Author's Note: I am so sorry! I have had absolutely no inclination to write in the last few months and when I did I was nowhere near a computer. All of my best ideas came to me while I was at work this summer and it was impossible to write any of them down as the came to me. By the time I got home in the morning (I worked midnights) I was too tired to write them down then if I still remembered them and after I slept all of the great ideas that occurred while I was installing rear shocks, fastening down trailer hitches and front differentials would be completely gone. --' It was not until tonight that the ideas started flowing again maybe it has something to do with the hour at which I write this hmm...4:30am, I would have just finished my lunch if I was working. Well what ever the reason here is the next chapter. Thank you for the lovely reviews and once again if you see any mistakes please let me know so I can fix them. Thanks.

Malaise

By: Wavewalker

Chapter 5: Awakening

Wufei woke to the restive motions of the person in his arms. It took a moment for the fact that he was indeed in bed with someone to penetrate the fog of sleep. His eyes snapped open, head snapping upwards away from the soft mass of hair it had been resting against. He blinked at the image of Duo Maxwell curled tightly in his embrace, at his own had clutching Duo's plait. The memories from the previous night came back in a rush and he quickly began checking on Duo's condition. He realized that Duo was sweating heavily and was much cooler to the touch. That his fever had broken was a good thing but he needed to get Duo into dry clothing or he would become chilled. He eased himself out from behind Duo getting nothing more than a sleepy murmur from Duo as he rolled into the warm spot Wufei left behind.

Wufei grabbed his toiletry gear and padded into the bathroom to answer nature's call, wash his face and hands and brush his teeth. He would shower later after he made sure Duo was comfortable. He gathered up a couple of towels and headed back to the living room. He stopped by Duo's pack and rummaged until he found a clean pair of boxers. He then returned to Duo's side and softly called his name while gently shaking his shoulder. The last thing he wanted to do was alarm the ill teen by jarring him out of sleep. Startling Duo was a dangerous thing to do at any time but only more so now since Wufei did not want to inflict any more stress on Duo's weakened system.

The sound of his name and a gentle shaking of his shoulder interrupted Duo's strange dream of being chased by Oz troops armed with water guns, in a rainstorm. 'Man what was with all the dreams of water.' He thought as he slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the sleep from them.

As he turned his head to look at Wufei he became aware that the intense heat he had been feeling last time he was awake was gone only to be replaced with the sensation of clammy sweat laden clothing sticking to his body. He focused his attention on Wufei as the other boy leaned over and placed touched the back of his hand to Duo's face and spoke.

"Duo your fever has broken but we need to get you out of those wet boxers and change the bed linen or you will get chilled. Do you need a hand sitting up?"

Duo made one abortive attempt at sitting up on his own and nodded in affirmation. Wufei carefully slipped his arm under Duo's shoulders and helped him into an upright position. He kept his arm around Duo as he reached for the stack of pillows from the couch to prop Duo up as he was certain that Duo would not be able to remain sitting unaided. Wufei knew from experience that Duo's arms probably felt like overcooked noodles. He quickly arranged the cushions and leaned Duo back against them.

Once he was certain that Duo was secure he grabbed one of the towels he had brought from the bathroom and gently began drying the sweat from Duo's upper body. It took him a few seconds to realize that Duo was being too complacent; he looked up at Duo's face and could not hold back a slight chuckle at the floored expression the braided teen was wearing. Wufei doubted that Duo would have looked more surprised if he had sprouted an antenna and grown a third eye.

Duo blushed slightly as he became aware of Wufei's gaze but was calmed by the gentle humour apparent in those dark orbs. Wufei gave Duo's shoulder a soft squeeze and returned to drying Duo off. When Duo's front side was dry he rested his hand on Duo's shoulder and tugged gently, pulling Duo forward to rest against him rather than the pillows so he could dry his back.

Duo did not quite know what to make of Wufei's new attitude but right now he was not going to question them too closely. For the first time in a long time he felt safe and truly cared for. He was not going to spoil this by nitpicking at the details; he would save ferreting out the reasons behind Wufei's current actions until he was feeling a whole lot better. With this in mind he did not resist when the Chinese teen pulled him forward against him. He let himself relax as the pleasant friction of terrycloth against his skin continued only rousing when the sensation stopped. Duo felt vaguely bereaved as Wufei settled him back against the pile of cushions and moved to dry off his legs up to the bottom of his boxers.

When Wufei had finished drying all that he could without removing Duo's boxers he drew in a deep breath before hesitantly reaching for the waist band of Duo's shorts, his face growing warm as he blushed.

Duo's hands fluttered nervously as he made a self terminated attempt at stopping Wufei from removing his only article of clothing he knew he was physically unable to change on his own. This did nothing to dampen his embarrassment and he knew his face was going beet red.

Neither teen made eye contact for several long minutes after Duo was successfully redressed. Wufei finally looked at Duo and broke the silence and asked him if he needed to make a trip to the bathroom. Duo had been dimly aware of the growing need to relieve his bladder as Wufei had been drying him and nodded not trusting his voice at the moment.

Wufei carefully lifted Duo into his arms and stood up and carried Duo into the bathroom. He lowered Duo to sit on the closed lid of the toilet then helped him to his feet. He hesitated until Duo smiled slightly and assured him that he would be able to handle everything else on his own and would call him when he was through.

Wufei exited pulling the door shut behind him and leaned against the wall. A small frown marred his features as he mentally studied the images of his friend's unclothed body and realized that Duo had absolutely no fat to be seen he doubted that his companion weighed more than 50kg (110lb) fully clothed. He recalled being able to feel each individual rib as he had dried off Duo's chest, at the time he had not really been paying attention to anything other than getting Duo dry. This was worrying since Duo had no reserves of fat to burn in place of food while he was ill. Wufei found it hard to believe that Duo could be so thin; he had seen the teen pack away enough food for three people in one sitting and he was forever snacking on junk food. He made a mental note to prepare some soup after he got Duo settled.

With that in mind he moved back over to the bedding and stripped away any blanket that felt damp piling them off to one side. He dug through Duo's pack for some more warm clothes and spread all that he found next to the fire to warm. He then arranged the cushions so Duo would be able to recline them in a semi-upright position. He moved back towards the bathroom as he heard the toilet flush and waited outside the door as Duo washed his hands, only entering when Duo called him.

He found Duo leaning on the counter, bracing himself on shaking arms. He quickly moved forward and pulled Duo back against him supporting the exhausted teen. He remained standing there his arms wrapped around Duo's midsection, cradling his friend as he stared at the image in the mirror. At how ethereal Duo looked his skin pale and smooth except for a faint flush to his cheeks, the contrast between his own golden skin against Duo's creamy tones.

Duo too had been absorbed by the picture reflected in the mirror and by the feeling of security he found in Wufei's arms. He felt a brief fluttering of hope in his heart that maybe there might be a chance of something more than just friendship between the two of them. Then an avalanche of self-doubt crushed that small flicker of hope as a sly voice in his head whispered that Wufei was probably only being nice because he was sick and that as soon as he was better he would probably return to ignoring him or worse disdaining him. The downward turn of his thoughts caused him to shudder.

Wufei only snapped out of his daze when he felt Duo shiver and quickly scooped him up and carried him back to the living room. He lowered Duo to the futon and went and collected the now warm clothes from the hearth. He helped Duo into a black sweatshirt, a pair of matching pants and a pair of socks. He then shook out a couple of blankets over Duo to keep him warm. During all of this Duo had not said a word and worse had been avoiding his gaze. Wufei sat facing Duo on the side farthest from the fire. He softly called Duo's name and when this failed to get a response he reached out and cupped his hand around Duo's jaw turning his face towards his own.