Disclaimer: Not mine
Notes: Written for arytra for the toku_holidays community on LiveJournal. Happy Holidays!
It wasn't even noon yet, but Yellow couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Sure things seemed right: Tetomu was serving breakfast, White was complimenting the food, and Blue was stealing from Black's serving again. It was like every other breakfast they'd had together.
Except Red wasn't here.
"Weird." Usually he would've been here by now, cheerfully eating when he wasn't scolding Yellow for not eating anything with his coffee (which he never understood, he always made up for it at lunch, but Red wouldn't shut up until he at least forced down an apple). And while Yellow was appreciating the comparative peace, he needed to see if Red was okay.
"Blue, if you touch my coffee you're dead." Yellow ignored whatever smart ass remark Blue made in reply as he made his way to Red's room. Knowing him, he'd found some field mouse to nurse to health, or he was having trouble keeping his pants up again or--
Or he was in a heap on the floor.
"Red!" Yellow was next to him before he realized what he was doing, slapping him on the left side of his face. "Get up already."
Finally, Red stirred, a little. "Oh hey, Yellow," he murmured weakly-- and then tried to get up. "Sorry, seem to be a little sluggish today..." he'd managed to get up on his knees before wobbling.
Yellow caught him before he could fall. "I'm thinking it's a little more than that, Red." He pulled up the hem of his pajama top, and sure enough the wound the Org had given him was not only swollen, but starting to look dangerously infected. "Get back to bed."
Red's eyes went wide. "But I'm the leader! I have to make sure everyone's eaten so we can--"
"The only thing you need right now, 'Leader,' is to sleep." Yellow shoved him unceremoniously towards the bed. Red was so dizzy, he couldn't stop himself, landing face down on the mattress. He tossed a blanket over him before he could protest. "Now stay there while I get Tetomu."
Red's face popped out from under the blanket. "Yellow, I'm fine, really!"
Yellow let out a frustrated huff. "Let me put this way: if I or anyone else was in your condition, you'd order them to bed, right?"
"Of course, but this is different--"
"So stay in bed, or I'll tie you down to it." And with that, Yellow went to find Tetomu.
--
"It's not at bad as it looks," Tetomu assured Yellow as she tried to make Red more comfortable. "He has a fever and some pain, but he'll be fine after he gets some rest. Of course," she continued as she poked Red's cheek, "None of this would have happened if someone had told us he was hurt."
"But I'm not hurt!" Red insisted before his voice dissolved into a fit of coughs.
"So he's going to have to stay in bed for at least a day. Some form of fever reducer would help, also." Tetomu acted as if Red hadn't spoken at all. "Could you get some for me, please?"
"Sure thing," Yellow replied. Due to necessity, they kept stock of medical supplies. He'd be able to find what Red needed, no problem.
--
"What do you mean we're out of everything, Blue?!"
"I meant what I said I meant." Blue stuck his tongue out at him. "We're fighting evil monsters, remember? We go through medicine like Black goes through dinner." Then Blue grinned at him cheekily. "Or did someone get so used to Red taking care of him when he got a boo-boo he forgot?"
"Not now, brat."
"I'm not a--"
"Yes, you are, and I've got shopping to do." Yellow decided to ignore that Blue was being more obnoxious than usual (and that his coffee mug had been suspiciously empty when he'd looked at it last). He had to take care of Red right now.
--
"Well, I think it's sweet," White said as she compared prices for boxes of tissues (Yellow hadn't wanted her to come along, but she had insisted). "Red always takes care of us, now you're taking care of him."
"We're a team, White," he reminded her as he put the medicine in his shopping basket. "That's what we do. Don't blow it out of proportion."
"You wouldn't walk all the way to town if it was Blue."
"That's because he had Black to take care of him."
"You wouldn't walk all the way to town if it was me."
"That's because you have Tetomu to take care of you." Yellow gave her a suspicious glance as they headed to the check out line. "What're you getting at, White?"
White gave him a playful grin. "Well, if you haven't figured it out by now Yellow, there's no point in tell you, is there?"
--
"Here's your medicine. Take it, or you won't live to regret it."
Red blinked at him, but did as he was told. "Thank you, Yellow. You can leave now, if you want."
Yellow glared down at him. "Not until I know for sure you'll rest".
"But I'm feeling a little better--"
"But you won't be able to take care of the rest of us until you're rested." That shut Red up at least. Unfortunately, Yellow wasn't so sure if it wasn't so much of his gruffness as it was the fact that Red's face was very flushed...
He bent down, giving Red a quick peck on forehead. "You're burning up."
"Um, Yellow, it might be the fever but... did you just kiss me?"
"Of course I did. It's the easiest way to tell if someone has a fever."
"Oh, right."
There was something in Red's tone Yellow had never heard before, but he didn't have to dwell on it. "I better stay with you tonight, then."
"No, Yellow." Red shook his head. "I really will be fine now that I've taken my medicine. And I want you to have a proper night's sleep, not staying up all night watching me--"
"It's not just that, idiot," Yellow grumbled as he pushed sweat-dampened bangs from Red's forehead. "I want to take care of you."
"Oh." Red's voice was thick with sleep. "Then I guess I should let you do what you want, then..." It was about then when Red finally slipped into sleep.
As for Yellow, he settled back in his chair. Red was right; he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight... but taking care of Red was what he wanted to do.