-The credit goes to LastTrojanNight for giving me the idea for this story. So, thank-you, LastTrojanNight!!-

Rude knocked on the door... again. Since Reno had never arrived for work the previous day, he decided to come check on the red head.

He knocked on his partner's apartment door once more. Finally, he heard footsteps coming from the other side. There was a click, and the doorknob turned. Reno opened the door, and looked wearily at him. His eyes were slightly crossed.

"Hey," Reno said with a sniff. A disgusting liquid slid from his nose, almost reaching his upper lip. He sniffed again, and the snot retreated back into his nose.

"I hab a code," he explained.

"A... a what?" Rude asked, trying to understand.

"A code-a," he repeated, attempting to sound a little more clear.

"A cold?" Rude guessed, straightening his sunglasses, and raising an eyebrow.

"Yup," Reno replied, "Thaz why I stayed here yezderday."

"Well... I hope you get well soon," the bald man said, backing away, not wanting to get sick, too. He turned to leave.

"No! No, wade!" Reno pleaded. Rude turned around to see two huge eyes staring at him like a puppy.

"Don'd leave..." he said, "Could you help be until I get bedder?"

Rude for a few moments, then finally answered, "Alright..." He knew that he was going to regret this.

"Thangs!" the red head replied, his nose dripping again, "Cub odd." He stepped aside, and Rude reluctantly walked in. This room wasn't as messy as he expected, but it wasn't exactly spottless, either. There were tissues scattered around, and he could smell soup cooking.

"Thad medicid frub earlier is making be kinda sleepy," Reno admitted, with a stretch and yawn, "Hey, Rude, could you-"

"I'll take care of the soup," his partner sighed.

"Wash TV, if you wand," the red head said, then departed for his room. With that, Rude sat down on the nearby couch, and grabbed the TV remote.

Reno, exausted, entered his bedroom, walked over to his bed, and laid down, falling asleep almost instantly. In only what seemed like a few minutes, he opened his eyes. He heard footsteps outside the door, and Yuffie, of all people, came bounding into the room.

"Hi, Reno!" she greeted him happily. He groaned in response, as he was in no mood to talk to someone that cheery.

"I heard that you were sick," she continued, "so I brought someone with me to cheer you up!" She pointed to the door, and a chocobo walked in. Reno's eyes widened, and he sank further into his pillows. He didn't like chocobos. Reno shook his head and glared at Yuffie as the large bird approached. Next, it was standing beside his bed, looking down at him, and cocked it's head. It bent down closer and closer.

Feeling slightly panicked, Reno yelled, "Back off! Get away from me!" He was surprised to hear his voice sounding like normal, but only for a second. In defense, he kicked the chocobo, and with his eyes shut tight, he heard the bird reply, "Ow!" Reno opened his eyes slowly, but noticed that the chocobo looked very different. It was bald. It had... broken sunglasses on? And... it was Rude. Reno blinked to make sure that this was real. Yes, Rude really was there, with an expression that only partly showed how upset he really was.

"Um... Oops?" Reno finally said with a shrug. Rude wanted to get the red head back for that, but, he decided not to, as he was sick.

"I heard you from the other room. It sounded like you were being attacked," Rude replied flatly, trying to suppress his anger. He pulled off the broken pair of sunglasses, and replaced them with a different pair that was inside his coat pocket. He had been expecting something like this to happen.

"Nah," Reno replied with a smirk. But that faded away, as he felt his nose start to itch. He rubbed it with the back of his hand, but the feeling refused to go away. He sighed heavily, then again- until he sneezed. Spit and snot shot everywhere, and Rude managed to get the worst of it. Forcing himself to relax, Rude snatched a tissue out of the nearby tissue box, and wiped of the goo. Reno did likewise.

The next day, fortunately, came quickly. Reno, upon arrival, greeted Rude. His partner tried to respond, but sneezed instead.

He had caught Reno's cold.