Butler for a Day {Corrin & Jakob}
The princess watched as he tried to grab the tea with awfully shaky hands. He did eat the food – granted it was with no comments – but he didn’t seem to be making any expressions that were similar to disgust. Perhaps he was just trying to be nice. After all, it was toast. Even with how badly the lessons had gone in the beginning, toast was really very basic. The only reason it turned out presumably alright was because it was the most basic dish she could come up with. Now, had she tried to make anything more advanced than that, she’d be back to the early days of their tea-making lessons.
And, anyway, the toast was still burnt, and the tea cold, so she really hadn’t succeeded in any way aside from not burning the kitchen down. Perhaps his standards had simply lowered. Well… he seemed to like it at least, right? Perhaps like was a strong word. She knew he needed to eat something at the very least – going on an empty stomach was simply going to make him worse.
She started to wonder if she really knew anything about how to properly take care of a person. Well, she knew the routine, but she couldn’t seem to execute even the most basic steps. The toast was burnt; the tea was cold… With another sigh, her eyes drifted towards the scene before her. Corrin realized she had gotten almost completely consumed by the thought of whether or not the breakfast would be edible that she hadn’t addressed the elephant in the room.
“Jakob… What are you doing on the floor?”
Sure enough, he was actually lying on the floor. Corrin found herself in such disbelief that she almost thought she was seeing things. The idea of her caretaker lying on the ground instead of in the empty bed next to him would seem incredibly cruel had he not been the one to do it to himself. She couldn’t quite decide what the reason for it was either. She thought perhaps he genuinely believed it was inappropriate for him to be resting in her bed, but that seemed almost absurd to her. Perhaps he was more worried about the spread of his illness.
Her expression softened as she considered it. She supposed that was a valid argument, but she didn’t necessarily always go with the most rational decisions if she could help it. No, she had already made up her mind. He was to stay in her bed, and if he wanted to, she would allow him to wash the blankets when he was well again.
She noticed he was looking at her again, seemingly confused. He was having an awfully difficult time focusing, or so it seemed. Gods, perhaps he was worse than she thought.
Corrin took a moment to consider the fact that perhaps she had been to brash. She let her concern get the better of her. Actually, she let her concern completely dictate her behavior. Gods, that certainly wasn’t a good quality for a leader to have.
“Jakob…” her face finally read with an almost helpless worry. At first, she tried to hide her concern through just… taking over all of his duties. Certainly she wasn’t capable of that, but she knew he wouldn’t go for the suggestion she wanted to make from the very beginning.
Perhaps his delirium would allow her to squeeze a yes out of him. After all, he could barely pick up his cup on his own, and he was laying on the floor.
“Let’s get you back on the bed, okay?” Corrin gritted her teeth a bit, glancing away in a hint of embarrassment. She couldn’t get herself to say it. This is what she knew she was trying to avoid from the beginning. By being all-business about the situation, she could stay away from saying anything embarrassing. More to the point, it would have helped her at least keep her emotions at bay.
Now that she realized this path wouldn’t work, though… She was right back at square one. Her emotions were getting the better of her, and she just wanted him to let her help. He had agreed, but by throwing himself out of the bed he was actively disagreeing. Though she wanted to make him well again, there was the side of her that knew she probably couldn’t do a very good job of it no matter how hard she tried.
She looked towards him, hoping he would just agree to at least rest in the bed. Now that he had a little bit of food, perhaps he could rationalize enough to realize that was what was best for him both in regards to Corrin and his illness. It would be easier for him to finish the meal in bed anyway, and, if he were eating a good amount, she could take a moment to figure out how to properly care for him. Despite what he thought, his duties weren’t what was most important, and Corrin was finally prepared to push them aside in favor of helping him for the day.
Jakob finally managed to grasp his cup properly, and took another sip as he observed Corrin, who looked troubled suddenly; he found out why before he could ask about it.
“I–” he started, before immediately clamming up; Jakob had no idea what to say. He certainly didn’t want to say anything that would give her the slightest reason to feel somehow responsible for whatever perceived discomfort he was experiencing.
“Well, I figured the floor would be a fine place to lie for the time being,” he mentioned–it was the truth, after all–and, pressing a now-bare hand on the ground as if to demonstrate, added, “Look here–it’s much cooler than a bed would be.” He tried to look at Corrin, wondering if she actually bought his excuse, but he suddenly found it hard to focus much on her at all–and she wasn’t even that far away. Jakob glanced back away; trying to focus on anything in particular seemed to just make him dizzier. She seemed upset however, and he knew it was something he’d done.
Why was she going so far out of her way to try and help him stave off some illness? Her well-being took precedence over his by far, and the thought of not only having become a burden to her–“Again,” Jakob recalled–but also risking bringing harm to her in the form of illness was almost too much to bear.
Jakob hated how Corrin had gotten the impression that she was ever a burden to him; that he somehow resented her; that he didn’t literally live to serve her; that serving her wasn’t an immense honor, nor a source of much joy to him; that he deserved such joy (happiness he selfishly relished in); that she ever owed him anything. Jakob hated how he could not bring himself to tell Corrin, concisely, plainly, how important she was to him.
“Lady Corrin, you’ve done so much for me already,” Jakob murmured quietly, as he loosened his sleeves–how could he feel so uncomfortably flushed and still be shivering?– “ You really shouldn’t concern yourself so much over something like this.” Jakob realized he had been leaning heavily on the hand he’d set down as part of his little demonstration, and, as uncomfortable as the position was, feared moving from it, lest he fall over.
Corrin watched as Jakob attempted to justify the floor being a suitable space for him for the time he was ill. Of course, from the moment he spoke, Corrin had no real intentions of taking the argument to heart. It was ridiculous. If he was cold, he could simply lay on the bed without using the blankets. How was he to get well like this?
“But you’re shivering, Jakob,” she said firmly, remaining seated next to him. His movements wouldn’t be incredibly obvious on any other person, but, on him, these slight falters were so difficult not to notice. Even in combat he was so poised. In the heat of battle, Corrin always found herself trying to locate him. When she did, he was always so steady. He’d stand as he always did with his chest perfectly straight and sometimes even an arm behind his back. Corrin knew it wasn’t a skill everyone had, because she looked like a mess half the time. She was always pushing hair out of her face and whisking sweat off her forehead that it almost added another element she had to incorporate into her strategy.
She knew she wasn’t mistaken about him either: though her focus was unwavering, she always kept an eye on him on the field. It wasn’t that she felt he was incapable – quite the contrary – rather, she knew he was one of her greatest assets both on and off the battlefield. He never strayed far from her even in the confusion of battle, but she always made sure he, in particular, was as unwavering as always.
He finally spoke again, but it still wasn’t to agree with her. “I really haven’t done that much for you,” Corrin winced. She knew this wasn’t easy for him, but she wanted him to understand that no one else would see him like this – he truly didn’t have to worry about saving face, if that was the issue. Corrin saw everything in the army, and if she was someone who held people to an impossible standard or judged others based on their falters, she wouldn’t be where she was today. Of course she understood how incompetent he must feel for not being able to do his job for a day or two – she imagined she’d be twice as stubborn if put in the same situation – but this was so important.
“Jakob,” Corrin spoke softly, almost wondering if the words would even come out. “It is your duty to get well again, isn’t it?” She placed a hand behind his back, hoping he would use the support to pull himself back up and sit on the bed.