It was the worst winter in years, and of course they happened to be fighting a war when it hit. And just Takumi's luck, too - he had been assigned to go on patrol in the middle of what was nearly a blizzard. After a short skirmish in the snow-covered woods, Takumi was just glad to return to camp. He had refused to wear another layer of clothing, despite the protests of his retainers, and now he regretted it. His whole body ached all over and he couldn't stop shivering. On the way back Sakura noticed his discomfort, but he managed to reassure her that he hadn't caught a cold. He never got sick, anyway.

At least that's what he thought. He had fallen asleep in his tent as soon as he got back, and he'd forgotten to take a warm bath before he crashed. Takumi groaned as he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes drearily. His skin felt as if it were on fire and when he tried to stand up, a wave of dizziness passed over him, leaving him trembling.

"You look horrible."

Takumi blinked as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, and found a certain Nohrian prince gazing down at him with no trace of sympathy at all in his narrowed eyes. Or, namely, the Nohrian prince with whom he happened to be sharing a tent. Takumi bit back a retort as he sat down quickly to avoid collapsing.

"Your hair band is crooked," was the first thing Takumi said, just to be annoying. He shivered as another wave of chills washed over him in the absence of the warmth that his blankets provided.

To his credit, the vain prince ignored his jab.

"No, I'm being serious. You look like you're about to pass out," Leo said. "By which, I mean for the second time. When I got here, you were completely gone."

"Don't tell me you're actually worried about me," Takumi scoffed. That got him a flustered look, but before he could blink it was gone, and Leo was still looking at him in that infuriatingly patronizing way.

"Why wouldn't I be concerned about the well-being of my fellow prince?" he said, as smoothly as ever. When Takumi raised an eyebrow at him, he said, "I think you're sick."

Takumi tried to muster a sharp reply, but all he could manage was a tired sigh and, "Shut up."

Leo, for all his air of concern, smirked and leaned down. "Don't worry, I'll make you some soup. I've been wanting to try out that miso soup recipe you gave me the other day."

And with that, he was gone, leaving Takumi glowering at his back as the prince left the tent. He glared at the ceiling for a while, fuming, then resigned himself to burying under the covers again and breathing deeply, trying to infuse some fresh air into his exhausted lungs.

After another minute or so he realized that he had forgotten to put his hairpiece back in. He hated when anyone saw him without his ponytail and it embarrassed him to think that Leo had seen him in such a vulnerable state. With tremendous effort, he got up from his bed and sat in front of the mirror, trying to fix the dreadful bedhead. He didn't know how much time passed, but he was still trying to brush out the stubborn knots in his hair when Leo got back.

"And you call me vain," was Leo's only comment. Takumi glared at his reflection in the mirror and hastily managed to fix his hair into a barely acceptable ponytail, although he was pained to see that he had left a bunch of loose strands hanging. When he finally turned around, the blond prince was holding a bowl of steaming soup in his hands. It smelled delicious and Takumi's mouth began to water, but he suppressed the feeling with difficulty.

"I don't need your soup. It probably tastes terrible," he said.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I even got Hinoka to try some, and she said it was good."

"Maybe she was just being nice."

"She certainly seemed to think it was delicious," Leo said.

"That's because Hinoka will eat anything," Takumi retorted, although he mentally scolded his sister for eating miso soup made by a Nohrian. It would be just as sacrilegious if he tried some of that cursed beef stew Leo wouldn't stop talking about. Takumi had never tried it and decided that he never would.

To his chagrin, Leo was still nagging at him. "Come on, Takumi, I don't make soup for just anyone." Takumi snorted at that. "Just have some," the blond prince insisted. "Unless you want me to feed you."

Leo was smirking and he sounded like he was genuinely willing to follow through on that statement, and in his current powerless state Takumi was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop him. He'd rather die than let Leo, of all people, feed him - that is, if he didn't die of humiliation during the process. Leo would never let him hear the end of it.

Muttering under his breath about insufferable Nohrian princes, Takumi reluctantly accepted the bowl and stared down at it. The soup smelled delicious, although it looked watery and the tofu looked inedible. He tried to ignore the aching hunger in his stomach and instead slowly began stirring the soup with his spoon, taking pleasure in the fact that he knew he was being a jerk.

Leo heaved an exasperated sigh. "Will you stop being a pain and just eat it?"

"Geez, fine. Somebody's sure taking this personally," Takumi grumbled, but slurped a spoonful of the soup anyway. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, although it was a bit on the watery side. But it was food, and he was starving, much as he was unwilling to admit it.

"How is it?" Leo was looking at him with the beginnings of a pleased grin on his lips; Takumi knew him well enough to know. What startled him, though, was the sign of genuine concern in his eyes. Triumphantly, Takumi decided to tease him about that later, but right now he was too tired to make Leo's life torture like he usually set out to do. And to be honest, he was just surprised to know that Leo cared so much about him, as much as his demeanor insisted otherwise.

So instead Takumi just said, "There's too much salt," and laughed at Leo's mock wounded expression.