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Oisin walked into his afternoon wizard class and immediately knew something was wrong. It was something he could immediately sense, because usually upon walking into class, his heart always raced a little bit and there was an undeniable pep in his step as he took his seat. That's because this was one of the classes he was lucky enough to share with Adaine Abernant, his girlfriend. Today however, her seat was empty.
Oisin took his seat and immediately pulled out his phone. Walter, his ferret familiar, scampered around her desk beside his, as if Boggy would be hiding somewhere waiting to play. Right as he opened it, a text came through from the very person he was searching for.
“Adaine <3
Hey, I went home sick, please don't worry! love you, have a good rest of your day <3”
Oisin furrowed his brow and let out an uneasy sigh. The rest of the class droned on for miserably long, and he would have been tuned out entirely if it weren't for the important task of taking proper notes for Adaine motivating him. Though he doubted she would need them, he took them just in case.
After the bell he dreaded would never come rang out, he gathered Walter and his things and hurried to the library. The only class he had left was a study hall that he spent tutoring, which he had already made up his mind to cancel. It was as he was rounding the corner to the library, he spotted Jawbone talking to a group of some freshmen outside the door.
“Hey! Kiddo!” Jawbone immediately called out, “I was looking for you.”
“Hello Mr. O’Sh-uh, Jawbone” Jawbone has always encouraged Oisin to abandon unnecessary formalities when talking to him, something that he both liked and was a little thrown off by. “Is Adaine alright?”
“Yeah, she just went home sick, told me to tell you not to worry.” Jawbone chuckled. “Ya know, after school if you wanted to stop by and check on her you’re welcome to, might cheer her up a bit!” Oisin’s face went a tiny bit purple, but he couldn't help it. Even after months of dating, just the thought of her made him a little bit crazy.
“If it's okay, I certainly would like to.” Jawbone grinned and patted him on the back.
“You’re a good kid.”
—
Adaine was, frankly put, fucking miserable. Sickness was always especially awful for her and her sister. Magic always has its drawbacks, and healing magic is no exception. Different levels of healing exist for different severities of ailments. Most healers actually encourage using only low level magical treatments and remedies for the first 14-16 years of a child’s life, for elves at least. This allows natural immune systems to develop and avoid becoming reliant on unnecessary magical heals. Furthermore, if one ever does not have access to a capable healer, they will be more equipped to fight illness off naturally. However, as they always seemed to, the Abernants had disregarded the healthy ways of “raising” children in favor of what suited their expectations best. Adaine was always given high level heals whenever she became sick as a child, so that she would be fully uninterrupted in her studies. Only one family healer ever raised an issue with this, but was promptly fired of course. An Abernant could not be allowed to just laze about, and besides, when would any member of one of the most important families in Fallinel not have access to high level healers? All this is to say, Adaine’s immune system was shit. Adaine has always been quite vulnerable to illness, so whenever Adaine got sick, she got horribly, miserably, unbearably sick.
Tracker had already tended to her as much as she could, but it certainly wasn’t enough to dull the pain. Not even Boggy’s perfectly serene empty stare could distract her.
“Adaine?” a soft, low voice called out with a knock on her door. Even in her misery, a small smile spread across her face.
“Come in.” she tried to call out, but she was so hoarse it could barely be considered a whisper. Still, he must have heard her because next thing she knew he was kneeling at her bedside. Boggy must have floated off elsewhere, because she could hear squeaks, as he and Walter scampered around the room.
“Hey love.” Oisin whispered, a little breathless. Seeing Adaine like this was strange and awful. Her face was pale yet feverish, her body curled in on itself under blankets, never still as she shivered and shook, wincing in pain as every chill dispersed through her body. Oisin felt a pit form in his stomach, he was afraid to speak, unsure of how it would come out.
“Come here?” Adaine asked, sniffling. The sight was so foreign, this girl had never looked so fragile, so weakened. He immediately obliged, climbing into the bed and wrapping arms around her. A position that felt like second nature, but in this moment he wondered how it could ever be enough. Like there was truly no way to hold her that would ever be close enough for either of them. Her hand found his and squeezed it weakly. Neither of them could tell how long they stayed like that for.
Oisin reached out to stroke her hair and found it was tangled and drenched with sweat. She was burning up. Her ears twitched uncomfortably as another chill made her flinch.
“You know, this is probably not a good idea.” she mumbled, not lifting her head. Oisin frowned.
“Why wouldn't it be?” he immediately countered.
“I don’t want you to get sick too.” she said, her voice small, guilt seeping in.
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“Maybe, but I don’t.” Oisin stated firmly. She chuckled a bit, and he could admit that brought him a little bit of pride. She mumbled something else that sounded a bit like "you're lucky you're handsome" as a small coughing fit came over her.
“And my parents claimed there would always be a healer to tend to me” she grumbled, finally lifting her head so he caught the roll of her eyes. Oisin knew all too well about the cruelties of her parents, feeling a sense of rage held towards them deep down fester a bit more at the mention.
“I can tend to you.” his voice low and dripping with devotion. Simply put, he would have done anything for her.
“Thanks, but you're not a healer, remember.” Oisin chuckled at her deadpan expression.
“Doesn’t matter, I can take care of you.” He said, confidently. He could level the entire realm if it meant making her feel better, and there's no question he would. In draconic culture, caring for the sick in one’s family was considered a duty; emotionally, yes they took more of a tough-love approach, but physical illness was always taken very seriously. Oisin had done his fair share of looking after people.
“I wish I could take a bath” she mumbled, wiping sweat from her brow. He settled the back of his hand against her cheek, judging her feverishness. A lukewarm soak might help bring down her temperature a bit. Her tower had an en suite bathroom, so there would be little to no risk of getting caught by Sandra Lynn in a situation that could be taken the wrong way.
“I’ll draw you one, wait here?” she nodded hesitantly. He started the bath, and went into her closet to find some clean clothes for her to wear. Luckily, her owlbears t-shirt, which she has always proudly declared her softest tee, hung clean in her closet. He grabbed it along with some sweats and laid them in the bathroom. Testing the water, he determined it was probably just warm enough to be tolerable but cool enough to reduce the fever.
“Is it ready?” Adaine grumbled from the other room. He returned to her bedside. She winced as soon as she stood, her head and vision swimming. “I’ve got you,” Oisin reassured as he helped her to the bathroom. Adaine sat on the edge of the bathtub, beginning to tug off her sweat drenched clothes. Oisin stiffly turned away, followed by the first beautiful giggle he had heard from her all day. He listened as she sank into the water with a sigh.
“It's cold.” she said grumpily, and now it was his turn to giggle.
“It will help, I promise.” He reassured, still with his back turned, “I’ll go make your bed,”
“Wait.” Adaine called back. He halted, contentedly awaiting her demand. “Could you…wash my hair?” Oisin was surprised at the request, not really knowing what to say, as a blush crept up on his face.
“Are you sure? I don’t think-”
“Oh for the gods sakes just turn around” her eyeroll audible, yet endeared. “I mean, it's not like you haven’t-”
“Okay! Okay fine.” Oisin slowly turned, obviously he wasn’t focused on any of those kinds thoughts today, but he also didn’t want her to think he was.
She was resting her chin on the side of the tub, looking up at him with the kind of sad eyes that could always ensure his cooperation. He knelt down beside the tub, as she let her eyes close and her head fall back into his hands. Oisin began to run his fingers gently through her damp hair, it was easier now that she wasn't staring at him, as if she saw every single thought that ever crossed his mind in perfect detail.
Oisin loved Adaine’s hair. Shiny and soft, like its woven with gold, nothing could match the sensation of running his fingers through it, as soft as her breathing. It could instantly ground him through any level of distress. The sweet enchanting scent of her hair came to him in his dreams more often than not nowadays. He slowly rinsed her hair with cupped hands, careful to protect her face as she shivered. Reaching for her shampoo, Oisin quickly realized it was the reason she always smelled like strawberries. With a draconic family inheritance, surely he could afford to buy out a shampoo company and make sure they always manufacture it, he contemplated selfishly. He massaged the shampoo gently throughout her hair, careful not to scratch too hard with his clawed fingers.
“You’re going to try to smell my hair all day now,” Adaine whispered fondly, her eyes remaining closed as he began to carefully rinse the shampoo.
“If you’ll let me” he joked back, she let out a satisfied hum. “I think you’ve earned it” she smiled softly.
Oisin then applied her conditioner to the bottom two thirds of her hair, having learned from Ivy that straight, fine hair types don't need to be frequently conditioned on the scalp. Thank god he had Ivy as a best friend, or else he would probably be hopelessly lost right now.
As soon as Oisin finished rinsing her hair, Adaine laid back and opened her eyes again.
“Thank you.” He felt his heart jump in his chest, as her eyes met his. Oisin cleared his throat.
“I’ll go make your bed, if you need me just call.” She nodded, before curling up and resting her head on the edge of the tub, still shivering slightly, but overall looking much more at ease now than when he had found her.
Oisin went back into her room, swapping out fresh sheets and pillowcases from her closet. In the corner of the room, Boggy and Walter had fallen asleep together in a basket full of soft blankets. They looked adorable, and Oisin hated to disrupt them.
“Sorry, but she’s gonna need these.” He said softly, pulling a couple light blankets from the basket. Boggy just rolled slightly to the left, as Walter flopped back onto his belly and they continued to softly snore.
“Oisin.” He heard her call out just as he was laying down the clean blankets. He looked back to see her leaning against the bathroom doorway in her owlbear tee. He rushed over to help support her, grabbing a soft hand towel and tossing it over her head. She giggled as he helped her over to bed and gently towel dried her hair. Each giggle he earned felt like a priceless gift, and he was the most spoiled guy in the world.
Already indulging his tremendous greed for her, Oisin decided to award himself one more luxury, as he leaned down and softly brushed his lips against her cheek. Her cheek felt cooler than before, which seemed to mean he was able to help take away some of her pain.
Adaine flushed immediately, falling more and more in love with this boy every second of every day. He hesitated for a moment, when he thought he had felt her cheeks heat up again, but something told him that was a separate symptom of a different kind of sickness.
“What’s the consensus, Doctor?”
“Do you feel better?” He asked genuinely. She hummed in thought for a moment.
“Yes, but there’s one more thing I might need.” She stares up at him with those eyes and his heart begins to pound again.
“What’s that?” He asks, already sure he knows as her face inches closer to his.
“This.” She said matter of factly, as she pressed her lips softly to his. The kiss was tender, ghosting. Certainly not with the intention of “swapping spit,” in case his earlier declaration didn’t stick. Instinctively Oisin’s hand came up to cup her cheek, as she pulled away from his lips, instead nuzzling into the hand that held her.
“Thank you for being here, for taking care of me.” Adaine whispered, clutching his hand as she pulled back the covers to lay down.
“You deserve it. I’ll always be here, as long as you’ll have me.” Oisin whispered back, joining her under the blankets. Her ear fell to his chest as his arms wrapped around her, a familiar position, like perfect puzzle pieces clicking into place. Just like their familiars, they soon fell into a soft, serene slumber.
—
“He’s been here for hours!” Sandra Lynn whispered indignantly to Jawbone, her ear up to Adaine’s bedroom door.
“I’m sure they’re fine, look.” Jawbone motioned, creaking open the door a slight crack to see the two teens peacefully asleep, with contented calm expressions on both of their faces.
“Think he realizes he might get sick now too?” Sandra Lynn asked as Jawbone softly clicked the door shut.
“I don’t know Sandy, but I think he probably doesn’t care.” Jawbone replied with a grin. He was just happy that someone else out there saw just how one of a kind that girl was. She deserved that.
Sandra Lynn’s face remained a blank facade, her lips pressed into a thin line, but she eventually sighed and gave an appeased nod.
“He’s a good kid.”
“I know, right?” Jawbone slung his arm over her shoulder, directing her back to the living room, as the two adults decided to just let the kids sleep.