luna_in_the_sky (luna_in_the_sky) wrote in snark_n_bark, @ 2008-07-16 13:25:00 |
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Entry tags: | complete, luna, neville |
Love him, comfort him, and keep him
Characters: Neville, Luna
Summary: Nev is sick and tired of being sick and tired
Luna sighed and rubbed her eyes, the abrupt shift of the mattress and sound of Neville dashing for the bathroom no longer making her bolt out of sleep the way it had the first few days. She hated to think that her body was simply becoming familiar with Neville being ill, so she groggily chose to blame how late she'd gone to bed after putting off her least favorite of the tasks Dad had been giving her so that she could work at home. Mentally noting to change the Pisces horoscope to include something about stubborn partners before she sent it back to him, she padded into the bathroom after Neville. She held his hair back with one hand while she grabbed a flannel and wet it with the other. "Are you sure you don't want to go to St. Mungo's? Even if it is just the flu, they might be able to give you something to help with the nausea."
Neville shook his head, the motion minute as he clutched at the porcelain sides of the toilet and tried to wish the sickness away. He heaved again, and then panted as Luna bathed his face with the cooling flannel.
"I'm only being sick," he said once he had settled enough to sit on his backside and stretch out his legs which were cramped from crouching in front of the loo. "It's a stomach bug or flu, both of which I can see out without a visit to that place." He lowered himself so he was now lying flat out on the cool bathroom tiles, which felt good against his sweaty back.
Luna forced her face to remain serene, because she felt like frowning. "Then maybe you should rest more so your body can heal itself. You were still awake when I came to bed last night, pardon me, this morning. I know you're stressed and worried, but you can't stress yourself sick and then stress yourself well again." She sat on the floor next to Neville's head, her knees pulled up with her cheek resting on them while she looked at Neville. She ran her fingers along his forehead, brushing away droplets of sweat. "If this keeps up, I really will write to Zach, you know."
"It'll pass in a few days," Neville assured her, closing his eyes and turning his face into her touch. "I'm already starting to feel better. My body obviously just needs to get something out of its system." He yawned widely. "What if I go into work late? I'm shattered, and I'd rather sleep in with you than end up passing out in front of Faelan."
Luna didn't think that waking up needing to vomit and ending up lying on the cold floor was her idea of "feeling better," but other people did have strange ideas of what felt good, even Neville. She also didn't think that he'd be sleeping with her very long, not with the twins due to wake up all too soon, but if it got him back in bed resting, it sounded like a good idea to her. She'd have to remember to leave him some crackers and seltzer when she got Gawain and Nimue their breakfasts; they hadn't helped her any when she had morning sickness, but this was just the flu. "Let's get back to sleep, then. Faelan's more likely to panic than tuck you up in his bed, I'm sure." She tousled Neville's hair, then stood and offered him her hand to help him up.
"Panic would be the preferred response," Neville commented. He took Luna's hand, but there wasn't much she could do in terms of dragging him up, so he pushed himself off the tiles and let her help steady him when he experienced some head rush. "Godric, I'm tired," he admitted, shuffling out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom.
Though she found the context of Neville's fainting spell disturbing, Luna couldn't help being amused by Neville's obvious disgruntlement at finding himself in his handsome colleague's bed, nor at the fact that he'd felt the need to tell her, not as a humorous story, but as though he was confessing. He probably hadn't expected her to laugh until she started hiccoughing, nor that she would never let him live it down. Her amusement cheered her enough to push aside her worries that Neville's illness was more serious than a simple bout of the flu while she settled him back into bed, fluffing his pillow and making sure the covers were up around his chin.
She climbed into bed herself and petted Neville's hair, raising her eyebrows as she noticed Herbert climb up the side of the bed and perch on the headboard -- how had he escaped unnoticed when they were in the same room? -- but she didn't comment. Neville's dislike of the lizard wouldn't help him sleep if he knew Herbert was out of his tank. When Neville's breathing changed and she was sure he was asleep, she altered the monitoring spells so the twins would only wake her when they began to fuss, then curled up with Neville to enjoy a few more moments of sleep herself.