Cub Raising Association

Chapter 22: Parent or partner?

His body was tense and his pale blue eyes were contracted in bewilderment. He did not understand why the youth in his arms had fallen unconscious.

The silver tail was curled around Xie Tao in a protective manner and just looking at the Knox you could see that he was ready for combat.

However despite this, Xia Qi rushed over without hesitation.

"Sure enough, it is a fever..." Xia Qi reached out and put a hand on Xie Tao's forehead. Even though she was inexperienced when it came to human illnesses, she could still tell that his temperature was abnormally high for a human.

Hearing her use this new strange word, Ya Yi briefly gave her a glance before turning his gaze back to the youth in his arms.

Xia Qi thought about the small cold Xie Tao had mentioned before as well as the recent temperatures changes and felt that it was not too strange that he got this sick.

After all, with the humans' level of physique, it was quite believable that experiencing a sudden temperature change could make them more vulnerable to diseases.

Fortunately, their branch had a medicine box.

Aliens' physiques were, in comparison to humans, extremely good, which made the box on the border of superfluous. However, it was a necessary precaution. Alien cubs had a weaker constitution than the adults, and were therefore at a greater risk of falling sick.

But in the end, this was still the first time it was getting used and it was oddly enough on a caretaker, not a cub.

Xia Qi quickly ran to the storage room and opened the medicine box that was placed inside. After rummaging through it for a bit, she took out a small tube of Sea Blue medicine[1]. Sea Blue was an universal medicine that families of all races often had at home to treat their cubs.

As long Xie Tao took this medicine and got proper rest, he would be okay.

Returning with the small tube in her hand, Xia Qi optimistically walked up to the unconscious Xie Tao. However seeing Ya Yi who still had his silver tail firmly wrapped around his waist, she instinctively felt that he would not be willing to hand the youth over to anyone and she quickly gave up the idea of getting him to let go.

"Take Ah Tao back to his room, have him drink this medicine and then cover him with the quilt. It's important to keep him warm." Xie Qi handed the medicine over. "If he kicks the quilt off, you need to make sure you cover him again or else, his cold might worsen."

Xia Qi was a bit unsure if she should have added the last sentence. After all, kicking the quilt off was, in her mind, only something cubs did.

However, thinking of the human race's sensitivity, she felt that there was a risk that Xie Tao might unconsciously kick the quilt off if he felt too hot.

Listening to Xie Qi's instructions, Ya Yi gave her a silent glance. Everyone then watched as he expressionlessly turned around and carried the youth out of their sight.

Once back in his room, Ya Yi was still unwilling to let the youth go and instead of putting him on the bed, he continued to hold him as he sat down on the mattress.

After adjusting his tail to the new position, he grabbed the quilt and covered the youth who was leaning against his chest.

Having the youth's whole body pressed against his own, Ya Yi could feel that the other's body was much hotter than it usually was and he now knew that it made the other feel unwell. His tail, that was wrapped around the youth, tightened for a but second as he unconscious gave the youth in his arms a light squeeze.

In the Knox race, having one's tail curled around another was a protective action.

The tail would block any possible attack to such a degree that if you wanted to hurt someone that was being protected by it, you would first have to break though its tough scales and chop it off.

Xie Tao had not completely lost consciousness, but he felt very hot and dizzy. It was very unpleasant, one minute he felt cold to the point of shivering, the next it was unbearable hot. However, in this confused state he could still sense that he was being fed something.

Fruity...

His throat suddenly felt parched and he quickly swallowed down the refreshing liquid.

After he drank the medicine, the quilt which had slidden down, was pulled up to his neck again. It soon began to feel hot and stuffy. The sultry feeling made Xie Tao restless and he weakly struggled.

He wanted to get rid of the thing covering his body.

Xie Tao's brows were knit and his legs unconsciously kicked the quilt.

It was very hard and exhausting for his weak body, and then, just as the cool air finally touched his sweat covered skin, the thick quilt somehow returned to its original position. Xie Tao let out a frustrated noise and gathered his strength to kick it off a second time.

But this time, the quilt stayed firmly fixed to his body.

His legs had not even moved an inch.

When he found that he could not kick the quilt off, Xie Tao instead wanted to move away from it. However he soon discovered that he could not do that either. There was something wrapped around his waist and chest which held him in place.

What is it......?

This question repeatedly passed through his head. However his feverish brain made him unable to find the answer, despite vaguely sensing it in the back of his mind.

As he couldn't think of an answer, he resorted to more direct method and simply explored the object around his waist by using his hands.

Cool...

The object felt cold against his warm skin and he unconsciously put his hands on this cold object, touching it several time. Xie Tao had instantly forgotten his previous intentions as well as the original purpose of the action.

After discovering that the object could relieve him from the stifling heat, Xie Tao felt that it was not enough to just touch it with his hands.

He tried to bring the cold object into his arms. However, even though he used all of his strength, it did not move and remained wrapped around his waist. But after pulling twice, the cold object suddenly seemed to obey and let him hug it.

Lifting it up, Xie Tao lowered his head and plastered his hot cheek against it.

The object felt very cool and nice. Having it against his bare arms as well as his cheek gave him a temporary relief from the stuffy feeling and his restless movements stopped.

He was finally satisfied.

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[1] - 海 蓝色 (Hǎi Lán Sè), "Lán Sè" means blue, "Hǎi" can be a surname or mean ocean/sea, great number of people or things, or numerous.

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Translator's note:

Many thanks to K. Samel and lantisl for the coffees and the encouragement! ♡
Everything went well, standing on stage was.... but I got through it.

Well, anyway...

*BL mind switches on*

A few chapters ago I saw that some of you had a theory that the tail was a sex organ. I'm totally impartial to it, but if that is the case, then this chapter was much hotter than most realized. (>_>) 

"After discovering that the object could relieve him from the stifling heat, Xie Tao felt that it was not enough to just touch it with his hands."

(E/N:  *Dies of a massive nosebleed from perverted thoughts*)