Herbal Tea

Cloud wasn't the kind of person who got sick very often. He was healthy most of the time, and even when he did get sick, it usually passed in a day or two, leaving him none the worse. However, he couldn't evade sickness forever, and a bug had been going around the SOLDIER barracks in the last week.

He sneezed.

There wasn't anyone else in the dorms just then- most of the others were training, but he'd been exempted. He'd protested, since he'd felt he was fine. Zack had looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and sent him back to bed, after which Cloud had alternated between sneezing, coughing, sniffing and generally feeling pretty miserable about the whole thing.

It didn't help that a pink thermos flask full of herbal tea was currently by the side of his bed, with a happy handwritten note to make sure he drank up well and rested. He didn't feel like resting. He didn't have a choice. He didn't feel like opening the flask and drinking either, but Zack would be coming over later, and if he didn't...

He was just about to reach over and take it when the door banged open.

Oh.

"Zack," Cloud smiled, rather feebly. "I thought you were coming later."

Crossing the room quickly, Zack grinned at his friend. "Thought you might want the company," he replied, messing up the blonde's hair to a muffled yell. Cloud had given up actually trying to get him to stop, but he seemed honor bound to protest somehow. Zack really didn't see why, but as long as it made Cloud happy. "Hey," he said, picking up the flask and weighing it in his hands. "You haven't drank anything."

Cloud bit his lip. "I did."

Opening the flask, Zack peered inside. "Really?" he asked, as he started to pour some of the tea inside out into a mug he'd grabbed off the bedside table. "Because if you did, it doesn't show."

"I had a sip. It tasted bad."

"It's herbal tea," came the reply, as the mug was shoved into Cloud's hands. "It's meant to taste bad." Zack grinned, a bit too happily for Cloud's liking. "It's also good for you."

Grudgingly accepting it, Cloud tried not to smell the tea. "It tastes really bad."

"It's good for you."

"Do I have-"

"Yes."

Almost gingerly, Cloud lifted the mug to his lips and drank down the tea as fast as he could, grimacing as he lowered it. It tasted terrible. Herbal tea always did, but somehow it worked. He'd suspected when he was younger that it was because your body was so scared of the prospect of drinking some more that it got better.

"See, you probably feel better already!"

And Zack wasn't helping either. Maybe if he got better, he wouldn't get his hair messed up so much, Cloud thought, as the mug was lifted out of his hands and refilled. "You're acting like my mother," he grumbled.

He got a light punch for that. "I'm prettier than her, thank you."

Nearly dropping the mug, Cloud blinked. "You've never even met her."

"I'm still prettier than her. Now, drink."

Fighting the urge to laugh, Cloud gave in, trying not to choke on the herbal tea. He didn't even want to know what went into it- or how Zack had even got his hands on it, for that matter- so he avoided asking, drinking it down again. Wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand, he looked up at Zack. "I don't get some kind of reward for this, do I?" he asked, somewhat petulantly.

Laughing, Zack pulled the teen into a hug, making sure the mug was out of the way first. "You'll get better! That's a reward, yeah?"

Giving up entirely, Cloud leaned into Zack's arms, smiling into his shirt. "That's good," he mumbled, with a sniff. "'S long as I don't have to drink the tea."

"You won't if you get better," Zack reassured him, pulling him just a little bit closer. "Okay?"

"Okay," Cloud replied.

And sneezed.