Madness
290 words, young Simon and River, PG-rated.
I used what is apparently the correct spelling of crap (goushi, rather than go-se), but after banging my head against my desk for several minutes, I decided to leave off the accent marks. Sue me. (This is why I usually try not to use Mandarin in my fic.)
***
Simon woke up feeling like a pile of goushi. Which would have been fine except that in his semi-addled state he didn't realize that he shouldn't actually say so aloud.
"Language, Simon," his mother admonished, but she was trying to hide a smile.
"Sorry, mom."
She smiled. "I'm just relieved that you recognize me. Over the past few days, you've mistaken me for your math teacher, one of the gardeners, and several people who I wasn't able to identify. And you were convinced that your sister was in danger."
Even muzzy-headed, it took Simon all of two seconds to go from confused to embarrassed. He groaned and tried to pull the covers up over his face. His mother stopped him, laughing.
"It's all right, Simon. Think of it as valuable experience. It'll make you a better doctor someday." She kissed him on the forehead. "I'm going to wave the doctor and let him know that you're awake. We've all been very worried about you."
His mother left the room, closing the door behind her. A moment later, something moved in a dark corner of his room. River darted from the shadows, pounced on his bed, and was trying to hug the life out of him almost before he knew what had hit him.
"Don't ever do that again," she said.
"I'll do my best, mèimei," he said, hugging her back weakly.
After a minute, River sat back and looked at him. "You know," she said very seriously, "you make more sense when you're delirious."
"I...what?"
"You think differently when you're delirious. It was kind of an improvement."
Simon gave her an exasperated look. She stuck her tongue out at him, then laughed.
"You're weird," Simon said.
River just smiled at him.
I used what is apparently the correct spelling of crap (goushi, rather than go-se), but after banging my head against my desk for several minutes, I decided to leave off the accent marks. Sue me. (This is why I usually try not to use Mandarin in my fic.)
***
Simon woke up feeling like a pile of goushi. Which would have been fine except that in his semi-addled state he didn't realize that he shouldn't actually say so aloud.
"Language, Simon," his mother admonished, but she was trying to hide a smile.
"Sorry, mom."
She smiled. "I'm just relieved that you recognize me. Over the past few days, you've mistaken me for your math teacher, one of the gardeners, and several people who I wasn't able to identify. And you were convinced that your sister was in danger."
Even muzzy-headed, it took Simon all of two seconds to go from confused to embarrassed. He groaned and tried to pull the covers up over his face. His mother stopped him, laughing.
"It's all right, Simon. Think of it as valuable experience. It'll make you a better doctor someday." She kissed him on the forehead. "I'm going to wave the doctor and let him know that you're awake. We've all been very worried about you."
His mother left the room, closing the door behind her. A moment later, something moved in a dark corner of his room. River darted from the shadows, pounced on his bed, and was trying to hug the life out of him almost before he knew what had hit him.
"Don't ever do that again," she said.
"I'll do my best, mèimei," he said, hugging her back weakly.
After a minute, River sat back and looked at him. "You know," she said very seriously, "you make more sense when you're delirious."
"I...what?"
"You think differently when you're delirious. It was kind of an improvement."
Simon gave her an exasperated look. She stuck her tongue out at him, then laughed.
"You're weird," Simon said.
River just smiled at him.