Pretty Boy (TM)

The air is heavy. Dense. Stagnant.

It's hard to breathe, but she needs air to run.

She's soaked in sweat, bare feet plodding along the same path she's been on for what feels like an eternity. Her legs are numb, and it feels like she has to pull them up through slabs of jelly to move them, but she keeps running down the tunnel, surrounded by darkness.

She just feels the bones of her feet crash into the floor over and over again.

It's sweltering. The only light is the red of the emergency flashers, which make the tunnel wobble and bend, nausea swimming up her throat. She groans with each breath, only adding to the cacophony of tortured souls she can hear through the walls.

The corruption latent to this place has invaded her pores, and is eating away at her. Weighing her down. Wringing life from her as she wrestles with it.

Its teeth sink down into her throat.

She turns her head to look down the other side of the tunnel.

It's gaining on her.

She runs faster, before her fatigue catches up, leaving her more sluggish than she'd been previously.

Screaming was less than useless. Nobody could hear her down here, and all it would do would waste precious oxygen, and energy.

Things she is running desperately low on.

It advances on her. Her footsteps are hard against metal and concrete; its are light. Claws scratch against the ground, its breath hot on her neck. She shudders, mindlessly pressing forward, her feet moving as quickly as they can.

Her breath comes in hot, labored puffs as she struggles to-

Ah.

That brief moment.

The flash, just before impact.

No. I am going to die.

The tightening of her throat as she feels contact against her bare back, her heart pounding-

And she wakes up, a sudden gasp ripping through the silence in the room as she rises, tense, stiff, and-

"Nngh-!"

-her hand makes contact with the bed-frame, pain all new and hot as it stabs up the rest of her arm from the wrap around her wrist. She manages to get herself tangled in the sheets as she struggles to sit up, her head spinning, and-

"Woah-woah-it's me! I'm here! You're safe! You're safe."

Familiar voice. Warm, and soft, and-

Get away from me.

She scrambles to flee, floundering in the dark.

"Juno. Juno, it's-it's okay. You're okay. We're all okay. Breathe. Please."

The voice gives a command, and despite the fog clouding her mind, she manages to latch onto it, forcing air in-and out, and in, and-against her will, she sucks in a huge breath, that comes out in a violent coughing fit before she can think to cover it.

There's suddenly a hand on her back, and her left hand shoots for where her gun normally is, holstered in her-her heart drops as she finds her chest bare besides a sweat-soaked shirt. She slaps her chest repeatedly, looking for it, as though she cannot believe it's missing, before collapsing forward in fear, trying to get away from whatever was behind her, moan rising to a yowl as the hand reaches out to grab her, jerking forward again, shrinking into a space beside the-she's cornered herself. Oh god. She's cornered herself, and she's going to-

"Juno." The voice made her freeze, and a pair of warm, gentle arms wrapped themselves around her clenched shoulders before she could react.

"Hhahh...hhahhh...hhahhh..." Juno trembles in her grip, near tears, and she presses a kiss into her hair.

"H-help...! I-"

...She-the light. She needs light. She needs to see. She needs to-

"I'm right here. I'm right here."

Celeste.

It's just...Celeste.

"You're okay. You are okay. ...okay?"

"I-I..."

"We're home. You had a bad dream. Whatever happened, just...take a breath, okay?"

Dream. It was a dream.

Hyperventilating.

It was only a dream.

In.

Out.

In.

"...okay. I'm...I'm okay. I-I'm..."

Finally, after a moment, she remembers herself: soaked in sweat, hand still reeking of blood, broken wrist, stuffy nose, sore throat. Everything...

"...hurts..." Her face screws up in pain, the most normal expression on her face in the past 22 hours. Certainly preferable to the vacant one earlier, or the blind terror of 5 seconds ago.

It still squeezes at Celeste's heart. She rubs her back, soothing a burning, aching feeling along her shoulders.

"I'll get you some ice.

"I...need a shower," she struggles her way into saying. She hates the way her voice sounds right now.

"...You should eat something." She shakes her head, rubbing her eyes.

"I need a shower first." She does need to eat, even if she doesn't want to. Celeste is right. But it feels like anything she'd try to eat right now would come right back up, and she really, really doesn't want to vomit right now.

Please.

And her nose is already tingling, and she'd prefer to deal with that in the same place she'll deal with everything else wrong with her right now.

Celeste sighs.

"-nNGSSCHHEWww-!" Despite her best efforts, or anything she wanted, her head dipped down with a wet sneeze.

"Bless you."

"Shower..." She whined, deflating slightly. Celeste rubbed her back with one hand as Juno rubbed her nose.

"Alright. Can you stand up?" The question is gentle, simple, but it still leaves Juno stumped.

"I-"

She...hadn't thought that far ahead.

She hadn't thought of much of anything yet, actually, besides that she feels sticky with sweat and everything still hurts.

She was leaned up against the wardrobe in front of her bed. She'd...

Juno breaks off into a coughing fit, a full, viscid sound that rattles her head, making the agony surrounding seemingly every nerve ending worse, tears stinging in her eyes from the intensity.

When it finally ends, she feels like she can hardly think, let alone move.

She has to try anyway.

She groans, trying to ignore how much her throat hurts.

She'd fallen forward off of the bed, and landed...here.

She's still not entirely awake. And it feels like there's this massive fog squatting over her head...her eyes shut as she tries to steady her breathing again.

Celeste waves someone away, and Juno whips her head around to try and see them, only catching sight of something moving.

Panic floods her chest all anew and she attempts to shrink back from the door, only to be caught in place by Celeste.

She shudders, and again, Celeste rubs her back.

Juno's whole body is a few degrees warmer than she's used to, the sweat soaking her skin alternately sticky and slippery.

"...th-there's...someone's here, someone-!"

"Nick."

...Juno's still shaky, but hot shame lights up through cold panic.

"It's just Nick. We're at home. My home. We're safe. You're safe." Her voice is a lighthouse in a black sea, but the tension doesn't drop from her shoulders.

"...You said you wanted a shower."

Juno needs direction. She's struggling to order her thoughts and her actions, and she's hurting too much to want to do anything, anyway.

Or, at least, that's Celeste's thought.

Juno turns to face her, serious, trying to keep her mind from wandering, glad to have someone talk her through it, regardless.

"So we need to get you up. Can you stand?"

"Uh..."

I think so are the last words in her head before she realizes she actually can't.

She manages to get her feet below her, and despite how loudly her body screams at her that she shouldn't do this, that she can't-

Face first into the bed, ass up, struggling with her legs, who stiffly refuse to take on more weight despite her stubbornly trying.

She can't stand up. She cannot stand up.

She groans with effort and frustration, trying to fight her way to her feet with all her might.

She cannot stand.

Well, at least, she can't stand without her head spinning so badly that she sways and falls over, or her knees, still bobbing uselessly underneath her, give out, refusing to carry her entire weight...so yes, she is currently unable to stand.

Unsupported, anyway.

She leans up against Celeste's bed, working very hard to avoid leaning on her hand-

"Hang on-hang on! I've got you!"

Celeste emerges underneath her, propping Juno up and scrambling to figure out the best way to carry her.

"Uh-HsSSHHhh...!" Another tired sneeze falls out of her. Her nose is buzzing, and she flashes her teeth as her face responds to the unpleasant feeling.

Itchy. Tickly.

She attempts to sniffle and just feels pressure in her sinuses.

Juno whines, no longer caring who sees how pathetic she looks right now. She just wants it to be over.

"Come on."

Celeste has her left arm, and it feels awkward, it hurts a little for both of them, but she manages to lift her in a way that lets them walk down the hall.

--

The water is near scalding, but that's just the way she likes it after something like this. Anything remotely warm burns open wounds (and, of course, ow, those cigarette burns are still very much alive and painful, even if they did feel more like tiny needle pricks to her), but it's got enough pressure to soothe the all-pervading ache all around her body. Her back certainly feels better, as do her legs. The heat is helping her wrist, somewhat, but the plastic around it to keep the wrap dry prevents it from being terribly effective.

Her head still hurts, but she managed to swallow painkillers without incident (ignoring Celeste's voice in her head telling her that taking them on an empty stomach was a bad idea), which should also help everything else soon enough. Yes, this temperature was just the way she liked it after getting the piss beat out of her. It loosened her up, in more ways than one.

Yes, indeed, it's also just the way she likes it during a cold, especially one this bad, and that's the main thing keeping her attention right now.

Loosened her up, in more ways than one.

Sat with her back to the shower head, lights off, bent double, Juno watches blearily as two thick strings of fluid dribble down and out from her nose, dangling back and forth with each breath until finally dripping onto the porcelain of the tub.

"Guh-" she blows, gripping her nose between her fingers and jostling it back and forth, attempting to add more mechanical energy to all of the steam loosening her sinuses.

"Urgh..." More and more spills from her, the heat emanating from behind her making it hard to take a breath in--making her cough, cough, cough--the humidity also helping to loosen phlegm in her chest, and moistening her throat, simultaneously making the coughing less painful and more productive. If Juno could think, she'd be ecstatic to have devised such an ingenious method of soothing all of her symptoms all at once.

If she could think. The heat isn't doing wonders for her fever.

"Hh-hHHNNKGSSCHHHHHhh-! HuhhnkKkssh-nKkk-! HhnNKGSSCHHEWww-!" The sneezes seemed more productive too, at least if the amount of mess that blew itself from her nostrils with each one was anything to go by.

...They really were more like noseblows than sneezes.

Thankfully, it's all moving. Lord knows any more pressure in her head would do her in.

"Hhnn..." She spits, rubbing her nostrils upwards, wiping the slimy residue from her knuckles onto her knee.

Much, much better. She still can't really breathe through her nose, but at least air could pass through it, now. Ignore the sharp feeling in your throat. Ignore how fuzzy your eyes are.

Ignore how fuzzy your thoughts are. It's okay. It's all fine. Take the relief while you can. Take a breath. Take a-

"HhNKGSHHH- HeahHNGSSCHHEWW!"

-breath, take a...

Food.

She struggles not to gag.

Food.

...

...The...steps aren't coming. She needs to...she needs to get up, and...

...She doesn't...

Blindly, blithely, Juno pivots and gropes around, turns the one tap, shuts the other one off, waiting only briefly for-

As the temperature shifts, she gasps involuntarily, tiny tingling shards of ice pelting her face, soaking in and flooding down from her hair, goosebumps spreading across every surface of her trembling skin, as-

"hNN-hUHHHhh-hHH-! Her face desperately contorted under the weight of the coming sneeze, suddenly strengthened, scrunching and holding in place, hands hanging uselessly in front of her face, until-

"hHGSHH-hNNGSHHH-hHIHHNNKGSHHHHHEWWww-! hiEH-" again and again and again she sneezed, over and over, shivering and helpless under the chill of the shower head, more and more snot leaking from her nose and getting lost in the water.

Eventually, finally, her body began to acclimate, and her nose--though still set off at a hair's length--began to calm down.

That hadn't been her intent. It was welcome; her sinuses actually felt slightly breathable now, if still wet and tickly. A pleasant surprise.

No, her only goal had been to wake herself up a bit, and clear her head a little. It certainly achieved that, even as much as she was shivering, and as much energy as that took, she could finally think.

Would that getting rid of a fever completely was this easy.

She was in complete sentences now, at least. That was good. She needs food, and something for her throat, and-as she breaks off into a fit of coughing that ends in another messy sneeze, she thinks something for this cough would also be nice.

...Tissues. She needs tissues.

She could certainly think more clearly, now. That didn't mean that getting what she needs herself wasn't more than her brain or her body could handle right now.

So, what...

Food.

Блять, she was starving.

She shuts off the shower, no thought given to the state of her face.

Okay. That was-

Heat surrounds her nose, again. Residual steam. Body heat. Whatever it was,

"Nghh-hUH-ah-!" Her nose again prickled against shifting temperature as her face was finally allowed to warm again. And, with increasing desperation, she realized Celeste doesn't have any tissues in the bathroom.

...And the toilet paper was empty again, for fuck's sake...

Briefly, she considers just letting them out again, so exhausted she could barely help it. Still, she has some modicum of shame left.

And, if Juno was anything, it was stubborn.

"HgghH-hHuhh-hhuhhaHH-!" Her head hangs upwards briefly, before she manages to bury it in her right forearm, again groping blindly for a towel she thinks is in front of her, reaching, leaning, stumbling-

"Hhh-h-uh-aAGH, FUGCK!" It is, admittedly, a little comical for the two of them to hear this congested exclamation from one room over, particularly hearing the THUNK from the wall as Juno manages to fall forward and bounce the top of her nose off it.

The pain of the impact shoots down into the rest of her nose, reigniting the tickle with a vengeance; her hand grasps the air with increasing desperation, her voice raising in pitch as she continues to fight a losing battle.

In the middle of the floor, now, dripping, and reaching, and-

"Juno?" Celeste's voice vibrates Juno's head through the door, and it becomes increasingly clear she is delaying the inevitable, even to her, as it further sets off her nose. She...just...needs...!

"N-no-hH! N-nuh-not unt-hiiUHH-HH-!"

No more rubbing. No more talking. No more gasping. Juno's chest remains uncomfortably full of air as she holds herself together on a bare edge, mouth agape, face trapped in a pitiful expression Celeste and Nick would both like framed for different reasons, if they could see it. She freezes up.

Ah. Wait. No.

Don't get stuck. Don't-that's so much worse...

In that brief moment, trapped on the edge of a sneeze she can't decide if she wants to let go or hold back, a whimper escapes from the back of her throat.

"Are you o-"

"-HNKGGSSSSHHHHHHEWWWWwww...!"

...Oh, god.

...Oh, fuck me.

"...пиздец..." She doesn't want to open her eyes. She doesn't want to do anything. She just...wants to...

"Ughhhhhhhh...." Miserable. That's the word on her mind.

"Are you okay?" The knob turns, and Juno scrambles, as best she can, to keep it shut.

"W-wait. Hold on."

"Answer the question."

"Yes. I'm okay. I'm...don't...don't open the door."

She can barely see, but the light from under the door illuminates the...aftermath of that colossal sneeze attached to her arm. She is also buck naked, but that doesn't matter nearly as much to her.

"Okay, well...I'm right here if you need me."

Truthfully, there is more than one reason she's waiting right here, not that Juno cares. In fact, if she'd thought about that, she might've asked her to come help.

...

...In fact, that's what she's thinking of, but...

She finally manages to grab the towel down from the rack. It's rough to feel up, but that doesn't matter to her right now. She just needs to mop the mess from her face, and her arm, and...dry off.

A puddle has formed around her, and she tries to stumble for the tub again, trying to avoid-

"HmpgSCHHEWW-!" -trying to get in, and sit, and stew, and- "NnngSCHHhh!" -try to stop sneezing, and shivering, and-

"Uff-ugh-!

And Juno knows what her bathroom floor looks like up close, now, laying prone.

Her breasts are two bags of sand attached to her chest, and no matter what she does to them, they refuse to cooperate, weighing her chest down and making the whole ordeal more of a struggle than it needs to be.

"Juno?"

She blows her nose into the towel, trying not to cringe as she fills the spot she's blowing into.

"Ughhh..."

"...Can I come in now?"

At a certain point, Celeste stops listening when Juno tells her no. It's the only way she can ever get her to accept help, sometimes.

Not quite there yet, thankfully.

With no thoughts left in her head besides I want to go back to bed and Please carry me and Ughhhh I hate my life right now, she mumbles her consent.

She struggles to sit up, half a mind to cut her tits clean off, and as Celeste opens the door, Juno flinches from the light, unable to ignore the pain that explodes in her skull as it does. She moans, stopping just short of whining.

Celeste sucks in a breath.

"Oh, Juno..."

Her torso looks more like a painting, done up in all manner of purples, blacks, and browns, all over top a pale white canvas. Old scars mingling with new; red on top of pink and dripping with water that makes it look like blood flowing against her skin.

What little she can see of her face has retreated, locked in a grimace with both eyes screwed tightly shut. The shape of her nose is crushed in the towel, the pressure whitening what must be, by now, very red.

A draft blows in, splitting the steam like an ocean, apparently centered entirely on the thin figure crumpled before her, making her teeth start to chatter.

She's...better. Not great.

"Cover your eyes up."

Juno pulls the towel up the rest of the way over her head, wishing she could crush the light flooding the room by crushing her eyes. When were those painkillers going to kick in...

Celeste shuts the door and flicks the switch, letting softer light filter through the space from behind the mirror.

Juno doesn't react, but the shivering slows.

"Alright," Celeste whispers, pulling the other towel from the rack. "I'm gonna help dry you off now, okay? You can keep your eyes covered up, but can you lift your chin?" Wordlessly, Juno's head lifts, her mouth the only part of her face free, just so she can breathe.

Celeste moved the towel gently, patting the space around her neck, cupping her jaw and turning it one side and the other.

"HnnGSSchewww!"

Despite her best efforts, a tired, full sneeze is knocked loose from the ever present irritation in her nostrils, mostly contained, but still spraying Celeste with spit.

"S-sorry..."

"It's fine. How's your head?"

"...awful." The word slips out in a dozy half-mumble before she realizes it, and Celeste hums sympathetically, frowning.

"...did you already-?"

Yes, she did, on an empty stomach, as she can tell from the still open pill bottle--with several spilled along the sink.

Juno shrinks deeper inward, awaiting the oncoming lecture.

"Let me see this arm."

Celeste quietly continued her work, and Juno did her best to silently follow her commands, occasionally breaking off to sneeze or cough, which Celeste responded to in the same way.

...After all, she...caught it from her.

Celeste sighs.

--

"Open."

Juno would probably have protested, now that she's regained some strength, but judging by the evident struggle to keep her eyes open and the glazed over look in her eyes, she's not thinking about how helpless she looks, and instead focused on following Celeste's instructions...and the spoon.

Her lips part slightly, just enough for it to deposit more soup.

Classic. Quick. Easy.

Soothes her throat going down (as does the honey in her tea), warms her up, and, conveniently, very easy to stomach. Nick made it especially for that purpose, knowing well that Celeste probably could burn water if she wasn't careful.

Once she coaxed the first few spoonfuls down Juno's throat, she began to suckle hungrily on the spoon each time it went in. Celeste struggled not to make a sound when she first did it, overwhelmed with how cute it was.

As soon as Celeste had managed to get clothes on her, Nick helped to carry her back into Celeste's bed. The covers were up to her neck, pillows piled slightly higher to enable her to sit and eat in comfort. The only light in the room was a candle Celeste found while Juno was showering.

And the not so slowly building pile of tissues in the trash told them that Celeste would need more boxes.

...Many more.

Nick fully expected to be dispatched for something soon, and hadn't taken anything to help the shooting pain from the wrapped gunshot wounds in both his left shoulder and stomach yet as a consequence.

Pain meds put him out. They still had some need of him, or so he's decided, so he was still up, never mind how late it was.

"Okay." Celeste voice was warmer than usual, and whether she wanted to or not, it was making it much harder for Juno to stay awake.

She doesn't want to, she's decided, which is why as soon as the spoon is back in the bowl and the bowl is on the end table, her eyes shut and she tries to shift onto her left side.

Celeste's hand stops her, and her eyes flutter back open in her best approximation of alert right now.

"...Medicine."

She'd had the tea. Now it was time to give modern medicine its due.

...

Juno's face takes on a look Celeste would best describe as pensive.

"I'll make it easy. Open."

Juno blankly does so, allowing Celeste to spoon-

Juno really does think she's going to throw up, this time.

As soon as the flavor touched her tongue, her entire body seemed to reject it, all at once recoiling and spewing the bitter liquid out from her mouth (as well as a fair amount of her own saliva).

She cries out limply, trying not to puke, not to cry, not to-she starts coughing, thankfully nothing solid spilling out with her breath.

Celeste sucks in a breath, grabbing a tissue just to wipe her face.

"You have to take it. Fever's too high."

...she looks up at Celeste with a truly pathetic expression.

"Do it as a shot."

It's the first time Nick's spoken more than "Hmm." or "Okay." all night, and Celeste stops.

"Huh?"

"A shot. You know. I mean, it'll probably be a lot easier for her."

Celeste looks down at Juno's glassy expression and decides Whatever lets me put her to bed sooner.

"Here, sit her up more."

Juno didn't like the way Nick spoke about her like she isn't here, but didn't have the energy to speak anymore. Not like she disagreed with his idea.

Nick poured the syrupy liquid into the first glass he found, grabbing Juno's left hand and waiting for her to grip it.

She does so, and after a breath, throws it back.

"Chaser. Chaser. Your tea." Nick points at Celeste's tea emphatically as Juno barely manages to swallow, slamming the glass down with a sour expression on her face. She only remembers to pinch her nose after it's already done, and all it does is bring the still lingering tickle forward.

"NgKkshh-!" The sound was muffled against her fingers.

"Here." Celeste presses the tea toward her chest, allowing her to grab and chug half the glass.

"Guhh..."

Good. She's done.

Nick nods, starting towards the door.

...It's the first time he's seen her struggle on a shot.

"What do you need?"

The words all melt into the warmth of the covers and Juno doesn't so much drift off as much as she's pulled off by the undertow.

Celeste snuffs the candle as Juno's breathing quickly transforms from uneven breaths in and out to light snoring, which grows in volume as she considers Nick's question.

"...What?" Nick blinks. Celeste narrows her eyes.

"...from the store, I mean." Yeah, he could've worded that one better, maybe. "Like...for her?"

"...Nick, I have plenty of...everything. You went to the store earlier, remember?"

Nick pauses.

His eyebrows furrow, grasping at dead air.

...Did...he did...what?

...He stares down at his hands.

"...?" Why is he so surprised by this?

"...Okay." Well, still, he'll go pick up some-

"How are you doing?"

He hasn't gotten any sleep in the past 20 hours she's been with him, and that's just the time she's been with him. Juno wasn't the only one hurt in that escape.

She fixes him with a look that, regardless of his attempts to ignore it, makes his skin crawl, and he realizes after a moment that he's well and truly caught.

"Fine."

Celeste rubs her eyes in annoyance, and Nick sighs, smiling.

From one stubborn lunatic to another.

"How's your arm?"

"Works."

It's her turn to sigh.

"Nick?"

"...Yes?"

"Go to bed."

Both are silent for an uncomfortably long time.

Celeste crosses her arms.

Nick decides to break it, knowing full well that arguing wouldn't save him.

"...Roger."

He stretches, walks out, and within a few minutes, she hears the sound of him flopping down onto her couch.

Celeste shakes her head.

...Honestly.