14

[notpissedoff]

[The following is scrawled quickly before dawn, and is only just recognizable as Rain's handwriting. It more closely resembles something written by a feverish, half-asleep child.]

Can't work today.

[Responses, if he responds, will be ic-ly quite delayed because he went back to sleep.]

Comments

[notpissedoff]

[No response - sleeping. Although if Castor happens to walk past Rain's room he'll hear Taichou scratching at the door.]

[Also, don't worry about it! <3]

[unevoked]

[The first time he hears Taichou scratching, he won't think anything of it-- but after the second or third time Castor walks past the door to hear the dog moving frantically, he stops to knock on it. He knew Rain had gotten smaller, just like Cloud-- but had he hurt himself or something?

Passing the piece of lettuce he had been grabbing from the kitchen to the rabbit happily poking out of a coat pocket, he rapped on the door a few times.]

Rain?

[notpissedoff]

[That he'd slept through the dog's scratching was a testament to how lousy he was feeling, but the knocking and the sound of his name woke him. Rain sat up, blinking blearily and absently scratching his arm. How late had he slept? Damn, he hadn't let Taichou outside yet...]

I'm up. [He dragged himself off the futon and over to the door, opening it and coming face-to-face - or face-to-stomach, rather - with Castor. He peered up at him, still scratching his arm. He hadn't yet noticed the rash all over his body, but the fever... that, he had noticed.]

What time is it?

[unevoked]

[His brows furrowed. He had gotten used to seeing Rain as a child, sure, but something about seeing him covered in red splotches-- well, it answered his question of what was up.]

I was starting to wonder. [Castor shook his head.] Mid-afternoon. You feeling okay? I can take Taichou out if you need.

[Because Rain certainly didn't look okay, between having just woken and being covered in a speckledlotchy rash. Ordinarily he would have just made a note to give Rain some room and let him go about his business, but... well. He was just a kid right now, right?]

[notpissedoff]

[At hearing what time it was, Rain's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before narrowing as he frowned. It was that late? He glanced down, pondering whether to stubbornly insist on taking Taichou out himself despite the fact that he wanted little more than to crawl back into bed... and finally noticed the red spots on his arms. He froze momentarily.]

...What in the hell? [Such language coming from someone who appeared to be seven or eight years old probably sounded pretty comical, but well, Rain wasn't amused. Was this the Tree's doing, was he genuinely sick, or had he come into contact with something poisonous?]

[Taichou, meanwhile, was sniffing curiously at Castor's pocket wherein the rabbit was contained. Rain sighed and leaned against the doorframe, still tired despite how long he'd slept. He started scratching his other arm.]

You can just open the door and let him run around on his own. He won't go far. [Sick or not, he didn't want to have to rely too much on other people's help.]

[unevoked]

[Castor glanced down to the dog as the rabbit squirmed, the animal finally speaking up: "Come on, Shinji, I'm sick of getting caught by dogs. Can you at least move he higher?" At least he had learned, by now, that he was the only one who could hear it-- rather than respond, he moved the lanky creature up to his shoulder to perch, away from Taichou's reach as he continued talking to Rain.]

Yeah, I'll let him out in a sec. [A nose wrinkled as Rain started scratching his rash again.] You might not wanna do that- it'll spread or get infected or somethin'. You wanna put something on it?

[It looked almost like chickenpox-- which kind of made sense, if Rain was a kid. Maybe Inara had left some kinds of lotion around that could be used.]

[notpissedoff]

[Rain hadn't even realized he was scratching, and forced himself to stop. It wasn't helping much, anyway. It wasn't just his arms though; his entire body was itchy. He peered down the front of his far-too-big nightshirt.]

I don't think it could spread much more. [He was completely covered in red spots.] But if we have anything that will help...

[Castor acted like he knew what he was talking about, anyway. Rain looked back up at him.] You know what this is?

[unevoked]

[He took Taichou by the collar, nodding.] Yeah. I think.. something 'bout oatmeal helped. Just some kinda lotion in general, probably. Gimme a sec to let him outside, and I'll look for it. [A pause.] You eaten today?

And it looks like something kids get-- Chickenpox. [Maybe they didn't see much of it in the tree since there didn't seem to be many children-- after all, most people caught it young, right?] One've those things where you catch it once, then you can't catch it again. It ain't deadly or anything.

[notpissedoff]

[Rain silently shook his head at Castor's question. Having done nothing but sleep so far today, he hadn't eaten anything. Despite that, he really didn't have much of an appetite at the moment, but he knew that he probably should eat something. But... oatmeal? He furrowed his brows slightly in confusion.] How would eating oatmeal help with a rash?

[...So had the Sphere de-aged him back to the point in his life when he'd had this illness, or had he caught it here? In any case...] If it's contagious, I suppose I should stay in until it's gone. [And do his best to avoid people - which meant getting Castor to look for lotion and let the dog out for him. Rain didn't like needing the help, but it was the smartest option.]

[He shivered, folding his arms and awkwardly glancing down to where Taichou's tail was excitedly thwapping against his leg.]

[unevoked]

[He shrugged.] I'll look. Gimme a sec, I'll be back. [And with that, he turned to take Taichou to the back door, letting the dog free to bound about and find a place to pee. He'd retrieve him later-- if Rain was right and he could be trusted not to go too far, then it was fine, right? Now to find something useful for Rain.

After a few more minutes of ruffling through drawers closer to the commercial-side of the spa, looking over every little bottle or lube of fruity-scented whatever was out there, he finally returned with the blandest (and most helpful,) one he could find. He rapped on the door quickly once before going ahead and opening it.]

You know if you've had a fever? [Because while he had nothing to do, he could at least make sure the kid-- well. Rain wasn't going to die.] If so, you should get a drink and under some covers. Here. [he held out the bottle of lotion-- if nothing else, it was something to try.]

[notpissedoff]

[Taichou would stay on Wellspring, at least - the dog didn't like the bridges much, and wouldn't cross them alone. He might run around the island for awhile, but he'd turn up back at the spa when he got tired. Rain wasn't worried. He sat cross-legged on his futon and idly leafed through his journal as he waited for Castor to return. As much as he would have preferred to just curl up and go back to sleep, he could hold out for a few minutes.]

[He glanced up as Castor let himself in, and accepted the lotion with a tilt of his head and a scrutinizing look at the bottle.] ...Thanks. [Well, he'd try it. It probably wouldn't make things any worse.]

I do have a fever. [He didn't like admitting it, but doubted he was doing a great job of hiding it. His face felt flushed, and he was shivering sporadically. Sighing, Rain set the lotion aside for now and pulled his blanket over his lap. And unconsciously started scratching his chest.]

[unevoked]

[He let out a short, acknowledging noise, frowning at that. He was sure Rain didn't want or need him looking after him... but he was a kid right now. It was as though he had some kind of obligation. Or at least wanted to make sure he was well.]

Like I said, keep hydrated. It shouldn't last too long. [And if it did, medical was right across the ways. His brows furrowed at the additional scratching, muttering a quick:] Quit that.

Anything else you need?

[notpissedoff]

[Rain stilled his hand and let it drop to his lap, lightly clutching the blanket to keep from scratching more. Yeah, he'd try that lotion out sooner rather than later. He glanced aside at the wall.]

...Maybe some water. [A brief pause.] But I can get that. [He really didn't want to get up again, but he also didn't want to bother Castor more than he already had. It was just a matter of avoiding people so he didn't make anyone else sick... and really, he was quite good at avoiding people.]

[unevoked]

[He nodded. He would rather go get it, anyway, rather than let Rain be sick in the kitchen-- especially if he could have been contagious. The last thing they needed was the whole spa coming down with something.] Nah, stay put, I got it. Like I said, get some rest.

[After all, it wasn't as though Rain could help being sick. He withdrew once more to fetch a glass of water from the back of the spa, pausing to glance out the window at Taichou running about. At least the dog was fine, and if Rain could just sleep off the illness-- without scratching his skin off-- then it was just a momentary hassle.

He returned once more, passing the glass to Rain.] I got no clue how long this's supposed to last. Shouldn't be that long, I think.

[notpissedoff]

[He almost started to protest, but Castor was already out the door. So instead, Rain applied a bit of the lotion to one of his arms and rubbed it in, just to see if it would do anything. Hm... he supposed it helped a little bit. Better than nothing, anyway.]

[He leaned back against the cool surface of the wall, pulling the blanket up around his shoulders and shutting his eyes - just for a moment - and to his embarrassment, he was starting to doze off like that when Castor returned. Snapping awake and hoping he hadn't noticed, Rain accepted the glass with a muttered 'thank you' and took a small sip. Then a larger one, as he realized just how thirsty he was.]

Good. I don't want to miss too much work.