As the embodiment of nightmares, Darkrai could always tell when the ones he inflicted on people ended, and for the last couple of nights, they'd lasted much longer than usual.
It was somewhat odd: most nights, shortly after the nightmares began, they would abruptly end thanks to the healing powers of his counterpart, Cresselia. But as of recently, they were lasting through the entire night and only ending when the recipients woke up for the day.
Not that he was really complaining - he usually only cast the nightmares as a defense mechanism, but that didn't mean he couldn't occasionally have a little fun with them too - but even he had to admit that it was strange. Where was Cresselia? Had something happened to her?
It was only out of sheer curiosity (because of course he wasn't concerned, not in the slightest) that Darkrai found himself crossing over to Fullmoon Island. His counterpart had to be there; where else would she be? Surely she wasn't out curing his nightmares, he would've known it if she was. And because of her timid nature, she wasn't really one to venture away from her island unless Arceus called upon her, or if a trainer was in pursuit of her, or things like that.
Sure enough, once he arrived on the island, he felt her presence. Although, something was different about it this time. Instead of the calm and gentle aura she usually exuded, it seemed to be... troubled. Pained, even. Something was definitely wrong, and Darkrai subconsciously found himself hurrying toward the center of the island where she might've been hiding.
Once he broke through to the heart of the island, he stopped short at the sight that lay before him.
Indeed, Cresselia was there, but she looked a little worse for the wear. Instead of silently hovering around like she tended to do, she'd fallen to the ground below, her body halfway laying in the crescent-shaped puddle that was in the center of the clearing. Naturally, Darkrai's pessimism led him to think the worst at first, but he was quick to rid himself of that morbid thought as he slowly approached her.
"...Cresselia?"
She twitched slightly in response and opened one magenta eye to peer up at him. There was a moment's hesitation before she slowly and shakily pulled herself into a hover; her wings only glowed faintly instead of sending off their usual spray of sparkles.
"...g-go away..."
Darkrai blinked for a moment, then turned away, crossing his arms. "Well, hello to you too. I show the tiniest bit of concern and you give me--"
"Th-that's not what I meant..." Cresselia cut him off, her hover faltering a bit. Darkrai's gaze turned back to her, and upon closer inspection, her face seemed to be flushed a bit; her eyes looked much duller than usual. "I just... I mean... y-you shouldn't be here..."
If Darkrai had eyebrows, he would've raised one at her. "And why not? Don't tell me I'm not allowed to check up on my counterpart every once in a while."
She shook her head, swaying a bit again - the action must have made her dizzy. "N-no, I mean... you'll c-catch it..."
Now he was confused. He hovered a bit closer to her, looking her right in the eyes. "... What do you mean, I'll 'catch it'?" Instead of an answer, she responded by dropping back down toward the ground; as if on impulse, he swiftly ducked down to catch her before she hit, lowering her down in an uncharacteristically gentle manner. "Cresselia? What's wrong?"
Inwardly, he hoped that he didn't sound as worried as he felt at the time.
Cresselia squirmed a bit, futilely trying to escape his grasp. "Puh... Pokérus..."
His visible eye widened, and he leaned down closer to her. "Pokérus? How did-- why didn't you say so?"
The look on her face was nothing short of pitiful as she lowered her gaze down to the ground. "S-sorry..."
The frown was apparent in Darkrai's eyes as he took hold of her chin with one hand, and pressed the other to her forehead. Her skin, which was considerably warmer than normal, had a bit of a clammy texture, and it was rather worrisome - this had to be the reason why she hadn't left her island; if she tried to cross the ocean in this condition, there was no way it would end well. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault that you caught it."
"But..." She still wasn't looking up at him. "But it will be my fault if... if you catch it..."
Well, that was surprising. She was worried about him catching the Pokérus? Granted, it was highly contagious to Pokémon who hadn't had it before - and Darkrai certainly hadn't - but... why was she putting his well-being over her own?
In any case, there was an odd sense of irony in the healer falling ill. Even in this condition, Cresselia was so selfless, and something about it tugged at his heart; it compelled him to stay there with the Lunar Pokémon, to see her through to the end of this illness that plagued her. And if she was going to send him away just so he wouldn't catch it from her, then two could play that game.
"... No, no it won't," Darkrai said quietly, moving his hand to the back of her neck in as much of a comforting gesture as he could muster up, "because I'm staying here until you get better, whether you want me to or not."
Only then did she finally look up at him, a mixture of surprise and worry on her face. She simply gazed up at him for a few moments before weakly nodding and letting out a sigh, which then evolved into a coughing fit. "A-alright," she choked out once she was done, "if that's what you... want to do..."
"It is." His fingers had subconsciously started stroking at her skin, but as soon as he took notice of it, he stopped and removed his hand from her neck. "Er..." Huh. This was kind of awkward. He had to break the silence somehow... "Ah... is there... anything I can do for you?"
Cresselia eyed him in wonder for a couple of seconds before squeezing her eyes shut and huddling closer to him, curling up against him the best that she could. Darkrai tensed up in response, the sudden contact taking him completely off-guard, though he relaxed after a moment and replaced his hand on the back of her head.
"...I thought you didn't want me to catch your Pokérus?"
She didn't seem to mind his lack of tact. Burying her face in his shoulder, she shivered slightly before replying. "I... I don't, but..." Feeling another coughing fit come on, she turned her head away, instead perching her chin in the crook of his elbow. "Somehow... h-having you here makes me feel better. Even if I'm not sure why you're doing this for me..."
Darkrai chuckled and patted her head. "Well... you spend so much time taking care of others. Healing their nightmares, and such. And you never expect anything in return. It's... not something I can understand very easily, but I do have to wonder if anyone's ever... returned the favor, or taken care of you."
Silence from his counterpart.
"Cresselia...?" Taking her face in his clawed hands, he lifted her head up in order to look her in the eyes.
He was surprised to discover that they were filled with tears.
"N-no," she finally replied, "I've... never been taken care of. It's always been me curing people's ailments, and me doing the healing, and... I-I don't mind it, but..." She paused for a moment and sniffled, futilely trying to hold her tears back. "I've... always wanted to know what it was like..."
His voice was soft as he lightly brushed her tears away. "Now you'll find out."
Deep down, he was silently hoping that nobody else was around to see him being so soft. It was almost completely against his nature to be this way; he wasn't inherently malicious or anything, but he was so socially inept that he didn't usually know what to do in these kinds of situations, and he almost feared what would happen of other legends like Ho-Oh or Dialga caught wind of it.
If the universe was truly against him like he'd always had the feeling it was, then even Cresselia wouldn't let him live it down. But... she was sick, so it was okay, right? She wasn't usually so feeble and helpless, right? They were both acting differently than usual, but given the circumstances, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It'd blow over as soon as she overcame her sickness.
Right?
Almost.
Indeed, as soon as Cresselia recovered from the stint of Pokérus, she was back to her usual self - calm, cheery, and generally at peace. Except now there seemed to be something different about her; the Pokérus had left a lasting impression on her abilities. She was able to heal ailments more easily, and was in the perfect condition to cure nightmares again.
Or, she would've been if there were any nightmares to cure. True to her prediction, Darkrai had caught the virus and was now just as incapacitated as she had been.
"Didn't I tell you that if you stayed with me, you would catch it too?" she asked her counterpart, who was laying face-down on the floor of the cave on his own island.
Groaning, Darkrai rolled over onto his back and shot a halfhearted glare at her. "I don't... recall you complaining that much," he responded quietly. "But I'm fine. I've... been through worse."
Cresselia giggled and lowered herself down to rest next to him. She didn't have to worry about catching Pokérus from him again, since she was now immune to it, so she could get just as close as she wanted to. "You know, I wouldn't wish Pokérus on anyone, it's horrible. But seeing you go through it... you're stronger than I am. Keeping up that front of yours..."
He pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Tell anyone that I was a total... softie while you were sick, and I'll... I don't know, give you a mean look or something..."
She grinned and gave him a knowing look before leaning over to nuzzle at the side of his head. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."
Notes: In the games, Pokérus isn't nearly as incapacitating as I make it out to be in this fic. I'm just trying to compensate for the lack of extra EV gain or stats in general in the non-gameverse by making it so. ;O Also, the title is totally a play on the move Facade. Snerk.