Daisy Chains (Cheer Up) [Phen/Salem]

[Georgina Speer]

If there was one thing George hated the most, it was probably sadness, and more in others than herself, and she had been informed in the past that she was very good medicine for those with the unfortunate situation of being upset.

Two of her good friends were down in the dumps (simply put).

They both knew each other.

Her idea was probably obvious by this point.

She had a whole cheering-up kit prepared - her bag of sweets, filled with lots of things; her laptop was under her arm, fully charged; food in the fridge for noms; ice cream for noms and a multitude of fluffy toys stuffed into a backpack. She looked like she was about to go to cotton candy carnage. Without knocking or anything, she skipped into the common room and slammed open Salem's door, oblivious to whatever was going on and only guessing that he was in there, "SALEM, YOU'RE COMING WITH MEEEE~" She sang out, like the worst kidnapper in the history of time.

As she did, she twirled over to the fridge and began pulling food stuffs out, "You're not getting out of this~" She said, head in the frozen paradise. Assuming he was nearby, she began placing things on a nearby table, "Bring these, would you?" She said, not even turning around, like the considerate person she was.

Regardless of anything and everything, she grabbed the three tubs of ice cream (one butterscotch, one vanilla and one mint chocolate - not her personal favourites, but that wasn't an issue, or the reason why she had them) in the freezer and pranced off, "Let's go~!" George hopped in the direction of Phoenix's dorm, crashing through the common room of 210 and knocking on his door, uncaring to anyone in the space nearby, "Phennniieee~! Your fairy godmother and prince charming have come to make you happy~!"

[Salem Hirch]

Silence, that's all Salem had wanted. A full day of nothing but silence. His friends had no way of knowing what was or had gone on with him for the last little while. Except for one, only Anthony knew what happened. He was too embarrassed to tell anyone else. The blonde man was deep in thought, with a ragging headache when his door suddenly burst open. It was of course George and all her Georgey Glory, and being very loud.

Honestly, Salem didn't always mind it when she was. In fact, even when he wasn't really himself, he found it oddly comforting. Today however, was not a day like that. He knew she would just keep at it if he didn't get up and follow her. "Fine, but I refuse to put on normal clothes..." Salem grumbled as he wiggled out of bed in nothing but pajama bottoms. Shuffling out to the kitchen, he just watched her for a moment. Tilting his head, he took note of the things she had. They were all for cheering people up. Shrugging, he picked up the items she had pulled out and followed her.

Salem was half awake and not paying much attention, he didn't notice the ice cream, or where they were heading when the left. It didn't really strike him until she said Phen's name. His bright blue eyes got wide for a moment, even with the sting of George calling him "Prince Charming". Now he was wishing that he had put on a shirt.

[Deleted]

Phoenix had taken the day off of work, which he'd done a couple times in the last few weeks. Some days he could muster up the energy to force himself out of bed and into his working clothes so he could shuffle tiredly around until his hours were over; other days, he could barely open his eyes. This was one of those latter kinds of days. He'd only managed to call into work to tell them he wasn't feeling well before he slumped back into his half-conscious state, too anxious to sleep but too exhausted to get up.

He considered calling Gryphon over, but even that seemed like too much energy. All he wanted to do was lay there in his misery and hope if he felt bad enough, Oriel would magically appear in his doorway.

Phoenix was just thinking this when a knock came at the door. He had already leaped up and ran to open it when George's voice called through, and Phen slowed slightly, wilting. He'd been sure it would be Oriel. Still, George was his friend (he didn't know who the other person was but okay...), so he took a deep breath and tried fixing his tangled hair with a sweep of his shaky hand as he opened the door, peeking out with heavily bloodshot eyes that were heavy with dark circles underneath. "Hi," he said quietly, his voice scratchy. Pheonix cleared his throat as he peeked behind the British girl to see... Salem? Had he been in a better state, he would have blushed.

"What, uh... What are you doin'?" Phen doubted even they could lift him out of this misery. Still, he opened the door a little more to let them in and wandered aimlessly back to his bed, flopping back down and resting a hollowed cheek against his pillow. "... You're not sneakin' Oriel in with you, are you?" he asked with a tiny bit of hope.

[Georgina Speer]

"Kay, your decision, your life~!" She replied. He could be topless and weird if he wanted to be. Unlike some people she knew, George was pretty unfazed by that kind of stuff. She just hung around guys too much to care all that much.

And okay, she could understand Salem being groggy about this - the whole point of her scheme was the fact that both he and Phoenix seemed to be at their worst, and she hated that. They could doubt the possibility of feeling better, but she wouldn't; she was optimistic and certain that she would at least achieve a genuine smile from the both of them before the end of this. And she refused to be bummed out.

Plus, she still owed the pixie boy for helping her with that whole 'Kodi' situation a while back.

The same pixie boy who looked like a fucking trainwreck.

Right, okay, she definitely knew this wouldn't be the easiest task in the world, but holy shit, Phen looked like someone had hoovered out his insides. Worse than she expected. Still, her brightness didn't waver for a moment as she bounded in and unloaded, hoping her energy would rub off on the other two, "Sadly, we're not," She said, because clearly, Phoenix was out of it by six and a half trillion miles. "However, I am cheering both of you up. And you're not getting out of it." She stood at the foot of his bed, hands on her hips, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Inwardly, she was extremely upset. George regarded all of her friends with the utmost importance, and seeing two of them in this state was... crap beyond words. But she wanted to help. She hoped she would help. "I brought lots of stuff, so you can do stuff and not just suffocate yourselves with pillows and blankets, unless that would make you smile." She went into her backpack and began tossing the fluffy toys everywhere, "Look, it's a plushie storm, wheeee~!"

The brunette glanced at Salem and threw a stuffed penguin at him, "And I say all this, I definitely mean both of you." She went serious for a moment, "Because I seriously care about you guys. I can't bear to see you both sitting around and letting yourselves wither away by the minute." She looked between them, "You both have extremely legitimate reasons to be upset, but the least you can do is respect yourselves and keep yourselves functioning. You don't have to be completely happy yet. Just... happier."

With her little speech over, a switch seemed to flick and George went back to smiling, even if it was a little muted, "I brought ice cream and spoooons~!" She said, digging into her bag again to find said utensils.

[Salem Hirch]

Salem thought he himself looked pretty rough, but seeing Phen like that was...well..it was heartbreaking. "Yeah, I did that once though. Remember?" He spoke softly of the time he snuck Phen and Oriel to his room just so they could be together for a little bit. He had no idea what all was gonna happen. Now a little blush spread on his own cheeks as he thought about it. Going back to being quiet though, he watched and listened to George. Even feeling this bad, his lips cracked a bit of a smirk as he watched her throw the stuffed animals around. Of course he knew she was planning on cheering up both of them, but he wondered how well it was gonna work. Phen mostly needed company and food, at least from Salem's point of view.

His own issues were a bit more mental than that. In no way was he thinking that he was worse off then Phen though, even Salem had a look of concern on his face seeing his Pretty Pixie like that. He managed a weak chuckle as he caught the little penguin George threw at him and he moved to sit down on the bed next to Phen, not really thinking anything of it. Then George got serious. It wasn't often she did, and Salem felt kinda bad that she needed to. He knew she meant well and he loved her even more for it, but all his problems were his own fault. Guilt, shame, out right self hatred. Those were just some of the words that floated in his head.

Salem was going to say something to her, but he just didn't know what. She had no idea what he had tried to do to himself, she had no idea what he'd been doing before that. Phen had a small idea, since well, things had happened. Instead of mentioning this to her, he just nodded and tried to smile. "Thanks Georgie Girl." He finally managed to croak out and he set the stuff he had carried on the floor and looked at Phen. "I think if we don't eat it, she might force feed us." Another little smile as he tried to get his friend to cheer up as well.

[Deleted]

If Phoenix had been in a better mindset, he would have blushed at the mention of when Salem had had him and Oriel come over to his place for… Stuff. As it was, he just nodded a little and stared at the floor, trying not to look too crestfallen at the fact that Oriel wasn’t with them. “Cheerin’ up?” he repeated in a quiet voice, not sure how that was going to work. He could barely muster the energy to get out of bed, let alone try to be happy. But… He appreciated the two wanting to help. It made him feel like he wasn’t quite so alone. “That’s really nice of you…”

He peeked up from where he lay on the bed as plushies started raining everywhere. The corner of his mouth might have twitched. “Blankets an’ pillows are comfy,” he mumbled, but he did reach out and wrap his arm around a stuffed lion that landed near him, and buried his face in its mane. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could pretend that it was Oriel. He was vaguely aware that someone – probably Salem – had sat down near him, and Phoenix peeked up from his smotherings, slowly reaching out to wrap his fingers in the fabric of his shirt. He needed the physical closeness.

When George got more serious, Phoenix silently turned his attention to her, feeling his heart ache at her words. She was trying so hard, she really was, and he couldn’t believe she was going to all this trouble just for him. Well, and Salem too, it sounded like. Phen vaguely wondered what was wrong with him, but didn’t get the nerve to ask. “Thanks, George,” he whispered out, managing to push himself back up to at least sit once her little speech was over. He still wasn’t smiling, but at least he was making an effort, with the plush lion still clutched in his lap.

“Y… Y’brought food?” he asked, his stomach clenching unpleasantly. Phoenix looked over at Salem as he spoke, then slowly dropped his gaze back to the floor, lip wobbling. “He used t’do that…” he said to himself, under his breath. Still… He would at least try to eat something. “I…. Thank you… Again…” he mumbled, unsure of what else to say. “I… I’ll try a little an’ see if my stomach can handle it.”

[Georgina Speer]

This was going to work. There were no ifs or buts about it – because if George wasn’t confident, they wouldn’t be confident, and then everyone would just turn into useless sad goop. So, to avoid goopification, and the possibly of becoming too upset about them, this had to work, even a little. “It’s not nice, it’s my job. Well, our job in this instance. I care, therefore I am caring enough to bombard you in your worst moments.” Sounded better in her head, but the sentiment was still there. Shush.

She was glad to see Salem smile, albeit a little small. She didn’t see Phen smile at her childish floundering, but there was time for that, later, later… right now she had to make sure the message had been put across – she refused to let them stay this way. And they were both bloody tough cookies, so it would be difficult, but not as difficult as seeing them both so depressed. Or more, hearing about it in Phoenix’s case.

Ah, the mystical lion. It was actually a larger replica of a lion from one specific YouTuber with a cute face. Yeah, I’m talking to you, Phil Lester. With your lions and awkward facial expressions and adorable laugh. Wait, crap, was she really that easy to distract? God damn it. No, this was more important – Salem and Phen. Sorrowful Salem and Pessimistic Phen. Oh, for Pete’s Sake, this wasn’t the time for clever alliterations! Bloody hell… okay. They both took her seriously. Thank God, that was a first. She gave them both a sweet smile, “No need to thank me. You’re my friends,” Here comes the cheese, “I would do anything to see you both smiling again.” It was sincere, despite its cliché nature.

She tilted her head curiously – Oriel force fed him? Was eating for him really that bad? Blimey o’reilly… still, ice cream was delicious. She carefully flung a spoon at the pixie skeleton and one at the illusionist and… no, she didn’t throw one at herself, she isn’t that demented. She put the tubs on the bed, “Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but you both seem to like these flavours, hmm?” Vanilla and Mint Chocolate was Phen, apparently he kind of dipped between, and Salem liked Butterscotch. Like the awesome person she was, she was making it a habit to know everyone’s favourite ice cream flavours for times like these. If people asked, it was for a ‘survey’ for her ‘blog’. It all actually got complied on an Excel document.

She could be very organised about the things she loved. Well, the people she loved. Or wanted to love.