A Sick Day

To be sure, it was a beautiful day, a glorious day, even. After the storms of yesterday, the sun over Falconreach shone bright and warm, a fact offset by the breeze, cool and with just the slightest hint of sea in its scent. After the five consecutive bandit raids, four dragon attacks and seventeen rampaging elementalists of yesterday, it seemed Falconreach was all set for a day of peace and quiet.

Warm sunbeams streamed through her uncovered window and danced across her eyelids, making her blink as she struggled to force herself upwards, her eyes watering in the bright light. Turning her gaze to the warm, lovely weather and the cheerful sight of a peaceful Falconreach just outside her window, she put her head in her hands and scowled.

"Thith thuckth."

"Now, now," Serenity chided as she slipped into the room, tray in her hands. "You're already sick. It's not good to be upset on top of it."

"Ab dot thick."

"I'm sure your abs are very thick," the innkeeper said distractedly as she bustled around the room, tutting as she began to clear out what looked to be at least a month's worth of garbage, plates and cutlery. "You know, Hero, I know you're busy, but you should really make a habit of cleaning up before you go."

She grumbled something near-incomprehensible under her breath which Serenity, as the innkeeper for the biggest (and only) inn in a town as… eclectic as Falconreach, could all too easily comprehend.

She frowned. "Hero," she said reproachfully. "I know you don't enjoy being sick and I'm sorry about that but that doesn't give you the right to be rude."

"… ab dot thick."

"Mmm." Serenity looked unconvinced. "Of course you're not." Putting the trash aside in a corner to be dealt with later with her mystical innkeeping powers, she strode over to the Hero's bedside, examining her with a critical eye and gentle, yet somehow inexorable, hands. Sweat was gleaming on the Hero's pale face and her eyes looked very bright in contrast with the bags under her eyes. There was sleep in her eyes, thick and pale against her dark eyelashes. "You're burning up."

At those words, as if on cue, her dragon fluttered down from the rafters, settling down at his Dragonlord's pillow and curling himself around her head. He looked up at Serenity with one, scarlet eye as he nestled his face in his Dragonlord's hair. She could feel his breath at the back of her hand; it was cold as ice. She smiled approvingly at the gesture.

The Hero only scowled all the more. "Ab dot thick," she protested. "Ab dot."

Her dragon let out a disbelieving little growl. She couldn't understand a word of draconic, of course, but the meaning was perfectly clear.

She coughed. "Doh't you thtart wid be, I – "

She sneezed. Loudly. Then again. And again. Five times in a row. The last one ended with a clear, sticky fluid running down one nostril and off her face.

Serenity raised a single fine, brow. In her mind, she was already taking note of where she remembered the Hero kept her handkerchiefs and was taking mental stock of the medicines they kept in storage. There'd been a bad bug the winter before. She wasn't confident they had any flu or cold medicine left.

"… ab ohdly a lidtle thick."

Her dragon, somehow managing the impressive feat of rolling his eyes despite lacking visible irises (or was it that his eyes were all irises and no sclera?), proceeded to further entangle himself in her hair, making sure his now ice-attuned scales would be in place to cool her skin.

"In any case, I think it would be for the best if you stayed in, today," Serenity said, frowning. "I don't think it's anything too bad but…" she mulled it over for a bit. "I think I'll have Alina or Reens have a look at you later, just to be safe."

"Idth dot dat bad!" she protested.

She then sneezed another five, consecutive sneezes, ones so violent, she ended up in a coughing fit shortly after, prompting her dragon to worriedly coil himself about her, thumping her back with his tail. When even that was finished, she was left shivering in her bed as Serenity hurried to get the spare blankets she knew would be in the box over the armor closet.

"…okay, baby it idth." She shifted uncomfortably amidst her sheets, making her dragon squawk as she moved. "But I c'n sthdill figh'! Jus', lebbe get outda here an' – " she had to cut herself off as she sneezed, and loudly, at that, prompting Serenity, now expecting it, to urge her back into bed, handkerchief at the ready.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern creasing her brow as she daubed the sweat from her face. There was a lot of it. Even through the fabric of the handkerchief, her skin was still very hot.

"… by throa' hur's," she admitted, finally letting Serenity push her back into bed, tucking her into the sheets as her dragon steadily did what he could to cool her off with his icy scales, his frosty breath. "Really bad. Feel hot. By eyeth feel thore."

"Are you hurting anywhere?" Serenity prompted, once again eyeing her critically she began a minor healing spell, one meant to soothe the senses, even if only just a little, one that made her hands glow with a warm, gentle light. "Are you injured anywhere?"

She shivered under the soft, soothing light of Serenity's magic, the soreness in her eyes abating slightly under the warm glow. "M'aching all ober," she admitted, after a few moments' of thought. "An' by head hur's an' I feel tired. Really tired."

The innkeeper frowned. "Anything else? Are there any injuries from yesterday?"

She shook her head. "Noth'n Twillyh didn't fickth."

Serenity frowned, the glow around her hands dissipating as she did. "I don't think it's anything too bad," she said slowly. "But if this is what I think it is, you'll have to be here for a few days."

"A few dayth?!" She looked downright scandalized. "Idth dot dat ba – " she broke herself off to cough into the sleeve of her nightshirt. Still, when she finished, she still that look in her eyes, one that Serenity belatedly thought might've been the source of many a villain's frustrations, one that spoke of both stubborn determination and determined stubbornness.

Though, it probably usually looked more impressive than it did right now, what with her watery eyes, obvious fatigue, and snot dripping down her nose. And the fact that she was currently in bed, dressed in a (holey, Serenity noticed with disapproval) nightshirt that looked to be at least a few years old.

"Dat'th dot happedink," she said, shaking her head. "Ah can't jus' stop beingk a Hero for a few daze."

"Well, you'll have to," she answered pointedly. "By the looks of it, you'll have to stay in for at least a week."

"A week?!" she choked out. "Why?"

"Because you haven't slept properly since the last war five months ago, because you haven't been eating properly for the same amount of time, and because you spent all day yesterday outside, in a storm, Hero-ing without a raincoat!"

For a moment or so, the Hero was left gaping. She'd never seen Serenity quite so upset before, especially not over something as mundane as raincoats. But, still, for better or worse, she pressed on: "I had to!" she snapped back. "Der were banditsth, an' dragonth, an' elementaliststh and I don't hab a raidcoat!"

"You could've asked for one!" Serenity looked frustrated. "The elementalists had raincoats on! Even the hydromancers!" she massaged her forehead. "Hero, I know you hate this but you're sick and you need to rest. You'll only make things worse if you go adventuring in your condition and if that happens, you won't just be staying in bed for a week, you'll be staying in bed for a month."

"Ithn't – " she coughed – "Ithn't there thum kinda poti – potion I c'd use? Thum kinda thpell?"

"None that won't need you to stay put for a while, if that's what you're asking," she said, crossing her arms. "Hero, it's just one week. You've been adventuring almost non-stop for months now. Don't you think you deserve a few sick days for yourself?"

"Bu' what'f somethink habbedth?" she burst out. "What'f th' banditsths come back or – or the drag'nths or – "

"The bandits have been sent to Swordhaven, the dragons are with Lady Elysia and the elementalists are in the dungeons of the Guardian tower. None of them will be seeing daylight any time soon."

"Bu' – bu' what if thumthink big habbedth? There aren't a lot o' heroeth arou'd, dow dat da war'sth done."

"Hero…" Serenity looked tired. "It's not even Friday."

That made even the Hero pause. That was true. Today was a Tuesday and, for the most part, not much happened on Tuesdays. Saturdays and, on occasion, Thursdays, sure, but never on Tuesdays.

"And it won't be Friday for a few days, at which point the usual heroes will come along, as always, for the Friday mess."

"You doh't doh dat." This time, however, she sounded unsure.

"Hero… a good hundred or so adventurers have come by for almost each and every Friday and have been doing so for the past five years. Why should this Friday be any different?"

"…I jus' doh't like thith," she said, at last, sniffling into her sleeve. "I really doh't like thith."

"No more than I like seeing you hurt yourself," Serenity sighed. Then, she smiled, satisfied as the Hero finally acquiesced to her tucking her in. "Stay in bed and take lots of fluids. I'll bring you some soup when I check in on you later."

"Dot hunk'ry," she muttered, closing her eyes as her dragon settled himself around her so that his head rested in her hair and his tail at her throat. Given his current attunement to ice, it was actually fairly pleasant. "You busy, Th'ren'ty?"

"Much as I'd love to stay and put up with you all day, I do have other tenants, you know," she said, tone teasing. "Some of them even pay me."

She opened one, bleary eye. "D'you wan' be to bay you?" she asked hoarsely. "You were th'one who offered a room free. I doh't bind."

She shook her head, smiling. "I'm kidding." Then, she walked over to where she knew the Hero kept her water skin, filled it from her own enchanted hip flask before placing it at her bedside along with a box of tissues from her own

For all of her talk earlier about still being able to fight, the Hero had fallen asleep fairly quickly. By the time she'd finished sorting through the garbage the Hero'd apparently managed to accrue, the Hero was already snoring in her bed, the sound soft and just a bit congested. The spectacle made her smile, just a little, as she began casting a minor healing spell to help with her breathing. She could feel Draco's eyes on her as she did, even without looking. Never once looking away from her task, she asked: "Make sure she stays in bed, okay?"

A soft growl. She couldn't speak draconic but she was reasonably sure of what he meant and, so, continued.

"She really will hurt herself if she tries to go out in her condition so make sure she stays put, alright? And watch the bathroom if she goes. She might try to sneak out if you leave her be."

He snorted. Somehow, the sound was fond.

"I'll come by later with food and medicine. You can keep her safe, can't you?"

The dragon just stared at her, as if he couldn't believe she even asked.

She smiled. "Just making sure." Then, she stood, taking with her the bags of garbage, cutlery and other assorted items. As she was at the door, the dragon let out a plaintive little sound.

She turned. The dragon was looking at his dragonlord's face as he wiped her brow with the edge of a wing. As she watched, he made a small sound from within his throat. She didn't need to speak draconic to understand that, at least.

"She'll be fine," she promised. "It's nothing life-threatening. As long as she gets plenty of rest, liquids and medicine, she'll recover quickly. She'll be back in fighting shape before you know it."

He let out a low growl, almost a purr, as she said those words. Then, he closed his eyes, rested his chin on her forehead and made a quick shooing gesture with his tail.

It was rather sweet, actually. Hiding a smile behind her hair, she turned to leave, already going over what she was going to have to do to help, from making some chickencow noodle soup to readying some cold compresses. It was going to be a lot of extra work and she already had quite a bit to do, given how eccentric all of her tenants tended to be but that was alright. It was the least she could do, after all.

With the sound of the Hero's soft, congested snores ringing in her ears, she walks to the door and prepares to leave.

-0

And then, because of course, someone knocked.

0-

Slowly, Serenity opened the door, biting her lip as the door creaked on its hinges. Without needing to look, she could feel Draco's eyes watching over the back of her shoulder, hear the slightest, quietest hiss.

"Oh, hi Serenity!"

She let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. It was just the mail. Just the mail.

"Good morning, Ash!" she greeted, smiling as she reached out to assist him. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Outside the door was Ash Dragonblade, grinning at her from behind the bulging mailbags in his arms even as he strained to stand straight underneath their weight. Well, in addition to the weight of what pieces of armor he had, of course. And the weight of the sword at his back.

"Not… yet – hrrmmf!" he grunted, hoisting the bags further up. "Got lots of mail to deliver today and I want to finish early – oh, thanks, Serenity!" he added as she took the largest of the mailbags off his arms, one that bore a collection of swords wrapped in brilliant green wrapping paper. "Whew! I've got lots of mail to deliver today, since I couldn't do yesterday because of the storms."

"I see," she said, eyeing the mailbags in his arms. "Drop by when you're done, alright? I'll save something warm for you."

"Ooh, thanks!" He looked pleased. "Could you save me some of those really nice breakfast buns?"

"I'd be happy to!" she said, smiling gently at him. Then, examining the contents of the mailbag in her arms, she asked: "Is there anything for me?'

"Yep! Your mail's with Carolyn. Oh, uh, speaking of which, is the Hero home? She has lots of mail today," he said, brandishing a thick sheaf of letters as well as a few scrolls sealed with wax. One of them looked very official, almost like some sort of missive or request for ai -

Her eyes narrowed and her smile turned stiff. "She is," she said slowly. "What sort of mail?"

"Uh…" he squinted at the letters in his hands. "Quest requests, mostly. Oh, hey, looks like Cysero's up to something new again…"

"Quests?" he turned to look at her in shock; her voice had sounded so cold. "I'm afraid she won't be able to do any quests today…"

"You kiddin' be?" the Hero slurred, voice still heavy from sleep. "Ahb alwayth readyh f'r quetht-th."

Ash turned so fast, he nearly gave himself whiplash. Still in bed, still with her dragon coiled around her head, said dragon currently growling disapprovingly into her hair, was the Hero, watching them through bleary, fever-bright blue eyes, face still flushed. Dropping the mailbags, he rushed over to her side. "What happened? What's wrong?!"

"She has the flu," Serenity sighed, putting down the mailbag in her own arms so she could pull Ash back away from the bedside. No need to have two sick people on her hands, after all. She was allowed. She had all of her shots. "No quests for her today, I'm afraid. I mean it!" she added reprovingly as the Hero started to pout, something she'd never seen her do before but to which Serenity was going to stand her ground. "Bed rest."

"But why – oh yeah," Ash frowned at the realization. "Storm yesterday. Why didn't you wear a raincoat? I saw you when I was looking out the window," he added.

"Doh't hab wod," she said, sniffling.

"Why didn't you say so? I'd have given you mine if you asked!"

"…shuddup," she grumbled, shifting in bed. "C'bon, Th'ren'ty quethtig to do an' beeble to thave."

Serenity, perhaps a tad more roughly than she ought to have done, took the letters off Ash's hands and flipped through the lot, reading through them with a speed to rival the fastest of wind dragons. "Fetch quest, caravan guarding, attic purification, monster disguised as a chest, laundry..." she recited, frowning until she reached the very end. "Hero, none of these involve life-saving."

"Don't ree' by bail!" she protested, if a bit weakly. "An' thtill! Who'th gun do th'm other-waith?"

"Ash will," she said simply, eyeing the armor he already the wore and the sword already at his side.

"I will?" Ash looked at her, panicked until she sharply jerked her head in the Hero's direction, said Hero now in another coughing fit with her dragon, once again, helping her work them through with helpful thumps to her back. " I – uh - yeah, I will! Shouldn't be too, uh, hard, right? Right?!" he laughed nervously.

"Ash?" she looked at him, still sniffing, eyes still watering. "Bbkay," she said, at last closing her eyes and letting her dragon drape his wings over her face. "If it'th you, id'll be fide."

Even she had to admit to feeling a tad surprised at her easy acceptance though, of course, she made sure not to let it show.

"Wait, really?" Ash stared at her, wide-eyed.

Without opening her eyes, she flashed him a smile. "I truh-tht you - " she yawned, wide and loud. "M'tired. G'luck, 'kay?"

Then, without further ado, she collapsed back into her bed, curled up against the sheets and returned to her sleep. She was snoring in seconds.

"Serenity!" he hissed, looking warily at the sleeping form of his friend, and sometimes-mentor (friendtor?). "Why did you do that? You know I can't cover for her!"

"And why not?" She looked at him, unflinching, arms crossed even as she strode over to pick up the mailbags he'd dropped. "She's sick and someone has to do them. Why not you?"

He gaped at her. "Because I'm me? Obviously?" he pulled at his hair, frustrated. "I can't fill her shoes! I'm not strong enough!"

"Well, she certainly trusts you to be able to," she pointed out. He flinched before looking away, embarrassed but rather pleased at the reminder. "And besides, it's not like we're asking you to save the world. There haven't even been any new megalomaniacs since Sepulchure!"

"But…" he looked unconvinced. "It's still… they're expecting her, not – not, y'know, me."

"So?" Serenity looked unmoved. "So long as you can do what they ask, they will accept you as a substitute. And besides, I'm sure these quest-givers will understand after you explain the situation."

"But…"

"In any case," she continued. "If it really was a big emergency, don't you think they would've come to see her personally instead of sending a letter?"

"But… what if something big happens?!" Ash looked at her, eyes wide as images of Falconreach's destruction flashed through his mind. "What if – what if some big, world-ending disaster happens and I'm the only one around to deal with it?!"

"…Ash…" Serenity looked weary as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "It's not even Friday."

That made him pause. "Oh yeah," he muttered, scratching the back of his head. "I guess you're right! I can do this! I can do this!"

"You can do this," she echoed, only barely managing to inject some polite enthusiasm into her tone. Honestly, she was starting to feel exhausted from all of this… "I'll get someone to handle the mail for you. Just… make sure the quests are done by the end of the day, alright?"

Ash had already taken back the quest requests and was skimming through their contents. "Yeah, sure," he said absently. Where was he going to find a two-headed chicken? "I can probably do that."

"Indeed you can," she grunted as she hefted the mailbags onto her shoulders. "Ah, by the way, would you mind taking a quest for me?"

"Mm? I guess I don't," he looked up at her from the letter he was reading. "What is it?"

"It's nothing heavy," she reassured him. "Just drop by Reens' or Alina's and get some flu medication. I'd do it myself but…" her voice trailed off as she turned to look at the Hero, now muttering under her breath as she tossed about in bed, clearly irritating her dragon in the process. "In any case, just explain the situation. If they don't decide to give it on the house, I'll reimburse whatever you paid."

"Okay, then!" He looked relieved. "Leave it to me!"

And so, he ran off to find a lost ring, guard a caravan through Surewould, clear out some ghosts, kill a monster-disguised-as-a-chest, clear out Cysero's laundry golems, look for a two-headed chicken, help a man with his harvest, deliver some potions, save a cat stuck atop a weathervane, and get some flu medication.

Shouldn't be too bad, right?

AN: Behind closed doors, behind a wall no one can see, a hand rushes to meet a face, knowing that hijinks were about to take place.

Something that's been in my backlog for a literal year. Maybe even more. A chapter-fic-type thing, though one that's none too serious. Man, my style's changed a lot since then. I think I meant it as a fill for a prompt but I'm not too sure; I can't find the prompt and, in any case, this kinda spiraled out of control in the planning stage. As the whole thing's been plotted out by now, start to end, this shouldn't be too hard to finish buuuut since uni's been keeping me in a headlock, I'm not going to make any promises...

... save for the fact that since the whole thing was plotted out pre-Calamity saga, this is going to be rather harsh, if read after completing Calamity. Having finished the Calamity saga, the plan is a lot harsher in hindsight. Which'll make this fun, I think. I hope someone likes this, anyway. Feedback's always appreciated. So... review, please.