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kenphobia · 1 year

Note

Hello hello!

Thank you for the amazing headcanons, I loved them with all my heart <3.

If it's okay I would like some headcanons about how Jelly Rollstone feel towards the other neighbors (like if there is a specific neighbor who they like the most).

I love their design and that they are the owner of the neighborhood's public library. (^_^)

ANGLERFISH!

"Oh no... It's daytime, again."

summary. jelly's a hermit and everyone knows that, but not a lot of people are willing to just let jelly be in their library. (headcanons, see author's note at the end)

contents. mentions of anxiety, panic attacks (not descriptive) and a generally unwell mindset. most of it is fine and comedic, i think

✦ Most new neighbors move in the daylight, all happy and smiling, and most definitely ready to get to know the others. Jelly is the unfortunate exception to that and may or amy not have made a few residents not sleep for a couple fortnights.

✦ Jelly moved into town with the help of a personal helper and set up their library before the sun could even wake the neighborhood. They often go out on nightly walks but due to their shy nature, they oull their cape over their head and wander around looking like a ghost.

✦ Everyone was ... concerned about it, panicking even. Some thought it was one of the many forest spirits coming to haunt the town, some thought it was a fairy delivering gifts to good people but some people with common sense insisted it's the newcomer AKA Jelly Rollstone themself.

✦ In the end, Wally and his friends managed to lure out Jelly and had a good chat with them that most definitely did not start with Jelly nearly having a panic attack. Now, whenever someone sees a floating cape going around town, they'll say: "Oh, that's just Jelly. Don't mind them!"

✦ After the whole situation, people became used to Jelly and some even visit their library. It's mostly Wally checking on them and talking through them via a magical phone. Speaking of Wally, why don't we start with the darling himself?

WALLY DARLING!

✦ Out of all the residents, Wally is the only one who Jelly had a proper conversation with. I mean, as proper as you can get by talking on the phone. Regardless of how silly their ways of communication is, Jelly is extremely grateful for Wally taking a time out of his day just to talk with them.

✦ In some shape or form, Jelly sees Wally as an older brother. They wouldn't tell him that though and even if they did, they won't be able to talk to anyone for a couple of weeks out of embarrassment.

✦ Wally appreciates them a lot as a friend, though he worries a lot for their health. It's obvious that Jelly is unwell, physically and mentally, and the little painter tries his best in making sure Jelly's comfortable with the neighborhood. He tries to get them out of their library but to no avail, but he was so close but the shrimps he brought as bribe wasn't enough to convince them.

✦ He's also the only one who knows about Jelly being a writer and that they're the one who wrote most of the books and poems in their library. He keeps it as a secret and have to resist bringing the squid puppet up whenever someone rants to him about their books.

✦ Speaking of Jelly's books, Wally draws the illustrations in their novel in exchange to being their beta reader. Though Wally will never admit, he did cry once or twice while reading their work.

SALLY STARLET!

✦ Sally is the self-proclaimed number one fan of J.E Seamoyr, who is actually Jelly under a pen name. She doesn't know though and she writes Jelly a lot of letters, talking about their books. So much so that Eddie had to put Sally on a mail ban because how much mail he had to deliver to the midmight library every single day, hours even. She also started her own book club and a few neighbors joined much to Jelly's dismay.

✦ Jelly's relationship with Sally is a bit rocky. While Sally want to have a friendly relationship with the squid, Jelly isn't that keen on actually hanging out with Sally and prefers that she stops stepping into their library every single time. They wouldn't mind if she didn't keep interrupt their afternoon naps.

✦ As much as they want to tell Sally to get off their back, they don't have the heart to do so because she reminds them a lot of who they were back then... And also because they don't want to receive another scolding from Wally, he says a lot for someone like his size.

✦ Jelly sometimes writes to Sally as J.E Seamoyr after seeing how happy she is and how it helped her on stage. They might not be as bright as the other residents of the neighborhood, but they can and will appreciate good acting.

EDDIE DEAR!

✦ Jelly fears Eddie for no particular reason and the poor puppet has no idea why. Jelly often goes out when the sun is still rising and has a few run ins with Eddie, they always run away before Eddie could even utter a word to them.

✦ In some way, Eddie is also afraid of Jelly. Unfortunately, he's one of the few people who stumbled across a recently moved in Jelly at 5 am, walking around like a lost ghost. He didn't get any sleep for a couple of days and that cost him many, many late letters.

✦ Weirdly enough, he's one of the extremely few people who have seen Jelly. Only a few parts of them since they still wear their cape over their head and their tentacle-like hair covering half of their face. Eddie always remembers Jelly by the sound of their star pins clanking against each other, he'd sometimes wake up in cold sweat and fear whenever he hears Jelly pass his house at 1 am.

✦ They do slowly develop a stable relationship and Jelly has been able to communicate with him through sign language and writing down on their notebook. Eddie's learning sign language because of them and he even has it written down in his little notepad of many reminders.

HOWDY PILLAR!

✦ Howdy met Jelly a couple of times, mostly because he opens his store early in the morning and Jelly does need supplies for their work, so they visit every friday or thursday.

✦ At first, Howdy found Jelly a bit strange ... Maybe creepy too. But when he saw Jelly's tired-looking face, he couldn't help but be concerned. He somewhat looks after them though, but not as much as Wally does since Jelly doesn't exactly trust him.

✦ They do enjoy his presence though. Calming and reassuring, Jelly would describe it, but they'd rather eat pickled peppers than even say it out loud. Sometimes, they would use sign language to communicate with Howdy but it's mostly awkward small talk as Howdy scans their items.

✦ Howdy would drop by the library whenever it's the weekend or he's on break, pick up a short and simple book by J.E Seamoyr and get wrecked in the most emotional and gut-wretching way as possible. Sally recruited him into her book club after she and Howdy had a cry out over one of Seamoyr's novels. Jelly worries that the book club might turn into a cult one day.

(BONUS) THE READER!

✦ Jelly's relationship with you is ... highly dependent on how you treat them. If you're more soft-spoken and kind, you might become one of Jelly's idols and possibly another beta reader. But if you're loud and rash, they'd avoid you anytime you and them met but they'll probably admire you for your boldness. But if you're like the rest of the residents, then there's only a 40% chance you might be their friend or anything else.

✦ As their lover though, Jelly is a worrywart. They're ways running around, nagging you to be careful and is ... clingy for the lack of better wording. They still give you free autonomy over your life, but their hair (or what assume is hair) will turn white if you keep getting into any weird trouble.

✦ Has probably asked Wally and/or Sally to watch you, so don't be surprised if they start hanging out with you more than usual. Speaking of those two, Wally would absolutely disagree with you being Jelly's lover but will control himself for his little sibling their sake, while Sally is be bouncing off the walls and ask you many questions regarding them, most of them are really personal and touchy though.

✦ But regardless if you're their lover, friend, or whatnot, Jelly has a lot of work dedicated to you and maybe even wrote a character based on you. They'll never publish any novel with that character so you'll have dig deep in their drawers for it.

author's note. hi hello!!! tysm for requestin <33 i always wanted to expand more on jelly since they were my first welcome home oc, i just never got them as full developed as june :")) i decided to do four + you since this is an x reader blog after all

i'll share on info about the others if you guys liked this !!! as always, reqs are open and any support is appreciated <3

random thought but would this be considered a headcanon if it is canon... like oc lore wise ... also check out this other headcanons thing i wrote for jelly

#writing log!#welcome home #welcome home x reader #welcome home oc

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the-spindly-lady-faith · 3 years

Text

Finally [Evan Buckley]

Warnings: Descriptions of gore/injuries, mentions of death

Word Count: 2.5k

Requested: Yes

Request: Based off of [S3 E18]

(You can tweak up it if you want)

Can you make one where me and Buck have always been close seeing as we grew up together so I’d been with him though thick and thin, but little did he know the reason I was always by his side was cause I love him. Anyway when he sees Abby at first I’m just as shocked as him when he sees her and all the hurt feelings I had back when he was first with her, but when his face falls at her mention of a fiancé that all goes away and I try to hug him, but he kinda pushes me off telling me not to worry about him and get our job done. We then end up getting separated to go do the job in separate parts of the wreckage. When all is said and done I try to call him, but he doesn’t answer so I just go home. The next day I just decide to go over to his place {which is just down the hall from his} when he doesn’t answer the door I just use the key he gave me and decide to wait for him. Eventually he comes home, only to find me on his couch asleep. He ends up going to get ready for the party deciding to just give me a few minutes to get a little more sleep, so when he’s done getting ready he comes and crouch’s in front of the couch and wakes me up very sweetly. He then sits next to me after I sat up and we end up talking and he ends up telling me he talk to Abby who made him realize something. He then continues on and says that he’s in love with me. I then tell him sweetly that I am to then we lay back and cuddle for a while before I get up and he wines asking why I’m getting up and I remind him that we have a party to get to and he groans as I get to the door trying to get to my apartment to get ready and he try’s to convince me to stay, but I just keep walking and say no. I then get ready and we get to the party and everyone is happy to see us holding hands with a smile and Athena throws her hands up in the air saying “FINALLY you two,”

Love.

It was a strange word to associate with your life long best friend but it felt right. Something I truly feared was his rejection if I ever confessed to him because I only had eyes for him. Sure, other guys looked nice but something about Buck was different. Maybe it was the birthmark at his eyebrow, his sharp jaw, that beautiful smile, or his enticing, ocean blue eyes that held stories upon stories in them.

The day was going smooth as I sat on a barstool, overlooking Buck's shoulder at a pamphlet Eddie handed him for a children's summer camp. "Summer camp?" Buck questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion "It's all he can talk about" Eddie casually replied "Some of the other kids from school are going... It's only two weeks" I kept looking at the colorful paper before what Eddie had said finally came to me.

"Whoa, whoa. Two weeks away from home? Isn't Chris kinda young for that? I mean, what if something happens? What if he gets homesick" The concern in Buck's voice was clear but Eddie just kinda rolled his eyes with a small, annoyed sigh "I'm pretty sure I brought in the brochure so you guys can make me feel better about him going"

Chim lightly waved a wooden spoon at him before resuming his stirring "Clearly, you did not think that plan through to its logical conclusion." "I started going to sleepaway camp when I was 8. I loved it. Camp Weegeewagen.. Eedee-idee-odee-ooh-hoo... Looked forward to it every year" I lightly chuckled at Bobby, munching on a quick made sandwich, enjoying the playful group banter.

I was in shock at the scene despite having being part of the LAFD as long as I have, crushed cars, debris and so much more as I secured my helmet onto my head while I hoped & prayed with all I got we could & would save everyone.

"Please, if you can just let me up into the car. Please! I've gotta get up there" The voice that spoke in a worried plea sounded familiar yet my mind worried not on that but the person infront of me who luckily wasn't seriously hurt, just a few cuts, bumps & bruises which gave me the smallest bit of relief.

"Wait, are you from the 118?" The woman asked as Eddie responded with a simple 'yeah'. "Abby?" I turned to look at Buck, seeing the look plastered on his face as the name he called registered my mind as I had an almost equally shocked look on my face. This definitely was not the proper situation to be meeting your best friend's ex in.

"Buck." Her voice was almost relieved but I could sense that bit of surprise & maybe even pain, they never had a proper breakup so I understood. "Wait, you were on the train." She just nodded "Yeah, I've gotta-" Buck quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her away "We need to get you checked out" She carefully pulled herself away, looking back to the train car sticking straight in the air "No, no, no. I'm fine. I need to get up there"

"Abby--what? No, that's crazy! No, no, Abby, Abby, stop!" I swallowed back nervously, my eyes darting to Eddie for reassurance before back to the other two "I'm trying to find somebody!" She hoarsely screamed, panic more then evident all over her. I walk up, gently resting my hand on her shoulder "Okay. Well, just tell us who. We're going-" She turned to me "My fiance!" I looked from her to Buck with my brows knitted tightly together.

"He fell asleep and I went to the bar car." Her voice was break more & more with each word as Eddie gave her soft, calming eyes "Okay. Can you give us a description?" She nodded, sniffling through her tears, pulling her phone out as the three of us look at it, studying it to remember the man but Buck seemed more focus on how happy she looked & the thoughts that were more then likely running in his mind were hurting him more then he'd ever admit.

The climb up the car was an exercise with the back board I was carrying as we ended up using the seats as leverage. Black tag. Not our first on this job but it still hurt regardless, knowing we weren't quick enough to save these poor people. "Sam! Sam, can you hear me?" I grunted, hoisting myself up to basically stand on the seat back as he groaned, barely lifting his head "Hey Sam. How you feeling?" I sighed, a cut just below his hair line but nothing bad from what I could physically see.

"It hurts" His voice was tired & small "Yeah." I looked around, looking at Eddie before looking back to Sam "Hurts when I breathe. Please. My fiancee.. She's on the train" I quietly sighed to myself "Yeah, hey, hey. She's okay" I looked at him, bringing my walkie up "Cap, I got a passenger pinned up here. Looks like the support bean from the observation deck broke through the floor. Need you to send up the jaws okay?"

Bobby quickly responded as I carefully lift Sam's head up, pressing my feet into the back of the seat to keep myself from slipping. I can only hope we all get out of here alive with these people. The train shifting truthfully scared me as I clung to the seat with dear life, losing my footing for a moment, letting out a heavy breath that was trapped in my chest.

To have Bobby here made me feel much better about this, some more, needed hope. "He's got a collapsed lung from the blunt force. O2 levels are dropping. I can relieve the pressure, but we gotta move this beam off him" I looked at Bobby, then to Eddie and back at Buck as the four of us were all buddied together tightly in the car, not at the moment realizing their were others here.

"It's not moving Cap, too heavy" He nodded "Alright, let's try the hydraulic ram." It was normal but scary as we all carefully watched Bobby until a scream of utter pain alerted us as I carefully spun around to go look for the girl who was only about a seat or two down. I grabbed the back, tossing it off to the side & her visible physically injuries were horrible "How you doing?" I pursed my lips together, bringing my med bag up beside me with a slight grunt.

"My side really hurts" I nodded, moving my light in area of her side, carefully lifting up her shirt to find what I could only make out to be a bone broken out of the skin & despite the things I've seen, certain things like this made my stomach crawl. "Force of the crash pushed her leg up into her torso"What?" She said tiredly but with heavy panic while very weakly trying to move the beam off her. "This is gonna hurt a little bit" Eddie commented, carefully slipping her boot off "There's still a pulse in her foot. Blood's still pumping to it"

"Hey what's going on?" Buck questioned as we all were so tired, so out of it. "The beam is trapping both of them. If we take the pressure off either one of them, the other with probably die" I sighed, replying to Buck in hope both could be save as I fidgeted with my gloved fingers. Let everyone get out alive.

I watched, my brows furrowed with pure anger and sadness. There has to be a way to save them both, I refuse to let another person die on my hands. "There has to be a way. I can't let this girl die on us & watch the pain on her family's face!" I was mentally fighting myself as I sighed, the tears threatening to fall at any given moment, Bobby giving me a look of pity "(Y/N).... you gotta accept these losses at some-" I groan "I know I have to but I can't! It never gets easier Bobby!"

Buck turned to us with bright eyes "I have an idea that could save them both." I quickly turned to Buck & for a quick moment, I saw my bright, happy & adventurous life-long friend as I smiled, my heart gripping the love it held for him.

Bobby seemed to agree to the plan after Buck explained it even though they bickered over it & radioed for needed supplies to be readied, there was hope even though small, it was there. "We're almost there Sam. Okay? You'll see your fiancee and kids.." He just tiredly nodded as the train shifted again, nearly standing up straight, sending aggressive amounts of fear through my veins.

I kept myself by Sam to hold him up as the pressure of the seat crushing him slowly came off with the lucky help of the jaws, the relief on Sam's face made me happy as we helped him towards Buck. We did it, we saved them both as I let out a heavy, shaky breath, forcing myself to hold back tears as me & Eddie both carefully slipped out the hole Buck made. At least something good came from today & it was something to be the smallest bit happy about.

The hazy night glow casted through the curtains as I tiredly groaned, not wanting to do anything but forget about last nights job. I looked around Buck's cozy apartment as I shuffled over to the couch, tossing my bag off to the side as I lay down with a heavy groan, feeling the many pins & needles all over my body as I stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever until I finally passed out, only awake enough to hear Buck walk in.

[BUCK]

Yesterday was hell, the wreck, Abby, everything. I stared at my door for a moment, seeing the doormat disturbed a bit as I just lightly chuckled, knowing (Y/N) was here as I quietly open the door & just as quietly shut it behind me, placing my things on the kitchen counter.

I made way towards my couch to sit but to see (Y/N)'s sleeping form made me smile & in that moment, it had come to me. All the girls I dated before was just for me to forget the way I felt for her, my life long best friend. I sighed lightly before heading off to shower, letting her get the more then needed rest, getting ready for the upcoming party at Athena & Bobby's place.

I lingered in the shower a moment longer, staring at the steamed shower walls before shutting the water off & dressing up as I'd usually do before going back over to (Y/N), watching with a smile on my lips that spread from ear-to-ear before crouching down to get a more straight foward look at her face.

"Hey, gotta wake up hun. We got somewhere to be" I kept my voice soft, pushing hair from her face & I swear I felt my heart skip a beat. "I know you want beauty sleep to maintain your own beauty, which I understand. There's something kinda important I wanna ask you and I don't wanna wait anymore" She stirred slightly, her eyes fluttering open then shut a few times before she finally woke up.

She looked at me, holding her hand up infront of her to keep the sun out of her eyes before she carefully sat up & stretched "What's up?" She slumped over as I sat aside with with a heavy sigh, sliding a cup of coffee over. "I talked to Abby today" She looked at me, seeming to already know where this was going. "I wanted to clear things up about us, about why she never bothered to talk to me while she was gone"

My leg started bouncing at her gentle hand rubbed small circles on my upper back, laying her head on my shoulder "I'm sure she meant to Buck.." I sighed "That's the thing (Y/N), even though she explained everything, I still don't understand. Did I do something wrong? Did I rush things? Was she with me out of just pity?" I heavily sighed, wiping my hands over my face "I can't understand it at all..."

She looked at me with soft eyes that held billions of stars & galaxies in them, if only I could look into them forever. "It isn't your fault Buck, it never was. All relationships can feel rushed at any given point. Don't blame yourself for this. You helped her through a great deal of pain when she lost her mom. You're an amazing man Buck, I know cause I grew up with you & Maddie my whole life"

I looked at her & just smiled "I'm..." I had to process everything "I'm in love with you (Y/N) and- and I get if you-" She laughed lightly, her hand holding my cheek gently "I'm in love with you too Buck. I have been for as long as I can remember. I laugh happy as I wrap my arms around her & laying back on the couch & right there, I had all I ever wanted.

It was calm, nothing but pure happiness between the two of us as I admired the person I held so close to me & this is all that mattered, I finally had her, my favorite person to ever exist & maybe, just maybe, this is what true love felt like when you didn't hide from it.

[YOU]

"Hey, I need to get ready & we gotta get going for that party" Buck groaned "But we could have more fun if we just stayed here and kept cuddling" I smile, drawing small circles on his shirt "While I do agree, I don't think we'd hear the end of it from Bobby" He whines "Please? I don't wanna go anymore, this is better" I sat up, shaking my head "No Buck. I'm not getting my ear chewed out" He pouts, his eyes sad but in a joking manner, dropping his hands. "Fine but you're making this up when we get back" I nod, putting my hands up "I will do just that okay? I promise. Pinky promise?" He smiles as our pinkies interlock before I finally stood up, changing in the bathroom.

We parked outside of Athena & Bobby's place as Buck rushed from the drivers side to me, opening the door & showing off his big goofy smile which made my heart swoon. I took his hand, sliding out of the jeep as he locked it up & the two of us made our way inside, hand in hand, smiles painting both of our faces.

We only stopped when we noticed everyone looking at us with smiles as Athena shuffled foward, her smile big & proud as her hands raised up in the air & dropped down with a happy sigh "Finally you two! We've all been wondering when this would happen" I smile, my cheeks burning red as I hide my face in Buck's shoulder as we stepped down the steps & the night went on with smiles & laughter. Most of all, I was finally in love with the right person. My person, Evan Buckley.

@faithie-brock-gillespie01

author note: i hope you enjoyed this & its what you wanted. im sorry this took a while to get out but i really hope you like it & thank you so much for the request!!

#9-1-1 #evan buckley #athena grant #abby clark #chimney han #hen wilson #bobby nash #eddie diaz #maddie buckley #9 1 1 fanfiction #lovers #9 1 1 season 3 #LAFD #LAPD

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toosicktoocare · 4 years

Note

ooh, an It fic idea if u want: maybe the losers come home after their first semester of college and kind of like. the memory loss has started but isn't solidified yet, so things are a little awkward, like seeing a friend you haven't seen in 5 years instead of one semester. and because they haven't seen each other in so long, they decide to go to bill's while his parents are away. richie doesn't want to ruin the holiday by telling them he's incredibly sore and running a fever, so he doesn't :)

Love the prompt @taylortut!

BEV

BEV -- WHAT’S UP LOSERS! I’m coming to Derry over Christmas break! Will you all be there? I feel like I haven’t seen you all in YEARS!

Big Bill-- I will be. If everyone’s up to it, we can meet at my house? My parents won’t be back until late Christmas day.

Ben (is getting kinda hot??)-- I was thinking about dropping by for a few days.

Mikey Mike-- Yep.

Stan the Man-- If everyone else shows up, I can be there. Mini reunion?

Eddie Spaghetti-- I, unfortunately, don’t have a choice. Mother’s orders.

A soft, high-pitched beeping pulls Richie’s focus from his phone to the thermometer he plucks from his mouth. After he woke up feeling questionably sore and heavy, with a headache that could give his hangovers a run for their money, he made a surprisingly adult decision to swing by a drugstore on his way out of the city to pick up some Ibuprofen and a thermometer.

According to the two-dollar device, he’s sporting an annoying fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He shrugs and dumps two pills into his palm, dry swallowing them with a wince.

Richie is the superior friend-- Eddie, did your mom not tell you that she extended a personal invitation to me?

A low sigh slips past Richie’s lips as he tosses his phone onto the passenger seat and swaps his car into drive. It’s just a small fever, he tells himself. He’ll be fine.

*****

Richie’s drive is a rough blur of chills, random bursts of heat that have him swerving as he tugs uncomfortably at his coat collar, and aches that squeeze at his bones. By the time he pulls into Bill’s driveway, he’s completely exhausted. His head is pounding at the temples, and the chills have picked back up. He turns his car off and drops his head onto his steering wheel, arms wrapped tightly around himself. He musters up a groan as his eyes flutter closed, but a light knock on his window has him shooting up with an impressive string of curses.

Stan’s peering into his window with a frown and a slight tilt of the head, and Richie smiles and opens his door. His muscles protest when he slips out of his beat up truck, but he smiles through it.

“Stan the Man,” Richie breathes out. The icy, snowy wind feels like burning needles against his skin, and he can’t suppress the sharp shiver that shoots up his spine to his shoulders.

“Hey, Richie. You okay? You look pale-- even for you.”

Richie waves off Stan’s quiet concern. “Long drive after a week filled with little to no sleep and too many finals, but enough about me,” he draws out dramatically. “How are you? How’s the whole math engineering study stuff going?” A strong gust of wind billows past the two, and Richie hisses, crossing his arms tightly around himself.

“It’s fine,” Stan says with a light laugh before he wraps an arm around Richie’s shoulders. “Let’s get inside.”

“You’ve always been the smart one,” Richie breathes out through chattering teeth. He leans into Stan’s warmth. “It’s cold as fuck out here.”

Stan hesitates when the two reach the door. His hand hovers in front of the doorbell, and Richie steps away from him with a shrug.

“Fuck it,” he says, and Stan laughs as Richie opens the door and steps inside, with Stan close behind him.

They follow the sound of quiet chatter to the living room, where Bill, Eddie, Mike, Ben, and Beverly are sitting around a fire.

“Richie! Stan!” Beverly’s out of her seat and running toward them before Richie can utter a word. She wraps her arms around both of them, and Richie can’t help but laugh as red curls smack him in the face.

“Ah, Beverly, you look as beautiful as ever.”

Beverly pulls away from the two and punches Richie in the shoulder. “Shut up, loser.” Her voice is fond, and Richie smiles and pretends that the punch didn’t hurt way worse than it should have.

“Come on, “ Beverly tugs Richie’s coat off and hangs it on the rack beside the one Stan is hanging up. “We are swapping Uni war stories.”

There’s a brief moment where Richie locks his eyes to his long, heavy coat, missing the added warmth it provided. Without it, he’s feeling chilled through, and he crosses his arms and grits his teeth before following Beverly and Stan toward the others.

The next few minutes pass in a surprisingly awkward exchange of hugs and back pats despite everyone only being separated for a few months. Richie waggles his brows at Ben’s taller, leaner form, grabs at Mike’s beefed up triceps, throws both arms around Bill, and pauses with Eddie. The two share a silent conversation before Richie pulls Eddie into a tight hug. He chases Eddie’s warmth for as long as comfortably possible before Eddie pulls away with a soft smile.

“So, Richie,” Ben draws out when everyone’s seated once more. “Theater major?” There’s a smugness to Ben’s tone that Richie arches his brows at.

“It’s my specialty.”

“Acting?” Mike asks, and Stan scoffs.

“No, being dramatic.”

“At least I’m not majoring in creative writing.” Richie deflects, pushing the attention toward Bill only because he can physically feel his face growing hotter by the second, and he’s mentally cursing leaving his thermometer with his bag in the car. He sinks back against the couch, and he can almost hear his muscles sigh in brief relief. He crosses his arms over his chest once more, fingers digging into his arms, and he tries really hard to follow the conversation despite the pain gnawing at his head and bones.

For what feels like hours, the seven chat about Uni, about fuzzy memories, about how it feels to be back at Derry after...

Richie smiles when something funny is said, offers input when he finds it necessary, but as the night drags on, his headache worsens. Despite the fire and the heat on, he’s ice cold, and his muscles are painfully stiff from suppressing chills that threaten to take over. He feels like shit, and he’s beginning to think that he can’t even blame this on a rough finals week, not with a spiking fever.

He doesn’t want to say anything, though. He doesn’t want to ruin this time. It took at least an hour for everyone to get over the initial awkwardness, and he doesn’t want this old feeling of friends to end.

“You guys should spend the night.” Bill finally says after another hour, and Richie breathes out a low sigh.

“Wish I could, but I promised my parents I would come home at some point today.” Richie lies with ease.

“That sucks,” Ben says.

“Will you come back tomorrow?” Bill asks, and Richie nods as he gets to his feet. He has no idea if he will even be able to get out of bed tomorrow, but no one needs to know that right now. If anything, he can just lie to them tomorrow if he’s too sick to pry himself from bed.

“I’ll walk you out,” Beverly gets to her feet, but Richie waves her off with a wide smile.

“No way-- it’s way too cold out. I’ll be a-okay, so you guys just carry on.” He manages out a weak accent at that last bit and says his goodbyes before turning quickly on his heel. The longer he’s standing, the less sure he is that he can remain standing. He walks down the hall in long strides, shrugs his coat on, then slips out the door as quickly as he can.

The wind takes his breath away, and now that he’s away from everyone, he doesn’t bother trying to stop the shivers that begin to uncontrollably wrack his body. He struggles to get his key into the lock, but when he does, he all but throws himself into his truck, anything to get out of the wind.

His teeth are chattering hard while he reaches a shaking hand around the dark to find the thermometer. He needs to know what he’s potentially dealing with, so he presses the on button and shoves the tip of the device under his tongue. He leans his head back and closes his eyes while he waits. When the thermometer starts beeping, he pries his eyes open, gaze darting toward the door when it opens.

Eddie’s faster than Richie. He snags the thermometer from Richie’s mouth, and Bill crowds in behind Eddie.

“103.5 degrees, Richie! What the hell? Stan said you looked a little sick, but this bad?”

Richie winces at Eddie’s shouting. Fuck. “I didn’t want to ruin all of this,” Richie mutters, defeat lacing his tone. Fucking fuck.

“You’re not r-ruining anything, Richie.”

Richie frowns at the small stutter, but he doesn’t say anything as Bill steps forward and presses a palm to his cheek.

“How do you feel?”

“Terrible,” Richie admits, looking away from the sharp gaze Eddie shoots him. “It’s fine, though,” he starts, reaching for his door handle. “I’ll just go home and sleep this off--”

“Of you could stay here.”

Beverly, Mike, Ben, and Stan appear behind Bill and Eddie, and Richie realizes he’s officially outnumbered.

“I’m probably contagious.”

“Probably,” Eddie spits out. “And with a fever that high, you won’t even make it home.”

Richie wants to argue with that, but Eddie and Bill are working out sleeping arrangements between themselves while Stan and Mike help Richie back out of the car. Beverly grabs his bags, and the seven hurry back into the house. Richie’s uneasy on his feet, but Mike’s gotten stronger thanks to a few years of football, so he’s able to lean most of his weight on Mike.

“I’m really sorry,” Richie mutters as he’s led into Bill’s room. There are people tugging off his jacket, and someone’s easing him onto the bed while another person is working on his shoes. “I’m really dizzy,” he adds. The room’s spinning, and he’s shaking.

“Richie?”

There’s a hand on his burning cheek, and he blinks around swimming vision to see Eddie watching him with wide, worried eyes.

“Have you taken anything for the fever?”

“A couple of Ibuprofen,” Richie manages. “Before I left for Derry.”

He doesn’t see who leaves to retrieve more medicine, but soon he’s taken two more pills with blessedly cool water, and he’s being helped under the covers. He can’t stop shaking, no matter how tightly he pulls the covers around him.

“I’m really cold,” he chatters, teeth clacking together. He feels like complete and utter shit.

“Just give us one second, okay?”

Richie hums and presses Bill’s blankets to his heated face. He’s almost drifting off when he feels the bed dipping in different directions. He pries his eyes open to see everyone but Eddie crawling onto the bed. Eddie’s setting up blankets on the floor beside the bed.

“What are you guys doing?”

“We will probably all end up sick anyway,” Ben says nonchalantly.

“Yeah, and we don’t want you to suffer alone.” Beverly adds.

Richie pulls his gaze to see Eddie getting comfortable on the floor.

“Sorry,” Eddie mutters, and Richie shakes his head.

“You guys don’t want this-- whatever this is,” Richie mumbles. “It’s the worst.”

“We’ll be fine,” Bill says.

After a few moments of adjusting, everyone has a spot that’s comfortable. Richie’s curled around Stan, with Beverly pressed to his back. His leg is close to the edge of the bed, and Eddie’s hand is resting on his ankle. Ben is tucked behind Beverly, and Mike and Bill are both squeezed in behind Stan. It’s a tight fit, but it’s warm, comfortable, and Richie smiles despite feeling like shit.

“I’ve really missed you guys,” he whispers before drifting off to sleep.

#it #Stephen King's IT #sickfic #writing #my writing #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #bill denbrough #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #mike hanlon #stan uris #college au #sick!richie #whump #sick character #christmas fic #sorta lol

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