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from the second you complained about your body aching more than usual, Thoma kept an eye on you.
you often frequent the Kamisato Estate, usually because Ayato has sent you on some adventure to find some new food. Thoma usually ends up tasting it as well, or the three of you try it together.
Ayato is much better at hiding his distaste for something than you are.
it has always been a hike for you to get up to the Estate from the city, but you don’t mind it. if you’re not doing work for Ayato or Ayaka, you’re usually helping people around the city, or running small errands.
eventually, Ayato simply gave you a room to stay in, given that otherwise you’re paying rent for somewhere you rarely stay at for very long.
today, that’s worked both for and against you.
—-
you wake up feeling groggy, like the weight of your head is too much.
your bed is both far too comfortable to leave and the most uncomfortable place in the world.
you get up to start your day, throwing on clothes and looking in the mirror. you look terrible, but you can probably get away with it.
as you walk out of your room, Ayato is walking down the corridor.
‘ah, Y/n.’ he says, and you smile. ‘just the person i wanted to see. i heard great things about this Mushroom Pizza that Ayaka and the Traveller brought into Inazuma. would you go grab us some?’ you nod, your eyes fighting to stay open. ‘are you quite alright? you seem to be dazed.’
‘perfectly alright.’ you smile. ‘i’ll bring that back as i head back for the day. is there anything else you need?’ he looks at you with watchful eyes.
‘no, that will be all.’ you nod, and begin to head out. Ayato stands with his hand on his chin, watching you move away from him.
once you’re out of sight, Ayato goes directly to Thoma’s room.
Thoma has already begun his day, his clothes drying all around him.
‘Thoma.’ Ayato’s gaze is focused solely on him. ‘do me a favor, would you? follow after Y/n today. i fear they may have contracted something.’
if even Ayato is saying something, it must be bad.
‘of course! i’ll head out right now.’ Ayato nods and leaves Thoma to his business, wondering why you wouldn’t just explain the situation.
—-
your hands are filled with goods from Mondstadt, getting them from the port to the checking station. while the Nation is slowly reopening, it’s still difficult to know what may be inside of any given item.
your face feels incredibly warm, but it’s sunny out, so that has to be it. nothing else seems off, so it’ll probably be fine.
once everything is done, you wave goodbye to the people you were helping. they hand you a small bag of coins, which you try to refuse, but they give it to you anyway.
you shake your head, thinking they must have just been overly kind. usually you try not to accept payments from people just coming in, and especially not as much as they gave you.
whatever.
you wander around for a bit, helping people with odds and ends. eventually, it begins to turn dark, and you head to the restaurant to grab the pizza.
it’s not too long before you’re headed back up, and you run into Thoma.
‘what’re you doing out?’ you ask, your head hurting. he grabs the food from you, and begins to walk back to the estate. ‘i can carry that.’
‘you seem to have had a busier day than me. just let me do this, i promise i won’t tell the Young Lord it came from me.’ he smiles, and you tiredly nod, letting him lead the way.
—-
it’s so hard to make it back.
when you finally do, you immediately turn in for the night, much to the surprise of both of them.
‘did they seem at all off?’ Ayato asks, taking a slice of the pizza.
‘they were able to hide it very well, but they’re clearly uncomfortable.’ Thoma sighs, taking a piece for himself.
‘hm…. keep your ears out tonight. i’m afraid this suppression will not bode well for them.’ Thoma nods, and takes a bite.
the both of them agree to find a way to bring more of Mondstadt to the Kamisato Clan.
—-
when you wake up, the sun is shining through your window, and you immediately turn away from it, trying to drag your covers over your face.
if anything, that makes it worse.
your breath is far too hot to stay underneath the blanket, so you throw it off. you stumble to the window, and close it as best you can.
Thoma can hear you stumbling around, but he doesn’t do anything. he’s getting ready for the day, and he’s assuming you are too. he wants to see if you come out on your own.
after ten minutes, he gets up and walks to your door. gently knocking, he waits to hear you answer, but nothing comes. after two more tries, he walks in.
you’re curled up, body shaking but the covers aren’t on you. your eyes open slightly at the door opening, but squint at the light. he quickly closes the door, and walks over to you.
‘Thoma?’ you ask, your throat hurting. ‘my body hurts a lot.’
‘i think you may have caught something.’ he smiles gently at you, but you’re not really paying attention.
‘i’m not sick. just tired.’ you sniff. ‘i’ll get up and get ready in a second.’
‘no, you’re staying in today.’ you shake your head.
‘i’m not going to just sit around and be useless. can you get me some tea to wake me up? then i’ll get going.’
Thoma sighs and nods, knowing that you’ll probably be dead asleep by the time he gets back.
—-
you’re not sick.
despite the fact that you’re too sore to move, your head burns when you move it, and you’re sweating.
despite the fact that any movement at all makes pain run through you, and makes you feel like you’re going to be sick.
you close your eyes, just wanting to rest a little.
—-
Thoma was right, you’re asleep as soon as he’s back with the tea. he sighs and takes it with him, knowing you’d drink it and then assume you’re good to go back to work.
he hears his name being called quietly, and turns around. Ayato is standing there, pointing at your door.
‘they’re definitely sick, but they’re not admitting it.’ Ayato laughs a little.
‘of course they wouldn’t. you’re dismissed from other duties for the time being, please just take care of them.’
‘Young Lord, i’m more than capable of doing both.’
‘i know, but i don’t wish for you to end up like them.’ Thoma nods, and smiles, offering the tea to Ayato.
—-
when you wake up again, your windows are uncovered and there’s tea next to your bed.
you struggle to sit up, but you manage and drink the tea quickly.
it doesn’t sit in your stomach quite right, but no matter.
you manage to stand on your feet, but the world begins spinning, so you immediately sit back down.
gritting your teeth, you stand again, and slowly get ready. when you’re as put together as you can make yourself, you head to the door.
Thoma is outside. you stare at him for a second before steeling yourself, and walking out.
only to immediately fall into his grasp.
‘you’re sick.’
‘i’m not sick.’ you say, head hurting from the lights.
‘Ayato said you need to rest, and that you’re not going to do work for a while.’ you shake your head.
‘i’m not sick.’ despite you saying that, you allow him to lead you back to bed.
you feel awful. your head, chest, and stomach all hurt greatly. you watch as he leaves, and then returns with more tea.
‘it wasn’t tea to wake me up, was it?’
‘no, it’s medicinal. i did bring you tea to wake you up, but you were asleep.’ you don’t want to drink it. you're about to fight back when your head begins pounding again.
‘take care of yourself, please.’ you nod a little, drinking the tea he gave you. he sits in the room with you as you stare at him, his presence helping you fall asleep.
—-
for the next several days, that’s the routine.
you get up to do several things, then immediately fall asleep afterwards. you bathe a couple times, Thoma standing by in case you need help.
it’s so demeaning, but some part of you appreciates it.
at one point you tried to go out anyway, but Thoma stopped you in your tracks, saying if you were contagious you could end up making others sick as well.
that got you to stop.
—-
it doesn’t feel like you’re getting better.
if anything, you’re just getting emotional because you’re so pissed off.
‘i never get sick.’ you tell Thoma, who’s desperately trying to bring your fever down.
‘well, this is a special occasion then isn’t it? aren’t you glad you have a great nurse to help?’
‘yeah.’ you sigh, feeling more cool water on your face. ‘i don’t like it though. i feel really gross.’
‘i’m doing my best here, you know.’
‘it’s not your fault.’ you can feel tears in your eyes.
‘don’t cry, it’s ok.’ he says, pressing his hand to your forehead. ‘it’ll be ok.’ you nod a little, liking his warmth better than the cold towel.
‘ok.’
—-
slowly, things seem to fall back into place.
you can stay awake long enough to eat a whole meal, and you’re able to keep it down. you can move around with little pain, barring a headache.
Thoma continues to watch over you though, making sure you don’t push yourself too hard too quickly.
but you’re stubborn.
you continue to try to do more, and you’re able to to some degree.
Thoma only lets you go on errands with him, which pissed you off until you realized how exhausted you were at the end of them. twice now he’s had to carry you back to the Estate because you were so tired you could barely talk.
each time, he makes sure you get into bed and stay there.
—-
you feel slowly better each passing day.
there are still small periods of time when the majority of your symptoms come back, but they’re relatively short and mild.
you’re able to convince Thoma that you’re able to do your work again, but Ayato is the real issue. Ayaka is with him.
after you explaining that you’re feeling better, and promising that you’ll take it easy and take breaks if you begin to feel bad again, you’re allowed to go out again.
first thing you do is go get a pizza with Thoma.
as he expected, it wasn’t for you, and he watches as you attempt to keep a straight face with him.
the two of you head back, trying to figure out what Ayato will send you to get him next.