Yeah, I'm still doing this.
I don't own BlazBlue.
Something stirred Ragna from his sleep and a quick pat down of the empty spot in the bed next to him instantly told him everything he needed to know. With a soft groan, he raised himself up on his arm and peeked open his right eye to take a look around the dark room. His little bunny was no where to be found. He did, however, see a light coming from under the closed bathroom door of her bedroom. Now, it is no secret Ragna sleeps about one hundred times better when he is with Rachel, but even he doesn't just snap awake the second she moves away from him so she had to have been up for more than a minute now.
Either way, it was time to investigate.
Yanking the covers away, the criminal stretched his legs out and hopped to his feet. He half wanted crawl back under the blanket after the cool air of the castle hit his bare upper body, but his curiosity had to be sated first. Ragna lazily crossed the room and approached the bathroom door. Without thinking twice, he grabbed on to the door handle and gave it a quick twist only to find it looked.
Weird, Ragna thought to himself. What reason would Rachel have to lock the door?
"Hey, Rachel?" The white-haired fellow asked as he gave the door a knock. "You in there?"
For a moment he was only met with silence. It even persisted to the point Ragna began considering it best to simply knock the door down. Then, just as he was bracing one foot against the floor so he could drive the other into the door, he heard a quiet and curt reply.
"Go back to sleep. I will be out shortly."
So, the door was staying up.
For now.
Still, Rachel was sounding way off to him. She sounded exhausted and even kinda pissed to boot. More investigation was clearly required.
"What are you doing in there? And why is the door locked anyway?" Ragna inquired.
"Excuse me? What reason could I possibly need to lock the door to the lavatory? In my own home, no less? Use your head, boy." Rachel's slightly muffled voice still bit back from her unseen position in the bathroom.
"Well, you know, its just you and me in here so its not like you got anything to hide. Plus, you're acting weird too." The criminal reasoned but that only earned him a long, dramatic sigh in response.
"Ragna, please, this is hardly…appropriate. I assure you I am perfectly fine, and am merely in need of some privacy. I will be out in just…a few minutes. Now, as I said, go back to sleep."
Just like that it all started adding up. The attitude? The locked door? Being up at the ungodly hour of the night? These factors all combined together gave Ragna an epiphany.
"You got the shits?"
Truly a revelation of great truth. Also, it led to the longest awkward pause yet. It carried on to the point Ragna actually thought he could hear the frogs out in the garden. Yet before he could follow through with reallocating the door from the wall to the floor, Rachel finally replied.
"…You are one irksome brat."
"Nail on the head, huh?" Ragna chuckled as he leaned against the wall. "So, what happened? Was your stomach buggin' you tonight?"
"This doesn't need to be a conversation…" Rachel muttered dismissively, but Ragna wasn't having it.
"Just answer the question, Rach." He knew the vampire could grumble all she wanted, and was actively doing so, but he also knew she was more than smart enough the recognizing the problem was the best solution as well.
"I…suppose I felt something amiss after we had dinner. It must've been that fettuccini alfredo… Which begs the question why you aren't having any trouble?" Rachel pointed out.
"Right? If Valkenhayn is poisoning anyone it's gonna be me. Bet that old bastard wishes I didn't have a magic arm." Ragna grinned a bit, thinking his snark would help the situation.
"Mm, nevertheless remind me to have Valkenhayn reexamine our food supply starting with all dairy products." If Rachel was receptive to it, however, she gave no tell.
"What? And make the geezer kill himself?" Ragna snorted.
"Don't be ridiculous. Valkenhayn may be considered overly passionate by some but he still…still…" Rachel cut herself off when another groan abruptly escaped her mouth. The criminal got more curious when Rachel didn't continue her thought and gave a quick knock to the door to hopefully grab her attention.
"Hey, you still there? That sounded like a big one."
"Would you stop already? This is a delicate matter which decent adults do not find the need to focus on and discuss in such repugnant detail, you baboon!" Rachel was about as close to shrieking as Ragna has ever heard from her.
"Oh, relax, baby. Everybody poops." Ragna waved it off. Then, before Rachel could unleash a new tirade, "I mean it, though, Rachel. It's the same for everyone and this shit is never fun… Uh, no pun intended."
"…You lie through your teeth."
Ragna thought it best to smother his laugh this time or Rachel might actually start getting upset for real. Which was all well and good for the criminal. He gave the door one last quick knock before strolling his way toward the bedroom door.
"I'm gonna go grab something. I'll be right back so don't get up, ya hear?" And with that, he strolled out of the room and down the hall before he would get a good earful of Rachel's wrath.
It wasn't long before Rachel's stomach was finally settled enough for her venture from her bathroom and slowly drag herself toward her bed on legs still half asleep. Part of her much rather take a bath before climbing back into bed, unable to stand the sheen of sweat on her body that was making her gown stick to her, but she was much too worn out to bother with something like that right now. Her only thought was catching up on her sleep, but instead her attention was pulled toward her bedroom door opening to reveal her insufferable boy toy with a glass and plate in hand.
"Bold of you to waltz by so casually after you mocked me so." Rachel glared at him as she took a seat on the edge of her bed.
"Come on, I was just trying to lighten things up." Ragna explained sitting down next to her before offering the plate in his hand. "Here."
Rachel raised an eyebrow at the offering. Never mind it was just a couple regular pieces of toast, albeit well toasted, but why was he trying to give her food at all?
"I just spent over an hour…preoccupied in the lavatory, and you bring me food?" Rachel questioned.
"You bet. Toast helps settle your stomach. I used to do this all the time when I was a kid so just trust me, okay?" Ragna insisted as he set the plate on Rachel's lap.
And, truly, she couldn't argue with him there. The fact Ragna knows how to be an excellent care giver would be an easy thing for most to forget considering he is seen as one of the most terrifying figures in the history of the world, but Rachel was not most people. She was one of the only people who were privy to Ragna's gentle side and it wasn't a feature of his she was going to soon forget.
Not to mention if there was anyone she trusted outside of Valkenhayn it would be Ragna.
"Very well." Rachel sighed and picked up a piece to start nibbling at. It also didn't hurt that the man was also quite skilled at preparing virtually any food, of course.
Once she was about halfway through her first piece, Ragna handed her the glass of water he was holding. She sipped at the water until she finished her snack leaving about half the beverage left, but when she moved to hand it back to Ragna he instead lightly pushed it back towards her.
"Finish it. Water is also good for this. It'll keep you hydrated and help flush out what was making you sick." Ragna explained though he took the plate and put it over on the nightstand.
"I'm sure I drank enough. I don't wish to have yet another reason to be repeatedly awoken tonight." The vampire was adamant about giving up the glass, but Ragna wasn't having it.
"You rather be pissing or shitting?" He asked simply.
"…Always with such vulgarity." Rachel rolled her eyes but was too drained to argue back at this point.
It took a couple goes, but Rachel finished off the last of her water and this time Ragna took the glass from her without any prompting. Then, before Rachel could move herself, Ragna picked her up in his arms and made a point to lie her down on her left side.
"There. Laying on your left helps digestion too, you know?"
"Psychosomatic, I'm sure." Rachel mumbled though wasn't about to complain when Ragna climbed into bed behind her, and draped his arm over her.
"Hey, if it works then don't question it." Ragna reason as he started softly rubbing circles on her stomach to help soothe her.
Rachel had to admit that even with all of her…less mentionable troubles tonight she wasn't hating the treatment now, and she was more than ready to get some sleep. When she started snuggling deeper into her bed, Ragna took the hint and pulled her closer to him as well to get her as comfortable as possible.
"This was all very sweet of you." Rachel whispered without looking at the criminal.
"That right?" Ragna asked halfheartedly mid yawn.
"To your point before, I am well aware that most people would have an aversion to confronting these types of dilemmas especially when they are someone else's." Despite living in a closed off castle most her life, Rachel understood quite easily how the majority of people would rather avoid even their most loved ones under such circumstances.
"Hm, I guess that's one way to look at it. I don't see a problem, though. No one is at the top of their game all the time. Besides…" Ragna closed his eyes and buried his face into Rachel's hair. "If a man can't take care of his woman when she's not feeling great than he can't call himself a man at all."
That certainly made Rachel smile.
"Thank you, Ragna."
"Don't sweat it, baby. Let's get some shut eye already. Tomorrow I will make you something easy on the stomach for breakfast. You know…if Valkenhayn doesn't shove his head in the oven."
Now that her mood had improved, Rachel couldn't help but giggle at his little quips, and she finally went back to some well-earned sleep after her loving man planted a kiss on the top of her head.
And with how lucky Ragna made her feel to have him, Rachel was sure to return the favor tomorrow night.
For the record, Valkenhayn didn't put his head in the oven. He went full yakuza and cut off his pinky.
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