[PRP] No Spiders in the Soup - Tuck x Heidi

[bipolar bee]

Tuck couldn't breathe out of his nose. Combined with the burning in his eyes, the sore throat, the weak muscles -- well, the general malaise, really -- he was so incredibly miserable that simple actions like rolling out of bed, or walking, or breathing or even blinking were just insurmountable chores.

Despite it all, Tuck had slogged into the kitchens. Someone had left a pot of red goop on, and from the looks of it the stuff appeared to be warm. He gingerly tasted it, and he didn't die or sprout a tail.

Free game.

Pouring the (what appeared to be and tasted kind of like) tomato soup into a huge bowl (he left no man behind), Tuck grabbed two spoons and shuffled back to the dorms. He drew up to Heidi's door and just kind of ... leaned on it, snorfling loudly.

"Heeeeeeiiiidiiiiii," Tuck groaned, the noise muffled against the door. "You alive?"

Eight

 

[Eight]

Heidi felt like she was dying. She knew she wasn't but it felt that way; her head hurt, and if she sat up too fast the room would spin and she'd feel sick to her stomach. And to top it all off she still felt those spiders crawling all over her. Her hair would brush her neck, her shoulder, her arm, and she would flip out. When she slept if something touched her, be it shifting and feeling her blanket move, she would wake up with a startled cry.

She had been half asleep when she heard a thump on the door and she sat up with a squeak, sniffling and huddling in her blanket. Oh! It was Tuck! She sighed with quiet relief and shuffled to the door, carefully opening it and letting Tuck in with a tired smile. "No, but I can pretend." She glanced at the bowl of soup in his hands and her jaw dropped. "Is that tomato soup?" Heidi stepped aside to let Tuck into her room, closing the door behind her.

Heidi wasted no time in getting back into bed, sitting with her back against the wall and patiently waiting for Tuck to join her. Sooooouuuuup.

pinchmonster

 

[bipolar bee]

Eight

"I think so but I ain't real sure," Tuck creaked into the room and set the soup on the bedside table before clambering in after Heidi. He didn't sit up, though, just laid down flat on his stomach with the loudest groan and plenty of sniffles.

"I found it in the kitchen in a pot, an' I think it's tomato soup. Maybe. Probably." His voice was muffled by the pillow he'd commandeered. "I can't taste a damn thing but I didn't turn into a goddamn minipet so I think it's probably safe."  

[Eight]

Heidi reached over to pet Tuck's head when he laid down near her, massaging his scalp for a few minutes. She nearly fell asleep doing it, curling up beside Tuck and clinging to him. She sighed and shifted comfortably against Tuck until a few strands of hair brushed her neck. She gasped and quickly sat up, catching herself so she would just collaps again when the room spun. Whoa..bad...

She rubbed her neck, whining and curling up beside Tuck. "Tuuuuuuuck," she whined and sniffed as she buried her face against his neck. "I don' feelgood."

As if it wasn't obvious.

pinchmonster

 

[bipolar bee]

Eight

"Baby, I don't think none of us feel good," was the only answer that came her way, as he'd been lulled into a congested sort of sleep that only the sick knew. Heidi's scalp massage certainly had helped, and the bowl of soup was already forgotten.

He probably didn't notice he'd called her 'baby' either.

"I ain't never been this sick," Tuck continued conversationally, probably leaking snot all over the pillow, "like my head is full of lead but kinna floaty at the same time, an' my throat feels like someone used a cheese grater on it, an' I might be dyin'."  

[Eight]

"Stupid ocean." Heidi grumbled before lifting her head and sitting up just enough to reach over Tuck and get the bowl of soup. Oh, good. It was still warm. And two spoons! "Yer th'best," she leaned over to kiss his head before just laying down on her stomach. They could lay down and eat soup at the same time, right?

"I've gotten this sick. Gets super cold in Rhode Island." She shrugged, eating her first spoonful of soup. Stupid cold made it taste all wrong. Heidi picked up the other spoon and nudged Tuck. "Open your mouth. We'll die with soup in our stom--" and then she remembered the dead body.

Heidi's face took on a horrified expression and her stomach threatened to force her to scramble for a bucket any second now. "We can't die," Heidi finally told him, holding the spoon close enough to feed him whenever he obeyed her.  

[bipolar bee]

Eight

Tuck squinted at Heidi, shuffling over to lay on his back.

"We ain't gonna die, short stack."

He took the bite of soup, swallowing before speaking again.

"It's just. We was in the ocean or some s**t. Ain't nobody gonna die."

Tuck gently patted her knee.  

[Eight]

"I know, I was just...remembering," Heidi could barely get the word out, she shuddered and ate another couple of spoonfuls of soup before she did the same for Tuck. Cold tomato soup was not delicious, they had to eat while they could.

"Oh.." Heidi sniffed and pointed at a small box on her bedside table. "I've got tissues if you need 'em.." Uh...what else..

Um...

Uhhhhhh..

Man, was this how a balloon felt with someone inflated it with air? Seemed kind of cruel now. Oh hey I'm just an innocent balloon minding my own business oh god what have you done to me you filled me with air you monster! She was never inflating a balloon ever again. "...Oh! You been sleeping okay an' stuff?" Because she hadn't. She'd been sleeping terribly when she wasn't just passed out from 'I'm sick' exhaustion.  

[bipolar bee]

Eight

Tuck took a tissue and proceeded to honk into it, discarding it immediately afterwards. "No more soup," he groused, shaking his head like a fussy baby. "An' I been sick, so I ain't been sleeping real great. Everyone been sick. I wake up coughin' and go to sleep stuffed up an' then I can't breathe outta one side of my nose, so then I flip over and then I can't breathe outta the other side of my nose."

Whine, whine, whine.

He was quiet for a second.

"On the boat you said you was gonna ask me somethin' in private."

Tuck gazed at Heidi blearily, brows raised.

"You remember?"  

[Eight]

Tuck's spoon was set aside so she could finish the soup on her own, pushing the bowl away when she was finished. Heidi wasn't surprised to hear everyone was sick, that water had felt like ice. "Ugh, I hate when that happens," Heidi whined in agreement, curling up beside Tuck again. Her hair brushed her shoulder and she shuddered, brushing her hair away in a mild panic. Stop thaaaaaaat.

She had settled beside him again, eyes closed and her arm draped across Tuck's chest. Sleep, please come to me.

The question was met with silence from the blonde. Oh, right. She had said that. Heidi shrugged, putting her head on Tuck's shoulder and giving a little sniff. "Yeah, why?" She reached for a tissue and just held it to her nose for now, not wanting to blow her nose in Tuck's face but also not wanting to sit up and move to do so.  

[bipolar bee]

Tuck brushed her hair back from her face when Heidi jumped at the touch of her own hair, doing his best to soothe the blonde. "It's just your hair, sweetheart. Nothin' else."

He fell silent. And then:

"What was you gonna ask me?"  

[Eight]

Sweetheart? That was new. Had Tuck ever called her that before? Hadn't he called her something weird earlier too?

She couldn't remember.

"Jus' if I could sleep with you s'all. I didn't wanna ask in front of everyone 'cause..I'unno.." No, really. She couldn't remember why she didn't just ask. Finally Heidi couldn't take it anymore, she turned away to cough and blow her nose, groaning at the way it made her head swim. "M'never getting out of this bed everrrrrrr." She whined and turned to face Tuck again, putting her head on his shoulder. Just because she was experienced with colds didn't mean she didn't whine every time.  

[bipolar bee]

Eight

Blowing his nose one more time, Tuck let the tissue flutter to the floor before wrapping his arms around Heidi.

The fleeting thought of what the ******** am I doing came and went. He really wasn't sure what his status was with Nevada or Heidi. He'd kind of placed the ball in both of their courts, and since then he'd just tried to be there for both of them when they needed him.

"You ain't never gotta ask," Tuck kissed Heidi's forehead. His mouth felt dry, but he didn't want to get out of bed to get water - though...

"You thirsty?"  

[Eight]

"Okay~" came Heidi's sleepy reply. She made a happy little sound when she felt him kiss her forehead, tilting her head up to return the gesture with a kiss to his chin.

Tuck's question came as a surprise and at first she just blinked and stared. This luckily only lasted a few seconds before Heidi finally nodded her head. "A little...but drinks are so far.." She had finished all the water she kept in her room and didn't feel up to leaving, but Tuck had brought them soup. Heidi supposed it was fair if she ventured to the kitchen for water. "..I have cups." Heidi suddenly gasped. Was water from the tap acceptable? "I can go fill them." Genius.

pinchmonster

 

[bipolar bee]

Eight

"You're sick," Tuck forced himself into a seated position, feet hitting the floor with a soft thud. "I can get it."

Those four words were repeated in his head like a mantra. He could do this. He could totally do this.

With a loud, belabored groan, Tuck shoved himself off the bed and rose to his feet. He staggered for a moment as dizziness overcame him.

"Where's the cups at?"