Scorched rocks.

Roark gets a nasty fever, and his father is nursing him. No slash or yaoi. Please R&R.

It was mid-June in the Sinnoh region. The temperature was 32 degrees and scorching sun in Oreburgh. The guys were working hard at the inside and outside of the mine, many of them shirtless. Most of the girls were in a girls-only event in Jubilife city. Roark picked up his pick axe and begun to hammer on some small rocks. 'I think I should get more sunblock on my arms. They're really hot' thought the young man and walked into the shadow. Despite the heat, he was dressed in a light brown T-shirt. The mahogany haired male was a bit shy, and prefered to work with a shirt on.

"Hey Roark! You look kinda tired." said Edward, who gulped down some water at the moment. "I couldn't sleep last night..." muttered the young man while drank some of the water from a tap. "Why are you still wearing that shirt? I'm surprised you haven't got a heatstroke yet." chuckled his colleague before he wiped some sweat away from his face. "You know that I'm shy Eddy." said the miner while he gave the bluenett a deadpan look. "Whatever floats your boat...we only have an hour left or so." said the young man before he went back to his work.

The 22-year old raised an eyebrow and applied some sunblock on his pale arms. 'Eh, why not?' thought the guy before he removed his shirt. There were only guys there after all, not to mention that he was not the fattest there or anything. He went back to his area again and started to hammer on the rocks with a pickaxe. 'Is it only me, or is it getting hotter?' thought Roark, wiping some sweat away from his face. He didn't felt well...he had to take a cold shower when he got home. A REALLY cold one.

The young man walked back to his apartment an hour later. His was on the ground floor, which meant that he did not have to drag himself up the stairs. The rock pokemon trainer locked the door before entering the shower. Icy cold water trinkled down his body and sent chills to the rest of the system. It felt like heaven. But when the male was drying himself, he noticed how tired he felt. It was almost like he had been hypnotized by Fantinas Mismagius. Then, the phone begun to chime.

"Hello..." said the gym leader with a voice that was more slurred than usual. "Hi son! How are you doing?" said his father in a rather cheery voice. "Not too well...It feels like I'm burning up from the inside" muttered the young man. "You do not sound too well. Are you sure you're not suffering from a heatstroke?" asked Byron, who now sounded genuinely concerned. "No...because my skin have goosebumps." said his son. "Get in bed kid. I will be there soon." said the adult before he hung up. The mahogany haired male laid down on his bed, now only in a pair of shorts he used to sleep in when it was summer. He hoped his dad would be here soon.

Byron biked towards Oreburgh as fast as his legs (and his bike) would allow him. His son did not sounded too well...in fact, he haven't sounded that bad since he got that pneumonia last year. A job in a mine could take its toll on a persons lungs sometimes, even if the Oreburgh mine had really strict rules about that. The mine was well-lit and well-aired in order to make it healthy for those who worked there. All of the workers were only allowed to work for a period of time before they had to go outside for some fresh air. Or inside a house, if it was winter or horrible weather conditions.

The man biked trough the forest as fast as he could. Suddenly, a Pachirisu jumped right in the middle of the road. "AAAAAH!" yelled the steel pokemon trainer and tried to stop. The scared pokemon jumped off the road while the biker felt of the vehicle in an attempt to not kill the poor creature. "Auch...good I was wearing this helmet." muttered the man. Why was he going to Oreburgh again, aside from the reason that his 22-year old son was sick? Nobody else were able to go. Volkner and Candice lived too far away, Gardenia and Maylene were the 'celebrity voulenteers' in the all-girl event, Fantina was taking the fighting arena challenge while Crusher Wake was fixing the pipes in his gym. But Byron was his father after all and was naturally the first choice.

The man could now see Jubilife city. He smiled: it would not be long before he had reached the city that was so famous for its mines and museums. The adult hoped that his son was not doing too bad: he had brought some medicine, food and a lot of lemonade. Which was fine with the Canalave male: he loved him to bits. The mahogany-haired man biked into Jubilife before he slowed down a little. A lot of people walked around in the streets; many of them were females. Not that he cared since he was married. Byron shook off that thought and continued to bike southwards. He reminded himself why he was here in the first place. As soon as he was out of the city, he begun to speed up. The next stop was Oreburgh.

Roark felt simply awful. It felt like he stood right in front of a Magmar. According to another gym leader, Blaine, it would feel like your body was on fire. 'Except that my body is not on fire...it is melting down...' thought the male before he let out a groan. It felt like his body weighed a ton while his skin was on fire. Even if the young man had turned on the air condition, he had not cooled down a bit. The bespectacled male tried to sleep, but each time he did that, he dreamed about monsters who tried to get him. He now officially hated fever fantasies with a passion.

The young man took off his glasses and laid them on the night stand. Everything that was more than 60 feet away became a little blurred. He let out a sigh while he tried to ignore the sick feeling in his body. The miner ached all over from his forehead to his toes. It felt like he was in a oven that became hotter and hotter, while his mind became more tired by the minute. 'I should take the day off next time I feel ill...' thought the male. He was, like his dad, a bit of a workaholic. Since Roark was the gym leader and the one responsible for security in the mine, he rarely took a day off, except when he felt really sick or if it was something extremely important.

The young man stared at the ceiling and tried to count the dots. '1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...' thought the mahogany haired male while his eyes grew more and more tired by the second. He really wanted to fell asleep, but if the rock pokemon user did, he would wake up seconds later because of those stupid nightmares. It would be better if someone was here to care for him. To be sick was bad but to be alone AND sick was just a lot worse. And now, the young man felt alone, lonely and extremely ill.

Byron had now reached Oreburgh, and biked straight to the apartment building. 'OK, let's see...105...106...ah, 107' thought the man and unlocked the door. He had an extra key in case something happened. The man went towards the bedroom and hoped that his son was a little better. On the bed laid a shirtless young man in brown shorts. "Dad...is that you?" croaked the male before he squinted. "Yes, it's me. Don't worry, you will be all right" said the mahogany haired adult before he sat down at the bed and took up a thermometer. He laid the tip in the younger males ear.

A small 'beep' was heard 20 seconds later. "39.8 degrees! Not weird you're feeling bad..." said the man before he picked up some medicine. He poured some ice cold lemonade into a glass and held it in front of Roark. The younger trainer laid the pills in his mouth and gulped down some of the fizzy drink. "Feeling better son?" asked the 'steel man', concern evident in his eyes. What parent would not hate to see their children sick anyways? "No...I want to sleep, but I can not..." muttered the young man with a blank face. "Why not?" asked the adult. "Because I get these horrible nightmares..." said the rock pokemon user; his voice sounded a bit scared. He was among those people who dreamed a lot when they slept. Byron bit his lip before an idea popped up in his head. This was not like him at all, but maybe he could help getting his kid asleep.

"OK Roark...close your eyes." said the adult. His son made a small frown, but did as he was told. The older man bent a bit forwards, and hold on, embraced his son in a gentle manner. The young mans skin felt quite warm: not weird he felt uncomfortable. The mahogany haired man begun to make small circles with his hands on his child's back, just when he was a kid and had woked up from a bad dream or was crying. He stopped after a little while and hugged him again. The man blinked for a second: he could feel the muscles on his sons arms. And weren't his shoulders a bit broader too? Well, he was 22 after all...it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. 'But even if he is a man, he will still be my kid...' grinned the Canalave male while he stroked his child's hair as careful as he could. The younger male looked more like his mother except the hair: his somewhat unruly, but soft mahogany hair was just like his fathers. They had the same eyes too, except that the adult had a bit better eyesight.

The bespectacled male felt two strong arms hold around his back, squeezing him a little. It was not too loose or to firm: it was perfect. Someone stroked his hair as well. Roark rested his head on his fathers shoulder, a small smile on his lips. This felt really good actually...His nose picked up a familiar scent of coffee. "Thanks dad..." muttered the young man and closed his eyes. After a short while, he was in dreamland. Byron looked down on him after 5 minutes or so. His sons eyes were closed: he almost looked like a kid again. "Night Roark." muttered the adult before he laid him down at his bed.