ɪᴍᴍᴏʙɪʟᴇ - ᴋᴀᴍ/ᴛᴇᴇꜰᴇ

Phantom

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Keefe's heart did a few backflips before he tumbled backwards onto the floor, the previously folded blanket in his hands falling with him. He was never nervous dancing while the door was open again.

Tilting his head back, he was greeted with the upside down view of Ro, leaning against his door frame. Her arms were crossed and her hair was lacking it's usual pigtails, instead it curved around her face looking extraordinarily floofy. Then again, assuming all went according to plan for the day, she wouldn't have to see any other bodyguards. And if he'd been in the mood at the moment, Keefe would've gladly laughed at how frizzy her hair was when she didn't have it up, but it wasn't the right time, so he tucked the memory in his back pocket for later.

"Huh? Oh - and I dunno. Probably not." Keefe said.

"Are you almost done?" Ro groaned, as if repeating herself was the biggest, most hardship task of all time.

"I'd be completely done if you hadn't interrupted me." Keefe rolled over to prop his head up with his hands and elbows.

"What?" Ro raised an eyebrow. "You mean if I hadn't interrupted your nervous jig?" She did a poor imitation of him, flailing her arms and crossing her eyes all the while hopping on one foot.

"I needed to loosen up my muscles - don't wiggle your eyebrows!"

Ro snickered and walked all the way into his room, picking up the blanket laying on him. "This is cute. You're even giving your boyfriend one of your blankies so he can smell your sweaty-boy smell when he's feeling sick."

Keefe rolled his eyes, reaching up to take it from her. "Don't make fun. It's always brought me some comfort - I figured it might help him to remember my promise of forever hating him."

"I wasn't making fun." Ro promised, though there was something to her voice that told otherwise. "And that's even cuter. I hope that's how your vows go." She broke a pose then and began reciting the ogre marriage vows, changing certain words to things like 'hate' and 'despise' and 'hair.'

Keefe rolled his eyes as he refolded the blanket before setting it in the bag. "Linh said he'd like it anyways and that it made her happy that I was being so thoughtful towards her brother. So, if you think about it, I'm actually being nice to Linh here."

"Keep telling yourself that."

.-.

Tam stared down his sister as she set the bag down beside him on the cot. "Tell me this is a joke."

She sighed, setting her hands down in her lap. "No, you idiot. And close your mouth - I told you when he saw you, why he saw you, and why he's 'suddenly' being nice. It's because you two are friends and like it or not, you know you'd do the same thing."

"Would I though?" He challenged. He decided to favor crossing his arms instead of opening the mysterious blue bag.

"Yes. Yes you would. For crying out loud you'd probably push everyone out just to make sure he's not lying when he says he's okay."

Tam scoffed, directing his stare towards the white wall. He was seriously going to talk to Elwin about adding a little more color to the place.

"Oh my god. Just open it and get it over with - you're not the only one who's curious about what the heck he put in here."

He sighed. There really wasn't a way to fight it while he was confined to a cot and he had his nosy sister glaring at him. Tam just really was not at all in the mood for anyone's pity - especially Keefe's of all people. Just because he saw him puke a few times it didn't mean he had to randomly begin acting all nice and soft. Because, as all Empaths should've learned by then, sometimes that's just not what all people need.

Especially when it's coming from literally every single person you come in contact with.

There was no need to call Tam 'bud' or 'kiddo' or 'honny' or 'baby' or a 'poor dear'. He was going to be fine and words didn't help his body nor did they help his soul. They only made him more upset and less likely to stay in his cot as everyone was demanding. If he got the chance he'd leave whenever he could. It was better than staying in the infirmary and taking up everyone's time anyways. Linh would probably be better off anyways - less stress on her shoulders. More freedom... Yeah, maybe she'd like that more than watching her sick brother cry and vomit every three hours.

"Tam?" Linh asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, yeah," Tam mumbled. "I'm getting to it."

Covering up whatever else was in the bag was a royal blue blanket of which he pulled out first. Out of curiosity for how worn it seemed to be, he brought it to his nose. "Oh goodie - literally whatever he had lying around."

Linh rolled her eyes as if he was simply too much to handle. "Still a nice gesture. And you never know - it could be one he's slept with for years."

"Yeah right." Tam said. "And even then, still a pretty weird thing to give a sick shade."

Linh held his gaze with no further words until he reached his hand in for the last thing in the bag.

"Is this a phantom plushie?" Tam asked slowly taking hold of the soft item with his other hand. He squeezed it. "It's so squishy."

"It's cute!" Linh cheered. "Hold it up to your face."

Tam did as he was told, earning a laugh from both Linh and Elwin. "What?"

"Don't they look alike?" Linh asked the physician.

Elwin nodded in agreement. "They're more identical than you two are."

For some reason that sent them into another laugh again.

Tam pouted, setting the phantom down on his lap. "Very funny."

"You have to admit," the girl's voice spoke, "you both are very cute and angry looking."

"Oh shut up Mrs. 'I don't resemble a puffer fish when I fill my cheeks with air.'"

"I don't!"

"Yes, yes you do."

"Elwin, do I look like a puffer fish?"

"Lady puffer fish shall be your official title."

"Tam."