The doctors had told her, after she healed enough to be discharged, that her ears would be extra sensitive for a while. She thought nothing of it. Her mufflers could dampen anything, so it was not a concern of hers.
She told no one that she was scared. Her ears are sensitive enough already.
But a week later, she's still lying in her bed, curled into a ball with pillows and hands pressed to her head. Even with the mufflers all the way down, it didn't stop the ringing. It's been bouncing around her head for a few days, hardly noticeable. But today, the ringing woke her up. For several hours, she stayed completely still, not daring to move in case it made the ringing worse. Tears stream from her shut eyes, for the light makes it worse, everything makes it worse.
Last time it got this bad, she had gotten sick with fever within hours.
Bud snuffles next to her, pressing his nose to her hand with a whine, Spook sitting on his back and watching her as well. She shakily moves her hand, tapping out a rhythm on his muzzle.
Go get Wendy.
Bud licks her palm once, turning and bounding out of the room quickly.
Hiro quickly returns her hand to his place, pressing a palm against the pillow on her ears. She tries to sleep, to block out the noise, but in the end it's a fitful rest.
She wakes up in a different position, all her pillows fluffed up and the covers tucked up to her chin. There is a rag on her forehead, and she's still in her pajamas - a long, sleeveless, purple shirt with black leggings. She feels both warm and cold, a combination she's never been fond of. There were cotton plasters against her ears, the softness comforting against the soreness.
Her curtains are shut, something she was to in pain to do earlier, and all the lights are off in her room- replaced with the small flames of candles.
"She's awake! She's awake!"
She recognized the voices of Mr.Tiki's... tiki's.
Her head turned, the small wooden dolls floating to her left. No one was in the room at the moment, but the tiki's belayed the presence of those in the room.
The door opened, Mr.Tiki propping it open with a foot as he stepped inside. One of his hands held a steaming bowl, and the other held a larger bowl. He grinned at her, sticking his tongue out despite how she could look at him blearily. He sat in one of the armchairs from the corner of the room, moved to sit next to her bed.
"Wendy's off on a mission." he said as he settled the bowels on the bedside table. "So Bud got us instead," he grinned, "Sit up a bit, Thunder Child." he grinned wider when she huffed at the name.
She shifted so her back was against the pillows instead, tucking Peep - the stuffed thundercloud with a little face from Grampa Makarov - against her chest. It was dark grey, two little dots acting as eyes and a cute little smile, with a bright yellow lightning bolt. The bolt had a button, activating little yellow lights from underneath the cloth, making a small recorded sound of thunder. It was one of her favorites.
Bickslow made sure she was situated, and brought the broth bowl over.
"If you can't use your hands..." he grinned, showing her another metal object from his hand. "I got'cha a straw."
She blinked back, opening her mouth and staring at him. He snickers, placing the metal straw in her mouth as she turns back to the bowl of steaming broth. She stuck the end of her straw into it, and drank slowly. The heat soothed her throat, and filled her belly, and she gave a hoarse purr in satisfaction.
The tiki's remained quiet, chanting softly amongst themselves as she drank the broth.
"Freed decided Bud needed a bath, and Spook decided to help him." Bickslow snickers, leaning back in the chair. "So he's been having a go at that massive mess of fur and slobber. Spook hasn't been much assistance, mostly judging him." Hiro hummed, that sounded like Spook. "Ever's the one who made your food." he gestured to the bowl in her lap, already half empty. "So she's currently cleaning the kitchen."
Hiro opened her eyes when no more food made its way into her mouth, staring sadly down at the empty bowl. Bicks chuckled, carefully taking it away and plucking the straw from her mouth as well. He took the rag from her forehead, somehow having not fallen off already, and dunked it in the basin of ice-water. He squeezed out the excess, folded it back up and returned it to rest on her face.
She squirmed, shifting back down to lie with most of her under the covers, keeping her head poking out. She blinked her eyes closed, and with a full tummy, fell asleep once again.
"See you when ya wake up, Princess."
She did not comment on the nickname, it's merely one in the rotation of words the Legion likes to call her.
She woke up the next day, her large bed - that she insisted on getting - inhabited by three adults and a large dog.
She was no longer lying on the mattress, Mr.Tiki having taken it upon himself to be her bed. Miss Fairy was on one side of him, on hand reaching out with Hiro clutching it - she often did that in her sleep - and Mr.Freed was on the other side, arms and legs crossed as he slept. Bud and Spook were at the foot of the bed.
They all looked to be wearing comfier clothes, except Mr.Tiki because he practically wore sweatpants and sweaters regularly, he just took off his skirt (no matter how many times he denied that it was a skirt). Miss Fairy had a green and white t-shirt, with khaki pants that went to her shins. She wore no shoes and no socks, good, for Hiro did not allow that stuff on her bed. Mr.Freed wore black pants and a simple white shirt, with a pair of grey socks. From her place, Bud smelled like honey and cleanliness, so Mr.Freed had succeeded in his mission.
The tiki's were piled on the bedside table, asleep. The basin of ice water and empty bowl were gone, and she didn't feel as awful as before. So her fever broke, finally.
But with nothing else to do, and not desiring to move, she shifted once or twice and flopped back onto Mr.Tiki's chest, his loud snores stuttering for a mere moment as she did.
And if anyone says anything about the new stuffed things on her bed, a fairy, tiki, bunny, and a pikachu (some popular character with lightning powers from a neighboring country) , she'll get Gajeel to kill them. He already kills all the bugs that scare her, so what's the difference if its a person who upsets her?
