(Author's note: This first fic is a request and because my requester didn't specify characters, I decided to write a scenario I had in my mind for a while already, of Hollow taking care of Pendry while he had the equivalent of the bug flu.

Normally I want to keep the Sicktember fics short and sweet, but mea culpa, this one eluded me and it managed to be more than 2k words.

Requested by demonicintegrity from tumblr. Prompt is "Do you know how to take care of a sick person?")

"I have no doubts, you have the flu.", Rydellia said, retracting her vines from Pendry's forehead.

"Ah, I thought so.", Pendry croaked in response. His voice always was quiet and soft-spoken, but today he barely got a single word out. He had woken up with a terrible headache, a fever and a more than sore throat. As he had to learn after he changed forms, changing his form into something more akin to a bug also meant that he could catch their sicknesses.

"You know there isn't much we can do to get rid of an illness.", Rydellia said, "I want you to stay in bed today and drink a lot and keep yourself warm. You know that it is best to flush a virus out."

"I don't think I could go anywhere even if I wanted to.", Pendry murmured, "All my limbs feel far too heavy."

"I should go and organize some food for you.", Rydellia cooed, "So that you will feel better soon."

As Rydellia turned around to leave for the kitchen, she saw Hollow standing in the door, looking concerned with their hands clasped together and their shoulders drooped.

"Ah Hollow, if you wonder why we are late, it is because your father managed to get sick. It is nothing too bad, just a flu, but it will keep him in bed for at least today and maybe a few days longer."

"Father is sick?", Hollow signed and then with a few quick signs they added another sentence, "Can I take care of him today?"

"I don't know, Hollow… Do you know how to take care of a sick person?", Rydellia asked, looking back at Pendry. It wasn't like she didn't trust Hollow, but they were still young and could make mistakes.. but it also was a good learning experience for them. Besides, Pendry hardly would die from something as harmless as a flu.

"I want to at least try.", Hollow signed.

"I am fine with it.", Pendry said from his bed, "I think Hollow would do just fine. They cared for me during worse circumstances." The instance with the Nosk came to mind mostly and while Pendry had passed out from blood loss back then, Hollow had been stellar at reading the situation, bringing him food after he woke up and having dressed the wound.

"I guess if your father is alright with it, then you can.", Rydellia said, "But come and get me immediately when his condition worsens."

Hollow nodded and Rydellia left the room, looking back one last time. She definitely would stay near today and only half-heartedly take care of her duties. Pendry was more important to her than any of her duties.

Hollow moved to Pendry's bed immediately and stopped right next to it.

"Father, how are you feeling?", they asked. Pendry was glad that his vision wasn't blurred so that he could read their signs.

"Not good.", he replied in his far too raspy voice, "My head hurts, my throat is sore and I feel too hot thanks to the fever."

Hollow responded by laying their hand on his forehead. Their icy cold void hand, which felt like a blessing to Pendry's far too hot body.

"This is nice actually…", he said, "Your hand is nice and cold, Hollow."

With one of their hands occupied, Hollow couldn't sign, but they got the notion and kept their hand there until Father managed to fall back into a slight doze. Then they rectracted their hand. From the books they had read, they knew that a sick bug needed lots of fluid and soup. They could make the soup with the help of the kitchen staff and ask the Royal Retainers to bring something to drink.

Though, what should he drink? In the books a sick bug never got coffee and coffee was what Father always drank. Oh, but sometimes he also had tea when he got too jittery after too much coffee. According to Mother, the coffee that Father drank would be able to kill a mortal bug. Hollow didn't want to think about that. They had tried it once and then they had been the one to get sick, hunched over a toilet and vomiting their guts out.

They didn't want Father to have this experience when sick! Hollow left the room and found a Royal Retainer, leaving their request with them in written form. Father would find a nice pot of tea on his nightstand once they would return with food.

Hollow always got welcomed warmly in the kitchen. They were popular and everyone liked them being around, even though they couldn't participate in conversations with their hands occupied. Sometimes they thought they should take inspiration from Father and grow two more arms with hands to sign while they cooked, but as it turned out, growing two whole new limbs wasn't as easy as shapeshifting existing ones. They had nearly melted into a puddle the first time they had tried.

Hollow approached the kitchen chief, a bulky scarab beetle and told them what they wanted to cook. A soup for a sick person. Soon, one of the kitchen staff had been assigned to help them and she made sure that Hollow would cook the soup exactly according to the recipe. While she said she liked their experiments, because how would someone acquire new tastes without experimenting, it wouldn't be a good thing to give something experimental to a sick bug. Sick bugs wanted comfort, even if they were the literal king.

While Hollow was busy cooking Pendry woke up because someone had entered his bedroom and left something on the nightstand. When he looked to the side, he saw a pot and a steaming cup of tea.

He wondered if Hollow or Rydellia had sent this and pulled himself up in bed. His two extra arms were a lot of help because he still felt far too weak. How could a little virus get him down so much?

He grabbed the cup and held it between his claws for a few minutes at first. It was warm and nice, but it would burn his throat and his throat was already hurting enough. After it had cooled enough in his hands, he took slow sips of the tea. The warmth felt like a blessing on his abused throat and he remembered Rydellia's words about drinking plenty to flush the virus out. He couldn't argue with that, they both knew it was true, so Pendry poured himself a second cup after he had finished the first.

He had just finished it when the door opened and Hollow entered, balancing a tray on one hand with a steaming bowl on it. Pendry had a bit of trouble smelling today, but his nose was still fine enough to make out that it smelled absolutely delicious.

Hollow closed the door behind them with their foot so that they could balance the tray with both hands and then moved towards Pendry's bed. They sat the tray down, but instead of giving him the bowl, they themselves put a spoon into it and offered it to him. Were they… trying to feed him…?

"I can eat myself, thank you, Hollow.", Pendry said. Yes, it was common that a parent would feed their sick child, but the other way around…

Hollow set the bowl and spoon down to sign: "But in my books the sick bug always gets fed by their loved one."

Oh, that explained a lot. Hollow was reading nothing but romance books, of course a sick scene in a book like that would be romantic.

"Couples, Hollow, it's couples who do that, not parents and their children.", he said.

Hollow abruptly stood up, leaving the room. Pendry was already debating to just take the soup and eat himself but then Hollow returned with… Rydellia.

"Pendry, is something the matter? Hollow seemed to be rather distressed when they got me.", she said.

"My condition isn't worse, they just-", Pendry started, stopping when they saw Hollow signing and Rydellia's eyes going wide.

"I have to feed him because I am his wife and only I am allowed to feed him because of it?", she repeated what Hollow had told her. And then Pendry saw the grin on her face. Oh no, she was INTO it.

"Oh, my Wyrm, why didn't you tell me you couldn't eat on your own? Let me take care of this right away…"

Rydellia came over to the bed, picked up the bowl and the spoon and then let it come towards Pendry's mouth. "Come, my Wyrm, say aaaah.", she said.

"Root, please.", Pendry murmured, wondering how he could feel even hotter than he already was. Rydellia used the exact moment he opened his mouth to put the spoon inside of it, so that he was practically forced to swallow the soup.

At least it was very tasty and Hollow's body language looked incredibly pleased. Pendry felt too weak to protest more and besides, it wasn't as bad as he thought, so he let Rydellia feed him the whole soup. He decided that Hollow's happiness was a bit more important than his feelings of slight humiliation.

Once Rydellia was done (with a far too happy expression), she took the bowl and the tray and left the room. Hollow came over immediately to fluff up Pendry's pillows. He wondered if they also had this from their books.

"Hollow, I feel rather tired, so I would like to try and sleep.", Pendry said. After the soup his body would need some time to digest the food and it always felt more exhausting when he was sick.

"I will stay by your side if you need anything.", Hollow signed. Pendry just nodded and soon fell into a slumber.

Pendry awoke because the tea and the soup had made its way through him while he slept and he was in need of the bathroom. It was a good thing that Hollow had stayed, because Pendry's legs still felt like jelly and he would need help to get up.

When Hollow noticed that he was awake, they signed before Pendry even managed to utter a single word.

"Father, do you need anything?"

"Help me to the bathroom please.", Pendry said, struggling to get up. He was a Higher Being, how could a simple virus get him down like that? Pendry decided in the quiet of his mind that the mortals were far stronger than they looked like when they brushed off an illness like that.

Hollow nodded and helped Pendry up, supporting him on the way. It reminded Pendry of the times he had told them to stay on balance, now he was the one who needed help to not collapse.

Once they had arrived, Pendry murmured: "I can take it from here, Hollow. You don't need to follow."

That would be too embarrassing. Even more embarrassing than being fed by Rydellia. Besides, Pendry could walk a few steps on his own, he just couldn't walk all the steps he needed to reach his bathroom. Unfortunately, the sewer system of the White Palace required it to not be near his chambers.

Hollow dutifully let go and waited outside while Pendry used the facilities. Then, when he was about to leave, he caught sight of his own personal hot spring. He felt hot and sweaty and the natural Soul in the hot springs would always help with pain and discomfort…

"Hollow, can you help me take a bath?", Pendry murmured, leaning against the door. The door creaked open not much later and Pendry staggered to the edge of the tub which housed the hot spring, and Hollow entered.

They looked at Pendry and then signed: "Do you need help undressing?"

"Oh, I should be able to do it on my own.", Pendry murmured, letting his robes fall. Hollow also got rid of their robe and then they took Pendry's claws into their hand, helping him to enter the tub.

The warm water helped Pendry relax in an instance. While it wasn't able to heal the illness, it was like a balm for his heavy limbs and his sore throat. Even the fever felt easier to endure while engulfed in the water.

Though Pendry hadn't come to just chill in the water, he wanted to get rid of all the sweat and the dirty feeling. That is why Hollow had entered the tub as well. They were equipped with a washcloth and Pendry stayed still while they cleaned him.

Pendry thought back to the first time they had bathed together. In the middle of Deepnest, after having survived a battle against an infected Nosk. Hollow had approached him and helped him clean his wings after he had helped with their horns and he hadn't recoiled from the touch. It had convinced him that he truly cherished Hollow as his child, not as the Pure Vessel they once had been.

Hollow was very gentle. They always were. For a bug that could easily kill a foe the size of a Nosk and would be strong enough to even face Herrah in battle, when they weren't wielding their nail they were the softest being. They liked to read romance novels, they liked to cook and they would wear pretty dresses.

Pendry felt safe and secure in their care. Even though they still were young, and they made some mistakes, they were a surprisingly good caretaker.

Hollow of course left any parts untouched they deemed inappropriate and so Pendry finished the wash himself and then chilled a bit in the bathtub until Hollow urged him to exit and get back to bed.

They helped him out of the tub and wrapped him into a towel. Pendry was sure that Rydellia would have found this sight overly adorable. Once they had rubbed him dry and helped him put his robes back on, Hollow helped Pendry back to his chambers. After the bath he felt a bit more secure on his feet on the way back and didn't rely on Hollow too much this time.

Back in bed, safely tucked in, feeling warm and comfortable, Pendry said: "You are a good caretaker, Hollow."

Hollow couldn't emote. As a vessel, their body was void and their face a mask. Still, Pendry could see it from their stance.

They were beaming.

(Author's note: Rydellia: "Actually, I love feeding my Wyrm."

Pendry: "Actually, I love losing control and being at the mercy of my wife."

Me: "Guys, PLEASE! Can you be kinky somewhere else?!

Next fic will be posted on the 4th of September. Fandom is Bloodborne.)