Shizuo frowned at the sound of someone coughing. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was still lying with Izaya in front of him. He sat up and looked down at the shivering boy.

The raven-haired snuggled his face further into the pillow and whimpered lowly as the warmth from behind him disappeared. He blinked as he slowly came to his senses. Izaya felt terrible. He felt cold, and his whole body ached slightly. But his throat was much worse than the rest as it felt raw and dry, not to mention sore.

"Are you alright?" Shizuo asked, a bit worried.

"Hm?" tired ruby eyes met caramel ones. "Yeah. Good morning." he yawned.

"Tch, you're joking," Shizuo snorted.

"No. I'm fine," he said seriously and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Lay down," Shizuo mumbled.

"I'm perfectly fine," he smiled and rose from the bed, feeling lightheaded.

"If you say so.."

Izaya nodded and went to find his normal clothes. The leather he wore the day he came. With his back turned to Shizuo, he stiffly removed the wolf fur and wrapped the other leather around his waist.

Shizuo stretched and he too rose from the bed to get up and start working, again.

"Isn't it rather cold today?" Izaya asked as he sat down in the kitchen and looked over his shoulder, body shivering lightly.

"No, it's warm... in fact I'm already sweating," Shizuo mumbled the last part to himself.

"It is?" Izaya questioned, feeling how he didn't feel the least warm.

"Yeah."

"Oh.." he let out and stared blindly at the ground. He stared for a while until Shizuo noticed.

"Izaya, what are you doing?" the blonde frowned.

No response.

"Oi.. Izaya," Shizuo said and approached the raven.

But the other still didn't react.

The blonde kneeled down beside Izaya and gently shook him. "Oi."

"Hm? Eh?" he questioned and looked confused at the blonde.

"You were spacing out.. and you said you were cold, right?"

"I am.."

"Your body is warm," Shizuo frowned and placed a hand on Izaya's forehead. "Geez, you're burning up. Go lie down."

"Huh?" he let out, slightly confused.

"Go lie down," Shizuo repeated. "No arguing."

Izaya slowly got to his feet, stumbling a bit as he went to the bed and laid himself down, feeling more content while lying down. He suddenly began coughing violently into his fist.

"Geez.." Shizuo sighed. "I don't know what to do..." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

Izaya kept coughing but then it stopped and he gasped for air until another coughing fit hit him and he had to sit up, coughing into his fist as his other hand held loosely around his aching throat.

"Need some water?"

Once the fit ended he took some deep breaths which only made his throat worse. "Yes, please," he said, voice hoarse from the major coughing fits.

Shizuo filled a bowl with fresh water and handed it to Izaya.

Izaya gladly took it with shaky hands. "Thank you," he said and drank some of the water, handing Shizuo the bowl.

"Drink all of it.." Shizuo demanded.

Izaya whined softly but did as told. God, he hated being sick. He always felt awful, though he had tried to get up today.

"I think you should stick to fruit today.." Shizuo mumbled.

"I'm not hungry," he mumbled, eyes closed. Without meaning to, he let his head fall forward until his forehead rested against the blonde's chest.

"You have to eat something.." Shizuo said, letting the boy's head be.

"Nouu," he whined silently. He always acted silly when he was sick and he knew it. But he couldn't help it.

"Don't be like that," Shizuo frowned.

"Sorry," he let out in a sigh. He then put a hand beside his head on Shizuo's chest, keeping it there.

"Izaya, you should just get some rest.."

Izaya nodded against the blonde's, kinda sweaty, chest and pushed himself off only to let his body fall down on the bed, giving in to the fever. He curled into a ball, trying to get warm; eyes closed, his body continued to shiver lightly.

Shizuo forced Izaya to lie on his back and wetted a piece of oblong fur which he placed over the raven's forehead.

"Covers.." he mumbled.

The blonde smiled and pulled the blanket up to Izaya's neck.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"You're welcome," the blonde left the raven to begin working. He would probably skip breakfast today.


Shizuo left the tent the moment Izaya fell asleep. He immediately went to the tribe's healer's tent. The moment he stepped in he was welcomed by a sweet scent of something he didn't quite recognize. An old lady covered in a brownish cloak approached him; her smile showing her wrinkles. "Ah, Shizuo. It's been a while. Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Well, you know the boy, Izaya, who came here quite a few days ago, right?" Shizuo started and the older woman nodded. "He's become ill and I have no idea what to do.." Shizuo admitted, looking away.

"I see," she smiled. "Let's go check up on him then," she pushed Shizuo out of her tent and followed him to his own. The moment they entered the tent Izaya started coughing again. Shizuo stepped aside so the healer could go see the ill raven-haired. She carefully kneeled down beside the fur bed and looked at raven.

She immediately placed her hand on the raven's forehead and nodded. "A fever, of course".

She pulled out a little leather bag and motioned Shizuo to come. "Put this in his drink and he will feel better, but the fever won't go away. That takes time," she smiled.

"In his drink?" Shizuo frowned.

"Yes, boil some water and put this in. It's called tea," she smiled.

"Ah, sure.." Shizuo nodded and took the dried greenish plant. "Firstly, you chop it into tiny pieces so it'll be easier to drink," she explained. The blonde nodded. "And then just put it in the water," she continued.

"Alright, I'll try that," Shizuo smiled. "Good, he'll feel better, don't worry. And if there's anymore trouble, you can come see me again," she assured the blonde and rose from the ground. She left the tent short after.

"Okay then.." Shizuo mumbled to himself and put the leaves in a bowl.

"Nnn.." Izaya groaned.

"You're awake?" Shizuo turned to look at the tired raven.

"Just woke up," he said, voice hoarse. He then began coughing violently and immediately sat up, coughing into his hand.

The blonde didn't answer he started chopping the leaves into tiny pieces, with the use of a sharp rock. He had put a little pot of water over to boil while he chopped the leaves.

As the wet piece of fur fell off he let his tired body fall back down on the bed and put it back on his forehead, thinking Shizuo might scold him for letting it fall off. "What are you doing?" he asked half-heartedly, eyes closed.

"Preparing a drink for you," he said bluntly.

"For me?"

"Yes," he sighed.

"You really don't have to. You have work... to do... ne?" he mumbled before falling back to sleep.

"That doesn't matter," Shizuo mumbled, realizing Izaya had already fallen asleep. [There's a bit too much here for one drink.. guess I'll save some for another time] he thought and put some in a smaller bowl, while the rest was put in Izaya's drinking bowl.

The boiled water was carefully poured into the bowl, and Shizuo accidently burnt his fingers, but that didn't matter right now. Before taking the drink to Izaya, he let it cool down a bit.

Shizuo gently shook Izaya, trying to wake him up. "Izaya..." he mumbled.

"Nnn.." The raven complained.

"Come on," Shizuo cupped the other's cheek.

"Hmm?" Izaya hummed, slowly opening his eyes, as they adjusted until he could see the blonde before him. He felt how the blonde held his cheek and smiled wryly at the other.

"Sit up."

The smile disappeared from Izaya's lips but he did as told and sat up in the bed, eyes closed as he felt sick and lightheaded.

Shizuo lifted the bowl up to Izaya's mouth. "Drink this," he mumbled and held onto Izaya's shoulder, to keep him from falling back down on the bed. The wet fur fell down onto the other's lap as he sat up.

Izaya opened his eyes a bit and looked at the bowl. He didn't bother to take it himself but just opened his mouth.

"It's a bit warm.." Shizuo warned and tipped the bowl a bit, letting Izaya drink some of it at first.

And Shizuo was right. It was warm but not warm enough to scald his mouth, instead he just furrowed his brows at the weird taste. It was weird, yes. But he kinda liked the unfamiliar flavour.

Shizuo tipped the bowl again, making Izaya drink the rest.

Izaya drank the rest and took a deep breath. His throat felt better now and didn't hurt as he took a deep breath.

"Good?"

"Yeah.. It tasted kinda good. What was it?" he asked tiredly.

The blonde shrugged. "Something our healer gave me."

"Alright," he nodded. "Wait.. You called the healer? I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble..."

"Don't worry about that," Shizuo sighed.

"Okay," he nodded willingly.

Shizuo forced a smile on his lips.

The boy opened his eyes and looked at the silent Shizuo. "Hm?" Maybe it was just the fever talking.. but did the blonde look... worried?

"What?" Shizuo raised a brow.

"Could it be that you're worried?" he heard himself ask. Oh well, he was sick, so he could just blame it on the fever.

Shizuo frowned and turned to walk away. "Get better soon," he mumbled.

"So cold.." Izaya whined and lay back down in the bed, not bothering to fiddle with the wet leather as he lay down on his side, trying to fall back asleep.


Christine: UPDATE! :D
Signe: Don't you just love it when one of them is sick and the other has to take care of the other? :D