The first sound he heard was a sneeze. Daniel groaned and rolled over in bed, reaching automatically for Vala. He found only tangled covers and his eyes sprang open. He looked around the still-dark bedroom in confusion until a second sneeze came and his sleep-muddled brain registered that she had only gone into the bathroom.

"You okay?" he called.

She didn't reply, but he heard the bathroom door open, and her footsteps trudged back down the hall. He sat up, stretching an arm to snap on the lamp beside the bed, and waited. She appeared in the doorway flush-faced and with dark, pronounced circles under her eyes. Her usual morning bounce had evaporated, and she plodded across the room to drop down beside him.

"Are we allowed to call out sick?" she asked, burying her face in her hands.

"What's the matter?" Daniel asked, boosting himself up to slip his arms around her.

"I told you that we'd catch cold," she replied with a cough.

"Must've been those kids," Daniel chuckled. "A couple of them were sniffling."

"Well, you played with them too. And we spent the night together. Why aren't you sneezing and coughing?" she wanted to know.

"Just lucky, I guess," he shrugged, hiding a grin as he kissed her neck.