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equustenebris · 2 years

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WIP Wednesday - 1/12

So this is the only thing I wrote this week (aside from a little bit of Blame Gravity I can't share). It's been an awful week. Anyway here's some utterly self-indulgent university-era twin bullshit I will probably never actually post. Aha. Emeto warning. (Cartesius tried to impress a girl and gave himself food poisoning. I know, I know, two food poisoning WIPs in a row, but this is all I've got, so I'm afraid y'all will just have to deal 🤣)

He retched into the bucket with a pitiful whimper. Sure, the nonstop vomiting was one thing. But to be sick in front of his brother was a whole new level of humiliation, especially because he wouldn't stop rubbing it in with his endless, insufferable I-told-you-sos.

"I warned you, Cartesius," he grumbled, putting a hand to his brother's forehead, brushing his feathers back. (Cartesius sent him a snide grimace and pulled away.) "You shouldn't have tried to impress her! Who cares if her father owns the fishery, you could see what quality comes out of that dump. You didn't need to actually eat it!"

"I don't expect you to -- urp -- understand, you haven't courted a woman since we got here!"

"Yeah, well, neither will you, now," Copernicus grumbled, shifting his weight on the bed. "Unless you're telling me you're still planning on calling on her tonight like that?"

He closed his eyes, biting back the next round of chills as best he could. He was confident, not stupid, and he didn't need his first foray into dating at university to get him known as the one who threw up all over his dates. "...no. At this rate I'm not sure I can even go back to class on Monday. But you'll cover for me, right?"

"About that." Copernicus sat back, voice flat. "Cartesius, I really think you're not paying nearly enough attention to your studies. We're here to learn, but we've only been here three weeks and already you're off chasing women and trying to rub elbows with all the old money. We're supposed to be helping each other but you're too distracted!"

"Hey, I just --" He cut himself off, leaning over the bucket with a dazed groan, stomach gurgling. "...you don't get it, Copernicus, you're too much of a shut-in stick-in-the-mud. You've got to mingle, make connections --" He cut off again, abruptly vomiting into the bucket.

With a wince and a sneer, Copernicus rested his head over on his hand. "And how is that working out for you?"

And because I am absolutely shameless, here's something a little later on in the same fic. At some point before this there's a big discussion about how Cartesius doesn't want to be seen as weird and is getting frustrated with Copernicus not caring more about what other people think of them, so that's where Copernicus's final comment comes from. (No shipping, just cute.)

"Hey. Copernicus?"

He stopped abruptly, looking back to his brother. Before he could say another word, Cartesius spoke, still not opening his eyes.

"Can you...come here, for a bit?"

Hesitantly, he sat back down on Cartesius's bed. There was a soft grumble of frustration.

"No, I mean -- can you come here?" He nuzzled into the pillow, eyes still shut, not looking at him. "My stomach really hurts. I feel awful. You always..." He trailed off with a soft huff.

Copernicus softened, frowning. When they were children, if one of them were sick, they would often spend the entire day cuddling against each other, keeping each other company, cheering each other up. Cartesius had put a stop to that many years ago when they had just become teens, growing uncomfortable with the closeness, with the vulnerability in front of his brother. But Copernicus honestly missed that time together; they had only seemed to be growing further apart.

You always make it better.

He sighed, rolling his eyes before turning down the covers. "Fine. Move over."

"Nnf, no, never mind, I just --"

"I said move over, come on. Don't make this weird."

"You're weird," he hissed, but shuffled back on the bed, giving Copernicus room to lay down. Copernicus covered them both back up, resting his beak against Cartesius's messy crest.

There was a pause before Copernicus finally sighed. "Well, I don't mind being weird," he said finally. There was a soft grumble from against his chest, but Cartesius made no protest. "...just don't puke on my sweater, okay?" At that there was a loud snort, somewhere between amusement and annoyance, as his brother gave him a soft headbutt against his chest.

#cartesius gearloose #copernicus gearloose #wip wednesday #equus writes #tw: emetophobia

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