Untitled
a The Conjurer Princess story
by Ren

"H-sht!....H-cht!"

Lylene looked up. "Bless you."

Weiland just glared at her, as if daring her to say something else.

"Are you sick?" Lylene knew she was pushing her luck, but he was, after all, her partner, and she was concerned.

"I'm fine." Came the short, though unexpected, reply.

As Weiland climbed into the bed, Lylene sighed and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders, preparing herself for a long nights watch.

"H-pfft!....H-mpt!.....Heh...H'mpch!"

"Bless you" Lylene piped up softly.

Weiland started, and without raising his head repled, "I-I d- didn't know you w-were awake."

Lylene smiled to herself and looked over her shoulder.

"Asleep on my watch? I would never do that!"

She heard Weiland snort as he no doubted remembered what had happened the last time she had fallen asleep on her watch. As she looked at his form through the thin sheets, she realized that the shaking was not from laughter. She slowly got to her feet and quietly moved over to the bed, where she got a good view of Weiland shivering violently.

Lylene gasped.

"Weiland...." She started.

He cut her off with a glare before she got much further. Lylene's mothering instincts kicked in and she refused to be swayed so easily; she slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. After taking off her blanket and laying it over him on top of the sheets, she reached her hand forward to feel his forehead.

With almost lighting quick speed, Weiland's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, halting her action in mid air.

She tried to wrestle her way out of his grip but he had a firm hold. Noting that his hand was ice cold, and that he was still shaking, she pulled herself together and glared back with all the ferocity she could manage.

"I'm just trying to help," She said angrily.

"I d-don't n-need your h-help," he replied irritably, although the stammering due to his chattering teeth made him seem quite a bit less fierce.

They scowled at each other for a few minutes before finally Lylene pushed herself away with a sigh.

"At least let me make you another blanket then." She appealed.

As she suspected, he refused. He was still too distrustful of her powers to let her use them more than she had to. And to him, this was not one of those times.

Lylene just stared at him, wondering what she could do to help. She was almost certain that he would never admit to needing help, but she couldn't just let him freeze all night and get worse than he already was. She turned around and began thinking of what else she could do to make it warmer, short of lighting a fire which would surely burn down the entire room. The more she thought about it, the more frustratingly obvious is became to her that there was nothing she could do. She whipped around to try plead with him one final time, but stopped short when she noticed the expression on his face.

"Heh-scht!.....H'cht!...Heh....heh-ISHT!"

She sighed. "Bless you," she said quietly.

He blinked watery eyes at her and all of a sudden looked much more tired than before. She walked over and knelt next to him, and cautiously reaching her hand towards his forehead again. When the expected hand did not shoot out to stop her this time, she gently placed her palm on her partners forehead. She looked at him worriedly.

"You have a fever," she stated plainly.

Weiland, who never subjected himself to weakness, who would cut off his own arm before asking for help, said nothing. Instead, whether he meant to or not, he leaned into her hand, which was cool to the touch.

Lylene, who was more than a little concerned now, knew better than to say anything, and left her hand where it was a moment longer. Between his fever and his uncontrollable shivering, she didn't know what to do. It had been a long time since she had taken care of anyone who was sick, and with Weiland, she didn't know how far he'd let her go.

She gradually drew her hand away, and pulled the blankets up further; still the shivering continued.

"Weiland, I can't let you freeze all night long, you have to let me make you more blankets." She tried again.

"N-no." His reply was final.

"Well then what am I supposed to do? I...I don't know how to help. What can I do?"

"N-nothing." Though his gaze was adamant, there was a resignation in his voice that Lylene had never heard before. "I'm f- fine." Not believing a word of it, Lylene began to get upset. Her distress must have shown clearly on her face, because Weiland suddenly looked uncomfortable and avoided her eyes. Refusing to show any more weakness and pull the blankets around himself tighter, he tried to will the shaking to stop, but to no avail. There was no denying it. He was cold. He hated admitting it, but he was almost considering Lylene's offer of an extra blanket, although he would never ask for it.

He noticed a firm look of resolve upon her face, when he finally looked up.

"What?" He sighed.

Lylene stood up and walked around the bed. Weiland, figuring she had finally given up, closed his eyes and focused on getting warm. When he felt the bed move, and the sheets being lifted, he opened his eyes in surprise. Before he could manage the strength to turn his head, he felt the blankets being pulled around him tightly and Lylenes arms wrapping around his mid-section.

Before he could open his mouth in protest, Lylene pulled him closer.

"I don't care about your stupid pride, or the fact that you don't want help, I'm not going to let you stay here alone and freeze all night and get sicker than you already are!"

Although he was more than a bit uncomfortable with the situation, he had to admit that it was much warmer with her in the bed. For the first time since Lylene had met him, Weiland gave in. If he had been standing, at this point the most likely would have collapsed, as all his strength left him. To make it worse, he suddenly had to sneeze.

He tried to pull away from Lylene, but she held on tighter. He brought a hand up to his face and twitched forward.

"H-cht!....H'-isht!...Heh...H-sht!"

"Bless you," Lylene whispered.

Shifting uncomfortably, which Weiland never did, he mumbled an apology, something else that Weiland never did.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again, in a voice so close timidity that Lylene's jaw dropped.

"W-why are you d-doing this?"

She lay there, stunned, for a moment before she pulled it together and tried to find the best way to answer.

"You're my partner, Weiland....No, more than that, you're my friend. I mean, after all the times you've saved my life, it's the least I can do. I know that I'm probably just a burden to you most of the time, and I wish there was more I could do, but.....well as much as I hate to admit it, I am grateful that you let me work with you. I don't know what I'd be doing otherwise. I hate to see you like this, and I want to do my best to help."

When he didn't say anything, she worried that she'd said too much, that he would only push her away again. Instead, he pulled the blanket closer and though he still didn't turn around to look at her, smiled. She didn't see it, but felt his expression change and thought about how nice a smile he had when he wasn't scowling.

Slowly, she felt his shivering stop. Once she figured he was asleep, she began to relax and drift off herself.

"Lylene....I.."

She opened her eyes in surprise and felt him hesitate. She smiled. "I know."

"Thank you."

She moved closer and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Anytime."

~ The End ~

All characters, situations, etc...belong to author Vivian Vande Velde, this is just for my own fun, I make no money, etc...
Sorry this is from the same fandom as my only other fic...I realize no one's read the book. This was just for my own fun though, so bare with me.
Background info on story: Weiland is a mercenary, and he and Lylene are partners, of a sort. Lylene has the power to duplicate objects temporarily, and Weiland, having a bad history with 'wizards' is very distrustful of her powers