Motion Sickness
|| ler!ryland grace + lee!teenage sick reader
|| AN: i love sick fics …. im in my prime 😼 another request so ask at the bottom as always yay !!!!
Erid was an amazing planet, to no one’s surprise. And as much as you couldn’t get enough of it, god forbid you get bored once and a while.
Ryland is teaching his classes most mornings. ..And afternoons. And sometimes longer. Most of the time you’re helping him, not so much as another teacher [though, you’re sure you could at this point], but just helping with materials or examples. Emphasis on the last one, the amount of times Ryland has randomly pulled you in to be used as a visual, you swear…
But sometimes you’re not. Sometimes he’s busy, and sometimes you have to be on your own. And that’s fine! It’s not like you can’t take care of yourself. Because you can. Just.. maybe sometimes you forget some things, that’s all.
The ocean you and Ryland live across from - [because Ryland thinks you’re too young to live by yourself, and maybe he’s right] - is beautiful, but, it truly is never a good temperature. It’s either freezing cold or boiling hot. But you caught it at a good time! It was a level up from so-cold-you’re-gonna-die temperature today! So, you took advantage while Ryland was gone.
You’re starting to regret the impulse swim, especially when your entire body aches.
You don’t flinch anymore when the front door shuts, used to the familiar noise now. You can easily recognise the sound of Ryland’s footsteps and the sound of him tossing his coat.
You would get up to see what he was doing, to ask how his class went, but your bones feel heavy and the line between sleep and wake feel too blurry to tell the difference from.
Yes, maybe you were a little sick. What did you expect after getting your hair wet then proceeding to sit in the cold? You got used to that spaceship, and now you’re suffering as if it’s your fault! [..Which, it is, but, still.] But, you’ll be fine.
Maybe you drifted off after all, because the next thing that comes to your attention is feeling Ryland staring at you from the hall. “What do you want..?” You grumble groggily, pushing your face back into the pillow.
“Its barely sunset, kiddo. You have a big day?” He smiles, gesturing to the simulated orange sky out the opened window. He moves to sit on the edge of your bed, resting a hand on your shoulder.
“Mmhmm..” You hum lazily. Truthfully?.. Not really. But the inability to knock this head-hurting sleepy feeling made it hard to explain.
He hums softly in response, hand slowly shifting up to thread through your hair. He frowns after a second, pressing the back of his fingers to your forehead. “You’re warm.” He comments, voice blunt. “Like.. Too warm.”
“what’re ’ou talkin about..” You slur with a groan, finally waking up enough to sit up. Or, attempt - the closest you got was propping yourself up on your elbows before Ryland held a hand to your back.
“Hey, hey, easy.” He insisted, voice carrying the worry across. “You’re burning up.. I told you not to go swimming today. Adrian and Rocky are still working on making it warmer for you.”
You simply hum again, just barely holding back an eye roll as you crash back into your mattress. “I didn’t.”
“You’re a liar.” He huffs out a laugh, the hand on your back rubbing small circles. “Try and sleep it off, okay?”
You barely got to agree before sleep overtook. You managed to doze off pretty fast, to your own surprise. When you awake next, you wish your sleep had lasted longer than those couple hours, because you only feel worse.
You let out a noise between a whine and groan, trying to simply will yourself to go back to sleep. Not happening, much to your demise.
Before you could have a coherent thought of getting up, Ryland turned around the doorframe and leant against the wood. “Wow, you sound happy.” He murmured sarcastically, stepping in. “Sleeping it off didn’t work, I'm guessing?”
“You guessed correctly. Now, leave me to die, or something.” You huff sarcastically, not bothering to open your eyes up again.
“Please don’t say that in front of Rocky. He already freaked out when I told him you weren’t feeling well.” He almost shudders at the thought, a chuckle leaving his lips after. “Speaking of.. he’s working on something to help you with Adrian. And probably a lot of other Eridians he dragged into it. He was worried about you, y'know."
You perk up at that, rolling onto your back to look at the roof. “I’ll talk to him soon..” You say in a mumble, “When I can think straight.”
“I know.” Ryland winced sympathetically, walking over and plonk down next to you on the bed. “Move over, let me keep you company.”
“I’m gonna get you sick.” You complain, but do as you're told, moving over to the other side.
“Thats okay. I don’t mind.” He spoke low, folding the blanket down to your lower back to help you cool down. The fever wasn’t threatening, but it was enough to spike concern. Better to stay ahead.
“You will..” You shift to lay on your stomach faced away from his gaze, arms resting under your head. A sigh leaves your lips, holding back a small wine of discomfort. Your head seriously feels like it’s going to pound out of your head in a minute.
“It’s okay.” He repeats behind you, like he can sense it, that familiar hand landing onto your back again.
“I don’t feel good.” You grumble, head leaning to rest on the other side to be able to look up at Ryland.
“I know.” He replied softly, easily.
“This sucks.” You emphasise, eyes narrowing.
“I know.” He matches your tone dramatically, and you can’t help but let a small press onto your lips.
“There we go! I like that look a lot better on you.” He grins, and shifts closer. “Seriously. Let me take your mind off it.”
“I don’t think you can.”
“Give it a chance. Think, what can I do to help?”
And you do think, but, the only thing that comes to mind is.. Well, either going to go check progress with Rocky, or.. That. And, fuck, it was embarrassing to admit, but maybe a few tickles wouldn’t make it worse. And you don’t exactly feel like he’s going to let you get out of bed.
You simply look up at him, cheeks flushing up easily. [From the fever or the thought? Either would work.] “..Uhm..” You blink, before shaking your head. “I dunno, Ry.”
“You’re a liar.” He mimicked his previous words, leaning closer to your ears. Ryland’s voice was low and knowing and all too teasing. “You can say it.”
“I don’t want to, though.” You almost laugh, smiling nervously into the pillow.
“Fine. Only because I’m feeling merciful.” He lays back down on his side next to you, the hand on your back rubbing slow circles. “Just breathe, okay? It’ll aaaallll pass.” He spoke in a murmur, too gentle to make you do anything other than fall into mush. His hand slides up to your shoulder blades, before one finger scratches down your spine.
You don’t bother holding back the mumbled giggles, melting into the touch with a big smile. Ryland practically cooed at you, nails trailing to wherever they could reach. They settled at one of your sides, lightly spidering over the back. “Is this okay?” He asks, because he always asks.
“Mmph- Ry, c’mohohon..” You jerk away on reflex, pushing your face fully into the pillow with muffled giggles. “Ihihi- It’s fine.”
“Only fine? Oh, I think we can do better than that, yeah?” He shifts to sit up to the side of you, now two hands trailing up your skin. You shiver, shoulders rolling back with a giddy squirm.
“Dont worry, don’t worry.. I’ll go extra easy this time.” He hummed, “Whatever you want, okay? Just wanna help.”
He traces your shoulder blades, blunt nails scritching your upper back to your neck. You’re nothing if not a bundle of uncontrollable giggles, shaking your head into the pillow. “Fuhuck..” You let slip, only resulting in a deeper scribble to that spot.
“Hey! Language. Just because I’m being nice doesn’t mean you get to swear.” Ryland holds back a chuckle of endearment, just barely clawing down both sides of your torso. He runs his finger tips back over your hips and sides, and it’s no short of a distraction.
“Rocky will be coming back real soon with something for you. You don't even have to dwell on it in the meantime, either! I got you, kid. Especially like this.” He rambles on, hands not stopping for even a moment. He switches spots rapidly, no letting you get used to anything he does.
“Dohont start!” You manage to get out, heels softly kicking against the bedding to cope. He simply chuckles, tilting his head even if you couldn’t see. “What, you don’t like me teasing you? That’s a shame, because I love it. It makes you all different kinds of giggly, you know that? If I lean in reeeaaal close, and just whisper, like this? Tktktktktktktk--“
You practically squeal when his hands sneak underneath you to get at your stomach and squeeze, scrunching your ear away from his voice. “Grace!”
“What's up? Oh, sorry, too much? Is someone too ticklish for their own good? A shame, really.” He shakes his head in faked disappointment, slipping his hands out to slow down. “Poor thing. It’s not like you asked for this, or anything.”
“Hoholy… mmhph-“ The words about to come out of your mouth were going to be something Ryland would scold you for again, so, instead you pressed a hand over your own lips. “Noho words.”
“None at all?” He asks with a smile, “I’m just that good, huh? I’ll have to live up to my title, then. But, I do need at least a couple words. How’re you feeling?”
His hands still, one dropping and the other resting on your back. You breathe slowly, catching your breath. Weirdly enough, you didn’t feel worse. infact, you felt lighter. “..Uhm.. Good enough, I think. I also think I could still use those meds, though.” You shrug, shifting to lay on your back.
“You’ll get them.” Ryland nods, leaning to card a hand through your hair. His fingers brush over your ears, back and forth, and end up at the side of your jaw, and you easily fall back into giggles.
“Dont worry, I'm playing nice. ..This time.” He chuckles along with you, “Try and sleep some more. By the time you wake up, we’ll have something for you.”
He kept it soft, but that stupid smile would not wipe off your face. Maybe that’s because every time it would, you felt Ryland’s hand brush over somewhere sensitive.
It was lulling, rhythmic. You would ruin that smug ass look on his face if it wasn’t so nice.
