I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy let out a watery snort considering how congested she was when she came out of the bathroom and saw Rukelion in her clothes. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "I'm doing a load of laundry. I felt gross and sweaty too so I found this to wear temporarily." 

He planned to start keeping more clothes here so this sort of thing didn't happen again. It really would be so much easier if she would let him live here full-time but he knew that would be pushing the bounds of their current relationship (if you could call it that) too much. 

After getting to know her better, since she was basically back to how she was more than eight years ago when they first met without the benefit of her memories, he had realized that if he hadn't been an injured child she never would have let him stay. She took care of him because she felt responsible as an adult. That would not have happened if he had been closer to her age. 

Daisy may have a kind heart but that was sometimes tempered by the fact that she didn't trust people and didn't want them to get close. She made very few exceptions and only when people were in genuine need like him and Ira. 

"Oh," she said as she began swaying and clutching her head. "Do what you want. I think I need to lie back down."

Rukelion rushed forward before she could fall over and carried her to the couch himself. He propped her up against some pillows and pulled a clean, not sweaty blanket over her before giving her a soft smile. 

"Take it easy. If you need anything, let me know."

Daisy made a noise of affirmation before closing her eyes. She spent most of the next two days sleeping her illness off while he stayed by her side fetching her things as needed and making sure she was recovering properly. It had been a long time since he had taken care of her like this. He had missed it. 

Though it was distressing seeing her be sick and miserable, Rukelion felt oddly at peace. Probably because he was actually able to sleep with her by his side all night. 

Fiercely independent as she may be, everyone wanted to be comforted when they didn't feel well. She didn't stop him from holding her and keeping her warm as she had the chills. Sometimes she unconsciously buried her face in his neck as she slept. 

That gave him hope that things might be able to go back to the way they were someday. If Daisy found comfort in his presence at all that was good news for him. She would want to keep him around that way. 

Rukelion had been consistently happier staying with her while she was sick than he had been the whole time he had been in her world. He wanted things to stay like that forever but beautiful things weren't meant to last. He got kicked out the night she finally felt well enough to drive him home. 

"I don't know how to thank you for taking care of me," she said quietly as she dropped him off. 

He looked her straight in the eye and smiled so she would sense his sincerity. "It was my pleasure. I can take care of you any time you want."

Daisy bit her lip, seemingly unsure of what to say. "…I should be fine going back to work taking DayQuil tomorrow so I'll come pick you up like usual. Thanks again, Leo."

"You're very welcome. Goodnight, Daisy."

"Goodnight," she said softly as he left the car. 

Rukelion sighed once he was alone again. He looked around the room and realized he needed to water his plant. Hopefully, it wouldn't die because he had been gone for a few days. But even if it did he could start over again with some of the leftover seeds. 

How was he supposed to go back to being alone after being able to stay with his wife almost like things were normal for the past few days? He couldn't stand being without her. He really couldn't. 

He flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. The nightmares would be back tonight. He just knew it. 

They hadn't bothered him the whole time he had stayed with Daisy because he had the constant reassurance she was there. He wouldn't have that here. But what could he do? He needed at least a little sleep if he was going to go to work tomorrow. He had to risk it. 

How long would it be before he could live with his wife again for real? His sincerity had to have gotten through to her at least a little after the past few days, hadn't it?

Rukelion wasn't sure because the next day Daisy acted the way she had since they began their arrangement of him hanging out at her place after work. It was as if the past few days hadn't happened at all. 

That was incredibly discouraging…until she casually brought up her refunded movie tickets about a week later once she had completely gotten over her illness. "I still have those tickets. Do you want to go see the movie tonight instead?"

All this time she had been going about her life as usual while he coincidentally happened to be there. She had said she wasn't going to entertain him and he believed her. But didn't this count as entertaining him? People normally went to the movies on dates as far as he had seen.

"Sure," he said simply, unsure what this meant. 

Daisy seemed much more energized than she had before and sang along to every song on the radio on their way to the movie theater. She insisted on buying them a tub of popcorn to split and grabbed herself a box of Sour Patch Watermelon before asking what candy he wanted. 

Rukelion hadn't had any candy since coming to this world. He had seen Juliet eat some that was left over from Christmas. She had gone out of state to go spend it with her family and left him behind, which he didn't mind in the slightest. Having the place to himself was far preferable to sharing it with the person he hated most. 

"You can choose for me," he said. 

His wife shrugged and got him some M&Ms. He helped her carry the food once it was paid for and they found their theater, moving to the very middle of the back row. 

"Best seats in the house," Daisy remarked happily. "I love when I'm able to book them. They're hard to get since everyone wants them."

Rukelion didn't know how to respond since he knew nothing about movie theaters. He had never been inside one before and was impressed so far. People in this world came up with the most amazing ways to entertain themselves. 

"What movie are we seeing?" he ended up asking to have something to say. 

She shrugged. "Some detective movie. The trailer looked decent so I'm hoping it isn't a total bust. Trailers can be deceiving. It is literally their job to trick people into watching movies so…"

Speaking of trailers, a new one began playing. Rukelion looked up at the screen and took a handful of popcorn. He had never had this food before and it was somehow both greasy and crunchy. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. There were a lot of weird foods here but if he could eat the rations at the mess hall back in headquarters he could eat anything. 

Daisy seemed to like it. She shoveled in handful after handful during the trailers and occasionally their hands brushed in the process when they reached into the tub at the same time. 

He was having a good time until a trailer with dramatic music came on panning over burned down forests and cities. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up for some reason and he gripped the arm rests on his seat. 

"Something has to be done about the Flame of Punishment," a male voice said. 

The picture cut to two young men in what appeared to be school uniforms talking. "I know but why us?" 

"Who else could take him on? There's hardly anyone left."

There was something oddly familiar about these two. One of them had gray hair and tan skin like a wind mage and the other had blue-black hair and light blue eyes. Rukelion had a very bad feeling about this…

The one with blue-black hair had a grim but determined expression on his face. "We'll need a team. I know exactly who to ask."

The video panned over a Black girl manipulating shadows, a blonde girl blowing something up, and a boy splitting an arrow that rested in the middle of a target. He knew these people looked familiar!

The book.. The book that ruined his life. It was being turned into a movie?!