Title: Taking Care of You
Fandom: Kuroshitsuji
Characters: Soma and Agni
Author: kira
Words: 1014
Rating: G
Summary: Soma, looks after Agni, who's sick, and amuses him, by telling him a story…
Warnings: none
Author's note: Written for Written in the Stars Challenge L13/Nov. challenge Day # 28: picture of four little white birds
Author's Note 2: Lord Rama and his wife, Sita are the protagonists in the most famous love story of all time. Lord Soma is the Hindu god of the Moon.
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"Agni!" Soma cried as took his napkin and tried drying himself off with it. He could not believe that his beloved khansama had spilled ice water all over his lap.
"I'm sorry, my prince!" Agni grabbed the napkin and hastily tried blotting up the water. "Come; let's get you into something dry before you get a cold."
"I don't know if I want your help!" Soma looked at him. He still could not fathom what had gotten into Agni. First he had burned his breakfast, then Agni had burned the chicken curry they had for lunch, and now this. It was like he had taken to heart the words they had read in this morning's newspaper's horoscope about avoiding conflict with one's mate. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect and it left Soma spoiling for a fight.
"Please, I'm very sorry, my prince! I didn't mean to spill all over you!"
"If you didn't mean it, then why'd you do it?" Soma demanded as he pushed away form the table.
"I…" Agni looked at him helplessly. He was not feeling well, not that that was an excuse, but all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed and stay there until he felt better. He sighed softly. "I don't feel well, my prince. To be honest with you, all I want to do is go crawl into bed and go to sleep."
"Oh… I'm sorry I got angry with you, Agni…" Soma's frown melted into a look of concern. "It's alright, let's go upstairs and I'll get changed into dry clothes and you lie down. I'll bring our dinner upstairs and we can eat it there." He smiled. "It'll be like being back home in India! Remember when we used to eat in my room?"
"I do…" Agni smiled as Soma approached him.
Lifting his hand to Agni's face, Soma laid the back of his hand against his beloved khansama's forehead. "You're burning up, Agni!"
"Odd… because I feel rather cold."
"Come! Into bed with you! I'll make you an ice pillow too! Let's go!" Soma got behind Agni and gently pushed him towards the doorway leading out of the dinning room and into the main hallway. "I'll be your nurse and look after you, Agni!"
Agni quickly got the hint, and it was not long before he was dressed in his kurta and churidars and tucked in Soma's bed. He gratefully closed his eyes as his head was beginning to pound. "My prince, please get me some headache powder and a glass of water. "
"Okay, and I'll bring you an ice pillow too for your head." Soma hurried out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. He looked for what he needed and once he found them, he gathered the items onto a tray. Picking it up, he headed back to his room. "Agni…?" he said softly. "I'm back."
Agni struggled to sit up. Taking the proffered glass, he mixed a bit of headache powder into the water, and swirling the glass, mixed it as best he could. "Thank you, my prince." He drank the bitter substance down, and handing the glass back to Soma, he flopped back against the pillows.
"You want me to tell you a story?"
"That would be nice, my prince."
"I will tell you the story my grandfather always used to tell me when I was little."
"Yeah?"
Soma nodded. "There was the princess, who was the most beautiful girl in all of India. So many princes vied for her hand in marriage, and finally her father decided to marry her off to a young prince from a little kingdom in the foothills of the Giri-raj… the home of the gods.
"The other princes were angered by this and the princess' father prayed to Lord Soma to bring his celestial chariot down form the heavens and spirit the couple away to the safety of the prince's kingdom. When he saw how beautiful the princess was, Lord Soma also desired her, but his wives, not wanting a rival for his affections, talked him into letting the young couple remain together with his blessing.
"But the prince, fearing that his happiness with his bride would be short lived, took her up into the mountains, where he built a little palace for her, in much the same way Lord Rama and Sita built a home in the woods where they lived for a while. And they were happy there until the prince got word that his kingdom was under attack and he had to leave her behind, thinking she would safe in the home of the gods."
Agni smiled and finding it hard to stay awake, he quietly drifted off to sleep.
"Any way, while the prince fought a long and hard battle, the beautiful princess was left all alone in her palace. One night, one of Lord Soma's wives heard her crying because she was so lonely. Taking pity on the princess, she took a bit of starlight, and mixing it with a handful of snow, she created four little birds to keep her company." Thankful for the gift, the princess became a special devotee of Lord Soma and became a demigoddess when her husband died protecting her honor. Today she can be seen in the night sky, shining brightly with Lord Soma's wives and all his children, waving to him as he drives his chariot across the night sky."
Soma, having finished his story, looked over at his beloved khansama. Seeing that Agni was a sleep, he drew the blankets up around him. "I'm going to go downstairs, Agni, and tidy up a bit. I'll be back later to check on you," he said softly.
Soma returned an hour later, having eaten and cleaned up the remains of their interrupted dinner. He walked over to where Agni slept, and placed a cool hand on his beloved's forehead. Pleased that Agni's fever had gone down somewhat, Soma crawled into bed with him. Snuggling up behind him, Soma lay there quietly until he drifted off to sleep…