Work Text:
Seeing the prince being sick was not something that Mamoru enjoyed in the slightest. Something about seeing him shivering and whimpering broke his heart tremendously and he couldn’t help but feel guilty, as he was the one who caved in when the prince requested to sleep by the cabin, knowing full well there was a storm outside and a storm meant the humidity and cold in such a simple wood cabin would be incredibly high, which meant it gave room for sickness. And sadly, the prince had been victim to it.
The protector was well aware of the risk and he had tried to warn the prince beforehand, but stubborn as he was, Jougo refused to go back to the castle, claiming that getting possibly wet by rain would have done him much worse, even if the blond had promised to take him there with Sapphire Pegasus’ help and said he could have his cape to cover himself up. None of that mattered when the prince was being stubborn, his wish ended up being his command, even when those choices were not the wisest.
So now the poor brunet laid on Mamoru’s simple but comfortable bed, covered in at least 3 blankets, sniffling with a reddish nose and whining every time he sneezed. The oldest couldn’t do much but watch the prince pathetically whimper, occasionally going over to fetch some soup and some more water hoping he would eventually feel better. He even made sure to change the cold rag on his forehead once it got warm enough that it wouldn’t provide the coolness he needed for his incoming fever to go down.
“Mamo…” Jougo whined once more, making the blond turn to look at him, he had been busy cleaning up the kitchen and making yet another soup.
“Yes, your majesty?” Politely as usual, Mamoru walked towards the prince, sitting by him on a chair next to the bed as he inquired him about his calling.
“I feel terrible… When will I get better?”
The beasts’ protector blinked at that question under his mask, unable to come up with a logical answer to it. Still, he tried counting with his fingers after pondering the question for a bit. He got up and looked out the window, his mind thinking of the current weather: Sunny and radiant. Mamoru looked back at the prince, consulted yet again with Amethyst cast who replied with a few series of what sounded like meows and growls and then stood up once again by his royal’s side.
“That I am not sure,” He began, making the prince frown immediately “But from the weather and how your sickness is progressing… I do believe this may take at least 3 days to clear up, prince Jougo.”
“3 days?!” He exclaimed weakly, sneezing once again and whimpering as he tried his best to sit up, giving up immediately and laying back down, looking up at the wooden ceiling and bringing the blankets all the way to his nose. “I can’t stay here for that long and I can’t go back sick! Yubel would murder me.”
Mamoru merely chuckled quietly, making the prince look at him angrily while pouting. They were close friends now, but that didn’t stop Jougo from getting annoyed at the guardian once in a while.
“It’s not funny, Mamoru.”
Being called by his full name, made the blond look up at the brunet directly, their gazes connecting even if the mask covered his mismatched gem eyes and he merely sighed in response, sitting back down to be by his prince’s side as he composed himself.
“My apologies, I know it’s not.” The blond began, trying to come up with a proper response. “I just find you quite… endearing.”
Jougo felt his cheeks heat up and the blush that rose to his face was more than obvious, but thankfully it only made the guardian stand up to grab the cold rag on his forehead, head to the kitchen for more cold water he had stored just for him and go back to his side to place it back on him, hoping his new fever would go down eventually.
“I’ll make sure to take care of you, with my magic and the Gem Beasts’… I’m sure you’ll be back on your feet by this afternoon, prince.”
His words had been assuring and maybe Mamoru meant that he’d do his best to care for him, after all, he really loved to play along to Jougo’s fantasies of him being some kind of magical celestial being from the stars. No matter if it was real or not, it still gave the prince hope and he smiled brightly, nodding along to the guardian’s assurance, knowing that he’d be in good hands.
Thankfully, the prince recovered a few hours later, turns out, that by Yubel’s reaction to Jougo’s still not entirely okay expression, he ended up scolding him and reminding him of his humidity and pollen allergy. Which made the prince stop on his tracks, realizing that he had indeed played a little too long amongst the flowers, right on pollen season.
He still believed it to be Mamoru’s magic that saved him.