A/N - UGhasdasskdandka short circuits aha anyways more Nuts and Dolts except for this time they aren't together yet and they're in love but they don't realize it haha
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Sweat was one thing Penny would never get used to. So when one morning she woke up in a cold sweat it was incredibly uncomfortable. Her body felt incredibly achy. Sitting up she let out a groan as she rubbed her eyes. A chill ran through her body as she dove right back into her blankets.
She sighed as she pulled the blanket over her head. Penny didn't want to move. Her body seemed to betray her as she felt herself fall back asleep.
"Penny, darling?" Penny awoke again to the sound of her father's voice. Blinking her eyes open she saw her dad just beside her bed.
She turned around in her bed covering her face with a pillow.
"What's wrong?" He asked, peering over Penny and moving the pillow.
"I feel terrible…" She muttered, "My body hurts, I feel unnecessarily tired and my body is freezing cold."
"Are you sick?" Pietro said, brushing some of her hair out of her face.
"What's sick?" Penny questioned.
"It's… Like when… When your body gets something inside it that isn't supposed to be there," He explained, "You've never been sick before, have you…" She shook her head, "I'll check your temperature one moment." He disappeared and within seconds he was back with a weird stick looking thing.
"What's that?" She asked as he stuck it into her mouth.
"It's a thermometer," He said, "It'll measure your temperature, if it's past a certain degree you might have a fever."
Within seconds there was a beep as he took it back out. She looked as his eyes widened.
"Well, it looks like you are sick," He adjusted his glasses, "I'll call in and get off, this is your first time ever being sick after all."
Penny stayed silent for a moment as he pulled out his scroll. A thought crossed her mind and just before her dad could hit call she spoke that thought.
"Ruby…" She mumbled. He lowered his scroll for a moment and raised an eyebrow.
"What about Ruby?" Pietro asked.
"Can Ruby come here instead…" Penny suggested.
"But she'll be a while before she even gets here, it's fine if I miss a bit of work, I have some other stuff I need to catch up on anyways," He reasoned.
"Please?" Her eyes rounded. After a moment of silence Pietro let out a sigh before smiling.
"Alright, I'll give her a call," He said before turning to leave the room.
"Dad, I can't, I have a mission next week!" Ruby had shouted across the house. She was sitting in the living room of her childhood home and was watching tv while her dad made breakfast for her family.
Currently she and her dad were the only one up, her step-mom and younger sister were asleep.
"You think you could call Yang and ask her?" Her dad shouted back.
"She's going with me!" Ruby clarified, "Blake too."
"Weiss?" He suggested.
"Oh you know I'll call and ask her, she might be able to! Plus, Summer wouldn't mind Ilie!" She pointed out.
"Well hopefully Raven and Summer are up soon, breakfast is almost ready," He said a bit quieter this time, "You think you can figure it out by this evening? If we need to rearrange things it's better we know sooner than later!"
"Sure!" Ruby felt her scroll vibrate before she picked up and saw a familiar contact, "Hold on! My scroll's ringing I'll be right back!" She stood up off the sofa and turned to the door, opening it she stepped outside. Once the door was closed she answered the scroll.
"Ah, good morning, Ruby!" The familiar voice said on the other line.
"Good morning Dr. Polendina, did you need something?" She said.
"Yes actually, it's about Penny," He said.
"What's up with Penny?" She asked.
"She's sick, she's insisting you come," Pietro said, "Do you think you can come?"
"Oh, yeah I can be there in about an hour," She said, "Is she alright though?"
"Aside from being sick she's fine," He said.
"Okay, I'll be there soon then!" Ruby said. She hung up and put the scroll in her skirt pocket. She headed back inside and into the kitchen where her dad was just finishing cooking.
"Just in time! Could you go wake Raven and your sister?" Her dad pointed over to the stairs.
"Bet," she said. Approaching the stairs she was surprised to already see Raven walking down the stairs with a sleepy Summer in her arms.
"Sorry, would've been down sooner, just woke up Summer," Raven said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh, well that makes my life easier," Ruby shrugged her shoulders as the three of them entered the kitchen again. The table now had plates with pancakes on them. Ruby quickly took her seat.
"Hey dad, Penny's sick so I was gonna go over to her house today, just a heads up," Ruby said.
"Alright, that's fine," He said, "You guys are close, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, taking a bite of her pancake.
"Oh nothing," a light chuckle rose from her dad as she continued to eat.
Once she finished breakfast she was quick to grab her stuff and head out the door.
"Bye!" She shouted before closing the door. Off she was to downtown Patch. Once she caught a bus she was on her way to the airship station. Since Atlas was still being rebuilt, Penny and her dad were in Vale, so the trip was very short and she could get there in a very convenient amount of time.
Pass by around an hour and she was outside the townhouse that was occupied by Penny and Dr. Polendina. She rang the doorbell and she got a text on her scroll. Penny had texted her.
'The door's unlocked.'
Ruby opened the door to the house and she entered, locking the door behind her.
She headed up the stairs just by the door and ended up just outside Penny's bedroom door. She knocked lightly on the door before opening it.
"Hey, Penny," Ruby said, she peered over to Penny's bed where she was sitting up looking outside the window in her pajamas. She turned and smiled when Ruby walked into the room.
"Hey, Ruby," She said. Ruby walked up to her and gave her a hug.
"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked.
"Not great," Penny sighed. Ruby came and sat on the edge of Penny's bed.
"Have you eaten anything today?" She asked, Penny shook her head, "Give me a minute then."
Ruby stood back up and headed down the stairs into the kitchen. She checked the cabinets and found a can of chicken noodle soup. She then found a bowl and opened the can, dumping its contents into the bowl. Then she slid it into the microwave for a few minutes, and the soup was ready. She grabbed a glass of milk and a spoon and headed back up the stairs into Penny's room. She handed the hot bowl to the redhead and she gratefully took it.
"Soup always makes me feel better when I'm sick," She was soft-spoken as Penny began to sip at the soup, "Figured you'll like it."
"Thank you!" Penny was grateful as she took another sip of the soup. After a few minutes of sitting in silence Ruby spoke.
"It must be weird, being sick for the literal first time," Ruby said, "Are you feeling any better?"
"Not really, honestly I'm kind of bored," Penny admitted. Ruby thought for a moment before she thought of an idea.
"Mind if I carry you?" Ruby asked. Penny tilted her head.
"Carry me?" Penny said, "Where are we going?"
"Downstairs, to the living room!" Ruby said, she dove her hands under Penny and lifted her. Down the stairs they went and Ruby placed her on the sofa. In better lighting now she could see the reddened cheeks of the freckled girl. She rubbed her hand across her forehead and gasped.
"You're burning up!"
"I'm aware, I feel cold though, can you grab a blanket?" Penny asked. Ruby nodded and stood up to grab a blanket from a basket behind the sofa. She came back around and handed the blanket to Penny. Penny took the blanket but before Ruby could sit down on the chair she had aimed for Penny reached out for her.
"Can you sit with me?" Penny asked. Ruby looked around for a moment before sighing with a smile on her face. She walked back to the sofa and got under the blanket with Penny. The warmth of her body radiated onto Ruby but she didn't mind.
"What movie do you wanna watch?" Ruby asked, turning on the tv and pulling up the TV guide.
"I'm not picky, maybe a romcom?" Penny suggested, her voice was a tad hoarse from being ill. Ruby was quick to find the channel and turn to it. For a while, they sat in silence as they watched the movie. It was cheesy in all honesty, a Christmas movie, it was December after all. They continued watching and after some time, Penny spoke.
"Can you make us tea?" She asked, not turning her head from the tv.
"Sure, any specific kind?" Ruby said.
"No, whatever you think will help though," Penny said. Ruby lifted the blanket and Penny let out a chattering noise as the warmth escaped the blanket. Once Ruby was out from under the blanket Penny quickly wrapped herself back up in it. While in the kitchen Ruby checked her scroll to see she had a few missed calls from Yang.
"Shoot…" She mumbled as she hit the call button on Yang's contact. Her scroll rang while she opened the cabinet and grabbed two mugs. Soon enough the scroll was picked up by Yang.
"Ruby! What's up, I've been trying to call you for the past twenty minutes!" Yang said the moment the scroll answered.
"Sorry, me and Penny were watching a movie," Ruby casually said as she opened a container in search of any tea sort of herbal tea.
"OH! You're with Penny now, hmm?" Was that a teasing tone in Yang's voice?
"Yeah, she's sick," Ruby said, ignoring her sister's previous tone.
"Is she alright?" She asked. Ruby looked back into the living room to see Penny laying on her side now on the sofa.
"As good as she can be, can't believe it took what 4 years for her to get sick for the first time?" Ruby said, it was odd she was able to have that strong of an immune system, especially considering the glasses incident. Ruby was still half-convinced Ambrosious had purposely done something to have Penny's vision deteriorate so quickly. On the subject of that…
"Bless her heart I don't even think she's been well enough to put her glasses on, let alone put her contacts in," She suddenly felt bad for not realizing her friend's missing glasses.
"Well, you can go get them right?" Yang said.
"Yeah, I'll get it in a second I'm making us tea," She said, she found a container with some rosemary tea and grabbed the bags from the inside of an open box, "Hold on, one sec I gotta put the water on the stove." She filled a kettle she'd gotten from the lower cabinets with water and placed it on the now turned-on stove. Ruby spoke to her sister once more.
"So, what did you need?" Ruby asked.
"I wanted to ask if you wanted to invite Penny on the mission next week, something came up with Blake and she's not going now," Yang said, "But if she's sick then maybe not, unless she's rested up by then."
"Weird that Blake's your wife and whatever this thing that came up is isn't affecting you," Ruby said. Yang laughed a little.
"It technically does, but it isn't a big deal," Yang admitted. Ruby could hear the kettle beginning to boil, "So, you think you'll ask her?"
"About the mission? Maybe, I don't want to ask her right now since she's… Sick," Ruby rationalized, "I'm gonna go, the tea's almost ready, I'll see you next week!"
"Bye, Ruby!" Yang said.
"Bye!" Ruby hung up the scroll and took the boiling kettle, she was swift in pouring the boiling water into the cups. Setting the kettle in the sink she waited. In the meantime, she supposed it was a good idea to run upstairs and grab Penny's glasses for her. Luckily they weren't hard to find, as they were conveniently on her bedside table.
Heading back downstairs she got a tray and placed the tea on the tray along with a few condiments if Penny or herself decided to add them. Ruby lifted the tray and headed back to the living to find Penny staring sleepily at the television.
"Penny, I made tea," She set the tray down before handing Penny her glasses,
"I grabbed your glasses too."
"Oh... Thank you," Penny took her glasses and slid them on her face. For a moment her eyes were closed but when she opened them she stared up directly at Ruby, a sleepy look on her face, "I didn't know a pretty lady was bringing me tea…" She mumbled, raising her arm up to caress Ruby's cheek with a droopy manner.
"I-It's just me, Penny," Ruby chuckled a tad nervous, her cheeks seemed to redden.
"Still, you are pretty," She admitted, "What kind of tea is that?"
"Rosemary," Ruby said, "You seem tired, do you want to drink it then… Go back to sleep?" Penny waited a moment, then she nodded her head. Ruby grabbed the cup of tea and handed it to Penny before grabbing a cup of her own. She got back under the blanket with Penny and took a sip.
Within minutes the mugs were empty, Ruby sat hers on the floor beside Penny's. Ruby was going to turn the volume down when Penny curled up against her.
"Stay… Right there…" She sleepily muttered, "I like it when I can lay on you."
"Are you going to sleep? Isn't your bed more comfortable?" Ruby asked her. Penny nodded before grabbing Ruby's arm to have it wrap around her.
"It's nice sleeping here, I don't wanna move," Ruby saw the smile cross the redhead's face. Ruby couldn't help but smile back. She ignored the heat radiating from Penny as she snuggled up beside the sick girl as well.
"Alright, if you say so, Pens," Ruby said. She didn't even care that her cheeks felt warm, this was making her feel happy after all.
And soon enough they were asleep.
Ruby holding her close.
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Sleepy Penny flirting with Ruby lowkey is super funny to me but also please realize you're in love everyone already knows it :(
Anyways I've been working on this most of yesterday and finished it so please send help NND brainrot is consuming me :,)