Urgh…

Tossing over to his side, Vio buried his head in his pillows.

Too hot.

Too cold.

Body, just make up your mind, for Din's sake!

It was the middle of the afternoon, but there was no way of getting out today. It wasn't going to happen. Not a chance. He shivered as lava lit up his stomach. Despite being bed bound all day, he hadn't got a wink of sleep in hours. The curtains were drawn closed, feigning nighttime, but the noise from outside proved otherwise.

Sighing in defeat, his sat up and grabbed the book on the floor beside the bed, nearly knocking over the waste basket also next to the bed in the process. Flipping to the saved page, his tried to focus and care about what was happening.

The effort made him feel lightheaded.

Nope.

He flopped back on the mattress, not even putting the bookmark in. Maybe some music will help…..?

Taking his iPhone and turning it on, his heart dropped. Shadow had texted him a while ago. 5 hours ago, to be exact.

'You alright?'

His already red cheeks flared crimson.

Great.

Typing a bland 'okay' and lying that he was sleeping, he pressed enter and threw the blankets over his head.

Just make this day go. Fast forward. Speed up. Something.

He forced his eyes closed. His pounding heart slowed down a little. After nearly an hour of mental and physical torture, his limbs went numb and his mind turned into static.

…..

Slowly, Vio tasted his dry throat and yawned with his chapped lips. Not bothering to lift his head, he raised an arm to grab his water bottle on his nightstand when his fingers touched something warmishly hot. Cracking an eye open, he saw a little mug of tea within reach. He paused as his mind tried to piece together a suitable answer to the random mug, but came up with nothing. Not giving it a second thought, his sipped the herbal tea, placed it back, and returned the arm back to the warmth under the blanket that had been moved back onto his shoulder.

"….and then I was on this random ship looking for something. I tell you, it was creepy. But don't worry- I'm fine. Hey, you're having a good dream right now, right? I hope so. You always have weird dreams when you're sick. But don't worry- I'll keep ya safe from those damned Miniblins. You can count on that. Oh! The soup's ready. I'll keep it warm 'til ya wake up. Just sleep for now, 'kay?" Smiling, he softly stroked Vio's hair and quietly exited the room.

Vio, who had been keeping his eyes sealed shut, flung them open. His heart was pounding in his feet.

S-s-shadow is my house! He was in my room. My room. Goddess, I'm hallucinating. Bad. Maybe I should call an ambulance. But what if I'm asleep? Maybe I'm in a coma. I think I'm dead. Yes, I am dead. I died. Dead. Deadeadeadeadeadeadead. I don't think this is even the same sarcastic Shadow.

He froze and glued his eyes shut as footsteps entered the room, walked over the nightstand, placed two things on it, flicked on the dull lamp, and sat in a chair that had been moved near the bed. The room soon was filled with the scent of herbs and chicken broth.

Feeling his pulse drop, Vio once again opened his eyes to a Shadow who was stretching.

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?" He spoke gently. Sweetly, even.

He shook his head. "Wwhy are you here?" His voice was hoarse and hard to make out.

Shadow frowned at his voice. "I came over after you texted me 'Fiom; gi bin slrrpgn'. You sounded delirious. You don't even text like that if you're half asleep."

Vio blinked, glancing at his iPhone before realizing that he was half naked and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"Relax! I don't mind at all." He purred. "When I got here, you were buried under your blanket, completely out of it. You looked terrible. And when I took your temperature…..I was seriously considering taking you to the hospital. I called in and asked what to do, and they said that you'd be fine as long as it didn't get worse or if you began to puke blood or anything like that. Sooooo, I went out and got some medicine and stuff that wouldn't upset your stomach." Shadow sighed.

"And speaking of which, after you get something in you, you should take 2 of these and 4 spoonfuls of this." He said, taking two bottles out of a grocery bag next to him.

"R-right...thanks." Vio grabbed the soup bashfully and took a small mouthful.

Wow… I didn't know he could cook.

Shadow smiled, resting his chin on his palms.

"Atta boy!" Shadow grinned as Vio took the medicine. "How's it all sitting?"

"It's alright." He mumbled, not being able to speak clearly.

"You'd might want to rest and let it take effect so you don't sound like Vader anymore." He playfully, yet gently, pushed him back down.

Is this really Shadow?

"…..What are you going to do now?"

He thought for a moment before looking down at the novel that had lost its bookmark.

"To make sure you actually get to sleep, how about a story?" He said, grabbing it.

"But I thought you hated reading."

"Nah. Only sometimes." He smirked, flipping to the first page.

"Chapter 1: Welcome to Hyrule High!"

"Shadow?"

"Hm?"

"…..Thanks. Really." Vio's eye were fluttering closed.

Soon, his breathing slowed down with a slight girlish snore. Shadow slowly closed his book and put it down.

'Good thing he can't hear my heart.' He rubbed his forehead to hide the crimson tinge in his cheeks.

Looking over to the sleeping figure turned towards him, he placed his palm on its own forehead.

'He's gone down quite a lot….'

Smiling, he bent over, touching his nose the messy blonde hair.

Quietly, quietly enough that he wasn't even sure it had been said aloud, he gave a little message to sleeping face. A message that had already been said through actions.

After a moment, he stood up. His heart was pounding in his toes. A trembling hand made its way to the lamp and turned off the light, turning the room pitch black. He made one shaky step after another to the door and gently closed it behind him.

Before he wakes up, there are dishes to be cleaned and food and medicine to go buy.

'Let's just pray he really was asleep.' Shadow nervously smiled to himself and headed off.

A/N; Hello! This was made for UnleashTheDinosaurs, who was feeling sick today. Hope this makes you feel better. :D And I like writing fluff, anyway. Teehee!

Tootles!

-Jessie