Chapter Text
The day started in a normal fashion. Over the past several months since their engagement, Yami and Charlotte had worked out a system that allowed for them to remain together each night (the exception being the occasional overnight missions) while also continuing to give attention and presence to their own bases. Each week, three of their nights were spent at one base, followed by the remaining four at the other location. They went back and forth between which squad had them for the fourth day of the week, much like one may see in a custody situation after a divorce—minus all the negative feelings, as they were very much together and quite content these days.
While it was initially an adjustment for the captains and their brigades, it turned out that all the squad members were enjoying having the couple present with them together. It felt like there was a mom and a dad at home now, which gave them a sense of something resembling familial comfort. When they spent nights at the Black Bulls base, Charmy was especially elated. Ever since Charlotte’s first dinner with the squad, Charmy had developed a strong attachment to the Blue Rose captain and could often be seen sitting on her lap or clinging to the woman’s body in an embrace while she walked around. Really, all the Black Bulls members had warmed up to Charlotte and now considered her family.
They were currently at the start of a four-night stretch with the Black Bulls. The first thing Charlotte noticed when she woke up was how completely unrested she felt. Normally mildly resistant to getting out of bed but motivated enough to work through it with ease, today she was still lying down when Yami had already dressed himself, ready to head down to breakfast.
“You doin’ okay over there?”
“Yeah, I’m just tired. I’ve been feeling a bit off the past few days. I wonder if I caught an illness or something.” Charlotte sat up but remained leaning against the pillow behind her. She pinched at the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut as she worked to fight off the mild feeling of nausea. “Who around us has been sick lately?” she asked, a slight strain of discomfort clearly present in her voice.
“Ah shit, I don’t know. We’re around so many people all the time, especially in the Capitol. Who knows what weird shit we’ve got from everybody else.”
“I honestly don’t remember seeing anyone else sick around us. I probably just ate something bad. It’s not like I have a temperature or stuffy nose. Just tired, and my stomach... More likely to be caused by bad food or something, right? Maybe from when we went into downtown for dinner a couple days ago?”
Yami did not find himself particularly concerned about where she could have picked up whatever bug she was fighting. His priority was always making sure she was okay. “You wanna stay here and rest a bit longer? No one’s gonna give ya shit if you take one late morning for the first time in your life.”
“No, I’ve got too much to do today. And plus, once I’m awake and going, I’ll feel a bit better. Probably just need some food in my system.” Charlotte took her time, moving as if she were fighting against the forces of molasses to get up and dress herself.
They walked into the dining area together, Yami guiding her with his hand resting lightly against the small of her back. As they entered the room, Charlotte felt almost disoriented, assaulted by all the intense aromas emitted by the wide selection of breakfast foods made for the brigade. People probably gave their normal “good morning” greetings to both captains but if they did, she was not aware. She sat down and instantly closed her eyes, one of her hands pressed to her forehead and covering the entire upper half of her face.
Yami decided it was probably best to take initiative and fill her plate while he also loaded his own, as she seemed to be fighting an invisible battle with her body at the moment. He covered it with every food item offered in the spread and placed the plate in front of her before beginning to devour his own selection.
Charlotte sighed and stared at the food in silence. She lifted one of her hands into a fist and placed it over her mouth. Yami watched her from the corner of his eyes, reached to hold her free hand, and gave it a squeeze.
“Is something wrong with my food, Captain Charlotte?” Charmy was watching with concern. The little chef took pride in all her cooking and baking and could not handle the idea of someone having an issue with what she produced. Yet here was one of her favorite people in the whole wide world, the woman who kindly expressed high appreciation for Charmy’s culinary efforts, looking disgusted by the plate in front of her.
“Oh no, not at all. I’m just… Feeling a bit off today. You know I love your food, Charmy.” Charlotte watched the young woman, who looked more like a little girl, stare back unconvinced.
You’re going to need to just suck it up and eat this food, Charlotte, she thought to herself. There’s no way Charmy is going to let you off the hook if you don’t eat something she made… Charlotte forced a forkful of Charmy’s breakfast food slowly and painfully towards her mouth. She paused at the last step, willing her mouth to open so she could take in the food. And yet she could not. She dropped the fork and walked swiftly out of the room.
The whole table was quiet and stared at Yami, as if to ask What was that??!
Yami suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, like he owed an explanation for his fiancée’s behaviors. But he had none. He was only about 10% more in the loop than they were. His glance briefly shifted to Charmy, whose eyes were wide and filled with tears.
“Charlotte told me this morning she thinks she ate some bad food somewhere. Her stomach has been funny today. I’m…gonna go check on her.” With that statement, Yami put down his utensils and followed the path she had just taken moments ago.
Yami returned to his room but found no sign of Charlotte there. He decided his next best guess was to check the bathroom. As he approached the women’s restroom area, he could hear the sound of retching. While normally there was magic in place to restrict any male from entering the area, Yami had worked something out with Henry that allowed him to be an exception. Simply for the potential of situations like these. Yami increased his pace as he came closer in proximity to the bathroom. And there he found his sweet, beautiful, soon-to-be-wife on her knees, leaning against the toilet, her face hanging over its opening.
“Hey there, woman. You look like me after havin’ a few too many at the bar!” He laughed at his own terrible joke, hoping to bring a light mood to the setting.
“Oh God, please don’t talk about alcohol right now. It makes me want to—”
And Charlotte retched again. Yami moved quickly to hold her hair out of the way, noticing that his lack of doing so earlier had already led to some unfortunate results. He didn’t quite care. He’d learned that if it had anything to do with her, he was unaffected. So holding some of her vomit-covered hair didn’t bother him like it would if it was anyone else’s bodily anything.
“I’m surprised the smell of this room didn’t make ya yak even more,” Yami commented with disgust.
After a few minutes of calm with Yami rubbing her back and shoulders, Charlotte picked up her head and wiped at her mouth. She turned to face Yami and hung her head downward.
“How do you still look hot with throw up bits all over your hair?” Yami asked and earned a small chuckle from her. He stood up and took her hands, offering to help her up as well. “I think you’re gonna wanna wash up before you leave today.” Charlotte accepted his offer, allowing him to assist her to stand, and then forced her brain to get its bearings so she could remain upright without additional support.
“Yeah… And you’re probably going to want to wash your hands. I’m so sorry, Yami. I can’t believe some of it got on you.”
“You know what I always say: A day spent holding Charlotte Roselei’s puke-hair is better than a day without Charlotte Roselei at all. Or somethin’.”
“You always say that, huh?” A small smile.
“Well yeah, always starting right now.”
After the couple washed their hands and Charlotte had made additional efforts to clean up from her unfortunate morning, they spent a few minutes in the common area discussing their agendas for the day. Charlotte noticed that she was feeling a bit better, though she had felt a wave of nausea pass over her when they passed the dining area. Now she just felt tired and…mildly hungry. Finally. Her stomach growled, announcing it was ready to take in some food and that it was unwilling to wait long for such a thing to occur. She looked over and saw Noelle and Secre sitting on furniture nearby, both eating slices from a loaf of bread brought from town the evening before.
“Hi ladies. Would it be okay if… Would you mind if I…” Charlotte still always hated asking the Black Bulls members for anything, feeling that it was not her place to make any request as she was not formally one of them.
“Would you like some bread, Captain Charlotte?” Noelle asked with a smile.
“Please, if you don’t mind. My stomach has been feeling strange all morning and it’s finally ready to take in some food. And this doesn’t seem to be bothering me with its smell.”
Secre handed her a plate with two slices.
“Thank you both,” Charlotte stated with sincere appreciation before returning to her place on the couch next to Yami. She found herself taking giant bites of the delicious bread.
Suddenly an angry voice called out from the other side of the room. “YOU WON’T EAT MY HOMEMADE FOOD BUT YOU’LL EAT THAT SUB-PAR BREAD FROM THE MARKET?”
Yami and Charlotte looked at each other in panic.
“No! Charmy! It’s not like that at all! I just… My stomach is…not well today. It seems that I can only tolerate very plain food this morning.”
“It’s true,” Yami confirmed. “I saw her yackin’ earlier in the bathroom.”
“My food is so gross to you that it made you throw up?!” Charmy ran into the other room, hands in the air with dismay. The other occupants of the room all stared in silence, completely confused by what had just happened.
“This might become a problem,” Charlotte said.
“Nah, she’ll get over it once you eat somethin’ of hers later. Or she’ll just forget. She’s kinda like a wild animal.” Yami did his best to provide comfort but knew that Charlotte was likely right and that they’d have to find a way to fix whatever this emotionally charged situation was.
For now he was just focused on figuring out what was going on with his fiancée.