Feels Like Fever

[Rufio]

20 spring 516AV
5 bells, near dawn

　　　"Mmmnh..."
Sweat licked Rufio's mocha-complexion, her dark and unruly hair plastered to her forehead, which was furrowed deeply, the rest of her mane sticking up at her crown where it was growing out longer. Her eyelids flickered, eyeballs roaming beneath, seeing things beyond the waking world, in that fitful sleep.

Rufio was laid amongst the furs that her bondmate, Ixzo, had brought with her into their newly-joined, freshly-made humble home. The Drykas snuggled appreciatively into their soft depths as she napped. Her bare skin rippling with gooseflesh beneath, and a shudder raked her muscles.

　　　　　"Hahh—" A sharp intake of breath.
She awoke, heart thrumming against her ribs, pulsing in her limbs, lingering tendrils of dream-fear dancing in her earthen gaze. Until her senses caught up, and she took in the dimly lit tent around her.

　　　Shadows, and
　　　　　dawn's dappled light were playing in through the tent flap.
　The smell of smoke and cold embers wafting in gently; tweeting birds, grunting cattle, nickering horses, and the sleepy bleeting of goats nearer-by.

　　　　　　　It was warm, and humid.
　　　Rufio became aware of how hot she felt.

The Drykas stirred, pushing furs and blankets off her, mildly surprised by how heavy her arms felt, how lethargic her muscles. Leaning over to pick up the cup of water sitting by her on the ground, she groaned at the heaviness of her head.

She drank, thirstily, greedily, water trickling down her neck til the cup was empty. A pressure pressed between her nose and behind her eyes, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes, she closed them, and felt the inevitable impending sniffles—
　　　　　　　　—"Ahh-
　　　　　　　　　　　　—chuu!"

　
　

[Ixzo]

It was the sneeze that woke her, although she rarely ever slept so late. Silver eyes flashed open, and Ixzo sat up immediately locating the source of the sound. Just as her eyes landed on Rufio, her brow creased.

"Ru?" She asked, shoving a fur that had landed on her aside. To her, it was not too hot to be without the furs yet, but she didn't like the constriction. Shifting so she was resting on her knees, she relieved the cup from Ru's hand. Without letting go of it, she reached her other one up to let her knuckles rest against her sweaty cheek and grinned.

She did feel bad, she really did. But she couldn't help it. She had been teasing her bond-sister for days, claiming she had too much will power to get the sickness that was passing through Endrykas. So now, with Rufio so clearly distressed instead of her, it was a small victory won. Still, the lioness said nothing. She could feel the foggy sickness through the bond so clearly she knew it was likely not the best time for poking fun.

Iollu would have. The thought pinged in her mind, and her eyes slid to the end of the bed where the small child would have been splayed, taking over all the room. It was the first night, and Ixzo didn't realize how much she missed the child. Yet, when her gaze returned to the copper tones of Ru's, freckled and sweaty, Iollu vanished from her mind. She had a strange tugging to do something, to ease the discomfort that Rufio was feeling… somehow.

Her grin faltered and dispersed, and she

So she got her more water. The cup was dipped back in the water, and she handed it back to Rufio. "Let me… get you tea." She hummed, her guttural accent smoothing over the foreign Pavi sounds. The tea would be hot, which might be uncomfortable. But she had mint leaves, which may help her cool down. Uncertain, Ixzo shot in the dark, standing up in the tent and making her way to the food basket. She plucked the dried leaves from the herbs and then grabbed the crock pot. She had meant to use them on poultry, as she was almost certain she had seen her mother do as a child. Still, this was probably a better idea than another experimental supper.

Grabbing the kettle, she ladled some water into it and darted outside to set it on the remaining embers from the night before. Scattering some dry grass on it, she pressed them into the embers with a stick, blowing until they began to glow a bit, recatching the heat. Only then did she toss a compressed brick onto the flame to get it going, settling the kettle right in the middle. It didn't need to boil, just heat up so the mint taste would spread.

"Do you… feel…?" Upset, no good, curious. She didn't know the word or sign for sickness, and instead over-explained as she usually did. Worry deepened her brow, as she came to kneel beside the bed once more. She was ready for action, never really one to sit still and take something in. Just to confirm, although it was clear in the way Rufio behaved and appeared, Ixzo put a palm on her bond-sister's forehead, wiping away the sweat in the process. She was definitely burning up.

Myrian | Pavi "Speech" Sign | Common | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Rufio]

　　
Rufio felt her bondmate stir beside her and groaned as she turned towards her with bleary eyes and slack lips, her face felt numb with the sinus pressure.

Her eyes danced to those silvery orbs, before they slid closed appreciatively with Ixzo's hand against her cheek—the Kelvic's touch felt cool to her. Rufio felt the oozing of her nose and sniffled quite unceremoniously.

When she opened her eyes and glimpsed her bond-sister's triumphant grin, she narrowed her eyes—which didn't make much of a difference since they were swollen and puffy anyway.

She knew she would get the cold—ugh—silently she kicked herself for taunting her bond-sister with playful predictions of her catching it.
　　　　　Rufio supposed that catching the cold herself was penance for it; a jinx.

All that spirited Rufio-resilience and iron-will melted away by a mild fever. She felt as a baby. Ixzo had lost a child, adopted for a short while, sure, but it was sure to hurt where Iollu had left her mark.

Perhaps Lhex here had sought to help her heal that void by presenting her with a child-like Ru to look after.
　　At least, if Ru had had the clarity of mind,
　　　　　(and the ken of Lhex),
　　　—she would believe something of that superstitious thread.

With a grateful smile, she accepted the refilled cup from her bond-sister.
　　　　　　"Let me… get you tea."
　　　　　　　　　　Warmth swelled as Ixzo took to rescuing her in her pitiful state, and she watched curiously as her bond-sister took to gathering herbs and stirring up the fire. Tea was a good idea, she commended quietly in her mind.

The half-Drykas felt a chill sweep her suddenly, distracting her thoughts, and she tugged one of the furs about her. Then hot, now cold—a sign her temperature was likely on the rise.
　　　　　　"Do you… feel…?" Upset, no good, curious.
　Rufio heard the broken Pavi, and smiled faintly.
　　　She nodded and then signed—Sickness. "Yes, I feel sick, mh—ill."
A fit of sneezing took her over, before she sniffed again, the sound dreadfully wet and gross. Feeling Ixzo's hand against her forehead sent a thrill of shivers across her skin, tingling unpleasantly.

"It is just a head-cold, probably." Reassuring. A thought chimed in through the fog and she chuckled softly. "Better stay away or you might catch it too?" Rufio made a sign for danger and sharing, chuckling again.

　
　

[Ixzo]

Better stay away or you'll catch it too.[/i] Ixzo ignored those words, too obviously throwing caution away. Leave Rufio alone? Even if she wasn't sick it was the worst advice to give the Kelvic. The Kelvic frowned at her sister, unsettled by the sneezes.

She set the mint leaves back down, not sure they were good for anything but flavor, and began rummaging through the food basket again. After a few ticks, Ixzo pulled up a ginger root, a small burlap purse of turmeric powder, saved for a rainy day, and two of her precious dried chillis. Ixzo didn't need to be a medicine man to know that spice would clear up Ru's sinuses, most Drykas sniffled or even cried when attempting to match her spice.

She didn't have much in the way of spices here. Well, not exactly. The Sea of Grass just had different herbs than she was used to. There was likely some dry grassy plant under one of those scraggly trees that all the lizards stayed away from which would cure Ru in one night. But, Ixzo did not know of such thing, instead she had turmeric. For a tick she was glad she had spent the expensive coins on the turmeric powder, she found the root to be nearly magical when it came to colds.

"Right back." She promised, thinking of the sharp tea it would make with the water. She wanted to give Rufio milk rather than water.

Ducking out of the tent, the lioness only had to glance at the goats, which started at her presence, to know she would get nothing out of them. She wasn't even sure how to milk a goat, never really haven gotten close enough to a calm one. And didn't they have to have a kid to be milked?

Long legs leaped forward and she clutched the coin her hand, skidding to a halt at their neighbor's tent.

"Oy!" The child's voice called from the other side, and Ixzo took two steps to her left to peer around the canvas at the small Drykas. He was holding a small bucket, and her eyes narrowed on it. "What do you want, jungle-lady?" He asked in the comedic callous of any seven year old, but Ixzo didn't mind the name.

One long arm extended to the bucket in his hand, then flipped open to show the silver coin. "Milk?"

"Yes!" The child didn’t hesitate at the shiny coin. She was sure his parents wouldn't be happy that he was slacking on his chores, but the coin likely outweighed that risk for him.

"Good." She dropped the coin in his hand, not worried she had paid nearly twice the cost, she only needed a few cups anyway.

Holding out her empty waterskin, they took another chime to carefully pour the thick white liquid into the leather sack before Ixzo bolted back the few meters to her tent. Trying to be quick enough not to burn her fingers, Ixzo pulled the kettle from the fire, setting it on the wet grass beside it.

It was quickly replaced with a two quart cooking pot and the milk was emptied inside, but she did not put it on the fire yet.

Ducking back into the tent, Ixzo bent immediately next to Rufio. She couldn't have been gone for more than a few chimes, but her hand found its way to Rufio's brow again, finding the temperature to be much the same. Or was it higher? Could it be rising so quickly?

"Feel… sick?" She asked again, even though she had asked a few chimes ago. "Sit up? Maybe?" Ixzo did not worry she was hovering too much, although she was perhaps far more careful than she needed to be. Feeling like she was handling someone who was ready to snap in two, Ixzo ever so gently placed a large hand on Rufio's shoulder, carefully prodding her forward. With her other hand, she made movements from her head to her stomach. "Keep liquid down." Feel better. She signed with one hand, as if she knew what she was talking about. It just felt like a good idea to sit up rather than lay down.

Ixzo didn’t move while she tried to persuade Rufio to expend the energy to sit up, watching her face carefully. She made note of every bead of sweat and the flush in her cheeks, as if she understood what they meant, or if she could tell that her sister was getting worse. Worry, worry, worry.

Myrian | Pavi "Speech" Sign | Common | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Rufio]

　　
　　　　 the half-Drykas peered at her bondmate curiously as she rummaged in a basket, bleary-eyed and snuffling away pitifully. When she sighted dried powders, rather than the garlic, Rufio grew even more inquisitive as Ixzo left the tent.

　　What was her bond-sister upto?

　　　　"Mmm." She was distracted by the sensation of throbbing in her head and the lethargy in her bones, Rufio groaned. Quite sorry-for-herself, she laid down again. Was hot, now cold—shivering she pulled the furs back over herself—her fever rose.

The half-Drykas knew that feeling cold amidst a fever meant temperature steadily climbing but she paid little heed to her thoughts. Sniffle, and wait for Ixzo.

When her Nightlion sister returned and placed a hand to her sweaty forehead—"Feel… sick?"
Rufio smiled and waved, light-hearted nuance in her sign—Ohs tratche, I'm fine. Rufio's sign leaked embarrassment. Fevers scared her, secretly, and brushing it off as a mere head-cold was her cover.

"Keep liquid down." Feel better. As Ixzo made her gestures and elaborated on her tea-treatment plan Rufio nodded—agreement. Feeling the strong, warm supportive hand, Rufio clasped her sister's forearm and hauled herself to sit up. It left her breathless for a chime—panting.

Nevertheless, a resilient smile slipped amidst her freckles as she teased—"Medicine-woman-in-the-making, ah?"

Curiosity, Myrian medicine? Her hand gestured lazily to the fire-pit outside where Ixzo was boiling water.

For the chime foggily forgetting that Ixzo mightn't grasp her sign as lackadaisical as it was.
　　

[Jasmine Stormblood]

sorry to see Ixzo go, I hope Ruf can find happiness again

 

Rufio

XP

• Socialization: 2 XP
• Medicine: 2 XP
• Investigation: 1 XP

Lores

• Medicine: keep down some kind of liquid
• Medicine: knowing the difference between the flu and a cold
• Jinx: playing about being sick
• Investigation: new Myrian Medicine

[Ssezzkero]

Medicine +2, Cooking +2, Herbalism +2, Socialization +1, Medicine: Easing the symptoms of the flu, Medicine: Mint Tea to cool the mouth, Herbalism: Tumeric and ginger root, Medicine: Golden Milk, Cooking: Golden Milk