Author's Notes/: This is my solution to the first episode of Super Samurai. I really just wrote it so I could have Jayden fuss over Antonio and then they snuggle, but it turns out Jayden isn't much of a nursemaid in my head. Ah, well.

"You're staying with us tonight."

Antonio blinked at him, clearly startled. The rest of the team were giving him funny looks. "But I - "

"You're staying," Jayden repeated firmly. He leveled Antonio with a look that informed him he would drag him back to Shiba House if he had to.

Antonio huffed and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. But he for all his grumbling he did walk beside Jayden as they headed for home, and that told him everything he needed to know. Not that it mattered, but it only served to further prove his point - even if no one else had noticed.

"You don't have to do this," Antonio argued as Jayden pulled the blankets up to his chin. "I'm fine!"

Jayden gave him a pointed look. "You are *not* fine, and you're not going to convince me otherwise. I'll be back in a few minutes with food. *Stay put*."

"But what if I have to go to the bathroom?"

"Hold it."

He ignored the face he knew Antonio was making at his back, heading into the kitchen with a frown. What to feed him ... He definitely needed something with a lot of protein and energy, so something simple like soup wouldn't be enough.

Stir-fry, he decided finally, reaching for the wok beside the stove. It was easy enough to make.

"I didn't know you could cook, Jayden."

He glanced over his shoulder at Emily, who lurked in the doorway with a surprised smile. "Ji taught me. I usually don't need to. And I'm no - " He caught himself, "Master."

There was a look in Emily's eyes that said she suspected what he'd been about to say, but she didn't call him on it.

"Ah," Mike piped up from behind her, giving him a knowing smirk, "But are you Mia?"

Jayden snorted. "No. I don't experiment like she does. But I can feed myself if I have to."

"Can you feed anyone else?" Mike teased, leaning around him to steal a snow pea from the strainer of vegetables he'd just washed. "That's the real question."

He swatted his hand away. "If I wanted Antonio dead, there are a lot more efficient ways of doing it."

Mike eyed him. "Yeah, because that doesn't sound totally creepy."

Jayden gave him a long look out of the corner of his eye: the one Antonio had once cheerfully told him made him look like a serial killer.

Mike flinched, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm going, I'm going!" he insisted. He paused, snatched another snow pea from the wok, and bolted out the door.

Jayden rolled his eyes.

"Let us know if you need any help," Emily offered, giggling.

He nodded, flashing her a faint smile in thanks.

Antonio hadn't moved by the time he returned, which worried him. He lay perfectly still, staring up at the ceiling with a glazed look in his eyes. He was still blinking, but for Antonio to be this still without being unconscious was not a good sign.

He set the tray he'd brought on the side table. "Can you sit up?"

Antonio blinked again, his eyes clearing enough to focus on him briefly. His brow furrowed in confusion. "Jayden?"

"I'm going to help you sit up," he told him, ignoring the chill that ran down his spine. "I've got dinner for you."

Antonio blinked again. "Did Mia make it?"

"No. I did."

"Oh."

He sighed, leaning over and carefully pulling Antonio up. Arms came around his neck, and Antonio's head dropped to rest on his shoulder. "You're not helping," he muttered, shifting the other with a slight grunt of effort.

"Sorry."

He sighed again, shaking his head as he rearranged the pillows behind him. "Can you feed yourself, or do I need to do it for you?"

Antonio was silent.

" ... Antonio?"

"I'm trying to decide which sounds more fun."

He rolled his eyes and put the tray on the bed. "Just eat what you can. You need as much protein as you can get right now."

Antonio poked slowly at the bowl with a fork, looking up at him from under his eyelashes. " ... Share it with me?"

He shook his head again, trying not to smile even as he found himself moving to sit beside him. "I'll finish it when you're done. You need it more than I do."

"Liar," Antonio accused, shifting over to make room. "You used a lot of energy today, too."

"I didn't unlock an ancient artifact that everyone else deemed impossible."

"That's me: always impossible."

He chuckled a little. "I'm sure Mentor would agree."

Antonio gave him a glare. "Do not, I repeat, do not *ever* mention Mentor when you and I are in bed together again. That's just *wrong*."

Jayden flushed, shoving him in the shoulder. "Antonio!"

"It *is*."

" ... Eat your stir-fry."

They sat in silence for a while, Antonio eating painfully slow bites as they passed the fork back and forth between them. Jayden tried not to worry too much about the way Antonio's energy seemed to come and go in spurts. What he had done today was *incredible*; even more so than anyone else seemed to realize. But none of it mattered if it cost him this much to do it.

Eventually there was a slight elbow in his side. "I'll be fine, worrywart. I'm just tired."

Jayden closed his eyes, leaning into him a little more. The initial high he'd had from using The Black Box was finally gone, and now that Antonio was finally in a place where he could keep an eye on him, he was starting to feel sleepy. "You'd better be."

Something lightly brushed against his temple. "Everything is fine, Jay," Antonio murmured. "The world is safe, the team is relaxing, and I'm right here. I promise I'll be back to my impossible self in no time."

You'd better, he thought drowsily as he finally drifted off to sleep.