camp where they could monitor the enemy’s troops.

They didn’t expect to be found so quickly.

One moment, Aleksy was quietly writing notes into his notebook; the next a large thump was heard. Silence. Then, all hell broke loose. The guns were loud; the ringing in his ear was louder. Breathe in and out. Shoot; don’t hesitate. Not even when his comrades fell beside him. Pull the trigger; keep his stance. He'd be the same spilt blood if he didn’t.

The pain that flared up his leg was unbearable. He wavered—his grip failing him as the pain electrified his figure. No, no, no— He tightened his grip on his gun as he looked up. A gun pointed right in front of him. Oh. It’s over. If he could, he would have laughed. Sorry, lieutenant, he seemed to only fail you too.

“—Aleksy!” A yell. Aleksy didn’t find himself dead; instead, Januarius held him close as he ran with Aleksy in his arms deeper into the forest.

Aleksy could only stare as they left their camp. His brain was catching up to processing what he saw. The body of once friends laid motionless. Bullets that dug themselves into every patch of skin they were aimed at. A disgusting mix of blood and fats stained the ground where they were once all talking to each other. He felt sick. The screams didn’t stop even as Januarius ran—the bloody screams that begged for help before being cut abruptly or turned into gargles that pleaded for mercy. A sliced throat was all Aleksy could imagine. The blood, the larynx cut to make those sounds, the tears.

He felt sick.

“—Aleksy, Aleksy fucking look at me. Aleksy.” He snapped his head up at Januarius as Aleksy tried to process where they were. A cave. They were going to be found, they were going to be killed as well— it was only a matter of time. They’d be shot at, slit open, maybe even in a more gruesome manner compared to their comrades—

“Aleksy. Your breathing. Aleksy,” Januarius hissed out, grabbing Aleksy’s shoulders. He was wheezing. Every gasp of air was harder to intake than the last. His voice was a shrilled mess as it tried to breathe. His head could only replay the scene at the camp over and over. Like some sick song that was stuck in his head.

The blood. The corpses. The screams. He felt dizzy. They were next.

“Aleksy.” It was a harsh call for his name as Januarius shook him hard, forcing Aleksy to focus on his lieutenant. “Listen to me. That’s an order. Breathe in for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. I’ll count; you just breathe. Got it?”

Aleksy gave a nod. Januarius let go of his shoulders.

“One, two, three, four.” Aleksy inhaled deeply, shutting his eyes to help him concentrate. “Hold. One, two, three, four—” a hand was placed on his injured leg, but he ignored it to focus on breathing. Just like Jan said. Just breathe. “—five, six, seven. Exhale.” He slowly exhaled. “Eight, seven—” the sight of corpses, Breathe out. “—six, five, four, three, two, one.”

Then again, “In. One, two, three, four.” A pressure against his leg, right at the bullet wound. “Hold. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...” The screams, the blood. “Out. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.” Just breathe.

The cycle repeated. Aleksy’s breathing slowly evened out. Januarius continued to count. Until, Januarius slumped against him. A whisper to his ear. “No matter what happens, stay still, be quiet and shut your eyes, okay…?” That was all the warning he received as he was pushed down to the cold ground of the cave. Januarious on top of him.

Aleksy didn’t question it. He shut his eyes, ignoring the scene that replayed in his head. He tried to concentrate on the warm body on top of him. The cool floor of the cave. The sound of bats that echo through the cave.

He soon found out why. The steps of around two people enter the cage, cautious. Enemy soldiers. He kept his body lax. Foreign words passed through his ears. It was quiet; Aleksy didn’t trust it for a second. Static rang out in the cave, the soldiers’ comms. Words were blabbered, none held meaning to Aleksy. A moment before the steps walked away, out of the cave.

Aleksy didn’t get up. It felt like an hour before he reluctantly opened his eyes. His sight was blurred. A part of him felt light-headed, processing everything and yet also nothing at all. He sat up. Januarius still slumped against him.

“Lieutenant,” Aleksy mumbled, nudging the other. He was met with no reply. He stared down at the other, waiting. His body suddenly processed that his abdomen felt wet. Blood. That metallic scent assaulted his nose. Dread settled in as he pushed Januarius off of him. His lieutenant’s uniform was stained with blood. Eyes that didn’t dare to open.

His head tried to calculate when that happened. How did he miss it—A gun pointed at his face. Then, Januarius in front. His body held close. A soldier wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. A soldier wouldn’t hesitate.

It made him sick.

The nausea came back full force. The video in his head had received a new frame to repeat on loop. He covered his mouth. The urge to scream, to yell, to be angry, but all smothered out with the looming threat of nearby enemies. His eyes watered instead. Warm droplets that traced his face before staining the ground, mixing with the bloody mess.

He glanced at his leg; the pain had dulled. His leg was bandaged to staunch the bleeding. He doubted it would be useful even after medical care, but he was alive. He crawled over to Januarius’ corpse.

“Jan… Lieutenant…” He whispered hoarsely as he stared at the motionless body. His tears stained the uniform of his lieutenant even more. “You… You can’t just… Leave… What am I supposed to do…? Jan, I’m… I don’t know…” His voice shook. What was he going to do?

He wasn’t a gifted soldier. He had signed up when he was barely of age, looking for an escape. He followed orders, following Januarius almost like a duckling. It didn’t make sense why he was saved. Aleksy was nothing special, an obedient soldier was all he was—and now, a sitting duckling that was waiting to be poached.

To live was painful. He stood up, using the wall as support. To die after Janurius traded his and the entire platoon’s lives for Aleksy’s was worse. His leg was dragging against the ground as he slowly walked through the forest back to the camp. Scavenge and salvage what he could.

He had to live. 

He could use comms to call for help. That was if they didn’t destroy all the comms at camp. It didn’t matter. He was going to live. Even if he had to fight tooth or nail for it. His tears kept falling, staining the grass that already had a trail of blood on them. Januarius.

He had to live. Even just for Jan.

[qiuthewhumps]

It's every day bro: [04/07/2024]

Chronic pain / Massage / “I'm used to it.”

[KLEIO & SHOU AU] — 1459 words (really soft tbh not that angsty)

CW: may be wrong portrayal of chronic pain (sorry in advance)

@whumperless-whump-event

☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆…━━━━━·:*☆

The first sign that something is wrong is the time. Kleio stares at the clock, blinking once, twice before tilting his head at the damn thing like it has insulted him.

9:00 a.m. Just right for breakfast. Too late for Shou not to be up.

But he pretends it isn’t. He slumps against the counter, waiting and idle. He gazes at the table, as if doing so will magically manifest his lover. The food on the table is still fresh, two omelets plated on the table as any other Saturday morning for the last two months has been. He waits like he has been for the last fifteen minutes before the clock has hit nine.

Fifteen becomes twenty… Twenty becomes twenty-five minutes.

Kleio is tapping his fingers against the counter, impatience slowly settling. He never likes waking Shou up since he knows that the architect tends to work late into the night, but Shou is usually up and about by nine at the latest. It was 9:10 a.m. already, is it—

A meow breaks Kleio’s thoughts. Qiu, their ginger and white mainecoon, is staring at him from the cool tiles that make their apartment floor. She sits there like she owns the place, meowing as she nudges her silver bowl to Kleio. Her tail flicking across the floor, waiting for attention. Oh, has he fed her today?

Maybe not. Kleio sighs as he takes the bowl back to the corner of the dining room. He fills the bowl up with dry food before placing it down, quietly watching as Qiu starts taking small bites of her given portion. He’s halfway to putting back the cup they use as a scoop for Qiu’s dry food before realizing Qiu’s awake. She’s walking around the apartment even. Qiu doesn’t get up until both of them are awake as an excuse to stay in their bed.

So, Shou’s awake. That simply raises more questions as Kleio finds himself already heading to the bedroom. He knocks on the door before promptly deciding to just let himself in.

Kleio makes a small little hum for Shou to notice him as he closes the bedroom door. He walks over to the edge of the bed, taking a seat on the end of the soft mattress. He observes how Shou is hidden under the comforter, hiding maybe. From what? He wants to ask, but instead all that comes out is, “So?”

A shift from the covers. A pause before the ball on the bed made of the comforter simply curls more into itself. A muffled mumble that’s incoherent is Kleio’s reply.

“Love? You have to speak up.” Kleio slowly moved closer. He sees where a tuft of white hair peeks out. He comes closer, a hesitant but gentle pat to the head. Scarred fingers easily combs through the white bed hair. The ball under the cover seems to relax the slightest bit which makes Kleio make a soft sigh. “Can I remove the covers?” He asks instead when he receives no repeat.

There’s a silence, and Kleio takes it as permission as he carefully lowers the comforter, giving Shou all the chances to hide himself again. The comforter falls around Shou’s neck and Kleio hums as he stares at the man he loves. The tired eyes; an almost pained expression with the way his eyebrows quirk. “Why are you still here, Shou?” A soft question. He makes sure none of his impatience before shows. It’s almost so easy to change his voice if it’s for this one albino man.

The silence is stiffening but Kleio doesn’t back down as he gently ruffles his lover’s hair with the tips of his fingers, waiting. He’s a patient man… Usually… Perhaps only for Shou… And maybe Qiu.

“It’s nothing. Just the usual, y’know? I’m used to it and all,” Shou mutters out in a quiet voice. However, Kleio isn’t dumb. He can see how the other curls up into himself. How he looks like he wants to just hide in bed. Kleio can’t stand it, and he has to say it, or they’ll pretend the elephant in the room blends in with the floor and walls.

“That sounds a lot like… Bullshit.” It garners a rough laugh from Shou.

“I’m fine, I promise.” Shou turns his head at Kleio, giving a soft reassuring smile—strained. Kleio can only seem to focus on how the other looks. Tired, Pained. Exhausted. Fatigued. It doesn’t sit right to Kleio at all. If anything, he finds himself disliking it more than he probably should.

“Is it worse today?” Kleio presses the issue, taking his hand away from the other’s head. His eyes narrow at the lack of a response he receives. His gaze is evidently being avoided. There’s that tense silence before Kleio bluntly asks, “Where?”

“Nowhere,” Shou replies with hesitance, and it wins the most obvious lie Kleio has heard in the last month. Kleio lets the silence sit between them, waiting for his lover to crack. A minute passes, maybe two. Then, a third before an uncomfortable sound that’s a mix of a grunt and whine from Shou. “My back…”

“Okay, and?” Kleio continues to press as he gently and carefully pulls down the comforter from his lover. He makes a light laugh at how Shou is holding a pillow close, arms and legs wrapped around the soft pillow.

A grumble. “My legs…”

“Lovely,” Kleio sarcastically replies as he slowly tugs the pillow away from Shou. They have a tug of war over it before Kleio tosses it to the ground. “Lie on your stomach. No, you don’t have a choice.”

“Lovely,” Shou repeats in the same tone. He moves to lay on his stomach as his hands hold on to the pillow that was originally under his head.

Kleio stares before sighing. The things he does for this man. He gets up on the bed, positioning his knees on either side of Shou’s figure below him. He gently tugs Shou’s shirt up before starting to press his fingers into the tense pale flesh that makes up Shou’s back. He receives a few flinches in reply as he continues to try to ease the other, but no outright complaints.

They don’t say much. Kleio simply hums as he pushes and tries to ease the other’s muscles. Slowly, carefully. It isn’t the first time they’ve done this, but Kleio is more than aware that Shou is all too ashamed to admit when his chronic pain is worse.

That’s fine, Kleio likes to think. Their routine reveals all the things they don’t want to say but need to be addressed.

He works his way down, careful with the amount of pressure as he starts pressing into the muscle and skin of Shou’s leg. He can still feel the discomfort that fills his love, but this will have to do till they both eat something.

9:45 a.m. Kleio absently notes when he finally gets off of Shou. He sits on the edge of the bed again, offering a hand for Shou to take to help sit up. He watches as Shou struggles a bit, but is able to sit beside him. The albino lays his head on Kleio’s shoulder; he doesn’t find himself minding.

“I love you,” Shou mumbles out after a moment. Three words. Three syllables. Eight letters. That’s all it takes to make Kleio smile at the other. All it takes for a sweet lopsided smile to grace his face. It’s almost pathetic, Kleio thinks. He doesn’t find himself minding again.

“I made breakfast,” Kleio replies instead of repeating those three words turned into four. “Qiu is waiting for us,” he adds as he nudges Shou to lift his head. He doesn’t stop smiling at Shou. He feels warm. The same way he’s been feeling for the last two months.

Shou huffs at that as he stands up almost reluctantly. He offers his hand to Kleio this time. Kleio doesn’t hesitate, taking the offer to stand up. They walk to the dining room together. Their hands are intertwined as they walk the short distance. Qiu is waiting for them by the kitchen window. She immediately jumps off the counter she got herself on to rub herself on Shou’s legs, meowing for attention.

A few caresses and head scritches later, they’re sitting at the table together, eating while their cat soaks up the sunlight from the window. Then after, Shou will have to take his medicine, and then it falls back into some routine they’ve made for themselves over the days without a word. It’s quiet, peaceful, and boring even to some.

Kleio looks over to Shou with a soft expression. He doesn’t find himself minding this at all.

[qiuthewhumps]

Like a record, baby: [03/07/2024]

Vertigo / Struggling to stand / “Is the room spinning, or is it just me am I going insane?”

[SAORA & CHELO] — 1000 words exactly (Caretaker & Whumpee)

CW: Mentions of child experimentation, child experiment whumpee (post-experiment), vomiting descriptions, may be inaccurate writing of vertigo (I'm sorry in advance)

To clarify: Saora - they/them - handler of Chelo (maybe a bit attached to Chelo) || Chelo - it/its - human, mostly

@whumperless-whump-event

“Chelo?” Saora called out as they noticed the covers quietly ruffle around on the couch from the corner of their eye. They placed down their coffee mug as they watched as the child sat up in a daze. “How are you feeling?”

“Consul…” Chelo mumbled out as it met their gaze. It had such a disoriented look as if it couldn’t process any of its surroundings. It was unnerving, seeing someone, who should be more than intelligent they were, be utterly… disoriented.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Saora quietly replied as they got up from their desk, walking over to the couch Chelo was on. They crouched down to the kid’s height. “Yuuto gave me an update on what happened during the experiment. Everything went alright. How are you feeling?”

“Alive,” Chelo replied wryly before pausing. “What did they do?” It stared at Saora with a tilted unreadable expression, squinting before looking around the cluttered room in a haze. Saora watched as its amber eyes jerked around Saora’s office as if trying to focus—and failing—Saora’s brows furrowed.

“Some minor adjustments to your head,” Saora answered before immediately asking, “Is there something wrong with your eyes?” Concern tainted their voice as they stood up to their proper height.

“No, none at all…” Chelo mumbled as it put its feet down off the couch before standing up—Saora felt something, well, someone, slump against their stomach. A chill ran up their spine as they immediately crouched down again. Their hands gently supported Chelo by gently holding it up. The kid immediately stumbled straight into them—that wasn’t normal at all.

“Hey… What’s wrong, Chelo?” Saora softly asked as he gently lifted the kid back to sit on the couch. They received a swat against their hands. Saora pulled away as he watched the kid curl up on the couch. Its hands covering its ears, “Can you hear me, Chelo…?” 

A pause before a vague weak nod. So, just barely.

“Okay, can you tell me what’s wrong?” Saora gently requested as they sat on the floor, patiently waiting for the other to open up. They watched and observed the kid in front of them. In the low noise of the room, its breathing was audible, carefully quickening, stressed.

“Ringing in my ears…” Chelo mumbled out as it met Saora’s gaze while it covered its ears. An almost constipated expression on its face as its eyes started to dart around again anymore. “Is, is the room spinning or am I going insane?” Its lips quirk up in a strained smile as if to keep the tension from being too suffocating.

Saora wasn’t sure how to reply. They gently placed their hand on Chelo’s knee, trying to offer comfort—if only a bit. “Are you feeling nauseous? Dizzy?” They softly asked as they caressed Chelo’s knee in a concerned manner.

“Yes… Yeah—” It gagged. One of its hands came to cover its mouth as it looked down to the ground. Gagged sounds and coughs left its mouth as it pulled away. Saora immediately reached for the child only to pause as they watched a chunk of undigested bile fall from Chelo’s mouth with a hoarse retch and stain the couch.

It took another ugly gag and retch for Saora to scramble over to their desk, grabbing the trash can, and offering it to Chelo, who immediately vomited into the bin. Coughs wracked its throat as its stomach threw everything that was in it out. Saora carefully sat beside the child, gently rubbing its back as it threw up. “Shh… It’s okay, you’re okay. Throw it all out…”

And so, Chelo did. Ugly green and yellow bile clawed its way out its throat with gagged coughs and heaves as Saora could only watch and give the little comfort they could. Eventually, all that came out was saliva, as if Chelo was trying to empty its system of any fluids before only dry heaves wrecked the kid’s chest.

When Chelo was simply staring down at the trash can, Saora carefully took it out of the child’s hands, setting it aside before grabbing some wipes off their desk. Saora crouched down as they slowly cleaned the stain on the couch. When neither of them said anything, they broke the silence.

“Do you feel better?” A quiet question as they tossed the vomit soaked wipes into the trash can. Concern dripped from the words as Saora tried to look Chelo in the eyes.

“No… I’m so… dizzy.” Chelo closed its eyes as if to hide from the world that was, no doubt, spinning in its vision. Saora quietly looked before gently caressing Chelo’s shoulder in soothing rubs. “Then, then… There’s this constant… ringing, and it’s so damn loud—”

“Shh… You’re okay. It’s probably just a side effect of the experiment, It will wear off,” Saora replied with comforting words as they quietly sat beside Chelo. “Do you want to be held?”

“Please.” It was like a beg, really. And so, Saora gently scooped the kid up and placed it on their lap. They gently press Chelo close, letting the kid hide in their chest. Saora placed their hands on the Chelo’s back, soothing motions. Up and down, slowly. They’re unsure what to do, but if Chelo found comfort in this, they don’t mind giving. “I’m so… dizzy… Why is everything spinning…”

“I don’t know, Chelo… But you’re going to be fine, I promise.” Saora gently rubbed Chelo’s side, drawing soothing circles. The kid only pressed closer as Saora held it close, almost as if trying to protect the kid from the world. “You’ll be fine, Chelo…”

This lab won’t allow anything less, was not said, but just this once, they both can pretend they were words of comfort and not a bitter promise. Things were going to pass. Chelo could pretend to hide, and Saora could pretend to protect—but, that was all it was, wasn’t it?

Pretend. Act. Ignore. Nego.

There was only ever option even if they both pretended there were other options.

Fin.

Nego means "to deny" in Latin :]

[qiuthewhumps]

Does your insurance cover this?: [02/07/2024]

Car accident / Bystander caretaker / “Eyes open, [the] ambulance is almost here.”

QUIPHI — 807 words (lesbiabs)

CW: Major Character Death, Suicide

@whumperless-whump-event

Nephele didn’t remember when she started walking away, when she ditched the normal path home to end up before a busy road instead. The chatter around her was loud as people crowded around her, all waiting for the light for the pedestrian to turn green.

Thirty more seconds. She absently noted as she glanced above to the traffic light pointed at the cars. Half a minute. To think. To decide. To do. To— What?

She didn’t know. Where should she go—

The sound of a horn broke her out of her stupor. A car speeded straight at her—when did she walk onto the road? The owner harshly pressed the horn, yelling at her to get back to the sidewalk.

Oh.

She found herself frozen, staring at the car as it approached. Time felt almost slow. She stood there. Why couldn’t she move? She should move. Get out of the way. Live—Then what? Go back to her life? What even was her life? A hell personally made for her? Where she had no choice but to survive? Why should she return to that? Surely, surely, death would be kinder.

Nephele didn’t want to move.

The world rang in her ears as her body ached in pain that burned her. The murmurs of the people around became screams that she could barely hear over the ringing. Her vision was doubled as she was faced with the warm sky. Every breath was harder than the last; her throat burned at every intake. She couldn't move her legs. She raised her right hand—the only thing that she could move with the least amount of pain—to her chest.

“Hey—!”

A gentle, almost quiet beat was felt under her hand. It wasn’t a confident rhythm, slowly quieting down. She was dying.

“Hey… Hey? Can you hear me?” Nephele’s eyes looked over. A lady leaned over her, concern written all over her face framed with black hair. Why was she worried? “Oh—Oh, good. You’re looking at me. I’m Quinn. Can you talk?”

Quinn. That was a nice name. She opened her lips to tell the other to not bother with her– A raw cough came out instead. Her mouth tasted like iron as she struggled to breathe even more. The blood that pooled in her mouth made breathing even more difficult.

“Don’t push yourself—Just focus on breathing for me,” Quinn politely commanded before looking away, calling for someone in the crowd. Nephele stared at her before trying to work the blood out of her mouth, or at least out of her throat. “Just relax, okay? You’re gonna be just fine.” Quinn’s hand lightly caressed Nephele’s hair.

She wondered how Quinn could avoid gagging at the sight of her. She must look like a mangled corpse after being hit by that car. How could a bystander look at her with only concern and care when she was bleeding out over the asphalt road?

Nephele was in a daze before her instincts forced her to flinch away at a firm touch to her lower abdomen. Panic swallowed her as she tried to pull away. Will the gods not let her even have a peaceful death? Have mercy, she almost wanted to beg—

“Hey, hey— Relax,” Quinn’s soft gentle voice cut her thoughts off as she tried to struggle away. Quinn gently stopped her, carefully laying her back on the ground. “We need to staunch the bleeding– Just stay still… You’ll be fine. Keep your eyes open, the ambulance is almost here. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

It almost felt good to be fretted for like this. To feel like she was actually cared for. Even if it was just a bystander. It felt nice to be told that she was going to be okay even as her heart slowly caved into the silence.

Maybe it won’t be too bad to be alive if this person was around… But she made her choice.

Maybe, if she met Quinn earlier, maybe, just maybe, things would have been different. Maybe they would’ve gotten along. Maybe she wouldn’t have been on this busy road. Maybe this wouldn't be how their first meeting would be.

She felt her eyes grow heavy as Quinn once again looked away, seeming to almost yell at someone as she held her. How charming, to care about Nephele. To care about a girl who threw herself into death for a quick way out. How charming.

Nephele coughed as the blood fell back into her throat again. Breathing was too hard. She felt her vision blur out. A worried Quinn immediately called out to her as her eyes threatened to close. An involuntary tired smile curled her bloody lips.

“Th… Thank… You…” Nephele garbled out. For caring. For holding her. For making death feel warm.

In another life, maybe they could have known each other more. Just, maybe.

[qiuthewhumps]

Emergency First Aid: [01/07/2024]

Self-done stitches / Alcohol as sanitizer / “It's just a scratch, I've we’ve had worse.”

YUUTO & LUDICRUM — 1237 words (they're so silly)

@whumperless-whump-event

Yuuto took a shaky breath. In and out. In and out. “Go on.”

He was okay. He had to be okay. A guttural noise choked his throat as Ludicrum sprayed the alcohol against crimson just as he had asked and pointed the spray to due to him hesitating. Breathe. He shouldn’t scare the kid. Hold in, let out. Breathe. His hand held a wet wipe that he quickly rubbed over the wound now that his body was already in pain.

“Mister…? Are you… Still okay?” Their voice was incredibly soft that Yuuto could believe he was hallucinating. Unfortunately, there was a blind kid in front of him, worried. Eyes that couldn’t even see looked so downcast as they twiddled with the spray bottle of alcohol.

The scent of isopropyl mixed in the air that was already filled with that hideous metallic smell. He felt nauseous, but if he passed out now… He doubted he’d wake up still. He eyed Ludicrum; his vision all too hazy.

“Yeah… Yeah, of course I am.” He made a soft chuckle as his hands shakily opened the tin box beside him. “Hey, Ludi? Can you just… Talk to me? Maybe about new clothes you want? How was your day? I heard you were with Chelo for a while today.” There was a silent beg in the request that Yuuto hoped that Ludicrum didn’t hear. He didn’t want them to worry anymore.

“Are you… My day was fine, mister. Me and Chelo stayed in Saora’s office.”

Yuuto gave a small hum at that to show he was listening. His fingers trembled as he tried to thread the needle. His vision was blurring as the thread started to fray at the end. He needed a needle threader. “Yeah…? What did you guys do?”

“We, uh, may have made a mess of Saora’s bed… We tried building a fort of sorts with the pillows and blankets. Do you think Saora would be mad at us for that?”

Yuuto let out a shaky breath as he tried to find a needle threader in the tin box. “I’m sure they wouldn’t care… Did you have fun, at least?” His finger felt a familiar flimsy plastic; his breath stuttered as he took it out. He threaded the needle before pulling harshly at the spool of thread.

The needle dragged against his skin as he bit the thread to a long length. What do you do next…? Right, right… He should start stitching. He could do that. Almost there.

“Yeah, we had a lot of fun! Chelo started to talk a lot about Saora. Apparently, Saora has been losing sleep again. Other than that, Chelo is thinking of pranking Ibys due to last time.”

“Oh? What happened last time then…?” Yuuto mumbled out before piercing the needle into his skin. Cold metal pricked into his skin out of his own volition—Gods, gods, it burned.

“I heard Ibys and Chelo got into an argument with each other. Chelo was annoying them so much that Ibys started insulting Chelo or—” He shoved the needle to prick through the other side of the wound. “—something so Chelo wants to have… revenge—”

A pained little gasp left his lips. Not silent enough as Ludicrum stopped talking. Shit.

“Mister… Are you…” Oh gods, the tremor in their voice. Guilt brewed in his stomach as he pulled the needle and lax thread through his skin. One stitch done, he was okay. Just a bit more. A bit more, then he could sleep.

“Ludi, I’m fine, I swear.” Yuuto breathed out heavily as he started the second stitch. “It’s just a scratch, we’ve both been through worse.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Ludicrum no longer spoke, and Yuuto didn’t have the heart to tell them to continue talking when he himself felt faint from suturing his own wound. A few pained sounds left his lips involuntary as he tried to focus on the wound.

“Why won’t you go to the clinic…?” Ludicrum quietly asked to finally break the heavy silence. “Why are you… doing it by yourself? Mister, this feels counterproductive… You’re an employee, wouldn’t they help you?”

Yuuto paused at that before continuing to stitch with half-blurred eyes. “Yeah, they would… Ludi, what comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘leader’?” He asked in turn, for a moment, he simply stared at the child in front of him. Maybe it was a bad idea to let Ludicrum in a while ago.

“A leader…? Someone… strong, has good ideas, reliable… A lot of good traits, mister.” A generic answer, but that was what they all were taught when they were younger, wasn’t it? Yuuto didn’t blame Ludicrum; the answer was right.

“Yeah… And right now, the leader of this… place is Salomea… And Salomea will eventually… trust this place to me—” he pulled the needle through the last stitch. Almost done. So close. “I want to be a good leader… What would people say when the future leader can’t even handle one aggressive experiment without getting hurt?” His laugh was wry as he slowly tied a surgeon knot, making sure it was secure.

“... Do you really have to do this?” Ludicrum quietly asked as they came closer; the sound of the ruffles in their clothes gave it away. “Every time you’re hurt…?”

“Maybe,” Yuuto mumbled as he tossed the bloody needle into the tin container beside him. “I don’t want to disappoint Salomea.” He grabbed a new wipe, wiping it over the sutured wound. A low hiss threatened to leave his throat but he bit his lip before throwing the wipe elsewhere.

“Miss Salomea doesn’t have many good traits. She’s a leader… but I don’t… Why can’t you disappoint her…?” Ludicrum mumbled. They soon found Yuuto’s arm. They come close, leaning against him as Yuuto’s hand immediately gently combed through their hair. “Mister Ida was worried about you. He said you rushed away before he could talk to you.”

“Salomea… isn’t a good person, but she did so much for me. I don’t think disappointing her is an option anymore. She’s going to retire eventually… I… I can’t be vulnerable— I need to be reliable.” Yuuto stared at the ceiling of his dim office. His eyes were carefully closing as his breathing evened out. “Ida… Ha… I think he’d laugh if he saw me like this. He has complained about how high and mighty I act… Maybe he’d be glad to see me knocked down a peg or two, y’know?”

“I think he’d be sad…” Ludicrum pressed against him, enjoying the warmth between them. Yuuto couldn’t help but smile as the blind kid got comfortable beside him. “Mister… Is being a leader worth this… hiding?”

“I don’t know,” Yuuto mumbled out as he leaned his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes. He needed a small break. “But it is my duty… My opinion on it doesn’t matter...”

“You’ll wake up in a while, right, Mister?” Ludicrum relaxed as their eyes closed too. “You won’t leave me alone…?”

“Of course…” Yuuto sighed as he adjusted their positions a bit as they sat on the floor, leaning against a wall. Both of them were half asleep. Ludicrum probably tired themself out with Chelo. “But for now, go on. Let’s rest up a bit.”

He’ll wake up in a bit. He just needed to breathe for now. In and out.

In and out.