university
— au april with polytrix —
summary: there's no way mira or rumi are letting zoey suffer alone when she isn't feeling well.
wc: 1k // tags: sickfic, uni au, slight pining, fluff
➽─────❥
Mira bumps her knee against Zoey’s, turning to frown at her. “Hey. You okay?” she asks quietly, so that the other students sitting in the lecture hall won’t hear her.
Zoey gives her a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes like it usually does. “I’m fine,” Zoey whispers back, shooting Mira a double thumbs-up.
Mira scowls down at her notes, her chest tightening with worry.
Zoey doesn’t seem fine, is the thing. Sure, she’s taking notes as diligently as usual in her turtle-covered notebook, listening attentively to their professor drone on about mitochondria. But over the three months that they’ve been in Bio 100 together, Mira has gotten to know Zoey as a study partner and now a close friend, and she can tell when Zoey’s off. She’s paler than usual and drooping in her seat, propping her head up with one hand. Her eyes keep fluttering shut every now and then, almost as if she has to force herself to stay awake.
It’s a stressful time of year, what with finals just around the corner and winter in full force, but Mira can’t help feeling protective over Zoey. That might be partially due to the fact that she definitely has more-than-platonic feelings for the other girl, but she doesn’t feel like examining that right now. Right now, she just wants to make sure Zoey is okay.
When class ends, Mira packs up her bag, then helps Zoey with her things, since she’s moving slowly.
“Where are you headed? I’ll walk you,” Mira offers as they make their way out of the lecture hall.
Zoey sneezes – a tiny, squeaky thing – and Mira feels her heart constrict with fondness and concern in equal measure.
“I think I’ll just go to the library,” Zoey mumbles, rubbing her nose. “I think I’m getting a cold and my roommates are germaphobes.”
Mira stops in her tracks, staring incredulously at her. “So they just expect you to camp out in the library all day while you feel miserable?”
Zoey shifts on her feet, hiking up her shoulder bag. “I don’t mind…” she says, trailing off uncertainly. Mira takes a long look at her tired eyes and the pallor under her skin and makes a snap decision.
“C’mon,” she says, slinging an arm around Zoey’s shoulders and pulling her close. “You’re coming to my room.”
Zoey hesitates, peering up at her. “Won’t Rumi mind? I’m all gross right now.”
“You’re not gross,” Mira says patiently, gently steering Zoey in the direction of her dorm. “And you know Rumi loves you as much as I do. Plus she’s really good at taking care of sick people. She brought me like, twenty different kinds of soup last time I was sick.”
Zoey giggles, which turns into a cough. Mira holds her even closer, tucked warmly under her arm. Mira wasn’t lying, her roommate Rumi has adored Zoey since the first time they met, so she knows bringing Zoey over for a little TLC won’t be a problem – in fact, Rumi will probably jump at the chance to dote on her.
Thankfully, Mira’s dorm isn’t far from the lecture hall, so they make it over in a just a few minutes. But Mira can feel Zoey shaking against her with tiny shivers that she’s clearly trying to suppress, and she wants to get her warmed up pronto.
“Zoey!” Rumi exclaims cheerfully once Mira unlocks the door and ushers Zoey inside. Rumi jumps up from her desk and comes over to greet them, but her smile drops off her face as soon as she gets a good look at Zoey.
“What’s wrong?” Rumi frowns, obviously noticing the way that Zoey has all but melted into Mira’s side, leaning against her pale and listless.
“She’s not feeling well and her roommates are assholes,” Mira says succinctly, gently pushing Zoey to sit down on her bed and immediately wrapping her up in her softest blanket.
“Oh, poor thing,” Rumi coos, without a hint of teasing. Her eyes go wide and she sits down next to Zoey, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. “Aw, Zo-zo. You’re really warm, I think you have a fever.”
“I’m okay,” Zoey mumbles, blushing slightly. Rumi just kisses her hair and tucks the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
“No you aren’t, but we’re going to take care of you,” Rumi murmurs, tucking a strand of dark hair behind Zoey’s ear. Mira feels a stab of something in her gut – not jealousy, exactly, but maybe something more like longing. Her feelings for both Zoey and Rumi are far from simple.
“Mira, can you order some chicken noodle soup for delivery?” Rumi asks, already getting up to rifle through her sizable medication stash. “She likes that one from the deli on second street, right Zo?”
Zoey nods, looking a little flustered by all the attention, then suddenly sneezes again.
“Aw, bless you baby,” Mira says, her voice going usually soft and the nickname slipping out before she can think better of it. She joins Zoey on the bed, handing her a box of tissues. She starts rubbing her back with one hand and scrolling through her phone on the other, looking for the right deli to order from.
“Sorry I’m being all…germy, in your room,” Zoey says, peering up at them over her tissues. “I really can go if you guys don’t want to get sick. In fact, I probably should go, honestly, I’ll be fine –”
She starts to rise, but Mira gently pulls her back down. “Nuh-uh. You’re staying here, Zo. It’s fine, I promise,” Mira says, squeezing her shoulder.
“Yeah, we want you here, sweetheart,” Rumi says, giving her a small smile. “Now do you want strawberry or grape for the medicine?”
Zoey makes a face. “Uhh…neither?”
“You have a fever,” Rumi says, in a tone that Mira immediately recognizes as the one that means she’s not changing her mind anytime soon. “Fever means meds. Grape or strawberry?”
Zoey pouts. “Grape, I guess.”
Rumi smiles at her, then pours out the medicine into a small cup. Zoey takes the cup reluctantly but swallows down the medication anyway. Mira kisses her temple, and Rumi squeezes her hand.
“You guys are too sweet to me,” Zoey says, looking between them both, her cheeks slightly pink.
“Nah. We’re just as sweet as you deserve,” Mira says, rubbing her back.
“Yep. Let us fuss a little, you’re sick,” Rumi grins. She fluffs up the pillow on Mira’s bed, then pats it invitingly. “Why don’t you lay down and rest a bit while we wait for the soup?”
Zoey glances at Mira. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“A hundred thousand percent sure,” Mira nods. “C’mon Zo, when do I ever sugar-coat things?”
Zoey snorts a little. “Never.”
“Exactly,” Mira smirks. She lays down, then holds out an arm. Zoey obligingly curls up against her side, nestling into her. Rumi somehow manages to squeeze onto the tiny bed as well, laying down on Zoey’s other side.
Mira closes her eyes. For her whole life, she’s never quite felt like she fit in anywhere. But somehow, with these two women, she’s suddenly found a home.
➽─────❥
