Homestuck Drabbles (Taking Requests!)

February 12, 2015

Hey Guys! So in honor of the homestuck hiatus, I'm starting a drabble thread! The only thing is, I'm short on ideas and inspiration. So if there's anything you guys want to see me write, I'll do it to the best of my abilities! To kick this off, have some sickly Dave/Jade <3

You know when people say they feel like shit? It's a ridiculous saying in the first place because nobody knows what it's like to literally be a piece of shit. Yet if there was ever a time somebody had come close to experiencing that, it would be David Strider at this moment. In short: Dave felt like shit. His throat was hoarse and throbbing with pain. His head was in a similar situation. He had so much mucus stuffed in his sinuses it was a surprise his face hadn't burst from the pressure. His stomach was doing somersaults. He couldn't get enough blankets on himself to keep warm, but was sweating like crazy.

He woke up for the day, but at what cost? The sunlight blared down from the gap in his curtains. Hundreds upon thousands of dust specks floated around in the beam it created. Dave squinted his eyes shut and rolled away from the intrusive brightness. Was that what woke him up? No, he remembered hearing a noise. He was confused and slightly afraid by this because he was definitely the only person home.

There was a knocking at his door. So that was what woke him. He wondered if he should respond or not. If it was bro, he would just bust down the door. If it was a stranger, it probably wasn't a good idea to let them know people were home. The knocking happened again.

"Dave, I know you're in there!" A voice sounded from behind the wall. Was that...Jade? What the fuck. He couldn't think about it for much longer because his sinuses were, yet again, demanding his attention. His nose tickled fiercely for a few moments, then released with a half-stifled sneeze.

"Ht-CHshh!...heh...Ha'TCHshh!" he sighed and accepted his defeat. He couldn't pretend like he wasn't there anymore.

"It's open." He winced at how scratchy and broken his voice sounded. There was no way he was hiding this from her, but he'd be damned if he didn't try.

Jade opened the door and carefully stepped over to the bed. She had to avoid all of the clothes, smuppets, apple juice bottles, pizza boxes, and everything else that was flung all over Dave's floor. This was routine, however, as the room was never clean. Somehow it seemed messier than usual. There were even some CDs on the floor, which he prided himself on taking good care of. She knew something was up.

Dave rolled over to greet her, still trying to wake up. He had no idea what time it was, but a fair guess would be early afternoon. His shades were resting on the night stand. This gave Jade a clear view of his bleary ruby eyes - they seemed to sink down into his pale face. The redness in them complimented his flushed cheeks. He wore only a pair of sweat pants that were currently covered up by the multiple blankets piled on top of him. His hair was plastered to his face with sweat. He looked like a stray cat that got caught out in the rain and was now struggling to get warm with how much he was shivering.

"Good morning." He offered with heavy-lidded eyes and a weak smile.

"Holy crap Dave! Are you okay?" Jade asked. She put a hand on his forehead and frowned. "You're burning up!"

"I'm fine. Just dying a little bit. Why-" whatever he was going to say next got cut off by a coughing fit. His chest ached and throat burned with every dry cough that racked his body. He caught them in a balled fist, which changed to the crook of his elbow as they got more intense. He took a second to compose himself while Jade scrutinized him with that concerned look of hers. "Why are you here?"

"Remember our plans for laser tag? You didn't show up and didn't answer my messages. I got worried and came over to check on you. It's a good thing too, you sound awful! Where's your bro? Does he know you're sick?"

"Oh fuck, sorry about that. Bro's at work and doesn't know." he rasped out.

"Jesus, Dave! You were just going to not tell anybody? What if things got worse?"

"Chill Harley, it's just the flu."

"People die from the flu!!! At least if they do if they don't take care of themselves properly. Which I doubt you've been doing. " she sat down on the bed and brushed his sweaty bangs out of his eyes.

"I'll have you know that yesterday I had an actual apple instead of apple juice. I threw it up later but that's not the point." he closed his eyes and savored the coolness of her fingertips carving rivers through his flaming desert of a forehead.

"Good job." Jade laughed softly and (to Dave's distress) pulled her hand back. "Do you want me to get you anything? Water? Meds? Food?"

"Water sounds cool. Literally and figuratively." he said, then winked for good measure.

"Coming right up!" Jade said. She smiled and left to go get water.

It's a good thing she left because Dave was feeling an intense tickle invading his sinuses. His breath hitched a few times, eyes watering in desperation, but to no avail. He lost it, yet the tingling pin-pricking sensation didn't go away. He tried building up to it again.

"You okay in there?" Jade hollered. The sounds of rushing water filled the background of her voice.

"Yeah, I'm good!" He hollered back in-between fits. He cleared his throat a couple times, which of course hurt like hell. It wasn't enough for his throat to be scratchy, it had to be sore too. It almost hurt to breathe. The water was sounding nicer and nicer each passing second.

Jade came in with a tall glass of ice water. After hopping around the mess on his floor again she handed the drink to Dave. He sat up and chugged about half of it, then set it on the night stand. He breathed heavily for a few moments and reveled in the satisfaction it brought. It was relief beyond description. Especially since he slept with his mouth open sometimes, so his throat was particularly dry having just woken up. Plus the shock of the cold water combined with sitting up had relieved some of the congestion in his sinuses.

Jade watched all this happen and blushed ever so slightly. There was something enticing about watching a damp shirtless man chug water. Especially if that man was Dave. She hoped to God that he didn't notice her staring. He seemed too caught up in his own symptoms to notice much of anything. Typical Strider. You know when people say they feel like shit? It's a ridiculous saying in the first place because nobody knows what it's like to literally be a piece of shit. Yet if there was ever a time somebody had come close to experiencing that, it would be David Strider at this moment. In short: Dave felt like shit. His throat was hoarse and throbbing with pain. His head was in a similar situation. He had so much mucus stuffed in his sinuses it was a surprise his face hadn't burst from the pressure. His stomach was doing somersaults. He couldn't get enough blankets on himself to keep warm, but was sweating like crazy.