Hey, I'm alive! Shockingly. This was sitting in my doc manager for about 50 days for... some reason.

Anyway...

I'm surprised I didn't come up with this one earlier, honestly. Although I'm kinda glad I didn't. Probably wouldn't have been as interesting otherwise.

By the way, y'all know what bothers me? I go researching for something, and because of the way that these sites are laid out, they can't just tell you the symptoms of a particular potentially fatal whathaveyou, no, they have to also bang on about seek medical attention and that makes it really difficult to research for a setting in which you have to deal with that shit yourself, because there apparently is no such things as a home remedy for poisonous snake bites. Go figure, right?
This actually occurs a lot in my writing, in case you've ever wondered why any of my work is horrible illogically. It's not because of lack of effort, I will fucking tell you now.

Everything hurt. She could hardly breathe. She could only just barely think when there was a pounding in her skull demanding that she not.

What the hell happened?

Mona tried to force her eyes open, but didn't make it very far before she was blinded by light. She flinched and groaned, wanting to curl up on her side and cover her head with her blankets, but she couldn't. Her body refused to do anything.

"Go back to sleep. Everything fine."

The voice next to her ear startled her, and she found the strength to force her body to scramble away, right off the bed. Naturally, that was not the smartest move she could have made, because the impact with the floor made her body hurt even more. The sudden move also didn't help her lungs, which she quickly realized were rather irritated and sent her into a dry coughing fit.

"Mona!" The sound of feet pounding against the floor did absolutely nothing to help the aching in her head. Luckily, it didn't last for particularly long. A hand rested against her shoulder. When her coughs ceased, she heard the voice speak again, very softly. "Hey… You've been poisoned. It was mild, though. I think. Uh, you're fine now, but you're still recovering. Please rest."

Poisoned?

Something came to her, a brief memory; that she had been working with something quite toxic, what, exactly, she could not remember. She had accidently inhaled some fumes in this weird moment where she blanked completely, and it downed her damn near immediately. Actually, she had probably ended up hitting her head on the way down; the throbbing in her skull felt like it was far too much to be a mere symptom of poisoning. But, then again, her whole being ached in a way that it really shouldn't for having inhaled toxic fumes, so maybe some idiot decided to go kicking her when they found her lying there.

The how really didn't matter now, though.

Idly, she supposed that it was a good thing that she had Slimon in the room with her; otherwise she probably wouldn't still be alive.

She forced her eyes open again, squinting against the light, finding her partner kneeling at her side, his mask off for once with a very concerned look on his face. He was reaching forward to pick her limp body up off the floor.

Her slime child was suddenly there, grabbing her feet and helping in moving her back to the bed. She managed a small smile at him, but to her surprise, he used one hand to sign rapidly at her, so much so that her hurting brain didn't understand any of it. He seemed vaguely annoyed, though, judging from the grumbling sound he was making.

"Sorry…"

The attempt left her dryly coughing again, and she found the strength to curl into a ball, though she kept one eye open enough to watch her slime.

Though she still could not understand his rapid sign language, judging from the way he jerked a little in surprise, he wasn't angry at her.

"Why are you apologizing? This isn't your fault."

Mona's eye dart up to Plague Knight, and she shook her head just a little.

Plague Knight laughed a weak laugh, probably utterly confused. "Hey Slimon… go get some water, would you? I think she really needs it."

Her boy was quick to run off in search of the requested liquid.

While waiting for him to return, Mona turned her attention to the room around her, trying desperately to block out the burning in her throat from her cough. They were in her partner's room, of which she hadn't been in for years. Not since he had first set it up, in fact.

…Why had he brought her all the way to the Explodatorium?

Right, toxic gas in her room. Not good to risk further inhalation.

Now that her eyes had adjusted she realized it really wasn't that bright after all. In fact, the lighting was rather gentle, the candles overhead bathing everything in a very soft blue. She glanced to the right, finding the door, his wardrobe and a holder for his replacement staffs. She rolled onto her back to look to the other side, finding immediately a rat, dead in its cage. Had he forgotten it was there? He'd been spending much more time in the Potionarium, and the neglect had likely killed it. Or maybe he just never noticed the smell it gave off and it had been dead for half a year.

Plague Knight noticed her gaze and laughed nervously. "I'll, uh, I'll have Slimon take that out… later. Sorry."

Had she the strength for it, she would have laughed. Instead, she cracked a grin and allowing her eyes to roam some more. He still had the notes for the torque lifts for some reason. Curious, but she supposed that explained why they disappeared one day after she asked him to help her adjust them.

There was a stack of books that he had yet to put away, and it made her wonder what he was researching. Or maybe, like with the rat, he had been doing something with them and proceeded to forget that they were there.

The books, the rat, likely the notes… suddenly she was seeing a running theme, and it wasn't the fact that he had giant ornamental staffs everywhere.

Honestly, though, when she made that staff for him, she wasn't expecting him to latch onto it so hard that he would decorate his room with it. It was a good thing, though, because even back then it was an amazing show of companionship she only ever got from him. Most people would have treated it like an ugly Christmas sweater; wear it once, maybe twice, but only out of obligation, and then it would be forgotten, shoved off in the far reaches of their closet.

That and his cloak… In general, he seemed to like her gifts. Honestly, it made her happy.

"What are you thinking about?"

Mona jerked and looked at her partner warily. "What?" She tried to suppress the cough that attacked her, but mostly failed.

"You were smiling."

Mona felt a blush immediately creep onto her face. She wanted to tell him what she felt, but knew she wouldn't get halfway through before that stupid cough caused further problems. She tried to reach for his hand, but he didn't notice the attempt and she didn't manage to get that far before her strength failed her.

As luck would have, Slimon returned with a bottle of water at that moment. He passed the bottle off to Plague Knight before lifting her up enough so that she wouldn't choke. When her partner drew close enough, she grabbed his hand, tapping out a message to him while she took in the water. He cocked his head a little before smiling.

"Happy, huh? Well, positivity does wonders for getting better."

She tapped out another message, and he paused for a moment before rather awkwardly putting the now half empty water bottle down.

"O-Oh. Slimon, pick the woman up, would you?"

Slimon, although confused, did as he was told, only to grumble when he realized where they were heading.

"Hey, boy, you don't technically have a gender. Mona just assigned one to you. It's way less awkward for you to make sure she doesn't fall over while taking a piss than if I were to do it."

"Can we not?" Mona groaned before they could get started.

Plague Knight offered her a weak grin in return. "Sorry."

A couple minutes later, Slimon came out of the bathroom carrying his master like he had when he went in, although she was visibly more uncomfortable now.

Mona made a weak little gesture to Plague Knight, and this time he noticed and waited to listen to her whisper. "Painkillers?"

He chuckled. "Says the person who admonishes me constantly for using them." Nevertheless, he went looking through his bag.

"Key word: Constantly."

A small nervous noise left him, and he held out a bottle of ether, sticking it in front of her face and waiting until she got a couple good whiffs of it. The stuff hit her harder than any attack she had ever sustained, as it always did when she resorted to using the stuff. It made her grumble and close her eyes, only to open them up again to glare at her laughing partner.

"Still don't like that stuff?"

Mona nodded, grateful enough that the numbness made the action less painful.

He gave her a grin before motioning to Slimon to return her to the bed. On the way, something caught her eye, and when she looked up enough to actually see what it was, her eyes went wide.

"Isn't it… a little… creepy? That you have… a picture of me? Above your bed?"

Plague Knight froze on the spot, leg in midair. He nearly fell to the ground, but managed to catch himself just in time. He turned to stare at her. "Um… I-I-I can… I can totally explain that…"

"Then do."

Mona adjusted herself in Slimon's arms until she was comfortable, confident that this was going to be good enough for a laugh.

"W-Well… I… You, you make me very happy." He fidgeted at the obvious admission. "I… uh, I was painting and I sorta ended up… painting you… without meaning to." While he twitched awkwardly, Mona was trying to contain her surprise. He painted? And accidently painted her at that. "It's pretty shit up close. It's… one of the only things I've ever made, but it does a good enough job resembling you from far away. So… I framed it and hung it above my bed… In case I was ever lonely."

The whole confession just about left Mona floored, and the only thing her could think to ask was, "How long ago… did you make this?"

An awkward sound left his throat, and he whispered, "I'm just not going to answer that, lest you think I'm a creepy stalker."

"Your lack of answer says everything."

Plague Knight turned away from her, but that didn't manage to stop her from seeing a blush growing on his face.

"Have you at least improved since then?" He turned to her, his head tilting to the side. She repeated her words, slowly. "Have you improved?"

"Uh, um, probably? Maybe, I don't know."

"Okay then, tell me when you re-do it then. I'll give you a model to work off of."

"W-what?"

"I won't do nudes though. Those are off the table."

Plague Knight stared at her with horror, or at least what she interpreted as horror, on his face, that blush of his growing worse each second until she was afraid he was going to pass out.

"Slimon?" He gurgled at her. "Put me down. I think I can stand. Plague Knight looks like he needs a lie down though."

Slimon obeyed, ensuring that she was going to be fine on her own before heading for her partner and helping him to the bed. A small squeak was the only acknowledgement he gave to the slime's assistance.

As distressing as his lack of response was, Mona found herself laughing at him. This was its own special level of priceless that she couldn't stop herself even though it wasn't particularly funny. She damn near doubled over, but that might have just been the general weakness caused by her poisoning mixed with the numbing from the anesthetic.

Slimon was quick to return to her side, sweeping her off her feet before she had a chance to fall over, returning her to the bed as well.

Fighting down her giggles, Mona grinned at the flushed face of her partner. "Hm, embarrassed?"

At the small squeak that was his response, she started laughing again until she felt a sharp poke of pain in the ribs. It was minor, though, so she wasn't particularly worried. Still snickering a little, she muttered, "Ow, Plaguey, stop amusing me."

He glanced at her with a tortured look on his face that nearly sent her into more rib destroying laughter. She just barely managed to swallow it down.

"Stop amusing me and I'll stop embarrassing you, deal?"

At his nod, she smiled and curled up on her side, awaiting a return to her much needed sleep.

"Uh, sleep well…"

Mona hummed a little, breathing, "I know you plan on burning that picture once I'm asleep." His breath hitched, and she knew it was true. "Don't. It's creepy, but not too creepy."

She could feel his wide eyes on her as sleep took its hold.

Note: This and the last one are a basically weird sub-universe taking cues from TOoHO/Primum Opus as I mentioned earlier. It's not wholly mine or her's, even though I have basically been told to steal Slimon to the fullest extent possible. However, because I'm also lifting other things like part of the backstory provided there, and at least in part Plague's worrying drug use, I'm keeping a distinction that will hopefully become more obvious the more I myself understand it.

Jason: What the fuck is a Shota. Like, I looked it up, but I'm not entirely sure if the internet's definition is quite the same as yours.
*rolls eyes* totally, you're the most selfish person this side of the universe. Forget, like, Trump and the republicans (who are basically defined by the fact that they are looking out for their companies and not the people having to work there), it's you.
I've figured out one half of what I'm going to do in regards to what I asked you, but really now, one of the things I asked was effectively a yes or no question. A name, I get, is difficult to come up with, that's why I haven't named it yet, however, just... code names. CODE NAMES!

You know, I bet you won't see this for months, if at all. I haven't been active here for so long I'm wondering if it's worth it to put the new hanburger on Ao3 so we can have something resembling an actual conversation. Although seriously, kid, get a discord.