Friends, Fairies, and the Flu (Door)

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Plum was feeling miserable. She felt like she had the flu and she was afraid to sneeze. Whenever she was sick with flu-like symptoms, something magical happened whenever she sneezed. It was one of the downsides of being a fairy. When something was wrong with her magic, she became sick. For every Sugar Plum Fairy the type of illness was different, but Plum was stuck with something akin to the flu. Luckily, in her experience, it wasn’t catching so she hadn’t felt the need to quarantine herself to her room.

There was also something nagging in the back of her mind about this place. It wasn’t quite right. Which was strange because Plum had only ever been here in Tintagel and The Kingdom of Sweets. And yet, something was not lining up. Especially with her magic being so out of order. There was usually something that made her sick. Usually too much wish granting which caused the level of magic to decrease too much. It was similar in sense when humans lost too much blood. A loss of too much magic made her sick. It was a warning sign.

Plum was quite sure she hadn’t used up her store of magic. Not even near it, so it was very puzzling as to why she felt so horrible. And she never got sick unless it was some magical problem.

She didn’t know what else to do. She had attempted to put on her pointe shoes and twirl around the stage, but she had only gotten as far as pulling one on half-heartedly before she just flopped onto the stage feeling far too miserable and sorry for herself. Plum sniffled miserably, pulling the sleeves of her sweater down, suddenly feeling chilled. The sooner her magic sorted itself out, the better everything would be.

[door]

This was one of the very few times in recent history that Door wasn't reading. The world should fear the sky falling.

But no, Door was simply wandering around the campus, trying to find all the places that she had never seen before. She usually wandered in the city, to the point that she knew that place like the back of her hand, but she was sort of caught off guard when she realized she didn't know her own school that well. So, after a few classes and with the rest of the day off, Door went in pursuit of learning the nooks and crannies of her school.

And, before an suspicion, she was absolutely not lost. She was just...you know...wandering. And not all who wander are lost! Nope. Not lost. At a theater. There we go.

Door entered the theater and was immediately taken back. It felt sort of big, despite the fact that it was sort of intimate as well. It was a nice venue. Door could see performances going very well in this place. Henry probably sounded extra amazing in a place like this.

The girl was so busy marveling at the place that she almost didn't notice that there was someone on stage. She couldn't see the person of course, they appeared to be lying down, but Door was certain she saw someone.

"Sorry," Door started. "Am I interrupting?"

[Deleted]

Plum was very sure that she had never felt more miserable in her life. She hadn’t even thought that someone might come in to the theater. It had never even crossed her mind, that’s how miserable she felt. So when someone did come in she was very surprised. She sat bolt upright on the stage and looked for the voice, a bit disoriented.

“No, of course not,” Plum said, almost automatically. She was trying to think of an appropriate excuse as to why she was laying on the stage. She located the voice, which belonged to a girl. A girl that she knew and Plum smiled, a bit relieved to see her friend. “Oh, Door, it’s you.”

She sniffed once. It had been a while since she had seen her friend. “Have you cut your hair?” she asked, because her mind was a bit too foggy to ask anything else. She couldn’t think to ask how Door had been or ask normal things. “I really like it.”

She patted the stage beside her. “Come up and chat with me,” she invited. Honestly she could use the company and it would probably take her mind off of how sick she felt. And she really hadn’t spoken to Door in a while, so it would be nice catch up.

[door]

"Plum? I barely recoginized you, darling. Good to see you." Door smiled as she waked closer to the stage. Becoming friends with Plum was this very odd sort of accident but it might have been the best accident that happened to Door since her arrival. Most of her friendships had been carefully considered (such as Henry). Plum was just a happy accident. A very happy accident.

Door smiled and touched the crown of her hair. Someone noticed! This was just one of the many reasons that Door really did like Plum - she was just such a sweetheart. "Thanks hon." She continued to walk closer to the stage.

She hopped up on the stage and smiled at her friend. "You okay? You seem a bit...frazzled."

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Plum hadn’t seen Door in…she didn’t know how long. It had been a while anyway. “It’s very good to see you too.” And really it was. Plum didn’t really have many friends so it was especially nice to see a good friend, her first friend really, when she wasn’t feeling like herself.

Frazzled was good way to describe how she was feeling, and apparently looked. “I will be okay,” she told Door with a sniff. “My magic is acting up. I don’t know why either. And there’s this weird fairy thing that whenever my magic acting up, I get sick. But it’s not catching.” She pulled off the one pointe shoe that she had managed to pull on.

She wondered if Door also felt like something was different. Plum kept having this feeling that something was different, but she couldn’t quite tell what was different, especially with her head in the fog that it had been in lately. “Do you get the feeling that something is different?” she asked. “Or is that just me?”

[door]

"You poor thing! Why are you out and about if you're so sick? Shouldn't you be at home, sipping some sort of magic soothing tea or something? " Door knew how difficult it was to be sick and have your magic be effected. It sounded like Plum was experiencing something more specific (that it was her actual magic that was making her sick rather than her sickness was effecting her magic), which was probably all the worse.

"Plum darling, I almost always feel as though this place is a little out of sorts." Door smiled and reached out, grabbing the pointe shoe and turning it in her hand. Dancing was sort of an odd thing as far as Door was concerned. She knew Plum was rather good at it - too bad the girl was sick or she would ask for a demonstration. "I know what you're talking about though. Things are a bit weird around here. But, honestly, with all the magic floating around, I'm not surprised, you know? Everyone at this school seems to have some ability, present company included, so it makes sense for things to feel a little back and forth." Door had stopped trying to explain some of the weirder things around this school months ago.

[Deleted]

Plum waved Door off. She couldn’t just stay at home because she was feeling terrible. “Oh, magical anything wouldn’t do any good at the moment. Actually, that would probably make things worse. And besides, if I stayed in bed all day I’d only feel sorry for myself.” She had too much to do to feel sorry for herself. Staying active made her feel better, even if her brain was in a fog.

Plum had to smile back at Door. She was right. There had always been something a little strange about this place. She’d never minded until now though. As a fairy she lived and breathed magic. Magic flowed through her body, much like her blood, and like blood she needed it for her survival.

She watched Door play with her pointe shoe. It was old and very broken in, but it was comfortable and soft and worn. She was glad that Door understood what she talking about though. Plum was not fond of thinking that she was crazy, and lately that was how she’d been feeling. “Yes, I’m not too surprised either. There really are quite a few people around here with magic abilities. Magic is pretty common here. I probably shouldn’t be surprised that things feel different. I don’t know. I suppose it’s because I’m feeling so sick.” Honestly, it shouldn’t have surprised her as much as it had.

[door]

"It's not feeling sorry for yourself, darling. It's you trying to recuperate. Of course, I don't know how one goes about magical recuperation but I figure it's better than trying to go about and interact while your magic goes all over the place." Door extended her hand outwards and touched the girl's forehead. She knew that this was probably not going to tell Door anything about the physical state of her friend but she needed to do something. Plum actually felt rather cold.

Door decided that probably wasn't good.

"What do you do when you get sick in the Kingdom of Sweets?"

She was glad that she was at least able to help make Plum feel a bit more sane. Door's own insanity feelings had been pretty relaxed as of late (or maybe she was just more relaxed about it) but she was very familiar with how that felt and she knew the demand to have things feel a little more stable.

But there was only so much stability one could get at Tintagel.

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Plum let Door feel her forehead, though she was quite certain that it didn’t work the same way for fairies as humans. They were genetically similar. They had similar forms, though some fairies were tiny and fairies had the added bonus of having wings and magic. So it could very well be that fairies had a very different reaction to having a fever.

“No, no. The magic will work itself out in its own time and that could take three days or three weeks. I refuse to spend three weeks in bed. And it’s not so bad really. Some days are worse than others. Today just happens to be one of the worst days.” Plum wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or Door. “And I haven’t been using magic at all since I’ve been sick. That would only make matters worse.” Not to mention that the magic would get it all wrong anyways. Ask for a cup of tea and you just might get poison, or something equally as horrible.

She pulled out a handkerchief and blew her nose. There, now she could kind of breathe again. “Well at home I stay out of the public eye as much as I possibly can. But it’s basically business as usual.” It was too. Though to be fair, she’d never felt this sick at home before. And Plum really did hate being cooped up in her room. She liked being around people. They helped make her forget how sick she was.

[door]

The brunette laughed as Plum explained the entire sick situation. "Yeah, I figured that there wouldn't be much to get you good and better in any sort of expedient way. I just am constantly trying to fix people. Back where I'm from, if any of my family showed the slightest hint of the sickness, I was running around trying to make them all better."

Door put the pointe shoe down and she leaned back, lying down on the stage and looking up. It was sort of weird to think that Plum had to stay out of the public eye. That was just...weird. It was cool, but it was weird. Door and Plum had both spoken about the similarities of their status and it was sort of odd to hear the differences of their jobs. It was really the difference between someone who governed a quadrant and someone who ruled a kingdom.

Door turned from the ceiling and looked over towards Plum. "Well, why don't you use some magic? I mean, it's just me here and there will likely be nothing that will spontaneously become Godzilla or something, right?" She smiled brightly at her friend. "If you can still do stuff, just not with some reliability, I'm sure I have something that I wouldn't mind parting with."

[Deleted]

Plum smiled fondly at Door as she listened to her. She’d spoken about her family before. It was obvious she really cared for them. “Fixing people isn’t a bad thing,” she said quietly. “Though I do appreciate the effort. There are very few people I let take care of me.” Honestly, Plum felt like she and Door looked out for each other. She wondered if this was what it was like to have a sister.

Plum had to admit to herself that there were days when she wished she had actual family. The kind that she was blood related to and who were fairies. Someone who could help her figure things out about herself. Not that it really mattered. She had a lovely family back home who loved her, even though they weren’t blood related.

She picked up her pointe shoe where Door had put it and placed it in her bag where it belonged. Plum laughed at the Godzilla comment. “You never know,” she said lightly. “And be careful what you wish for,” she cautioned in a playful tone. “You just might get it.” As a wish granting fairy it was her duty after all to warn people.

“I would love to use my magic, but everything goes wrong. I’ll show you,” she said pulling out her wand. It was much easier to show than to tell. “I wish…for a daffodil.” It was the first thing to pop into her head, and then she swished her wand and in her free hand lay a yellow tulip. “See?” she asked Door, holding up the tulip. “This isn’t what I asked for.”

[door]

Door chuckled and waved her hands dramatically. "Ooooooh no. I was very carefully NOT to wish for a giant lizard. In no way do I want that." Door laughed again. Plum was one of those people that Door was sort or surprised to have made such good friends with. It was a very happy surprise though - she was much happier for having someone like Plum around.

"But it's close - it's a flower. I mean...I know that isn't enough to make it okay but it's not like the flower grew out of my head or something. Which is sort of what I was expecting." Door smiled happily at her friend. She understood that Plum was a bit bothered by her magic going all haywire and Door was just trying to make sure that the blonde was in something of a good mood despite the mojo being clogged up.

"Well, don't fret. You're magic will be back in full force soon, I'm sure."

[Deleted]

Plum laughed. “No, I suppose you’re right. You didn’t wish for that. But even if you had you might have only ended up with a kitten with flesh-eating tendencies.” That was a terrifying thought and would have been even more terrifying if Plum had not been a little foggy in the head. The fact that it didn’t bother her that she could be creating kittens with flesh-eating tendencies really put into perspective just how sick the poor fairy was.

“It is close,” Plum allowed, but she frowned. “But I prefer perfection. It’s only mildly annoying to sit down to find that the tea I wished for is in fact maple syrup. I just would hate to grant someone a wish and for it to horribly wrong.” She would probably be devastated and do something completely rash like retire from the wish granting business altogether. Snap her wand in half so there was no going back. And then she’d be angry at herself. That would really not be a good thing. It would probably be best not to dwell on it.

“Thank you, dear.” Plum smiled at Door. “I have faith that everything will be back to normal soon.” It was nice to know that someone was rooting for her.

"Enough about me. Tell about you. Anything new happen recently?" Door was an interesting girl. Plum was certain she would have something interesting going on. Or something new that Plum hadn't heard about.

[door]

She was glad that Plum seemed to be in a better place now than what she was when their conversation had started. She seemed back to what Plum always felt like - optimistic and a bit bright. That was definitely a plus.

Door shifted slightly as Plum raised the question.

Had anything happened recently? The questions was a pretty heavy one in Door's situation and, honestly, she didn't know how to talk about all that had happened. What was she going to say? That her favorite teacher, someone she tried very hard to maintain a platonic affection for despite her own personal feelings, had been turned into an eighteen year old, that she was quickly developing even stronger feelings for? That said boy was likely just as closed off to any sort of romantic situation for completely different (albeit legitimate) reasons? That, even if nothing was magical about this entire scenario, Door had much stronger feelings for someone than they had for her?

Should she mention that she had a roommate that she liked very much but seemed to see something inside her that Door tried to keep hidden? Should she mention that so many of the constructed walls that Door had carefully built around herself seemed to be crumbling without her permission? She should mention that she was sleeping under her bed again?

Would Plum even understand any of this?

But Plum was a friend. A good friend even and Door hadn't really had those before. She wanted to make sure that she did what friends tended to do with one another and confide in her. Plum was the right type of person to confide in - sweet, honorable, smart and loyal. No, Door should have no qualm about being upfront with. If only Door knew what to be upfront about.

Door sighed. "Things are a bit complicated at the moment. I would love to report upon it but there is nothing to report at the moment. I promise, when things start to take shape and develop, I'll tell you more."

[Deleted]

Plum sensed that Door was having trouble with her question. Had she asked the wrong thing? Or was there just a lot going on? Was it strange that Plum could almost see Door’s mind working, processing, thinking. Oh dear, she must be more ill than she though. Either that or there was some strange fairy thing going on.

She waited patiently until Door answered. Ah, it was complicated. That was fair. Life was complicated, it was true. Plum was a fairy and she found things complicated, even with magic. Or should that be especially with magic? Did it matter? No, probably not. Life was complicated with or without magic.

Plum scooted towards Door and then hugged her. When things got complicated sometimes hugs helped. They didn’t actually do anything, but sometimes they were just all a person needed to get by. “I’m sorry things are complicated,” she said, letting go of her friend. “Whenever you feel like talking you’ll have to come by my flat. We can have tea or something. And we’ll talk. But in the mean time, if there’s anything I can do, just let me know.” And she really meant it. Door was her friend. She would always have her back, so to speak.