Ok midnight ramble time because ideas have spawned.
So it occurred to me a while ago that we have yet to explore a sick-fic with kept bird, but now I finally have actual plot for it.
It starts as a head cold, or something else mild. A day of taking it easy and a bit of medicine, and he’d be fine. Except we know how Grian is and taking it easy is not a skill he possesses or practices. So he’s sick, and he’s pushing himself. First couple of days it’s fine, but isn’t getting better. Then it gets worse and he still doesn’t stop to take care of it.
He’s helping Scar get dressed and ready for something, subtly avoiding Scar’s touches so he can’t feel the fever Grian is actively ignoring. Scar mentions some piece of jewelry to add, and Grian turns to grab it, except he turns to fast and a week of being sick without care catches up and he just straight passes out.
Scar obviously panics, forgets about whatever event he was preparing for, and immediately calls for his personal medical staff while scooping up Grian and bringing him to the bed. It takes awhile for him to wake up, even now that he’s gotten some medical care.
Scar barely gets to be concerned and upset with him before Grian is attempting to get out of bed to resume his post. He squawks when Scars grabs him and forces him back into bed with direct orders to rest and recover until the doctor clears him.
Grian does truly try to stay still, but he lasts maybe half a day before every instinct in him is telling him to move, to do his job, to be useful. When Scar comes back from whatever event that he was both late to and left early from, he comes back to find Grian being forcibly held down by guards the doctor had called for help. It’s truly a testament to how sick Grian is that he hasn’t escaped yet.
Scar orders everyone else out, and at this point I think there’s two options, depending on either how far into their relationship this is or whether you want angst or fluff.
Angst option, earlier on in the relationship:
We know Scar can use his vex powers to mess with someone’s head. And here he’s faced with an exhausted, delirious Grian who has been fighting to get out of bed for hours despite his horrible health. So he holds Grian down himself long enough to use his powers to force Grian to sleep. To rest until he fully recovers.
Except when Grian wakes up again, scar immediately regrets having resorted to that so quickly. Grian’s eyes follow his every move, remaining perfectly still and scar can tell it’s the exact type of behavior Grian would have when dealing with his watched handler.
That trust gets rebuilt eventually. But it takes some time.
Fluff option, late into their relationship:
Scar orders everyone else to leave. And he offers Grian this immediate sleep option. It’s made clear that either way Grian won’t be leaving the bed until he’s better, but scar is offering a way for him to relax during it. Maybe it’s not necessarily sleep, maybe closer to subspace, but either way scar offers and Grian accepts. It’s still not a comfortable choice, to choose to be more vulnerable when he already feels trapped. But it’s Scar. And Grian knows accepting his help will save him from continuing to feel trapped by the medical team keeping an eye on him.
-🐢 (I think I prefer the fluff option, but the angst option needed to be voiced)
ooo both the options are so tasty <3 you've once again cooked, turtle <3