Work Text:
In which Fauna takes care of a sick Kronii.
(This fiction contains a NONSEXUAL shared shower scene)
"You should shower, y'know. This room reeks of illness." Fauna mused, giving Kronii a small smile.
The warden scoffed with mock offense.
"How rude."
But then she sniffed at the air herself, and her nose wrinkled.
"..Yeah, it does, doesn't it..?" Kronii said sheepishly.
She sighed, stretching her fatigued muscles, then side-eyed Fauna.
"..But I'm not sick though," The warden added stubbornly.
"Oh? You smell sick," Fauna replied with a grin.
♡
It was just a small thing, a sneeze every once in a while. A cough or two here and there. Kronii didn't think anything of it, really. Ouro Kronii didn't get sick. She hadn't been sick in years! How could it happen now?
Or at least, that's what she thought. But she began coughing more and more, so much that her throat began to hurt and feel raw. Her voice went hoarse, and she wheezed.
But still, she wasn't sick.
Ouro Kronii didn't get sick.
It wasn't until the third day of incessant coughing and hacking that her girlfriend finally forced Kronii to stay home from work.
"You're sick;" Fauna had firmly stated.
"You have to stay home so it doesn't get any worse."
So now, Kronii sat in her bed alone, shivering and coughing weakly. She felt terrible, with a pounding headache that wouldn't go away and a chill that even wrapping herself in a blanket burrito didn't help.
She whined from the pain and covered her face with her sheets. But just then, she heard soft footsteps coming her way. The door creaked open, and in stepped Fauna. "Kronii? Hey, how are you feeling?" The kirin asked. Kronii just grumbled in response and curled up further into the sheets.
Fauna smiled and placed her hand on Kronii's forehead. Still very warm. Kronii was sick, whether she'd admit it or not. Fauna sat on the bed next to Kronii's shivering body, and rested her hand gently on top of the Warden's head.
"I'm going to stay with you until you get better. You've just gotta relax and get lots of rest, alright?"
A small, weak nod would be the only answer fauna got, but it was enough for her.
"How's your throat feeling? Still sore?"
Kronii nodded.
"It hurts whenever I swallow," She rasped.
Fauna gave her girlfriend a pitying look and ran her fingers through Kronii's hair softly.
She got up and left the room, coming back moments later with a cup of water for Kronii to sip from.
The warden sat up and took the water in shaky hands, sipping gingerly. The coolness soothed her throat with every sip, and she sighed in relief.
"Thanks..." Kronii rasped. She settled back into the sheets and rested her head on her pillow with a sigh.
"...Tired.." she mumbled.
Fauna gave a smile.
"Just rest, my love. I'll be here when you wake up."
A weak nod in reply, and then the warden seemed to be asleep.
Fauna frowned with concern as she saw a small shiver from the pile of sheets.
"Poor thing... she's exhausted. I wish I could do more to help..."
The kirin placed a soft hand on Kronii's forehead, which was still very warm to the touch. When Kronii awoke, Fauna decided, she would be giving her some medicine. But for now, all she could do is wait for that moment. With a sigh, she left the room quietly.
Kronii's sleep was troubled, with flashes of feverish dreams fading in and out. Her stomach hurt, and her head pounded with every heartbeat. Her limbs felt heavier and heavier the longer she lay there. She shifted uncomfortably in bed, whimpering quietly in her sleep as her illness worsened.
Some time later, maybe a few hours, Kronii awoke. The first thing she did was kick the sheets off of herself with a groan of annoyance. She was sweaty now and felt so, so much worse now than when she went to sleep.
"..F-Fau-" Kronii's rasp was cut off by her own loud, painful coughs. She winced in pain after the coughing fit was over, and began shivering.
Fortunately for the warden, Fauna, having heard the loud coughing, came running into the room.
"Kronii?! Are you okay?" She frets. Fauna fussed over Kronii, placing her hand on the warden's forehead to check her temperature. Fauna flinched back with a gasp.
"Oh, no... Kronii, you're burning up..! Hold on, I'll go get you something."
Fauna quickly left the room, presumably to get Kronii some medicine.
To the warden's dismay, her presumption was correct. Fauna held in her hands two pill bottles, and a glass of water. Kronii scowled at the thought of taking pills, which caught the attention of Fauna.
With a giggle, she spoke.
"Kronii, you have to take this medicine. It'll help you feel better. You don't wanna be sick forever, do you?"
"I'm not sick," Kronii huffed stubbornly.
Fauna just rolled her eyes light-heartedly and sat on the bed next to Kronii.
She popped open the two bottles and took one pill from each, then handed the glass of water off to Kronii.
"Okay! first, the Tylenol. This shouldn't be too bad!"
Taking the pill in her hands, Kronii popped it into her mouth. Her face contorted with disgust at the bitter taste and she quickly swallowed it down with the water.
Her body shuddered weakly as the pill went down, and she covered her mouth as she coughed.
"Ugh.. that tastes like shit." Kronii grumbled with annoyance.
"But you did swallow it. That's good! next, here's the aspirin."
The two repeated the same steps as they did with the Tylenol, Kronii grimacing at the taste once again.
"Fauna, these meds are terrible." She coughed out.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, love. It should help, though."
"Whatever," Kronii sighed, resting her head once again.
"Was that it? I'm still a bit sleepy."
Fauna nodded down at her girlfriend.
"Yeah, that's it for now. These meds might make you a little drowsy, so you'll need to rest more anyway. Just try to relax, and I'll check on you later." Fauna murmured.
Kronii had already begun to fall asleep again by the time she heard Fauna close the door behind herself and leave.
Her sleep was a little less fitful that it had been before, now that she had taken medicine, but she still didn't feel much better. After roughly two hours, Fauna checked up on her sleeping girlfriend once again, to find her awake and shivering under the sheets. Fauna pulled back the comforter just enough to see Kronii's face, red and damp with sweat.
Kronii opened her eyes just enough to recognize it was Fauna standing in front of her, giving her a concerned stare.
"Fau...?" Kronii mumbled. Her voice was rough and hoarse due to irritation, and she coughed to hopefully clear it up. No such luck.
"Hey, love. How do you feel? Any better?" She asked. As she spoke, Fauna ran her fingers through Kronii's hair, to unstick it from her damp forehead.
"I.. Kind of better..? I think, anyway... I feel disgusting..." Kronii admitted.
Fauna gave a wry smile as she wrinkled her nose at the strong smell of sickness coming from Kronii.
"...Yeah. You should shower, y'know. This room reeks of illness." Fauna mused, giving Kronii a small smile.
The warden scoffed with mock offense.
"How rude."
But then she sniffed at the air herself, and her nose wrinkled.
"...Yeah, it does, doesn't it..?" Kronii said sheepishly.
She sighed, stretching her fatigued muscles, then side-eyed Fauna.
"..But I'm not sick though," The warden added stubbornly.
"Oh? You smell sick," Fauna replied with a grin.
Kronii only huffed in reply and strained to sit up in bed, grimacing as she felt a bead of sweat run down her back. The sheets clung to her skin and Kronii had to kick them off again. Had Fauna covered her back up in her sleep..? Either way, Kronii felt wretched and desperately wanted a shower.
She stood up... And immediately fell back into bed with a thump.
"Woah, hey, hey, hold on."
Fauna reached out to take Kronii's hands and help her stand up, slowly this time.
"You can't just stand up so quickly like that, you'll pass out. Let me help." The kirin insisted, so Kronii didn't oppose her.
The warden turned away from Fauna as the kirin walked her to the bathroom, mostly to hide the reddening of her face.
Once they got there, though, Fauna went in with her and closed the door. After a few seconds of Kronii's confused silence, Fauna understood.
"Oh, I thought I'd help you this time." Fauna stated bluntly.
Kronii felt her cheeks begin to heat up.
"W-wait, what?" She exclaimed.
"I think you need it. In your condition, I can't wait until you fall and knock yourself out in the shower. Besides, I could use a shower as well. Saves water!" Fauna mused.
It... made enough sense, Kronii reasoned. She could barely even stand without her head spinning... maybe she did need... or even want... Fauna's help.
"I... Um.. Okay." Kronii murmured. She looked everywhere but Fauna's face, but she could still sense the kirin grinning at her.
Alright then.
After getting the water running, the two began undressing. Fauna helped the sick warden get undressed, her presence proving useful when Kronii nearly lost her balance and Fauna caught her.
Kronii gave her girlfriend a quick, flustered thanks before taking a shaky step into the shower, and shuddered a bit as she felt the warm water rushing over her head and shoulders. She already felt just a tiny bit better, especially as her girlfriend stepped in after her.
Kronii closed her eyes and breathed in as deeply as she could with her nose being stuffy, and let the water rinse away the feeling of sweat and illness.
She opened her eyes and reached for the bottle of soap, but she didn't open it. Instead, she held it in her hands and stared at it, seemingly contemplating.
"Kronii? Is something wrong?" Fauna asked, concern in her eyes.
The warden felt her cheeks tingling with a blush, and she looked away.
"Uh, I just- I was just..." She trailed off, and Fauna tilted her head in confusion.
"Did you want me to get out..?" Fauna asked.
Kronii shook her head.
"No! No, I just.. was gonna ask, uhh.. did you wanna... wash each other..." Kronii had mumbled the last bit, but Fauna heard it, and her own cheeks began to redden.
"Oh! Um- sure! If you want, I'll wash you."
The kirin hesitated for a moment.
"Did you want me to leave your more... sensitive parts to you, or-?"
Kronii physically recoiled from the embarrassment, and she stammered.
"I-it doesn't matter, j-just-!"
Fauna chuckled softly at her girlfriend's reaction, then took the bottle of soap from her.
"Alright. just relax, love. I'll take care of everything."
A click, the sound of the bottle opening, and a quiet squirting noise as Fauna squeezed some of the lavender scented soap into her hands.
Fauna's soft voice soothed Kronii, but she was still tense when she felt Fauna's hands run along her body. The slow, gentle movements of Fauna rubbing the soap into her skin soothed Kronii's tired muscles, and the warden found herself actually leaning into it after a while. Her congestion even begun to clear up because of the steam from the hot water, and she could breathe deeply again.
"How's this? Good?" Fauna asked, lathering the soap into Kronii's skin.
"Mm.. Mhm.." Kronii mumbled her response into Fauna's shoulder, and placed a small kiss there. Kronii really was adorable when she was sick... The kirin gave a soft, happy smile before continuing down to Kronii's lower body. When she felt the warden tense up again, Fauna slowed.
"Relax," She murmured. "This is for your comfort."
Kronii seemed to calm at that, so Fauna continued massaging the suds into Kronii's flushed skin.
After Kronii's body was fully lathered in soap, Fauna guided her beneath the stream of water and helped her rinse it off. Kronii seemed much less embarrassed than when they first got in here, and she even turned and asked;
"Can I wash you too?"
Fauna gave a small giggle at the question, but nodded.
"Yeah, sure. just be gentle, hm?"
Kronii nodded, knowing how sensitive Fauna's skin was, and picked up the bottle of soap. Repeating what Fauna had done for her minutes ago, she lathered the soap over Fauna's skin gently. Kronii made sure she was careful not to accidentally scratch her girlfriend as she washed her. After rinsing the soap off, Kronii turns and smiles at her girlfriend warmly.
"Um... Thank-" Suddenly, Kronii's words were cut off by her legs abruptly giving out.
Fauna rushed forward and grabbed Kronii before she fell, then helped her stand. Kronii tried to hide her red face, and the kirin couldn't tell if Kronii was blushing because she nearly fell, or because her face had been pressed against Fauna's chest when she grabbed her. It didn't really matter.
"Come on, silly. Let's get you out of here before you hurt yourself." Fauna mused.
The two got out, dried off, and dressed themselves once more. Fauna had Kronii sit on the couch for a minute while she changed the bedsheets to new, clean ones. Then, she prepared a hot chicken noodle soup for Kronii to eat, and fed it to her. After the warden ate her fill, Fauna led Kronii to the bed to rest some more. But Kronii stopped her when Fauna tried to get in next to her.
"Fauna, no. You might catch whatever I have. I don't want you to get sick because of me..." Kronii warned. But Fauna simply smiled in response, and sat on the bed next to her girlfriend.
"You finally admit that you're sick, huh?" The kirin mused.
Kronii only rolled her eyes in response.
"Well, don't worry about me. I won't get sick! I've been very careful to wash my hands after touching you, and I made sure to disinfect the house. How could I get sick?" Fauna reasoned.
Kronii supposed she was right... Fauna had always been very good with this sort of thing. Maybe she was just worrying too much. Besides, she did want to cuddle her right now...
"Fine, sure. Get in," Kronii sighed.
Fauna happily obliged, climbing into bed and covering them both with the sheets.
It wasn't long before Kronii was yawning, and pulling her girlfriend closer.
"...G'night, Fauna. I love you..." Kronii mumbled into Fauna's shoulder.
"Good night, Kronii. I love you, too. So much." Fauna sighed.
Their hearts beating in sync, the two drifted off into an easy sleep.
That night, Kronii's dreams were of her and Fauna spending time together, playing and cuddling as usual. She felt much better now, and the feeling continued on to when she woke up.
Fauna was still asleep next to her, and Kronii sat up with a stretch.
"Mm... Fauna? I feel better. you helped me." Kronii whispered, not wanting to startle the kirin awake.
But from the moment Fauna's eyes cracked open, Kronii could see something was wrong.
Her girlfriend's eyes, usually bright and full of energy, were now glassy and tired.
"Oh, no, don't tell me..." Kronii fretted. She pressed her open palm against Fauna's forehead, and it felt hot to the touch. Kronii cringed away with a sigh.
"You're sick..."
Kronii spend the next two days caring for Fauna. After all of this passed, they laughed about it over dinner.