36.

Elle's dread didn't come unwarranted, it seemed. Somewhere a week into her bug, she started to hear Bernard sneezing—sneezing quietly, into his sleeve to muffle the sound, but often. He'd waved it off, of course.

"Someone spilled a whole cart of spices in the kitchen while I was passing through today. It was messy! I probably breathed some in or something." This sounded fake, but he wouldn't accept any other answers. Then he'd started complaining the suite was too cold, which might have been reasonable, if Elle hadn't already had the heat turned up to help her sweat out her fever. She'd started noticing he looked more tired than usual, especially around the eyes, and got a little cranky—which would have been normal, except he was being cranky with her, which wasn't. It also happened to make her cry, considering how miserable she was feeling, and he'd left in a huff insisting he wasn't sick, and that she should just drop it, and that he was going to get some air, some more crackers and some soda.

He was coughing when he came back in the door, carrying two shopping bags and looking ready to drop in a way Elle had yet to see from him yet. He just kind of stood inside the doorway and looked at her, shoulders sagging with a bag in each hand and his scarf hanging unevenly around his neck. "I'm sorry," he said, and she knew he was apologizing not only for snapping at her and making her cry, but also for insisting he wasn't getting sick.

Elle got up, in spite of her weak legs and dizziness, and offered him a smile, carefully taking one of the bags. "It's okay," she reassured him, and took his hand, leading him into the kitchen. Together, they unpacked the things Bernard had bought at the store (he seemed to have had the foresight to stock up on a few sick foods, which was a blessing) and then, Elle had him sit down while she made a call to the Elfirmary to have someone bring by some more of the medication she'd been taking. She hung up the phone, then hesitated.

"Should I call Santa and let him know you need time off too?" She asked, and Bernard immediately looked conflicted. Clearly, he didn't want to have to take a bigger break than he already was, but on the other hand, his body was definitely screaming at him that he couldn't keep up at the moment. Seeing his uncertainty, Elle set the phone aside and promised only to call the next morning, if he wasn't feeling better by then. That seemed to relax him a great deal.

"Do you want to go home?" He looked worried, as if he'd be imposing. "I mean, you're welcome to stay. My bed is plenty big enough and there's always the couch. But I thought you might be more comfortable at your own place."

Bernard shook his head. "No, I'd rather be here with you. Besides, there's no point in spreading germs to my house too."

"You wanna go get some pajamas or something?"

"I left a pair in your closet, I'm pretty sure. If I need more I'll"—he sneezed—"go and get them tomorrow. Or when I'm feeling a little better."

Elle didn't want to be the downer to tell him that it would probably be a few days before he felt any better at all, so instead she pulled the box of tissues closer and offered it to him. "Okay. I'm gonna try and get the place cleaned up a little, at least so that it's comfortable for the both of us. As best I can, at any rate…" She looked around at the suite. Bernard had been keeping things up considerably well over the week, but the clutter still kept building up from the general effect of having a sick person in the house.

"I can help," he offered immediately, trying to get up from the table, but he groaned halfway, eyes screwed shut.

"Nope, you're gonna sit tight until your meds get delivered. And in the meantime, the nurse said it's okay for you to take some aspirin."

"Have you taken yours?"

"Mhmm, I took everything while you were gone." She brought over the bottle from the cupboard and a glass of water, and was surprised when he didn't take it from her. Instead, she found herself wrapped in a hug, though admittedly a strange one, with his arms around her waist and his head on her chest.

"I'm really sorry I snapped, Elle. I was being a jerk," he mumbled through her sweatshirt, and she couldn't help but chuckle and stroke his hair a little.

"Hey, it's not your fault! You weren't feeling good either. We both weren't at our best. I'm not mad."

"I made you cry." His tone of voice sounded almost as if he were going to cry, and she immediately did her best to pull herself together mentally and send comforting thoughts his way.

"Yeah, but so does stubbing my toe sometimes. Hurts for a minute, but it passes. Don't sweat it."

"Elle…"

"B," Elle replied firmly, then sneezed and had to recollect herself before going on. "I love you, and I need you to let it go. Okay?" He still seemed sad, in an out of character kind of way, and she felt like she needed to give him an opportunity to make it right. "I tell you what. You bundle up with me on the couch and watch something until your medicine gets here, and all will be forgiven. Sound fair?"

He hesitated.

"I've really been missing your hugs, and since you're sick now…"

Finally, a smile. "Yeah, alright."

"Okay!"

"And for the record," he added, getting up from the chair, "I've missed your hugs too."

They made their way to the couch, both leaning on each other one way or another before settling in and getting as comfortable as their weary bodies would let them be. Still, Elle hadn't been lying; she'd missed having him close and it seemed from the way he was holding onto her that he felt the same way. Or, maybe, he was just really chilly after all. With her running a fever, and him too cold, they were perfect opposites and the solution to each other's issues, in a way.

Half an hour later the medicine arrived via nurse. From a quick battery of tests similar to the ones Hismus had given Elle the nurse doubled checked Bernard's condition and confirmed what they both already knew, that he'd caught Elle's flu. The recommendations were the same for him, with the added advice to stay bundled up and drink lots of warm liquids. Luckily the suite had an over abundance of blankets, and Judy kept sending by deliveries of hot drinks from the Kitchen, so there was no problem there. By the time the nurse left, Bernard had progressed further into his illness, not red around the edges like Elle was but rather, pale and clammy looking.

By the time they went to bed, Elle had broken out the electric blanket for him, and tucked him well into bed before crawling in as well. She'd already changed out of her pajamas twice that evening, from how hot and sweaty she was from her fever, and found herself still roasting in an oversized University of Washington hoodie and some sleep shorts. She managed to set alarms for throughout the night, at the times they needed to take their medicines, barely remembering to shut off the bedside light before she hit the pillow.

Bernard with a flu was quite resigned to his fate, Elle found. Usually she was the one with a nihilistic outlook on things, but something about him feeling so bad and being so "useless" in his own words made him quite…pouty, almost? Anyway, he was far from happy with staying still—when he was supposed to be napping or resting, that is. When he was spending time being miserable with her, Elle found he was distracted enough to not notice his own misery. In fact, it felt like that went both ways, and she got the decided feeling that they were both making concerted efforts to make the situation less dismal for each other. So far, two was better than one. At least the didn't have to worry about being overly careful not to make the other sick.

If Elle had thought that Bernard catching her cold would mean he stopped playing nurse, she was mistaken. In fact, he doubly enjoyed taking care of her as a means of distracting himself. He still liked to read to her, especially when the tv seemed too noisy—though, now that he was congested too, he did so mentally, projecting the words through their Bond to her. The mental sound of his voice soothed her tremendously, serving as the only thing that could put her to sleep when she became too miserable to do so on her own.

Inversely, it seemed that he liked her babying him a little more when he wasn't feeling his best. He became very fond of the feeling of her fingers stroking his hair, or how she would kiss his cheeks when he got fussy and worried. He wanted extra attention, which would have been funny if she hadn't liked being able to do something to comfort him to make up for the fact she'd gotten him sick.

A week and a half had passed with Elle being sick (a half week since Bernard had followed suit) when the news reached Jacqueline that both of her best friends were wiped off their feet. Intrigued by the turn of events and the sniffly message Elle had left her, she went to visit the two elves, not really worried about catching it. It was very unlikely that a sprite such as herself would contract an elven strain of flu, at any rate.

She decided not to poof into the suite just in case they weren't decent, instead knocking at the front door before letting herself in. "Elle? B-Man?" She called, and a noise from the couch drew her attention. There was a very mussed looking Bernard, with red eyes and a redder nose. "Yikes, you aren't looking so hot."

"Don't feel hot, either. I'm freezing," he complained, burrowing his feet a little deeper into the layers of blankets he was swaddled in. Jacqueline made an effort to keep her cool to herself, so to speak, being more mindful of the temperature she was giving off.

"Where's Elle?"

"Here." A hand shot up from…the floor? Yes, Elle was laying flat on the floor, her cheek pressed against the cool hardwood. She was still dressed in an oversized t-shirt and shorts, a half melted bowl of ice cubes sitting beside her with a spoon. "And before you ask, yes. I have a fever. And it hasn't broken yet. Which is ridiculous."

"Hismus says once my chills and her fever let up, we'll be nearly completely done with this thing," Bernard explained, rubbing at an eye.

"And I'm just about to shrivel up from dehydration if I don't stop sweating so much," Elle complainer, flopping over to lay on her back and look up at her friend, her face a flushed, hot mess.

"I mean, that at least I could help with," Jacqueline offered offhandedly with a snicker, mainly as a joke. But Elle seemed to take it seriously, peeking up a little.

"Hell yeah! Frost me up, pal."

Bernard sighed and rolled over to face them, making a negative sound. "Jacqueline, do not actually frost Elle."

"Excuse you? I can make my own choices, homeboy. I'm roasting down here."

"Maybe he just doesn't want you to chill out because he likes using you as his own personal hot water bottle," Jacqueline said with a smirk, grinning outright when she saw Bernard grow even redder around the ears. "Let me guess, you two didn't keep your distance from each other, and one of you got the other sick. Am I right, or am I right?"

"Jacqueline…"

"Well?" She peered over at Elle, who raised her hands in innocence.

"To be fair, I tried to tell him to stay away while I got over this…"

Jacqueline rolled her eyes to the heavens, grinning. "Oh geez. You guys are so dumb." She made her way into the kitchen, stepping around the pile of Elle on the floor. "At least you seem to have been keeping up with things a little," she added, eyeing the dishes in the sink. "Don't tell me that this bug has both of your magics in a funk." The fact that there were dishes and Bernard hadn't done that nifty little snap trick to cut corners in his time of need didn't bode well.

"I can't use mine," Elle said, getting up off the ground to raid one of the shopping bags Jacqueline had brought for popsicles. "My telepathy is almost completely down, and when I try to use magic I end up just breaking things instead."

"And Bernard?" She looked over to find him almost half asleep, snuggled against a pillow. He would have looked peaceful if he didn't also look like he'd been through hell.

"Using magic is too draining for him right now." Elle looked over worriedly. "I've never seen him like this before."

"Neither have I, to be honest. It's kinda weird to see him…you know. Resting."

"It's my fault I got him sick," Elle said quietly, looking down at the box in her hands. "He wanted to take care of me, and I let him. I should have insisted he keep his distance."

"To be fair, he's not very good at that when it comes to you," Jacqueline pointed out with a slight laugh. "But I know what you mean. Honestly it's not your fault, Elle. B-Man is stubborn, and he wasn't just going to leave you to fend for yourself. I wouldn't expect him to, anyway."

"Funny, that's almost exactly how he said it to me." Elle felt a little better after devouring two or so popsicles, good enough that she ended up helping Jacqueline make dinner. She felt a little less overwhelmed having a pair of fully functional hands around, even just for the evening.

Jacqueline lent her a hand in doing a few of the bigger chores like taking out trash and changing the sheets and such, while Bernard slept on the couch. He'd tried to get up at least three times to help them, but the girls had taken turns making him lay back down and actually rest.

"If he wasn't sick I'd be glad he was actually taking a break," Elle had said, keeping a watchful eye on him from the balcony of the bedroom.

"He doesn't like to slow down, does he? That's B-Man all over." Jacqueline smoothed out the comforter and hesitated. "You sure you don't want me to put like, a light bit of a frost over your side of the sheets? Might help you stay cool."

"Nah, it's okay. Thank you though." Elle waved away the idea. "He won't be comfortable if the bed is too cold, what with his chills. And I don't want him sleeping on the couch the whole time, it's a comfortable couch but…I dunno." She turned a little more flushed than she already was.

"So I was right about the keeping cozy, huh?" Jacqueline said with a smirk.

"I mean…" Elle shrugged, speaking in a lower, slightly guilty tone. "I like when he wants to cuddle. Is that so wrong?"

"Nope. You guys are gross, that's all—and I don't mean this flu you've got. But it's cute." Jacqueline grabbed the basket of dirty sheets and crossed to the bathroom. "Mind if I throw these down the wash chute real quick? That way you won't fall even more behind."

"I'd really appreciate it," Elle admitted, following behind more slowly. "Thank you for all your help, really."

"Don't mention it! Did Dr. Hismus give you an estimate for how long it'll take for you two to beat this?"

"I should only need a few more days, Bernard still has up to a week left. Hopefully he'll kick it sooner."

"Yikes."

"Double yikes, since one he starts actually feeling even a little better, I'm worried he's gonna want to go right back to work."

"I doubt Hismus will clear him for that. And if he doesn't have the doctor's permission, then I don't think Santa would let him. You probably don't need to worry."

"That's…that's a good point really." Elle set a tired hand to her forehead. "I'm not thinking as clearly as I'd like to be."

"That's okay, and probably to be expected. Why don't you sit down and chill for a bit? You've been up helping me since I got here."

Elle almost argued before realizing her friend was right. Jacqueline led the way back out into the bedroom, and Elle flopped down on the clean bed. "Good point."

"You know, maybe you two have been going at it a little too hard," Jacqueline pointed out, and Elle gave her an odd look. "Not like that" —she pulled a grossed out face— "I mean about work. Maybe you've both been overworking yourselves, and that's why you're in this mess. You should try taking some time for yourselves once and a while, away from the Workshop."

"But there's always so much to do!" Elle argued with a a sigh. "And any time Bernard is away from the place, he's stressing about what he's missed. I don't think we could take a break, even if we both wanted to."

"I dunno, something tells me this bug you have should help put that into perspective before long." Jacqueline grinned. "From one friend to another, it's been quite the couple of years for you both. Wouldn't hurt to step away for a while."

"We'll see." It did get Elle's mind turning though. Could they actually take a break? What would they do if they did?

She kept thinking about it in the back of her mind as she came to sit beside a sleeping Bernard, about to tuck her feet up carefully so as not to wake him when he shot out an arm and pulled her down beside him, tossing the blanket over her.

"Got you," he said, sounding groggy with a slight catch in his throat. Elle smiled.

"Yeah, you got me." Despite immediately feeling too warm for comfort, she cuddled back again him and he seemed very grateful for the warmth. "B, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"If you're awake enough, that is."

"Awake enough to listen," he said, squeezing her a little tighter.

"Yeah, perfect. But could you loosen up your grip a little buddy? I gotta breathe still."

"Oh. My bad." His arms relaxed a little.

"Thanks." Elle took a deep breath. "Do you think we've been working too hard?"

"Does that sound like something I'd ever think?" He said with a little laugh.

"B, I'm serious. I mean…" she gave a little sigh. "We've been working really hard all year. I mean, we've got our normal Workshop business, but then I've been getting ready to move, keeping a regular workout schedule, staying up late, being stressed about…" She trailed off before saying family stuff. "Well, a lot of things. You miss meals and sleep less than I do, and on top of that you've been weighed down by my secondhand stress, and then there's been the fact that we've been getting used to being together…"

"Sounds like a lot, when you put it like that."

"It is a lot. And that's my point. We had a week or two of time after New Years to get a slight grip on ourselves and all that happened during Christmas and…well, the year before. But we've kind of been going non stop."

"What're you saying?"

"Well, Jacqueline said that maybe we should take a break. And the more I think about it, maybe she's right."

"Isn't this a break now?"

Elle laughed. "Being sick doesn't count as a break, Bernard, good grief."

"So by a break, you mean—"

"Actual time off. Maybe even getting out of here, going on a trip? Some fresh air would be nice. Warmer air, even."

"You're talking about a vacation," Bernard realized, waking up more at the thought.

"Yeah? I think so." She turned to face him. "I mean, is it really that crazy to think of?"

"If you mean before Christmas, than maybe a little."

"I just have this feeling," Elle insisted, "that something is going to make this holiday season hectic."

"To be fair, every year is like that one way or another."

"I mean really hectic, B."

"Well," Bernard said, looking thoughtful. "Santa and Mrs. Claus are expecting around Christmas. Maybe that's what you're feeling?" He turned his head to sneeze into his elbow, and Elle reached a hand over for a tissue.

"You're right, I'm pretty sure that has something to do with it." She fell silent, wondering if it were wrong for her to feel that way. It wasn't that she didn't want Buddy to arrive! It was more that seeing Scott and Carol expand their family first hand made her miss hers even more, and she didn't want to bring that subtly negative atmosphere to a happy situation. But how could she say that? Was it selfish?

"No." Elle felt her stomach sink at this reply, but when she looked at Bernard, he seemed to be comforting her. "It's not selfish. If I had had to face what you have this year—this past two years, really—I'd probably feel somewhere along the lines of the same way." Oh. It did make her feel better to hear him say so. Maybe she wasn't being irrational after all.

Bernard sighed, leaning back against the sofa cushions. "We are ridiculously well prepared for this Christmas," he admitted, "even with this break we're taking for being ill. It isn't a terrible idea. But I really don't know, Elle. We'd need to check with Santa, see if he's okay with us being gone at such a momentous time, make sure someone trustworthy is left in charge…"

"I know! I know it's a lot to ask," Elle said, taking his hand. "But…can we at least agree to consider it?"

"Yeah. I think I can agree to that." He smiled, and Elle immediately melted in relief, hugging him again.

"Hey, so I think I've just about wrapped up things here—" Jacqueline came in and paused, seeing them hugging. "Well that's the reason you two dorks are in this spot to begin with," she said with a chuckle.

"Don't judge, or you might find yourself in a similar bind soon," Bernard warned, shaking a finger.

"Pssht, please. I doubt I'd make a mistake like that." Jacqueline rolled her eyes. "Anyway, everything seems to be in order around here. I'm gonna bounce! Send a thought my way if you guys are hard pressed for anything else before you get well, okay Elle? I can drop stuff off if you're in a pinch."

"Thanks, Jacquie," Elle said with a smile. "Hopefully we'll be back on our feet before we need to impose again."

"As if! I'm happy to swing by. Well, I'd be happier if you two weren't sick when I did, though. Get better, okay?"

"Will do. You take care of yourself, Jacqueline," said Bernard, offering a tired smile.

"You too, B-Man. Take care of each other! Not that you aren't doing well enough with that, already." She winked, and in a flash of snowflakes, Jacqueline was gone.

Elle eventually went to fetch a clean basket of blankets, and the two elves settled in for the evening. "They're still warm from the dryer," Elle said, bundling Bernard up extra cozy and chuckling at the sight of him in such a fluffy state. She settled in beside him with the box of popsicles, a box of tissues wedged between the sofa cushions.

"A vacation, hmm?" Bernard said thoughtfully, flicking on the tv, and Elle nodded.

"Mhmm."

"A vacation." He didn't say anything more, and it wasn't mentioned again, not until long after the two of them had fully recovered from their flu. But the thought had been put out there, and it would continue to grow in the back of their minds throughout the weeks to come.

Here's the part two I promised! Sorry it took longer than expected, I myself was feeling under the weather and everything leading up to New Years kind of took over my time. Anyway, this is the last update of this holiday season! More than likely I won't be updating again until October of this year, but you never know. Sometimes I just feel like popping in to keep things moving (I'm always working on this story throughout the year, as my tumblr can attest to.)

A huge thanks to SafyreSky for letting me use Jacqueline again in this chapter! Hopefully she was in character enough, if not yell my way and I'll tidy her lines up, okay?

Favorites, follows and reviews are always much appreciated! Many warm thanks to SafyreSky, fangirl0012345, BlueRaider1993, LoveFiction2017 (your read through was delightful, thanks!) SummerMistedDragon and one Guest for your reviews of the previous chapter! And my PM inbox is always open for discussion, ideas, what have you—or you can interact with me on tumblr! My username is shittyelfwriter there.

Happy New Year, to you and yours!

Disclaimers:

I am not Disney or Disney affiliated and therefore do not own any rights or credits to any characters, concepts or places portrayed in or from "The Santa Clause 1, 2, or 3". The only thing I own is my own creative work and original content and characters, including the Connelly family, the Emissary Clause and Elle herself.

Many characters and concepts are borrowed/used shamelessly from the works and headcanons of SafyreSky, all rights and credit go to her for coming up with such incredible ideas. These include but are not limited to the Legate concept, Jacqueline Frost and the portrayal of many other non-canon/canon characters.