Boredom

Drew wasn't sure exactly how it had happened, but for the past day and a half he had been tending to a very sick May Maple at the Olivine Pokémon Center.

His rival was currently situated on the only bed in the room (he had slept on the floor last night, despite her protests), wrapped in a cocoon of thick wool blankets and sheets. Her nose was redder than a cherry tomato, and he had already had to ask Nurse Joy for two extra tissue boxes in the past ten hours.

The only positive part of this situation — and Drew almost felt bad that there was a benefit to her being terribly ill — was that he had been treated with more than twenty-four hours of uninterrupted time with May, even if it did mean he slept on the floor.

She suddenly groaned, stirring him from his thoughts.

"What's up?" he asked, raising his head from his notes for the week's upcoming contest.

"I'm so sick," she said — or, croaked. Her voice sounded more Froakie than human.

"Yes, well, that usually happens when one travels during a snowstorm without —"

"Without a coat, I know," she interrupted. "Trust me, I've been scolded by my mom and Solidad numerous times. I promise I won't ever go out in a storm without a coat again."

"Sorry," Drew replied, though his smirk implied that he wasn't really all that sorry at all. May pouted at him and crossed her arms under the various blankets.

He eventually turned back to his notes on the contest, and May went back to staring at the ceiling. He wondered if maybe she would fall asleep again. He had enjoyed an hour or so of silence earlier that afternoon, but it seemed as if her headache was too strong (judging by her constant complaining) to try napping again.

The silence was soon broken once again by May's croak:

"I'm bored."

"So you've said."

She sighed. "C'mon, Drew. Entertain me."

He raised an eyebrow and turned to face her. "Entertain you?"

"Yeah, tell a joke or something."

"I don't know any jokes."

May coughed loudly, and then said, "Everybody knows a good joke." She looked at him through fluttering eyelashes. "Please?"

Drew tried to hide a blush at her (admittedly very cute) expression by turning slightly away from her. Once he had gathered himself (and heard another thirteen "pleases") he sighed, and said in resignation, "Fine."

"Yay! That's —" she was cut off by a rather explosive sneeze. She reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue, pointedly ignoring Drew's chuckle. After blowing her nose a few times, she grumbled, "Just tell your joke, you…meanie face."

Drew rose his hands in the air defensively, though he couldn't help but smirk at her simple insult. "Alright, alright." He racked his brain for something faintly amusing, and finally came up with something. "Okay, so…my sister bet me a hundred dollars that I couldn't build a car out of spaghetti —"

May's eyes widened in surprise. "Drew, you have a sister?"

He sighed. "No, no, that's part of the joke."

"Oh." She sneezed again, and then: "Go on."

"Anyway. My sister bet me a hundred dollars that I couldn't build a car out of spaghetti." He paused, letting that sink in. May nodded for him to continue, and he finished, "You should've seen the look on her face when I drove pasta…?"

It took her a few seconds, but then her eyes lit up with understanding.

She glared at him. "That was a terrible joke."

"Okay, how about this: what kind of bagel can fly?"

May shrugged. "I don't know, Drew, what kind of bagel?"

"A plain bagel."

She grabbed a pillow off of the bed and lugged it at him.

He dodged, caught the pillow, and threw it right back at her. Because she was so confined by blankets, May was not able to avoid the fluffy mass and it hit her in the head.

"I hate you," she groaned, though it was muffled by the pillow. When she finally pulled it away from her face, however, Drew noted with pleasure that she was grinning.

Mission accomplished, he thought, and granted her a genuine smile, rather than his usual smirk.

Maybe it was the sickness making her face off-color, but Drew could've sworn she was blushing.

N: I had no excuse to write this. None. It was fun, though. :) Thanks to my brother for the jokes.

I'm nearly done with a full-length Contestshipping fic and plan on publishing it shortly. Stay tuned, if you'd like. Thanks for reading. :)