Opposites Attract

Witch Flu

The witch had looked after him for weeks after his little miscalculation, building him back up to full health and insisting that he learn to ground himself properly before she or Scott allowed him back up in 'Five. Alan had taken over for a few weeks, with minimal bitching due to the circumstances, and she had spent hours with him, Brains and Gordon, trying to explain exactly what it was that she did.

She had taken him out to different places on the island, shown him how to connect with the earth, how to recognise the energy inside him and visualise how to drain it off. She'd helped him collect little natural items that took his fancy and showed him how to cleanse them and use them as a portable piece to drain off into while in space.

No one wanted to speak the words, but they all knew that she had played a large part in saving his life and was now making sure that it didn't happen again.

She'd done so much to take care of him, and now it was his turn to look after her.

He was stretched out on his bed with his witch passed out on top of him. Her head was tucked under his chin where they lay chest to chest, her legs between his. She was snoring loudly, her nose blocked by snot, her chest rattling with every breath.

Witch flu she called it, and it was having an interesting effect on her. Everyone was walking around in a permanent state of alertness. Not only was she grumpy and liable to sneeze in your face, but each sneeze seemed to have a consequence.

She wasn't really one to show off her gifts, preferring to keep them to herself for the most part, but it seemed that when she sneezed they escaped her careful control.

One sneeze had set every candle alight in the little used dining room, another had popped a lamp, another had caused a mad panic when one of Gordon's fish had been launched out of its tank when a small tidal wave had swept through the water, leaving it flopping around on the floor. Now Scott had taken to carrying a small fire extinguisher on his belt, Virgil had his multitool in his pocket to fix any blown fuses or appliances, Brain's was following her around like she was an alien, Gordon had locked lids onto every tank and Alan was just finding it hilariously funny.

When she had a coughing fit things tended to fall over or float somewhere they shouldn't, items vanished and turned up in random places and when anyone but John touched her they got a wicked electric shock. Brains found her fascinating and begged her at least four times a day to allow him to examine her "just for five minutes" and was constantly trying to steal her used tissues to analyse.

John was the only one that knew how she was at night. She slept fitfully, unable to breathe or sleep deeply enough to get much rest, alternating between burning up and freezing cold no matter how many blankets he piled on top of her. He'd woken a number of times to find his things gently floating around the room or her hovering a few inches above the mattress. The first time it had happened had scared the hell out of him but now he simply pulled her down into his arms, held her tight and soothed her back into restfulness. He didn't understand what she did or how she did it, but he'd always been one to believe the things he saw with his own eyes and he couldn't deny just how magical she really was.

The tables had turned and now he was the one forcing her to eat and drink, forcing her to rest while she was the one grumping at him and muttering dire threats under her breath. He didn't take it personally.

If she refused to go to bed she could often be found cuddled on the couch or on his lap, wrapped in a blanket like a witchy burrito, clutching a hot chocolate to her chest and growling at anyone who came too close. Virgil had attempted to take her temperature but she'd tried to bite his finger and now he was refusing to go near her.

***

"Come on, witchy, just let me look at your throat."

"D'oh," she sneezed, shaking her head.