Cherish

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Monday, June 3, 1622

<sub>The girls had started to recover form their little bouts. Selena, since she wasn't too sick, quickly bounced back to assist Andy in the duties, and helped clean the place with him. It was there she had found out about Cepheid getting himself violently ill taking care of the girls.

"Bugger." Was all she said on the subject. It was getting close to the evening and she had noticed Daniela bounced back as well, taking care of Godwine and Nerys, who was also getting much better. All the girls were able to walk now.

As of the evening, Godwine was reading the newspaper they got from Seria several days ago, sipping some hot tea as Selena swept the kitchen.

"Has Andy allowed us to even see Ceph since he's recovering?" Godwine would mutter. Selena shrugged. Andromeda was passed out by this time, relieved that the girls were mostly recovered and he could catch a break.

Nerys would beg to differ. Since she got up in the morning and wasn't shivering uncontrollably, she took her blanket and snuck in Ceph's room, kneel next to the bed curled up in her blanket, and just rested her head on the edge like a puppy, watching him in hopes he would wake up.</sub>

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After the initial bout of illness from his infection, it took two days for his fever to break, and he only recently managed to be able to eat something. By this point, he was exhausted and, after not being able to sleep all night because of the pain, had fallen asleep around five AM and hadn't woken since.

At least, until now. He shifted slightly and tried to get in a more comfortable position. God he was hungry. Unable to find a position that suited him, he opened his eyes and glanced around in the hope that maybe Andy had left something for him.

His eyes fell on Nerys and he gave pause. Well, there wasn't any doubt that Andy hadn't put her there...

"...Nerys?" He really shouldn't be surprised, but she still looked pretty rough.

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<sub>Nerys was so close to just zoning out and sleeping, her eyes half closed as she listened to the muffled voices of Godwine and Selena as they started talking. She felt Ceph shift, though and she blinked, her eyes a bit bleary. They then widened when she heard his voice.

"Cepheid..." She'd smile at him. And then make a pouty face. "How dare you get sick without me knowing."

She'd probably look cute with that pouty face, even if her hair was a bit tangled and her eyes looked tired. Plus she looked tiny curled up in that blanket.

Also from the sounds of it, Godwine is cooking tonight. She is pretty good at throwing something together quickly. Most likely it'd be a stew.</sub>

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When he saw Nerys at his bedside, he couldn't help but smile warmly. She actually cared enough to stay beside him despite her own sickness. She was beautiful when she smiled...

......And adorable when she pouted. He couldn't help but chuckle at her and, using his good arm, pull her into a hug. "I'll make sure to give you 48 hours notice next time." He laughed.

And she did look positively puny. Had he had use of both his arms, he might have even tried to scoop her up and cuddle her, because those blankets made. her. look. CUDDLY.

"How long have you been here?" He asked, letting her go and idly running his hands through her hair gently, trying to get the tangles out.

He then remembered that he had gotten Andy's permission to court Nerys. Yay!

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<sub>Nerys blinked when he chuckled. Was she that cute? Maybe, she wasn't sure. She was still young enough to probably pull that off despite being the eldest of the girls. She'd close her eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair, not minding it at all.

"Good." She smiled. All she wanted to do now was cuddle Cepheid, but she wasn't sure how much pain he was in. He'd ask how long she was there and she thought for a moment.

"... Awhile. I found out you collapsed this morning." She admitted, though taking a moment to cough in her blanket. Of course she was completely unaware of his plans. Nerys would take his arm and just cuddle it. "You're not in pain? I heard you had an infection." She asked.</sub>

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Yes, you were adorable. And absolutely beautiful. He wished he had a brush on hand so he could fix her hair better.

He wouldn't mind cuddles, and while his arm hurt pretty bad, it was more of a 'it's healing' pain than an 'it's infected' pain. He never thought he'd be able to tell the difference, but there you go.

"I'm really sorry about that." He said. "I didn't realize it had gotten that bad. I didn't want anyone to worry, and you all were getting really sick. I...shouldn't have kept it to myself, I wound up scaring the daylights out of Andy." He confessed. He didn't know how much Andy told the girls, or even what he wanted them to know. He would keep quiet about the details. "He got me to a doctor's office in time, and they fixed me up." He smiled. "I promise that next time, I'll make sure someone knows if I think somethings wrong."

With a little effort, he sat up completely and made room for Nerys to sit on the edge of the bed. he reached up and adjusted his sling so his arm was better immobilized.

If Nerys took the invitation and sat next to him, he'd look at her for a moment with an almost mischievous look. "I should tell you something. I spoke to Andy a few days ago..." He paused and, if Nerys was distracted enough by his words, would reach up, gently take her chin, and kiss her full on the lips.

After a moment, he'd pull back and put his forehead to hers and finish his sentence. "And he gave me permission to court you." He smiled.

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<sub>Nerys didn't mind the playing of hair and cuddles, but she definitely looked relieved that he was healing and looking much better, just like her. She smiled again, at least he's apologizing about it, but yeah. Nerys would play with his shirt sleeve as he spoke up.

"You really stressed Andy out. He was so disheveled the past few days and now he's passed out from lack of energy. he's finally getting proper sleep since we're feeling better." She quieted down. "He did tell us that, though." She was completely unaware of them meeting up with Sine. if that happened Nerys would have jumped for joy.

Nerys took the bait and sat down next to him, dragging her blanket with her and looked over to him as he spoke up. She was about to open her mouth to speak when Ceph took her chin. Her eyes widened when he kissed her, before closing. Man, if she was red from the lulling fever, she's an even darker shade of red now.

She just gaped at him when he pressed his forehead against her and she peered up at him meekly.

"Cepheid..." She just breathed that out. There was so much to that name, and he could probably tell she was swept up under her feet by what he just did. "... How did you do that? I mean Andy..." He's practically her big brother, even father figure! Not that it matters. She just wanted to know, despite the little smile on her face.</sub>

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"Glad to hear that. I feel bad that I let this all happen, but we're all making it out alright, so I guess that's one good thing." He smiled. He wondered if Nerys would jump for joy as much if she knew that Sine had taken Andromeda's heart and ripped it out so carelessly. He had been thinking over what he could remember of that conversation, and had decided that he would start investigating his brother's only legitimate child. He couldn't help but feel a little bitter towards Sine for just leaving the child like that. Sure, she was young, but she could have come back for him, but instead she just...

No, she saved his life, so he shouldn't harbor ill thoughts about her. It wasn't right. He smiled as she sat next to him and wasted no time in claiming what he wanted.

Yes, he could tell easily that he had caught Nerys hook, line, and sinker, and this was one he wasn't going to let get away. He chuckled and gave her another kiss before answering. "Well, I'm very good with words." He smiled.

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<sub>No, Nerys would be pissed if she found that out. She always thought of Sine as a very honorable and sweet woman who took Nerys in when she couldn't take care of herself. She'd look up at Cepheid, her eyes peering curiously up at him when he spoke up.

"Don't do that again, though I'm sure I don't need to tell you that twice." She'd open up her blanket and then wrap it around both her and Cepheid. Maybe he'd like the warmth anyway. Plus? Cuddles are fun.

"Oh, you must be if you can outwit your brother~." She'd kiss him back, giving him a bit of a mischievous smile.</sub>

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Another reason why Cepheid wasn't going to be telling Nerys what had happened. That would be up to Andy. He could just claim delirium. He didn't know Sine much at all, so he wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not. Still, he was unhappy with the woman for so carelessly tromping on his brother's heart like that.

"I like living, so I'll be sure not to upset you further." He smiled, wrapping his good arm around Nerys as she opened the blanket and cuddled her closer, letting her wrap the blanket around the two of them. Yes, cuddles are fun too.

"What can I say? We think along the same wavelength, it isn't to hard to know what he's wanting to hear." He smiled before locking himself in a deeper kiss with the woman he was sure he was in love with.

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<sub>Nerys cuddled Cepheid as she wrapped him up in the blanket, taking care not to move his injured around around. She'd wrap her arms around his and lean her head on his uninjured shoulder. Good. The next time he worried her she'll cry. And crying girls is a terrible thing.

"Sometimes I worry about your brother as much as I worry about you. I swear he's lost weight..." She trailed off, though her thoughts were interrupted when she sneezed and coughed, pointing her head away from Cepheid. Nope, not sneezing on him.

"What a fantastic advantage..." She'd kiss him back, full on this time. For now, she was just happy to put all her focus on Cepheid, and forget about everything that was going on...

Until a certain redhead opened the door.

"Hey Ceph dinner is..." She trailed off, starting at the two of them before bursting in a fit of giggles. "Am I interrupting something?"</sub>

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Nerys managed not to jostle his shoulder at all, so he was able to comfortable position himself with the small woman. He moved his good arm until is was wrapped around her waist and he pulled her closer, leaning his head against hers when he wasn't kissing her. He'd do what he could not to make anyone cry, he didn't like doing that, it was suicide for a man to make a woman cry.

"He has?" He hadn't noticed. Now he felt even worse. He figured that it was stress that made him lose the weight, but still... he should have noticed. "Hmm, you know, as soon as everyone is better and over this whole thing has blown over, we should get Andy a cake or something. Maybe a keg. You know, as thanks for his busting his ass for all of us."

When Nerys started to sneeze and cough, Cepheid held her up as she got over the fit, and rubbed her back slightly. "You should consider going to bed soon." He suggested, a note of concern in his voice.

He was so distracted with Nerys and her affections that it wasn't until the door was opened and Selena stood in the doorway that he realized that they had a visitor. He looked at her rather casually as she burst into giggles.

"Kinda, yea." He said, grinning. "Give us a moment. I need to get out of the bed anyway, I'll eat at the table like a civilized person. Can you get Nerys some cough syrup before she loses a lung?" He chuckled, rubbing her back some.

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<sub>Getting a keg might be suicide though. Andromeda getting drunk is the last thing they needed. usually he did something insane and immature through every episode. Cake would be fantastic though, she knew Andy did have a bit of a sweet tooth. Then again, who doesn't?

"Good idea. Not the alcohol, the last time we brought a keg on board all hell broke loose." She explained. Not going to mention anything about Andy, and his pants being hung on a flagpole. or him hanging upside down and nearly losing his pants... and his life considering he couldn't swim.

After Nerys's fit, she nodded, but she was going to wait until after dinner. Plus she could swipe the cough medicine. Either way, both she and Cepheid were quite into it until Selena came along. Poor Nerys. She wasn't used to people walking in on her so often, especially since now she was in the middle of such an intimate gesture. She blushed a bright red again and hid her face, but Selena seemed to take it cool.

"Alrighty. I'll leave it on the table, and you take your medicine too, Cepheid! I'll leave it there too. oh and I'll make tea for both of you. It's stew tonight, so it'll be easy to eat and healthy." Selena nodded, grinning to herself and then closing the door, giggling.

"Hee they're kissing~!" She spoke to herself.</sub>

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Ceph didn't drink much, and when he did it was never a whole lot. He was unaware of Andy's inability to handle booze. Cake would be fine, he liked cake. "Really now?" He asked, smirking at the thought. "I assume he's not an aggressive drunk?" He'd better not be.

Surprisingly enough, unlike his sibling, Ceph was able to swim, and decently at that. If Andy ever fell in the drink, he could rely on his twin to fish him out.

He chuckled as Nerys buried her face from Selena and he simply petted her hair as he spoke to their guest. "Thank you, Selena. I'll make sure to take it." He smiled, glancing to the Nerysball that was gracing his bed. "We'll be down in a bit. Can you do me a favor and make sure Andy eats something? Nerys thinks he's been losing weight."

Once Selena left, he rolled his eyes playfully as he heard her giggling. Such a girl. Hopefully he wouldn't say anything to Godwin. He feared the consequences of Godwin wrath.

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<sub>Selena would fix the teas for Cepheid and Nerys, refilling Godwine's as she was resting. She would say nothing about what she saw to Godwine, knowing full well she'd be jealous of Nerys. Even if Godwine doesn't believe in a long term relationship, she wanted to be at the same level like she was with Andy. Except that's not gonna happen.

"I'll spoon some bowls for Dani and Andy while I'm at it..." She murmured as Godwine got up to fix her own bowl.

Nerys stood up, offering her hand to help up Cepheid so they could eat. Man she was really hungry, and the last thing she needed was to starve while she was sick. As she opened the door to his room to exit, she looked back to him.

"Your brother is an immature drunk, surprisingly. He drops most of his aggression in favor of being a fool. Do not let him ever get drunk in Dula."</sub>