Briiing, briiiing!
"Ughhhh," Adrien groaned. He twisted in bed to face his annoying ringtone. If he didn't use the stupid sound, he'd never wake up in the mornings. But, this time it seemed worse than most mornings.
"Get up, Adrien! I'm hungry!" Plagg shouted right in the boy's face. Adrien swatted him away, rolling over and squeezing his eyes shut.
"I don't wanna get up..." he said through a cough. Plagg stomped one little paw, marching over to Adrien's closet to find the emergency stash of cheese. But, when he opened the can and released the horrid odor, Adrien bolted up.
"I thought you weren't-"
Plagg was cut off by the sound of retching from the bathroom, and he cringed. That didn't sound good. When the little kwami made his way to the bathroom, careful to avoid the watchful security cameras, he found Adrien curled up on the floor beside the toilet. It smelled horrible in there and were those tears in Adrien's eyes?
"Adrien?" Plagg called. He came a little closer, but the boy didn't move. His skin was hot as fire, but he was shivering. He heard footsteps, so Plagg zipped off behind the toilet to avoid being seen.
"Oh, Adrien..." Natalie cooed. She crouched down and flushed the toilet before helping the boy to his feet. "Let's get you back in bed, you're not going to school today..."
Once Natalie left, Plagg was able to emerge from his hiding place. He flew over to Adrien, sitting down beside him on his bed. "You don't look too hot," he commented.
"Plagg..." Adrien whispered with a roll of his eyes. Ow, OK, no more eye rolling... "I've got to go to school, we have a...a...pr-project..."
"Nope." Plagg nagged. "Stay put."
"Can we at least call Mari?" Adrien asked, looking over at his phone that was just out of reach. Plagg eyed him for a moment before grabbing the device and scooting it into his hands. The dial only lasted two rings before she picked up.
"Adrien? What's up?" Marinette's voice rang through. Adrien cringed at the sound; for once her voice was not a source of comfort, since it was through the mechanical filter of the phone.
"I won't be at school today..." he explained as he coughed into his hand. "Woke up sick..."
"Oh, jeez, you sound really bad," Marinette commented. Adrien tried to laugh, but it came off as another cough.
"You sure know how to make a guy feel so much better, Princess..." he said sarcastically.
"Just get some rest, I'll come over at lunch OK?" She hung up, and Plagg forced Adrien to go back to sleep. The little cat curled up against his human's neck protectively, letting out a purr to maybe help him feel better.
Adrien woke up to the sound of three voices, but he found his eyes felt too heavy to open. So, he listened.
"He hasn't moved all day; I made sure of it."
"Well, that's good Plagg. Has he taken anything?"
"Does he look like someone who's taken medicine?"
"Oh, the poor thing! He looks so terrible..."
"Tikki!"
Adrien smiled, and it gave him away. A hand rested on his forehead and he leaned in to the cool touch. The owner of the hand tsked and there was the shuffling before he felt his bed dip down. "Adrien, can you open your eyes?" Marinette's voice asked.
"Uhmmm," Adrien groaned. He squeezed his eyes tighter and tried to open them, but it proved more difficult than he originally thought. "Nooo," he whined, rolling slowly onto his back.
"Well, then let's sit you up at least..." Marinette stood back up and slipped her hands under his armpits to lift him up and rest him against his headboard. "I have some medicine for you, please take it," she pleaded. Adrien felt the spoon press to his lips and he let out another whine, tilting his face away. "Please, Adrien..."
At her tone and the fact that the former action drained his energy, he let her put the spoon in his mouth. The taste was extremely bitter and it churned his empty stomach. Marinette sighed in relief though, and he smiled at that. Again, he tried to open his eyes. This time he got them into slits and he could see two concerned kwami and one mothering Marinette.
"Good, you opened your eyes," Marinette said, cupping a hand around his cheek; he leaned in to the touch desperately. She grabbed a cup of water and held it out for him, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't grip the cup. Marinette bit at her bottom lip before lifting the cup to his lips and helping him drink. Not ten minutes later, Adrien had down four glasses of water and a glass of ginger ale. "Think you can eat?" Marinette asked. He thought for a minute, feeling his stomach gnawing and growling, before deciding to at least try. Marinette brought in toast for him, and he ate half a piece before giving up.
"No more..." he mumbled, setting the plate far away and wrapping his arms around his belly.
"You did great..." Marinette praised with a gently smile, massaging his knuckles. She held out a thermometer and told him to open his mouth as she stuck the cold metal in and hit the button. "101.3...well that's not as bad as it could be..."
Adrien groaned, sinking down in his covers. He just wanted to go to school, do his work, have fun, do anything that had nothing to do with staying at home. He felt something cold land on his forehead, and when he opened his eyes he saw a wash rag that laid on his head.
He whined and tried to roll, but that action upset his stomach and the little food in it.
"Shhh," Marinette whispered. She sat beside him and rubbed his stomach until the stress fell from his face. "Just relax and go back to sleep," she said calmly. Adrien sighed and rolled again to curl against her. She giggled and ran a hand through his hair, "I have to go back to school, kitten."
"Don't leave me..." he whimpered, weakly grabbing for her hand. Marinette's heart pinged; he was quite pitiful like this. She leaned over him, gently hugging him and kissing his cheek.
"I'll come back right after school is over, OK?" she said.
"Noooowah!" Adrien cried. He buried his face in her stomach and refused to move. Marinette looked up at Tikki and Plagg, who were just as surprised as she was. "Don't go, Mari!" He didn't want to be left alone yet again in that cold, quiet, too-bright-yet-too-dark room. "Just stay here," he whined.
Marinette sighed and nodded, leaning back despite the cries of protest from Adrien. She took out her phone and called Alya. "Hey, Alya," she greeted. "I won't be coming back after lunch...n-no! Something came up...!" she listened as her best friend accused her of sneaking away with Adrien for the afternoon. "Yeah, yeah, I'm totally sneaking away with a sick kid...look, I'll see you tomorrow!"
She hung up and groaned, moving Adrien as little as possible until she could lay down on the messy bed. Adrien coughed roughly before curling back against Marinette's tummy. She smiled and ran a hand back into his hair, trailing it down until she was rubbing his back with the tips of her nails. Plagg zipped down to curl up against Adrien, and Tikki followed to lay down with Plagg and Marinette. Before long, Adrien was back asleep and purring roughly.
Marinette giggled, "I hope it's worth it to love you this much..." she mumbled and kissed his head. Adrien moved against the touch, and Marinette decided yes, it was worth all this.
