MPC 52C: Happy Thoughts [complete]
Jul 31, 2018 10:21:53 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2018 10:21:53 GMT
MPC Name: Sick Leave
MPC Number: MPC 52C
Reward Requested: Bits
Ugh.
This was certainly a new low for the tinkermon. Coughing into her gloved hand as she dizzily flew back to Lance's apartment she squinted at her surroundings as if in a dream. Lights were blurry. Shapes were distorted. Sounds were muffled. Worst of all her body felt really, really heavy. In the very least she ended up at the right building even with all her physical problems, never mind that it was already late at night. She lacked the strength to knock on the front door, so she rapidly pressed the doorbell button several times instead. Even as she did so she felt the last of her strength leave her small body, and she slowly started to float downwards.
Catching herself atop the doorknob Pandora hung on weakly as her eyes started to close. As her consciousness started to fade she silently cursed the old lady that had mistaken her for a large bug and sprayed the tinkermon with a pesticide.
"I'm not a.. damned bug," she whispered softly as she felt the knob turn under her. She didn't even feel the floor after she fell, nor did she hear Lance after the door opened.
Until she recovered everything was so foggy whenever she was conscious.
She had somehow managed to tell him what was wrong that first night. The remnants of the chemicals was washed off of her skin, and she was made comfortable on his bed to rest. Lance stayed up to watch her, doing his best to keep her stable when feverish shivers interrupted her sleep. Pandora didn't know when it happened, but she remembered waking up cradled in the human's arms as he slept in his chair next to the bed. She had been wrapped in a small soft towel acting as a blanket. Normally she'd refuse such treatment, but she lacked the energy to care and simply fell asleep again, snuggling against Lance's chest.
The morning passed her by completely. She coughed herself awake in the afternoon. Lance took the opportunity to feed her water and soup. Pandora found out later that the soup was a recipe Lance had learned from his time volunteering at a local soup kitchen. She'd never admit it, but at that moment that had been the best damned soup she had ever tasted in her life.
That night, as they both slept on the couch to the sound of the television playing in the background something woke the tinkermon up. Lance's digivice was in his hand, but he was still asleep. Its screen glowed as a pixelated image of a digimon walked back and forth. Exhausted, Pandora glanced towards Lance, then back to the digivice. She was going to forget about it if she didn't tell Lance then, but she went back to sleep, apologizing softly before blacking out again:
"Sorry.. I just wanna know. Know what it.. feels like.."
The next few days followed a similar routine as far as what tasks were done. Pandora still slept sporadically, though. Her coughs lessened gradually, as did her fevers. Once she was well enough to walk around without stumbling and falling over Lance took her to a local park at night for some fresh air. They sat on a bench together watching a bunch of fireflies play in the dark. It was a quiet, but pleasant evening considering how things had been going. When they went back to the apartment Lance had surprised her with a small cake. It even had homemade frosting on it! Even if she was still feeling a little sick Pandora didn't feel any regret from eating a healthy slice that night.
The next day Pandora's fever returned with a vengeance while Lance was at work. The tinkermon didn't try to call him. Maybe she should have, but her sickness was clouding her judgement. She felt hot. Too hot to stay inside. After stumbling to the front door, or even zombie shuffling if one wanted to be honest, Pandora lightly thudded her forehead against the wooden barrier. She didn't have the strength to fly up and undo the heavy deadbolt at the top of the door. And now she was starting to get a headache.
Eventually she settled on pushing a plastic container into the kitchen sink, and leaving the cold water on flowing into it. Sitting in the container felt like bliss. It was just big enough to act like a tub for the fairy. It was her head that was unbearably hot, though. Slowly, she curled up until the waterline reached her mouth. It helped, but she knew she could find more relief. Pandora held her breath and submerged herself up to her half-lidded eyes.
'Almost there..'
Her head bobbed up only enough to take another breath before she completely submerged herself. That was heaven right there. The muffled flowing of water was just as soothing to listen to in the background. It wasn't until her lungs started burning that she realized she had stayed under for too long. She gasped as she sat up and held her head above the water, silently berating herself for not paying attention. Again her pride, deluded by a feverish haze, swore she would be fine.
Down she went again after taking another breath. It felt good, almost peaceful. Her world went black.
She awoke with a start as she felt her body surge out of the water, limbs flailing to grab onto something-anything. Her body wasn't responding. Coughing harder than she had been earlier in the day Pandora felt like death as she tried to make sense of the situation. Someone was shouting, but it was difficult to make out what they were saying. She tried to call out for Lance, but only water came out of her mouth as she coughed even more. Something held her above the sink face down, and patted her back. Her wings fluttered weakly in response as she tried to get away, but she found herself holding onto the fingers that held her, leaning over them to expel more water from her mouth.
Eventually she passed out again to the soothing feeling of someone rubbing her back.
She felt right as rain the next day. It was strange to feel fine again after that whole ordeal. Sitting up in bed she glanced over at Lance, still asleep next to her. The human slept like a log, clearly worn out from the past few days. Pandora's stomach growled unceremoniously causing the fairy to frown. She considered waking Lance up, but thought better of it. Floating up into the air she paused when she spotted the human's digivice on the nightstand, its screen flashing again.
She still didn't know how to work the thing, but curiosity got the best of her. Landing next to the device she knelt down to get a better look at the pixelated digimon being portrayed. She stared at it for a long while, thinking to herself and glancing at Lance every now and then.
"Take care of him," she whispered with a small, lonely-looking smile, "..he's worth it."
Pandora then flew away to the kitchen to grab another slice of cake for breakfast. She left a slice for Lance in the fridge for when he woke up as well, carving the words 'thank you' in the frosting with a finger.Word Count:
1222
