Shout out to Mike AZ 2; this oneshot is inspired by your idea to have Malroth look after an ill Builder. And Ciaxlia, know that your ideas are definitely in the works! Ya'll have some pretty awesome ideas, I have to say; I'm excited to write them! :D
In which the Builder pushes herself too hard.
Fever Chills
The Builder wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. She shivered despite the roaring fireplace close by, trying and failing to stay warm.
Her body had been feeling achy and cold ever since this morning. She'd woken up feeling like death: her nose stuffed up, throat scratchy, and anytime she tried to sit up or move, she got so dizzy that she was forced to lie back down. It was frustrating to think she'd gotten sick, especially when she'd been making such fast progress on her latest project. Now she had no choice but to wait.
The blonde had been working on building a castle town for the folks of Cerulean Steppe for the past few days now. Countless snow squalls had billowed around her and yet, she'd worked through it as if it weren't happening, building and crafting until her fingers were numb from the cold. The building she was currently finishing was going to be a town hall, perfect for when the citizens of Cerulean Steppe managed to find a mayor. Lulu was already the self-proclaimed princess and now all she needed were political underlings. At least now if they did find someone to be mayor—someone who wasn't Bonanzo—they had a proper place to hold town meetings.
The Builder wasn't good at taking breaks, especially not when she was inspired to finish a new project such as this, and she would've kept at it if a certain pink-haired girl hadn't approached her.
"Builder," she began. "You've been at this for days, now."
"So?" The blonde peeked out from above the roof she was finishing up. Lulu stood below, mitten-encased hands on her hips. She sported a thick fur coat and looked rather warm despite the biting air around them.
"What do you mean 'so'? When's the last time you took a break to eat or sleep?"
That was a great question. She'd scarfed some gingerbread cookies that very morning, but she hadn't slept in yonks. To be fair, she wasn't tired; she had stuff to do. "No idea, but I'm fine."
"You most certainly are not." Lulu folded her arms across her chest. "Come down here this instant! It's freezing out here, you need to come inside and warm up!"
"I appreciate the concern, but I'm almost done up here." The Builder patted the roof proudly. "I'm not coming in until I'm finished."
"You'll catch your death if you don't go inside soon."
"I'll be fine, scout's honor."
Lulu stomped her foot. "Builder, as your princess, I order you to come down right now!"
The Builder offered her friend—ahem, royal friend—an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Lulu."
"You will be sorry when I call Malroth over here!"
At that, the blonde paused. While Lulu didn't have the brute strength to literally grab the Builder and make her stop building, their destructive best friend did. The Builder wasn't good at taking breaks once she was inspired; there had been quite a few times in Furrowfield, Khrumbul-Dun, and Moonbrooke when he'd had to literally throw her over his shoulder and force her to take a break. And while she appreciated that her friends cared about her, dang it, she had stuff to do! It bothered her when she couldn't get something done on her own time. She wished her friends could understand that.
Even if Lulu did call Malroth over, the Builder was making record progress. By the time he came over to force her to take a break, she'd already be done. She might as well keep building until then.
"Go ahead and call him," the Builder replied, waving her off. "By the time he gets here, I'll be done and you'll look silly."
"Fine, I will!" Lulu stormed off with a huff, leaving the Builder to continue her work in peace.
It began snowing again when the Builder had managed to finish the town hall and started working on a nearby study room. If she'd been cold earlier, roughly three hours ago when Lulu had left, she certainly didn't feel it now, only proving her point that she was fine. She didn't need to take a break when she was feeling great. She had things to do and blueprints to complete, and so that's what she continued doing. The Builder was starting to rummage through her backpack for more roof tiles, just about ready to finish this next building up, when a new voice rang out.
"Yo, Builder!"
The blonde tensed.
Malroth.
"Builder, I know you can hear me. Get down here right now before I smash this building to bits."
"You wouldn't dare!" she cried, peeking at him from her perch on the roof. Lulu had been true to her word about siccing Malroth on her; the destructive young man stood there next to the pinkette, red eyes blazing while his lips were set in an annoyed frown. He didn't have half the layers Lulu wore, yet the cold didn't seem to bother him. He didn't even flinch at the snowflakes that kissed his face and chest.
When he saw the blonde's fearful expression, he grinned evilly and brandished his mallet. "Wanna bet?"
As Gerome would say, gadzooks, he's serious. "Can I at least finish the roof?"
"I'll give you the count of three. One... Two..."
"Okay, okay, I'm coming down! Sheesh." The Builder reluctantly closed up her backpack and her way down the ladder. As she climbed down each rung, she realized her legs were so cold and stiff that it was difficult to move. Her fingers and toes were completely numb; she could barely flex them. The freezing temperatures around her had settled into her entire body and she hadn't even noticed. That was not good. Maybe... Maybe she should've listened to Lulu earlier.
When she'd safely made it down, stiffly walking over to her two best friends, Malroth didn't waste any time. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder. She let out an indignant yelp as he began to carry her off towards the hotel, embarrassment coloring her already-rosy cheeks as the entirety of Cerulean Steppe looked on in amusement. Seeing Malroth carry the blonde over his shoulder was nothing new; they knew he was her self-appointed supervisor. The girl would run herself into the ground if left to her own devices for too long.
After getting her some hot food, something to drink, a warm, dry change of clothes, and a chair to sit in front of the fireplace, Malroth seemed satisfied. He sat with her while she ate, stretching his arms above his head. They didn't speak due to her shoveling food into her mouth (when had she gotten this hungry? She didn't even remember feeling her tummy growl), but no words were needed. The Builder knew Malroth was sticking close to make sure she didn't run back outside and she knew better than to try to outrun him; he was way faster and stronger than she could ever hope to be.
When her stomach was full and she had feeling in her appendages again, she started feeling sleepy. Malroth once again picked her up, albeit bridal style this time, and carried her to the temporary home she'd built for them that was located right across from the castle. As she climbed under the blankets and curled up on her side, Malroth tucked her in and patted her shoulder.
"I'll be right outside the door if you need anything," he said, a dangerous twinkle in his ruby gaze. "And don't you dare try to sneak out. You know better than to think you can pull a fast one on me."
She murmured out a promise that she wouldn't sneak out, the dark depths of unconsciousness already pulling her under. Before she went to sleep, she noticed her body still felt cold and a little achy. Perhaps she'd caught a nasty chill, and with that final thought, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
...But when she woke up, that was when she realized the unthinkable had happened.
The Builder couldn't get warm no matter how many blankets were wrapped around her. She felt like death; her throat was scratchy, her nose was stuffed up, her head felt like it weighed a ton, and aches in her body had gotten much worse than the previous night. No matter how hot the fireplace was and no matter how many blankets she wrapped around herself, and relentless chills wracked through her body. The sunshine that filtered in through the windows was too bright, forcing her to cover her face with a blanket. She'd only experienced something like this a few times when she'd lived in Cantlin; it was with a heavy heart that she admitted to herself that she had the flu.
Still, she had things to build. She couldn't let some stupid sickness keep her from completing what she desperately needed to finish. The last thing she wanted was for the others to think she was weak and pathetic, that she couldn't follow through on her promises to build them wonderful things. The Builder forced herself to get up despite the debilitating headache and dizziness that plagued her. She was struggling to pull her boots on when Lulu let herself into the small home and strode into the bedroom.
"Good morning, Builder! How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?"
"Yes," the blonde gave a nod, repressing a sniffle. Stupid runny nose. "Much better, thanks. I'm gonna get back out there."
Lulu tilted her head to the side. "You sound funny."
"Wow, rude."
"No, I don't mean it like that. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"
The Builder stiffened. Nothing ever got past Lulu, did it? "Why wouldn't I?"
"You don't look so good. In fact, you look rather pale." Without warning, Lulu approached her and placed the inside of her wrist against her forehead. Her cold skin felt like a shock to the Builder, who winced and pulled back from the pinkette's touch as if she'd been burned. "Yup, just as I suspected. You're running a temperature."
The Builder scoffed, this time giving into sniffling. If she could just get her nose to quit being annoying... "I'm fine."
"Not a chance. Back to bed with you."
"But I'm fine!" The blonde protested weakly. "I have to finish—"
"You're not finishing anything in that sorry state."
Malroth, who had apparently remained in the next room this whole time and had heard the entire exchange, appeared beside Lulu. He was surprised to see how sickly the Builder looked: she was paler than normal and her eyes were glassy, her nose slightly red from her rubbing it constantly. Her lips looked a little rough and cracked, and he wasn't sure if she realized that she was shivering something fierce. He himself had never gotten sick, nor did he think it was possible, so to see her look so weak worried him.
"Guys, seriously, I'm fine." The Builder tried to stand up on wobbly knees, but she didn't last long before another wave of dizziness overcame her. She was forced to sit back down on the bed and a particularly violent chill tore through her. Her whole body felt like ice; if she could just get warm...
"No, you're not." Malroth moved past Lulu and helped the Builder get back under the blankets, where she continued to shiver and sniffle. To her credit, she didn't try to fight him or protest. "Hey, Lulu, how do we help her with this? I've never seen anyone get sick before."
"She's going to need lots of rest and she needs to drink plenty of fluids," Lulu replied, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Some warm milk, water, and vegetable smoothies should help keep her hydrated. I'm going to go ask Gerome to make some of that soldier's stew he's always boasting about, that should help boost her immune system. Perhaps Sister Esther will have some medicine lying around as well."
"Sounds good. I'll stay with her, make sure she doesn't set foot outside."
Lulu gave a nod before leaving. When it was just Malroth and his stubborn, beloved Builder, he used the nearby fire poker to stoke the flames. He looked at her shivering, weak form and sighed, coming to sit beside her.
"You really did it to yourself this time."
The Builder cracked open her eyes to see Malroth watching her with an unreadable expression. She tried sitting up, even tried to say, "I'm fine," but a coughing fit interrupted her. She grasped at her aggravated throat and whimpered at the increased pain there. Sympathy and concern flickered across Malroth's face and he quickly fetched her a glass of water. She murmured a 'thanks,' and while the cool liquid soothed her throat for a few minutes, the pain returned shortly after. The Builder felt miserable.
"I hate being sick..."
"This is why you should've listened to Lulu," Malroth chided, taking the empty glass from her and placing it on the nearby nightstand. "If you had paid better attention to your body's needs, you might not be in this mess."
"But I was making good time—"
"Builder, why do you push yourself so hard?" He cut her off. "Who's asking you to build this stuff in only a day's time? Who's putting pressure on you to work this quickly?"
"No one," she replied, slightly astounded by his question. "I... I just like getting things done as fast as I can."
"Why didn't you allow yourself to take a break? Do you realize you could've gotten frostbite and lost a finger or toe?"
The Builder's cheeks burned despite the fever. She didn't know what to say to that because he was right.
Malroth sighed and gently pushed her back down. "I understand you like getting things done on your own time, but you gotta take your health more seriously. I'm not one to lecture, that's Lulu's specialty, but this isn't healthy behavior."
"This is the only time I've gotten sick—"
"Yeah, and you're in a pretty bad state. All those all-nighters and days without food finally caught up to you. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"You act like I never take care of myself, but I do."
"Right. That's why you spent entire days out in below-freezing temperatures without eating, sleeping, or taking a break to warm up. Because that's definitely taking care of yourself."
I don't need to be called out like this... The Builder sniffled indignantly. She wanted to protest, but what could she say? Malroth was right in every respect. She did need to start taking better care of herself.
More chills swept through her body and she shivered, her teeth practically chattering together. Malroth noticed and tilted his head to the side.
"Do you want me to poke the fire again?"
"N-no," she whispered. "It's not doing much. I just have to ride this out, I'll be f-fine."
He watched her continue to shiver before he shed his jacket, bone necklace, and boots, climbing under the blankets with her. The Builder normally would've blushed like crazy and asked what he was doing, but it became clear when he wrapped his body around hers. He was ridiculously warm, but then again, he wasn't a regular human man; he was, well, Malroth.
She shifted to face him and snuggled as close as she could, reveling in his body heat. The chills slowly began to leave her and she nuzzled her face into his chest.
So... Warm...
"Is this better?" he asked softly, and she nodded, her eyelids growing heavy. She didn't want to fall asleep. She wanted to get back to her project; it was bugging her that she was so close to finishing it yet she couldn't, and Malroth seemed to sense her inner turmoil because he began to stroke her hair. His fingers gently massaged her scalp and her eyelids began to feel even heavier. Maybe rest wasn't such a bad idea after all...
True to her word, Lulu had brought an entire pot full of fresh soldier's stew, some bread, a few plates of grilled greens, and some medicine to help reduce the Builder's ailments. After a bowl of stew, lots of water, and a little bit of medicine, the Builder finally began to feel better. Malroth stayed with her throughout the worst of it. He only got up to shower and take care of his own needs when he was sure she was fast asleep. She'd wake up only to feel him getting back into bed, his hair and skin damp, the faint smell of soap still clinging to him.
There came a point where she thought she was in the clear and tried to sneak out of bed. That had proved to be fruitless:
The Builder gave herself a few minutes to gauge how she was feeling, and when she decided tossing a few blocks up wouldn't be a bad idea, she decided to try and get up. She'd certainly been lying in bed for enough time; she had to be better by now.
Malroth was still curled around her, his arm wound protectively around her waist. His breathing was slow and even, like he was in a deep sleep, and she carefully lifted his arm to unwind it from her body. When she managed to do so, she eased herself away from him and sat up, getting ready to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. She thought she was in the clear when a pair of strong, warm arms snaked around her waist and pulled her back into a firm chest, earning a shriek from her.
"Goddess, I thought you were asleep!"
"Fat chance. I know you better than that." He tightened his hold on her, earning a blush from his best friend. "You're not going anywhere. Go back to sleep."
The Builder wanted to protest, but Lulu took that opportunity to let herself in. They heard her moving about in the kitchen, presumably setting something heavy down on one of the counters. Malroth got up to go see what she was up to, taking his wondrous warmth with him, and started to leave the room to go greet her when he paused in the doorway, glancing back at his blonde best friend.
"Stay put. If you try to sneak out, you know what'll happen. Don't test me."
Begrudgingly, she obeyed and got back under the covers.
After a week of lying in bed, eating stew, and resting, the Builder finally came out of her illness. She managed to get herself out of bed and into the bathroom without issue, feeling victorious that she'd finally beaten the fever and chills that plagued her. She took her time cleaning up and felt as good as new once her hair had been washed. As she was towel-drying her long locks, she heard a tell-tale sneeze coming from the bedroom.
Uh oh.
Sure enough, when she went to check on him, Malroth looked pale and miserable, sniffling every few minutes. He shivered underneath the blankets and cracked his eyes open, the sunlight hurting his eyes.
"I feel horrible," he moaned. "What is this?"
The Builder bit back a chuckle as she moved to draw the curtains. Figures that when she was all set to get back to building, Malroth would get sick.
"You must've caught the flu from me," the Builder explained, moving to sit beside him. She held the inside of her wrist to his forehead and nodded. "Yup. Looks like you're gonna be staying in bed for the next few days."
"Ugh..." He closed his eyes again in defeat, sniffling loudly. "This sucks."
"Now you know my pain." The Builder still wanted to go outside and finish up building, but since getting sick, she figured maybe taking a little bit of a break wasn't the worst thing in the world, especially not when her best friend needed her right now. She toed off her boots and placed her gloves on the nightstand before crawling under the covers beside Malroth. She wrapped herself around him like he'd done for her and in return, he shivered and snaked his arms around her, holding her body tightly to his to savor her warmth despite the fact that he was burning up.
"I'm freezing," he murmured. "How did you deal with this?"
"It helped that you were with me." She ran her fingers through his hair, an action that helped him relax. "And don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right here until you're feeling better."
It was noon when Lulu arrived to check on her two friends and see how the Builder was doing. She was surprised to find the Builder with much more color to her and a sickly-looking Malroth clinging to the blonde. They were both fast asleep, the Builder propped up against the headboard while Malroth used her stomach as a pillow, his arm loosely wrapped around her midsection. Despite the fact that Malroth was now sick, to see her two friends cuddling... Lulu had to admit, they looked cute like this.
Figures that idiot would get himself sick, too, the pinkette thought, placing her hands on her hips. A smile tugged at her mouth as she shook her head. Guess I'll be asking Gerome to make more of that stew.
