Niles was better after a couple of days, but Ashton was not. His head and throat hurt, and he couldn't breathe out of his nose.

"I think you caught my cold," Niles mused, ducking his head to peer at him in the carrier. His dark eyes studied him carefully as Ashton sniffled and pulled his blanket tighter around himself.

"Here, come out onto the desk," Niles waved him forward. "I want to take your temperature."

Ashton froze, and Niles backed up. "Sorry, I'll give you some space," the human amended. "I'll go get you some juice while you come out."

After Niles left, Ashton tried to pull himself to his feet, but his legs were too wobbly.

Niles came back to check on him and saw that he was still crumpled in his blankets and leaning against the wall of the carrier

"Oh dear," the human said. "You can't get up?"

Ashton lifted his chin slightly and shook his head.

"Alright," Niles said. "That's fine. Hold still while I get you out, ok?"

Ashton squeezed his eyes shut tight and painfully swallowed around the lump in his throat as Niles closed his fingers around him. A small whimper escaped his lips, and the human heard it.

"It's ok," Niles said softly. "I know you're not feeling well. Just let me take care of you today, ok?"

Ashton couldn't quite open his eyes, but he soon felt the human's gentle finger on his forehead. "Hmm, I think you have a fever," he murmured.

Ashton heard rustling as Niles moved things around in his desk drawer. Then he was back and slipping something metallic and cold into his mouth.

"It's the thermometer," Niles explained. "Just hold it in your mouth for a second so that I can take your temperature."

Ashton lay crumpled in his hand, too tired and miserable to move. He knew what a thermometer was. Niles conducted physicals on him every week, and he always took Ashton's temperature when he measured his weight and blood pressure.

The thermometer beeped, and Niles took it out. "Ninety degrees," he said. "You have a fever alright." Niles had told him once that his temperature usually hovered around 86 degrees. Whatever that meant.

"I'm going to give you some medicine to help bring your fever down," he caught Niles explaining next. "Can you open your eyes, please? I just want to make sure you're awake enough to swallow this."

Ashton cracked his eyes open and peeked at Niles. The human smiled down at him. "There we go," he said, and Ashton hunched his shoulders in on himself protectively.

"Here." Niles held an eyedropper to his lips. 

Ashton took a sip and then frowned in confusion. "It's sweet," he commented, and Niles nodded.

"It's apple juice," Niles explained. "I figured you would like it more than Gatorade. I wanted to make sure you got some sugar in you, so you'd have a bit more energy."

Ashton drank the rest of it silently. It wasn't bad; he just hadn't been expecting it.

"Good job," Niles praised him. He moved the eyedropper away. "You should eat something, too. Anything that you want?"

Ashton looked away. "I'm not hungry," he whispered.

"I know, I wasn't that hungry when I was sick either," Niles mentioned. "But if I get you some breakfast, do you think you could eat a few bites?"

Ashton lay still and considered it. Would Niles force him to eat even if he said no? Better not risk it. He sighed. "I'll try," he relented.

"Ok." Niles busied himself putting together a little mat of clean blankets and pillows on the desk for Ashton before setting him down carefully. "Be right back."

The human left, and Ashton pulled his blanket over his head. He was able to tolerate Niles' handling a little bit better these days but being sick like this made him feel especially vulnerable. It was too much for him today.

He heard the flutter of wings, and then Lucy was nudging him with her foot.

"Hey, woodlands," came her tiny voice. "How're you feeling?"

Ashton folded a corner of his blanket down to frown at her. "Terrible," he replied, and she plopped down on the table next to him.

"Yeah, that was one of the bigger adjustments for me when I started living with humans," Lucy said. "Getting sick with whatever they had. It's awful."

Ashton cocked his head. "You got sick?" he wondered aloud. "Didn't you have magic that prevented that sort of stuff?"

Lucy fiddled with her bright pink wing for a minute. "Ah, well, you see, my parents left when I was pretty little. Typical pixie behavior, you know? And I was a bit... of a wild child, so none of the other pixies could be bothered to teach me how to use or replenish magic. And then Niles' family adopted me, so other pixies definitely didn't want to teach me then. I didn't learn how to use magic until I was a teenager."

Ashton didn't answer, choosing instead to stare at the wall. 

If I had my wings, he thought unhappily, I would have enough stores of magic to have not gotten sick in the first place. His lip quivered at the thought, and he pulled his blanket back over his head.

Lucy was uncharacteristically quiet as she waited with him, and all too soon Niles was back.

"Here, Ash," he heard the Niles human say. "Try to eat just a little, ok? I'll make you some soup later. It will probably be easier for you to eat."

And then he was gone again.

Ashton poked his head out from his blankets to see Lucy inspecting what Niles had made him. "Damn, I wish Niles would make me breakfast," she muttered under her breath. "Damn lucky woodlands. Doesn't know how good he has it."

"Where did Niles go?" Ashton whispered.

Lucy was too busy sneaking a piece of acorn bread off his plate to properly look at him. "Out. He probably wanted to give you space to eat. You know, so you wouldn't feel spooked the whole time."

Ashton sat up. It was true that Niles usually left the room or at least sat farther away whenever Ashton ate. And Niles himself never ate in the same room as Ashton. He never knew why Niles did it, though now, according to Lucy, it was to make Ashton feel safer. For some reason, the realization that Niles had been aware of such a small detail and had been going out of his way to make him more comfortable, made him feel worse.

He eyed the plate. Niles had given him a piece of an egg, acorn bread, and part of a blackberry. They were all foods that Ashton was familiar with, though he didn't recognize what type of bird the egg had come from. His clan normally raided robins' nests for eggs, but that's not what these eggs were.

The meal was fine; in fact, Niles was surprisingly good at cooking woodlands food, but Ashton just wasn't hungry.

"What... would happen if I didn't eat anything?" Ashton asked Lucy hesitantly.

She shrugged. "Nothing, I guess," she answered. "You probably wouldn't feel very good, but that's about it."

"But... Niles? Will he be mad at me?"

"Niles?" Lucy asked incredulously. "You really think Niles would be mad at you for something as little as not eating breakfast?"

Ashton bit his lip and nodded.

Lucy patted his shoulder. "Well, just don't eat anything and find out," she suggested, and Ashton stared at her, horrified.

She noticed his pale face and backtracked. "Ah, sorry, I mean, no, he won't be mad at you," she assured him. "Don't think so much. He'll probably just suggest you try eating later. That's all. He's very understanding like that."

***

Niles came back about thirty minutes later. Ashton had tried and failed to eat, so he just gave up and huddled in the blankets that Niles had set up for him. If I pretend to be asleep, he reasoned, maybe Niles won't try to talk to me about it.

He heard Niles stop beside the desk, and he held his breath. But when Niles spoke, it was to address Lucy, not him. "Lucy, did you eat Ashton's breakfast?"

"What?" came Lucy's voice defensively. "He only ate, like, two bites and then he said he wasn't hungry. Why would I waste perfectly good food like that?"

"Luce, I don't want you catching what Ashton has," Niles explained, sounding tired. "Come on, you know better."

"But you never make me breakfast! I was just hungry, ok?"

"Geez, Lucy, you should've told me! I thought you were still full from your first breakfast. I would've made you more food if you had asked! There was already a ton left over from what I made Ashton. You could have just had some of that."

"Oh."

"Honestly, how did you pass law school?" Niles muttered.

Ashton kept his eyes squeezed shut, but he could almost feel when the human turned his gaze on him.

He flinched when Niles placed a careful finger on his forehead to feel his temperature.

"Sorry," Niles murmured, pulling his hand away. "Just wanted to check on you." He smoothed out Ashton's blankets and patted his shoulder gently. "Get some rest," he instructed. "Either Lucy or I will stay with you in case you need anything."

***

When Ashton opened his eyes again, he was back at the mother tree. That was confusing in and of itself, but then he turned to his left and saw his best friend, Erden, who lived nowhere near the mother tree.

"Erden?" he wondered aloud. "What are you doing here?"

Erden smiled and clapped him on the back, being mindful not to squash his wings. A strand of Ashton's hair was twined in a braid on the right side of her hair, just like how a strand of Erden's red hair was twisted into Ashton's.

"I haven't seen you in ages, Ashton," she said. "Of course I'd come visit you." Her smile dropped, and so did her hand. Her dark brown wings drooped nervously. "And... I came to apologize," she said, face grave. "If you hadn't been visiting me that day, if you hadn't gotten me out when that human was there... "

She held up her hands, and Ashton was dismayed to see that his green and brown wings were suddenly draped across Erden's open palms and trailing onto the ground.

He twisted his head around to see that his wings were gone, an open, bloody gash in their place. Turning back around, he discovered that Erden had vanished, too. The Niles human stood there instead, though he was inexplicably the same size as Ashton. Ashton didn't question it. It seemed natural that they were the same size.

"Ashton?" Niles began, peering carefully into his face. "Are you ok?"

It was a question he asked Ashton all the time, and the answer was always no. The answer would always be no.

Ashton shook his head mutely, and the Niles human reached up to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. Ashton looked down and let the tears well up and spill from his eyes. He was surprised when he felt the human pull him in close and wrap his arms around him.

"I know," Niles murmured. "I know."

Ashton rested his head on Niles' shoulder. What do you know? he wondered. What could you possibly know?  

But he just let Niles hold him, the longing ache for home mingling with the odd sense of comfort that Niles' warmth provided.

After a minute, Niles pulled away and looked around as if noticing where they were for the first time.

"Oh," he exclaimed, face brightening. "Is this your home?"

Ashtons heart plummeted into his stomach. No. This wasn't right. Humans weren't allowed at the mother tree. What was he thinking, bringing Niles here?

He glanced back frantically at the mother tree. No alarms were sounding, no giant humans milled about. Yet.

He turned back to stare at Niles, who was looking at him quizzically. "Ash?" he asked. Always with that nickname. "What's wrong?"

"You can't be here," Ashton choked out. "We... we can't be here. Please."

He reached out for Niles desperately. Was he trying to push him away? Draw him in closer? It wasn't clear. But then the Niles human took his hand and led him from the tree.

"Alright," he agreed. "Let's go home, ok?"

And then Ashton was opening his eyes again, and somehow, he wasn't surprised to find himself tangled in blankets that smelled like Niles and laundry detergent. He was both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed he wasn't home. Relieved that his clan was safe.

After a minute, he pulled himself to his feet to go to the miniature restroom that Niles kept nearby. He still wasn't used to the fact that he could use it whenever he wanted. That hadn't been the case when he was held captive. Still feeling weak, he turned around and froze when he saw that Niles had fallen asleep at the desk, his head resting on his arms.

I guess he meant it when he said he or Lucy would stay close today, he thought, looking at the human's peaceful, narrow face. His eyes ran over the high arches of Niles' brows and the slim, straight line of his nose. Niles' dimple only appeared when he smiled, and Ashton missed seeing it now.

Ashton was usually too afraid to look at the human directly, so he studied him openly now, feeling safe knowing that Niles was asleep. As he stared at him, he tried to imagine what Niles would look like when he was angry or displeased. But he couldn't. Niles' face was too gentle for that.

Before he knew it, Niles' eyes had fluttered open, and the human was staring at him. Ashton flinched back and froze, suddenly realizing that he had drifted close enough to see his own reflection in Niles' dark eyes. Stupid! he chastised himself. Why did you let yourself get so close?

Niles blinked a few times before furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Ashton?" he asked as he sat up slowly. Ashton's eyes stayed glued to the human as he suddenly grew to tower over him, and he shivered at the shadow Niles cast. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

That question again. Ashton looked down and hunched his shoulders to his ears, heart pounding forcefully in his chest. He couldn't seem to say no, and he couldn't say yes, so he just shrugged.

"Well, do you need something? Where are you going?"

Ashton pointed wordlessly at the washroom, and Niles nodded before pushing himself to his feet and stepping away from the desk.

"Go ahead," he called down to Ashton. "I'll go get you some water and the thermometer." 

_______________________________________________________________

A/N: Idk how Ashton got sick since Niles was so careful around him, but he had to *for the plot*

Also, you get a hint about how Ashton was caught by a human in the first place, alongside some *interesting* foreshadowing with Niles. 

Thanks as always for reading! Feel free to comment or ask questions if you want. See you in the next part!