Hope woke once again in the dark, more tired the previous time but without the hacking coughs. This time, however, the itch in his throat was already back and persistent enough to make him squirm under his covers, feeling too warm until he kicked the blankets off. After that he laid in his bed for a moment, holding his breath and aching all over, before he decided that attempting any more rest was entirely futile with the way he was feeling.
It was impossible to refute being sick anymore, not when he felt like death warmed over. His throat, surprisingly, felt slightly better now that he was upright, although now he was starting to shiver from cold. A carefully drawn breath had him wincing and bringing his head down to his hands, trying to smother away the resulting pain that flared sharp right behind his eyes.
He took a moment to carefully breathe into his hands, mind blank except for the nagging insistence that he wanted more rest but knowing he wasn't going to get it.
Might as well get up, Hope thought miserably. Get some medicine, get some work done…
He pushed himself up from bed and swayed a moment before his legs stabilized, and then shivered as he moved in the dark to grab a coat. He didn't bother with the light just yet since he could see just fine enough in the dark to not walk into anything, and that was really all that mattered to him at that moment. It was only at the open doorway to his temporary bedroom that Hope hesitated, surprise blossoming across his features as he took in the scene of his small living area connected straight into the tiny kitchen with dining table.
Snow was sprawled over the couch, head pillowed on one armrest while his legs dangled over the other side, the man obviously too tall to fit. He had his arms crossed as he slept with a towel over his eyes, snoring lightly with every slow inhale.
Noel had taken over the armchair, asleep upright with his chin dropped his his chest, and with his swords across his lap and one hand still on the handle. It had to be uncomfortable for the both of them, and yet…
He shook away the thought and the surprisingly thick feeling in his chest, attributing that to be being sick. So much for getting any work done out there, but… maybe if he could sneak a few of his reports into his room, he'd be able to get some things done.
He stepped as lightly as he could over the area where the other two were sleeping, intent on getting some water and then medicine and —
Hope was in for another surprise as he took in the sight of his tiny kitchen counter, covered entirely with medical supplies and then piles on piles of medicine. Did — did Noel just ask for one of everything at the pharmacy? He poked at a few of the packages cautiously, and then muffled his groan at the realization that there really was far more than anyone should have gotten for something like a cold. Was that burn salve at the bottom of that pile? Really?
He rustled through the piles as carefully as possible before he found the open package of cough syrup and picked out a small bottle of painkillers. Taking those two items away from the large mess, Hope rummaged for a glass of water before downing two pills and another cap of sugary sweet syrup, making a face at the sink before refilling the water. Might as well take all of that back into his room as well…
He stopped quickly at the tiny dining table, picking up two random tablets and balancing his glass of water and medicine on top of it before turning to return to his room —
Only to jerk away and nearly drop everything as he just about ran into Noel.
"Don't — don't do that!" Hope hissed quietly at the young man, clutching the items tighter and trying to calm the sudden spike in his heartbeat. He could feel his blood starting to pound in his head, and spared a quick prayer for the painkillers to kick in before it could get too bad.
"What are you doing up?" Noel asked him, looking genuinely baffled and not trying to be quiet at all. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep right now? I just left you not an hour ago!"
Hope flailed slightly with the items in his hands, trying to shush the hunter enough to not wake Snow. "I couldn't sleep." He said, barely above a whisper and darting a quick glance over to the couch where Snow was still snoring away. "So I wanted to get something done."
"Hope." Noel looked disapproving. "You won't get better if you don't rest."
"And I just told you, I couldn't sleep." Hope frowned, feeling the familiar flare of irritation. He huffed and narrowed his eyes defensively. "So unless you plan on actually knocking me out…"
At those words, Noel actually backed up a step and held up his hands in surrender.
"I'm not going to do that!" Noel exclaimed. "I just— look, Snow and I just want you to get better."
"Trust me," Hope groused, settling the weight of everything he was carrying against his ribs. "You're not the only ones."
Two full days of this and Hope had long since had enough. But it also reminded him…
"Thanks." He said after a moment, hoping he didn't sound too begrudging. He nodded toward the large and shadowed pile on the kitchen counter. "For the medicine. And—" Hope's mind blanked for a moment. "For coming out here, I guess."
It was easier with Noel, anyway, since the two of them stayed together half the time rather than Hope's exposure to Snow's weekly updates. While the two of them were usually busy with different things, Noel had gotten dragged along often enough when Hope needed extra help, and after a few years, it felt routine to have Noel around; almost as familiar as it felt to be alone, anyway.
"Don't worry about it." Noel hesitated, looking torn between relief and a lingering concern. "...How are you feeling?"
"Terrible." Hope answered, and then shook his head. "But not as bad as earlier. I suspect it'll be better in the morning, and I'll just have to hold out until then."
"It might be better if you sleep more than a few hours at a time." Noel commented, but then sighed. "I guess that can't be helped."
Several feet away, Snow snorted in his sleep, making the two of them freeze. The blond shifted deeper into the couch cushions without changing his position, smacking his lips several times before relaxing into a snore, this time much louder than previously.
"Oh, no." Noel grumbled even as Hope laughed quietly under his breath. He wasn't surprised that Noel also knew of Snow's habit of sounding like an oncoming train when he slept deep enough. It didn't always happen, but Hope could remember the times when it did during their l'Cie journey and Fang had forcibly shut Snow up by shoving fabric into his mouth until he started choking on it (not that it worked at all, either).
"C'mon," Hope coaxed with a tilt of his head. "I'll pull out an extra blanket for you. If we pull the cushion from the armchair too, it'll probably be easier to sleep on the floor in my room if we closed the door."
"Yeah, thanks," Noel agreed, sounding relieved. The brunet winced as he stepped over to tug the cushion off. "Tried sleeping through that once in Sunleth, and…" He shrugged helplessly. "I'd rather not do that again. Don't know how Serah could stand it, she didn't so much as twitch that night. Slept like a baby."
"It's probably music to her ears." Hope winced as the snoring gradually grew louder. Thinking about just how long Snow and Serah had been separated, it probably had been a comfort to Serah knowing that she knew, at least for that one night, exactly where Snow was and that he was alright.
The two of them made their way over to Hope's room, where he promptly closed the door and the got a towel from the in-suite bathroom to shove at the bottom of the old wooden door and block out just a little bit more noise. He pulled out the spare blanket from the small closet, feeling the painkillers start to kick in as he breathed easier.
"Don't stay up too late." Noel cautioned even as Hope returned to bed, setting the water and medicine down on the bedside table and then turning his attention to his tablets. "Get as much rest as you can, okay?"
"I will." Hope reassured absently, and then turned his attention to research updates and budgets.
.
.
"I won't."
"You will."
"I won't!"
"You have to — ow! Hope! What the hell?" Snow hobbled awkwardly as the scientist turned and fled the small kitchen, slamming the door to his bedroom behind him. The blond grimaced, and then shouted, "You'll have to come out for food some time!"
There was only an angry thump in response to that.
Noel shut the door behind himself quietly, unsure whether or not he should ask. The past two days spent here in the Dead Dunes had him treading extremely lightly thanks to Snow's precautionary tales and Hope's uncharacteristic behavior, but it seemed that as easily irritated as Hope got with everything, he was just as easily appeased whenever Noel took that extra step to help.
Snow, however, seemed to irritate the man at every turn.
"What happened now?" Noel finally relented, watching as Snow hopped about wincing and favoring his left foot.
"He's still not eating." The blond groused, looking peeved. "You'd think — that as an adult, he would start behaving like one!"
The last words were practically shouted at the closed door, and there was an angry thump inside the bedroom in response to that as well. Noel shook his head, wondering just what it was that had to two of them on each other's nerves all the time. It had never been so bad before… granted, likely because Hope tended to be the most level-headed of them all and could usually take any situation and calmly turn it to his advantage.
It seemed, however, that as time wore on and Hope felt worse and got less sleep, the more frazzled and childishly stubborn the man became.
The day before, the man insisted on taking a walk outside even if it wouldn't be to the excavation sites because he felt he needed the fresh air and sunlight. While Snow disagreed, Noel had been all for the escape (and not just because it was just easier to agree with Hope as it meant less frustrating moments later on) and the two of them had embarked outside for merely an hour before Hope had to return, dizzy and face rubbed red.
"Allergies." Hope had grumbled as he collapsed onto the couch that day, sniffling and tentatively cleaning tender skin with a wet towel. He turned wide, pink lined eyes toward Noel then and asked, "Did you manage to pick up any antihistamines before you got here?"
Which lead to a second trip to Luxerion and this time the cupboards being filled with medicine as well, and perhaps the first night Hope managed to sleep more than 1-3 hours at a time (although he still woke at least once through the night). It almost felt like he was doing better if not for the fact that the man was currently living on a diet of water, juice, medicine, and supplements.
It didn't help that Hope had a continuous on and off again low grade fever that was really starting to worry Noel.
(He didn't want to lose any more people to things he couldn't fight off.)
Snow, on the other hand, hadn't been that worried.
"It's fine." The man told him the night before after Hope finally dropped off to sleep. "It's normal. Fevers are how people fight off illness. You should be more worried about whether he's going to set fire to us the next headache he gets."
Also, Noel noted from the sounds coming from the bedroom, the coughing hadn't abated one bit. Especially not after Snow cut off the cough syrup supply after finding out Hope had been taking it once every hour or two rather than the 4-6 doses a day the label on the bottle warned not to exceed.
Two days of this and Noel felt his own patience starting to fray.
He had always been an exceptionally healthy child, and a good thing too seeing how often illness claimed the lives of people back in his own timeline. Hope had once questioned him on that a while ago, but Noel just responded that when other people got ill, he just felt a bit fuzzy for a few hours before getting better. Noel didn't like seeing people sick, because sick people usually meant a quick funeral shortly after. He couldn't understand how both Snow and Hope seemed to be having… well, not an easy time of this, but neither were at all worried that it could be something more serious.
Noel, on the other hand, couldn't seem to shove back his dread.
He wanted Hope to get better soon, not only because then the scientist would be better and it might actually end the constant tension but because then he might be able to rest a little easier at night without having to force himself to tear his attention away from Hope's stilted, quiet breaths and restless movements.
"Want me to give it a try?" Noel asked, nodding toward the bowl of thick soup Snow must have plated which looked like it had long since gone cold. The past day he kept himself out of the bickering, but maybe that would now help convince Hope to actually eat something.
"Go right on ahead." Snow grumbled, throwing down a kitchen towel he had been using to clean the counter. His usual carefully gelled back hair was in disarray, sticking up randomly in all directions as he ran fingers through the strands again in what looked like a nervous gesture. Or perhaps just one of extreme frustration. "I'll even give you a medal if you can get him to eat it."
"No, thanks." Noel shrugged, and then picked up the bowl and spoon, making the four steps over to Hope's door. "I wouldn't know what to do with it."
He knocked first, since it was only polite, before turning the knob of the old-fashioned door to push his way in before making sure to close it behind himself.
"I can't guarantee it's the best thing you've ever tasted," Noel started conversationally, directing his words to the huddled ball of misery on the bed who was glaring daggers down at one of his tablets. "But I had some of this in the morning and I can tell you it's most likely not poisoned, and actually pretty passable."
"I don't want any." Hope frowned, looking rather disgruntled. "I already told Snow that."
Noel resisted the urge to hopefully smack the stupidity out of both Hope and Snow (and maybe himself while he was at it for staying here), and asked instead, "Why not? Would you eat something if I made it?"
Snow would probably have a hernia outside listening in, but anything was better than Hope's sullen distance.
"No." The white-haired man's answer was quick and flat.
Noel tried a different approach. "Is there anything you would eat right now?"
Hope was quiet for a long moment, still glaring down at his tablet, and Noel thought that he was just going to be ignored since the other had turned his attention away already, but… He had to try at least a little more. Noel waited, bowl in hand, before trying again, "You really do need to eat something - anything's fine. Something from one of the restaurants back in Luxerion? A certain recipe? We can send Snow really far away to get whatever it is."
Hope snorted at the idea, but uncurled slightly from the defensive ball he'd been in.
"It's fine if you don't want the soup." Noel brought up the bowl as emphasis. "But I can't help you get Snow off your case until you eat something. Anything."
He's just worried, Noel didn't say, since he was fairly certain Hope wouldn't appreciate the statement right now. Instead, he waited, as patiently as he could, for the person who had been just a week ago the most reasonable person he knew to consider whether he would deign himself to eat like the rest of mankind.
...Okay, maybe his patience was fraying a lot.
"I'm not hungry. And... eating hurts." The man admitted quietly, and then stiffened and turned away sharply, pulling the tablet up to indicate that the conversation was now over.
With that hard-won admission, Noel retreated with Snow's bowl of soup.
.
.
"I'm back!" Snow exclaimed several hours later, looking much more lively than he had this morning as he thundered past the front door with a wide grin on his face and several bags in hand. "You won't believe how hard it is to get these all the way to the desert — hey, how's he doing?"
Noel gave the man a pointed look from where he was sitting on the counter to give Hope some space at the dining table, the scientist now deconstructing something with vicious enthusiasm and making half-hearted snuffling noises between sips of water every few seconds.
"He," Hope groused, not at all rejuvenated by Snow's sudden cheer, "is right here and can hear you just fine."
He ducked his head then, coughing into his palm before reaching for the glass of water again.
"Still coughing," Noel reported dutifully from the counter where he was just out of reach from Hope's swipes. "But not any worse than before."
Instead, Hope threw a plastic piece he had set aside straight at the hunter's head, only for him to duck and then catch the piece after it clanked hard against the cupboard door.
Hope paused, and then admitted sheepishly, "I need that one back."
Noel only shrugged and tossed it back for the other to catch.
"Well." Snow observed with an incredulous expression. "You two seem to have a system worked out." He shook his head, though, and then set the bags he was carrying upon the unused stove. "But hey, guess what! I've got a surprise for you."
"You don't say." Hope quipped, although he leaned forward to attempt a look at the bags, a movement which only prompted more coughing.
"Ta-da!" Snow grinned, pulling out a large fabric cooler from the largest of the bags, and then unzipping the unwieldy thing to reveal several rounded cardboard containers inside. "I didn't know what flavor you might want, so…"
"Wow." Hope intoned dryly, rubbing at the bridge of his nose in what was obviously an irritation most likely due to the bit of allergies that even the antihistamines couldn't get rid of. "You robbed an ice cream shop. Congratulations on your budding career as an ice cream villain. Suits your name well."
"Hey, now." Snow tried to sound hurt, but that was completely belied by the grin on his face. "You should appreciate this gesture, you know." He reached into one of the smaller bags and brought out a pack of spoons, which was quickly opened before a random pint of ice cream was picked up and uncapped, the blond digging the spoon inside to hand the goopy mess over to Hope, who accepted gingerly despite looking rather skeptical.
"So it's not going to be the best thing for you to eat when sick, but give it a try."
Hope gave the spoon a rather dubious look, but at Snow's incessant gesturing, brought it to his mouth.
"So how about it?" Snow asked, looking smug.
There was a slow silence and then Hope made a thoughtful hum. Both Noel and Snow were silent, watching. Then the scientist got up and snatched the entire pint clean from Snow's hand, mumbling something before he left for his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"...Probably just realized how hungry he was." Snow said, and turned his grin toward Noel. "See? I knew I could get him to eat." Then he rummaged through the cooler again, pulling out another pint. "Want one?"
.
.
The next day Hope handed Noel a list.
"If it's not too much to ask," the scientist said, sound a little better that day, a little more like himself. "Part of the reason I came out to the Dead Dunes was to gather materials. I'd rather be doing this myself, but…"
"I'll get them." Noel offered, remembering the last time Hope had gone out and come back with an allergic reaction. He took the list, and then scanned it over, arching an eyebrow in question. "...Goblot hairballs? Twenty lizard tails?"
"It's a diverse list, yes." Hope responded unflinchingly. "If it seems rather unorthodox…"
"Oh, no, I can get it." From the little he knew of the Dead Dunes, Noel figured the little excursion might take him a while. "I'll tell Snow to stay with you—"
Hope shook his head, holding his wrist in front of himself. "Take him with you. The place is dangerous, and you shouldn't go on your own when you might run into creatures from the chaos. I'll be fine on my own inside for a day. I was supposed to be here on my own in the first place, anyway."
He gestured to the list before Noel could protest, because that sounded an awful lot like a convenient way to get rid of them for a while, "If you can't get the cactaur blossom, it's alright. I'm told they bloom around here this time of season, but it may still be a little early."
"What do you need all of this for, anyway?" Noel asked. It really was a diverse list, now that he looked at it proper.
"Various reasons. Each item has a distinctive purpose, but ultimately leading up to something you'll find out about later." Hope reassured him. He paused at the sound of the bathroom door being opened accompanied by a loud yawn, and looked just the slightest peeved. "If you don't mind."
The expression had Noel backpedaling a step despite understanding that it wasn't meant for him. A sick and irritated Hope really was a terrifying thing when he put his mind to it. "I don't mind at all." And then he turned his attention quickly away to the man who just emerged, looking bleary-eyed and tired. "Hey, Snow, we're going out for a bit."
Two hours later, and Noel wondered how he was supposed to find twenty lizard tails. There were never more than three of those creatures around! A full search, while dodging chaos bubbles and sandstorms, had only yielded him seven so far. He thought it was supposed to be the other items on the list that would give him trouble, but he was wrong.
Glaring at the list as if force of will would change the numbers, Noel finally heaved a sigh and brought a hand to his face to admit, "This is going to take all day."
A forceful clap on the back had him sputtering.
"That's the idea!" Snow agreed, looking much more cheerful. Hope had been right about the blond being a big help outside, Snow's lingering l'Cie powers having kept the balance in many of the battles. "Man, it feels nice to leave that tiny room, doesn't it? I'm telling you, the Academy needs to give Hope bigger places if they don't want him to suffocate on their little excursions."
It was true, Noel thought faintly although he pretended to be scanning the list and ignoring Snow's words. The living quarters given to Hope for the duration of his stay in the Dead Dunes were tiny — barely a bedroom with ensuite connected to a kitchenette slash living area of roughly the same size. It was perhaps a decent size for one person, but with three in the area, it got a little crowded.
More than a little.
"I doubt they expected us to show up." Noel defended, and took a step away from the taller blond in case Snow was feeling affectionate. Sometimes the man didn't seem to understand the strength he put into his displays of affection. Noel wondered just how Serah could stand it.
Still, despite the tasks that were definitely going to take him all day, it really was nice to get out for a while. Better than just taking the train back to Luxerion to get supplies. The Dead Dunes felt like what little he had seen so far of the Wildlands — free and empty of the cities he was slowly starting to get used to. People were sparse here, and monsters roamed freely. To Noel, it felt almost reminiscent of… days gone by.
Not to mention, being cooped up wasn't something he was used to. Getting into fights with the random manifestations of chaos here, though… that was somehow more relaxing than sitting around worrying.
"Maybe they should." Snow said, stretching his arms over his head under the warm sunlight. Despite the still relatively cool weather, the area was dry and sunny. "He's important enough he should be traveling around with some protective detail, anyway. Not that he really needs it. That kid's got more bite than bark, and he's going a hell of a lot of bark when he feels like it."
"That's probably because you still call him 'kid'."
"I call you kid."
Noel didn't waste the energy to protest that, seeing as how his cultural rite of age would likely be lost on the man and it wasn't as if those facts were going to change Snow's bad habits. He didn't mind, either way. He didn't care what people called him so long as they understood what he was capable of.
Or it could mean he didn't yet feel comfortable sharing that information. He wasn't sure which one prompted the aversion to correct Snow, but it was definitely one of them. After Serah… after Serah, he hadn't felt too keen on sharing his past with anyone, and it had been several awkward months avoiding the blond before Snow told him bluntly that he didn't blame him for Serah's fate.
"I'm not some great leader everyone listens to. Shouldn't you be," Noel made a gesture with his arms to indicate his uncertainty, "treating him with respect so others treat him with respect?"
"What? And treat him like some stranger—"
Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden ambush, likely a chaos creature who just emerged and heard them. The battle didn't take long, considering that the two were working together, and the Goblot went down easily.
"That's another one down!" Snow said cheerily after the battle, punching his open palm with a fist. "And look at that, we didn't even have to go anywhere. They come straight to us."
Noel sheathed his swords behind him, frowning as he recalled Snow's previous words. "This place is more dangerous than I thought. The Academy scientists just wander through here?"
"Sure do. Each team's got their own escort or something… not too sure about specifics, you'd have to ask Hope."
They heard the shriek of another monster in the distance, indicating that they'd been spotted, and Snow shared a grin, getting ready to run toward the fight and initiate the battle.
"See? Isn't it nice of the kid to send us out for a day?"
.
.
They had to continue the little quest the next day, seeing as they hadn't been able to find twenty lizards.
Hope was already asleep by the time they got back late at night, and Snow had a good laugh at discovering not one, but three empty cartons of ice cream scattered amongst the pile of papers and tablets on his bed where he apparently just curled up to sleep without so much as bothering to get changed or get under the blankets.
He woke up twice through the night coughing, but Noel wondered if it was a good idea for them to go out if the scientist wasn't going to get any better in the meanwhile.
"He'll be fine." Snow told him that next morning, still sounding amused. It was a good thing one of them had regained their good cheer, Noel figured. "Hope's tougher than he looks."
So was Serah, Noel didn't want to point out. So was everyone else he watched die.
His doubts must have been obvious, since after they found the last lizard and crossed the last item off the checklist, Snow pulled him aside right before they could enter the Academy-built compound again.
"Hey," the blond commented casually, "You do get the point of this list, right?"
"That Hope's scientists have some really weird experiments going on?" Noel responded, confused as to why they were questioning it in the first place. Who was he to question why Hope needed Goblot hairballs?
Snow snorted and shook his head. "He's getting us out of the house before we go stir-crazy. Giving us something to do to make us feel better. Classic Hope, really. Neither of us can do anything just sitting around, so he makes up a task to help us feel accomplished when we're done. Not to mention, it gets us out so we're not hovering over his shoulder."
Snow gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't tell him I told you, but I figured you'd want to be able to see through his devious plans the next time he pulls them on you. You seemed to really think he'd need everything on the list."
Noel wondered, as he watched Snow walk toward the door and then bellow out a cheerful greeting as the entered (most likely to annoy Hope considering the shouting that started up immediately afterward), just how it was Snow knew that.
.
.
.
.
A/N: So just a story about Hope being a little shit when he's sick. That's pretty much it. Okay, that and my irrational need for the characters to interact and just show they're not strangers.