Work Text:
The sun may as well have fallen right out of the sky with what happened this morning.
Indus Tarbella coughed.
Normally, this wouldn't be too much of an issue, everyone coughs. Heck, his darling Lady Mera caught the cold seven times this winter! Naturally as her faithful bodyguard, he was on-hand with warm towelettes and tea whenever she wanted, along with some homemade bacon soup courtesy of a certain Potage.
It's just that Indus Tarbella starts to worry when he can't stop coughing, when it feels far too hot and far too cold and his throat scratches, and there's a deep pounding in his skull that feels like a BARRIER is squeezing his head.
"...Good morning, Lady Mera..." he murmured, trying to infuse some of his signature light into the greeting. He could not have his lady worrying about him, absolutely not!
"Morning, Indus. You, uh, feeling alright?"
Curses. Leave it to her to spot his weakness! "Ah, yes, of course I am! Indus Tarbhhhck!"
He wheezed, a sudden scratch in his throat sending him into a coughing fit. Mera's eyes widened almost imperceptibly as she took in the sight of her stupid, adorable little brick of a minion...sick.
Honestly, the thought of Indus ever being not well never crossed her mind.
"You're sick," she simply states, keeping her eyes locked on him even as her brows knit together at his waving hands.
"No! No, no, no no no! I-I cannot be sick, my lady! I...I have to serve you!"
Gripping his head, Indus attempted to shake out the cobwebs and almost immediately regretted it as the world tilted. So hot, so cold, it hurts...
"Nope, you're heading straight to bed. I've got a bad feeling that you'll tumble over the way you are now and crush me under your girth."
"OH NO!"
"Oh yes. Go, shoo, get. I don't need to be sick for the eighth time, Indus."
Indus tried to make as many pleading noises as his throat would allow, but Mera only continued to dismissively wave her hand.
"J-Just- CFF, CFF! Just...please let me know if you need anything, Lady Mera..."
"Yeah, whatever."
And with that final dismissal, Indus lay down on the carpet and curled up, shivering as he tried to draw in as much warmth as possible.
Oh shit, Indus sleeps on the floor.
Mera stared blankly at her bodyguard's broad, shivering back as she internally panicked through piecing together the nature of his illness. It has been a bit drafty recently, sure, but she usually just pulls up the covers and everything is pretty alright.
Oh. Right.
The covers Indus doesn't have, because he gave whatever blankets he had to her.
Doesn't this mean it's kind of...my fault?
It wasn't like there wasn't any room on the bed for him, he wouldn't fit on that tiny thing even if he was alone in this little hole-in-the-wall apartment. He barely even fit in the kitchen, for god's sake. Therefore, they had agreed that she take the bedroom and he take the floor in the living room. The bed has the comforter and sheets, and she needed a lot of them to survive this winter. Logic, simple logic.
She totally wasn't guilty.
"Hhhh...HhhhhhHHHKFF! KFF! Mmmrgh..."
「BANZAI BUDDIEZ - #General」
then perish (Today at 9:15 AM)
I need help @PRO-TAGE#4591 @Molly Blyndeff#1562
PRO-TAGE (Today at 9:20 AM)
out rn with molly we buyin grocerws
*Hrocerti
WHATEVER WHAT U WANT
then perish (Today at 9:23 AM)
nice
anyways
indus sick what do i do
PRO-TAGE (Today at 9:25 AM)
Hello its Molly!
helping Gio make a stew tonight
we can bring it over
if you want
us over I mean
you don't havyitook phone is Giovanni well head over w meds
and dinner I GUESS
then perish (Today at 9:26 AM)
cool i can wait till then. We got meds here
@Epithot#7980
Epithot (Today at 9:35 AM)
Funny, Giovanni. Change it back.
PRO-TAGE (Today at 9:36 AM)
i know im hilarious
Epithot (Today at 9:36 AM)
Read back, can't make it today I've got clients lining the door
Tell Indus that I hope his recovery is a smooth process!
PRO-TAGE (Today at 9:37 AM)
can't be there for your boi, weakkkk
Epithot (Today at 9:37 AM)
Cease.
PRO-TAGE (Today at 9:38 AM)
almost as weak as your reposts of """deep""" quotes
Epithot (Today at 9:38 AM)
CEASE
PRO-TAGE (Today at 9:39 AM)
ALMOST AS WEAK AS THE YO-YO TRICK VID YOU DEDICATED TO YOUR 'HOMEBOYS'
LMAO
Epithot is typing...
Rolling her eyes at the typical banter, Mera put her phone down briefly to check on Indus. He was sleeping now, having turned over towards her. She could clearly see the sheen of sweat on his brow, his chest rising and falling heavily.
He looked fine...kind of fine, anyway. Molly and Giovanni would be here to drop off some medicine and dinner, so all she has to do is survive until then.
Mera blinked. Should she wipe the sweat off? Indus would, whenever she'd lie in bed miserable and sweating up a river. He'd slip into the room, gently remove the towelette, wipe off the warm sweat from her forehead and face and leave a towel for the rest of her, silently leaving the room for her privacy. Wouldn't take more than five minutes.
Save for that one time in the museum, those were the only times he'd been stealthy.
You big moron.
Getting out of her seat and walking towards the general closet as quietly as possible, Mera picked up a small green towel and carefully made her way over to Indus' prone form. Luckily, he was on his back now, so Mera had no problem kneeling and wiping the sweat off.
"Nnnn..."
Wake up and you're dead.
"M-Moot..."
Mera raised an eyebrow and mouthed 'Who?' before shaking her head. Sometimes her bodyguard worked in mysterious ways, and as open as Indus was with her there were some things even she didn't know about him. Whatever, a mystery for another day.
He needed a blanket anyway.
...
"...and that's why this can't keep goin' on, Bear Trap!"
"I-I know boss, I know," Molly cringed. "I just...I've never really talked to my dad about it, so..."
Giovanni let out a small hum, digging his phone out of his coat pocket to check the address of Mera's apartment building. After confirming that the two were at the correct decision, he pushed the door open and let Molly in with a hushed 'thank you'.
"I get that, Bear Trap, I really do. You think I wanna talk to my mom about anything? HA! HAHAHA- No."
They ascended the stairwell to the second floor, Giovanni grasping Molly's hand to keep her in-step. "But it's better than just not trying at all, right? If your dad loves you or whatever, I think he'll understand if you lay it out flat and you refuse to back down! Plus, if this works out, we can do... crime!"
"Like...?"
"Er, uh...we go back to the museum!"
"Boss, no."
"What? Alright, alright...mmmMMMMM- AHA! WE ROB A LAB FOR SOME SWEET RAY GUNS! OR, UH, SCIENCE JUICE!"
Molly laughed and shook her head, and Giovanni grinned at her mirth before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look, if it goes bad and you need me, I'm gonna be at Mama's with the boys tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about a thing! You can totally rely on the totally-evil Banzai Blasters to have your back!"
"Thanks, boss."
They stopped in front of a door labelled '245' and noticed it slightly ajar. Glancing worriedly at each other, Giovanni nudged Molly behind him as he pushed the door slowly open.
"..."
"...what do you see, boss?"
"Those two nerds are asleep," he whispered back, causing Molly to blink.
"Really?"
"Yeah, look for yourself."
Peeking from behind his legs, Molly looked at the big people lump on the floor and immediately covered her squeal.
Indus was spread out and snoring away on the floor, covered in a warm-looking blanket patterned with little cartoon frogs. Mera had decided to take a nap on top of him, the top half of her body lying boneless across his stomach as she let out small puffs in her sleep. Her phone was still on, having apparently slipped out of her hand, and was left on the chatroom they were all a part of.
"Let's just leave everything on the counter, boss."
"Gotcha, Bear Trap."
Slipping silently into the apartment, Giovanni and Molly carefully unpacked what they had in their bags and gently placed it down onto a coffee table. Tiptoeing around the sleeping pair towards the door, Giovanni stopped in his tracks after he felt a light tugging at his sleeve.
"Hey, boss...?"
"Lemme guess," he rolled his eyes. "You wanna stay here and eat with them when they wake up, right?"
Molly smiled sheepishly. He couldn't help but ruffle her hair.
"You are so lucky that my schedule is flexible, Bear Trap."