(no subject)

Sep 08, 2006 20:17

Title: Dragon Pox
Author: Earthstar_chan
Fandom/Couple: Slayers/ Zelgadis/Amelia
Theme: Worse Days
Rating: G
Warning: None



Zelgadis slowly moved his hand toward his neck. He had to be careful, if he moved too quickly they would notice and it would all over. Slowly and steadily, Zelgadis’s hand reached his neck. It had to be done. He didn’t care about the consequences. He didn’t care about the lecture or yelling that would follow soon after. He had to do it. He had to scratch.

Relief washed over him, like a wave of cold water on a hot day, as he vigorously scratched. However, the relief was short lived as Gourry grabbed Zelgadis’s wrist. "Lina, he’s scratching again."

A growl escaped Lina's lips as she put her book down. "Dammit Zel! We've told you a million times not to scratch!" She marched over to the bed. "If you scratch, you're just making scars! How hard is that to drill into your brain!"

Zelgadis glared. It was bad enough that he was sick and forced to stay in bed while covered from head to toe in purple spots, but having Lina and Gourry watching him like he was naughty child just hurt his pride.

"I don't care! My body is itching like crazy!"

"That's probably why people don't like getting the dragon pox" Gourry replied.

Zelgadis wiggled his wrist free. “That goes without saying! I don’t see why I can’t scratch! I have stone skin! I can’t get scars!”

Lina rolled her eyes. “Sure and you also said that, and I quote, ‘I can’t get the dragon pox since I’m a chimera’. And we can all see how right you were about that!”

Zelgadis grumbled and leaned against his pillow. Yes, those were his exact words. Sometimes, he was positive that irony was just out to get him and make his life miserable.

It had all started innocently enough. They had come to this inn but before they could even enter the inn’s owner stopped them at the door. Apparently his son had the dragon pox and advise that they shouldn’t come unless they had already had it. It was one of those weird diseases that you could only catch once in your life and then afterwards you were immune.

Lina, Gourry and Amelia reassured the owner that they had already had it as children. When it was Zelgadis’s turn to answer he admitted to never having dragon pox, in fact this was the first time he had ever heard of it. However, Zelgadis wasn’t worried. He was a chimera, so he couldn’t get sick. The owner appeared doubtful, but simply warned that he was entering at his own risk and to not blame him if he got sick.

Zelgadis didn’t think of dragon pox again until dinner. His stomach felt unsettled, but he shrugged it off as indigestion until he felt his dinner coming up, and escaped to the bathroom. The others, especially Amelia, were concerned, but Zelgadis told them not to worry.

Then the fever came. It forced him to go to bed early, but he thought he would feel like himself again in the morning. Then the horror came. Zelgadis awoke to find his body was covered in purple spots. When the others found out, they practically shoved him back into bed and now Zelgadis had to deal with Lina and Gourry watching him like he was a criminal trying to escape. He hated this.

Gourry yawned. “Lina, when is Amelia coming back? I need a break.”

“Me too.” Lina replied. “She should be back from shopping soon. Then we can........ZEL IF YOU SCRATCH THAT ELBOW I’LL KILL YOU!!”

Zelgadis glared like a child defying his mother. “I don’t care.”

Lina’s eyes narrowed. “Well.....if that’s how you’re going to be........” She turned back to the swordsman. Her unreadable face was equal to that of a general giving orders to invade a castle. “Gourry, hold him down!”

Before Zelgadis could react, Gourry pinned both of his arms down on the bed. Zelgadis wiggled like a fish caught in a net. “Gourry let me go!” Zelgadis didn’t have a clear view, but he could feel that Lina was doing something to his hands.

Once she appeared to be finished, she yelled “Okay Gourry, you can let him go now.”

Zelgadis bolted upward and looked. His eyes widened in utter horror. He was wearing the biggest and thickest pair of oven mitts he’d ever seen. Zelgadis would have pulled them off except that Lina had tied rope around his wrists to keep them there.

Zelgadis raised his head to Lina who merely shrugged. “Sorry Zel, but this is for your own good.”

“You’re evil.”

“Hey take it up with my mom. This is what she did to keep me from scratching.”

Just then, Amelia appeared at the door. “I’m back!”

“It’s about time.” Gourry muttered. “Zel is a lousy patient.”

Amelia carried her bags over to the table. “Well maybe he’ll feel better once he sees the stuff I’ve got to make him feel better.”

“It would make me feel better if you didn’t talk like I’m not here.”

Amelia turned her head. “Sorry Mr. Zelgadis.........why are you wearing oven mitts?”

Lina patted Amelia’s shoulder. “I’m afraid it was time for drastic measures, Amelia. Anyway, Gourry and I will leave Zel to you for awhile. We’re taking a well deserved break.”

The princess nodded as she watched the pair leave.

Zelgadis folded his arms, which was hard to do because the oven mitts kept getting in the way. “I don’t see why you have to watch me like I’m a prisoner.”

“We’re just making sure you don’t scratch. Besides, everyone needs someone to take care of them when they’re sick.” Amelia smiled and opened one of the bags she bought. “And I got a few things to cheer you up. I got you three new books to read.....”

Zelgadis held up his mitt covered hands. “How am I suppose to read when I can’t turn the pages.”

Amelia thought, and then replied “I’ll turn the pages for you.”

“Great....”

“Finally I got you something that’s really going to help with the itching. Ta da!”
Amelia held out a large stuffed white bunny.

Zelgadis blinked, confused. “How is that supposed to help me?”

“It’s a scratching bunny!” Amelia replied. “When I had the dragon pox, my daddy got me a bunny like this. He told me that whenever I felt the need to scratch I should hug the bunny really tight until the itch went away.”

Both of Zelgadis’s eyes were twitching. “No offense Amelia, but I’m not going to resort to that.” He straightened his posture to show he wasn’t kidding. “I may be sick, but I still have my pride and dignity and therefore......”

Suddenly, both of his arms and his neck were feeling beyond itchy. It was the biggest itch yet.

Amelia got worried as she watched the disgruntled expression appear on Zelgadis’s face. “Are you alright?”

Zelgadis grinded his teeth and then he said “Give me the stupid bunny.”

Amelia happily handed the bunny over and Zelgadis hugged it like there was no tomorrow. “So much for keeping my dignity.”

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“I got your bath ready Mr. Zelgadis.” Amelia called from the bathroom.

The chimera climbed out of bed. “Are you sure this is going to help?”

The princess threw a fist in the air. “Absolutely! Mr. Gourry said that is an old remedy in his family and it really helped him with the itching when he was sick.”

“Alright then.” Zelgadis wasn’t sure how much it would help, but after being in his pajamas for the past two days a hot bath would feel good. Besides, surely there couldn’t be a weirder cure than having to hug a stuffed bunny. Plus, at least Lina couldn’t tease him for having a bath. Lina’s laughter and jokes about the bunny still rang in his ears.

Zelgadis went to the bathroom threshold and held out his hands. “Amelia, would you please take off these oven mitts. I’m assuming I have permission to take them off for a bath. Otherwise it would be rather difficult for me to undress.”

Amelia laughed nervously. “Yes you do, but Ms. Lina told me that I had to tie them back on as soon as you’re done. Sorry.”

Zelgadis sighed. “Well, at least I’ll get a little freedom.”

Amelia untied the rope around the oven mitts and then Zelgadis stepped into the bath room. His gaze lock upon the bathtube, which he had assumed would be filled with simple hot water. Zelgadis froze. He could not be seeing what he thought he was seeing. “It’s a hallucination,” he thought. “I’m running a high fever and I’m seeing things.”

He turned to Amelia hoping her answer would confirm his theory. “Amelia....is the bath tub filled with....oatmeal?”

“That’s right.”

He stared at her, looking for any hint that this was some kind of joke. “You want me to bathe in OATMEAL?!”

“Yes.”

Zelgadis sharply turned around. “I’m going back to bed.”

The princess grabbed his arm. “Wait! Please try it Mr. Zelgadis! Mr. Gourry told me that it does work!”

“And I was once told that there’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, but I don’t believe that for a second!”

“Please try it!” she pleased as her eyes began to water a bit. “It was REALLY hard to keep Ms. Lina from wanting to eat all the oatmeal! I had to agree to pay for her supper.”

Zelgadis looked back at Amelia’s now big puppy dog eyes. He knew there was no way out of this without him feeling like a jerk. “Fine. I’ll try it. So can you please leave so I can undress and get in.”

Amelia’s face brightened. “Sure thing!” She headed for the door. “Just call me when you’re done so I can put the oven mitts back on.”

Zelgadis sighed as he undressed and put one foot into the oatmeal. “At least it’s hot” he muttered as he brought the rest of his body in. The bath was sticky, but the warmth felt good against his itching skin. “I’ll be fine with this,” he thought “just as long as no one offers me a rubber ducky.”

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Later that night, Amelia quietly entered Zelgadis’s room. She wanted to be sure that he wasn’t having any trouble sleeping. Amelia was glad to see that Zelgadis was sleeping soundly. Although, she couldn’t resist giggling. Zelgadis was hugging the bunny to his chest with one arm. He looked like a child that was sleeping with his favorite teddy bear.

Amelia then noticed that one of his blankets was starting to slip off his bed. Silently, she tip toed to his bed, then placed the blanket back on the bed and tucked it under his chin. The princess paused for a moment to be sure she hadn’t awakened him. When she saw no sign of this she smiled and turned to leave.

“Thanks Amelia.”

Amelia stopped and turned. The chimera stared back at her with one eye opened “Mr. Zelgadis? Did I wake you?”

“Yes, but don’t feel bad about it. It’s almost impossible to escape my hearing.”

Amelia blushed slightly. She had forgotten how good his hearing was. “I just wanted to check if you needed anything to help you sleep.”

“Thanks, but it’s alright. I’m fine.”

Amelia nodded. “Okay, I’ll let you sleep then.”

“Wait, Amelia.” Zelgadis sat up. “I do want to thank you...”

“You already did that.”

“No, I mean for taking care of me altogether. I know I haven’t been an easy patient.”

Amelia shrugged. “That may be true, but I don’t mind. You’re my friend and it comes with the job. You would do the same for me. You know, you should also thank Ms. Lina and Mr. Gourry too.”

“Only when Lina takes these mitts off of me.”

Amelia laughed and headed to the door. “Goodnight Mr. Zelgadis.”

“Goodnight Amelia.” The chimera crawled under his covers and had dreams of attacking Lina with giant oven mitts.

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“So what’s the verdict?” Zelgadis asked.

Lina said nothing as she continued to study Zelgadis’ face. She lifted his chin to check his neck. “I don’t see any new spots and your old ones are just about healed......” Lina slapped Zelgadis on the back. “Congrats Zel! I’d declare you cured!”

“Great.” He mumbled as he groaned. “Now I just have to worry about back pain.”

Amelia picked up the stuffed bunny that was now sitting on the table. “I wonder what we should do with this?”

“Toss it.” Zelgadis replied.

Lina smirked and pretended to be shocked. “What Zel? You don’t want to keep your cute little bunny?!”

“Not funny Lina.”

“But he’s still in good condition.” Amelia continued. “It would be a shame to just throw it out.”

“Maybe we could give it to some kid.” Gourry suggested.

Lina shook her head. “Not a good idea. There’s a good chance that it got contaminated while it was with Zel. So, it’s mostly likely that any kid we gave it to would get the dragon pox.”

Zelgadis was silent as his brain digested this information. An evil grin appeared remarkably similar to Lina’s grin right before she attacked some bandits. “I know who we can give the bunny to.....”

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It took a lot to surprise Xellos. He had made a habit of always knowing what his acquaintances were up to, no matter how small or trivial it may be. However, for the last week, Xellos had been busy giving baths to Beast Master Zelas’s favorite wolves. It was not an easy task.

When he was finally done, he decided to drop in on Lina and her friends to find out what he had been missing. He never expected for them to actually be waiting for him. The fact that they had wanted to give him a present was even more surprising.

Xellos’s eyes narrowed, but he opened the gift. He was even more astounded if not a little scared and disturbed to find a stuffed bunny in the box. “This must be a trick,” he thought, but the Mazoku sensed no magical energy or seals on the bunny. So, as far as he could tell, the toy was harmless magic wise.

Now being a bit curious, Xellos gave a polite thank you and took the bunny to his home. It wasn’t until a day later when purple spots appeared on his body that Xellos fully realized the treachery behind the bunny. He loathed irony.
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