Chapter Text
Come morning, Merle greets them both with another sippy cup full of his mother’s brew.
Before Magnus is even awake enough to register what’s happening, little hands are shooting out over him, groping for the cup in question.
“Glad to know I’ve got a fan.” Merle jokes.
“Good.” Taako says. He probably means that the drink is good, Magnus figures. It’s going to be hard to figure out his meaning when he only works in one-word sentences.
Merle’s in a good mood this morning, petting Taako’s hair and asking him how he’s feeling. The most he can get out of Taako is that he’s tired, wants to sleep, and his chest feels achy, but considering who they’re speaking to, that’s quite the accomplishment for Merle. He even lets Magnus sneak out for breakfast while he entertains Taako. Magnus guesses this must be his way of making up for his absence.
Magnus takes the chance to fix himself a bowl of oatmeal and go through the messages on his Stone of Farspeech.
There aren’t many—just a couple of check-ins from Lucretia and Angus he hadn’t had the chance to get to yet. But more notably, Avi left a message on his Stone of Farspeech, mentioning something about “bringing in reinforcements.” Turns out he left them a few containers of Tupperware full of soup about an hour ago, which, while not Taako’s favorite, he does agree to eat this time around.
He still doesn’t have much of an appetite, but he’s eating, and Magnus takes that as a victory. It’s a little disappointing that he agrees to eat because of Merle, but Magnus refuses to let jealousy get the better of him when Taako still needs them both. The last thing Magnus would do is make things harder on him because of infighting.
Turns out he and Merle are a pretty good team, even dealing with a sick baby. Merle’s able to keep him hydrated and Magnus is always around to snuggle when he’s feeling sleepy, so between them, Taako gets on the upswing pretty fast.
His fever breaks on the sixth day.
Admittedly, Magnus feels bad about pushing Taako, still half-delirious from sleep, straight into the shower, but it was doctor’s orders. That, and Magnus will gladly jump at any chance that Taako could be getting better soon. The water has barely started running by the time Magnus and Merle have gotten to work.
Merle strips Taako’s bed and grabs Chester to get them washed, because Chester especially needs a good washing, and Magnus grabs a pack of disinfectant wipes and goes about scrubbing down everything he, Merle, or Taako has touched in the past week.
It’s kind of weird to be in a whirlwind of activity again, but Magnus can’t say he hates it. It’s nice to have something to do that isn’t just lie around and keep Taako company, even if they are still stuck in their apartment.
By the time the water shuts off, their apartment has been thoroughly scrubbed down once, Taako’s sheets washed, the pacis disinfected, and every square inch smelling of lemon.
There’s a pause. Magnus looks to Merle, but Merle isn’t paying attention. Magnus jiggles his leg. Despite a full week of minimal movement, Magnus suddenly can’t sit still.
“Should I go check on him?” he asks.
“We both know it doesn’t matter what I say.” Merle answers, and true to his word, Magnus is already making his way to their shared bathroom.
Magnus knocks. “Taako? How you holding up in there, bud?”
A soft, whiny voice answers him. “Need help, Maggie.”
Magnus internally slaps himself. Of course Taako would have trouble standing upright. He pushes his way inside to find Taako half-trapped in his shirt and can barely keep himself from laughing.
It’s not right to wish Taako stays sick, but he can’t help but wonder what other cute things Taako might do if he’s this little and this uncoordinated as he continues to recover.
Magnus tugs Taako’s shirt down over his head, trying not to giggle over how Taako looks like a drenched kitten. Tired as he is, he’s still wide-eyed and off-kilter, watching any and all movement like it’s the most interesting thing in the universe.
“How are you feeling, buddy?” Magnus asks, carefully combing back his hair.
Taako whines again, lowering his eyes. “Sleepy.”
“Let’s get back to bed, then. The worst of it should be over.” Magnus isn’t sure if that’s true, but he certainly hopes it is. At least he’s talking. At least he’s eating. That’s all Magnus cares about.
Taako stumbles a little as they head back to bed, so Magnus easily loops an arm around his waist. Taako whines, shifting uncomfortably under the touch but not completely shrinking away. He must still be achy, poor thing. Maybe Magnus should give him a painkiller too.
Taako all but collapses into bed, immediately hugging Chester once he’s within reach.
“Alright, move over.”
“Nooooo,” Taako whines, pushing weekly at Magnus’s chest to stop him from even sitting down.
“Oh, you want your space?” Magnus asks, backing up a step. The last thing he wants to do is crowd Taako when he’s already sick.
Taako nods, curling up on his side away from the noise. If he didn’t still have the sniffles, he probably would’ve pulled the covers over his head by now.
“Okay, just let us know when you’re up. You know where to find us.” Trying not to look personally hurt, Magnus returns to the living room and plops down beside Merle on the couch.
“I thought dogs weren’t allowed on the moon.” Merle quips. “You look like a lost puppy.”
“You know what, now that he’s doing better, I don’t feel bad about giving you shit. So thanks so much for your 50% participation, Merle.”
“Bite me. You know how long it takes to make that brew? It’s not like I wanted to ditch you.”
Magnus quirks an eyebrow. “Right.”
“Okay, I kind of wanted to ditch you, but you had it handled.” Merle shakes his head. “Stop worrying about the kid, he’ll be fine. Get slammed or something. Read a book. I don’t know. But stop looking like that. It’s making me feel bad.”
In the end, Magnus settles on reading a book. He’s barely paying attention, but it’s better than sitting there and doing nothing, so he counts it as a win.
Taako gets approximately an hour and a half of sleep, which Magnus knows for one specific reason.
“Hello?” Ring, ring, ring! “I need attention!” Ring, ring! “Can anyone spare…” Ring, ring, ring! “…But one crumb of attention?”
“Sounds like he’s doing better.” Magnus is already on his feet, fetching an orange juice popsicle. Even if Taako's throat isn’t hurting, coming in with a treat could never hurt.
“I’ll give him attention if you get rid of that damn bell.”
“Deal.”