#buckley's

[the-crooked-library]

yknow what. say what you will about buckley's but i do appreciate that their drowsy/non-drowsy options come, respectively, as blue and red translucent pills. i love that every time i need to figure out if i want to be zooted on cold meds, i get to relive transgender film history

[froggybangbang]

Oh they were not ready

[paradoxolotl]

mmmmmm.... how about the kids all get sick and its CHAOS. There are whines, exaggerations on how they feel, want to be cuddled, maybe some tears? Idk, just...make it as chaotic as your heart pleases. Andrew and Neil are tired. Maybe if you're up for it the parents get sick and even though they don't feel that bad the kids are still overprotective of them, as if they were going to die from a cold

This is too big for a comic. Have the honour of having the prompt for the first fic!

~

It had started, Andrew thought, with Nichole. She had been crabby, her cheeks red and swollen, and a little warm. Teething, he had thought. Finally getting her top teeth.

Then it was Anthony. Of course, just like his father, Anthony didn't say anything. Andrew watched his son stumble around the house in a daze, bumping into everything and sniffing every two seconds. Anthony had insisted he was fine, which earned him a scowl, but promised to tell Andrew if he started to feel worse.

When Dave got sick, Andrew knew it was the beginning of the end. Dave had always had a flare for dramatics, but even Andrew thought him collapsing halfway down the stairs was too far, even for him. He carried his son up to bed, ignoring his protests.

The next day, hell broke loose.

"Dad," Dave croaked from where he was curled on the sofa under a mountain of blankets. "Dad, I need to update my will."

"No you don't," Andrew said, stirring some noodles into the broth.

"I do," Dave insisted. "This is it for me. I can see the light."

"Stop staring at the lamp then," Anthony grumbled before immediately falling into a coughing fit.

"Stop telling what to do."

"Stop being annoying."

"You're annoying."

"You're face is annoying."

"Well, your face-"

"Okay," Andrew cut in, a bowl in each hand. "You both need to take your medicine and then you can have food." He was met with twin glares, which were weakened by the red noses and fluffy blankets. "Medicine. Now."

Anthony grumbled something while curling further into his armchair.

"I don't need any medicine," Dave said, sniffing loudly.

"Clearly." Andrew glanced at the coffee table where the bottle had sat earlier. "Where is it?"

Anthony shrugged, "Oh? It's missing? What a shame."

"A tragedy of epic proportions," Dave agreed with a nod.

"Better put out an APB."

"Should we make wanted posters?"

"That implies we want it," Anthony said between coughs.

"Celebration posters then," Dave said.

Andrew felt his sign run through his entire body. He was getting too old for this. "Guess I need to go grab the stuff that tastes like shit then."

"It all tastes like shit," Dave said, unbothered.

"You would think that," Andrew said, putting the bowls onto the counter and walking up the stairs.

Peeking into Nichole's room, he saw Neil staring dead-eyed at the wall, holding the baby against his chest. She was sleeping, finally. They had both been switching off through the night, giving her medicine and keeping her fever down as best they could. Andrew had had a headache for days at this point.

Neil looked over at Andrew, blinking once.

"They hid the cold medicine," Andrew said softly, "so I'm grabbing the gross stuff. Soup?"

Neil nodded. "Check the-"

"Couch cushions, I know." Placing a kiss on both of their heads, Andrew left as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake his daughter.

When he came back downstairs, both of his sons hadn't moved. They were shivering slightly, wiping their noses with the backs of their hands. The last step creaked under Andrew's weight, and both of them zeroed in on the bottle in his hand. Grabbing two spoons, Andrew sat on the table between them.

"Who's first? You pick or I will."

Neither kid would look at him. Fine. He would go another way.

"I didn't realize I had raised a couple of wimps." Both of them started to protest before once again falling into a coughing fit. Andrew shook the bottle. "Prove me wrong then."

"What is it?" Dave asked warily.

"It's called Buckley's."

"I've never heard of it."

"You can't get it here," Andrew said, pouring a spoonful. He could already smell it. "Open wide."

It was Anthony who relented first, glaring at Andrew the entire time. As soon as his lips closed around the spoon, Anthony's eyes grew wide, the sound of him gagging filling the room.

"Swallow it," Andrew said, taking the spoon back.

Anthony did with a grimace, and immediately stuck out his tongue, scraping it along his teeth. "Gaaaaaaaaaahhh, why is that so awful? That is the most disgusting thing ever!"

"Oh, come on!" Dave said. "It can't be that bad!"

"It is," Anthony gasped. "It really really is."

Andrew waved a spoon in Dave's face. "You're up, kiddo. Unless you're too scared."

Dave shot him a look, telling Andrew exactly what he thought of that, before taking the medicine into his mouth. Much like his brother, his eyes went wide, and Andrew could hear the beginnings of a scream.

He narrowed his eyes. "Swallow."

Dave did, and immediately collapsed onto the couch, screaming into his pillow.Satisfied, Andrew brought them their soups.

The next time it was time for their medicine, the cherry flavoured bottle was back on the table, almost exactly where he had left it.

[camwyn]

I took Buckley's Mixture tonight for a massively clogged head. You never remember how awful that stuff is. I NO LONGER FEAR DEATH. (seriously, doing a sinus rinse with a squeeze bottle afterward was nothing at all compared to the concentrated taste of evil that is Buckley's)

[eerilyquietglacier]

Sometimes when my sinuses start giving me troubles out of nowhere I take like half a teaspoon of Buckley's to beat my body into submission

[oliver-the-raggedy-doctor]

Just took Buckley's for the first time (as a Canadian)

Honestly not that bad. Like a bit worse than NyQuil, but not by much. But woah can I feel it

[cellaspider]

Just had a NyQuil Strawberry Blueberry

who the fuck drinks this. I'd take buckleys. Seriously its not that bad, the buckleys.

[just-another-sickfic-blog]

We all talk about Nyquil or Benadryl knocking you the fuck out but Canadians know Buckley's.