The Human Constitution
""Thank you Jenny." Vastra smiled at her wife as the girl took away the tea tray. "That will be all. Will you come and join me by the fire?" Jenny smiled tiredly and gave a little nod.
"I'll just tidy this Ma'am and then I'll come join you."
When the girl returned she sank heavily into the sofa besides her wife and let out a little sigh. Vastra studied her wife's pale face, frowning.
"My dear are you quite alright?" she asked, making Jenny look up and smile weakly at her once again.
"I'm fine," she said. "Just a little tired is all. Us humans don't have your stamina remember?" she chuckled. Vastra's frown only deepened.
"Do I work you too hard my love?" Jenny chuckled again and leant her head on her wife's shoulder, taking her hand in her own and giving it a little squeeze.
"I can handle it," she said. "I just need a good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain."
But the next morning her human maid was nowhere to be seen. As Strax served breakfast he grumbled continuously about how "the boy" had not lit the fires, or pulled back the curtains, and about how making tea was not his job. When he had threatened to "incinerate that wretched human in a vat of acid and grind the bones into flour" as soon as he saw her, Vastra had let out a low menacing hiss, warning him that his own death would be far more painful and not so quick should he dare to do as he had promised.
When after breakfast Jenny was still no where to be seen, Vastra made her way up to teir room in search of her. It was possible of course that she had simply overslept. She had said she was tired. But the woman could not recall a single time that that had ever happened before, even after a battle or a particularly taxing case. When she knocked on the hard wooden door and received no answer, she felt her heart rate quicken. The girl was usually a light sleeper; any other day even such a quiet knock would have woken her up. She pushed open the door, her gaze searching the darkened room for any sign of movement. It smelt like sleep, and heat. Her eyes settled on the still, silent mass under the blankets, Jenny's dark hair just visible above the covers, splayed out in long dark tendrils snaking across the empty pillow next to her. She had been surprised when Jenny had still been asleep when she woke. Usually her little human maid was up long before her, dressed and out of the room to set about her duties before her Silurian wife woke. Vastra perched herself on the bed next to her wife, the sudden dip in the mattress and the added weight making the girl stir. Her breathing was laboured Vastra noticed, her heart beating a little too fast.
"Jenny," Vastra said softly, shaking her shoulder gently. "Jenny my darling, wake up." The girls dark eyes fluttered open and she peered confusedly up at her wife.
"Did I oversleep?" she asked, her voice thick and muffled. She sniffed heavily, which in turn quickly prompted a violent coughing fit. Vastra scowled, a little hiss filling the air.
"My dear are you quite well?" she asked. Jenny nodded.
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "It's just the flue. I'll be up in a mo." Vastra placed a cool scaled hand on the girl's forehead and Jenny let out a happy little sigh. Vastra growled at the heat radiating from the girl's body. She knew very well that no human should have a body temperature so high.
"This is nothing little my dear," Vastra said, her voice saturated with concern. "And you most certainly are not working today. I know perfectly well that when the human constitution is weakened thus it means one needs rest."
"I ain't weak," Jenny grumbled, leaning into her wife's cool hand as she tenderly stroked strands of dark damp hair back from her face. Vastra chuckled at her stubborn little human, who's eyes had once again fluttered shut.
"No my love, you most certainly are not. But you are human, and you do need rest." Vastra stood and begun to strip off her dress until she was standing only in her underskirt and corset. Jenny peeked at her from under half open eyes and grinned weakly.
"I appreciate the gesture Ma'am," she said, "but that's not really a restful activity." Vastra rolled her eyes and slid under the sheets next to her wife.
"There is not need to be so crude," she chuckled. "We need to get your temperature down, and my cold skin will help you do that. Meanwhile I can garner warmth from your fever. It's the perfect trade." Jenny shuffled over and settled herself happily into the silurian's arms, her head over her slow heart beat. She let out a happy little sigh at the other woman's cool touch, making Vastra chuckle.
"Better?" she asked. Jenny smiled sleepily, her eyes fluttering shut as cool fingers began to caress her face, and comb through her hair.
"Mmhmm," she mumbled, and Vastra smiled, placing a little kiss on her forehead.
"Sleep now my sweet," she whispered, and before long soft snores filled the little bedroom. The human constitution was indeed a weak one, she mused, gazing fondly down at her peacefully sleeping human, but it did mean that she got to look after her every once in a while. And it was a role reversal she secretly adored.