"Vriska, I'm not, uh, leaving. I need to, uh, help you…" Tavros said, wheeling himself closer slowly. Vriska wretched upward in bed, snarling at him. Gog, she looked like hell.
"HELP me? Help me what? Answer that, fairy boy!" Vriska snarled. A sweep ago, Tavros would have flinched, flushed, and wheeled himself out of the room silently. But now, though he flushed, he narrowed his eyes and wheeled ever closer.
"First, Pupa isn't a fairy. He HAS a fairy," Tavros stated. "And second, I'm helping you get better. You're si-"
"I'M NOT SICK!" Vriska screeched, collapsing in on herself in a coughing fit immediately after. She lifted her head, hand at her throat. "Why do all you stupid fucks think I'm sick? I'm just peachy."
"Vriska, we think you have what Sollux had a few weeks back. Remember how Aradia couldn't stop crying, because we all thought he was going to die?" Vriska grimaced, thinking back to the stressful few days. "You're already worse than he was," Vriska bristled at that, barring her fangs, but Tavros continued, "and you're only going to get worse-"
"I'm NOT going to get worse!" Vriska shouted, furious, face entirely flushed blue now. "I'm stronger than honey-blood is, and I can get through this by myself! I don't need a babysitter!"
Tavros sighed; she sounded like Equius. Strong strong strong. "No one is calling you weak, Vriska. It's just that the flu saps energy, and, uh…"
"And strength, right?" Vriska growled. "Oh, we aren't calling you weak, Vriska. Just saying you have no strength!"
"Vriska, don't be stupid." Tavros said, getting irritated. "You know it's because of the flu. And you know you can't fight this off without help; we don't have any antibodies against this, you need assistance. It's stupid to try to do this on your own."
"It's not stupid, it's just that I don't need you people fluttering all about me while I'm getting my heal on." Vriska said, doing a poor, scratchy imitation of Gamzee's voice in the last four letters. Tavros rolled his eyes.
"I'm not going to be doing much fluttering, Vriska. I've already established that it's not Pupa who's a fairy. Now stop complaining and-"
"Look, Tavros, I'm FINE. See?" Vriska said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.
Or trying to.
She pitched forward, off-balanced, stumbling right into Tavros's wheelchair. She grabbed both the arms of the chair as she fell forward, efficiently pushing it, and it rolled backward, nearly to the door. Vriska groaned, her chin on Tavros's knees.
"See? I'm fine." She said, glaring up at Tavros.
"Clearly." He replied. "Are you alright to get back up?"
"I just got dizzy, I'm fine," Vriska answered, standing again, and again staggering, falling backwards onto the bed.
"That's probably the best place for you right now, anyways." Tavros said, wheeling closer to her. Virska lifted her messy head to raise an eyebrow at him.
"What's that supposed to mean, hmm Tav?" She purred best she could without going into another coughing fit. Tavros flushed, reaching the bed.
"It means you need to go back to sleep." He said, lifting himself out of the wheelchair with his arms and sitting on the edge of the bed. Vriska groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes.
"If it'll get you off my back, I'll play along. So, fine. Maybe I've got a little sniffle. It doesn't mean I'm gonna die. So you can leave now. Thanks for stopping by!" She moved her arm, looking at him as he settled on the bed. "Door's the other way, Pupa."
"You don't have any "little sniffle', Vriska. You can't even stand up, and I'm not going anywhere." Tavros said, looking over at her. "Why are you so adverse to our help, anyways?"
"Because I'm not sick, dumbass!" Vriska snapped, crawling back under the covers, before kicking them off. "I'm too hot," She grumbled, before smirking. "Hot damn! Make a dragon wanna retire, man!"
"Terezi's not going anywhere," Tavros said, grinning, scooting over to her, reaching out to touch her forehead. She slapped his hand away weakly.
"I don't need you groping my think-pan, ok? I'm going back to sleep anyways. Your wish is being fulfilled, it's a Christmas miracle! Go watch for Santa Claus out the window and leave me to sleep off my case of mild sniffles."
"Didn't know you were so eager to get rid of me, Vriska." Tavros muttered, making no move to get up. Vriska sighed, turning to him.
"It's not that I want you to leave. Hell, I love having people having a big old rumpus rave in my room when I'm trying to sleep. It's just…"
"Just what?" Tavros asked, leaning closer.
"Nothing." She grumbled, throwing her arm over her eyes once more. Tavros reached out again, touching her forehead, and though she tensed at his touch, she didn't draw away or push his hand away. Her skin was hot below his fingers.
"Jegus, Vriska, you're burning up!" He said, pulling his hand back.
"Didn't you kind of suspect that, anyways?" She asked, looking up at him. "With all your 'Oh, you're sick, Vriska!'"
Tavros didn't respond, instead pressing the damp cloth to Vriska's forehead. He expected her to push him away again, but she just moved her arm back to her side, her eyes closed, and sighed in a contended way. He moved the rag, pressing it to the rest of her face as well. She opened one eye to look at him with seven pupils.
"I'm really NOT sick. You know that, right?"
"I know." He said, offering a little smile to her.
"I'm just allowing this to humor you."
"Of course."
They sat in silence after that, Tavros, wiping her forehead with the cloth. Vriska had closed her eyes again, and Tavros only realized she had fallen asleep after she started mumbling feverishly in her sleep, tossing about a bit. He set the cloth at the bedside table, pulling the lightest blanket over her. Anymore and she would kick them off, but without any she could get cold later; never a good thing for a sick perso- er, troll.
Tavros lifted himself back into his chair, wheeling out of the room. He needed to let Karkat know he hadn't been murdered by Vriska. He cast one glance back to the girl lying on the bed, shifting and speaking in a fitful sleep. His mind wandered back to the last sweep they'd all been through together.
"I know she's changed. We all have."
Catz: I'm having fun writing this. I still re-read, re-edit, and that's not fun, but I don't want to write shit. I feel satisfied with this. And it is pretty fun to write in lyrics to Uptown Funk. Vriska likes pop music, apparently.
Also, Tavros is gonna reflect on the past sweep. Next chapter. Stay tuned. Or something.
This is like the fastest I've updated in a while, too. I was updating From Shallow Waters like every month near the end. So I'm actually doing a thing now.
Yeah. I'm done. Author's note out~