Ronin was not greeted by anyone at the door when he got home, sullen or otherwise, although Nod was most definitely crying. He was laying on Orla's lap in the rocking chair, sobbing messily. If how congested he sounded was any indication, he had been crying for quite a while.
When he realized it was Ronin at the door, he sat up and held his arms out to be picked up, crying harder.
Ronin didn't bother with putting his sword away or taking off his cloak. He rushed to scoop the boy up, holding him against his chest.
"It's alright chickadee," Ronin shushed him, rubbing his back, "I'm home now, everything's alright."
The boy latched onto him and pressed his face against his shoulder, continuing to cry wearily. Orla stood and offered him the blanket Nod had been wrapped in. For the first time since she had started watching Nod, Orla looked worried, and Ronin found that more than a little unnerving.
"He didn't do well?" Ronin asked, wrapped the blanket around the child.
Orla shook her head, "he did alright until dinner last night, then he started getting upset. He cried all last night and most of today, although he fell asleep for a little bit this afternoon. I haven't been able to get him to eat or drink anything since last night though."
Ronin cradled the child's head against his shoulder and pressed a kiss to his hair. He had expected him to be upset, but he hadn't expected him to be this upset.
"Hopefully, he'll settle down now that I'm home," Ronin said, "thank you for staying with him."
Ronin was sure Orla wanted to get home and get some rest. If Nod hadn't slept, then she probably hadn't either.
"You're welcome," Orla started gathering her things, "I'll see you in a few days."
"I might take an extra day off," Ronin rocked with the crying child, "I'll let you know."
Orla nodded, "I would keep an eye on him. He doesn't seem to be feeling very well, although it could just be that he's tired."
"I'll watch him," Ronin said; it was doubtful Nod would let him out of his sight for the next few days.
Orla left and Ronin managed to get his sword and cloak off one handed, then went to sit with Nod in the rocking chair. He cradled the boy in his lap and offered him the sippy cup that had been sitting on the floor beside the chair.
Nod gave a tired whine and pushed the cup away with both hands.
"Come on chickadee," Ronin coaxed, offering him the cup again, "you need to drink something."
The boy sniffled and wiped his nose on the blanket, then curled up against Ronin with his face pressed against his arm.
"Alright," Ronin set the cup down and started rocking, "you rest for a while, then we'll have juice and maybe dinner, how does that sound?"
Nod whimpered and continued to cry, fingers digging into the seams of Ronin's armor to hold onto him. All Ronin could do for now was hold him and hope he calmed down enough to eat and sleep soon.
"Come on buddy, you need to eat," Ronin offered Nod a piece of toast with blackberry jam.
The child pushed it away with a whine and pulled his knees up, curling up on Ronin's lap and hiding his face against Ronin's chest. He had cried for almost an hour after Ronin had gotten home, although he had finally taken his sippy cup. He had drunk half-heartedly from it for a while, then pushed that away too.
Ronin sighed and set the toast back on the coffee table.
"Nod, buddy, I know you're upset I was gone, but I'm home now," he wrapped his arms around the boy and started to rock in the chair again, "you need to drink your juice and eat something. You'll feel better if you do."
Ronin made the sign for dinner, hoping Nod would understand it was time to eat, but the boy ignored him, tucking himself more tightly against Ronin. As Ronin rocked them, the boy gradually relaxed, slumping against Ronin and starting to suck his thumb. Ronin picked up the sippy cup again and tried to get him to take it, but he turned his head away. When Ronin didn't pull it away, Nod gave an angry growl and pushed at the hand holding it.
"Chickadee," Ronin tried to keep the frustration out of his voice as he shifted the boy to face him, "you're being silly. You have to be hungry, and not eating because you're angry isn't going to make things any better."
Ronin made the sign for hungry and Nod shook his head stubbornly and pressed his face against Ronin's shoulder, sniffling and grabbing onto his armor, then sticking his thumb in his mouth. He felt warm to Ronin. He had felt warm when Ronin got home, but he had thought it was just because he had been crying for so long. He had calmed down considerably now, but he still felt warm to the touch.
"How about a bath?" Ronin suggested, standing with the boy in his arms.
Nod started crying again when Ronin set him down in the bathroom to get him undressed.
"Chickadee, it's okay," Ronin pulled his shirt over his head, then kissed his forehead, "I'm not going anywhere."
Nod wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck and leaned into him, not at all reassured. Ronin hugged him, then finished undressing him and sat him in the tub. The boy looked up at him mournfully the whole time Ronin was washing him, as if he expected Ronin to run off and leave him there sitting in the bathtub alone.
It was the least wet Ronin had ever gotten bathing Nod, and he found the boy's lack of enthusiasm very worrisome.
Ronin got him into clean pajamas and sat on the bed holding him for a while. Every time the boy started to drop off, he would jerk awake and latch onto Ronin, as if he thought he was going to suddenly disappear. Ronin rocked him slowly, holding his breath when the child finally closed his eyes and didn't open them. He waited almost fifteen minutes before laying Nod down on the bed so he could finally get his armor off, but as soon has Nod was down, his eyes opened and he started to cry, holding his arms out to be held.
But he didn't even try to sit up.
Ronin frowned and leaned over him, stroking his hair back from his flush face. He was still too warm, and even though Ronin knew he was tired, he seemed too lethargic to him for this to be just from not sleeping.
"We need to go see Glory kiddo," Ronin kissed his forehead and lifted him back up, bundling him in a blanket.
Nod wrapped his arms around Ronin's neck and rested his head on his shoulder wearily.
"Well, he's sick," Glory wiped the bite on her hand with thyme oil; Nod had not liked being prodded at.
"You said he would be fine," Ronin glared at her, rubbing the sniffling boy's back.
"I said I thought he would be fine," Glory made quick work of bandaging the bite, "and now we know he's not ready for you to be gone overnight."
"You're a healer, why didn't you know?" Ronin cradled Nod's head against his shoulder when he felt him start to droop with sleep.
"Ronin, even normal children don't come with instruction manuals," Glory looked far too amused, "never mind small malnourished children who think they're foxes."
Ronin glared at her and leaned back against the bed, shifting Nod to hold more comfortably. Nod yawned and tucked his head under Ronin's chin, sticking his thumb in his mouth.
"He'll be fine," Glory reassured him with a smirk she couldn't quite hide, "his fever isn't very high. I'll get him some wintergreen and as long as his fever doesn't go up in the next hour, you can take him home."
"But he's sick, he should stay in the healers ward," Ronin protested.
"Because I need bite marks on all of my healers," Glory snorted.
"Glory," Ronin growled.
"He needs to rest Ronin," Glory explained as if Ronin were particularly stupid, "he wakes up every time he hears a voice he doesn't know. He's never going to sleep here."
Glory went to get the medicine, and Ronin moved to sit in the chair beside the bed, cradling Nod in his lap. The boy rested tiredly against him, dozing off for a few minutes at a time before jumping awake at the unfamiliar sounds of the healers ward. Glory was right; Nod would do better at home, but why couldn't she have been right about how he would do with Ronin gone?
Glory returned with a mug of tea and held it out to Ronin.
"See if you can get him to drink all of it," she said, "it should help with the fever."
Ronin thought she was being a bit optimistic thinking he could get Nod to drink an entire mug of tea when he hadn't been able to get him to drink the juice he actually liked. He tried though. Nod took a sip, then pushed it away, and Ronin had to pull the mug out of his reach to stop it from spilling. The flavor probably wasn't the problem. Wintergreen tasted like mint, and Nod liked mint jelly. The boy just didn't seem to want anything.
"Do you have any sippy cups you can put this in so he doesn't spill it everywhere?" Ronin held the mug out to Glory, "and can you sweeten it?"
"I can put a little honey in it," Glory took the mug back, "and we should have a sippy cup somewhere."
Even with the honey, it took Ronin half an hour to get Nod to drink all the tea. The strange sounds and strange people were upsetting him, and he alternated between crying and trying to hide against Ronin, and dozing off. His fever didn't go up though.
"Take him home," Glory held a bag out to Ronin, "here's the wintergreen. He can have a cup every four hours, but don't bother waking him up for it if he's sleeping. Try and get him to eat and make sure he's drinking lots of fluids."
"What if he gets worse?" Ronin unconsciously drew Nod in closer.
"Then bring him back," Glory rolled her eyes, "we're at the base of the tree Ronin, not the other side of the forest."
Ronin glared at her, but accepted the bag.
"Bring him back tomorrow afternoon, and we'll check him over again," Glory's lips quirked up.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," Ronin stood with the boy in his arms, and Nod whined and hid his face against his shoulder.
"Don't worry, we're going home buddy," Ronin reassured him.
The dim pre-dawn light was just showing through the curtains when Ronin woke to someone poking at him. He blinked blearily at the boy on his knees beside him.
"What is it buddy?" Ronin yawned.
It had taken him over an hour to get Nod to sleep after they had gotten home from the healers. The boy was obviously not feeling well, and he couldn't seem to decide what he wanted. He had wanted to be held, then had wanted to be put down, then started crying as soon as Ronin had let him go. He wanted juice, then got upset after a few sips and pushed it away.
Ronin had eventually given up trying to figure out what he wanted and just laid down with him. He had finally fallen asleep in the hollow of Ronin's arm, thumb in his mouth and other hand fisted in Ronin's shirt.
The boy was awake again now, although looking tired and grumpy. He pushed his sippy cup at Ronin and whined. Ronin sat up with another yawn and took it from him. He had left it on the nightstand filled with wintergreen tea, but it was empty now.
Nod pushed at him and whined again, clearly feeling he wasn't moving fast enough.
"Alright buddy," Ronin stood and stretched, turning towards the door, "I'll get you more juice."
Nod stumbled to his feet on the bed and flung himself at Ronin with a panicked cry. Ronin almost dropped the sippy cup catching him. The boy locked his arms and legs around Ronin and pressed his face into his shoulder, whimpering.
"Well, at least you have more energy," Ronin shifted him into a better position, "I guess we'll go get your juice together."
Ronin sat Nod on the counter and pulled the jug of blackberry juice out of the pantry, filling up the sippy cup and handing it to him. The boy gulped it down, watching Ronin over the lid as he drank.
"I'm glad you're feeling better chickadee," Ronin stroked back his hair.
He was still warm, but not as warm as he had been. Ronin pulled out a jar of pickled dandelion stems and offered one to Nod. The boy continued to stare at him over the lid of his cup and made no move to take it.
"Still not hungry, huh?" Ronin ate the pickle himself.
Nod finished his juice, then pushed the cup back to Ronin, making the sign for thirsty. While Ronin was refilling it, the boy crawled down the counter and stood up on it so he could reach the cupboard. Ronin snorted softly. There had been honey brittle in that cupboard before he had left, and there might still be some there since Nod hadn't eaten much while Ronin was gone.
Nod pulled out the bag of honey brittle and a sunflower seed and sat down on the counter again, helping himself to a piece of candy first, then biting into the seed. Ronin came to lean on the counter beside him, setting his sippy cup down next to him. At least he was eating.
Nod finished half the sunflower seed, had another piece of honey brittle and a few sips of juice, then held his sticky hands out to be picked up with a wide yawn.
Ronin wiped his hands off with a dish towel before picking him up, remembering to grab the sippy cup on the way.
Nod settled down much more quickly this time, cuddling against Ronin when he laid down beside him. He wiggled for a bit, unable to get comfortably, then finally found the exact position he wanted and fell asleep. Ronin laughed softly and kissed his head before joining him in sleep.
He slept much better knowing his little chickadee was on the mend.
