Title: just drink the tea
Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow
Characters: Nora Darhk, Ray Palmer
Length:754 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: sickfic, minor illness, spoilers for s4 of Legends of Tomorrow
Prompt photo
here.
Ao3 Nora didn't think much about Mona showing up one morning with her nose all red and her voice all scratchy sounding until a few days later when Nora woke up with her body aching all over and her nose completely stuffed up. By the afternoon her throat felt like it was on fire and she couldn't stop shivering. At first, she thought the Time Bureau had done something to her. She hadn't had so much as a cold since she was a child, she had forgotten what it felt like. It seemed that being a vessel for a demon had some perks, like never getting sick.
The next couple of days were a blur of disorientation and discomfort. Nora remembered Mona bringing her soup at one point and throat lozenges at another. Another time Mona complained that they were really short staffed and everyone was sick, and then no one came for a while. Or it seemed like a while. It could have been just a few minutes for all she knew. She was alternating between being too hot and too cold; everything hurt, even the bones in her fingers were aching. She missed her mother. Nora could still remember the way she would care for her when she got sick when she was a little girl, before everything had changed. There was something about being sick that made her want to cry out for her mother, even though she'd been dead for so many years. Nora finally dropped off to sleep, tears streaming down her face.
When she next opened her eyes Nora thought she must still be dreaming. It wouldn't have been the first time Ray Palmer had shown up in her dreams, not even the second time. It was probably up into the double digits by now. It was when he made her drink some awful concoction that tasted like bitter lemons that Nora realized Ray was really there. Dream Ray would never make her drink something so nasty. She swallowed the awful beverage and glared at him.
"What the hell Ray?" Her voice came out hoarse and nearly unrecognizable. It made her think of back when the demon would speak through her. She winced. Ray seemed unfazed.
"You need to drink more, you're dehydrated." There was worry in his voice.
"Can't I just have water?" She didn't want to drink the tea.
"After you drink more of the tea I made for you. It's got freshly squeezed lemon and grated ginger. It should help your throat."
Nora groaned but drank more of the awful tea. Leave it to Ray not to add sugar to the horrible tasting medicinal tea. At least he was here though. How did he get there? She hoped he hadn't snuck himself in again. She didn't want him to get in trouble over her. Not again.
"Nate's dad is home sick, so Ava let me come. I think she was tired of me asking, or maybe it was because they're so short staffed. Just about everyone's out sick. I can't believe how irresponsible the Bureau is. Not making sure everyone got their flu shot." Ray shook his head.
Nora had no idea what Ray saw in her. He was so sweet and kind, too much so really. She worried that someone was going to seriously take advantage of him one of these days and that it would get him killed. He had always been so kind to her, even when she was trying to kill him. It didn't make sense, but that was Ray. She was afraid she might be falling in love with him. She's pretty sure he thinks he's in love with her.
Nora drank the horrible drink for Ray, and then he gave her some water and some pills he said were for her fever. She fell back asleep for a while after that. The next time she woke up she was feeling better, not great but better. Ray was still there or maybe he'd gone and returned. It was hard to tell. This time he fed her soup. It tasted a lot better than the tea. She was grateful for that, and she was grateful for him.
Nora was almost disappointed when a few days later she was nearly fully recovered and Ava made Ray go back to the Waverider. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before he left and slipped her another note. She tucked the letter underneath her pillow to read later when missing him became less bearable.