General Cross awoke as he did on any usual morning. He waited till the sun had been up for a few hours, then slipped out of bed and out behind the house he and his apprentice were staying in, and began lounging and sunbathing. He lit a cigarette as he sprawled on the chair, and smiled at the warm sun on his naked body as he settled himself. After sunbathing enough to keep his lovely tan on the front of his body, he rolled over and pulled his hair to the front to expose his back, and he noticed that Allen hadn't come out of the house.

Allen usually came out the back door of the house on his way to whatever he was going to do and said 'Good Morning, Master' to let the General know he was leaving, but he hadn't this morning. While Cross assumed Allen had forgotten, or he thought his Master didn't care... He began to worry slightly. Allen didn't break habits too much, and Cross had actually gotten up early, not late, so Allen shouldn't have been late to his daily event... By the time Cross had finished his morning tan and smoke, and had dressed, he was completely worried; Allen hadn't been through the kitchen, the hallway, the living room, or past Cross' room, nor had Cross heard the front or back door open as he got dressed.

He finally resolved to check that Allen was in his room. If he had a day off, he at least would have eaten breakfast...And probably a snack by this point, too, and as Cross walked to Allen's room, he became even more worried. What if Allen wasn't there? What if he was kidnapped by debt collectors?What if he ran away? He wasn't that bad of a master...Was he? As Cross thought about all this, he opened the door to find Allen snug in his bed, but the reason Allen had stayed not just home, but had stayed in bed as well, was evident.

Allen's eyes were closed, as if he were sleeping, which he probably was, Cross thought, but his cheeks, nose, and even a little of his forehead were blushing profusely; the covers were pulled up to just under his mouth, and Allen's expression didn't seem too happy. And his nose was running...Lovely. Cross wished he hadn't stumbled upon his apprentice being sick, and he thought about closing the door and going back to his everyday life...And the urge to forsake Allen while he was sick became stronger as he remembered the horror of taking care of Allen the first few weeks he had taken him in...

But, as no one else was in the house, and Cross wasn't so heartless as to possibly let his apprentice die, he decided to at least wait until Allen woke up. In perfect timing, Allen woke up as his master decided this.

'M-Master...What time is it?' Allen's voice was scratchy, and Cross once again wanted to flee... But, he stayed; his apprentice was helpless, after all...

'About eleven in the morning...' Cross pulled a chair to the bedside and sat.

'Uhh...I-I'm late...' Allen quickly pulled the cover over his mouth and sneezed; Cross flinched, then pushed Allen back as he tried to get up.

'You're too sick to go anywhere... Try to... Go back to sleep or something, I'll... Bring you some medicine...' With this, Cross got up and left.

While he walked toward the kitchen, he wondered what kind of medicine Allen needed... While he thought about slipping Allen some wine or light alcohol, he quickly changed his mind... His apprentice became nauseated when he so much as smelled alcohol... And while it WAS his fault, and he DID feel guilty, Cross hadn't apologized for...What he had done, to Allen after Allen had eaten his liquor filled chocolates...But, on the bright side, Allen had never forgotten after that to tell Cross they didn't have food in the house...

Cross reached the cabinet that held medicine, and began looking... Well, he found cough syrup, that would help Allen's throat...But, he realized, he didn't know what had made Allen sick... ...Was it a virus?... Or was Allen allergic to something?... Or was it just a cold?... Any way, the cough syrup would help somewhat... He hoped...

Cross took a spoon out of the silverware drawer, and started walking back to Allen's room.

When he was seated by the bedside, he opened the bottle of cough syrup and poured some on the spoon... He didn't fill the spoon, as he figured a little would be enough; it was pretty strong. Sweet little Allen was playing possum again, and Cross knew it, so he told Allen to open his mouth. When Allen pulled the covers over his mouth in protest, all patience was lost; Cross turned into the man that Allen knew all too well, and hated, and Cross forced the spoon into Allen's mouth. After a moment, his temper subsided, and after he made sure Allen had swallowed it, he took the spoon out of his mouth, and rather gently, for Cross Marian...

While Allen had been sleepy and lethargic the whole time, Cross noticed he was really beginning to nod off, instead of just play sleeping. He looked at the bottle of cough syrup...Yeah, it had a narcotic in it... Good, that was supposed to happen... Cross hesitantly placed his hand on Allen's head and gently patted him. Allen unknowingly smiled at the contact, the first since he had woke that morning.

Then...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

...Of course. Allen hadn't eaten since the night before. Hmm. Should probably get on that feeding him four times a day, Cross. Parasitic Innocence have to eat, you know...

And so, Cross unwillingly went to the kitchen to find Allen some food. When he passed the clock, he noticed it was about twelve anyway, so he decided to make the two of them lunch. He looked almost everywhere in the kitchen to see what he wanted to eat... But, ended up just resolving that he didn't feel like making lunch. In the end, he made, yes, that's right, a pot of soup. A pot of chicken noodle soup, which he thought turned out well, despite that he didn't cook that much. He hoped Allen wouldn't have as massive an appetite as usual, since he wanted some too, and Allen would eat it all, the pig...

Since Cross had already eaten, he carried a bowl of soup into Allen's bedroom and sat it on the bedside table alongside the cough syrup and spoon, then sat himself down in the chair. Allen was snoring, which was good, in a way, Cross thought, the soup was still hot, so it had time to cool...Allen couldn't eat it laying down while it was so hot... Cross blanked when he realized what he sounded like...He... Sounded like a parent... He had to take care of his apprentice; no one else was gonna do it.

Once again he patted Allen on the head, but he cupped Allen's face in his hand afterwards, and he gently stroked his unhealthily red cheek with his thumb, and he remembered the night about a month ago, when Allen had slept with him over a nightmare... It had been warm, being innocently cuddled and nuzzled by his Idiot...He wanted it again, that feeling... But it felt weird to say it.

His thoughts stopped when Allen stirred, and Cross pulled his hand away quickly.

After a few days of being knocked out by the cough syrup and waking up to 'the devil himself' force feeding him, Allen was better. It had only been a cold. It had been weird waking up several times though... His whole bed had been warm on those several occasions, instead of just the part he was laying in being warm, and Allen had began to suspect his Master had been laying on the bed beside him while he was asleep...

While Allen had a blanket or two on his bed covering him while he was sick, Cross had thought it best to keep him as warm as possible, and thus had slept beside Allen at night. While Cross wasn't sure where it was coming from, he enjoyed acting...Parentally. He hoped that he could be like this more...But he still didn't want Allen to know about it. He'd have to wait until the next time Allen needed him...

But, that would come soon enough; at the moment, he was a little 'parented out', and wanted to catch up on all the drinks he had missed in the past few days...

Weeeeell, I said it was gonna be a one shot... But, at the time, I didn't know I'd put all the parental stories in the same universe, and, I figured if they're all in the same universe, why not put them as 'chapters' of the same story...

I don't know if I'll change the title of the entire thing... nor do I know if I can XD I'll probably leave the title of the entire and the first 'chapter' alone though...

Hope it's not weird for me to change my mind and decide to continue it instead of leaving it as a one shot... Sorry, my slight OCD forces me to lump them together...

Also, I hope I didn't go overboard with the parental feels; I enjoy Parental Cross/Allen, so sometimes my love for it just goes overboard, or at least I think... :3

Please review, I enjoy replying and reading them!~~~ :3