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“You know what did this to you, don’t you?”
“Plagg,” Adrien moaned, though he’d never really been able to stop his Kwami from voicing whatever thoughts were on his mind. Still, he tried. He had a headache.
“It’s that school,” Plagg continued, because of course he did. “One of your little classmates must have sneezed on you or something.”
Adrien groaned again, but didn’t bother to form it into a word this time. He knew Plagg was right, much as he hated to admit it. He’d always been a fairly healthy person, but it had been so much easier when he’d interacted only with a particular set of professionals chosen by his father and rarely left the house at all. Now that he attended public school five days a week, it opened him up to a maelstrom of germs the likes of which his body had never had to combat. And so…
“What dumb human came up with the flu, anyway?”
“We didn’t make it,” Adrien replied.
“Well then how come you’re the only ones that get it?”
Adrien decided it wasn’t worth the effort to mention Avian Flu. Plagg seemed content enough, exhibiting his usual disdain for human rituals as he flew around the room, hmmpf-ing over discarded tissues and cough drop wrappers.
“How long is this supposed to last?” Plagg sniffed at the bottle on Adrien’s nightstand and made a face; apparently cherry flavor didn’t agree with him.
What had the doctor said? Oh yeah. “About a week.”
Plagg screeched. “A whole week? What am I supposed to do for a week? This is even more boring than eight hours of class every day!” The annoyance in his voice was immediately belied by the way he flew straight to Adrien’s side at the first cough. He continued to grumble, but did so with his whiskers brushing Adrien’s cheek. Adrien ignored it, and in return, was handed a clean tissue.
“We’re very fragile,” Adrien conceded, as soon as his coughing fit subsided. He spit the small glob of greenish mucus that had come up into the tissue — gross — and then balled it up, tossing it vaguely in the direction of the nearest trash can. This was far less neat than he would normally prefer to keep his room, but he’d just used about half of his energy for the day making a fist so, you know, he was picking his battles here.
As if in direct response to his thoughts, his phone started blaring with a citywide Emergency Alert. Ah. He had to pick this battle.
“Hang on,” Plagg said as Adrien pushed himself up off the bed. “This is a bad idea, kid. Maybe you should let Ladybug handle this one.”
“She might need me,” Adrien protested. He swept a hand across the bedspread, searching. Where had he put his ring? Where… Oh, right, it was on his finger. Where it always was. Boy, his head felt fuzzy.
“Give her an hour. Then you can check in and see how it’s going.”
“That could be too late! Plagg, claw—” He cut himself off with another coughing fit, but it wasn’t as bad as the last one. He was fine; he could do this. “Claws out,” he gasped, as soon as he had the air.
The transformation felt like a breath of fresh air, clearing the mucus from his lungs, dampening the fire in his brain. The ache faded from his muscles and his eyes stopped burning for the first time in two days. It wasn’t a cure; he could still feel the fever lingering in the background, and he knew it would be back, but right now he felt amazing.
Adrien took a moment to rearrange some pillows so it looked like someone was buried under the covers in a nap, then leapt for the window.
Despite the exaggerated features and wildly billowing costume, Adrien recognized the Akumatized villain instantly. It was the doctor who saw him just this morning, and Adrien sighed, wondering whether his father’s brusque conversation with the man had something to do with why he was now throwing out red-and-white capsules that grew to trap any citizen of Paris unlucky enough to cross his path.
“Then have your damn antibiotics, for all the good it will do you against a virus,” Dr Laurent yelled, as his projectiles narrowly missed Adrien and instead enveloped a lightpost, a fire hydrant, and a postbox in brightly-colored prisons.
“I’m getting pretty sick of this guy already,” Adrien complained, landing beside Ladybug where she’d taken temporary cover behind an overturned car. He had already used his Cataclysm to prevent his partner from becoming a comically oversized pill, and he was very much hoping to finish this battle before his five minutes were up. He had a feeling that the turn-around of re-transformation would be more complicated than slipping Plagg a few bites of cheese.
“Well then we’d better take care of him fast, before he turns all of Paris into a pharmacy.” Ladybug’s eyes were darting around, clearly searching for a way to use the red eraser in her hand. “Follow me.”
“To the ends of the earth, my Lady.” Adrien dashed after her.
With her plan fully realized, it took less than two minutes before they were standing in front of a confused Dr Laurent and his shredded prescription pad. Adrien sighed with relief as Ladybug’s magic swept through the city.
“We did it.” She smiled at him, and his heart leapt. He hated more than anything what he had to say next.
“I have to get going, then.” His ring was beeping insistently to remind him of this. Still, he turned to the doctor before he went. “Will you be alright, Monsieur?”
“Yes, I… Oh! I’ve made myself very late for my next appointment. And it’s such a busy season,” he fretted, pulling out a notebook to flip through the pages.
Ladybug nodded. “A few of my classmates are out sick right now. I guess the flu is going around.”
“Well, I hope they’re getting plenty of rest and fluids. That’s the only real cure, you know.”
Ladybug hummed thoughtfully, staring off into the distance as if his words were a revelation. Adrien had already heard them today, and he needed to get home and get back to it. “Farewell, my lady.”
She started, as if she’d forgotten he was there. Adrien pretended it only hurt a little. “Oh! Yes, goodbye, Chat!”
With a short wave, Adrien headed for home.
He cut it close, but he landed on the floor of his bedroom just as the transformation gave out and Plagg emerged from the ring. On his own again, Adrien felt the illness rush back into his body. It hit faster and harder than it had the first time, and a single blink found him on the floor, sneezing into the carpet.
“You’re an idiot,” Plagg scolded.
Adrien moaned in response. Every inch of his body felt terrible; his fever had returned with a vengeance, as if it was trying to make up for the time he’d spent without it.
“I guess I’ll get my own cheese.” Plagg darted away, and Adrien made himself comfortable, in a manner of speaking, on the floor. He didn’t feel up to moving.
But just as soon as he’d closed his eyes, Plagg was tapping insistently and annoyingly at his face. His Camembert-scented breath made Adrien wrinkle his nose, fighting a wave of nausea.
“C’mon, kid. Up. Sleeping on the floor is just gonna make it worse.”
Adrien grumbled, not bothering to form words.
“Yeah, yeah, do that in bed.”
After a bit more urging, Adrien managed to get him arms underneath him and levered himself up, staggering the few steps to the bed. He collapsed onto the mattress, and fell asleep on top of the covers.
An indeterminate time later, a knock on the door woke him. Nathalie came in without waiting for an invitation, which was good because he was too busy rubbing his eyes and groping for the light switch to give one. It had grown dim outside while he slept.
“Adrien.” Nathalie glanced around the room, eyes lingering on the overflowing trash can and the mess of bottles on the table. She wore a mask and gloves; she couldn’t afford to get sick, not with his father’s schedule this week. “Are you taking your medication on schedule?”
“Yes,” he replied, though he had certainly skipped a dose of Advil while he slept. He could take it in a minute.
Nathalie nodded. “Good. One of your classmates came by to deliver your schoolwork for the day.” She placed a stack of books and papers on his nightstand, brushing aside a tissue box to make room. She hesitated for a moment, then placed a paper bag on top of the pile. “And… this, as well.”
Intrigued, Adrien reached for the bag. He’d check out the homework later; it wasn’t quite as exciting, though he was grateful for it. It looked like whoever brought it had even gone into his locker to get the required textbooks, so that he could complete the assignments. And there was only one other person with his locker combination. “Nino?”
Nathalie straightened several items on the end table, sweeping tissues into the trash and giving this one small corner of the room some semblance of tidiness. “A young lady dropped them off.”
Adrien opened the bag and found a large soup carton nestled in among a circle of rolls and pastries. Nothing too fancy, just simple buttery bread and fruit, things that his sensitive stomach might actually tolerate, but golden brown and perfectly baked. Alya would have left a note, and the rolls smelled fresh. Adrien smiled. Marinette, then. That was nice of her.
Nathalie shut the door behind her on the way out, and Adrien pulled the soup from the bag, setting the rest aside. He didn’t feel quite up to eating anything solid, but he took small sips of broth, holding the warm container between his hands. The heat felt wonderful. Maybe he should take a hot shower, later.
Plagg zipped out from his hiding place under the bed and slumped down beside him. “She couldn’t have slipped some cheese into the bag, too?”
“Cheese isn‘t really a comfort food,” Adrien said between sips.
“It comforts me plenty,” Plagg replied, but he didn’t bother going to get any more from the minifridge. Instead, he yawned and curled into a tight ball on the pillow, whiskers twitching as he made himself comfortable.
Adrien found the yawn was catching. He’d only been awake for ten minutes and already he was tired again. He set the soup on his nightstand with the lid on tight; he could heat up the rest later.
Snuggling down into bed beside Plagg, Adrien sighed. He was already tired of this flu, but now, with his Kwami by his side, gifts from his classmates on his nightstand, and pleasant memories of his Lady fresh in his mind, he felt comfortable enough to drift into a pleasant sleep.