Ajna and Anon's Sick Day

“A---a-aaachoo!”

Another sharp sneeze followed by a deep sniffle and a groan. You could her Ajna on the couch outside, rolling back and forth under the quilts. She mumbled something along the lines of “hungry” in between a cough.

The smell of prawn boiling in rice broth did smell good, even to one who had a very stuffy noise. You found your mouth watering at the taste as it boils on the stove in front of you.

What did Leliani say to add? Cumin? A squeeze of lemon? A bit of that weird fruit that tasted really bitter?

Yeah, weird fruit. You add a squeeze of that, pink juice gushing into the broth. It smells bitter at first, then very fragrant, like a rich mixture of herbs had suddenly been ground in by the handful.

You knew you had to take good care of Ajna- Thorani would NEVER forgive you if she found even a single hair on her darling Ajna’s head harmed. And for how nice the water woman was, the deva could be a pretty mean bi...

Well, you did promise to take care of her, and you wouldn’t find out how angry Thorani could be.

“Hey, Ajna...!” You called out, poking out of the small kitchen to see the Savior of Loka sprawled on the couch. “You..uh..hungry?”

Maybe in response to your obvious question, or just too sick to have heard, Ajna gave a dull nod, followed by a “Yeah...”

Okay, good. She was alive. That was a great sign. Maybe this soup Leliani had given you the recipe for would work. She said it was used by her family to cure sicknesses almost overnight.

You remember how she stood in front of you, dripping with what you prayed to the gods above was just paint from Sangmu’s art projects and not blood from raw meat, giddily describing how to cook the soup in great detail. She was a very sweet girl, you know, but maybe it was the way she swung her spinning sword thing around as she idly swayed that brought to mind great violence and ripping and tearing.

You reach into the leather sack of food you had bought expressly for this recipe. It had been a bit pricy, but this odd sense of generosity overcame you and you had decided to splurge. Half of the food was in a language long forgotten in Loka, in tongues so ancient they’d be dust, and it was only by convincing bearded elders at the market stands to sell you these things that you even managed to procure even a single handful of them.

Whatever they were, it smelled good. A rich, flavorful aroma. Exotic spices from the Port Market. Fish hauled in from the deepest ocean reefs. Outside, the cool fall air blew from the south, turning the trees placed on elite patios and verandas into blotches of orange and crimson. The sounds of the street only increased, harvest season now, fresh crops to be sold, goods to be moved. Even in the coming early dusk the city never seemed to sleep.

“....Is the soup ready?” sniffled the incarnation-summing tomboy behind you. She sat up, her brown hair frazzled, and a hot water sack covered the rest of her hair. A thermometer stuck out from her lips, falling out onto the quilts as she spoke.

“In a minute, Ajna!” You call out, giving a thumbs-up that feels kinda awkward now as you turn back to the soup. You feel bad for her-Ajna was always so spunky and full of life (or as everyone else put in, full of life and the weird urge to cause mayhem wherever she went), and it was such a shame to see her sick. Everyone had fussed around her, since it was a rarity she got sick out of them considering her Heruka abilities would surely have made her superhuman. Nuna had given her fresh vegetables to eat to try and boost her immune system. Gensing and Honey gave her a bunch of herbal treatments. Zahra played music for her to boost her spirits. Zebei even gave her his coat, that big fluffy one, to keep the chills off her.

And Razmi...well, whatever Razmi offered was probably poison, considering how she said to drink one sip of it and she wouldn’t feel anything again, but still she was helping!

You smile at the thought. Ajna had all these friends, sure they might have been colorful, but still they were her friends. You had friends you could count with one finger, and even then they weren’t really friends. Just some folks you spoke to at the market once every so often.

So, in a way, it was nice when you met Thorani once, when she was doing a “wellness through water” event at the Port. All free, of course, because you wouldn’t have been able to scrounge up enough money to get in. You talked to her about helping, maybe earning some money as a quick job, and surprisingly she was very nice. Most of it was simple work, moving barrels full of her rejuvenating water to sickhouses for donations, handling whatever money she did get, you mostly just did your best to look trustworthy.

Apparently, somewhere along the line, you showed you were pretty damn trustworthy, since you were now taking care of Thorani’s luksao.

You reach for the...uh, what you have been calling “jellied blue squid scales” to add in, since those are some of the key ingredients to making this work. How you aren’t exactly sure, but...

Huh. All out.

All out.

All out?!

You look again, seeing if you missed anything in the leather bag of food you had dragged into the kitchen. Nope, nothing . No scales, no fishtails, no more anything.

You feel like kicking yourself in the side- how could you forget? I mean, yeah, they weren’t easy to find, but Kala above you promised that you’d get everything on the list!

A sudden sneeze interrupted your thoughts. Ajna was waiting for this supposed miracle soup, and you needed to hurry. Maybe there was something in the cabinets here for you? The Teotul surely had to have something aside from Baozhai’s stash of booze.

A jar of spices, smelled earthy. Into the broth it went. A handful of salt. A mixture of an orange spice that smelled like cinders mixed with pepper. And another handful of salt, just to be safe. Finally, some dried fish scales that you were sure were used for emergency rations.

Boil it a few more moments and carefully, you ladle some of the hot soup into a bowl for Ajna. You carry it out to her, with the young woman now sitting up right, draped in quilts, a furry coat, and half asleep from sick.

“That the soup...? Heh....smells good.” Ajna cracked a small smile, her brown hair, still with streaks of purple in it, brushed from her face as she looked at you

“Uh...yeah, Leliani’s secret recipe!” You say, watching as she takes the bowl of soup and sips it. In a moment, Ajna’s eyes lit up.

“Wow! This is....way better than I thought it would be! Leilani made it sound good, but this is even better than I thought!”

You smile, hearing the trademark accent slip through from Ajna’s cough. She smiled back a bit, before giving a rough cough.

“Guess it take time to heal, huh?”

“Heh, yeah. But, I could eat Leilani’s cooking sick or not!”

Ajna took another spoonful and sighed, looking at you. “You know...why didn’t you go with Thorani. To help her? She had Baozhai come with her. Not that Baozhai minded, in fact, she seemed real excited.”

“Oh, well, I wanted to stay. Take care of you!”

You hoped to Kala and every other god and goddess in the realms that you didn’t sound creepy.

Fortunately, the smile Ajna had on her face sparkled like the red beads she wore around her head.

“Aww, that’s nice of you, Anon! If you didn’t, Razmi would have probably made me drink that medicine she made. Although, I don’t really think it was medicine...”

You and Ajna share a laugh, although Ajna gives a cough in response. You feel your heart wince at the sight. Almost on instinct, you pull the covers up over Ajna’s shoulders, trying to keep her warm. She seems to relax a bit at the feeling of the quilts over her.

“Heh, you don’t gotta fuss around me, Anon. I’m not dying! Just have a cold is all.” Ajna smirks, and gives you a light slug in the shoulder. This was a sign she was feeling better already- that smarted a bit.

“Well...uh, you know, Thorani told me to take good care of you, so...”

“Thorani? Oh, she always gets like that! She made drink a big jug of her hair water this morning before you came! I mean, it made me feel a little better, but she almost made me drink another one!”

Ajna sipped the soup again, chewing slowly on a piece of fish.

“I could take care of myself....I don’t want Thorani or anyone to worry about me.”

You nod in agreement. Ajna really wasn’t the type of girl to be fussed over, it made her feel sort of weak, like she couldn’t do anything on her own.

“Yeah, I guess I feel like that sometimes myself.”

Ajna smiled again, sniffling a bit. Her eyes closed and she shook her head, as if in thought.

“But, it’s not all bad. Seeing everyone come over and try to help me. Zahra played me a whole song to cheer me up, Latigo told me a couple of his old gunslinger stories to take my mind off being sick, Phoebe even takes care of me like I’m her own kids....even if it makes Thorani jealous...”

“You do have a lot of good friends, Ajna. I’m jealous. I don’t have many friends, aside from Thorani. And that one guy on the docks who plays a wind flute for spare coins, though he’s more of an acquittance...?”

“Aw, don’t say that! You’re a nice guy, I’m sure you got lots of friends!”

Ajna said, her voice full of that warm genuine sympathy she could give to anyone who needed it. She was sometimes a hothead, but she could be very caring when you got down to it.

“Heh...thanks, Ajna. But...I dunno. I just don’t feel like I got many friends. Maybe that’s just how I am.”

“Now you sound like Dhar. He always goes off about being a “lone solider” and ”fights on his own”. Usually until Razmi puts a spider down his uniform, which shuts him up.”

Both Ajna and you share a laugh. She scratches the back of her head and reclines back on the couch, letting her weary body relax on the cushions.

“Is there anything else you want me to do?” You say, hoping you two wouldn’t sit in awkward silence.

“Actually...uh, yeah there is something you can do? Can you grab me some more pillows? I think Ren...uh, Ren’s got some in his room?”

You give a confirming nod and stand up, careful not to make too much motion or else risk giving Ajna a headache as the couch moved. As you do, Ajna collapses back into the couch and stretches her legs, going back to eating her soup.

You grab the pillows in Ren’s room- being extremely careful not to grab anything else, who knows what Ren had hidden in his personal belongings- and head back to Ajna.

Or, well, the couch where Ajna was. She’s not there. The soup’s still there, and a mess of heavy blankets and quilts pile on the floor. But the incarnation summoner isn’t there.

Then, you hear it.

A sound of gurgling and groaning, almost like that of the Teotul’s hull in the water. Followed by loud coughs and the sound of something splattering.

You drop the pillows and run up to the main deck, just outside the cabin. Outside, slumped over the railing, lies Ajna, coughing and spitting into the churning water below.

“Ajna! What are you doing out of...?”

The answer was given in the form of the girl leaning over to hack and puke.

“Oh.”

Ajna turned around, wiping the sick from her face. She shrugged her shoulders limply, leaning back on the railing.

“Eh...yeah, I know, should be in bed...” She mumbled, her one arm wrapped around herself, a desperate bid to keep herself warm. “Just...just needed some air...”

For a moment, you imagine what Thorani would say if she saw Ajna like this. It’s surprisingly not a very pleasant thought, and it surprises you that you could imagine Thorani swearing. But, you shove that down, and quickly you go over to Ajna, gingerly lifting her back to her feet.

“Alright, alright...just...uh, just lean on me for right now?”

“Okay...” came the muffled response, followed by Ajna’s head laying on your side. Oddly, despite the smell of regurgitation and sweat from a fever, you could smell Ajna’s aroma of incense, sweet and light, coming off her. A nice dainty smell for one so fierce as her.

Carefully, and doing your damn best not to be weird with this, you gently carry her back into the cabin. You lay her back down on the couch, letting her head rest on the pillow, before your cover her up with a quilt. You would have covered her with Zebei’s wool coat, but there’s the possibility she’d vomit on it and you don’t want that sharp-nosed archer ranting about it all night.

“A...anon?” Ajna croaked, her head sinking into the pillow.

“Yeah? What do you need?”

“Can...can I have some medicine?”

“Medicine? Like, uh, herbal? I think Ginseng mentioned something about getting fresh plants from Nuna’s garden...”

“Yeah...yeah, in the cabinet...”

At that Ajna falls back into a lucid state. It reminds of you when you first met her at a dinner Thorani invited you to, where you watched Ajna take out a lobster, part of a large grilled sea creature, and several, several slabs of meat before she passed out on the floor and Tungar had to carry her to bed.

You head off into the little wooden medicine chest, stuffed with medicine from Nuna’s and Ginseng’s “natural garden”. You remember in that moment, Ajna never mentioned WHAT sort of medicine, and you certainly don’t know what sort of mushrooms and plants Nuna and Ginseng grow out there. So, you grab a blue glass jar, filled with what seems to be a light, clear tea, although it smells way more earthy, like plants ground up and boiled. As long as it isn’t poison, it works.

Unless it was some kind of poison, but you weren’t really gonna worry about that now.

You returned to the sickly Ajna and carefully pour the medicine into her mouth. Normally, she would have punched your jaw clean off having been fed an unknown liquid, but she was too sick to care what it was. Apparently, it wasn’t as bad as you thought, she drank it down without much resistance.

“There now...you need anything else? Maybe some new clothes? New hot water sack?”

Ajna shook her head, letting out a murmur.

“Nah, just...just gonna lay down here, for a bit...try not to die...”

With that, Ajna fell back into a stupor, pulling the quilts up over herself and nuzzling into the couch, and with an overdramatic sigh, fell into sleep.

You couldn’t help but chuckle. You knew full well Ajna was fine, it was just her pulling your leg to try and wind you up. You knew she didn’t like to be fussed over, but for some odd reason, you couldn’t really shake the feeling that you were pretty comfortable with her.

I mean, sure, she was part of some sort of demi-goddess and had powers not limited to sucking her friends into her head. But, aside from that, she was a pretty good kid. Hot-tempered and impulsive, yeah, but still. She was passionate about whatever she did, either if it was training or even helping Naga Rider clean up Tai Krung. You never met someone who was so determined to do anything. Even in the greatest odds, she always overcame it, somehow, someway. She always helped people, in her own way, and it was never out of any selfish reasons. Hell, when you first met her, she walked up to her, shook your hand vigorously, and flashed those caramel colored eyes at you so openly that you felt too surprised to even talk.

“Hey, a friend of Thorani is a friend of mine!” She stated, her accent echoing warmly as she shook the joint from your shoulder.

You sat down on the couch beside her’s. You had pretty much nothing to do, aside from waiting for someone to come back. Maybe Latigo would be back soon from getting gunpowder. Or Kushi and Zebei would be back on Altun. Or maybe Tungar would be back with Phoebe from training?

It didn’t matter who was coming, you still had a bit of time to wait. Just you, and one sick girl.

It wasn’t very long until you found yourself almost lulling to sleep. The way the Teotul rocked back and forth in the water, swaying to the tide of the coast as it rolled in and out. Distant bells from tidal markers ringing out, birds screeching through the endless veil of wispy blue. Like Kala’s motherly hand rocking the cradle, you found yourself slowly being rocked to a gentle steady sleep. A blissful, dreamy reverie that...

‘A..anon...?”

The muffled whisper interrupted your drowsy daydream. You look over, seeing Ajna staring half-lidded at you from her pillows.

“I’m cold...can you get me some blankets?”

You stretch yourself up from the lounging couch, kicking your legs back on the floor. You share the lingering sleep from your head and walk over to Thorani’s room- the one right beside Ajna’s and the one oddly closest to Baozhai’s. You grab some of those gossamer silk sheets Thorani likes to curl up in from her bed and head back out to Ajna, watching as she sat up awkwardly. Her teeth chattering from chills that were coming through her body, her head sticking out from the mess of blankets that circled around her.

“Thanks, Anon...jeez, I never knew the ship was this cold before, heh.”

You lean down, covering Ajna gently in one layer of silk. Followed by another, and then another. Ajna smiled with warmth, feeling the sheets wrap comfortably around you. For a moment, you see her look at you, then look away in awkward surprise, as if she wanted to ask you something.

“Anon? Could you, uh...no, forget it...”

“What is it, Ajna?”

“Well...could you stay on the couch with me? Just sitting beside me? Maybe I’d be warmer if I had someone with me?”

The question rolled in your head for a moment. Here, an attractive young woman (and you mean that in the most platonic way, like a father calling his dad beautiful) was asking you to spend some time with her on the couch. You didn’t want this to be weird, as a variety of reasons made it so, but at the same time, you didn’t want to be rude. Ajna was looking at you for help, one of the strongest people you’ve ever met, someone who fought former devas, royalty, and even a deranged warlord. You knew she’d help you if you were sick, and it was time for someone to let her know that people did care, no matter what form she could change into, no matter how hot-blooded she was.

“Sure, Ajna. I’d be happy to sit here. Just move over and...hey!”

You’re suddenly cut off, feeling Ajna’s arms reach out to squeeze you tight. She nuzzles her head into your side, her brown hair and red beads tickling through your shirt, her arms, hardened from constant axe swinging, practically pull you in like an anaconda. She looked up at you bashfully, with a blush you’ve only seen when Thorani bought her that dress to try on and everyone oohed and aahed her until she took it off.

Hell, Dhar and Razmi still have pictures of her to get her all riled up.

“Sorry, anon! You’re just so...warm! It’s like being next to a big pillow! Not...not that you’re fat!”

The way Ajna’s face lit up all red as her beads makes you stifle a chuckle. You have to admit, this isn’t that bad. It’s warm, and it’s comfortable. Silk sheets, cozy couch, and a rather warm pair of arms holding you tight.

“Nah, don’t worry about it! As long as you’re comfortable, I’m comfortable!”

Hearing that made Ajna’s smile get a bit bigger, knowing you weren’t uncomfortable. She nuzzled herself a bit more into your side, getting herself all nice and warm.

Of course, it seemed neither of you wanted to sit in silence like this. It was Ajna who asked you the question first.

“So....how did you meet Thorani? I remember she said something about you working with her on running that healing bath house, but she was in the middle of putting out one of Razmi’s fires.”

“Oh, well, I was just hanging around, looking for work, and...she seemed nice enough, so I gave it a shot.”

You weren’t much of a conversationalist, especially with people as unconventional as Ajna and her friends. But she didn’t seem to mind very much.

“Well, word to the wise, Baozhai really seems to get jealous when people hang out with Thorani too much. She says it’s to keep a deva like her safe, but she always seems to be a bit mad! Maybe it’s because she just doesn’t want people hurting her like Mara tried to.”

Ah, so that was why that pirate lady with the cannons on her back gave you such a stern talking to. Or more or less threatening to blow your privates off with a cannonball if you dared even hurt Thorani.

“Thorani’s really protective of you like that too. She always seems to fuss around you!”

“Thorani’s like that with everyone! Just yesterday, she bought all of us this big wooly coats to keep his warm, and they itch like crazy! Hunoch and Xiboch wound up getting stuck in theirs and Nuna had to tear it off, for some reason. But, yeah, she does kind of baby me, heh.”

“Any reason why?”

“I dunno. Maybe it’s because I’m her little luksao? Or she says I have really pinchable cheeks? Or I give the best hugs?”

Ajna shrugged and sniffled, nuzzling closer into you, feeling a chill coming on.

“I mean, I love Thorani and she’s super nice and caring, but...she seemed really scared when I said I felt sick. Like, really scared.”

“Maybe she just thought something was really wrong? You know how really panicked some people get around germs”

“No, it was more like...she said she didn’t want to lose me, and that she threw her arms around me and cried. Really cried. It was...weird.”

You did recall the look of worry on Thorani’s face when she told you Ajna was sick. You asked that if her magic waters could heal her, and she did say they could, but it would take a day or two to work. You argued it was just the seasonal flu, but it still seemed to not shake the motherly deva’s fears.

“Well, Thorani has seen a lot of sick people at the bath house. Maybe she just let some stuff bother her, after all, if you spent a lot of time with sick folks, you’d be worried about those you love being sick too.”

Ajna nodded, wiping her nose with a handkerchief she got from Antoine. She looked up at you, head snuggled into you, arms wrapped firmly around you.

“I think Thorani’s a bit afraid of losing me. She’s the closest thing I have to a parent, I guess. Since my dad...um, passed away, and my only mothers are one I never really knew and a goddess who lives in my head, she’s the actual thing I have to a mom. And I’m the closest thing she has to a daughter. I guess it wouldn’t be too much to think she doesn’t anything to happen to me.”

“And...you feel a bit conflicted because you don’t like to be dotted around?”

A nod again.

“Yeah, exactly. But, don’t tell her I said that! It’s...it’s just feeling like she doesn’t see me as an adult, or mature enough to know what to do. I mean, I’m not as smart as Angwu, Jingfei, those monks Zebei hangs out with sometimes, Yan, Zahra, that kid who hangs out by the docks yelling at the birds, Roti...”

“Okay, okay, so...?”

“But I’m still smart enough to know what to do. I like to help people, and I always want to make sure the people I care about are safe. I almost lost them all before, and they were scared when I never came back from Sumeru...”

You notice little balls of tears well up in Ajna’s eyes.

“I don’t want anyone thinking I’m weak...”

And with that, the girl nuzzled her face into your side and squeezed you tight, burying herself into your side. The sound of stuffed sniffles and soft cries broke out, breaking the silence of the Teotul’s cabin in a terrible melody.

Now, normally, you weren’t sure what to do. You had never been good, you thought, at calming people down. That was more reserved for the stoic priests and monks and spiritual guides who flanked the steps of the temples. But, as if something deep stirred in your heart, a vision as clear as the sky, you suddenly knew what to do.

One hand moved very gently to clasp Ajna’s hand, letting her fingers rest between yours, curling around them delicately to ensure she would still have freedom. The other hand moved to slowly run through Ajna’s hair, going back and forth in long, slow strokes, easing up and down through the brown locks, rattling the prayer beads between your knuckles as you stroked her hair.

“Ajna, it’s okay. No one thinks you’re weak.” Your voice was calm, guiding, surprising even yourself. Ajna looked up, her eyes still dotted with tears, her caramel brown eyes shimmering with a flicker of exposed inner worry.

“In fact, if everyone thought you were so weak, would they have left you here with me? Someone who could have just ransacked the ship and taken off? No, they think you’re very strong. I actually always wanted to meet you, since Thorani would tell me stories of your adventures. Scaling Mt. Sumeru, fighting a giant industrial machine, making time for everyone, including that big fluffy dog. It’s not that they think you’re too weak or stupid or anything...”

You cup her cheek with a resounding guidance, abandoning all pretense and worry of being awkward and creepy. Your touch is strong and supportive. You gaze into Ajna’s eyes determined and clear.

“They take care of you because they want you to be around for a long time. You’re their friend, Ajna. You wouldn’t believe what some people would do to have a friend like you.”

For a moment, Ajna looked at you. No tears, no sniffling, no coughing. It was as if her sickness had suddenly poured out of her through her tears, her body looking fresh and healthy, as if her mind had suddenly been revealed this great, all-encompassing truth.

And then came the biggest, tightest warmest hug Ajna had ever given you.

“Thanks, Anon....I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else to finally realize it...”

Your arms wrap around Ajna again, the two of you squeezing each other tight.

“No problem, Ajna. Besides, it looks like you’re feeling better...”

Ajna, as if in realization, shot back, but bashfully giggling as she did so.

“Oh! Uh...yeah, I feel great! Leiliani’s soup must have worked! Also, uh...that medicine may have made me a bit emotional...heh.”

Ajna’s voice flared back up with her trademark tomboy tone, her accent breaking a bit to reveal a tad shyness behind it.

“Of course! Kala knows what sort of stuff’s in these bottles.”

You noticed Ajna didn’t pull fully away, finding herself rather comfortable against your side.

“Say...” Ajna smiled that classic friendly smile, sniffling a bit less. “You’d know what be a great idea to pass the time? I could show you some tricks I taught Roti!”

You smile back, the air now free of awkward tension.

“Sure! I always wondered what the tapir could do aside from blowing raspberries at me.”

With a whistle, and a call of Roti’s name, Ajna turned you as the tapir bounded down from the room, and leaped into her owner’s arms.

“Hey, Anon....?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember what you said about not having a lot of friends?”

“Yeah?”

“Well...consider myself as your friend. I’m sure once everyone sees how good you are, they’ll welcome you too.”

You smile wider, letting out a soft chuckle. Friends with a possible-demigoddess-girl and her ragtag group of friends?

You wouldn’t have disagreed in anyway.

When Thorani and Baozhai were the first ones back, they would see you and Ajna nestled on the couch, watching as Roti did backflips up and down.

To Thorani, there was no greater joy she could see right now, then her luksao safe and sound with someone she trusted.