Sick Day

A Wander Over Yonder fanfiction

Rating: K+

Pairing: slight Hater/Wander

"Sir, I've noticed something," came from the short commander of the Watchdogs. Until then, he had been quietly assuming his position at the right hand of his lord. Hater was seated in his usual chair in the main room. They had been on a mission of conquering several planets all afternoon. The usual.

That wasn't the weird part.

The weird part is that they weren't running into any trouble whatsoever. It was the smoothest sailing they've had in a long time, maybe even ever.

Hater didn't think about it too hard, as he did with most things, which is why Commander Peepers felt the need to bring it up. Despite their long-time-coming success, it felt out of place.

Hater rolled his eyes over to his subordinate. He knew him well enough to know that his tone meant he was going to mention something he didn't want to hear.

"Peepers, try not to harsh my mellow, okay? This has been a GREAT day and I don't want anyone getting in the way of that." He returned his eyes to the screen in front of him, the planets aligned in front of him that belonged to him now. "Don't jinx this beautiful sight!" Peepers could have sworn Hater's voice cracked at the end of that sentence.

"I understand, sir, but it's always good to take precautions." he explained. "I'm just thinking...hasn't this been, you know, too easy?"

Hater shifted, obviously reluctant to hear any of this. "...that's a good thing."

"Perhaps we should be concerned that we haven't been stopped yet?" It wasn't a question, but the look Hater was giving him made him uneasy, causing him to falter in his tone. "You know, by Wan-"

"Peepers, don't." Hater immediately held up his hand to silence the other. "I don't wanna hear that guy's name or I swear I'll get a migraine."

"But-"

"Oh, look at that. I feel it already." He gestured to his head.

Peepers sighed. "Can we at least see if they're nearby? It would be better than us getting surprised." He rubbed his eyelid in frustration. "Which is what usually happens."

Hater sank into his seat and grumbled. If his childish side was any more apparent, it was when he had to talk about Wander.

"Fiiiiiiiine, but you're in for it if it's nothing."

Peepers brightened up, blatantly ignoring the threat. "I'm on it!" he called as he saluted his boss, then faced a small group of Watchdogs.

"Report back to me what you find out."

Not long after he sent out the group of three, Peepers got the message back that Wander would most likely not be a threat for the rest of the day.

"What, why?" he asked them.

One of them spoke up, "Well, yeah, we found them on a planet not far from here and they were hiding out in a cave." he explained, "Wander didn't look so good. This guy thinks he's sick." he gestured to another Watchdog.

"Oh, yeah, I haven't seen a sicker face than this one time Hater tried to feed us fried soup."

Peepers looked confused. "...You can't fry soup."

"I know."

Once again, the commander felt frustration towards his superior, but he tried to ignore it and focus on the problem (or lackthereof) at hand.

"I'll let Hater know today might blow over even smoother than he thought." he said, dismissing the group.

He quickly made his way over the his lord once more, appearing with a much happier demeanor. "Hater, Wander's sick so you won't have any trouble! Isn't that great?!"

The doors of the room slid open as soon as his report ended. The exact one's they were just talking about appeared in the doorway. Sylvia had a hunched over Wander on her back.

"Whoops, wrong room." she said, suddenly remembering why she loathed the confusing layout of Hater's ship.

Peepers was speechless. Hater leaned over to him and rested a hand, a very angered hand, on his head. "So...'no trouble', huh?"

Sylvia spoke up, halting their lingering quarrel. "We invaded your ship again; I get it, you're mad. But I just want to know where your medicine is and I promise we'll be out of your way," She thought about it and mumbled under her breath. "For today."

Hater stood straight now and folding his arms across his chest. "And you thought I'd just up and give you some?"

"Well, um...I wasn't intending to ask you, actually." Her answer faded out towards the end. She couldn't think of something better to say. Her sense of urgency got the better of her train of thought.

"Ohhhh, so you were going to steal it. Right, right." Sylvia could tell the condescendence and anger was rising in him, but she tried to intervene to prevent it from getting worse.

"Look, Wander's really sick, okay? Then, I saw your goons spying on us and thought that would be the fastest and easiest way to get medicine." She gestured to Wander, knocked out on her back. He was slumped over and hardly able to hold on to Sylvia. The color was drained from his face.

"He's really sick." she reiterated, "Just this once can you work with us? I'm...worried about him."

"Yeah, ok."

Sylvia held her fists up. "Alright, I can take it by force if I need to!" She froze. "Wait, what?"

He shrugged. "I said okay."

"Oh," she replied, awkwardly, "Oh, well...I guess we'll just...do that then." That was a completely confusing reaction from Hater and it caught Sylvia off-guard in every way. She tried to keep that to herself and drifted her gaze to the Watchdogs near her. "Can one of you guys show me where your hospital ward is?"

The unsettling actions of his boss broke Peepers out of his complete and utter shock of silence. He pulled Hater's cloak so that their faces were on the same level. "Lord Hater, pardon me, but...WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he half-whispered, half-yelled.

"Peepers, quiet, I got this." he clarified, pulling away from him. He straightened up and coughed loudly to halt Sylvia and the Watchdog leading her out of the room in their tracks. "You'll have to stay here though."

She turned back to him and narrowed her eyes. "Oh, here we go."

"You have to stay! You know, for...precautionary reasons." he tried lie. He felt his subordinate staring at him with the utmost admiration as he had figured out what he was doing.

Sylvia grumbled and balled her fists. "I should have known. Okay, but don't think that just because one of us is down and out that it means we're weaker. I'm keeping my eye on you."

Hater clasped his hands together, feigning hospitality and understanding. "Sure, sure, you should get going."

If Wander hadn't been so sick, she would have taken this moment to punch Hater and run. Even then she still wouldn't know where the medical ward was. No one was winning today except Hater, which is not something Sylvia would ever want to admit.

Looking at her weak and pale friend put her back on track and she couldn't help but feel somewhat defeated as she left the room with the Watchdog.

After the doors were closed, Hater narrowed his eyes and smiled at his companion, who was still giving his leader a look of admiration. "I handled it, Peepers. Now they're kind of, sort of, my prisoners."

Peepers nodded rapidly and had his fingers laced together. "Flawless execution, sir!"

The overlord made his way to the door this time. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an enemy to destroy." Before he left, he quickly looked back to Peepers once more, "Also, you're still in trouble for leading them right into our ship. Okay, cool, bye!"

The commander was now frozen in place while the door closed behind his boss.

Sylvia sat in the chair next to the bed Wander was put in and fiddled with her hands. She felt bad he was so sick. He hadn't spoken in so long, she was even starting to miss his voice. Everyday, she heard it - endlessly - so it was strange when it stopped. She didn't like not being able to do anything to help him.

Luckily he had medicine in his system, so it just had to work itself out. Still, she hated seeing him like this.

It didn't help that they were on Hater's ship, of all places. It was dangerous, but she felt it was her only option at the time. In any case, she was going to stay by his side no matter what.

She heard the door of the medical room steam open and saw Hater approaching. She groaned.

"What?" she asked, with an irritated tone of voice.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that, you know, once he's mobile, I'll be transferring you to a proper cell. I mean, it's only fair! You're in an evil lair, after all."

"Did you just come to make me mad or what?"

Then, they were surprised to hear rustling coming from Wander's bed. He shifted his head and winced at the light suddenly filling his eyes. "Hnn, Sylvia? Where are we?" He looked around as best he could before she replied. She quickly appeared at the side of his bed and put her hand on his head.

"Oh, thank grop, your fever went down. You had me worried there for a sec, buddy." she said, stroking his forehead a bit, "We're, uh...In a hospital! Yeah, a normal and safe hospital. Right, Hater?" Sylvia asked him the question through her teeth and glared at him, indicating she wanted him to play along as to not freak Wander out.

He only shrugged, causing the zbornack to sigh. Wander seemed more preoccupied with Hater's presence itself though, thankfully.

The nomad's eyes were half-lidded, but they managed to look to Hater. "Hater's here? Did you come to see me?"

That caught the overlord off-guard, much to Sylvia's pleasure. He couldn't find the right words to respond and rubbed his arm nervously.

"Uh, well, no..."

Wander looked worried. "Oh no, is someone you know here too? I'm sorry! Are they okay?"

Hater waved it off. "No, no one is here, just you."

A short silence of processing. "Hater, when did you nab yourself a PhD?!"

He rubbed his temples. Even when he's sick, he was still a nuisance. However, for some reason, Hater wasn't feeling as harsh as usual. He couldn't put his finger on it. Was it because Wander was sick and vulnerable? Even Hater was above attacking someone in a vulnerable state, but he didn't think he'd be so emotionally responsive to it. He didn't like how it was making him feel, but that described how he felt about Wander in a nutshell.

"Wander, I'm not a doctor."

Now, he looked confused again. "Oh...then do you just like hospitals?"

Sylvia got into Wander's line of sight and took his hands in hers to distract him. "You're still working off a flu there, buddy, you shouldn't strain yourself too much."

"Aw, Syl, I'm not straining! Just wondering why Hater's at a hospital. I mean, I guess it could just be a hobby of his...I won't judge if it is."

"Who knows why Hater does any of the things he does? It's better not to think too hard about it."

Wander lifted his head from the pillow a bit. Sylvia took this as a sign he wanted to sit up, to her dismay. It meant he might have a better chance of figuring out where they were. Regardless, she propped the pillow up behind him and he leaned on it as he sat up.

"I think I know what's going on."

That was fast.

Sylvia sweated a bit in worry. "Figured...what out?"

"I figured it out...You're my nurse!"

Hater and Sylvia simultaneously gaped, but both for different reasons. Sylvia was going to like this.

"Ah, you caught us! That's totally right." she said, eyeballing Hater.

He glared at her. "I am not a-"

"-completely bad guy, we know! Otherwise you wouldn't have agreed to take care of Wander. Or, ya know, maybe I could ask those good buddies of yours you kept trapped in your prisoner's dimension for years and years. You remember. The one's that love Wander and would hate to discover if anything bad happened to him? And know where you live?"

Hater could hardly believe she was threatening him with that, even though it was his fault it was a good use of blackmail in the first place.

Mentally cursing himself, he relinquished resisting for now until he could think of a way around it.

"Err, yeah...good guys, that bunch...So anyway, I'll just be reporting back to the "doctor" that you're fine, and-"

"Well, actually," Wander chimed in before he could leave, "I'm kind of parched! If you don't mind..."

Facing the door so the two couldn't see, Hater rolled his eyes so far back into his head that it almost looked like he was convulsing.

Only after that, did he turn around.

"Oh, yeah, of couuurse. Let me just get that for you."

Wander's eyes sparkled at his kindness, while Sylvia couldn't help but smirk. She figured it would be entertaining to sit back and watch the events unfold.

The whole duration of the day was spent with Hater dashing back and forth between the ward and other rooms in the ship just to keep Wander in one place. It was either food he needed or something ridiculous like a tooth brush because he didn't like the feeling of mucus in his mouth.

Hater was being run ragged and Sylvia was only mad she didn't have popcorn.

At his most recent arrival to the ward, he stopped just behind the door. "What the heck am I DOING?" he argued with himself, "I'm doing this because the zbornack threatened me? What kind of villain AM I? I don't take crap from anyone!" He grew a newfound resolve to shove them both in a cell since Wander was obviously well enough to be a nuisance again. "I'm gonna march in there and throw them into a cell to await their proper doom!"

As he stormed inside the sliding doors, he had a finger pointed and ready to condemn them, but Wander's gasp stopped him briefly.

He was currently in a fit of harsh coughs that sounded like they came all the way from his core. Doubled over and unable to get a proper breath, he gripped at Sylvia who was trying to hold him steady.

"Hater!" she called when she saw him, "Get one of your doctors or whatever! He can't breathe!"

Well, that was the perfect thing to interrupt his resolve.

"W-well, why?! Graah! Fine!" he exclaimed, leaving the room yet again with the intention of actually helping the two.

He heard the coughs all the way down the hallway and he could actually feel a tinge of concern. Was he actually feeling compassionate? Or was it just because he wanted to be the one causing Wander discomfort?

Quite frankly, he couldn't tell which intention was worse: caring about Wander or being one-upped by a cough.

He returned quickly with one of the certified doctor Watchdog's and shoved him over to Wander. "Make it stop!" he shouted.

"Okay, you two will have to wait outside so he's not agitated further."

"DONE!" Hater yelled, grabbing Sylvia's arm and dragging her outside with him. She struggled. "Hey!"

As they waited outside the door, Sylvia had her arms crossed. While she was angry he dragged her out of the room, she was also surprised he actually got a doctor. She had told him to, but she wasn't expecting him to...well, care. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with it, so he got someone else to.

She couldn't quite figure it out, so she thought she would try asking. Not that he was very honest with himself. She relied on herself to read between the lines though.

"Take this however you like, and I hate to say it, but it was...really nice of you...to let me help Wander here."

He didn't respond at first, but then Sylvia noticed he started playing with his hands. He must be thinking about something. She took that as a sign that it was okay to keep going. Usually he would protest by now or get defensive.

"While you were getting, err, several things, he said to me, "Isn't he great? I know the real him and it's situations like these that continue to give me hope." Which I don't personally agree with since I still think you're a jerk, but..."

She gauged his reaction and it looked awfully thoughtful. While it slightly concerned her, she went on.

"For whatever reason, he really likes you. And I guess, if he likes you that much, it makes me slightly tolerate you too."

Another pause between the two.

"...did I go to Wendy's twice yesterday?"

Sylvia rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "You're hopeless."

Reaching up, he rubbed his neck awkwardly. "No, I," he struggled to get it out, "...I heard you."

Her eyes widened. He wasn't facing her, but she could tell he was flustered. Mission accomplished.

To cut him at least some slack, she changed the subject.

"Hope he's okay. It sounds like his coughing finally calmed down." she said, facing the door, "Maybe we can go in now."

The certified doctor Watchdog had the doors opened right on cue. Wander was lying down in the bed, resting with a more peaceful look than earlier. His coughing fit was enough to wear him out since he didn't have a lot of stamina to begin with that day.

"He's fine now. Just had to give him a cough suppressant." the Watchdog stated, throwing away the towel he was drying his hands with. "When he wakes up, he should be well enough to leave."

The Watchdog approached Hater specifically and gestured for him to bend down for a message. "This is just me, but I wouldn't recommend putting them in a cell. I mean, then we might develop an outbreak of sick people in the cell block and that's a mess to deal with when it comes to the Galactic Health and Hazard Bureau. Plus, he might get sicker being in a contained space." he coughed, "But like I said, that's just my advice."

Hater merely nodded and the Watchdog physician left a moment later.

The overlord watched as Sylvia approached her best friend, taking his hand in hers. She stroked it lightly. "Don't worry, we'll get out of here soon..." she tried to promise. The disappointment in her voice was apparent.

Why was that bothering him?

To their surprise, Wander's eyes fluttered open. "Oh...I can breathe again. Phew, that was a doozy." he stated, relieved and trying to laugh at himself. He must have passed out sometime between the fit and the doctor suppressing the cough. Sylvia smiled at her friend and continued to keep his hand in hers.

Still, she looked worried. She knew what Hater's plan was and was running out of covers so Wander wouldn't worry.

Maybe putting it lightly would be good. "Listen...Wander, we-"

"Were just leaving."

Sylvia swerved her head around and met Hater's stare. He broke it, unable to look at her anymore. He was already feeling more soft than he ever wanted to.

"Really?" came from Wander. His eyes looked hopeful, but also wary as if he were waiting for the punch line of a joke.

"Yeah, um...he said you should be feeling better now so...you know...go."

The two friend's looked at each other, somewhat in awe at the situation. Then, Wander spoke up again, "Uh, Hater, are you sure you're not sick too?"

He nodded and began to pout, looked like a grumpy oversized child who didn't get his way. "Just this once because you were practically dying." But he quickly became animated again and pointed at the two, "We shall never speak of this ever again, got it?! Don't ever mention this again! Tomorrow we go back to being enemies!"

Wander looked confused as to what he was saying, but showed appreciation anyway. He slowly rose from the bed and climbed on to Sylvia's back. "Hater-"

Hater faced the corner of the wall, signaling the nomad to stop. He was punishing himself for letting this happen. Sympathetic, Wander decided to smile at Sylvia to let her know he was okay to head out.

As soon as they left the room, Wander put it all together that they had been in Hater's ship the whole time. His eyes practically glossed over as he felt overwhelmed with joy.

He looked back at the ship once they escaped and made it back to space. He mouthed a 'thank you' to it, knowing Hater would receive it despite the spacial distance between them.

Even though Hater said to never mention it again, Wander would never forget it.