Seek Experiences Hell In The Form Of Sinus Drainage

by ZWritesStuff

Summary:

Everything hurt. It ached, it dripped, it could hardly breathe, it felt so sick, but... entities couldn't get sick.

So what the hell was wrong with it???

 

AKA I project onto my favs and Seek was my target :)

Chapter 1: Pain, Pain, And More Pain

Summary:

In which Seek starts to hurt, and Timothy and Screech are the only two with any sympathy at all. I will warn you, if you enjoy Glitch or Halt, they are kind of dicks in this chapter.

          ... Ow.

     It wasn't sure what happened, or when this started. First, it hadn't been anything... well, anything really of note. Just a mild ache and a bit of discomfort, probably from whatever it ate last. It would have eased up in about a half hour.

     Except, it didn't. It quickly grew worse, almost unbearable, leaving the entity curled into a ball on the floor of its hallway. It was nearly certain that it was something very expired that it ate— probably spoiled dairy of some kind, or rotted meat, but it was sure the last thing it had was a cooked egg— until the struggle for air began. A slight bit of slime clogging the airways became what felt like half its breathing organs completely stuffed with some kind of thick, particularly stubborn sludge. Combined with the constant, agonizing aching and a splitting headache that came along soon after, Seek had no doubt this is was some kind of illness.

     Problem is, it didn't have even the first clue what kind of sickness would affect it, let alone like this. So, it began to make its way to the library, in the hopes that it could find a book that would have the information, or a cure, something to help. And that was its plan.

     Right up until the melting started. That made it panic. So now, here it was. Curled up in an empty, plugged bathtub in one of the unused bathroom areas, lights off and door locked, as it laid in a half solid half liquid state of agony. The entity's one eye drooped closed, trying to space out enough that the pain would simply leave, or maybe to disconnect from its reality long enough to just wait out the agony. This... this was just bad. The headache, the headache was annoying. The struggle for air and the aches across its body were worrying, but not too awful. But the digestive cramps were practically the definition of torture, and coupled with the constant melted state, it was terrified to leave the tub, let alone the room. What if it ended up regurgitating whatever made it hurt so much? What if someone else got sick because of it? What if the pain made it collapse??

     "What in the hell are you doing here???"

     ... Or what if somehow, someone found it.

     Seek tiredly looked up, eye tired as it stared into glowing cyan eyes.

     "... Bathing. Go away." It grumbled, curling up again as Halt scoffed at it.

     "There isn't even water in there, it's just you. How is that bathing in any way?" Halt asked, their voice rippling as little bursts of static erupted from its strange, swirling body.

     "I'm bathing in my own slime and misery, now may I please go back to doing that?"

     "Seek, you are melting in an empty bathtub, this isn't bathing."

     Seek felt its eye twitch as it glared up to the other again. This was not helping in the slightest.

     "I am trying to not throw up, now would you kindly go take a shower in one of the other thousand bathtubs in this hotel and give me privacy?" It hissed, venom lacing its voice as the pain started flaring up again.

     "I–... Fine, just don't stay there too long. You know Hide will be pissed about it." Halt sighed, turning and leaving the room, closing the door but not locking it.

     "... I don't care." The dark mass of goo mumbled, curling up and trying to ease the awful, cramping agony. At least now, it had darkness, peace, and quiet again.

     "Ey– Ew!! Düd, why are you in there?!?!" The little red imp yelped, jumping away from where he almost stepped on the entity.

     "Why are you here, don't you have your own bath area in the same space as Jeff's shop?!" Seek hissed, glaring down the midget goblin from over the edge of the tub. Halt, a stuck up rule enforcing asshat, was bad enough. A far too chill chatterbox like El Goblino was arguably worse.

     "Düd, calm down, Bob's havin' a shower now and I wanted to have a soak! I wasn' tryna hit ya or anything!" He spoke. Seek flinched back; the noise echoed a little off the tiles of the bathroom floor and walls. Combined with the bright light from the overhead bulbs, it made everything worse. So much for dim, quiet and peaceful...

     "There's another one down the hall, third door on the left. Unless Halt's in there, in which case the next door on the left has another. The wall between them isn't soundproof though." It grumbled, sinking down into the dark sludge again.

     "Aight, thanks düd! And uh... enjoy whatever kinda soak you're havin'!" The goblin hummed, before closing and locking the door as he left.

     Without turning off the light.

     Fuck.

     Seek, who's headache just became a full blown migraine, closed its eye and buried itself into the tub as much as it could. It was hard to breathe like that, but the light wasn't hurting it now, at least. It didn't know how long it laid like that, honestly.

     "Seek...?"

     Slowly, it looked up, finding its one eye met by eight tiny ones.

     "Are you okay...?" The little spider asked, stood on the edge of the tub in worry.

     "... No..." Seek mumbled, hiding itself once more. "Migraine... aches..."

     The pain was getting bad again. It tried to just focus on breathing, to distract itself, but it made nothing better. No amount of curling into a tighter ball soothed its endless misery. Although, the soft click of the light switch as things grew dark again did help the migraine a little.

     "Is that better?" Timothy asked, running around to face it again. The older nodded— it could feel its head pounding less as some of the tension eased up.

     "Are you sick?" The little spider tilted his head, scuttling a little closer to it. ... It just shrugged, not having an answer.

     "Is there anything I can go get that may help?"

     Another shrug.

     "... Do you want me to leave you alone for a bit?"

     "... Maybe." Seek murmured. "If I somehow am sick, I don't want to spread it to anyone. That's why I picked the closest bathroom that was rarely used." It explained a little.

     "Okay, I'll leave you be. Maybe there's some books about sickness in the library, I'll see if those have anything." The little arachnid said, before scuttling away.

     "... Timothy?" Seek called softly, its head peeking over the edge of the tub again.

     "Yeah...?"

     "Thank you."

     "Oh, of course. I hope you feel better soon, and if I find anything, I'll let you know."

     And with that, away Timothy went, scuttling out through the crack under the door. And it was alone in the dark, quiet bathroom again. And at first, the endless pain started to die down, and it was starting to nod off again.

     Until its throat started to sting like hell, which made it whimper and ripple miserably. Unfortunately, that just made things worse, leaving Seek to suffer from unrelenting, uncaring torture. If only the cold of its own liquefied body could soothe it, or it could reach into itself and pull its organs out in the hopes of cleaning them and putting a stop to this pain. It technically could, but between the pain, its exhaustion, and its struggle for air, that wasn't much of an option right now.

     Suddenly, the door opened and closed again, as someone entered, hiding behind the curtain with a soft, child-like giggle. Honestly, Seek... couldn't really be upset at Screech right now. It was dark, and quiet, and the company was a little comforting as long as it wasn't–

     "FOUND YOU!!!"

     "RUSH YOU BASTARD THAT WAS MY LINE!!!"

     "AAAAHH!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"

     And there went the calm and quiet again. Goddammit. Rush and Ambush dashed into the room, the lights coming on in an instant as the three made an unruly cacophony of noise right over its pounding head.

     "I HAVE THE FASTEST TIME ON THAT ROUND!" Rush cheered, zipping in an out of the room as Screech laughed.

     "Nuh-uh, I was definitely faster, and way cooler. Here, watch." Ambush grinned, before it went screaming out of the room, and back in, now directly over the tub of pained black goo.

     "HOLY SHIT SEEK HOW LONG WERE YOU IN THERE?!" It shouted, as Rush sped over, Screech following closely. Seek glared up at the three, feeling its head splitting painfully as it did its best to muster a very clear, very commanding voice.

     "Get. Out." It snarled, though it came out as more of a rasp. Its throat burned and ached at the very thought of talking, actually doing it was three times as bad.

     "... What's wrong?" Screech asked, its voice now much quieter. Before Seek could even think of a response, Rush burst into loud, ridiculous laughter at the sight.

     "IT LOOKS LIKE A FREAKING CAT!!! SEEK HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THERE?!?!" They asked, one strange, blurry hand reaching out to poke Seek. The sounds hurt, the lights hurt, the very presence hurt.

     "Seek, are you bathing in your own goop?? Having an emo phase?? Why are you all melty–"

     "Get OUT." It shouted, one arm coming out and slamming on the floor, claws forming to make itself clear. Immediately, Rush and Ambush vanished, and Screech paused in the doorway. They stared at one another; Screech in confused worry, and Seek in pained, miserable rage. After a moment that felt far, far too long, Screech whispered a faint apology, closing the door and leaving Seek alone in darkness again.

     Weakly, it slid down into the bathtub again, one hand coming up to rub its throat. It wasn't burning anymore— burning didn't even describe the pain. It was brutal, awful, and soon the aching came back full force. Put simply, the entity's suffering just got worse. It hoped dearly that Timothy was having some luck finding a cure, a treatment, anything to soothe this hell.

     Its eye slid closed, and soon it began to drift into a pained sl–

     "Seriously?"

     Seek's eye opened again, heavy and tired and bleary as it stared up at... Glitch.

     "Dude, I need to get a shower. I would go down the hall but apparently Halt and that little goblin are having a concert and I can't focus."

     Seek just stared at xir in exhaustion. It was in pain, it was tired, it was struggling to breathe, if xe thought it was getting out of this tub, xe was sorely mistaken.

     "... Seek, come on, please? I haven't gotten a bath in a week by now because I keep forgetting, I need to do this." Xe sighed, reaching in to try and pry it out. Oh, hell no, absolutely not. The very act of being jostled made its head scream and its organs twist.

     "Hurts... Sick..." It mumbled, pushing away with small, dull claws still sprouted in warning. Glitch sighed, staring down at it in irritation.

     "... Alright, fine. I'll ask Jeff to constantly remind me so I don't get sidetracked." Xe grumbled, finally turning and leaving so Seek could have some rest.

     At last... some sleep... good...

     It curled up and was out like the bathroom light bulb in an instant.

Chapter 2: Finally It Gets A Bath

Summary:

Seek continues spiraling, Hide is a dick, Eyes is a weird scientist, Z shows up, Figure and Guiding Light are sweetlings, and Jack is trying his best. Also its implied that Seek almost dies to its illness BUT

          It was asleep for a good few hours, hours spent with only small whines of pain and wheezy, uneven snores. Those precious few hours were the most peaceful Seek had been since this pain started.

     Up until it was rudely shoved awake and started desperately clinging to the edge of the tub to not be dragged out by a very, very pissed Hide.

     "Seek, bro, what the hell are you doing?! Normally I wouldn't say anything because you only ever use my spaces when necessary, but you've been in the exact same bathtub for almost a full day now. Get out. Come on." They snapped, trying their damnedest to remove the tired, grumpy, achy Seek from its safe spot.

   "Nuh...! Sick, 'urts, go 'way...!" It argued, kicking out of the hold and tumbling head first back in, curling up in the now all too familiar safety of the tub as its head and neck ached from the slight tumble.

     "Seek, if you don't get out of there right now, I'm getting Jack, and he will remove you from that damn tub indefinitely." She growled, several shadowy hands protruding from them as they grabbed Seek and pulled it up and out.

     The act of being moved so suddenly made it nauseous, and before it could even warn the other, it was throwing up dark green tar, clutching itself in pain as Hide leapt back in alarm. Seek curled up into a tiny ball, once again falling back into the tub. Its entire being trembled as it tried to keep itself calm, becoming unaware of its surroundings as it curled up and melted into a liquid mass. It was sick, and tired, and sick and tired of being bothered.

     Hours later, it was woken up again, this time by Eyes.

     "I noticed you have been in here a while." They said. Their aura glowed a dark violet, their eyes made Seek want to hide away further, so that's what it did.

     "I hope you don't mind me taking some samples of the remaining regurgitated fluid, or taking out these contacts. I would do it elsewhere, but apparently the two bathrooms down the hall are an utter wreck." They continued, moving away from the tub as they began to do... something. It didn't know what, and it didn't care what. It just laid still, dozing lightly as it slowly formed back into a half solid half liquid consistency.

     "... What did you eat? This doesn't appear to be the remains of any sort of food in the hotel." They asked, floating back over, their glowing aura having formed a hand that held, in a plastic bag... dark green sludge.

     ... Oh, now it remembered. Oops.

     "... Don't know..." Seek rasped, its voice weak as it sank down again. Eyes was right, it didn't look like anything even remotely like food. Just seeing it almost made the entity feel nauseated again, so it looked away, down at its trembling hands.

     "... I think I'll study it with Halt later. Farewell Seek, I do hope you feel better soon." They said, and soon the door closed behind them. Seek just went back to sleep.

     It was quite a while later when it slowly awoke, the soft sound of something sparkling acting as a faint reprieve from being constantly bothered.

     Slowly, it peeked its head over the edge, fighting back nausea to see... the blue light. It came closer, slowly forming into a beautiful blue figure of wings, eyes, rings, and arms.

     "Hello, Seek. Are you feeling okay?" Guiding Light asked, their voice soft and soothing to the entity's headache. Slowly, it shook its head, letting the angel cup its face gently.

     "When Hide told me you had been in the tub for a while, I was quite worried. More so when they told me you threw up when they tried to move you. Is there anything I can do to help?" They gently took a damp cloth, wiping its neck and chest gently. Maybe it had vomit there too, it didn't know.

     "... Dizzy... Hurts..." Seek mumbled, eye drooping as it slowly sank back into the tub. Guiding Light placed a soft, careful hand on its head, as if checking for something, before they left its blurry sight.

     Seek almost felt... Sad. It liked the quiet, and the dark, but Guiding Light and Timothy had been comforting. Accommodating. Timothy was probably still researching, which it was grateful for, but Guiding Light... it wanted Guiding Light to come back; to stay.

     Thankfully, a few minutes later, they returned, with something in their hands.

     "Here, this may help you feel a bit better..." They soothed, before placing something soft and cold on its head. It felt... it felt so soothing to its head. Soft, cool, comfortable...

     "Alright Seek, come on, you know the– Light? What are you doing here?"

     Seek didn't even need to see to know that Jack was talking. And usually, Jack wasn't someone it was worried about. That is... usually. It knew it had probably been in the tub a while, but how long exactly had escaped its tired mind. But it did remember Hide trying to move it, and it being sick, almost on her, so Jack coming to rip it away from the tub wasn't very unlikely.

     "Jack, please, I am well aware you are likely here to take Seek from its hiding place, but I do not believe it is wise. I believe it has fallen severely ill..." The angel explained, placing something on the edge of the tub. Seek couldn't see it, but it could faintly see the top of Jack's head as he approached.

     "Yeah, Hide said it threw up on the floor, you reckon it's been in there too long?"

     "No... I believe it has gotten sick. It said it is dizzy, and has been laying here for a while. It also seems to be... less than solid. But not quite liquid. I believe it is struggling."

     "... Is that why... You know, cup? On the edge there? With the straw?"

     "Yes, I do not know of any illness that can afflict an entity, but I do know of ones that can afflict a human. Perhaps treatments for a human illness will help it recover."

     "... So you want me to just... let it slide? If so, okay, just... I'll need you to back me up when I tell Hide."

     "Of course, Jack. Perhaps she will understand, once we explain it to her. I do not believe Seek is deliberately hiding— seeing its consistency, it may just be trying not to melt on the carpeting."

     It was about that point Seek tuned out the conversation, its eye drooping down again as it felt the headache slowly melt into a minor pang. It did notice when Guiding Light held a straw up to it, and weakly leaned forward, the straw sticking into its neck as it began to weakly draw up some of the water. It hurt its throat, and made its organs churn, but it felt... better, as well.

     Eventually though, the light patted its head, and softly hummed to it.

     "I will return, alright Seek? I am going to find the human, as they are likely the best source of knowledge for this." They soothed, before getting up and leaving.

     And Seek was alone yet again. Jack had apparently left at some point, but it didn't know when. It simply decided to doze, relaxing as best it could with all the aches and discomforts of its ailment. Rest seemed to make the time pass quicker.

     Eventually, it felt a hand lightly stroking its head, as if searching for it. Rough, fleshy, clawed, but so gentle and soft.

     "Seek... there... you are... Are you still... there...?"

     Its eye opened, revealing the lights to be dim, but turned on, illuminating Figure's body. Seek made a quiet noise, sitting up weakly as it did.

     "Ah... good... I was... worried... Timothy has been... reading everything... in the library for... a while... and you never... came... to visit... It was two days... I thought you... were..."

     It cut itself off, shaking its head softly as it trilled.

     "Nevermind... When I asked... Timothy... he said you... seemed to... be sick... so... I came looking... Have you... left this... spot... at all in... those two... days?"

     Seek shook its head, knowing Figure could feel it. It seemed to be more concerned now, gently reaching down to its chest.

     "... How about I... run you... a warm... bath? It may... help you feel... better... especially in... your current state..." It asked Seek, gently feeling along its torso. At first, the thought of water worried it. What if something happened? What if it became a puddle of liquid? What if it vomited aga–

     The pain... the god awful, cramping, aching pain came back, something Seek was far too acquainted with now. If a warm bath could stop this... even if there was a tiny chance of it stopping the pain... Seek wanted it, and it wanted it now. So, it nodded.

     As it curled up, it heard Figure gently feeling around, before it heard the tap activate, and the sound of water running. Parts of its puddly, melted body were immediately given a dose of cold water, making the tarry mass ripple and writhe in shock, before the water soon turned warm, and comforting. Figure kept checking the temperature with its claws, ensuring it was just right, before it let the tub fill, gently coaxing Seek's liquid body parts to join the solid ones.

     Slowly, the water came up to its sides, and then covered its legs, and abdomen, right up to its chin before Figure turned off the water. At some point it also had added soap, considering that Seek felt bubbles rubbing against its head every now and then. The warmth... oh, gods, it was so comforting. Finally, for the first time, the cramping agony eased away into a dull ache, and its throat soothed from constant pain to just being bothered a little. Its respiration felt like it was slowly being unclogged, and breathing became easier and easier. It had honestly forgotten what it felt like to not be in constant pain...

     Seek opened its eye a little, seeing Figure gently pick up a soft cloth and add soap to it, before slowly and carefully feeling around for Seek once more. It laid still in the tub, feeling Figure gently wash its submerged, slowly solidifying arm. It was soothing, comforting, leaving Seek half asleep, head held above the water by one large, flesh and bone hand, as the dark entity let itself be washed as gently as possible.

     "Are... you still...?" Figure asked, trailing off as it placed a hand on Seek's chest again. It hummed softly, breathing more deeply than before to try and reassure Figure that it was okay, it was alive.

     Several minutes passed, with Seek feeling better than it had in a while, allowing Figure to wash it, wipe away the grime and dirt and pain, gently peel away the dried, dead, itchy film that had formed on Seek's body to gently wash and tend to the soft, malleable, newer "skin" underneath. It was a caring, gentle moment. After a bit, Figure began to speak to someone, someone who sounded familiar, but it was too tired to pinpoint who.

     A straw was held to its neck, an offering of something to drink. Usually, it would have refused, because swallowing hurt, but... something about the warm bath took away almost all pain. So, it complied— the straw end was absorbed into its neck, and it started to drink.

     A couple minutes passed, with Seek slowly taking drinks of water, and when it opened its eye, the strange blur in its vision was... gone. Its body was trembling less and less, and the warmth really began to seep into its body. It cast its gaze to the edge of the tub, only to see Figure had stepped back a little, and now it was being tended to by the human.

     "Hey kiddo." They soothed, cupping its face in one hand while the other held the cup of water. "Guide filled me in. I'm sorry you're having to fight whatever this bug is..."

     "... Don't know... where it came from..." Seek gurgled; its breathing was still a little bit limited, and its throat was still raspy, but it didn't hurt anymore.

     "If I had to guess, just judging by what Timothy and Guide said you'd been dealing with, and the weather outside of this loop right now, I'm guessing sinuses. Have you had this kinda thing before?" Z asked, scooping up some water and gently rubbing the back of its head.

     "... Not anything this bad... usually just some aches..." It explained, sliding down to submerge itself a little bit more.

     "Yeah, I get sinus crap too, and it was bad recently for me too. You'll be okay, little one. I promise. Once you're done in the bath, we can get you set up in a room with warm, fresh towels and blankets, some tylenol, a snack, some water, and maybe some games or a movie if you want. Does that sound good?" Seek nodded, letting Z take the soft soapy washcloth to its shoulders and back. Food... warmth... a soft bed... it all sounded wonderful...

     "Those box things... one of those too..." It murmured, a small, amused look on its face... er, in its eye.

     "You mean a grape juice box?" Z asked, a soft, relieved smile on her face.

     " 'es... one of those..." It chuckled, before coughing a bit.

     "Alright, mex, a grape juice box, a box of tissues, and soft warm blankets after a bath. Sounds like a plan." Z hummed, before looking back at Guiding Light, Timothy, and Figure with what seemed like a greatly relieved expression.

     " 'ey mean I'm not dyin' yet, librarian. Don't worry..." Seek called softly, seeing everyone light up in pure reprieve at its words.

     It knew it would probably be treated like royalty for the next several weeks. It was looking forward to it, honestly, but first... First it wanted to enjoy a nice bath.

     Seek carefully pulled a small glob from its chest, and let it form into a small, black rubber duck with one eye, just like its. After a moment, Z plopped a normal rubber duck into the bath beside it, smiling like an idiot.

     "They are friends now." They hummed, gently petting the ducks. It hummed in soft amusement at that.

     Later would be soothing, but now was arguably even more soothing.