“Ow.”
Bean groaned into the pillow. Shivers wracked their body as they curled up, tail wrapping around their torso. The flu was a nasty beast, even for a wickerbeast to tame, and right now Bean was backed into a corner.
You need anything?”
The deep rumble of a voice perked their ears. Their snout lifted to a concerned gaze towering above them, leaning over their bed. Bean snorted.
“You’re not even real,” they turned, burying their head into more plush toys. It helped dull the constant headache. “How are you gonna help?”
“Ouch. That’s no way to talk to your favorite…”
“Fever-induced hallucination?”
“I was going for ‘pest’ but I guess that works, too.” Ethan’s sigh puffed the fur at Bean’s back. Or maybe it was the air purifier. “Look, I only come out when you want me, so you want something, and I don’t think it’s to be mean to me.”
Bean slouched into the pillows. They shifted, peering up at the giant man as their ears pinned back. He looked tired, too. Gaunt. Bean pushed themself up, trying to ignore the painful protest from every fiber of their being.
“A hug…would be a good start,” they admitted. “And then a nap. A long, long nap.”
“I can handle that,” the smile in his voice was almost audible. Softer than usual, not a predatory grin, but a gentle warmth. “You want me to pick you up, or…?”
“Just leave your hand down here, I’ll handle the rest.”
There was a pause, then a rush of air as a palm roughly the size of a car descended next to their bed. Bean took a moment to shuffle away from their nest of blankets, many tangled from the desperate fight to keep their fever at bay. Their dismount from the mattress was hardly graceful, more of a roll, but they slid into the giant’s palm with a sigh. Ethan’s hand twitched beneath them before lifting, the pressure of movement calling back the aches and pains for only a moment.
Soon enough, Bean was cupped against Ethan’s chest, nestled into his shirt. They purred quietly. His warmth was intoxicating, and so was the gentle pressure of his hand. Bean’s eyes fluttered for a moment while exhaustion beckoned them again.
Whether it was thier bed or his hand they awoke to, at least for now they’d get some rest.
