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Sick
The new squat's a shithole, with no heat and hardly any electricity and not enough space, but no one has the energy to move out or find something better. The phlegmy cold they've been passing around all month has gone to Ripper's chest. His lack of appetite makes him popular; his cough and his inclination to hog the blankets don't. He spends a day curled on the mattress, drifting in feverish half-dreams of the infirmary in college, his warm bedroom at home, hot Lemsip, Vicks. At night, he dreams of his mother, and wakes unsure whether he's coughing or sobbing.
Sicker
"Oi, Rip!" Someone kicks the mattress, breaking Ripper's feverish doze and starting him coughing again.
"Sod off," he rasps.
"Your fucking plague doesn't mean the rest of us don't need to get off." Philip grabs the blanket away. "Just do the circle. You'll feel better," he adds. "Been too long, yeah?"
Ripper swats him away and sits up to grab the blanket back. They're almost ready: Ethan's drawing the runes, and Dee's already sleeping in the center. He aches everywhere, he's sweaty and shivering, and he can't tell what's flu and what's Eyghon, and that makes him feel sicker still.
The new squat's a shithole, with no heat and hardly any electricity and not enough space, but no one has the energy to move out or find something better. The phlegmy cold they've been passing around all month has gone to Ripper's chest. His lack of appetite makes him popular; his cough and his inclination to hog the blankets don't. He spends a day curled on the mattress, drifting in feverish half-dreams of the infirmary in college, his warm bedroom at home, hot Lemsip, Vicks. At night, he dreams of his mother, and wakes unsure whether he's coughing or sobbing.
Sicker
"Oi, Rip!" Someone kicks the mattress, breaking Ripper's feverish doze and starting him coughing again.
"Sod off," he rasps.
"Your fucking plague doesn't mean the rest of us don't need to get off." Philip grabs the blanket away. "Just do the circle. You'll feel better," he adds. "Been too long, yeah?"
Ripper swats him away and sits up to grab the blanket back. They're almost ready: Ethan's drawing the runes, and Dee's already sleeping in the center. He aches everywhere, he's sweaty and shivering, and he can't tell what's flu and what's Eyghon, and that makes him feel sicker still.