Well, here we are, folks. I've been talking about it for a while, and I've finally posted a couple of these on my deviantart account, so I figured I should post them here too.
For those of you who don't quite know what this is, it's a 100 Theme Challenge, made up by babybrowns on deviantart. Basically, I have 100 themes (i.e. heart, sick, fire, future, snow, etc.), and I have to write a oneshot for each. I'm choosing to do them centered around my fanfiction Metru Uni, so if you don't know it, you might want to read it first.
And I know that this is out of order, but I'm not planning on putting them in numerical order. I'll be posting more as the fic progresses, because certain ones can't be posted until certain things happen (i.e. 'Sparkle' can't be posted until Vakama meets Gali at least once, and 'Burn' can't be posted until the Visorak storyline).
Summary: Slightly delerious from a fever, Nuju calls for someone named 'Ihu.' Who is that? Characters: Nuju, Whenua, the other Toa Metru (briefly)
Warnings: mentions of death, and possible Whenua/Nuju if you squint and tilt your head to the left.
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I guess, and Friendship.
So thanks for reading, and please review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
*I don't own Bionicle, but character designs and pretty much anything that's non-canon belongs to me.*
#38—Sick
"Doctor, Doctor, gimme the news, I got a bad case of lovin you!" ("Bad Case of Loving You," by Robert Palmer)
Nuju sat bolt upright. Where...where am I?
Then it all came back to him: the meeting, the fever, strong arms lifting him and carrying him away, everything going black...
Maybe Matau's right, and I have been working too hard lately, he thought with a rueful smile. The smile immediately dropped from his face as he looked around and realised he was alone in the room. I'm alone? Oh, God, I'm alone! No! Fever-induced panic started rising in his chest. D-don't leave me alone! Ihu...Ihu!
"Ihu!" he yelled, his voice slightly strangled.
There were footsteps, then his door slammed open. "Nuju! What's wrong?" Whenua asked, crossing the room to his friend in two quick strides. He was surprised beyond belief when Nuju scrambled to his knees and grabbed the older man in a tight hug, burying his face in his shoulder. "Nuju?"
"Ihu...d-don't leave me al-lone again," he whispered, tears slipping down his face.
"Nuju, it's okay...it's me, Whenua. You're not alone; I'm here with you. It's okay. Shhh," Whenua said, stroking Nuju's hair. "Shhh, it's okay. I'm here."
A sob forced its way out of Nuju's throat, and he clutched Whenua tighter. Whenua glanced at the doorway, where the other Toa Metru were watching. After Nuju passed out, they'd taken him to his room and continued their meeting in the kitchen. When Whenua had heard Nuju yelling, he'd immediately run for him, his big brother side surfacing. At a barely perceptible nod, the others backed off, Vakama closing the door. Whenua would take care of it.
"Nuju, are you okay now?" he asked as Nuju slowly detached himself from Whenua, still sniffling. The Ice Toa nodded. "Good. Here, I'll get you some medicine." He was stopped by a hand gripping his shirt.
"D...don't leave me," he whispered. "N-not again..."
Hoping that this was the fever talking and that this upset, clingy Nuju wasn't going to be a permanent thing, Whenua nodded. "I'll just be a second, Nuju. I'll be right back. Promise."
This seemed to sate Nuju, who nodded and let go, sitting on the edge of the bed expectantly. Whenua quickly went into the bathroom and grabbed the Advil from the edge of the sink and ran a cup of water, then, without even pausing to say anything to his teammates, headed back to Nuju. "Here you go, buddy," he said, handing them to him. Nuju took two of the pills, then laid back down.
"Th-thanks, Whenua," he mumbled. "I...I'm sorry you had to see that."
"It's okay. No big deal." He sat on the edge of the bed. "Look, Nuju, I don't want to pry, but...you said something about 'Ihu.' Who or what is Ihu?"
Nuju cringed. "I...I said that?" Whenua nodded. "Ihu is...was...my best friend all through high school."
The black man caught the use of the past tense. "Did something happen?" Nuju squirmed uncomfortably and refused to meet his eyes. "Did you get in a fight or something?"
"Oh, no, geez, nothing like that," the blonde protested, sitting up. "Ow," he muttered, grabbing his now-throbbing head. "I'm fine," he snapped, slapping away Whenua's hands, which had gone to make him lie down again. "We didn't get in a fight or anything. He...a few weeks before we graduated, Ihu was in a car accident. He was crossing the road to get to my house, and this drunk driver smashed into him."
Whenua didn't know what to say. That didn't seem to matter, though, because Nuju didn't seem to want any words of sympathy or anything else. "It just...that just killed me. I was so depressed for so long. I'd never lost anyone close to me, ever, and I just felt so alone in the world. I mean, I still had my family, but it's just not the same, you know? Kopaka and Matoro are great and all, but Ihu was my best friend. You just can't replace that. I decided that if I closed myself off, nothing could ever hurt me again."
"Well that was dumb," Whenua said before he could stop himself. He clapped a hand over his mouth. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"
Nuju laughed. "No, you're right, it was dumb. I guess I'd been listening to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel or something. I dunno. I just..." He hung his head. "I don't want to be alone anymore. It sucks."
Whenua pulled the shorter man into a hug. "Don't worry. You're not alone anymore. You have all of us, remember?" He grinned. "Especially me. I seem to be the 'big brother' type around here."
Nuju was flushed bright red, but Whenua couldn't tell if that was because he was embarrassed or because of the fever. Either way, it was adorable. "R-right," the younger man mumbled.
"Okay, now back to sleep with you," Whenua said good-naturedly, making the Ice Toa lie down. "I'll come check on you later, but if you need anything, just holler, okay?"
"Okay," Nuju replied, snuggling under the covers. "Whenua? Can you do me a favour?"
"Name it."
"I...c-could you not tell the others about Ihu? I'm just not ready to open up that much yet."
Whenua nodded. He needed to open up at his own pace, and Whenua would respect that. "Don't worry," he said with a smile, stroking Nuju's hair. "It's our little secret." And with that, Nuju blushed, smiled and fell asleep, while Whenua went back to the meeting, emotions conflicting in his heart.
