Author's Notes: Alright, so let's keep at it! Here's the next one! And I'd like to thank Durotos for her review on the first story, and patomon642 for the fave/follow. Anyway, if you're ready for more sap - here's your sap! More will come after this - I think I already have a decent idea for the next couple, but we'll get there when we get there, eh? Feel free to leave a review, if you'd like, and thank you for reading!
MEDICINE
Blowing her red-tinged nose with a loud honk that drowned out the downpour outside, Mary Welvin sighed and dropped the tissue into the wastebasket beside her bed, snuggling back into her pillows with a hoarse groan and pushing her dark bangs back from her forehead. Closing her eyes, arms feeling too heavy to reach up and pluck off her glasses, she simply lay there for a few moments to listen to the rain continue hammering down outside, cozy beneath her blankets even with the window cracked open to allow the October chill in.
No matter how much her mother insisted it was freezing out - "And you'll make your cold worse, and don't think for one minute I won't direct Elli's wrath your way, young lady!" - Mary found the sensation rather comforting. It made her wish for the weather, and her cold, to clear up soon - to picnic beneath the shedding, colorful branches of the trees up on Mother's Hill, watching the cool breeze ripple the surface of the lake. Huddling for warmth with-
"...Are you awake, Princess?"
The unexpectedly soft voice of her father, Basil, startled Mary out of her calm state and she jumped up with a gasp - she hadn't even heard the door creak as it cracked open slightly. Catching his apologetic grimace, she coughed and waved it off, beckoning to him. "Oh, Dad - no, it's okay, I've been up. You didn't wake me at all."
Rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle that only amplified his boyish appearance, Basil nodded sheepishly. "Ah, that's good - how're you feeling?"
He seemed to be hanging back by the door, almost reluctant to enter the room. While her cold was fairly contagious, Mary nonetheless raised her eyebrows at this - he'd just gotten over one recently, himself. "I'm actually feeling a little better, thank you... are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm alright," he assured her with a little grin. "Your mom and I were about to settle in with a movie. Glad to hear you're doing better, though - think you might be up for a visitor?"
Feeling herself grin as well as she worked out who it was - her father wouldn't act this mysterious if it were one of the girls visiting - Mary nodded, pink-tinged face brightening further as the door opened wider. "Ah, Gray!"
"Hey, Mary," Gray Donaghue greeted with a slight nod, a small, shy smile on his face. His usual tip of a blue trucker hat was impaired by the absence of said hat in favor of a blue-and-black beanie, and the presence of a brown paper bag in one hand. The other held a Styrofoam cup with a lid on, which he raised in further salute. "Mr. Welvin-"
"Basil," Basil interjected quickly, giving his daughter's boyfriend a friendly nudge.
Gray's ears went red at this - he was still getting used to being allowed to call at least one of Mary's parents by their first name. "R-right, err - Basil said you already ate earlier," he went on, shrugging, "but Ann wouldn't let me leave 'till I took this with me... chicken noodle soup and mint tea," he explained, wiggling the bag very slightly so as to avoid upsetting the covered bowl inside. "And, uhh... I thought - err-" He chuckled awkwardly, a bit embarrassed at saying it with her father standing right there, no matter how friendly the man was, "-maybe... maybe you'd like the company...?"
Her own face heating up a bit more now - and less so from her cold - Mary, drew her knees up to her chest and folded her arms atop them with a rapid nod, quickly patting her bedside. The chair from her writing desk was still perched next to it from Elli's visit the other day. "I-I'd love the company," she agreed shyly, giving her father a pleading look as Gray ducked his head and scampered over. "Thank you..."
"Yeah," Gray agreed in a murmur as he sat down and handed her the meal, biting at his lip - even though Mary was sick, he still had to resist the urge to lean over and give her a quick kiss on the cheek... though the presence of Basil still lingering behind them in the doorway was deterrent enough.
Sensing that maybe he should give the couple some privacy, Basil, cleared his throat and gave them a small wave. "Alright, well... I'm gonna head back downstairs, now," he announced, trying to sound casual as he took one step back and waved again, taking his time swinging the door closed. He paused and shrugged, chuckling. "...If it were up to me," he added, scratching at his cheek, "I'd shut the door all the way, since I trust you two. But, well... you know what your mother's like." He shot Mary and Gray a crooked, apologetic smile, which was returned.
"No, I understand," Mary assured him, albeit a bit self-conscious at the implications. "Thank you, Dad."
"You're good," Gray agreed, sharing a quiet laugh with Mary when they heard Basil padding down the stairs. He fiddled anxiously with his beanie, and shot her another lopsided grin, reaching over to adjust her pillows and blanket for her, waving off her slight protests at his fussing. "Ahhh, lemme do it... so, you figured out who you're gonna pass this on to yet?" he teased, causing Mary to giggle before trailing into a cough.
"Oh, behave," she chided lightly, popping the lid off of the tea to inhale the pleasant aroma and take a sip - the soup was on the bedside table for later, since she had last eaten only a short time ago. Shaking her head ruefully, she listened to the rain continue to pour down outside - Gray's umbrella was most likely downstairs on the stand, since aside from a few spatters of water on his jeans, windbreaker, and face, he looked otherwise dry. Still, she couldn't help but feel bad. "But you didn't have to come out in this for me, Gray - I don't want you getting sick next!"
"Ahh..." Gray shrugged nonchalantly, hands jammed in the pockets of his windbreaker as he considered her words. "...I can handle a little cold. Don't let the crotchety old goat tell you otherwise, eh?"
Sniffling, Mary reached for another tissue, shooting him a playful look over her shoulder. Her dark eyes twinkled behind her glasses. "Oh? Should I write that down for later, hmm?"
Scoffing, Gray shook his head and kicked at one of the wheels on the chair, idly rolling it back and forth over the carpeted floor. He knew she wasn't referring to the 'crotchety old goat' remark. "What, you don't believe me?"
"Flu season," Mary responded promptly, having fun watching him fidget in the chair. And again, his ears went red at the reminder.
"W-well - the flu sucks, though, Mary," he reasoned with a slight whine, digging around in one of his pockets now. "Especially working for Gramps when you're sick as a dog. Makes me wanna stick my head in the forge. But... speaking of writing, I actually did bring you something else! This," he explained, pulling out what looked to be a few folded, slightly-crinkled and rumpled pieces of paper that had been stapled together in one corner.
Mary's brow wrinkled curiously, her teasing quickly forgotten. "Oh? And what's that you've got with you?"
"Some literature," Gray elaborated, corner of his mouth quirking back up when he saw Mary's eyebrows inch higher.
"...You're going to read me a story?" she asked, feeling her heart warm at the notion. They read together sometimes, when they had the downtime - it had been how they'd grown closer from their initial friendship, after all, and it calmed his usual frayed nerves and cleared her mind when it was blocked or constantly swirling with a tornado of ideas and worries. Gray could be a little awkward and rough at times, but he certainly did the sweetest things, all the same.
"I wrote you a story," Gray corrected, cheeks once again going pink with the admission as Mary's expression grew even more touched, before clearing his throat and adding: "To, uhh... to read to you, yeah..."
"Y-you wrote me something?" she echoed, hand to her heart. God, it was fluttering a lot.
"W-well! It..." Face blazing as he unfolded the papers, Gray fiddled with his beanie and kept his eyes fixed to the paper, looking pleased all the same at her reaction. A few stray locks of shaggy, strawberry-blonde hair had tumbled out from underneath the cap, and he tucked them back in. "It's not much. Just - just a short little... y'know. Thing..."
Despite the urge to tease him just a little for his word choice in light of writing her a story, Mary took another pull of her tea instead, settling back against her pillows and watching him expectantly. His light blue eyes were gleaming now, and his cheek dimpled with a mischievous smirk as he prepared to spin his yarn. "Oh, God," she uttered aloud with a wry laugh, already wondering what he'd whipped up for her.
"Alright, so... once upon a time," Gray read, his tone light and casual, "there was a girl - a princess, named... eh, we'll call her Jo."
"Princess Jo," Mary repeated, amused.
"Princess Jo," Gray confirmed, giving an embarrassed chuckle at the name he'd chosen. "Yeah, I suck at naming things... anyway, Jo lived in a kingdom. Except she didn't live in a castle. She lived in a little cottage. It wasn't even her kingdom, anyway. She was just crashing there with another princess, Sue, while her own kingdom's castle got the plumbing fixed. Sue was living in a cottage because her old man was cheap."
"Princess Jo and Princess Sue," Mary mused aloud, trying to hold back her hoarse giggles. "From the magical kingdom of... Oklahoma?"
Clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle the short, loud laugh that almost escaped, Gray managed to reduce it to a snicker, shaking his head. "Or Texas," he suggested, causing Mary to laugh again as well, before he cleared his throat and got back to the story, voice a little shakier this time as he struggled to keep from bursting into giggles: "Princess Jo didn't mind staying with Princess Sue, though. In fact, she quite liked Princess Sue's kingdom very much. She wished her own kingdom were more like it. So she overthrew the kingdom while Sue was asleep one night, and don't ask me how that happened," he added to Mary with a wry smile. "Uhh, magic. Bible Belt Princess magic."
"So - so you're saying-" Mary stopped mid-sentence to cough in her fist, before sniffling again and wiping at her nose, "-Jo shot her?"
Snickering, Gray shrugged. "Sure, but that's going to make this next part pretty awkward... 'Princess, no!' Sue yelled, clutching an unspecified gunshot wound-" Here, Mary immediately gave in and cracked up, causing Gray to work harder to keep his own face straight as he went on, "-but Jo ignored her pleas and took the kingdom anyway. And then she looked at the kingdom next door. 'Gee, that sure looks nice,' she thought. 'Why stop at one? Who does that?' Before long, Jo had annexed the entire world and ruled it happily from atop her throne, laughing forever and ever. Everyone loved her. The end," he finished, smiling proudly as Mary's face went red behind her hand - the shaking shoulders gave her away, and she hurriedly took a long swig of the tea before she started into another coughing fit.
"Th-that was... quite magical," Mary finally managed between nearly-hysterical giggles, tossing her head back against her pillows with a muted flump. For a moment, she almost forgot about her cold entirely. "Gr-Gray, what - what on Earth?!"
"W-well! You're - you're always saying you'd like a fairy tale that empowers women," he defended cheekily, causing her to aim a playful swat at him. "Princess Jo rules the world and everyone loves her! Besides - don't they say laughter is the best medicine?" he went on, pointing victoriously at her. "I bet I practically saved you a Nyquil just now!"
"You've been hanging around Kai too long," Mary chuckled, swatting at him again. Gray rolled backwards, out of her reach, with a smug little smile. Mocking the expression, Mary settled back down, still grinning and shaking her head. "I mean, everyone loved her? Even the people she overthrew? Including Sue, whom - need I remind you - Jo shot after Sue so graciously took her in?"
Hmm. She had a point. "Sue... Sue thought... she'd be a better leader? Later on?" Gray tried feebly.
Pausing, Mary looked up at the ceiling as if in deep thought for a moment, clearing her throat and sniffling again. "...I suppose that suffices," she decided after working to keep another cough at bay. She smiled at him. "I'll ask Harris to deliver the Pulitzer tomorrow. Congratulations."
Gray clucked his tongue, rolling his chair over right beside Mary's bed to wrap her in a one-armed hug, which she returned. "Awesome! That'll be something to rub in the old man's face!"
"As long as he doesn't make you melt it down in the forge," Mary laughed, letting out a startled squeak when Gray leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
He jolted back up, rubbing the back of his now-flushed neck and casting a guilty glance towards the window. The downpour was still audible, but it was getting darker out now, the soft golden glows of the streetlights down below blooming through the gloom. "Err, s-sorry," he muttered apologetically, shoulders hunched. "I - I probably should've asked-"
"Oh, i-it's not that," Mary assured him, hand pressed to the spot on her own red cheek, as if to keep the tingling warmth of his lips on there as long as she could. "I - I just don't want you getting this cold, too... I mean, if Saibara made you work straight through that nasty flu you had..."
The thought struck him, and Gray blanched briefly, before swallowing it and pushing it aside - he'd dealt with worse. "Ehh... still worth it," he decided, keeping his arm around her and leaning in close to her, head plopped next to hers on the pillow. It strained his neck a bit, but he didn't mind. Shooting her a little grin, he turned his head to face her. "You up for another story?"
"Hmm..." Mary pulled him closer, seeing that he didn't seem to really mind the fact that she was still laid up with a cold, and rubbed his shoulder, listening to the material of his windbreaker rustle. "How about I tell one, now? I'm not sure it can top yours," she added jokingly, causing him to snort, "but I'll give it a try. Let's see..."
With Mary laying out her own goofy tale now, and Gray relaxing at her side and laughing, neither of them noticed a figure looking in on them from the cracked bedroom door.
Anna Welvin hummed in amusement as she watched them for a few moments, shaking her head and eventually closing the bedroom door as quietly as she possibly could to avoid attracting their attention, before turning and heading back down the stairs to continue watching the movie with Basil. Maybe he was right to trust them after all.