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Dragons don’t get sick.
At least, that’s what Mal had insisted, even if the pounding head, fever and runny nose seemed to suggest otherwise. It had been years, centuries, millenia since Mal had last been sick and she wasn’t about to admit to it now.
Regina swore she was exaggerating about that last part.
Regina also assured her that she wasn’t dying , and that this realm hosted a whole slew of germs she had not yet been exposed to and apparently these germs didn’t care that she was a dragon and insisted she could get sick anyway.
Of course, she’d attempted to heal herself, but her magic didn’t seem to want to work properly as her nose kept right on dripping in spite of her best efforts. She swore the cough was interfering with her concentration. Regina had explained that you can’t do away with a cold by magic, and she’d just have to “ride it out” to “build up an immunity.”
“I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about,” Mal had said, as she pouted - actually pouted , “but if it takes this amount of suffering to ‘build up an immunity’ then I want no part in immunity. You’re not sick. You can heal me.”
Regina had just smiled sympathetically while shaking her head. “I swear, you’ll get better on your own in a couple of days. I caught every bug imaginable when I first came here, too. I promise you will be fine.”
Mal had called Lily once Regina went to work, but found no solace there, either.
“I’m sorry, but Mom, wallowing won’t help. You gotta suck it up. You’re a scary dragon bitch, remember?”
Mal knew it was meant to be encouraging, but it did nothing to ward off the sneezing fit that came shortly after she got off the phone with her daughter.
By the time Regina came home on her lunch break to check on her, Mal was sprawled out on their bed, moaning in her agony, with a mountain of balled up tissues on the floor.
Regina sighed as she magicked the tissues away and made her way over to the bed, trying to be as soothing and gentle as possible as she sat down on the bed next to Mal and place her wrist on her forehead.
“You’re still burning up,” Regina commented.
“I’m always hot, I’m-”
“A dragon, I know,” Regina finished gently, standing up again. “But you’re too hot. You need more advil.”
“I don’t need you to mother me, you know,” Mal commented, her voice still raspy, when Regina returned with advil and a glass of water. “I had a mother of my own.”
Regina raised an eyebrow. “Did you?” Of course, she knew Mal must have had a mother, but she’d never mentioned her before and Regina was immediately intrigued.
“Yes. And if she were here, she’d likely be telling me to… how did Lily put it? Oh, yes, ‘suck it up, it’s just a cold’.”
Regina smiled as she sat down again. “Well, I’m not your mother and I wouldn’t be so crass. It’s your first cold in this realm. You’re allowed to whine, I suppose. Now, sit up and take your medicine.”
Mal groaned as she did what she was told. She’d never admit it, but the medicine did help - just a little. But she was quite sure Regina’s attention helped a whole lot more.
“I took the afternoon off work.”
Mal looked at her in surprise. “For me?”
“Of course, for you,” Regina said with a chuckle. “I can’t take your cold away but I can at least try to make you feel a little more comfortable.”
Between work, and adult children, and nearly adult children, and curses and villains, the two women didn’t always get time to just be , and Mal wasn’t about to squander an opportunity to seek comfort in Regina’s open arms. She didn’t waste a second snuggling in against her, as Regina enveloped her in her arms.
“This is nice,” Mal commented softly, her head nuzzled in against Regina’s chest.
“MMhmm,” Regina agreed, as she began running her fingers through Mal’s hair. “Now try to get some sleep. You’ll feel better.”
“I already feel better. I suppose I can survive a world of new germs and building an immunity if it means I get you to take care of me.”
Regina smiled and pressed a kiss onto Mal’s forehead. “Always, my love.”