Disclaimer: I wish Detective Conan belonged to me.
Eurydice and the Snake
(mini-fics under 500 words for the CoAi Discord server)
by FS
x.
II. Unreadable
(Dedicated to Rae (Astarael00), who has the worst handwriting ever but claims that mine is illegible.)
x.
Normal couples kiss.
Since he and she haven't kissed (yet?), they're either not normal, not a couple, or not a normal couple (yet).
Or maybe they just belong to the small percentage of normal couples who haven't kissed for a number of legitimate reasons.
One of these reasons is the seasonal flu, which has been especially hard on their compromised immune system. It can no longer be ignored that APTX4869 and its temporary antidotes have taken a toil on their bodies now that they fall ill every time the flu hits. After freezing in the cold outside or indulging in the warmth inside, either without a vaccine or from the vaccine itself: every time the flu season strikes, they will be missing sleep, losing weight, fighting for breath, oscillating between shivering and burning up—barely surviving on ginger tea and porridge and the occasional tea spoon of honey.
Not functioning well enough to breathe freely and feeling too exhausted to speak also means neither having the energy nor the desire to kiss. After weeks of insomnia, she can't even remember how they got together in the first place… It must have happened when they spontaneously held hands on the way home. And they might have talked about sharing their future during a long night curled up on their ancient sofa although she isn't sure about that detail anymore, having fallen asleep in the middle of his speech. He must have promised something, but she is positive that he has forgotten it as well—another precious memory lost although many others can be made.
He has scribbled something on a note for her, on which he must have asked her for something, but she can't read it. His handwriting has become abysmal in the course of time. He has the gall to claim her handwriting is worse—a testimony to his lack of self-awareness.
He is sleeping right now—even smiling in his sleep—and she takes care to move as little as possible so as not to rouse him from his dreams. Through the closed bedroom door, she can hear the cleaning robot hum her favourite tune while scrubbing the floors. The curtains on the walls have also changed colours, replacing the sunset motif with the night-sky motif as his breathing grows heavier.
It occurs to her that the two of them go back for a long time—so long that it seems to have started at the beginning of the world—and that they will be together forever unless they die. And the fact that this doesn't feel like a burden at all means something more profound than her sleep-deprived mind can comprehend. To commemorate the significance of this moment, she allows herself to turn her head to press a kiss on his belly she is lying on…
To her heartache, he stirs—but he only chuckles and murmurs, "You can read it, after all!" before continuing to sleep, unaware that she hasn't been able to decipher it.
x.
A/N: After the first fic, which was light and sweet, it's time for something darker. Thanks to Rae for being the inspiration of this fic. I've only used half of his plunny ("Person A drops something illegible. Person B returns it anyway"), but that's how inspiration works. ;)
The fic, including its title, is exactly 500 words long. I've barely made it this time.