Made For Each Other
~*~
Part III
That night found a sulking Luka flipping through the pages of his still unfinished book while not really seeing them. Words and paragraphs swam before his eyes, blurring into an undecipherable mass and causing the pounding behind his eyes to intensify to a throbbing that matched his heartbeat. Feeling more then slightly nauseated, he shut the book and weakly tossed it in the general direction of his bedside table. A soft thump alerted him to the fact that he had missed.
With a groan, he flopped back onto his pillows, a rising heat now engulfing his aching head. At least his stomach was churning anymore. Or maybe…
With a strangled exclamation of surprise, he sat up and threw himself off the bed, towards his bedroom door, while his stomach roiled dangerously. Flinging open the door, he almost ran into a very startled Hiryuu, her hand raised as if she had been about to knock. Without so much as a backward glance, he pushed past her and tore off down the hall towards the bathroom. Hiryuu followed in hot pursuit and arrived just in time to have the door slammed loudly in her face. A disgusting heaving noise ensued, followed by the sound of something splashing into the toilet.
Wincing, she ran off down the hall once more, this time headed towards the kitchen where she grabbed a few towels, dampened them with water and ran back towards the bathroom. The confused stares of Nell, Luel, and Madame Batolli trailed her retreating form.
Knocking only a little before bursting in, Hiryuu quickly took in the scene before her. A very pale sweating Luka was crouched over the toilet, his arms shaking dangerously and his upper body unclothed. A quick glance confirmed Hiryuu's hunch and she promptly flushed the toilet, kneeling down beside the sickened wizard. The look he gave her only held a small fraction of the hatred it normally did, and the blonde-haired girl took this as a bad sign.
She laid one of the damp towels across the back of his neck and when he feebly tried to push her away, she slapped his hand gently. "I'm just trying to help you, baka! So calm down for a just a minute, ok?" He complied without putting up even token resistance; another sign of just how bad he was feeling.
With a sigh, Hiryuu took the other towel and gently began sponging the pale face suspended over the porcelain bowl, only to have her hand once more pushed away as he heaved again. Making soothing shushing noises, Hiryuu gently massaged Luka's back until the heaves stopped. "I think…I think I'm done now," he admitted weakly, almost collapsing forward into his recently regurgitated food. With a stifled cry, Hiryuu caught the trembling form of the 21st century's greatest wizard and flushed the toilet once more.
She stood up slowly, still sponging his face and without hesitation slipped an arm around his waist. "Come on Luka," she said. "Let's get you back to bed."
Nodding weakly, he gingerly put an arm around her shoulders and let her support him down the hall to his room. Luel stood at the other end of the hall, worry written all over his face as he saw his brother and Hiryuu emerge from the bathroom. He turned and quietly went back into the kitchen, hiding his worry from the two women still seated there.
But apparently he had not hid it fast enough. "What's wrong Luel?" Nell asked, her voice shaking slightly.
He shook his head. "Nothing, Luka's just sick, that's all."
Madame Batolli rose quickly, almost knocking her chair over. "Well then, why didn't you go see if he needed anything?! If he's sick…" But her way was blocked by one lean arm from Luel.
His eyes sparkled with something, some emotion even the witch couldn't make out. "I think Hiryuu has things under control," he said, smugness tinting his voice below the concern.
With a knowing smirk, Madame Batolli sat back down and continued eating her dinner, much to Nell's surprise. "Hiryuu?!" she shrieked.
But nods and smiles were all she got from the two adults; so with a slightly put-out air, Nell finished her dinner in silence, wondering all the while what everyone was hiding from her.
~*~
Luka surprised himself almost as much as he surprised Hiryuu, by letting the slender magic-wielder guide him to bed and continue to wipe his face with a damp towel. Muttering something unintelligible, he tried for the third time to push her away and once more he was firmly deterred.
Looking down at him with a mild rebuking gaze, Hiryuu said, "Stay here," and left the room. Folding his hands over his still aching stomach, Luka rolled over onto his side and curled into a ball. What was he doing?! Letting this, this girl, see him like this. He was Luka Guillaume Reinhardt for crying out loud! Not some sniveling weakling. But his own body betrayed him as he tried to rise and almost fell face first onto the floor.
Perfect timing, as it was at that moment that Hiryuu reentered the room, carrying an armful of objects intended for the wizard. "What did I tell you?!" she cried, dropping all her things and rushing forward to lay him back down upon the bed once more.
With another chastising glare, she stooped down and began gathering all the things she had dropped, failing to notice Luka's eyes following her form.
His amber eyes watched her through hooded lids, sliding easily over her frame as water would over smooth stones. They lingered slightly longer on her chest and lower back; it was becoming more and more apparent to the wizard that Hiryuu was not just some young girl from off the streets. But his gaze quickly snapped back to the dim ceiling above as she rose and walked over to his bedside, dumping her things on the bedside table.
Humming softly, she whipped out a thermometer and as Luka opened his mouth to protest, she quickly stuck it in. Realizing what a dumb move that had been, the young man felt his cheeks flush in discomfiture. But Hiryuu, if she noticed, paid it no attention and was soon pouring something into a glass. Glancing over and finding Luka's gaze glued to it with a wary look in his eyes, she laughed and said, "Don't ask what it is, you're better off not knowing. Just drink it and you'll feel better."
And she handed him the glass, taking the thermometer out of his mouth as she did so. Reading the digital display and finding his body heat way above normal, she shook her head and set the little probe down. Luka had already downed the liquid, she could tell by the way his face was twisted in a fierce grimace. Smiling again, she took the empty glass from his still slightly trembling hand and set it down next to the thermometer.
Luka's other hand was still clamped tightly over his stomach and Hiryuu noted that his knuckles were white with strain. Tutting, quietly, she pried his hand off and smacked away his other hand for the forth time in ten minutes. "Please Luka!" she exclaimed, exasperation finally making its way into her voice. With a tired sigh, he relaxed a little as he felt the first swoop of her warm hand across his cramping stomach muscles.
Her other hand soon joined the first and she started humming again, all the while massaging the tight muscles beneath her sure fingers. With a soft groan, Luka relaxed even more, sinking back into his pillows and letting Hiryuu's obviously experienced hands rove all over his lower torso. He could feel the gentle heat radiating off of them, sinking into his spasming muscles and calming them more then any medication ever could.
The violet-eye girl felt the calming also, but the hardness beneath her fingertips did not cease. With a start she realized that his abs were naturally this toned. Her cheeks going slightly pink, she continued without faltering, glad for the dim light to hide her flush. He really was good-looking, she admitted to herself. Shoulder-length dark hair fanned out on the pillow around his noble face, and unfocused amber eyes looked at the ceiling while she reached up to brush a stray lock of hair off his face, noticing the small scar on his forehead as she did so.
He seemed to come back slowly, turning to look at her as if moving through gelatin. His gaze met hers and he said something. Shaking her head slightly, she leaned in and answered, "What?"
"Don't…go…" he whispered again, cheeks flushing red. Whether it was from the fever or from something else, Hiryuu never did know.
"Um…ok," she answered uncertainly, her hands almost wavering on his abdomen.
With a relived moan, he closed his eyes and soon she noticed his chest rising and falling evenly. Sitting back, she rubbed her own tired eyes with aching hands and jumped about a foot in the air when another hand slipped into hers with a firm grasp.
Luka, still sleeping, pulled her hand back down to the bed, and refused to let go, no matter how hard Hiryuu tugged. His face was relaxed and open in his sleep, revealing an almost child-like anxiety that pulled at the girl's heartstrings. He was lonely, even she could see that.
So with a tender chuckle, she resettled her slim frame more comfortably into the chair at his bedside and prepared for a long night without much sleep.
It was nothing new to her.
Part IV
