#also i love writing tino lmaooo

[abugwritesstuff]

The Princes React to MC Being Sick: Lynt

once again in honor of me being sick (much better now actually!), i've written a fic, this time of lynt caring for mc. i don't usually write lynt so this was kind of interesting to figure out.

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Usually the pattern went like this: Lynt and MC would return to his chambers after spending some time in the S-rank lounge after dinner, and then would get ready for bed and crawl in beside one another. Then, most nights, they’d fall quickly asleep in one another’s arms and Lynt would awaken to the sensation of cool sheets at his side and the gentle pushing and tugging of his dear paramour trying to nudge him awake. That was the established way of things.

Which was why it was strange to wake up so late. And so unusually rested.

Lynt blinked into the sun streaming in through the curtains. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head, rolling onto his back and yawning as his brain slowly started to come online. Sun. Bright outside. Daytime. Midday? He blinked and slowly sat up, turning to find that MC was still there, curled up under the blankets in the spot that was usually cold and empty by the time he was awoken. At first, this realization filled him with joy. Waking up with her was his preference after all… but the closer Lynt looked, the more concerned he became. Her breathing was awfully shallow and weak. Wheezy, almost, like Tino’s had been that one time he’d inhaled a bunch of breadcrumbs on accident. She was also breathing with her mouth open and as he laid a hand on her cheek, he found that her skin was warm. Abnormally so. 

“Oh…” Lynt murmured, brows knitting. He glanced toward the door adjoining his to Tino’s, then slid out of bed. “Chiiiinooo,” he called softly, glancing back at MC tentatively. “Chino. Are you in there?”

The door swung open to Tino’s smiling face. “Yes, Young Master, I was just about to step out to prepare your breakfast!”

“Nevermind that. MC seems sick.”

Tino’s face fell into worry. “Oh?”

The pair walked to the bedside together and Lynt watched as Tino investigated, peering down at her and pressing the back of his hand to her forehead.

“Yes,” Tino hummed. “I think Miss MC may be ill.”

Lynt’s heart sank. “Oh… she seemed okay last night,” he murmured. “What should we do?”

Tino turned to face his master with a warm smile. “I am so heartened to see your level of devoted concern, Young Master!” he praised him. “To think that for so many years I longed for you to take your very own paramour and now here you are, concerned for her wellbeing to the point of worry! Why, it is ever so encouraging that-”

“Chino.”

Tino blinked. “Ah yes. Well. I suppose I shall go fetch Prince Toa and bring him here. Or Jasper. I will be back shortly.” With that, Tino left. Lynt frowned down at his paramour, confused and unsettled. Until now she’d always been the picture of health: strong, brave, smiling. And Lynt had never cared for another person before. He’d never needed to- he’d always been the one being cared for, if anything. The role reversal was strange and concerning, and he found himself wringing his hands and pacing. 

The door swung back open and a jittery, anxious Tino re-emerged with Prince Toa, who looked mildly peeved and held a small medical bag in his right hand. 

“Your valet says that MC is unwell. Is that correct?” Toa asked, glancing toward the bed. “She isn’t even awake and I was called?”

“Yes.” Lynt responded, nodding. “She’s not breathing normally. And she’s too warm. Can you do something about that?”

Toa sighed a bit and followed Lynt to the bedside. He bent over and stared at her, watching the shallow rise and fall of her chest. “She does seem to be struggling somewhat. But I can’t fully examine the condition of a sleeping patient, Akedia. Wake her.”

Lynt frowned. “But isn’t it good for her to rest?”

“She can rest more later.”

Reluctantly, Lynt placed his hands on her shoulders and began to shake her back and forth gently. “MC… you need to wake up. So that Toa can examine you.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

Ignoring him, Lynt redoubled his efforts on his sleeping paramour. “MC…” Lynt murmured. Her lack of response worried him further and he leaned in close to ear. “Please wake up.”

With that, she finally blinked awake. Her blurry gaze fixed first on Lynt, clouding over with confusion at the sight of him above her rather than beside her slumbering. Slowly, she slid her gaze over to Tino, and then Toa, to which she then jumped and moved back, eyes wide. 

“Toa?! What are you doing here?” she croaked, pulling the blankets weakly up over her shoulders. 

Lynt laid a hand on her shoulder. “You seemed unwell so I had Chino bring him here to examine you.”

Toa nodded and placed his bag on the bed, rustling around in it while he spoke. “How are you feeling? Lynt said he noticed that you have labored breathing.”

She blinked around between the princes and valet, confused by the scene in front of her, before laying a hand over her chest and taking in a long, shaky breath. “I suppose I do, yes. I feel warm.”

“Any other symptoms? How were you feeling yesterday?”

She settled back against the pillows and looked upward, thinking. “Yesterday? I felt a bit tired. I think my throat was hurting. I felt a bit achy.”

Lynt frowned and let his hand fall from her shoulder down until he took his hand into hers. “You never said anything about feeling poorly yesterday.”

She shook her head slowly. “I mean… no. I fig-” at this, she cut off and coughed weakly into her elbow, which prompted Toa to pull a few different bottles from his medical bag and begin pouring different amounts into an empty bottle. “I figured I’d just sleep it off.”

“Unlikely,” Toa interjected, coming close with the bottle in hand. “You seem to have a flu or something of the sort. It would not have been resolved by today. Take this in equal doses three times today, and Lynt…” At this, he turned to the other prince. “...Keep an eye on her. Make sure her temperature does not rise and she does not become delirious.”

Wide-eyed, Lynt silently nodded. He hadn’t the faintest clue how to do any of that, so he watched as Toa repacked his medical bag and made for the door, giving a perfunctory nod and disappearing before Lynt came to. “Ah, wait!”

Lynt tripped over himself to follow Toa down the corridor, the other prince slowing down to accommodate him and giving him a questioning look. “I haven’t cared for anyone this way before, Toa. Can… can you do it?”

“No. I have classes to teach today. As far as I’m aware, your schedule is clear.”

“But… what if something happens?”

“Contact me again or take her into the infirmary.”

“But…”

Toa stopped dead, sighing, and placed one hand on Lynt’s shoulder. “She will be fine. You needn’t do anything other than make sure she takes the medicine and rests. If she remains coherent, don’t worry.”

Lynt frowned and stared at the floor, his mind clouding over with worst-case scenarios. He wasn’t one to worry, not usually, so the experience was disorienting. “I have never… I’ve never done this before.”

“Well. No time like the present, then. She is your paramour, after all.” Toa replied. A short silence befell them, until Toa shook his head, slightly exasperated, and manually turned the other prince back in the direction of his own chambers. “Return to her side, Akedia.” 

Numb, Lynt returned to his own room, peering in at MC who was laid in the bed but currently shoving the blankets off of her as Tino panickedly tried to tuck her back in. 

“Miss MC! It is important that you stay warm!”

“Tino, I’m overheating,” she wheezed. 

Lynt stared over at the bedside table where the bottle of medication had been left behind. He stalked toward it, making a path between the two and plucking it into his hand. They watched as he turned it over between his hands, watching the liquid inside move in swirling, glittery spirals. “Have you taken any of this yet?” he asked, his thin brows knit into a stern line.

She shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”

Lynt sat down beside her and opened it, pouring the first dose into the cap lid and holding it up to her lips directly. “Drink,” he instructed. Obedient, she opened her mouth and let him tip the dose in. He watched intently as she swallowed, nodding in relief when her throat bobbed.

“Good girl.” 

Her face turning somehow redder, she laid back against the pillows. “Th-thanks. I can probably dose myself for the rest of the day though, if you have things that you need to do-”

“I don’t.” Lynt responded flatly, crawling in beside her and firmly pulling the blankets up to her shoulders. When she frowned and began to protest, he gave her a firm shake of his head. “No. Stay warm. Rest now.” With that, he patted the top of her head and curled around her, tucking her head under his chin.

Beside them, Tino’s eyes shone with unshed tears of joy. He clapped his hands together in delight. “It gives me such happiness to see your devoted caretaking, Young Master! It has been my greatest dream to see you love another in this way! Why, one day you may dote on your own children together in this way!”

“Tino…” MC moaned, burying her reddened face under the blankets. “Please.”

“Chino, can you turn out the lights? We are going to take a nap.” Lynt said, peeling the blankets off MC’s face to give her nose a peck. 

Tino nodded, jumping up to extinguish the candles around the room and bowing an exaggerated bow as he excused himself. “I will bring some soup for you later in the day, along with some ginger tea,” he declared.

Lynt hummed in response as his valet exited the room, snuggling somehow closer around his paramour. “I will take care of you today. Toa said that I should and I want to.”

Hesitantly she snuggled back in toward him, hiding her face in his shirt. “Really?”

“Mmmhm.”

After a beat of silence, she nodded. “...Alright. Thank you for staying here with me.”

The rest of the day was spent hovering in and out of sleep, Lynt dutifully dosing her medication, insisting on spoon-feeding her soup (after shooting Tino a glance as he stood by smiling in pride and delight), carrying her into a hot bath, and retucking her back into bed while encouraging her to sip tea.

“You know, Lynt…” she murmured, swallowing the day’s final dose of medication and curling up on the bed. “You’re good at this, actually.”

His eyes widened. “Am I?”

She hummed affirmatively. “Yeah. You are.”

He crossed over to the other side of the bed and laid beside her, brushing hair off of her sweaty brow. “I’d never done it before,” he said.

“I know,” she responded, rolling over to him. “But you’re kind. It comes naturally to someone like you, I think.”

Lynt burst into a smile and brought her close, kissing her cheek. At that, he yawned and nuzzled into her hair, causing her to giggle. “I’m glad.”

The two drifted into sleep again as the darkened sky outside the window gave way to stars.