Flu Bugs and Vegetable Soup

Ace ran around the kitchen looking for vegetables that they had bought just a few days ago. While soup wasn’t normally a main meal in the house with two growing boys, one of them would have to settle with soup. But then again being the meat hound Luffy was he supposed he could chop some up with the vegetables and put it in the soup. He had to be careful with Luffy and solid foods for the moment. Luffy had woken up in the middle of the night with what seemed like a simple cold but it had soon become something more. Luffy had what looked like a simple cold when he had woken up that morning. But it soon blew into a fever that afternoon; turning his younger brother from sweet and carefree to delusional and completely out of it.

The seven year old had run through the house yelling something about a giant fish and started to try beating up the hallucinations he was seeing, and knocking several things off tables and shelves in the process. Luckily Luffy came out of the delusional episode about half an hour after it had started. The biggest alarm bells to Ace in regards to Luffy’s illness had been that he had no appetite for lunch. Luffy was never not hungry, not that they didn’t eat well it was just that Luffy had a bottomless pit for a stomach and an appetite to match.

When Luffy did get his appetite back he began gobbling up the lunch Ace had reheated for him. But Ace’s relief was short lived because half way into eating a green tint colored Luffy’s face and Ace barley got to the bathroom in time for Luffy to become ill. Luffy rarely got sick and never had the flu before, Ace could tell what it was since he had had it before once in the past. Because of Luffy’s track record of mostly absence of sickness he had never experienced throwing up…and Luffy had not enjoyed it one little bit. After cleaning Luffy up, changing him into his sleeping cloths and placing a cold cloth on his head to try and cool his fever Ace went down stairs to make some soup. It was now night time and Ace had to try and get Luffy to eat something that wouldn’t come back up.

Finding the vegetables at last, for some odd reason they had been stuffed in the freezer he got to work assuming Luffy had put them there. He was the one carrying the vegetables when they went shopping last. Grabbing a knife and the cutting board and putting a pot of water on the stove to boil he got to work chopping vegetables. While Ace could care for Luffy he was a bit annoyed at them moment, not at Luffy of course but at the situation relating to it. Ace had wanted to get the village doctor to look at Luffy but the guy had taken off on vacation. The flu required medicine to help keep that fever down and help kill some of the symptoms…and they didn’t have any of that medicine in the house at the moment. Without the medicine Luffy would have to wait out the sickness along with its symptoms without anything to make the illness more bearable. Plus if that fever wasn’t brought under control Luffy could dehydrate and get even worse then he was now even with liquids.

He really hated this, his little brother was upstairs wrapped in blankets from the chills, uncomfortable with fever, aches, pains and couldn’t get to sleep. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it accept try and do without until the doctor came back or something. He would have asked Shanks’s doctor to make some medicine and look at Luffy, but they had set sail three days ago and Ace had no idea when they would be back. Throwing the now chopped vegetables into the water to cook he set about getting the tray ready to take it up to his brother. Putting a bowl, spoon and napkin on the tray he would wait until the soup was done before pouring his brother a glass or water to drink. Fluids were what Luffy’s body needed to keep hydrated with that fever. As he wondered wither or not Luffy’s upset stomach could handle crackers to eat with the soup he heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be he walked to the door not bothering to put his orange hat on.

“Who is it?” Ace asked, no way was he opening the door without asking especially since he always told Luffy to do just that, he had to set an example for Luffy even when the little guy wasn’t watching him.

“Guess?” a very familiar teasing tone replied and Ace already knew who it was and opened the door. Standing in his usual black trousers, sandals, black cape, white shirt and straw hat was Red Haired Shanks.

“Shanks? When did you get back?”

“Just got back. We went to the Party’s Bar and was wondering why Luffy hadn’t shown up…usually he comes tearing in there once he sees our ship come in no matter how late it is” Shanks said grinning before pulling out a bag and tossing it to Ace “That is until Makino told us about you standing outside the doctors house carrying Luffy. I put two and two together” Shanks said pointing to the bag “She explained to our doctor how Luffy looked and said he had either the flu or a cold…our doctor said to give him one of those pills once every six hours and it will help with the fever” Ace couldn’t believe it but was grateful; at least now his brother could have some relief. “I’m sure you would want Luffy to see a doctor, but right now ours got intoxicated as fast as we got on land so I don’t think he’d be much help right now. It’s a good thing he had that medicine already made up because I wouldn’t trust any medicine he makes when he’s skunk drunk as he is right now. Its best you take Luffy to our doctor tomorrow…assuming he doesn’t wakeup with a hangover…”

“Thanks Shanks” Ace said putting the bag on the table “After Luffy eats this I’ll give it to him…I don’t want him to take anything on an empty stomach” Shanks nodded and his gaze fell to the stairs and Ace already knew what was on his mind “You can go up if you want…you know which rooms Luffy’s by now right?” Ace asked checking on the soup. When it came to Luffy Shanks could be a really big sap; Shanks crew knew it, Makino knew it and Ace knew it…anyone with eyes could see it that Shanks saw Luffy as his own son. Ace didn’t mind it at all and frankly he liked having another guy around, not that he didn’t enjoy Luffy’s company he liked spending time with his baby brother. Sure at first he was a little jealous of Shanks he would admit that, but he had soon gotten over it and things went on. Looking over from soup Ace saw Shanks grin.

“Thanks I appreciate it” Shanks said looking back at the stairs “How bad is he?” Ace looked over his shoulder at the red haired man before returning his eyes to his work.

“Well…nasty fever for one…he’s got a headache and aches and pains so he’s having trouble sleeping…but the medicine should help relieve the worst of the symptoms and help his fever. You really picked the perfect time to come back to the village…Luffy has one heck of a lucky streak” Ace didn’t need to turn around to know that Shanks was grinning at him again. Hearing the man starting to climb the stairs he called to him.

“Be careful not to step in the bucket by Luffy’s bed”

“Bucket?”

“Yeah…he threw up his lunch earlier today…I gave it to him just in case” Ace turned and saw a pained look on the man’s face before he continued up the stairs. Ace sighed before going to get Luffy’s favorite red glass from the cabinet. Shanks was feeling sorry for his brother…he expected as much since the two were so close. “And be careful of Luffy if he wakes up! He can get a little delusional when he has a fever!” Ace said one last warning to the red haired man hoping he heard it; Luffy could be pretty crazy when delusional.

888

Shanks reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hall. He knew which door was to Luffy’s room but even then anyone could know whose room was whose. One door had Ace’s name written in Ace’s favorite color…orange. The other was across from it and had Luffy’s name on it written in red. Opening the door he was greeted to a slightly dark room; the window was allowing a breeze into the room and allowing moon and starlight to bleed in. He looked around the room with crayon drawings on the walls and seashells one the near by table before setting his sights on the bed in the corner of the room. A child’s bed made from wood sat in the corner; a red blanket with a pattern of white anchors sewn in, covered the beds occupant which could only be made out from the bit of unruly black hair peeking out from the covers. Making sure to keep quite in case the boy was sleeping he made his way over to the bed, and unfortunately had forgotten Ace’s warning about the bucket and had stepped right into it. After getting his foot out of it and whispering thanks that it had been empty he placed the bucket back on the floor.

“Shanks?” he heard a whisper and looked over to the bed. Luffy wiggled out of the blankets Ace had wrapped him in so he could see Shanks better; the cloth fell from his forehead and onto the bed. Shanks blinked a little in shock as he looked at the seven year old. Luffy’s usually bright eyes were now dull, tired and slightly watery, his skin was slightly pale and the boy looked fatigued enough that he probably would be in bed for a few more days. “Did you come to visit?” Luffy asked getting free of his blankets. Sitting down on the bed Shanks took off his straw hat and put it on the night stand.

“Yeah since you didn’t show up at Makino’s…she told us you were sick so I brought some medicine over. How do you feel?”

“Hot…” Luffy said before shivering “And cold…”

“You should stay under the covers” Shanks said before the dark haired boy crawled over to him and snuggled up to him.

“Warm…” Luffy mumbled snuggling closer to the red haired captain. His hands balled up fisting his mentor’s shirt, his legs laying on Shanks lap and his head on his side. Ruffling the boy’s hair he picked him up and cradled Luffy in his lap so the boy would be more comfortable. He kicked his sandals off and moved so that he could sit fully on the bed with his back leaning on the head board. Being a child’s bed his feet were left to dangle off the end of the bed. Shanks grabbed one of the blankets that Luffy had wiggled out of before and wrapped it around the boy and then wrapping his arms around Luffy.The child just snuggled even closer, balling himself up and making the happy sounds that only a child could make. “Shanks?” the red haired man looked down at the boy “My head hurts…” Luffy said.

“It’s because of your fever” Shanks said grabbing the cloth that was on the bed. Looking around he saw a bowl of water with ice floating in it; most likely for keeping the cloth cold. He dipped the cloth into the water and then rang it out before wiping the boy’s forehead. Watching the boy toy with a thread sticking out of the blanket he felt that familiar wave of emotion he felt whenever Luffy was this close to him or was upset or in some kind of trouble due to his hyper personality. Yasopp, the ships gunner who had a kid of his own had noticed the behavior of his captain and Luffy and had made a comment about watching out for their captains newly acquired maternal instincts. It had been a joke that Shanks couldn’t help but smile at. He saw Luffy as his own child and anyone who watched them interact with each other could see it plain as day...

If anyone so much as laid a hand on his boy in any attempt to harm him there would be hell to pay.

Both were pulled from their little moment when the door opened to revel Ace carrying a tray with soup, some crackers, and a glass of water and the bag of medicine that Shanks had brought over. The ten year old eyed his brother curled up rather comfortably in Shanks lap wrapped up in a blanket. Shaking his head he gave his brother’s hero a smile as he walked over with the tray. “You comfortable Luffy?” Ace asked teasingly.

“Yup!” Luffy said in a scratchy voice. Ace snorted and sat down on the bed as he watched Shanks chuckle before running a hand through Luffy’s dark hair, and Ace expected the reaction that happened. Luffy closed his eyes and made a noise similar to a puppy getting petted before sinking himself further into Shanks hold, then snuggling deeper into the blanket. Ace shook his head as he watched the scene. Since Luffy was a toddler he would get scared of thunder storms or other things and would come running to him or run to his room and jump into his bed curling himself next to him. Every time Luffy did that Ace would stroke his brothers hair to get him to relax or calm down enough to go back to sleep. It worked even now when Luffy was seven. While Ace wanted his brother to get as much rest as possible so he could get back to his hyper self. However he wanted to get some food into his system first along with the medicine so Luffy wouldn’t have to suffer the symptoms by tomorrow or during the night while he slept.

“Hey Luffy, your suppers ready” Ace said expecting his brother to make a dive for the tray. Instead what happened was something that shocked not only Ace but Shanks as well. Luffy made a pained moan before shaking his head.

“No…not hungry…” Both Ace and Shanks exchanged worried looks.

“You have to eat something bro” Ace said walking closer to the bed.

“I don’t want to throw up again…”

“You ate something to heavy last time” Ace said putting the tray down “I made some soup and its lighter” to be honest he hoped Luffy would eat the soup after this. Because if Luffy asked him to promise that he wouldn’t throw up he didn’t want to have to lie to his brother. With the flu no matter what you ate there was a risk of vomiting, eating something light made that risk a far amount lower but the risk was still there. “Please Luffy?”

Luffy blinked his eyes to stop them from being so blurry to look up at his brother. He really didn’t want to throw up again…it hadn’t not been fun and it was gross. Today was not a day he had liked up until now. He had woken up the other night with his nose running and his throat feeling scratchy enough to where he couldn’t stop coughing. But he had woken up later and he must have fallen asleep again since he didn’t remember anything past that point other then feeling hot…but he had to wonder why the house was a mess and Ace was out of breath when he did wake up…and why had he been in the living room instead of his bed? Ace had set him at the table and had given him his lunch, but for the first time in his life he couldn’t eat…his stomach was churning too much for him to even stand the smell of the food. Then when he was hungry Ace had been nice and reheated it for him…that was when he felt like something was squeezing his stomach and he had started to feel dizzy. He didn’t understand why Ace looked so panicked when he saw him like that, he thought maybe that Ace thought he was going to die…until Ace grabbed him and then ran into the bathroom and practically shoved his head in the toilet before he started throwing up.

The only nice thing about today was how Ace had helped him to bed and made him comfortable, then stayed with him until he fell asleep. Now Shanks was here with him along with Ace so that was nice too. Ace had been nice to him today even after waking him up last night…and Ace had that narcoleptic problem of his so he must have had a lot of episodes today from not getting enough sleep last night. But Ace was also his big brother…and if Ace said eatting something light would help him, and if Ace said so he would do it…even if he wasn’t hungry at all right then because his stomach was still sore. But because Ace hadn’t once gotten upset throughout this whole thing…but he knew Ace would never yell at him…because he was worried. He didn’t like when people worried about him…and if eating would make Ace happy and stop worrying…he would do it.

“Okay”

Ace nodded his head then sighed in relif that he wasn’t going to have to resort to any dirty stunts to make Luffy eat. He picked up the tray and brough it over to his brother but not before motioning to the younger boy to sit up. The seven year old just blinked before moving to sit in Shanks lap instead of curled up to the mans chest. He gently placed the tray over his brothers legs telling him to be careful not to spill anything on himself, the sheets…or on Shanks whom he was using as a chair. Luffy ate his soup with less vigor then when he normally ate, usually he would just down the whole bowl in one gulp. While he ate he listened to Ace asking questions about Shanks lastest voyage.

Finishing his soup he couldn’t bring himself to even look at the crackers after forcing himself to eat that soup. Ace took away the tray and handed Luffy the medicine Shanks had brought and glass of water to swallow the pills. With eating done and hoping the medince will help in not making him feel so hot he snuggled back to his preivouse possition using Shanks as a pillow again. After bringing the tray down stairs and sticking the dishes in the sink, Ace came back up and climbed up on the bed himself and leaned hs back onto the head board much like Shanks.

He was drained.

He had been woken up by Luffy last night with him complaining of a stuffy nose. Then spent some of the night worrying about him. Then chasing him around the house during his delusional episode and then cleaning up the mess. How he managed to get through the day without having a narcoleptic episode after everything he had gone through he had no idea…

Shanks felt something fall on his shoulder, looking over he saw Ace fast asleep with his head on his shoulder. He chuckled patting the older boy on the head and pulling him closer and smiled when he snuggled closer. He should probably stay for the night; Luffy might need something in the middle of the night, and Ace looked pretty tuckered out. He moved to lay down on the bed as carefully as possible without waking either of the boys. He had to hold back a laugh as Ace latched onto his arm and Luffy snuggled into his new position on his stomach.

It seemed like he instently some how became a father the moment he had met both these boys. Settling in he hoped his crew would be able to make it back to the ship after leaving the bar. The village elder already didn’t seem to happy with their presence and it wouldn’t make him happy to see a bunch of drunk and hungover pirates laying around the square. But seeing as Benn and Lucky had the most tolerence for alcohol out of everyone in the crew they would most likely asure that, that wouldn’t happen. He drifted off to sleep with the two D brothers beside him.

A week later

Shanks sighed as wondered if there was another blanket some where on the ship to keep out the chill. His face was flushed red with fever for once instead of any alcohol. He laid in his bed in the captains courters wishing the throbbing in his temples would go away. He was happy that after three days of rest, soup and the medicine that he had brought Luffy was well and had fully recovered from the flu. He had been glad to see Luffy running to the Party’s Bar to see him and the crew just like he did before he got sick. Luffy just wasn’t Luffy unless he was running around with that smile on his face. But three days after Luffy had recovered Shanks had started to feel bellow the weather at what at first seemed like a cold.

But now it was clear…he had the flu. Oh well…he was a fast healer and with some rest he’d be back on his feet in no time. But with all that noise floating up from the deck how was one suppose to get any rest? The crew refused to go to the bar without their captain saying they didn’t want to leave him behind. He had to smile at that…his nakama were indeed very loyal and caring. But he wished they would keep it down a little…he was all for partying, drinking and being wild but right now he needed more rest and no partying.

He heared the heavy steps of a familiar pair of boots clunking down the steps that lead to his cabin. He heard the door open and with it the noise from the deck could be heard more clearly before the door closed again dulling the noise. “Hey Benn” Shanks greeted his firstmate not needing to even look up to know who it was.

“Hey Captain” Benn said going to sit in a near by chair. The ever present ciggirette was missing from Benn’s mouth seeing as the ships doctor Pat had restricted smoking of any kind near any ill crew members. “Feeling any better?”

“Yeah, I’m a fast healer Benn this is nothing” Shanks grinned at his firstmate. Benn grinned before pointing to the door.

“By the way…you have some guests” Benn said with an amused look.

“Guests?” Shanks asked with a puzzled look before the loud shouts shouts could be heard, it was Pat and from the sound of it he was yelling at everyone to keep the noise down. Shanks laugh while Benn chuckled. “So who are my guests?” before Benn could answer the door opened again, this time it was Yassop.

“Hey Boss…your kids are here” Yassop said with a chuckle. Shanks raised a scarlet eyebrow at that and before he could ask what the gunner was talking about the answer came running into the room.

“SHANKS!” reflexts reacted to the shout as he quickly sat up to catch the blur of black, white and blue. He felt something wrap around his neck and nuzzled close before he knew who it was.

“Hey Anchor” Shanks said wrapping his arms around the boy.

“Heh…getting quick at that huh Shanks?” Shanks looked up to see Ace shirtless as always and dressed in his black shorts and black boots, his orange hat hung from the string around his neck and allowed it to rest on his back. In his hands he held a container as he walked over to the bed “We kept wondering what happened to you when you didn’t show up at Makino’s…then Yassop came into buy a few things and we found out from him” Ace said pointing to the blond gunner.

“Sorry Boss I couldn’t help it…Anchor latched on to my pants leg and well…well I’m a father I’m weak to this sort of thing” Yassop said putting his hand behind his head. Shanks just smiled and put a hand up to signal that it was fine…he was weak to Luffy’s cute seven year old charms as well…when he looked at you with those big eyes of his…

“Sorry I made you sick…” Luffy said looking away and down at the bed looking like a child who had just been scolded.

“Relax you didn’t get me sick…” Shanks said ruffling the boys hair, well he might have gotten him sick but there was no way he’d ever say that to Luffy.

“We brought you some soup…Makino made it and I helped” Luffy said puffing out his chest and looking proud of himself as Ace brought over the container and handing it to the red haired man.

“Oh really?” Shanks said running his fingers over the lid.

“Yup I wanted to help cut the vegetables…but she wouldn’t let me use any of the sharp knives so she made me do it with the duller one…” Luffy said. Eyebrows disappeared behind crimson hair before the red haired captain opened the container. Large half chopped vegetables bits floated around the broth. “I wanted to put meat in it too but Makino wouldn’t let me” Luffy said crossing his arms in a huff and a pout firmly in place. The laughing of Yassop and the chuking of Benn echoed around the cabin while Ace simply rolled his eyes before smiling. Shanks blinked before chuckling and placing the container and its lid on the table near by before scooping Ace off the floor and pulling the younger D brother closer.

“Thanks you two”

God did he love these two boys.