A/N Remember when I said I was working on a series of intermission chapters for LOVETALE. Well, this is the first one. I know its not very long, but these anthology chapters aren't supposed to be. Now there's no definitive timeline to this, nor is there a specific order to the chapters. Just know this takes place in the year between the first two books.

Now as I have previously stated, this isn't on a schedule, so don't expect the next chapter next week.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Uriel knew from the moment they woke up that they didn't feel good. They had a pounding headache, they couldn't breathe through their nose, and their eyes were itchy. But they tried to brush it off, hoping that getting up and doing something would help.

Sadly, that wasn't the case. Asriel got up before them, and even after he had prepared for the day, they still didn't feel like getting out of bed. They tried to get up after Asriel left but simply moving their head made the pain worse. And when they tried to get the blanket off, they felt cold.

It wasn't until late morning that their family realized something was wrong. Asriel knocked on the door to check on them and they couldn't muster any energy to speak.

"Uriel? You okay?" he asked. "You missed breakfast."

Once more, Uriel tried to get up to face Asriel and at least tell him they were sick. But again, they felt worse just by moving.

They heard Asriel step closer to them. "Uriel?" he asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Mmm…" was all they could get out. At least he knew they were awake. But they could sense that the fear didn't abate. They felt Asriel lay a hand on their forehead.

"Oh golly. You're… hot!" Asriel yelled.

Uriel once more tried to open their eyes but the light hurt.

"Mom! Dad!" Asriel shrieked, running out of the room. At least now people knew they were sick. Though Uriel couldn't help but be puzzled as to why Asriel sounded scared to death.

Alphys was called and she rushed over to give them a check-up. Uriel struggled to cooperate but movement made their headache worse. They managed to see their family, who were anxiously waiting Alphys' verdict. But again, they were puzzled by why all three of them were frightened.

After Alphys took the thermometer from their mouth and after she looked it over, she gave her diagnosis. "It's a cold," she told the others. "Though, this is a very extreme case. I have some antibiotics you can give them so they can fight it off better."

"They will be alright, right doctor?" Toriel asked, sounding more concerned than normal.

"Yes, they'll be fine," Alphys confirmed. "They just need a few days of rest and then they should be back to normal."

"Doctor, if I may," Asgore spoke. "I have seen colds affect Monsters before but it's never been this bad."

"I-it's because they're a Hybrid," Alphys explained. "Their immune system is weaker than it should be so even little things are going to have a big impact on them. I'm honestly a bit surprised they don't get sick at the drop of a hat."

Asgore sighed. "Well, thank you for your help, doctor," Asgore said

"No problem," Alphys said. "Here. This should have enough pills for a few days. If they aren't better by the time it's empty, let me know and I'll get you some more."

Uriel heard Alphys leave after that. Despite her reassurance, they could sense that her words had very little effect on the Dreemurrs. Why? They were going to be alright. They'd just be weak for a few days before going back to normal.

So why were they still scared?

Being sick was never fun. Uriel considered themself lucky that they rarely got sick before they came to the Underground. The only upside was that everyone was extremely doting. Asgore and Toriel attended to them day and night, making sure they got food in their belly and water down their throat. They made sure that Uriel didn't spend every single moment in the bed, carefully carrying them to the living room where they could sit in a chair and be read to. They loved it because their father had never done any of this for them.

Curiously though, Asriel seemed to avoid them. They barely saw him most of the time. He didn't completely ignore them though. He did what he could to care for them but that seemed to be the limit of what he was willing to do. It was strange. Uriel thought Asriel wouldn't want to leave their side while they were sick. They wanted to ask him what was wrong but when they had enough energy to speak, Asriel wasn't around or kept looking away.

One day Uriel got the chance to force the matter. They were starting to feel better, their nose wasn't as plugged up, their eyes didn't itch, and the headache was less intense. They were resting in their bed when they felt Asriel at the door, hesitating to step in.

"Come in," they called out, as strongly as they could. They felt Asriel's brief moment of surprise before he came in.

"Sorry. I wasn't sure you were awake," he admitted.

"It's fine," Uriel said. "I am feeling better, though."

"Really?" Asriel asked, hopeful.

"Yeah. I think in a couple more days I'll be strong enough to walk around the house again," they answered.

"That's great! The others will be so happy to see you again," Asriel said.

"I'll be happy, too," Uriel said. "I'm bored out of my mind just laying in bed most of the day."

"Yeah. Oh, uh, I brought you something." Asriel then laid a tray down on the table next to the bed. On it was a muffin in a wrapper.

"Wow. Did you make that?" Uriel asked.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I was going to make a full pie but mom thought that would be a bad idea. So I made a butterscotch-cinnamon pie in muffin form."

"That's great. Here." They managed to sit up and grab the knife on the tray. "I'll cut it in half and we can share it."

"Oh, no," Asriel tried to wave off. "It's okay. You can have it."

"Dude, I'll probably throw it all up if I try to eat it all. This way you can stay and talk to me. I haven't had a chance to talk to you for days."

Asriel looked a little guilty at that, but agreed. "Okay."

A short while later, Uriel was munching on half of the muffin, Asriel on the other, both sitting on Uriel's bed. Uriel ate slow, knowing that too much sugar would upset their stomach if they tried to eat it all at once. The upside was that they got to savor the taste and it was as great as they expected. "It's very good," they told their brother. "You're as good as mom." They were very sure he got that from her.

"Oh, come on, it's not that great," Asriel said with a blush. "I-I think you could do better."

"Nonsense," Uriel assured. "You're better than me at that."

Asriel chuckled a bit and Uriel laughed as well. It was nice to talk to him again. But throughout the whole conversation, Uriel could still sense the fear in Asriel. They thought by complimenting his cooking that it would go away, but it didn't. So what was scaring him so much?

"Also," Asriel said unprompted, "I, uh, cast a healing spell on it. I… I know that magic healing can't cure physical illness, but I thought, maybe it would make it better or something."

Uriel looked at their brother, and they could see worry in his eyes.

"And if you don't think you'll be feeling better, that's okay. I'll just tell our friends that you're still sick and we can get together some other day. Y-you shouldn't push yourself to getting better if you don't think…"

"Asriel," they interrupted. "I appreciate the concern, but aren't you taking this a bit too seriously?"

Asriel seemed to snap back to his senses at that but Uriel could tell he was still off underneath. "Oh, sorry. I should be letting you rest instead of keeping you up, shouldn't I? I'm being annoying. I'll let you get back to sleep – "

"No," Uriel interrupted again. "Not at all. I appreciate the concern. Love it, even. It's just… you seem nervous, is all. More than nervous. You're… scared. Mom and dad as well."

"It's nothing, Uriel. We're just being silly, fretting over nothing. You don't need to worry about it."

Asriel tried to leave but Uriel grabbed his hand. "Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm here for you, you know."

Uriel felt a brief spike of… something from Asriel but it was so fast they couldn't tell what it was. But they knew it wasn't good.

"D-don't be silly, Uriel," Asriel said, not looking at them. "We're the ones who are here for you, you know."

"But it's not just the cold, is it?" Uriel asked, thinking they were on to something. When they felt that same flash of something from Asriel they knew they had found the problem. Now they just had to get him to say it. "It's okay to talk about it," they assured, rubbing his knuckles with their paws.

After saying that, Asriel turned, shaking. "D-don't be ridiculous, Uriel. After all, you said it yourself, it's just a cold." As he spoke, tears began falling from his eyes. "I-it's not like it's something worse. Like an accident, or a poison, or part of some… stupid… plan…" Word by word, Asriel's composure fell apart and finally Uriel understood what was wrong with the Dreemurrs. "So…" Asriel continued, on the verge of crying, "there's no reason to be…"

Uriel knew they would pay for it but they got to their feet and hugged Asriel, who tearfully returned the embrace. They tried to keep as much of their weight on their own feet as they could, gently rubbing Asriel's back.

"It's okay, Asriel," they assured. "And I promise I won't die."

"I know," he wept. "I know. It's just a cold. It's just a cold…"

Uriel could tell Asriel didn't believe his own words. They sighed to themself. They really should have seen this sooner. They resolved to talk to their parents when they were feeling up to it. Of course the Dreemurrs were scared they'd die from getting sick because the last time someone in this family came down with something (at least to the parent's knowledge) that person died and their family got torn apart as a result.

Uriel felt a brief flash of hate for Chara at that. It hadn't been their intention, they knew that, but it still left their entire family fearing for Uriel's life, even though it wouldn't kill them.

Just one more thing they had to fix that Chara broke. But Uriel would see it done once they were able to stand on their feet without feeling nauseous. Which was exactly what was happening right now.

They sat back down on their bed and Asriel helped them lay down. He tried to leave but Uriel held his hand. They shared a glance and Uriel made it clear that he wasn't to leave until he got it all out.

Asriel laid down next to them, crying into their shirt, their hand gently rubbing his head.

"It's okay," they soothed. "I'm here. I'm here."

As Uriel continued to pet Asriel, the fear they felt from him lessened a little.

End

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