A/N: Thank you Joe5, Ronald Del Reagan, and Jonathon for the reviews, it really made my day reading them :]

Ulcassi- My boyfriend is in the marines, so I somewhat feel your pain. Thank you for taking the time to read still 3

Aphrodisiac, hm…

"If you're tired, maybe you should go back to your-"

"Your voice is irritating me."

Syndra glared at Zed with bleary eyes from beneath the hand she was using to shade her face from the already dim light in his sitting room. She made an effort to move the hand to retrieve the steaming cup of tea that was still on the table between them, but the light exacerbated the pain in her head, so she put the hand back where it was. She closed her eyes, snuggling closer to the very lackluster pillow that was all Zed had to offer.

Zed watched her cringe deeper into the cushion, sighing very quietly.

"You're sick."

She moved one hand to wave a rude gesture at him, but was otherwise still.

"I do not get sick. You're talking too loud, and the lights are too bright."

Zed left his chair to blow out half the remaining torches in the room, of which there were few. Syndra had made him get rid of most of them when she showed up earlier, and there weren't many to begin with. He took his seat in the dark, waiting a few more minutes to speak.

"I have order training today."

Silence.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather be home?"

She shifted just slightly, but kept the pillow covering her face.

"I want to finish my tea."

Zed sighed again, the exasperation wearing him thin. He didn't have time to argue with her, and the pitiful way she was acting was starting to make him feel bad for her, if just slightly. He stood up to leave, pausing by her chair on the way out. He awkwardly placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on her hair, trying to even his tone before he spoke.

"I'll be back late."

He waited a moment for a response, and on receiving none, left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Syndra was not accustomed to pain.

Physical, anyway. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten sick in her life. She moaned miserably into the soft fabric of the pillow she was hiding her face in. She complained to Zed heavily about the light, because it was bothering her, but even the complete darkness didn't abate the throbbing in her head. She tried again for the tea, but it didn't taste as good as it usually did and it burned her tongue.

Today was not a good day.

She'd woken up feeling miserable, and for some reason decided she'd rather be miserable with Zed. But of course, of course, he had important ninja things to do today, and as soon as she'd arrived at the order he needed to leave. But Syndra didn't want to make the entire trip back to an empty fortress, and besides, Zed's little apartment was warm and dark and comfortable. And if she was being honest, she didn't want to be alone. At least being at the order meant she was somewhere near Zed. At the fortress, it would've just been her and her misery.

So she stayed.

She sat in the chair until her back ached from her hunched over position and the pillow was pressing uncomfortably into her cheek. She opened her eyes, peering at a room that was darker than she remembered. She needed somewhere more comfortable to sit, or sleep, but Zed's chair was even smaller than the one she was in right now, and she definitely wasn't going to drag the pillows onto the floor. Her gaze flitted over to the other door in the room that was always shut.

Bingo.

She clutched the pillow to her chest, shakily making her way to the door. She pushed it open, into a room even darker than the one she was leaving. The dim light filtered through the doorway, falling onto just a large bed and a small night stand. Although it lacked the enormous pillows and thick comforters of her own bed, it looked very inviting. She closed the door behind her and then put the pillow onto the bed, collapsing after it. She sunk into the mattress, pulling the thin sheets around her. Not ideal, but it beat the chair. She sighed. As comfortable as she was, she knew she couldn't stay. She'd have to leave before Zed got back, so he'd stop bothering her about nothing and so she could sleep in her own bed, where it was fluffier and warmer…

She closed her eyes, letting the darkness and comfort ease the ache in her head. Just a moment more…

Zed was very, very tired. He'd been neglecting his students lately, in favor of spending time questioning Syndra, so he tried to make up for it with more frequent and challenging practices.

He'd been trying, but not quite successfully.

He'd run tonight's training a lot longer than usual, something he rather missed. But now, all he wanted to do was go back to him room, maybe make tea, and go to sleep.

The room was just like he left it, minus Syndra. With the way she was acting before, he wasn't surprised that she went back home. He poured out the full cup of tea she left behind in the small kitchen sink, and paused before blowing out the remaining torches, eyeing the chairs. The one he'd left Syndra in was missing the small pillow that he usually had on it.

She took a pillow?

Zed rubbed his eyes, proceeding to blow out the last torch. He decided to skip the tea and just go to bed, heading straight for the room. He aimed for the bathroom, hoping a shower would ease the soreness he could feel coming on in his muscles. He relaxed happily into the warm water, feeling immensely better than before. He didn't like not being used to training with his students, and he'd have to make sure he set aside more time for it.

He left the shower a little unhappily, dressing for bed and rubbing a towel through his hair. He opened the door, abandoning the towel on the bathroom floor, and headed straight for the bed.

Which was… Occupied.

There was a sizeable lump underneath the sheets, and an awful lot of silver hair spread across the pillows. The missing pillow from the chair was on the other side of the bed, Syndra's hand still clutching the corner. Zed pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut.

He really could not catch a break today.

He approached the side of the bed Syndra was on, making no extra effort to be quiet. He nudged one exposed shoulder gently.

"Syndra. Wake up."

She mumbled very slightly, but didn't answer him. He tried shaking her shoulder a little more forcefully this time.

"You have to go home."

She groaned. "I don't want to move."

The pain behind Zed's eyes deepened, but he tried to keep his voice even.

"Syndra, I'm very tired, and you should be at home anyway."

She moved her hand to the one Zed still had on her shoulder, thin fingers threading through his.

"But I'm sick." She whispered miserably.

Zed's mouth screwed up unhappily, because now he was starting to feel bad for her, and Syndra had a way of always getting what she wanted. She pulled the stolen pillow against her chest and curled in on herself, wiggling to the very edge of the bed. She released his hand, tucking her arm in close to herself and curling in even more.

"I moved."

Zed heaved a sigh and removed the hand he had on her shoulder. He moved to the opposite side of the bed, nearly collapsing on the sheets. Syndra was on the far side of the bed, as far from him as she could get, and the bed was big enough that she wasn't near to touching him. He was tired, way too tired to care, and arguing with Syndra wasn't likely to get him anywhere. He closed his eyes, willing the ache behind them to go away.

He'd deal with the ache on the other side of the bed in the morning.

Syndra felt when Zed woke up the next morning. She opened one eye just slightly, catching a slim glimpse of his bare back before he slipped through the door. She squeezed her eyes shut again, slightly embarrassed. She remembered the childish way she acted the night before, and wasn't in the mood to face Zed just yet, so she pulled the blankets tighter around her and waited until she thought he would be gone. She tried to be as quiet as possible, pressing an ear against the door separating the rooms. Silence. She detoured to the bathroom, kicking aside a towel on the floor and trying to straighten her clothes in the small mirror. She looked tired, with slight shadows underneath her eyes, but at least the migraine was gone. She gave herself another cursory glance before grabbing the pillow she'd taken from the sitting room, then backed out of the door. She turned around, meaning to throw the pillow back on the chair, but froze instead. Zed was sitting in the chair she was aiming for; he was turned towards the door she just came out of, a small cup in his hands.

"You look better."

He commented before moving the cup to his lips. His chest was still bare, and Syndra had to remind herself to concentrate before answering.

"I never looked bad."

She took the chair that was usually Zed's, and handed him the pillow. He pushed another cup across the table to her, putting the pillow behind his back. She sipped the tea –her favorite, like always- before saying anything.

"Don't you have somewhere important to be?"

He laughed at her uncomfortable posture, finishing his tea and setting the cup down.

"Not today." He smiled. "You missed the sunrise this morning."

Syndra focused on the steam curling away from her cup, averting her gaze before answering.

"I missed a lot, it seems."

He didn't answer right away, waiting until most of Syndra's tea was gone.

"Well, you didn't miss meditation. Or did you want to go home and change first?"

Syndra smiled at the tea dregs and then looked up at Zed, her smirk infinitely wider than his. She put the cup back on the table, then walked out the door and towards the spot in the forest behind Zed's apartment that he liked to mediate in the most. She called back over her shoulder before she was out of earshot.

"I don't think anyone needs to change."