"I told you you'd get sick if you kept hanging onto me like that!" Roxy said, giggling. She felt bad for her moirail, but she did warn him.
"How wwas I supposed to knoww trolls could catch it?!" Eridan said, his voice coming out nasally and scratchy. "Besides, wwhat wwas I supposed to do, just leave my diamond alone to suffer? I don't think so." He might have been planning on saying more, but a series of sneezes cut him off. Roxy plucked a few tissues from the box on his nightstand and offered them to him. He took them with a grateful smile before blowing his nose. Huh. Troll snot matches their blood color.
Roxy was pulled from her musings on how they ever managed to keep their clothes from getting stained when every single fluid seemed to be tinted by Eridan whining about a sore throat. Roxy winced in sympathy. She remembered how awful she felt when she was sick. It seemed like a cruel joke that Eridan had gotten sick just when she was finally better. "I can make you some hot tea?" Roxy offered. "I think Rose said lemon tea was good for this kinda stuff. It really helped me, anyway."
"Thank you. Wwith honey?" Roxy nodded, making sure the tissues were in his reach before heading off to the kitchen.
Roxy pulled a little footstool over so she could reach the cupboards where Rose had stashed the teas. Pulling down a bag of lemon tea, along with a mint blend for herself, Roxy contemplated the kettle. Eridan and Rose both insisted on using the kettle, saying it tasted better. But what Eridan doesn't know won't hurt him, so she put the water filled mugs into the microwave and waited for them to heat up. The kettle would have taken too long anyway. After the tea had steeped, she added a fair amount of honey to both cups. She had always liked sweet things, and Eridan had a fondness for honey after being regenerated at the end of the game. Roxy sometimes teased him that it must have come from his time as Erisolsprite.
Eridan abruptly sat up when Roxy entered the room, then bent over hacking for a few moments. "Sorry, I think I dozed off."
"No problem. Sleep is supposed to be good for colds anyway." Eridan quickly took the steaming mug from Roxy and wrapped his hands around it, enjoying the warmth. He took a sip, sighing a little as the honey soothed his scratchy throat.
"It would be better if I could sleep in a coon," Eridan grumbled.
"Maybe, but you heard Kanaya. Submerging might make it easier for the infection to transfer from your lungs to your gills." Kanaya had ended up functioning as one of the resident doctors for the small band of gods. She still wasn't too fond of Eridan, but she wasn't so cruel as to refuse to help him. The fact that he posed an infection risk to everyone else probably helped convince her as well.
"If that actually happens, Rox, please just put me out a my misery," Eridan said, in a mock serious tone. "But bury me with my gun, I don't want Vriska to try to get it back."
"Sure, as long as I get your books when you do croak," Roxy said. "Speaking of, I know what will cheer you up."
Eridan eyed her warily. As sick as he was, he probably didn't have the energy to deal with most of Roxy's usual antics. "Wwhat?"
"Harry Potter marathon!"
After some debate over human or troll versions, they settled in with Roxy curled up in a comfy chair she had dragged over to be beside Eridan's bed.
Much to Roxy's amusement Eridan fell asleep halfway through The Chamber of Secrets. Roxy left the guest room and went into Eridan's own room, scooping up a cup full of sopor from the recuperacoon. She dabbed the sopor on his wrists and behind his ear fins. Carefully, she examined his gills, wanting to be sure his infection hadn't spread to them. They looked healthy. Roxy pulled the blankets up to Eridan's chest and tucked him in. Satisfied he was as comfortable as he could be outside of his recuperacoon, Roxy grabbed a blanket of her own and curled back up in the overstuffed chair. She could retire to her room, but someone had to watch over Eridan. Eridan had taken care of her when she was sick, doting on her hand and foot. He brought her soup and kept her company when she was stuck in bed. She did warn him that he might get sick, but he claimed it was his duty as her moirail. He took that role very seriously. The least Roxy could do was return the favor. So Roxy watched over him and soothe any nightmares brought on by the relative lack of sopor.
She didn't mind.
AN: finally got around to writing one of my pale OTPs. Seriously love this ship. Also Eridan is a little shit and I love him. anyway, reviews make me deliriously happy.