And the cold Merman just curled around him, trying to absorb as much of the heat as he could. Mmm, warm man. Nothing better.

"Thanks. That's better." He sighed, eyes closed. Even if he felt like he needed to be up and moving about, he could at least be warm while he was laying.

Noah mumbled something completely unintelligible and passed out abruptly. He was tired, yes. Very tired. He'd been watching Veli and growing steadily more nervous every day.

When 5 o'clock came, he was desperately debating leaving.

Ah, but by five, the merman had fallen into a sleep. He was warmer now, not nearly as warm as his human, but at a good, safe temperature for himself. He seemed to be sleeping easy as well, occasionally smiling in his dreams.

That was good enough for Noah, for the time being. He got out of bed left the number to his current place of work on the refrigerator door as per usual. After all, when one had no cell phone...

And, within the hour, he was lifting steel plates again. Ugh.

Not long after Noah left, Veli's smiles turned into frowns. He started kicking off the blankets, body scalding hot. The man forced himself onto his feet, moving into the kitchen. Okay. He just needed something to drink, some sort of hydration.

Pulling open the fridge door, he found a bottle of water and drained it quickly. Okay. That was better. Not so hot now. He sighed, pouring himself a little bit of orange juice. He sipped at that, nibbling on some crackers. They were tasty.

On his way back to visit the fish, however, something very unusual happened. His legs just... Stopped working. Giving a squawk, Veli went down. He started breathing fast, and there was a very sudden pressure in his stomach. The poor merman moaned, trying to pull himself up, but went right back down when his stomach decided that he wasn't allowed to have crackers nor orange juice in his stomach.

Having never done such a thing in his life, and being unable to move from his position on the floor, Veli pulled the phone down, terrified. Noah. He wanted his Noah.

He hit numbers on the touchpad, hoping that he'd gotten them right. Noah. Noah. He needed his Noah.

Except it wasn't Noah that answered.

"Hello, this is Janine, how may I help you?" some fake-peppy woman asked.

Veli coughed, trying to squish down the terror he felt.

"Hi." His voice was much more raspy than it had been. "Needt'speak w'Noah James, please." He said, clearing his throat again and feeling that gross feeling in his stomach. Oh God. "M'Veli Järvinen."

"Please hold," the woman said. Thankfully, Noah had introduced himself. He was no idiot. He knew he may be getting a call. There was a wait of about two minutes, and then:

"Vel, suga', wha's wrong?"

Veli moaned, trying to get to his feet again.

"I fell down and I can't get up and I did something to the floor and I'm scared!" Veli sobbed. He was scared. The man had never been sick before, ever.

And it didn't take a genius to figure out what he meant.

"Oh, God. Okay, suga'. Comin' right home. Jus' try'ta stick it out fer a few more minutes." He paused only a moment to wait for a response.

"Kay." And Veli sounded ever so miserable. He sobbed again, rubbing his nose. "Hurry, please... Love you." Veli sniffled and hung up the phone.

. . .

Red on his hand. Red. On his hand. Veli made a very scared noise, touching his nose again. It... It was bleeding!

Now more scared than before, Veli dragged himself into the bathroom, leaving behind a sprinkling trail of blood. He grabbed a towel, putting it over his face, and rested his head on the toilet. Oh God, what was wrong with him?!

Noah heaved a sigh and grimaced, leaving a concerned and aww-how-cute smiling receptionist at the desk.

Clearly, he was not quite happy upon returnin home.

"Vel? Veli! Where are ya..." Granted, he could just follow the blood...but he wanted to hear a voice, damnit!

Not an actual reply, but there was a sobbing little moan from the bathroom. Veli was currently curled on the floor, hiding his face in the towel and feeling nauseated.

And Noah rushed to him, ignoring the vomit and blood. He lifted Veli's chin and looked up his nose.

"Did it stop yet?"

It hadn't.

Veli looked to be terrified. This stuff wouldn't stop! He opened his mouth once or twice, no words coming, just more tears.

"Shhhh..." Noah said and pinched Veli's nose slightly, tilting his nose up.

"This happens to humans sometimes too. It's just a nosebleed. And all that happened out there is you threw up. Vomited. Your stomach is trying to get something bad out of it."

"Crackers. An' OJ." Was that bad? He didn't think it was.

Oh, but Noah, this man had never been sick before! He didn't know what he was dealing with!

"Nonono," Noah said, still watching for the blood to stop, "Like a virus. You're sick is all." Ah, how easy it was to pretend you didn't care when you were flipping out inside.

"I can't stand up." Veli whispered, the tears slowly stopping. His Noah was here. Things were better now.

"Mmhm, that's a little weird," Noah sighed, "but the bleeding stopped. Let's get you cleaned up."

A little weird? Veli wanted to hear that everything was fine, that this was normal.

"Help me up, Noah." He said, voice raw and thin, holding up his arms.

"Of course, suga'," Noah said softly and smiled, lifting Veli up and putting him in the tub before starting the water.

"I'm gonna go clean up quick, so you just call me if y'need me."

Veli sighed and laid back in the water, his eyes closing. He splashed it lightly, but...

He didn't change. He pulled himself into a sitting position with great difficulty and stared down at his toes, which were quite obviously still human.

Noah had forgotten about that little thing about the changing. He cleaned up the mess in the other room, fed the fish, and returned to Veli.

No bubbles?

"Need my help, suga'?"

Veli looked up at him. He was scared. He wanted to find a doctor, a smart one, one that would understand and know what was wrong with him.

"...No. I'm... I'm good, Noah." He said softly, blinking, working on scrubbing himself.