I wrote this a long time ago- almost a year now, but I've waited until now to share it on this site for no particular reason, I suppose. I just felt like something needed to happen here.
Anyway, I've always been rather pleased with this piece because it was my first time writing Seychelles and England together, romantic or not, and I just really like hurt/comfort fics overall so it was a nice combination for me. And the title could be worse, I suppose! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I liked writing it. :)
Seychelles yawned loudly, the noise echoing down the hallway of the building as she lazily walked towards her destination.
She was probably going to have to sit through a long, torturous speech about the importance of being punctual again, before being saddled with tons of paperwork to sift through, but at the moment she didn't care. Annoying England was one of the things she did best after all, after all.
It wasn't her fault the eyebrow bastard had been such a... bastard and decided to make her his property! Her first day at school, she appeared all confused and just wanted someone to help her figure out where to go. Instead, she got a collar around the neck and a new "master" that had the temper of a great white shark.
Sighing, Seychelles muttered to herself out loud as she traversed the hallways, heading towards the Student Council room. "Stupid jerk... Making me stay after M.R. just to do his work..." She sighed once again as she came to the door to the Council President's office, located right next to the Student Council room.
Seychelles tugged at her shirt once in an effort to make her look somewhat presentable, otherwise England would have something else to get angry at her for. Her gaze flickered down the hallways, each brightened by florescent lighting that didn't match the setting sun of the outside, and then slipped inside the office.
"Eyebrows...?" The girl called out quietly, squinting in the small entrance hallway. Why this office was so fancy, she would never know, and wouldn't have put it past England to have forced the principal to make it so for him.
Seychelles dropped her backpack on the ground and proceeded forward, somewhat unsettled by the silence. Usually England would either be talking on the phone to whatever pest had called him, usually America or France, or conversing with himself in the odd way that he had. This silence was odd.
Carefully, she slipped the door open with a quiet call. "England...?"
She didn't know what he had expected from the circumstances, but this situation was definitely not it.
England was there, yes, but he certainly wasn't working. Instead, the blond was sprawled over his desk, head pillowed on his arms and eyes closed.
Seychelles' own eyes widened at the sight of her colonizer sleeping soundly, slightly snickering at the sight. Yet at the same time she felt something twisting in her stomach when she watched him, a feeling she didn't recognize and didn't exactly welcome. Spotting a large pile of paperwork piled on the corner of the desk, the girl let out a quiet sigh and rolled her eyes. "Probably fell asleep finishing all that," she muttered to herself.
"I should probably wake him up, though," she added to herself. "He'll kill me if I leave him here." And with that she began walking forward into the sunlit room.
As she grew closer, though, unbidden Seychelles began to notice different things about England. Like how his eyebrows weren't that big, or his heavy breathing, or the flushed clammy look to his face...
Wait, what?
Upon further investigation, England didn't truly look like he was just sleeping and that was slightly worrying to Seychelles. Not that she would ever admit it. Reaching her arm out slowly, she placed it on his shoulder and shook it a few times. "Hey, eyebrows? Wake up."
England didn't stir, except for his eyelids twitching slightly.
Seychelles frowned and shook his shoulder harder, her voice rising slightly in pitch. "Eyebrows? Come on, England?"
Finally the teenager groaned once, and Seychelles rocked back on her heels with a somewhat-relieved sigh. Green eyes blinked once then reopened, and the girl noticed that they weren't sharp and focused; instead the emerald gaze was fuzzy and glazed over.
"Wha... Seych'll's?" He muttered, blinking a few times before he actually saw her. When he did, the blond shot up like a rocket in his chair, eyes wide. "Seychelles! What are you doing here?"
Shocked by the sudden movement, Seychelles had nearly fallen backwards onto her bottom if it weren't for her having grabbed the corner of the desk. As it was, she jumped and glared at him. "Geez, eyebrows! Don't freak out! And I came here 'cause you called me, remember?" When England only stared at her, confused, she frowned and stood.
"I... I don't-" England started, eyebrows knit together in confusion. He was interrupted by Seychelles placing her hand on his forehead, gasping in surprise. "Wh-what are you doing?" He yelped.
"Shut up!" The brown-haired girl snapped at him, the blond falling silent. Once he was quiet she focused on his forehead, comparing it to her own with the other hand.
He was burning up, and she told him so in a mutter. Seychelles could feel England leaning slightly into her cool hand, which was even more worrying because a lucid England would never prolong physical contact with anyone.
Looking at the blond's flushed face and heavy breathing, she made a spontaneous decision.
"Come on," she told him, already gathering the pile of paperwork that had yet to be completed, slightly crumpled from where England had laid on it. "You're going home."
"Wha-what?" He protested weakly, green gaze sharpening as his brain processed her words. "No! Seychelles, I'm perfectly fine. And I still have work to do-"
"Not anymore," the brunette snapped, shoving the papers into her bag haphazardly from where she had dropped it. "Whatever you need to do can wait. Have you even slept today?"
The nation blushed slightly. "Well, just now-"
"That doesn't count as sleep," Seychelles told him, backpack over her shoulders and hands on her hips. "That's called 'passing out at your desk because you're an idiot'. Now are you gonna get up, or do I have to carry you? "
"I sincerely doubt that you can carry me," England muttered, yet stood up nevertheless. The next minute he nearly collapsed, grabbing the desk as his legs fell out from under him. "Shit," he swore distractedly, leaning on the desk even as Seychelles walked around it and grabbed his arm, winding it over her shoulder.
"You should take more care of yourself," she told him as they made their way towards the door, England leaning on her heavily. The island nation wasn't even sure why she was telling him these things, but so it was. Besides, if England fell sick then she would have more work to do, right?
Seychelles wasn't quite sure if that was right, but went with the excuse in her mind as the two made their way out into the hallway.
The sun had started to set, flushing through the windows and turning everything a pale orange color as they proceeded towards the end of the hallway where doors opened to the outside. The color only accentuated England's flushed face.
It seemed like forever, but finally they made it to the doors, where Seychelles opened one and let cool air stream into the building while England leaned against a wall and caught his breath, apparently muttering to himself under it at the same time.
"Stupid... useless..." were two words she caught out of the rant. Frowning, the brown-eyed girl let the door swing closed as she walked over to him, feeling on guard.
"I hope it's not me you're talking about," she said.
To her surprise, England let out a breathy chuckle that sounded more genuine than all the other times she could remember him laughing. "Most assuredly not," he reassured her with a small smile that brought a grin to Seychelles's own face.
She offered her shoulder to him again, but the blond shook his head, looking like it pained him, and pushed himself off of the wall to shakily stand straight. "Thanks for your help, I suppose, Seychelles, but I'll be fine from here. I'm a gentleman, though, so I can walk you to the ladies' dorm."
Seychelles let out something between a disbelieving laugh and a scoff, following him out into the cool outdoor air. "If anything, I'm doing the walking someone home. You look horrible, eyebrows."
England frowned. "It's really nothing. I-" he cut himself off with a hacking cough, eyes squeezing shut as his lungs contracted and he continued to cough. Seychelles hurried to his side worriedly, not sure what to do as the attack continued.
Eventually it eased off, leaving England breathing heavily and looking worse than before, with his eyes half-mast and face red from exertion. "-can handle it," he finished his statement hoarsely.
Seychelles rolled her eyes at him silently and flung his arm over her shoulder again, trudging along the sidewalk towards the boy's dorm. "Thank whatever gods there are that your dorm isn't far from the school," she muttered partly to herself. England didn't reply, although she didn't really expect him to. The president's breathing had gotten heavier after the coughing episode, and he was leaning nearly his full weight on her now.
Finally they got to the dorm, Seychelles nudging the door open with one elbow and still supporting England with the other arm. Nobody was in the lobby; who would stay home on a Friday evening?
She paused for a moment and grimaced, slowly glancing around for an elevator and finding none.
"T-third floor," England informed her roughly before coughing again.
Making a face, the girl started dragging England over to the stairs. "You're Student Council President, couldn't you have gotten a room on the first floor or something?"
"I opted instead not to share."
Once they were in the stairwell England whipped his arm off her shoulder and instead put all his weight on the railing, grimacing. Seychelles didn't think that was going to help him any more than she had been, but understood the blond's desire to lean on no one. It was one of the things that put him off to so many people.
"One down," she murmured to herself, tapping her foot at the insanely slow pace but doing nothing to rectify it for fear that England would snap at her.
They inched their way up the stairs at a snail's pace, the time feeling like forever that it took for them to get to the third floor landing. But eventually they did, and Seychelles shoved the door open while England shuffled through it and along the wall to the first door on the left.
They stared at it for a moment in silence before Seychelles prodded England as gently as she could. "Key?"
"Ah," he coughed, "right." Rummaging in a pants pocket, the blond pulled out a key ring that made Seychelles gape.
"Man, eyebrows, do you have keys to every door on campus?" She asked him, shocked.
England chuckled before it was cut off abruptly by a cough. When he had recovered, he rasped, "Just the important ones."
"So, to you, most every single door."
"Yes."
Seychelles laughed in disbelief; mostly she laughed at his key ring, but she also chuckled disbelievingly at how well they were getting along. Then again, if England had his senses around him he would have sent me home long ago, she thought as the blond attempted to get the correct key into the keyhole and failed for the second time.
Finally she laughed once and took the key ring from him, opening the door easily. "Idiot."
England didn't respond, stumbling in and immediately collapsing on a couch in the middle of the room, face first. Seychelles followed more slowly, glancing around what looked more like a small apartment than a dorm room. She supposed it was because of the influence as Student Council President that he had gotten the luxuries.
Tossing her backpack on the floor, Seychelles walked over to where England was sprawled on the couch and laid her hand over his forehead again, grimacing at the fact that it felt like his fever had gone up. She didn't know for sure, though, so decided to check and headed down a hallway, opening random doors. Once she found the bathroom she searched through England's stuff for a first aid kit and pulled out a thermometer, returning quickly.
England had turned over when she came back, and was now muttering incomprehensible words to the air. It was quite odd, Seychelles thought as she caught the words "Flying Mint Bunny" more than once. Not lingering on her "master"'s mental capacities, she walked over and shoved the thermometer in his mouth.
Green eyes opened to slits as England glared weakly at her and Seychelles glared back. "Leave it in, or I'll hold it there," she growled. After a short moment of the two glaring at each, England gave up and just closed his eyes, which was even more worrying.
The girl wandered into his kitchenette, not sure what she was doing. She didn't really know how to take care of a sick person, but she couldn't just leave England there.
There was one thing she could do, though, the colony realized upon searching through a cabinet and finding it full of tea.
Tea-making was one skill that England had pounded into her day after day, and was probably the only thing she had learned at World Academy W that she would actually remember.
She put the kettle on quickly and pulled out a container of tea from the cabinet, only glancing at the label before a beeping sound from the other room caught her attention. Hurrying back, she snatched the thermometer out of England's mouth and looked at it.
"39.1 degrees," she pondered out loud, glancing down at the blond. "I don't think that's too good, eyebrows."
England let out a hoarse chuckle. "N-not really, but I'll b-be fine. N-no need to worry."
"You are as stubborn as a mule," Seychelles snapped at him before stalking back to the kitchen, eyebrows furrowed as she made him tea, seemingly on default. Carrying a teacup with the drink back to the other room, she set it on the coffee table and nudged his leg with one of her own. "Oi, sit up. You're taking up the whole couch."
"Shut up," he told her, yet struggled upwards nonetheless. Seychelles plopped down next to him with a sigh, closing her eyes.
"That tea'll be done steeping in a moment."
"T-thank you."
The gratefulness in those two words were shocking enough that Seychelles's eyes flashed open, although she kept her facial expression a scowl. "Well, I wouldn't have to be doing any of this if you would keep yourself healthy. Eyebrow bastard," she tacked on the end.
England didn't respond for a moment, before Seychelles felt a sudden weight drop on her shoulder that made her jump. The brown-haired girl turned her head slowly, only to get a face full of blond hair as apparently England's head had dropped on her shoulder.
"Wha-ugh, you can't even hold up your own head anymore?" She scoffed, stomach fluttering. His hair was soft and smelled somewhat like tea, she noticed absentmindedly.
The only sounds for a moment were their breathing; England's was heavy and labored, while Seychelles attempted to keep her breath from hitched at the feeling of his breath on her neck and failed. Surprising even herself, though, the girl didn't have the heart to just shove him off and instead nudged him gently. "Hey, eyebrows? You still awake?"
A low moan escaped England and Seychelles felt herself soften at the agony he sounded in. Tentatively raising her other hand, she patted him on the shoulder slowly. England let out another groan, causing Seychelles to wince in sympathy.
Finally she decided that she needed to actually do something, instead of just sitting there. "Er, do you want something to drink?" She asked England.
"...Doubt I could keep 'nythin' down," was what she made out from the slurred mutters he answered with. Seychelles paled.
"Uh, medicine?"
Another groan, to which Seychelles sighed. "Well, would you feel more comfortable if you were in bed?" She asked him, and finally got an affirmative answer in the form of a quiet 'Mhm'. Although England didn't actually move at all.
Sighing again, Seychelles slowly stood up and offered a hand to England. The president looked up slowly, with glazed green eyes that worried the colony more than they should have. She wasn't quite sure how to deal with a submissive England, but forced a smile on her face.
The blond stared at her hand for a moment before finally registering its purpose and grabbing it, letting Seychelles pull him upwards with a slight grunt. She supported him as the two stumbled down the hallway, Seychelles trying to remember which one of the door she had opened was England's bedroom. She didn't have to in the end, though, as the blond waved one hand weakly towards one of them and Seychelles opened it gratefully.
England walked in shakily and collapsed face first onto the bed this time, breathing heavily. Seychelles glanced around at the surroundings, noting how clean and sanitary everything was. The only signs that anyone really lived in there was the Union Jack bedspread and books scattered haphazardly around the room.
"Geez, even your room is stuffy," she commented, sitting down on the very edge of his bed, near the foot of it and as far away from the sick teenager as she could get.
He shifted feebly and buried his head further in the pillows. "Shu' up," England muttered, moaning.
Immediately Seychelles moved, going to the top of the bed and shaking his shoulder as lightly as she could. "You should probably turn over. It'll make it easier to breathe," she said, feeling a bit foolish for telling him things he already knew.
At the moment, though, England didn't seem to be in the mood to argue and simply flipped over onto his back, the act seeming to cause him more harm than good as he continued to breathe with trouble.
Seychelles glanced around nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Um..." she mumbled, biting her lower lip and wondering what she was supposed to do now.
"Don't do that," England gasped suddenly, emerald eyes focused on her sharply. Seychelles jumped at the sudden gaze, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion.
"Do what?"
When Seychelles asked that, England seemed to lose the steam he had for a moment and sunk back down into the mattress, eyes closed. "N-nothing," he murmured. "'m sleepy."
Despite the situation Seychelles couldn't help but laugh, at least until England winced at the loud noise and she cut herself off. "Alright, then, England," she whispered, uncharacteristically soft and not sure why. "Go to sleep, and I'll get someone up here to watch you."
She was about to exit the room and leave England to his sleeping when a hand latched itself around her wrists. Glancing down, the girl followed the loose vice around her hand up to where England was pleading at her with his eyes, the gaze now a deal more unfocused and unguarded than before.
He coughed once, covering it up with his other hand before dropping it and tugging on her wrist slightly. "S-stay?"
Seychelles felt her cheeks turn as red as a bonfire as that word made itself clear in her mind, stuttering out a long, "Whaaaaa?" before the situation presented itself and she realized rather sheepishly, that England only wanted her to stay so he could get some sleep.
Not that she wanted to stay for any other reasons, or that England would ever want her to stay at all if he was lucid. Really.
"P-please," he pleaded softly, innocently. "J-just until I fall asleep?" Hazy green eyes focused on her wide brown ones.
Seychelles blushed, hated herself for blushing, then hated herself for the choice she knew was made the moment England focused, or attempted to focus his green eyes on her. "Ugh, fine, if it'll make you fall asleep faster! Don't know why it would, you hate me," she added in a mutter, going back and sitting on the edge of his bed.
Then he said something that surprised Seychelles, enough that she jumped and jostled the bed, causing him to moan immediately afterwards. "D'don't hate you."
"W-what?"
England continued as if he hadn't noticed her shock, a pink flush covering his face. "We don't always get a-along, but I, I don't hate anybody." His speech was cut off by another coughing attack, England turning away from her onto his side and curling up as Seychelles watched him worriedly. When it had died down, he moved back onto his back slowly, eyes close to shutting and Seychelles had the feeling he was stopping himself from falling asleep for some idiotic reason. "I-I quite enjoy your company."
Seychelles figured that was about as close as she would ever get to a caring statement from England, but it was enough. She could feel her heart racing as thoughts and images and feelings fluttered through her mind, but on the outside all she did was pat his arm tentatively.
"Thanks, England. I, uh, enjoy your company too. Now sleep."
He followed her orders, closing his eyes as his breathing evened out and the blond fell into a deep sleep, looking more peaceful than she could ever remember. Seychelles glanced back once before walking out of his room, scanning over his face before closing the door quietly and hurrying to grab her things and get out of his dorm room.
Once she was out, Seychelles fished her new cell phone out of her bag and flipped through her measly amount of contacts, stopping and calling hurriedly while tapping one foot and leaning against the wall.
It took only one ring before the person on the other end picked up smoothly. "Moshi moshi?"
Seychelles immediately went into what she wanted to say, trying to keep her mind away from the large distraction of, oh my god England said he liked my company does that mean he likes me? Because I don't know if I like him and I should be talking right now- "Japan? Hey, um, can you do me a favor? I'll owe you a lot."
Japan sounded confused. "S-Seychelles-san? You need me to do you a favor?"
"Yeah, 'cause I don't trust Papa France not to be a pervert, and America would probably put a hamburger on his head or something," she said hurriedly, tapping her foot more anxiously, although she wasn't sure why she was in such a hurry.
"Er, excuse me?"
"Oh, um, are you in the dorm right now?" She asked, hitting herself on the forehead for not having asked that before. It was useful information.
"Yes, Seychelles-san, but what is the matter?"
Seychelles sighed lightly. "Engla-Eyebrow bastard got sick," she caught herself before she could call him by his name in public. Nevertheless, she had the sneaking suspicion that Japan had caught it. "I, uh, walked him home, and he's sleeping now, but obviously I can't stay in the dorm or anything, so I was wondering, could you please watch over him for a while? If you're busy it's okay, I can find someone else, I just, uh, don't feel right leaving him alone," her voice had sunken to a whisper, despite the fact that she was alone in the hallway.
There was silence for a moment, and when Japan spoke again, his voice was pleasantly surprised. "It would be my pleasure, Seychelles-san," he said, and she wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but then he said "I'll be right there" and she put it out of her mind after hearing the connection end.
Seychelles focused on shoving her cell back into her bag, all to direct her thoughts away from the country only a few rooms away. She didn't have to try, though, when the door at the end of the hall opened and Japan appeared, uniform impeccable and carrying a stack of manga under one arm.
"Ah, hello, Seychelles-san. I am prepared to watch over England-san for a time."
The brown-haired girl let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, pushing herself off the wall. "Thank you so much, Japan. I, um, should get going now, huh?" She chuckled nervously. "No reason to linger around here."
Japan nodded stoically, although if Seychelles wasn't wrong there was a hint of amusement for some reason in his eyes. "There's no need to worry about him, Seychelles-san. I'll watch over England-san until he wakes up."
Bristling, Seychelles felt herself flush. "I-I'm not worried!" She snapped, but it didn't affect Japan's slight smile. Sighing in exasperation, she pushed her bag farther up on her shoulder as her eyes glanced to the door unconsciously. When she realized she did, she scowled to herself and walked past. "I-uh, I should go. Thanks again, Japan! See you tomorrow!"
Japan bowed slightly to Seychelles. "See you tomorrow, Seychelles-san."
Seychelles only looked back once at Japan, still wearing that strange smile, before leaving.
Two days later England came back to classes and things went back to normal. Seychelles went to her Africa class and could hear him yelling at Papa France in the halls, and went through her day as normal. Once classes let out Seychelles attended M.R. with Japan and Italy, who actually managed to make her feel welcome and introduce her to some new things she hadn't known before.
Only when the club was over, when the sun started to go down did Seychelles head over to meet England.
"You're late," he commented harshly, and Seychelles rolled her eyes as she entered, even if she did feel a bit disappointed. Part of her had thought something would change after- after what? What had happened? Nothing had happened, and that was it.
"Yeah, well, not all of us have no life," she shot back, toeing her shoes off and padding into his office in her socks. She had a feeling that would annoy him and was proved right upon seeing one of his large eyebrows twitch in annoyance.
"I do too have a life- oh, forget it," he sighed, "I'm not going to argue with you."
Seychelles smirked and sat down in an armchair with a pile of paperwork she swept off of his desk, immediately beginning to look through and see what she had to work with. The two worked in silence, only the sound of rustling paper and scratching of pen filling the silence until England cleared his throat suddenly and Seychelles looked up in surprise. "Hmm?"
She was surprised to see that his face was pink, and he cleared his throat again before lifting his green eyes from the table. "Um, thank you Seychelles. For um, Tuesday."
Seychelles stared at him for a minute, taking in the red blush on his face and his embarrassed green gaze, before just smiling and going back to her paperwork.
Neither of them said anything more, but it was a start.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this oneshot of mine! Now, I won't promise anything that I may not go through with, but I've been tossing around ideas for different other pieces set in this universe and I'd like to hear your feedback on the idea. Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing! :)