bakerstreet | in sickness and in death

in sickness and in death

in sickness & in death
a sadder shipping meme

To you, this must seem like a wonderful dream, or at the very least, the closest someone like you can have to one. Your life has been going surprising well and, depending on your preferences, there has been an abundance of peace or adventure for you to enjoy. More importantly, however, is that you don't have to enjoy anything alone - you have someone. Whether or not you admit it to yourself or not, you're with them, and they make everything even better.

But it won't last. Not for you two.

The changes happen slowly, almost unnoticeable at first. Your partner seems a little less energetic than normal. Nothing too out of the ordinary, though. Then, they're more lethargic. They don't feel well. None of this goes away, however, and it only gets worse. Then, there's the realization: they're sick. So badly sick that it's very unlikely they'll be able to hold on.

Perhaps this should have been obvious, yet you just didn't want to see it.

The road ahead of both of you is not an easy one. The person you wanted to be with forever will, most likely, not be here too much longer. Of course, that's not even a speck compared to what they're going through themselves. There's no right answer as to where you should go from here; no one would be able to judge someone in this terrible situation. Will this limited time bring you even closer together? What will you spend it doing? Or will the understandable stress and emotional turmoil drive you apart?

HOW TO PLAY

Comment with your character, preferences, and what side you'd prefer to play.
Reply to others.
RNG.
Thread.
This meme could possibly be triggering. Please take care of yourself if you're not in the right place to play.

PROMPTS

Been That Way All Along: All your life you've been dealing with illness, so it's a possibility you didn't want to get involved with anyone...it just happened.

Because of Me: They became sick or were injured, in some fashion, by their association with you. There's a great deal of guilt you have to carry.

Try to Hide It: You've known your condition for a while know, you just haven't had the heart to tell your significant other.

Diagnosis: The bad news comes out right in front of both of you.

Leave Me Alone: You don't want anyone to suffer alongside you, so you'll have to be cruel to push them away.

Always By Your Side: No matter what's wrong with them, you won't leave them.

Can't Take It: You have to leave; you can't just watch them die.

Excitement: You want to keep them entertained, and as they're able, you want to do wonderful and exciting things and go amazing places.

What We've Always Dreamed: If there's a specific thing you two have always wanted to do, now is the time to do it.

Cheer: In the lowest of times, you still want to see them smile.

Serious Move: You want to take your relationship to the next level before --- before you can't. This could be the smut option, though it doesn't have to be.

Break Down: Someone just can't keep up a strong face anymore, be it the one affected or the one who has to watch.

Comfort: Your comfort is their number one concern.

Upswing: Conditions are improving, and maybe there's a bright patch in the clouds.

Getting Worse: The disease or injury is beginning to take its ultimate toll.

Lash Out: Stress is high, and anger can't help but seep out from both parties.

Rely on You: Eventually, the significant other becomes the caretaker.

Wore Down: This process doesn't just affect the health of the sick person.

Make a Deal with God: You'll do anything to get them off of death's door. Anything.

Hospitalized: It's always tough to see your loved one covered in wires and tubes.

Leave Something Behind: They want you to remember them forever.

Final Moments: You have to be with them when that time arrives.

WILDCARD

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

They'd been together for, god- such a short time. It'd only been a year at the most when Peter first got the news after a round of particularly bad headaches sent him to one specialist after another. There was no fixing for what he had and his time was limited. Some people said that getting the news was like getting hit by a freight train, but for him, it washed over him like a wave of cold air, but it still wasn't as cold as it felt now.

It was only early November, but Peter was wearing a heavy jacket and still felt a chill running through his body. He'd lost some weight already and his body just felt like it didn't want to hold on to heat anymore. Thankfully, he and Rich were going to get inside soon. He had a few months at best, left on him, and he wanted to make it count. They were looking at a house today; to some, it might have seemed like a futile effort, but he wanted things to go as normally as they could for Richie.

The kid was supposed to meet him outside the place - it was a nice brownstone that screamed "Outside their price range," but Pete had a surprise for him. He pulled his jacket a little more tightly about his body as a breeze came by and forced him to close his eyes and focus on warm thoughts.

Edited (words, cumbersome words) 2014-11-11 21:09 (UTC)

Rich pretty much had Freddie Mercury's voice as constant soundtrack, these days. The Show Must Go On, another dead special man sang, and, at times, it was almost all that kept Rich going. There would be all the time for tears soon enough, after all, he knew. Way, way too soon. So he kept it together.

He'd bummed a ride over to where Peter had told him to meet, and, as soon as he'd said his thanks and good-byes to the friend, he turned around, brown eyes taking his lover in, head to toe. More drinking in the sight of him than seeking out if the few hours away might have brought on any changes. Rich even managed a smile for him.

"Hey, Pete."

And then he was walking over to him, arm wrapped around Peter's shoulders to draw him in for a kiss. He couldn't do much about the early-winter chill, but he could share warmth that he had. With the kiss. With the scarf that he slipped out - he'd kept it inside his own jacket, near his heart, to make sure it was warmed up - and wrapped gently around Peter's neck as soon as they pulled away.

"What've you got here?"

He still didn't look towards the house for another long moment, the smile in his eyes far less for the sake of appearances now.

... and then his eyebrows shot up. It really was outside Rich's price range. To the point where he wouldn't have even allowed himself to look.

Peter looked expectantly at the sound of every car driving by, and for a moment he thought he was going to go crazy, but then Rich was actually there and all that tension eased out of him. He returned the smile offered his way, and for a small moment, Pete regretted ever getting this kid tangled up with him. What right did he have to shake up a smile like that?

"Hey, kid," he said softly, some of his backwoods Colorado showing in his voice, an accent he'd thought he wiped out as he grew up. He sighed softly into that kiss and then leaned against his lover once the scarf had been wrapped about him.

"Nice, ain't it?" A small smirk tugged at Peter's lips. "Realtor's someone who owes me a favor, so..." He dug around his pockets for a second and pulled out a key. "We get to look around on our own." It wasn't necessary for him, but he wasn't going to tell Rich that. He wanted to let the place sink in.

Life shook up that smile, and so did death. Peter, on the other hand, made it deeper, wider, steadier. Especially once the comforting solidity of Peter leaning against him settled deep, seeping through to his heart. The twang in his words grounded him, letting his thoughts not wander. They were here now, and he could live in the present with the best of them. For both of them.

"I'm quivering with anticipation to find out what it's like inside," yes, the tease was on purpose, "but from right here," and his arm tightened just a tiny bit to show Peter he meant the company as much as the sight, "it looks like a dream.

"And you've done favors to everybody, haven't you." That's another tease, or maybe a pinch of self-mockery (because who did more favors than somebody with Rich's job?), but it was still easy, not bitter. There may have even been a hint of laughter to his voice, too.

"Let's go touch the dream, then." And that's what he believed this would be, nothing but a dream, out of reach, but - it didn't hurt to look. So long as they were together. That's what he figured.

"Well, not all of my favors are as fun as yours, but I get by." Peter's smirk grew and he almost fluttered his lashes at the younger brunet. Once they got going, it was clear they didn't stop. Except one day, Peter was going to stop and he wouldn't be able to hear the kid's jokes anymore.

He mentally shook off that thought and gently nudged Rich to start walking toward the door. He could have made it by himself, but more lately than before, he was getting tired more easily. Pete didn't want to get worn out before he could totally surprise the kid.

"Wanna do the honors of opening up the door?" He offered the key to the kid, eyes glinting with mischief.

They did not want to stop, at any rate, and Rich would be ever so grateful that Pete didn't share that thought. "I like sharing the fun ones. With you."

It was almost as though the news weren't a wall in the distance. Rich could give Peter that much - a reprieve. Moments when he didn't have to think about it. He hoped.

And he moved with him without hesitation. No questions how bad it was, today. Just his arm steady around Peter's back, and his stride matching the sliiiightly taller man's. Even the walkway wasn't slippery in the damp, how much more perfect could this place get?

Rich laughed a tin bit, at that question. "With absolute pleasure, love." He craned his neck to place a kiss on the underside of Pete's jaw - the absence of a Realtor meant that the if the neighbors poked their noses at them, it was at their own risk - before picking up the key and taking the last half step to use it. Then he was back by Peter's side as he pushed the door open in front of them. They could see what it held together. "See? I'm honored. Or the house is honored. One or the other."

Okay, so maybe he was a little bit excited and vaguely bouncy. Peter clearly had something in mind, and Rich never less than loved anything he'd come up with, yet.

Edited 2014-11-11 22:39 (UTC)

ooc: willing to AU some mutant vampire killing disease if you want her to be sick, otherwise she's healthy by default.

ooc: depending on canon point, can be either

[ She's dead in canon so her being the dying one would be fitting, but I'm open to either role, especially with a Tony. Gen only with Gibbs, please. ]

Edited 2014-11-11 23:29 (UTC)

Peter tilted his head a little at the kiss, loving how those lips felt so close to his pulse, so close to his life. He'd wanted to build a life with the kid, whatever that life might be with their jobs the way they were, but that wasn't in the cards. Not fully. Peter wanted to build a foundation now, to leave the kid with something he could build on from then on out. That was why they were here.

He gently guided Rich inside and then shut the door behind them. The inside was spacious. Clearly because it was empty. There was no furniture to be seen, but they could worry about that over the next couple of weeks. The floors and all of the accents were in a light, golden-yellow wood, while the majority of the walls were painted a very light blue. It was bright and open. The smell of paint still lingered in the air; it had only been finished the day before, a job Peter paid to have done as well.

"There're three floors and an attic," he said, gesturing to the stairs, "And just past the kitchen there's a garden space."

[He'll be the one dying, and definitely interested in playing out his final moments + any other relevant prompts.]

Tony is watching her from outside the doorway. This is not how it was supposed to be. She was always the one who- it doesn't matter. It wasn't fair, but that is how life goes. He takes a breath, slaps a tony smile on his face and enters the room.

"You always have to one up me, I get the plague and you with this crap. I think you're just doing it to spite me." He says shaking the bouquet of flowers that look pretty, but are just going to die. How fitting.

This crap.

Wrong C-word. This is nowhere near how her life was supposed to go. So many things she's never going to get to do... None of this is fair. If it were, she'd have thrown caution and Rule Twelve to the wind long ago; maybe crossed a few more things off her list. Too late now.

"Yes, Tony," Kate rolls her eyes, hiding behind her usual sarcasm because it's easier than dealing with regret. "Because I really wanted to be hooked up to all this crap just to spite you." But there's more strain than bite to the words; the pain's almost an 8 today and she tries to thumb the little morphine pump in her hand without him noticing. She looks at the flowers. "Your date stood you up again, didn't she?"

((ooc: Got a preference for canon point and/or serum-state?))

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 4

in sickness and in death

Rich Rider - AU (Either role)

Felicity Smoak | Arrow | Either

Stripperverse, 9 - Peter as the sick one.

W00!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Thea Queen | Arrow | Either

Katniss Everdeen | THG | Healthy

Stiles | Teen Wolf | Either

Amy Pond | Doctor Who

Caroline Forbes | The Vampire Diaries

Bucky Barnes | MCU

rachel | animorphs

Kate Todd | NCIS | F/M

no subject

Clara Oswald | Doctor Who

Kain Highwind | Final Fantasy IV / Dissidia 012

Karmin Vantas (The Signless) | Homestuck

Rolled a 20

Hah. It beats a bullet to the head? >.> (Also slowish because mobile.)

Joan Watson | Elementary

kuroko tetsuya | kuroko no basuke

no subject