The Raccoon and His Boy - A Varian x Reader story

Mom’s voice slowly filtered through your sleep as she shook you lightly. “Y/N, honey, you need to get up. Your dad has already left for work.”

You moaned, rolling over to the other side. Your head was pounding with pain and your throat felt raw and scratchy. You didn’t want to get out of bed for at least a few hours, but Mom forced you back towards her. You could hear Star hissing slightly beside you, probably trying to protect you, so you opened your eyes to show her you were okay. Your eyes burned, but you forced yourself to look up at Mom. “Come on, sweetie, I’ll make you breakfast.”

“Tired,” you murmured sleepily, letting Star curl up in your arms. She’d slept next to you the whole night, and while you could see Mom wasn’t too happy about this – she’d said you’d talk about keeping Star today, and you getting attached probably wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted – but she didn’t say anything, just leaned down and kissed your head.

Mom’s expression turned worried the second her lips left your skin, and she pressed her hand to my head. “You’re burning,” she told you as you let out a tiny sneeze. Her sigh echoed in your ears. “You’re probably sick because you were out in the rain yesterday. Y/N, you really have to be more careful.”

“But Star…”

“I know, honey.” Mom glanced at the kitten in your arms. “And you did the right thing, helping her, just… You understand. I’m going to make you tea.”

You nodded weakly and watched her go. Star whined softly, pressed against your chest, and you ran your fingers over her soft fur. It was relaxing to know you had someone to hold on to, even if they weren’t a human being.

Your book was still sitting on the bed with you, where you’d left it last night. You’d only managed to get through one chapter of it before crashing, your head feeling fuzzy. You reckoned that was when the sickness had started, or maybe a bit before when you began sneezing. You wanted to pick it back up and read more, since you knew you’d be stuck in bed with nothing to do the whole day, but even reaching out to grab the book felt like too big of an effort. With another little moan you let your eyes flutter shut and gave back into sleep, which welcomed you with open arms.

The entire first day was a blur. Whenever you’d wake up there would be a cup of tea and a small plate of food on your bedside table, but you fell right back asleep after eating a little. You couldn’t stop sweating no matter what you tried, and despite all the sleep you still felt a little restless whenever you were awake. Star was one of the only things keeping you calm, as she stayed by your side the entire day. You were happy to see Mom was taking care of her too, bringing milk and some fish for the kitten to eat.

The second day wasn’t much different. No one woke you up in the morning, already aware that you probably wouldn’t get up when they did, so you slept in until eleven o’clock. You were awake enough to describe how you were feeling to your parents, but were still too sick to do anything, so another day was spent in bed.

It was only the third day when you started to feel significantly better, and it was partially thanks to a pleasant surprise. You woke up independently just to discover Star wasn’t in your arms, and you glanced frantically around the room until you found her curled in a freckled boy’s hands. “Varian?”

He glanced up at you from the doorway. “Hey! How are you?”

YouI groaned. It was a more accurate description than any words could form. He gave you a sympathetic frown, setting Star down on the edge of your bed. “I know, being sick is the worst. But it was for a noble cause, right?” Star padded her way back to you as you sat up, stretching a little. “I’m glad your parents let you keep her.”