Chapter 3: Sick

"Nora, swallow it."

"Mm-mm." She shook her head, lips shut tight.

Jaune grimaced, "Nora, I know it tastes bad but you have to-"

Ren sighed, "She's going to spit it out, Jaune, just stop trying."

Pyrrha looked over at Nora, "You could have syrup afterward, to make the taste go away."

Ruby piped up, "I know rubbing Zwei's throat will make him swallow, maybe it will work for Nora. Just dump it in and rub."

Nora shook her head again, faster this time.

Jaune exhaled, "I've had to do this with every one of my younger sisters, and I don't think any of them have ever been this resistant..." he said as Nora threw herself onto her bed.

Ren sat next to her, "It's just medicine, Nora."

So far, every member of Team JNPR in addition to a just-passing-by Ruby had attempted to get Nora to drink medicine. She had a 103 fever, headache, and could barely speak, yet she utterly refused to put anything in her mouth that wasn't maple syrup.

"Ren, if this is it... I want you to inherit Dovendyr." Nora said dramatically, face down on her bed. She pointed to the corner, where a small sloth plush lay.

Ren sighed, pouring fever medicine into a small cup, "Thank you, Nora, but you'll get better if you just drink it and stop spitting it out."

"I don't want to." Nora said, rolling over. She was even paler than normal and her voice was strained enough that even she didn't say more than she had to.

Ren sighed, "It pains me to do this Nora, but it's either this, or a natural aid."

Her eyes widened, "You don't mean-"

Ren walked over to the fridge, procuring a pitcher of an algae concoction, "You can either drink 30 milliliters of medicine, or you can drink a liter of algae."

Begrudgingly, she walked over and downed the small cup of medicine, making a face afterward that could only be described as repulsed.

"Thank you." Ren gave her a half smile and took the cup from her.

Yawning, she looked over at the group, "Hey, Jaune...Was that the nighttime one?" She asked as she sat down on a living chair.

Jaune looked down at the label and pretended to act stunned, "Oh no, we have given Nora the one that calms people down instead of the one that makes people excited."

Pyrrha sighed, "Ten minutes until class, everyone."

Ren looked at his scroll, "Hmm. Jaune, please tell Oobleck that Nora and I are absent today."

Ruby glanced over at him, "Both of you?"

Ren nodded, "Yes, thank you." He said, watching as they left. The moment they were gone, he padded over to a drowsy Nora. It took a lot to keep her down, but a small cup of nighttime medicine did a number on her. "How do you feel?"

Nora looked up at him lazily, "Like you'll be inheriting Dovendyr soon..." she giggled.

Ren shook his head, "As if you'd let me keep him." he said, sliding his arms under her knees and back. He lifted her near-effortlessly; Her small stature made her easy to carry for a short while.

Setting her down on her bed, he picked up Dovendyr and set him down next to her, "Besides, I think he likes you better."

Nora gave him a small smile, "Thank you."

Ren sat at the foot of her bed, leaning against the wall, "You're welcome."

"Ren?" she asked, sitting up.

"Hmm?" He looked over at her.

Leaning forward, she tapped his nose, "Boop."

A/N: I really like sic fics, they're adorable. Only a matter of time before I made one, right? It's currently 9:00pm, I just wrote a whole 5 pg essay, cut me some slack if this needs to be edited.