By all rights Crux should probably have had a stronger constitution. He'd been born in the north of Boreas, had never known particularly warm weather even if the Col could trap and keep heat better than many places in the area. But then he'd largely not experienced damp cold and as the season had started to change he'd noticed the difference. But it wasn't exactly freezing the way winter sometimes got in the north. Then again he'd always been less prone to sickness, even when by all rights he should have caught something after the flood, cold, soaked and overworked as he had been, he'd managed to keep even a chill at bay. So maybe it was just his luck running out.

Either way when Crux woke that morning he knew. It was hard to miss the chill for one. Their den was still something of a work in progress but the little nest they'd built for themselves was cozy, a smaller space so it kept their body heat pretty well. And yet he was still cold. Instinctually he'd curled himself in tighter, wrapped around Triss as he'd been at that moment. It was when he'd started coughing and sneezing that he'd put himself into quarantine. That was a severer sounding term than what he'd actually done. He'd picked one of the chamber's they'd yet to decide what to do with to put himself, not eager to infect Triss if he could help it. A thrown together nest of scrap pelts and little else to give him some warmth and something comfy to sleep on while he tried to recover quickly. Which was where he was, feeling achy and cold, and despite the exhaustion he already felt in his body unable to go to sleep for the time being. He was less fussy than it seemed many of his siblings were but he wasn't exactly a model patient. Largely he was just bored.

WC: 323 (323/1500)

"Speech"

When Cryptis woke to Crux’s coughing and sneezing, she had been worried about him. When he’d parked himself away from here in one of the little out of the way turn offs in their den, she found herself getting cross with him. She’d gotten some extra bedding, some dried food, and pilfered from his herbs for some hot tea. She started with setting up the tea over the little fire pit outside of their den.

Once it was heated, she poured it and made her way to the crook wolf. “Crux.” She said, her voice just boarding on demanding, but clearly attempting to be comforting. “I’m coming in.” she warned him, and he was too sick to stop her!

She made her way into the little space he had hidden himself, and tried to chuck the coat over his body. But he was tall, and her efforts fell short. Instead, the coat fell back down and landed on her head. She let out a little ‘ep!’ of surprise as she attempted to free herself. Almost knocking over the tea in her paws as she did so.

WC: 190
Total: 513


"Triss" & "Crux"

Crux knew he couldn't stop Triss from taking care of him even if he tried, so really the little space he'd made to keep from infecting her was the compromise he'd managed. Her warning was appreciated but also, he knew, a formality. Triss was slippery when she wanted to be and in his sluggish state there was no way he could have done anything to stop her. Crux settled for watching her instead, unable to help the way his tail started to brush across the floor at just the sight of her, sick or not. The little comedy of errors that played out before him couldn't help but cause a soft chuckle, which did turn into a few coughes, and Crux turned his head away to try and cough into the shoulder furthest from Triss before he turned his attention back to her.

"Careful." Crux croaked softly, reaching out a foreleg to gently lift the coat off Triss and onto himself as he'd read her intention there well enough. "We all good? No spills?" Crux looked over the smaller wolf carefully, checking for any obvious signs of having burned herself with the tea. Sick or not he couldn't seem to turn off the doctor brain. It probably made him an annoying patient to deal with all things considered. He was doing his best not to slip into quizzing Triss while she was actively trying to help him. But despite himself he couldn't help but crane his neck a bit to try and see if he could deduce what sort of tea the young woman had arrived with.

WC: 267 (686/1500)

"Triss" & "Crux"

Crux freed her from her predicament and tossed the coat over his own shoulders. She needed to make sure he kept warm until they got rid of that cough. She found she didn't like hearing him sick, not one bit. How did he cope with the raspy voice she often got when her throat was acting up?


“No spills” She assured him, through she wasn't entirely sure how she'd managed that small miracle in her failing. She forgot sometimes just how cursed big he was!


She presented the cup to him, and placed it where he could easily reach it. She might not be a trained healer, But she liked her flowers. She usually dry pressed them instead of keeping them fresh. So she'd pilfered these ones from. His stash to make the tea. “It’s camomile” She said, though she knew his well practised nose would have picked that up already 


Wc: 151

No spills, no burns, they were in the clear! Or well as clear as they could be with him sick. Crux gave a nod and tried to keep his frustration that he couldn't just scoop her up and hold her close from showing on his face. Her health over his desire to cuddle. Much as it painted him.

Triss' explanation was more useful than she might have otherwise assumed, his sense of smell was maybe not the most reliable right now. Chamomile. A good choice. Crux offered Triss a smile and a nod to say he appreciated her gesture and agreed with her choice of tea. Gently and carefully Crux took a sip, a low hum escaping his chest as he felt the warmth move through him. It would probably be a while yet before he felt less cold but no doubt the tea would help and it would definitely help to soothe his throat, which mostly felt raw from his coughing. "Thank you." He managed between a few more sips. He was finally starting to feel like his exhaustion was catching up with him but despite knowing full well he'd have told any other wolf with a cold like his to get some sleep Crux was going to fight it. He wanted to give Triss his full attention while he could.

WC: 222 (1059/1500)

"Triss" & "Crux"

Triss looked up at the larger wolf as he took the tea and sipped from it. He was looking a little miserable, and she wished she could put a smile on his maw. Her tail swished lightly behind her as she considered him. She was tempted to jump up on his back and curl up on him, but he might not appreciate her bony body right now. Not to mention his clear desire to give them space so she wouldn’t catch what he had. There were reasons for it, her throat made her more vulnerable to sickness. But she didn’t have to like it.

“Of course.” She told him in response to his thanks, watching him some more. Annoyingly, her stare didn’t miraculously heal him. “Are you hungry?” She asked him, gentling her voice a little.

Wc: 142
Tota: 1201


"Triss" & "Crux"

Was he hungry? No. In fact the idea of food right now felt uncomfortable but Crux knew he should eat. It was going to be hard for his body to fight off sickness without fuel to burn. Still... He slowly shook his head, it was partially because it was the truth and partially because he couldn't help but want to know how Triss would respond. He knew she was less focused on medicine than he was and it was absolutely in bad taste to test her but it was about one of the only things he could think of to occupy his mind enough to push off the creeping spectre of sleep. He was letting himself indulge in some minorly bad behaviour.

WC: 122 (1323/1500)

"Triss" & "Crux"

She sighed at his head shake. He was making it terribly difficult for her to look after him. She wanted to push him into bed and feed him tea until he didn’t look so miserable, and a little colour returned to his body. “They do say healers make the worst patients.” she grumbled, more to herself than to him. She took a breath before stealing herself for the job she had to do. She puffed up a little to look more menacing. (which her height definitely helped her with).

“You will drink that tea and have something to eat if you know what’s good for you.” She warned him, curling a little paw and shaking it at him for added emphasis. She ruined it by grinning a little, but she still reached forward to grab his paw, giving it a gentle tug. There was enough size difference between them that she could never do anything to force him if he didn’t want to. Instead, she had strength of personality and she was determined to use it.

Wc: over 1500


"Triss" & "Crux"