He ignored it. His attention was on the unconscious man in his arms. Without much ado, he proceeded into the bedroom.
Satoshi started to rouse as Krad settled him.
"Where…?" he murmured dazedly, eyes glazed and slightly blood-shot.
"At home," the demon replied, holding on to both shoulders to keep Satoshi from keeling over.
"Oh." He blinked. "How…?"
"You collapsed. I carried you here."
"Ah."
Again those dazed, blue eyes blinked. It looked almost comical, but Krad didn't feel like laughing.
"Can you undress?" he asked.
"Of course." That came out almost indignantly and the demon smiled a little.
When Satoshi started to clumsily try to pull his sweater over his head, Krad hurried into the kitchen to get some water. His knowledge of colds and fevers came from his host. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew fluids were important. When he returned, Satoshi was still fighting with his sweater and the demon wordlessly assisted him, tossing the piece of clothing onto the floor. Satoshi didn't argue as he helped him get rid of the rest as well.
His host was sick, hot to the touch and barely awake as he put the semi-coherent man into bed. One moment he was shivering, the next he tried to push the thick blankets away, but Krad insistently drew them back up again.
"Hot," Satoshi protested weakly.
"You have a fever."
He shivered again, face flushed with the high temperature.
"Hot," he repeated almost petulantly, not really aware.
Unable to do much more than he had already done, Krad picked up the discarded clothes and deposited them in the hamper, then he sat down next to the bed.
After a while of watching his sleeping friend, he took out a book and began to read. Satoshi's already shallow breaths sped up and his eyebrows drew down. Holding his book with one hand, Krad reached out and smoothed sweaty hair away from the pale face.
"Shhhh," he whispered comfortingly. "I'm here. It will be alright."
The back of his fingers smoothed over light brown hair.
Satoshi coughed painfully in his sleep and grimaced. Throughout the next two hours, the glazed eyes would open, not really seeing anything, and each time Krad's worry grew. Satoshi finally dropped into a restless sleep, slick with sweat, and still too hot. Now and then his lips moved without voicing any words, a look of distress on his colorless face.
In the end he had no other choice than to call for help. Krad went to the phone, hesitated a second longer, and finally picked up the receiver. He started to dial.
Niwa Emiko had been more than just a little bit surprised to receive
the call, but when she had listened to the worried, dark voice detailing
the problem to her, the surprise had made way to amazement and a smile
had blossomed despite the situation. She would never have expected to hear
such helplessness, such pleading in Krad's voice; hear his call for help
with something concerning his host. She knew he was different from the
demon her son had fought against, but up until now there had been no more
intense proof than that call.
She had bundled up, made her way to Satoshi and Daisuke's home, where
she had been expected by one very upset demon. Just how upset was proven
by the fact that he was fully winged. Krad, unlike Dark, had rarely come
forth without his wings in their past encounters. They lent him size and
volume, they were impressive – and they got in the way inside a house.
Well, now they were out and a barometer of his agitation. Emiko just
gave him a calming smiled and looked in on her 'son-in-law' as Kosuke always
joked. Satoshi had broken into a coughing fit that had curled him up off
the bed, rattling his lungs and Emiko hadn't hesitated. She called her
personal doctor immediately who came two hours later.
The examination was brief but intense and a serious cold was diagnosed.
Nothing uncommon this time of the year, but Satoshi had let the first symptoms
slide, worsening his condition unnecessarily.
"Keep him hydrated," the doctor had told her. "Medication every four
hours. If his temperature rises, call me. If something unforeseen happens,
call me."
Emiko put the medication bottles on the nightstand and turned to look
at her son's partner, who lay limply on the already partially soaked sheets.
Then her gaze went over to the demon who stood helplessly next to Satoshi.
Satoshi had swallowed the medication without much fuss, then dropped off
into sleep again.
"Come," she said softly.
Krad shot her a confused look.
"There's little we can do now. His body is battling the fever. The
medication will help and you should try and get some fluids into him now
and then."
"But..."
Emiko shook her head, smiling a little. "It needs time."
He followed her reluctantly and she made him sit down in the kitchen
as she got herself some coffee. It would be a long night.
"Do you want something to drink?"
Krad mutely shook his head, inhumanly golden eyes drawn over to the
partially closed bedroom door. Emiko smiled a little more.
"He'll be fine, Krad. Colds are very much part of our lives."
"He was never sick," he murmured.
"At least not with a cold."
A nod.
"Which is surprising, considering how thin he was as a child. We really
had to work on getting some meat on his bones." Emiko heaped sugar into
her coffee. "He was underweighted, had blood pressure troubles, but he
was always rather... fit. Like Daisuke, he had been physically trained
to outlast someone much older and taller than him."
Krad looked away, studying the worn table top.
"I'm not blaming you," she added gently.
"You don't have to. I know it all too well. I blame myself."
"You didn't know better, Krad."
Those fascinatingly alien eyes rose again, studying her silently. "I'm
not used to this," he said after a while.
"What? A sick host?"
He nodded.
"It'll pass. He'll be fine, you'll see."
Krad closed his eyes, shoulders sagging a little.
"Come on. I'll make you tea. You need to relax." Emiko gave the blond
a warm smile. "You won't be any good for your partner if you end up sick
as well."
"We can't catch colds," was the rumbled reply.
"Oh, you can. Dark did once."
Krad stared at her, looking for the lie, but there was none.
"Oh great," he just sighed.
Daisuke came home to the sight of his mother sitting in the living room,
watching TV, and Krad asleep in one of the two couch chairs, looking definitely
rumpled.
"Dai-chan, welcome home," Emiko greeted him with a wide smile as she
rose.
"Mom? What… What are you doing here? Did something happen?"
Alarm coursed through him, echoed by Dark, who was apparently trying
to get in touch with Krad and not getting a reply.
"Satoshi caught a cold, dear. It's okay, but he had a nasty fever.
It went down over night."
Daisuke dropped his bag, worry doubling. "Fever?"
Satoshi? Satoshi never got sick!
Golden eyes opened and from one second to the next, Krad was awake.
He shot Daisuke a brief look, then got up.
"I called a doctor, Dai. It's okay, don't you worry. He just needs
to take his antibiotics, drink a lot of fluids, and he'll be fine."
His mother's words calmed him, as they had always done. Daisuke glanced
into the general direction of the bedroom.
"Is he awake?"
"Last time I checked he was sleeping. You can go in." Emiko gave him
a friendly pat. "I'll take care of things here."
And with that she picked up the bag and proceeded to the laundry room.
"Mom…" Daisuke stuttered, then broke off.
Oh well…
He cast a look at Krad again, who appeared more tired than he had ever
seen him. The demon met his eyes, then just nodded toward the bedroom.
"Go," he said softly.
And Daisuke went.
Emiko remained another night, making chicken soup to last a year and
helping Daisuke with taking care of one very sick Satoshi. Krad had retreated,
kept out of the way, and generally pulled away from company, especially
Daisuke's.
"Is something the matter?" Emiko asked quietly as the two cleaned the
kitchen and ladled soup into the containers meant for the freezer.
Daisuke sighed. "Dark and Krad had an argument. A rather bad one that
nearly ended with one or both of them as road kill."
"What about?"
"Uh… something private."
Brown eyes regarded him, then Emiko nodded, accepting that. "So now
they evade each other?"
"In a way. Dark's incommunicado at the moment, too. And you know how
Krad is."
Emiko glanced toward the stairs leading into the attic. Krad had walked
up and hadn't been seen since.
"I would never have thought that I'd say something like it, Dai, but
I'm worried about him."
Daisuke smiled a little. "Yeah, me too."
"He has a lot to deal with," Emiko mused.
A nod. "He's getting the hang of emotions, but I think it's pretty
much overwhelming him now and again. And then there's his past, which hasn't
been pretty."
He had never told his mother what Krad had been through at the hands
of the Hikari. It was Krad's secret to tell and the demon would never disclose
it.
Emiko sighed. "These things will take time. He needs Dark and if they're
at odds… it has to mend, Dai."
"Yeah. I know."
