As soon as he was physically capable of doing so, Kody was already scraping up the energy to tend to whoever else was sicker nearby, which surprised and worried the rest of them when he brought around rice porridge or a tip about inhaling steam. At least he was making an attempt to take care of himself and not push too far (which was more than could be said for some of the others).
This was why Kody was presently lying on a couch, recovering from the exhaustion of spending ten minutes carrying some soup down the hall. Asgore brought him some tea and a blanket; after a cluster of coughs he accepted both gratefully.
"How did you learn how to take care of sick people so well?" Asgore asked.
"...are you sure you want to know? It's not a happy reason."
Asgore looked away for a moment, visibly steeling himself. "Tell me."
Kody closed his eyes. Inhaled. Exhaled. Opened his eyes. "My infant sister died of whooping cough that I only barely survived. One of my older cousins has a leg withered from polio. I had nightmares for years about coming across my neighbors half dead of the pox. I know sickness well."
"...But the others don't?"
"Traitless are public health afterthoughts at best and acceptable targets at worst. As long as the 'right people' are dying, nobody cares. We learned to take care of each other because there wasn't really any other choice."
"Oh."
"Most people will spend their entire lives never noticing how big the problem really is, or how many people suffer for it, because it doesn't affect anyone they know. And meanwhile -" Kody had a coughing fit, and stopped it with a long draft of his tea. "I am so afraid that this is the sickness someone I care about will never recover from."
"I'm so sorry."
"Here we are all strong, well-fed, able to rest, and of a vital age. And this flu is less fatal than other plagues. But I am still scared. So I... I have to do something."
Asgore looked downwards, shame pulling down on his features. "I was assigned to the Council to learn what I could from the human wizards before ascending the throne. I thought it would just be about political contacts and management and stuff. I didn't realize it would be things like this, too."
"You're... uh... welcome?"
Asgore reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "You have a good heart, Kody."
Kody smiled, small and sad, and then covered a string of coughs. He was still sick himself, after all.
"Rest. You can leave things to me for a few hours."
"You sure?"
"Promise."
Kody closed his eyes.
Asgore vowed to himself that when he inherited his kingdom, he wouldn't leave anyone out like this. He would care for every monster who lived there. Every single one.
