Agent 38: I Never Forgot You

Chapter 20: Fever Dreams (Pt. 2)

     Sarai woke up and, almost immediately, wished she hadn't.
     Dim sunlight shone through the one window in the bedroom, hitting her directly in the face and instantly giving her a headache. Her jaw ached as though she'd been clenching her teeth all night long, her eyes felt dry, her throat was sore, and even though she hadn't even moved yet, pain was already settling into her limbs. Her legs were curled in and her knees were up against her chest. Eight's forehead was pressed up against something warm, and she could feel light breathing on the back of her neck.
     She didn't feel well rested. Her muscles felt like they'd been exercising throughout the entirety of the night, like she'd tensed at some point and stayed like that. She moved her arm to hug the warm thing, presumably a pillow, and it tensed.
     Her eyes flared open, and a thought went through her head as she realized what- or rather, who- she was hugging.
     Pillows aren't supposed to do that.
     Immediately, she pulled her arms back and sat up. She turned to stare at him, disbelieving, but his eyes were still closed and he wasn't moving at all. His hair (finally let down) was spread across his face, and she chuckled at the sight.
     Sarai remembered what had happened throughout the night; it was kind of embarrassing. She wanted to apologize or say thank you, because he probably hadn't slept that well either, and she had been nothing but a screaming, crying mess. He was there for her, and she appreciated that.
     She reached over and gently stroked the hair out of his face, a grin creasing her lips. "Thank you."
     Sarai turned again, cautiously stretching as to not rip the stitches in her side. A very deep, quiet voice, his voice, responded, "Your welcome."
     She sighed, rubbing her alarmingly warm forehead. "Alex, if you're already awake, please just open your eyes. It helps me avoid awkward moments."
     "This isn't an awkward moment," He protested, his tone deep and muffled, as though his face was half buried in a pillow. "You said 'thank you', I said 'your welcome'. How is that awkward?"
     "Because I thought you were asleep!" Eight said. "Do you know how embarrassing that is?"
     "Why is it embarrassing?" He asked. "Personally, I think its funny."
     She playfully shoved his shoulder and he giggled like a child on a sugar high. "I'm gonna go change."
     As she stood, his hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back down. "M-mm. Stay."
     Sarai laughed. "Let me go," She smiled, twisting her wrist outward and down, out of his grip. "I have to go get changed."
     "No you dooon't," He mumbled, eyes still closed. "Stay. Please." He stretched both hands out this time, reaching for hers.
     She sighed, wondering how he could go from the flustered, stuttering Alex she'd seen yesterday, to this silly, giggling boy before her. "I'll be right back."
     He huffed, pulling the covers above his head. "Fine."
     Eight rummaged through the closet for a while, her limbs aching dully and chills sliding up and down her back. She decided on another tank top and shorts, both in shades of a gray so dark is was almost black. She went to the restroom, closing the door behind herself and locking it. Even though she had already looked at her strange temporary skin, it was still startling to see herself in the mirror. Tan colliding with teal for her flesh, and green colliding with gray for her eyes. She looked really odd.
     The air felt too cold now, slamming against her skin as though it were a breeze straight from the arctic. Her arms itched with pain as she slipped on the tank top and she shivered. Every time she turned her head it felt as though her brain was knocking around it, providing her with a supply of very unwelcome instant headaches.
     She reached up, grabbing her hair and pulling it up into a ponytail. Every time one of her tentacles brushed against her shoulders, her skin tingled with discomfort, which was very unpleasant. When she came back into the bedroom, Three had a hairtie in his mouth and was also pulling his hair up into a ponytail. He saw her, smiled, and grabbed the hairtie.
     "That's a new style," He said, waving his elbow at her as he tied his hair up. "You look nice."
     "Thanks," She sat down next to him, pulling the covers over her body. The cold instantly vanished, giving way to warmth and heat, and she quickly curled in on herself to stay that way.
     He seemed to notice this and grinned. "You cold?"
     "Mhm." Sarai tucked her arms in close to her chest, and she felt every little ounce of discomfort as her shoulders rubbed against the blanket. He scooted closer to her and gently pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.
      "Woah," He winced. "You're a bit too hot to be covered right now. You need to take the blanket off."
     She gripped it in her hands. "No. I'm cold."
     "I know." Alex hesitated for a second, as if debating whether to let her keep it on or not. "Mmgh. Five minutes, okay? I don't want your fever getting worse."
     "But the blanket is so thin, it's not even making a difference." She argued, even though the blanket was probably at least 2 inches thick.
     "Ha, no, you're not getting away with that lie. I sleep with this thing every day, it makes a very significant difference." He grinned. "Five minutes."
     "Sure."
     They were silent for a moment. Not awkward or even uncomfortable silence, just... silent.
     "You hungry? I could make you something to eat."
     "Not really. I don't have much of an appetite right now."
     "You have to eat something. You can't let your body fight a sickness without giving it something to fight with."
     "Why did you ask if you were just gonna make me eat something anyway?"
     "Because if you were actually hungry, then I would know to go make you something."
     "But I'm not hungry."
     "Tell you what; I get you a banana, you eat half, and we call it a day. Deal?"
     "...Fine."
     He stood up, stretching, and walked out to go retrieve the banana she probably wasn't even going to eat. Eight nestled deeper into the blanket, savoring its warmth while she could. Even though she'd woken up just a few minutes ago, she already felt tired and sluggish.
     Alex came back with a banana in hand and an apple in the other. He handed her the curvy yellow fruit and sat down again. "Two more minutes with the blanket, okay?"
     She sighed, sat up, and inspected the banana. It was a light yellow with brown freckles dotting the surface. She'd heard of them before, seen them, held one, but she'd never actually... eaten one. And she didn't know how to eat it, either.
     "It's a banana," Alex said sarcastically. "You eat it?"
     "No, I know, it's just... I've never eaten one before." She explained. "How do I, like... peel it?"
     "You've never had a banana before? Wow." He took it from her hands, gripped the tip of it, and wrenched it downwards. The skin peeled off, revealing the lighter yellow object inside. "Just bite it. Don't eat the black stuff at the bottom, though; it tastes bad." He handed it back to her and she took a bite.
     It tasted sweet, a tad bit sour, and had a bit of a chalky texture. It felt odd in her mouth, solid but also mushy, and already she wasn't too fond of it. "Can we trade, by any chance?"
     "Sure, but the banana will keep you full for longer." He said.
     "If I have to eat, can't I at least eat something I like?" Sarai asked. "This thing tastes weird."
     Alex shrugged, took the fruit from her hands, and replaced it with the red one. "Here."
     He had already taken a bite out of it, his fangs leaving little indents in the red flesh. It was cold and hard in her hands, its chilly surface sending painful shivers across her hypersensitive skin. It stole away the little appetite she had left, and she set it down in front of her legs, swaddling herself in the covers. The warmth was so intoxicating, so comfortable and safe, she didn't wanna let it go.
     In front of her, Alex chuckled. "I told you two more minutes with the blanket way more than two minutes ago." He reached forward, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into his embrace. He unrolled her from the blanket burrito, much to her dislike, but her body felt too crumpled to struggle.
     Eight stayed completely still, holding her arms and tucking in her legs. Alex hugged her and she could feel his breath on her head, how cautious and tense his hands were, as if he knew the pain she felt and didn't want to make it worse. They stayed like that for a while, silent, unmoving, peaceful. It made her hearts ache when she realized that she had actually missed this.
     She looked up at him and he tilted his head down to meet her eyes. Sarai reached up, gently running her fingers over his jaw. She'd noticed this before, but still found it sad that he could have so many scars at his age. From the one across his eye to the tiny little indents on his neck and shoulders, she caught herself wondering how he'd been through so much and was still so young.
     Her eyes dragged down to his lips, those lips that she had kissed so many times before yet were forbidden now. Those same lips that had been pressed against her forehead just yesterday.
     "You wanna kiss me so bad, don't you?" Alex grinned, joking, but deep down, she knew he was right.
     "Wouldn't you like to know?" She teased, flicking his nose. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Guess we'll never find out."
     He reddened, surprise filling his facial features. "Really?"
     They both drew closer, with her reaching up and Alex leaning down. Warm air colliding, eyes locked. Suddenly she didn't feel all that cold anymore.
     Her lips brushed against his, and only a second went by before they finally, finally kissed.
     It was almost like a dream, another fantasy conjured up by her head, and for a second she thought that it could have been a fever dream. But she knew her mind couldn't replicate this feeling, this feeling of such glee and pure joy. She knew her mind couldn't replicate the feeling of him.
     When they finally pulled back, the only words exchanged were a simultaneous, "I love you."

     *Fast forward to around 5 P.M.*
     Sarai was sitting on a stool, Jordan in front of her, readying the syringe again. Fear and excitement pumped through her veins; she would finally be getting back to normal. After all this time, "normal" seemed like the most far-fetched, unachievable thing in the world. And yet, not even a foot ahead of her, was the miracle worker who could turn normal into a reality.
     He had already slipped the band onto her arm and was disinfecting the area with those same rubbing alcohol pads from before. Alex sat behind her, just in case the events from yesterday happened today, and Aaron watched from across the kitchen counter.
     "I don't really remember if this last part is as crappy as the first, so we're just gonna wing it here, alright?" Jordan said, squeezing all the air out of the syringe. "And, for the love of cod, please don't flinch the moment the needle pokes you."
     Sarai chuckled. "I won't."
     The Octoling held her arm in a firm grip and slowly, cautiously dug the needle into her skin. He pulled the end of the syringe back, and she watched in complete awe as the teal hue drained from her shoulders and legs, and the green that had stained her vision for so long finally dissipated.
     A small rush of dizziness swept around her head, fever dragging across her vision, but she was too captivated to care, too taken aback, because the thing that had seemed so unfeasible, absurd and futile just two days ago was now a reality.
     Jordan withdrew the needle from her arm and quickly covered the tiny wound with a band-aid. He slipped the band off and she stood, running her fingers over her skin. Her normal, not green skin.
     I'm normal again.
     Normal.
     Sarai threw her arms around him, tears blurring her vision. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much."

8 days late this time lmao
Anyway sorry for the awkward release time
Hope you enjoyed!!
Word count: 2095