Neu???: Cold
Regained: Day 186
Isabel, Memshare

You stumble around your room, trying to get ready for school. You're miserable, your head is pounding, your nose is running, you couldn't sleep at all last night because you couldn't breathe- It's a cold, and a nasty one at that. You manage to pull on your uniform and brush your hair out, and you stagger downstairs to the kitchen, desperately searching for cold medicine. Anything to help get through the day.

... All you can find in the medicine cabinet is MPotions. Of course. Your mother is an Archmage, she's got powerful healing, too. You don't need medicine, if she just casts Heal, you'll be fine.

Except your parents haven't been home for a couple of days now. You're used to it, of course, it happens all the time, but now you're not sure what to do. Maybe you should stay home today...?

No. You feel your stomach tying itself into knots at the thought. You have a perfect attendance record to uphold, and missed classwork? You can't let that happen. Maybe you can stop by a store on your way to school and pick up cold medicine? ... No, you can't. Your parents didn't leave any money for you when they left, and you spent the last of your remaining money on your phone bill. You should have budgeted better. Because of your lack of foresight, you have no other options but to tough it out... But you can do it.

You make it to school, pretending you're okay. You've met up with Araj and Yura outside the gates, as always, and they immediately shower you in concern, but you try to wave it off. It's just a little cold, you tell them, it's not bad. It's a white lie, and you feel guilty for it, but even if your legs feel like jelly, you can't make them worry.

You make it through your first classes okay. You aren't called on much, and when you are, you answer with the poise and dignity of the model student you are meant to be, though you can't hide the raspiness in your voice. After the first couple of times, your teachers don't call on you anymore... They must realize what's going on. You were a bother again.

But at lunch, you're starting to feel good. You're still sick and miserable, but you've made it more than halfway through the day. You're so elated by this, you feel incredibly light... So light, in fact, you can't quite tell where your body is anymore. When you try to get your bearings, you suddenly feel dizzy, and nearly fall facefirst into your lunch (just a sandwich, you couldn't make much else with what was available at home).

Araj catches you, and Yura stands up.

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse." She tries to pull on you, but you shake your head.

"I can't miss class." Is all you can get out.

"Aiya, you're burning up, and about to faint!" Araj tries to convince you, but you just give both of them a pleading look.

"Please..."

... They both look at each other in concern, but Yura sits down again. It doesn't escape their notice that you've barely eaten, though.

But it only gets worse through the rest of the day. Your vision is swimming through fourth period, and at fifth you just want to go home and sleep. You can barely pay attention to the lesson, and your notes are a mess. But still, you're making it. As the final bell rings (the noise sending a sharp pain through your head, but it's welcome as a sign of the end of the day), you gather up your things, but stay behind a bit so everyone else can go ahead of you- You don't want anyone else to worry.

But your vision starts going hazy almost as soon as you leave the school grounds. You're practically soaked in sweat. Your legs feel so heavy, but at the same time almost liquid. You're not sure what you can do anymore. You just have to make it home. You just have to make it home. You just... have to make it...

The world around you turns hazy as you feel your legs start to give out. You made another mistake, is all you can think about as your vision turns black. You're going to cause problems again. Your judgment was wrong again.

But as your consciousness finally leaves you, the last thing you can feel is yourself being caught before you hit the ground. There's a cool hand on your head, and indistinct voices, like they're coming from a long distance...

"Her fever... way worse than it was earlier"

"My house... can you carry... far?"

"We should have... earlier..."



You feel strong arms supporting you, under your knees and shoulders. There's a cool wind on your face. When you look up, you're in Araj's arms, being carried down a tree-lined lane... When did she get so tall? You wonder, but it's not important right now, as she looks at you and smiles, and your heart skips a beat.

You've been together for years now, and it's blissful every day with her. You don't know how you possibly ended up like this, but it doesn't matter- The fact that your feelings would be mutual is so uplifting, elating, you wonder how you ever got by before this.

She leans in, and touches her forehead to yours. You close your eyes and smile gently, sharing this moment of intimacy...



It's early morning and you're lying in bed, sunlight filtering in through the curtains... You're content to lie there, not wanting to move. After all, you don't have any responsibilities, anything that you have to do right now... There's no weight on you at all. Almost expectedly, Yura steals in through the window, in a flowing white robe adorned with feathers. You're not surprised to see her- Why would you be? You're her girlfriend, after all, and you're the happiest you've ever been. It's like a dream, that you could ever be with her...

Moonlight filters in after her. She approaches you, cups your cheek and tilts your head up, and leans in close, whispering quietly...

"They say you cure a cold by giving it to someone else..."

But before you can wonder what those words mean, she's kissing you, and all you can do is close your eyes and accept it.



You feel splashes of cold water on your forehead and realize you're at the beach, playing in the water.



You feel cold, and realize you're in a dark cave, adventuring with the two of them.



You feel a weight on your body, and you can barely breathe- are you trapped? You feel trapped, but you can't resist...



You open your eyes.

It's dark. You look through the window and you can see stars, and only then do you realize it's not your room- The knicknacks lying all over easily identify it as Yura's.

Yura herself is sitting on the edge of the bed, lightly stroking your hair. Her eyes are closed, and she has such a worried expression on her face you can't bear to see it. You close your eyes again, focusing on the feeling of her hand against your hair, when it stops. You make a feeble noise of protest, but you're silenced almost immediately with a familiar feeling from just a little bit ago, with her lips over yours. Even though you're this... well, sick and gross, she doesn't seem to mind, staying where she is for a long while before pulling back.

"Sorry." You hear her say, but it feels distant again, and weak with strain and fear. "I know I'm being selfish, but... Hurry and wake up soon. Please..."



You wake up.

It's early morning, with birds starting to chirp outside. You feel much better, though you're not completely healed. More importantly... You feel like you had some strange dreams last night. You feel really embarrassed just recalling the hazy bits you do remember, and even those are slipping away. The last thing you can remember clearly is... being at school. Just how long did you sleep?

You sit up, pulling the damp washcloth from your head and putting it in your inventory for a lack of anywhere else, and look around. You're in Yura's room- You remember that much from a dream, though you don't remember context. You must have been subconsciously aware of that, somehow. Yura's leaned up against the bed on the floor, and Araj is asleep on a chair... Both of them seem exhausted.

It's Araj who stirs first, slowly opening her eyes to notice you. Then she almost immediately springs to full attention, with a loud cry of "You're awake!" and practically flying at you to hug you. Yura bolts up at that, and immediately joins in before you're even sure she's fully conscious.

"You shouldn't do this, you know..." You say with a feeble smile. "I'm still sick, you'll catch my cold..."

"That doesn't matter!" Both of them half-shout at once. You wince, and both of them immediately quiet down and apologize.

"We were really worried about you this whole time..." Araj looks like she's about to cry.

"Sorry..." You try to smile comfortingly. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"You've been asleep for over a day." Yura has her face over your shoulder, so you can't see what kind of expression she's making. But that's enough to scare you.

"Over a-"

"It's already the 19th." Araj confirms, reaching up to slowly pet your hair.

"How... What about school?" You ask in alarm.

"It's the weekend, silly..." Yura manages to laugh. "You didn't miss any, don't worry."

"But if you're still sick tomorrow, you should." Yura's mother is standing in the doorway, with her normal no-nonsense tone. "You must not make this any worse."

"I understand." You smile, sounding grateful. "Did your husband heal me?"

"I tried." Yura's father's voice is coming from outside, beside the doorway. You can't see him, though... "It was a magic-resistant strain."

"Your fever was so intense, we were really worried for you..." Araj follows up. "We wanted to call an ambulance, but you wouldn't let us."

"I wouldn't?" You were asleep, weren't you?

"I doubt she was even awake for that." Yura's mother looks at you, and you shrink down a little. "But you were adamant. But if it had gotten any worse, we would have called one anyway."

"We all did what we could, though." Araj nods.

"That's right." You hear Yura's dad's gruff laugh. "Those two haven't left your side since you were brought here."

"Of course we didn't! We were worried! If something had happened to you...!" Yura hugs tighter.

"Yura, don't crush poor Aiya, she's still sick."

"Um... I'm sorry to have been a bother." You lower your head, not wanting to look at her parents. They were too kind to you- Kinder than you deserved.

"You don't need to apologize, dear." Her mother replies evenly, but in a tone you recognize as not allowing argument. "We all want to see you recover."

You nod feebly, and for the rest of the day, Yura and her family, and Araj, all dote on you. You feel so guilty, but it must be okay- You're sick after all, right? As soon as you're healthy, you'll return the favor somehow. You owe them. And you won't ask for much- You'll be as unobtrusive as possible.

Yura brings you hot soup, with herbs Araj says elven tradition says help with sicknesses. The two of you sit and talk, and even collaborate on your weekend homework. You're not supposed to, but just because you're sick doesn't mean you can get away with letting your grades suffer.

You feel strange for the rest of the day- You feel so guilty. They're fawning over you, helping you, asking for nothing in return... This is wrong. You don't deserve this. But at the same time, the warmth you feel from them, these people caring about you... It's nice. You squash that feeling down as best you can, of course. You know it's wrong to feel like that. You should never want that.

But still, you go to school the next day, and even though you're still a little sick, you go home afterwards. Your parents must be worried sick, you tell Yura and Araj, and they nod and let you go.

But when you walk in the door, the house is empty, as you expected. Empty and cold.

That night, you have trouble sleeping despite the illness. You can't shake the feeling of loneliness now. But it's wrong to want more. You just have to bear it.

Notes:
- The worry is incredible here, as death by illness can bypass save point resurrection in some cases. You die, resurrect still sick, die from it again, repeat until you can't come back anymore and you're gone.