for you, i'd watch paint dry
OCxCanon week 2024 Day 7: "so... it's a date, then?"
Pairing type: romantic
Canon Character: Skyla (she/her)
OC: Fern (she/her)
Fandom: Pokemon
Wordcount: 1776
AO3 link
CWS: mentions of hospitals & needles
Synopsis: Skyla finally has a day off from both her jobs. It's sorely needed; she loves her work, but she's wiped out! She's looking forward to a relaxing evening, and then a fun day-long date with her girlfriend, Fern. Though, Skyla has forgotten that Fern has a hospital appointment the same day as her day off.
Skyla stretched her arms high above her head as she kicked the front door of her apartment closed. She was so glad to be done with work today.
Sure, she loved flying. And she loved doing Gym stuff. But man, it was all tiring. And she was thrilled to finally have a day off from both of them tomorrow.
Not only that. But she could finally spend a whole day with her girlfriend! Fern was currently sitting on the couch in the living room, slippers kicked off onto the floor and legs pulled onto the cushion. She was reading something on a tablet, though she looked completely bored.
Skyla threw her bag and coat into the cubby by the front door, and walked into the lounge- where she then dramatically flopped onto the couch and lay her head on her girlfriend’s legs.
“Hiya, cutie. You come here often?” Skyla grinned, drawling her voice out to exaggerate how tired she was.
“Now and again,” Fern’s reply wasn’t as enthusiastic, or happy, as expected, so Skyla sat up.
“You good?” she asked, “What’s on your mind?”
Fern looked up from her tablet, “Oh. Nothing interesting. Just health stuff.”
Skyla raised her eyebrows.
“I’ve got my infusion appointment tomorrow.” Fern said, frowning, “It’s just… boring.”
It took Skyla a minute to remember what those were. Fern only needed that kind of appointment every two months or so, and they’d only been dating a year… and its infrequency led to it being not something they really discussed much at all. But she did remember, after a minute or two of thinking.
Well, some of it, at least.
“Afterwards, then… how about we go watch a movie or something? Or… go for a run… or a walk- or we could go bowling..? It’s my first day off in ages tomorrow, so I wanna treat you anyway!”
Fern smiled slightly, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I forgot about your day off.” She said quietly, “I’m sorry, Sky.”
“Why?”
“It takes like, four hours. And it’s an hour to drive to the hospital, and an hour back… That’s already six hours… four of them I’m spending with a needle in my arm and under fluorescent lights that give me a headache.” She turned off her tablet and looked away, shoulders dropped down in obvious guilt, “I just don’t think I’d be up for anything outside of a nap before or after that.”
Skyla practically felt herself deflate. So much for having a nice, super fun day off adventuring with her girlfriend. She stayed quiet on the couch, and said nothing as Fern walked out of the living room to see what they had in the kitchen for dinner.
And also, evidently, to avoid the fact that both of them were now feeling bad.
With a sigh, Skyla lay down on the sofa, and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn’t move her day off, and even if she could, she’d worked so hard today that the thought of going into work tomorrow was nauseating- no matter how much she enjoyed it.
But it wasn’t like Fern could move her appointment. So… what?
Skyla squeezed her eyes tightly shut to think for a minute.
Did they just accept that this was an irritating and unchangeable situation?
No. There must be some way for them to spend time together tomorrow.
Skyla picked herself up from the couch and resolutely walked into the kitchen, where Fern was reading the expiration date on a jar of pasta sauce.
“Should we just order pizza, d’you think?” Fern asked, “Or maybe Thai food? I don’t know if this is still good to eat…”
“It looks fine to me. Buuuut I could totes eat a Massaman curry… Mm.”
With not even a further glance to the jar of sauce before she shoved it back in the cupboard, Fern nodded. “Let’s do that. I’m craving tom yum soup already. Geez…”
She pulled out her cellphone to order the food- but Skyla quickly stopped her.
“I’ll pay.” She said, impulsively, “Also. Can we talk about tomorrow?”
Fern blinked, not really letting any expression through, which was most unusual, “Sure.”
And then she dialled their favourite Thai restaurant and placed an order for delivery.
Skyla sat down on one of the breakfast bar stools while Fern ordered, giving the occasional thumbs up whenever Fern asked about things like spice level or any appetisers or whatever. They practically always ordered the same things, so it was pretty easy to communicate the order silently as Fern spoke on the phone.
“Forty minutes,” Fern said as she snapped her flip-phone shut, “You should go get something more comfy on before then, hm?”
“Are you thinking… pyjama dinner and a movie?” Skyla asked, eyebrows raised.
“You bet. Go on. Go go go!” Skyla laughed as her girlfriend pushed her down the corridor toward the bedroom.
She took a quick shower, let her hair hang loose- still wet- and changed into her softest pyjamas. And then returned to the lounge with a blanket in hand, where Fern was once again curled up on the couch, looking at her tablet.
The thing was, showers were bizarrely good for thinking up ideas. And Skyla had one, now.
“Are people allowed to come with you to your appointment tomorrow?” she asked, as she sat down, and covered both of them with the blanket, “Like… a friend or a family member?”
“Oh. Yeah. One person, I think.” Fern nodded, and put the tablet away again, and reached to pet her patrat who was curled up on the armrest.
“Do you… normally bring anyone with you?” Skyla prompted after a moment.
“No. I’ve… always just gone alone.” Fern sighed, and pulled her patrat into her lap, “Why? Are you offering to come?”
“Yeah! I know you said it’s super boring and stuff, and the lights are gross, buuuuut…” she leaned onto her girlfriend’s shoulder, “Maybe I can help make that less boring! I can bring you an eye mask to shield you from the lights… and snacks… and I can give you massages…”
Fern snorted, “You’re not a masseuse.”
“Just an idea!” Skyla insisted, “I dunno, maybe it’d be a bit less boring if you had some company?”
She waited nervously as Fern thought in silence for a minute.
“Well… I mean… If you’d like to come…” Fern said quietly, with a tiny smile on her face, “It would be quite nice. It is really boring though.”
“That’s okay! I have plenty of gossip from work I can tell you… and play-by-plays of Gym battles… and you can tell me how it’s all going in Pinwheel Forest…” Skyla sighed happily and let herself fully lie down on Fern’s lap, biting back a laugh when Fern yelped in reaction to her hair being cold and damp, “Y’know. Hanging out. Moral support. And I can drive us home, so you can nap on the way back!”
“Sure. Okay.” Fern rolled her eyes, and pushed Skyla off her lap, “I appreciate it.”
“Yes!” Skyla exclaimed, as the doorbell rang, “So… it’s a date?!”
“The world’s most boring date ever, sure.” Fern said, getting to her feet.
“Still a date!” Skyla asserted, racing after her to the door.
“True.”
They paid for and received their food from the usual friendly delivery driver, and tipped him generously, as always, and then returned once more to the lounge- where they channel flicked until they found some trashy soap drama to watch, curled up together on the couch under a blanket, their pokemon lounging around the room as well, and eating some of their favourite foods.
Eventually, Fern fell asleep on Skyla’s shoulder, and she took the opportunity to quickly read up on the process of the infusion tomorrow. Where they’d have to go, what they were allowed to bring (Skyla made a list on the back of her hand of snacks and other stuff to pack before they set off), as well as the type of medicine Fern was getting (infliximab) and what sort of side effects it could have (the most common seemed to be nausea and headaches, so she also made a note to bring a heat pad and some painkillers. Not ibuprofen, since Fern couldn’t take those…) and also, she debated the possibility of sneaking off at some point to run to a store and buy Fern a gift… Would that be necessary? Would she think it was patronising? Maybe… It’d still be a nice gesture though, right?
It was already a lot to think through, and she wasn’t even the one needing the medicine. No wonder the whole process exhausted Fern so much, who was already more prone to fatigue due to the very condition she needed the medication for.
Still. Fern would be back to her normal, vibrant self in a couple of days. And if she wasn’t, well… Skyla wasn’t a quitter. She loved her girlfriend. That was that. If Fern was tired and sad for longer than usual, then Skyla would be there no matter what. And she’d do everything she could to make her feel even just a little better.
A date didn’t have to be a fancy meal or an eight-mile hike. It didn’t have to be bowling, or sports, or a walk on the beach. A date could be a nice evening in watching trashy TV, eating your favourite takeaway; a date could be an afternoon spent in a hospital room, braiding your girlfriend’s hair, and shielding her eyes from the harsh lights as she tried to nap away the hours with a needle in her arm.
For Fern, Skyla would spend a whole day doing the dullest paperwork ever if she had to. Fern, who would run a bath with floral bubbles for whenever Skyla said she’d had a rough day at work. Fern, who would personally beat the daylights out of anyone who was cruel toward pokemon. Fern, who felt her emotions at a hundred-and-twenty percent capacity all the time, and who listened intently whenever Skyla or someone else spoke, even if she didn’t care. Fern, who’s body was rebelling against her constantly and had to explain it to everyone she interacted with, and was so clearly exhausted by it all, but still kept going because she had no choice. Fern, who was asleep on Skyla’s shoulder, a tiny bit of sauce from her Pad Thai staining her cheek.
Skyla put her arm around her girlfriend and squeezed her with a hug.
She had always hated sitting still. But it wasn’t so bad with the woman she loved at her side.
Not at all, actually.
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