Title: Very Much Not As Usual
Author: iff
Fandom: Wolf's Rain
Bunny: #6 - character getting sick and other character notices, #13 -dreaming, exhausted, stubborn, dark, "Don't need it." 
Rating: G - (scarily enough, I don't even think there's any cursing)
Feedback: Would be great, thanks!
Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadly, they belong to Bandai, Nobumoto Keiki, and all the wonderful people who made it as lovely as it is.
Summary: What happens when the one who acts like he doesn't need anyone… does?
A/N: This is because TG is one of the ones responsible for sucking me in (kicking and screaming, let me tell you *grin*) into Wolf's Rain fandom. Pairing is Tsume + Toboe ('cause challenge #13 just screamed Tsume to me)

Now, normally Tsume didn't mind snow. Hell, most of the time he liked it. And so he should, since he was from a part of the world where most of the year it was snowing, and he'd spent quite enough time outside the domes, where it snowed all too frequently. But there were times when he wished it gone. Not that he'd admit it, of course, but he still wished it.

The four of them were huddled in a cave, Kiba staring out through the snow to the dark beyond it and wishing they could be back on the trail as usual, Hige lying in what could only be described as a "flop" and bemoaning his empty stomach as usual, and Toboe fighting sleep as usual. And Tsume was curled up in the back of the cave, very much not as usual.

He'd managed to convince Kiba to stop for the evening, pointing out again that Toboe was still young and looked exhausted, even though it was really himself that needed the rest. Tsume was more than tired at this point. He ached, deep in his bones, and had been alternatingly chilled and overheated all afternoon, even with no difference in their pace and very little difference in the climate that they were travelling through. He'd been stubbornly trying to keep going, ignoring the discomfort, but it was getting to be too much for him to hide. When Kiba finally agreed to take shelter in this cave, Tsume was exceedingly grateful.

The oldest of the pack had tried to retain his stoic indifference to the others as they rested, but as his body registered that they had stopped for the night, it became increasingly difficult. Finally he gave up on even his usual gruff attitude, made one last snarky comment, and rose to stalk off to just beyond the slash of moonlight coming in from the rather narrow mouth of the cave. "Tsume!" the pup called after him, but he didn't bother to respond as he curled up in to the smallest ball possible and tucked his head under his tail.

He slept. Even with the others awake and chattering, he slept, which, after years of living with humans who would as easily stab him in the back as hug him – possibly more easily since he didn't present himself as very huggable – was definitely not as usual. And then he woke, shivering, with a tickle in his nose and a hand awkwardly petting his head and neck.

"Tsume. You aren't feeling well, are you?"

Tsume was very much not his usual self, but he tried to hide that from the chibi, like he'd been hiding it all day.

Of course, there was only so much he could do when he was shivering like a newborn. And even less when the tickle became more insistent and he was forced to turn away, sitting up with his hands to his face, and painfully stifle a couple of sneezes so as not to alert the other two, succeeding in keeping them completely silent, but also in making his head pound.

Toboe was as enthusiastic in his concern as he was in everything else, which was not what Tsume wanted right now. "Gaki, go away and let me sleep," he practically growled at the younger wolf.

"But, Tsume—"

Tsume bared his teeth, which might have worked had the tickle not come back with no warning, even more insistent than before. "HEIIITCH! TSCHH" His head snapped forward with the force of the sneezes and, as Toboe held a hand out to steady him, Tsume looked back up and glared at the younger one.

"Na, Tsume? You okay back there?" Hige's voice came from the mouth of the cave.

Tsume still held Toboe's gaze, daring the kid to say anything. "Aa. Only dust," he said back, not wanting to raise his voice for the ache in his head.

"Tsume?" Toboe's voice was very small and tentative now. "You're shivering. You said you wanted to sleep. If you lie back down we can keep each other warm…"

"I said go away! And quit it with the coddling. I don't need it. I'm fine." He curled up, trying to keep from inhaling his own fur and making things worse, and pretended to fall back to sleep instantly. That lasted for maybe two minutes before the tickle came back with a vengeance. Sniffling didn't help at all, in fact that only made it worse. He buried his nose in his tail to muffle the sound because it was too much effort to do anything more. "hffffsh! hffsssssh!" He was thankfully left alone this time, but it wasn't much longer before he felt something warm at his back. He was too tired to even open his eyes, and the heat was enough to keep him from shivering and let him sleep.

He slept deeply and found himself dreaming. The dream he had was one of his usual ones, and not a pleasant one either -- memories of the loss of his pack, jumbled up with images of the soldiers who were never far from their current trail -- all made worse by the fever in his body. He slept only a short time before he woke up, this time panting with the heat that seemed enough to set him on fire.

The cub was sound asleep, curled around him, and stirred slightly as Tsume untangled himself and pulled away to try and cool off. Standing up, he stumbled even farther back in the cave, one hand against the stone wall, hoping Toboe wouldn't wake and follow him. He finally found a spot that seemed acceptable in his fever-fuzzed mind and, the heat quickly turning back to chill, sat and pulled himself in to the smallest ball he could, arms wrapped around legs, head tucked in. His breath was warm and heavy against his own chest, a welcome contrast to the cold stone against his back.

He still couldn't sleep, his head aching too much, the faint breeze coming from the mouth of the cave making his skin and fur hurt as it blew over him, and the tickle would not leave his nose. The click of claw against stone overpowered the sound of his sniffling and made him raise his head.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," he growled. 

Toboe paid no attention to him, walking closer and first nuzzling, then licking his neck.

Tsume was ready to shoo him away, but the chibi's body was keeping the wind away, and it made his head feel so much better. A whine escaped his throat, a sound that none of the others ever would have thought to hear from him, and he leaned in to Toboe's ministrations just briefly, before "EITSCHH! HEIfffsssh!"

Toboe continued to lap at his head and neck after he'd recovered. "Poor Tsume," the younger wolf murmured. "You seem so miserable." Toboe pulled him down to curl up on the ground, then slid up to lie at his back, still blocking the wind, but not too close this time. "Let me help you. I won't tell the others…" He nuzzled Tsume's ear, then laid his own head down with a soft whuff, and for some reason, the gentle whisps of Toboe's breath didn't feel nearly as bad to Tsume as the wind had.

Tsume finally gave in, letting out a pitiful whimper. He knew he would be better in the morning – he had to be because he refused to feel like this another day -- but he realized that, while it was not his usual way to let the others this close, maybe it was okay to accept Toboe's comfort for now.