Summary:While everybody is sleeping in the Vuvalini's camp, Nux is suddenly sick with a night fever. But this time, he had Capable to comfort him and take care of him, time to open up and talk, with Capable distracting his mind away from the fever telling him things about the wives. Nuxable fluff. I love this pairing so much, they are too cute!
Apologizes if there are mistakes, English is not my first language and I'm pretty new at writing fanfics.
I hope you enjoy this, please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
-Feverish Night-
Nux woke up in the middle of the night, shivering even though he was boiling up with fever. Of all the nights that his too usual fevers could have chosen to torture him, they decided to attack him this night, when he had Capable curled up with him, when he knew that a long ride awaited for him in the morning. The fevers couldn't have chosen a worse night.
His head felt too heavy, and he closed his eyes, hoping the dizziness would go away, but it only made it worst, and he felt like he was sinking down into a dark, burning hole with no end.
No, he wouldn't let himself die that way, sickness eating his life slowly, no, he was going to do something great, her journey with Capable, and Furiosa and the other women was going to allow him to do something historic finally, he felt it, he wouldn't let a fever kill him, no…his thoughts were getting more and more unfocused as his head was spinning and spinning.
Capable was shifting away from him in her sleep, moving away from the heat that his feverish body was exuding. Nux didn't want her colder, soft body to move away, but he couldn't move his hand to hold her close, couldn't say anything at all, and he just whined pathetically.
"Too hot…" Capable murmured, waking up slowly. "Sorry." Nux managed to mutter, fighting to keep his eyes /
Capable gasped, waking up fully when she realized that the hot was coming from Nux's body. It might be one of those fevers he had talked about when she first found him. It terrified he
"Nux! You are burning up!" Gentle hands brushed over his hot face as she panicked. Capable didn't know what to do and she began to move away to ask for help. "No, please." Nux murmured, managing to weakly grip her /
"I'm bringing Furiosa and the vuvalini, they'll know what to do, they'll help you." Capable explained, but Nux only shook his head weakly. "Please, don't leave, stay with me, please." Capable's heart hurt at his words, but she was scared the fever might kill Nux. "You are sick, you need help."
At that, Nux could only chuckle bitterly, worsening his headache as he felt like a thousand of needles were nailing his head. Of course he was sick, he had been sick all his life. But he was used to the night fevers, this was just an usual night for him, he had endured worse fevers and he hadn't died, he wouldn't die this night. He was even able to breath properly, Larry and Barry not closing his throat. No, he wouldn't allow himself to die that way, Capable witnessing his pathetic, useless death
"It's just a night fever, I'm okay." Nux murmured to Capable, managing to give her a smile before closing his eyes again. "Trust me. I'll be fine in the morning. Just a night fever."
Capable looked at him, eyes full of fear and concern, but she decided to listen to Nux words. If she felt him getting worse, she would run to Furiosa, but for now she didn't have the heart to leave him.
"Alright…" Capable rummaged around until she found the little bottle with water that she had brought with them, and she held it against Nix's dry lips. Water was a treasure with which the war boys were rewarded after successful raids, and when he felt the liquid moistening his lips, Nux opened his eyes, giving Capable a doubtful look, and taking a sip when she nodded. "Come on, drink more, your body need it." Capable said softly, but Nux shook his head. Not more precious water would be wasted on his decadent body. It wasn't going to heal him anyway. "It's alright, you can drink it all, we have more in the rig." Nux was about to negate again, but he saw Capable's concerned look and he decided to take another sip to satisfy her, and then another because it felt too good in his burning lips and throat.
Capable ripped off a piece of linen from her clothes and moisted it with water, and Nux almost gasped in horror at such waste of precious water. But then he remembered that Capable had been kept as a treasure until not long. She didn't know anything about the real world, the luxury that water was, how you had to fight for it. Probably she had had all the water she had wanted. Probably she didn't even know sickness. She couldn't be blamed. And then Nux lost his train of thoughts because Capable was pressing the cold, wet cloth to his forehead and it felt so good against his feverish skin that the war boy let out a quiet moan. Capable smiled, cleaning the sweat of his face and then pouring more water into the cloth and placing it on Nux forehead.
She shifted them until Nux was lying against her chest and she could wrap her arms around him to hold him.
"Feeling better already. Told you so." Nux murmured, and Capable kissed his temple. "You feel as cold as chrome…" The war boy said dreamily, and Capable knew it was a compliment, even if it was weird.
"Rest." She commanded when she saw how Nux kept fighting to open his eyes and stay awake. But Nux didn't want to rest, didn't want to sleep. He didn't say it to Capable, but he was afraid of falling asleep and then not waking up, dying a mediocre death, as he always feared when the night fevers attacked him.
Nux looked down at the camp, at The Dag and Cheedo curled up in their sleep.
"How comes that Cheedo is called The Fragile" Nux eventually asked. He hated to keep Capable awake, she needed to rest, but he knew that if they didn't talk, the feverish sleep would take over /
"Miss Giddy called her that." Capable's heart hurt when she thought about the elderly woman, who had helped them escape and had stayed at The Vault. She didn't know what had happened to her, but probably nothing good. But of course, Nux didn't know it.
"She was…she took care of us, and she taught us everything we know, she was our teacher." She explained. The history woman had taught the wives music, to read, things about the outside world, but she had also taken care of them, comforting them every time they came back from Immortan Joe's chamber, every time they felt desperately sad. "Cheedo had always been gentle and sweet, but also fragile, she cried easily, she panicked easily…all that things, you know. So Miss Giddy called her The Fragile. But don't get it wrong, it wasn't an insult, the woman loved Cheedo, just as she loved all us…" Capable's voice cracked and Nux carefully turned over to look at her, trying not to make his head spin more. He hated it when Capable was sad. Out of impulse, he kissed Capable's cheek, which made the girl smile, and the war boy settled back against her chest with a proud smile.
"So…Toast…your teacher, Miss Giddy, did she also called her The Knowing?" Nux asked, brushing his hands over Capable's and intertwining his fingers with hers.
"Yes, because she knows about everything, doesn't she?" Capable said, a hint of a smile in her voice. Nux didn't know, but he guessed she did. For now, she had seemed to know quite a lot about weapons and the world outside the citadel, for someone who had lived imprisoned in a room.
"She used to read a lot, every book Miss Giddy could find, not matter about what, and then she remembered everything she had read." Capable had always admired, and also envied that. "She loved to talk with Miss Giddy about history and the outside world, they would spend hours talking and talking, and she would remember…" She couldn't believe it, but Capable was feeling almost nostalgic, remembering some of the scarce and almost, just almost, happy memories she had of The Vault.
Nux was too distracted to notice, though, having decided to talk with Toast about that books and that history when they had the chance, even though the girl intimidated him a bit, but he was never going to confess that. Until yesterday, all his life, all his beliefs, all his world had been what Immortan Joe's had told them, but Capable had said it was all a lie. If she was right, maybe Toast The Knowing could help him to figure out what was the truth, sure she would know.
"Angharad. The Splendid Angharad, Miss Giddy called her that because she was so, so shiny, right?" Nux asked candidly, but he knew he had said something wrong when Capable squeezed his hands hard. He had done the least thing he wanted, he had upset her.
He was about to apologize when Capable started talking. "No. Immortan Joe called her that. Not us." So the other women never called her like that. Angharad had hated it, but there was no way Nux could know about it. Angharad didn't want to be splendid. She had scratched her face, long nails digging into her skin until Miss Giddy stopped her, leaving scars, trying to make her face stop being splendid and beautiful, trying to prove that she still owned her /
"Let's call her something else, then." Nux said, pulling Capable away from her thoughts. "How would you like to call her?" Capable gave it a thought. "I don't know…maybe…maybe something like Angharad The Brave, or Angharad The Libertarian. She was the one who asked Furiosa to take us to the Green Place, she talked us into it, easing our fears, it's thanks to her and her courage that we are free now." And now Angharad was dead. It wasn't fair. Capable rested his forehead against Nux's head and took a deep breath. She wasn't going to cry.
"Yes. I like it more than Angharad The Shiny." Nux replied, and Capable kissed the top of his head because she knew what shiny meant to him, because she knew he wanted to make her happy.
"Miss Giddy didn't call The Dag anything?" Nux asked after a moment of silent, in which Capable had almost drifted off to sleep without realize it.
"Humm? No, she didn't. But I think that 'The Dag' is already a pet name…although I've never known her for another name." Capable frowned slightly. "How could we call her? Maybe…okay, it's silly, but what about Dag The Funny? She is actually funny, and she had always tried to make us laugh when we were sad, like that time when she dressed up as Immortan Joe to mock him. Or maybe…maybe The Intuitive Dag, yes, that would be a better name."
But Nux hadn't listened to the last part. The Dag had mocked the god Immortan Joe? Capable had explained to him that he was no god, but Nux couldn't help it, it still sounded like dangerous blasphemy to him. The Dag had dared to laugh at the powerful warlord… such bravery in such a slim girl.
"And you?" Nux asked, turning to look at Capable expectantly, wanting to know her title so he could call her by that, but Capable shook her head, disappointing him.
"Miss Giddy didn't get to call me anything. I don't know, maybe I don't have any special treat." At that, Nux shook his head violently, until he had to stop because it hurt too badly. That wasn't true, of course she had, all her was special! "I'll think you a name." He said, and tried to fight against the fog that clouded his mind, cursing the fever. He had a lot of ideas, yet he had nothing.
Capable...she was holding him in her arms, helping him to go through a night of sickness, comforting him even if she should be the one to be comforted, taking care of him…Capable The Caring. Nux knew she cared about him, he could feel it, and obviously she cared about the other women. Nux thought Capable would care about everybody in the world, given the chance. Capable The Compassionate. She had shown him compassion when she found him made a ruined, sobbing mess at the back of the rig. Sure she was like that with everybody. Capable The… there were too many titles to give her, with all the things she had done for him.
"Capable The Chrome." Nux ended up babbling out, because he wasn't able to put into words what he was thinking, what he was feeling. Mediocre. He tried to hide his face under her chin in embarrassment, but Capable only laughed. "Yes, why not." It made Nux felt a little bit better, but still…he wanted her to know that she had a million of titles. He couldn't bring himself to lift his head from her chest, though, or to say anything else, exhaustion finally taking over him.
Capable removed the wet cloth from his forehead and touched it, finding it cooler, so she decided it was safe to sleep. She was dead tired too.
"Capable The Capable of Anything", she heard Nux murmur in his sleep, and she smiled, holding him tight. She fell asleep thinking on names for Nux.
Capable woke up to the noise of the camp waking up and getting ready for another day of survival. She didn't feel Nux with her, and she opened her eyes startled, only to find him running through the rig, doing she didn't know what, getting the rig ready for the day. Nobody could have said he had suffered from a fever that night.
When he saw she was awake, Nux ran to her, grinning. "Capable! Finally!, Get up, we are moving." He beamed, gently taking her arm and tugging at it. If only, he was a little short of breath, but he was good for everything else.
"We are going to keep driving, though I don't know where, you should ask Furiosa." Nux kept talking without giving her a chance to speak, but anyway Capable didn't know what to say, she was still too sleepy. "Do you think they'll let me drive? Oh, I hope they do, I've been almost a day without driving, nothing to do, this is maddening!" Going back in the passenger sit while Furiosa and the Blood Bag took turns to drive had been torture for the war boy. The only thing that made it bearable was that Capable had curled up on him while she slept and Nux could hold her all the time.
"Do…do you think Furiosa would let me drive the rig? Even a little?" His eyes widened at the thought. Drive the war rig had always been a dream for him, he couldn't believe he had had the chance to try it for a bit, when taking the rig out of the mud. But he wanted more. He was sure he wouldn't have a chance, though. "Oh, I don't think so…but maybe one of that bikes? Not a car, but chrome anyway…maybe they have one to spare? I'm a good driver, I'll be of good use, yes…maybe…maybe you could tell them?" He needed to do something, if they kept making him sit still and doing nothing in a passenger seat he was going to explode, holding Capable or not. Nux shot Capable a shy, but hopeful look, and Capable looked at him in wonder. They had barely slept a few hours, and he had spent the night sick with fever, how could he have so much energy now? Capable didn't understand anything, she was glad, of course, but still…this boy was a wonder.
Capable finally got up, and Nux helped her out of the rig, holding her hand while they walked towards the other women. He kept talking excitedly all the time, telling her the difference between his own car's engine, the rig's engine and the bikes' engine, and Capable didn't understand a word, not only because her brain was still half asleep but because she didn't know a thing about vehicles. But Nux's energy and excitement was infectious, and she grinned to him.
"Nux The Hyper" Capable joked, and Nux didn't understand it, but he grinned back.
