A kobold cough has a squeaky, scraping quality to it. With a dreadful wheezing and light groans of pain afterwards. Perhaps without a heavy chest congestion it might well be adorable, but for Jack, it roused him out of his sleep and he turned a blurry eye towards the other side of the bed. “All right?”

Lys nodded, but her tired expression told a different story. She sat on the edge of the bed with a claw on her cheek and another rubbing her leg. A few, smaller coughs followed and she clinched her chest instead. “Ow.”

“Want me to fix up some tea? I still got a box of herbal stuff in there from…well it should be warm anyway.” While he was still talking, he watched her pop another cough drop. Lys nodded at him once more before coughing again. Jack threw his legs over the side and planted his feet on the cold, three-in-the-morning floor. It was always three in the morning when these kinds of things happened. He weaved and swayed, not fully awake, not until he opened the door into the living room and got the shock of his life. The fight/flight response got to him before he remembered telling Rodil he could stay the night, but at least now he was wide awake. Somewhere on the shelves, a left-over box of herbal tea hid from him, something out of a gift pack his mom had sent him several Christmases ago.

His hand touched on a dozen different things in the dark. Sometimes being a good host meant groping around on your own shelves with the lights off to keep from disturbing sleeping kobolds. His fingers brushed cardboard of varying degrees of thickness, plastic bowls, and the occasional zip-lock baggie. Tea boxes were especially thin though, something you’d know when you touched it. His fingers pinched the flimsy thing hiding behind an empty box of cereal he’d forgotten to throw out. Six bags sat inside the bruised package. He only needed one, but abundance always felt good. Finding a mug was far easier, they were all kept in one cupboard with no chance of bumping into a water glass or heaven forbid, his cheap set of wine glasses he’d never used.

Jack took care to close the microwave gently. Not that he could do anything about the obnoxious loud beep when he started it up. The insides lit up and he watched the mug turn around, giving him time to think. Sure, it was three in the morning and he was tired. His common-law wife was a small lizard that he’d barely known for a year and he still had to explain it all to his parents. There was still so much to know about her and sometimes she wasn’t always forthcoming. Also, there was the matter of being cooped up. Anyone would get sick of seeing the same set of walls over and over. Maybe he really needed a lawyer, or perhaps to just move to somewhere else, not that he could afford either of those options. He was blowing it out of proportion anyway and these kinds of things changed slowly.

The microwave beeped before he could launch into a mental escapade of tearing down the walls and championing the cause. No statue in his name by grateful kobolds today, he’d have to settle for a steaming mug of lemon herbal tea to his sick mate. Two spoonfuls of sugar and a bit of extra lemon juice on top from the fridge. It was how he liked it on those rare occasions he took it. As he passed by the couch, he noticed Rodil bundled up in his own jacket and looking a bit cold. The blanket Lys tossed aside earlier sat on the floor, neither of them must have noticed it before bedding down. Jack set aside the mug and prepared to place it over the sleeping kobold, his good deed for the day.

“Huh? Wha? What is Jack doing?” Rodil went wide-eyed and on full alert, shrinking back into the couch cushion.

Of course, anyone wound so tight had to be a light sleeper. Jack felt his cheeks flush. “I uhm.” He shook the blanket in his hands as if somehow that would explain it. “I was giving you this blanket, you looked cold.”

The yellow kobold’s eyes darted back and forth between Jack and the blanket in his hands for what seemed like an hour. “Oh,” he finally said. “T-thank you. Didn’t need to do that, Rodil is okay.”

“It’s nothing.” At least now he could hand it off to him instead of trying to tuck him in. He reached for the mug, ready to retreat to the bedroom.

“Not nothing. Rodil knows Jack doesn’t like him. Grateful for letting me stay here for Lys.”

Jack set aside the mug again, that couldn’t stand. “Rodil…Roddy, you’re alright, you’re just a bit—God, why do we have to do these things in the middle of the night?” Jack rubbed his head.

“Huh?” The kobold cocked his in response.

“What I mean is you’re alright, you just overdo it. I appreciate your concern for Lys, but when you go on the attack the minute something goes wrong…you’re wound so damn tight.” That didn’t come out at all the way he wanted.

Rodil sat back, looking in thought. “Wound?”

“Like earlier. You went from calm on my doorstep to breaking and entering and then you wanted to carry Lys off to God knows where.”

Rodil wilted before his eyes. “Oh.” Jack figured if he could blush, he’d be red. “Rodil cares about Lys a lot. She is his only friend. The others either left or picked on him. Well, even Lys picked on him, but Lys never meant it.” He smiled to himself. “Lys is special.”

Jack nodded. “Yes, she is.”

“She comes and she goes, but she always seemed to be around right when Rodil needed. Sometimes it was the other way though. Getting her out of trouble. Lys is the hatchmate Rodil never had.” He sighed and looked Jack up and down. “Jack is good to Lys too, but Rodil gets very…’wound’ when things happen. Rodil doesn’t know how to feel about it. Both look very happy together, he knows that, but…afraid he will become Doctor Jeh…Jerk…what movie did Rodil see with the doctor?”

“Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde?”

“Yes. Jack and Lys are…”

“The wrong species?”

“If that is right word. Never heard of kobolds mated to humans. Used to make rude jokes about such things.”

Being a kobold’s idea of a sick joke didn’t make him feel any better, but he kept himself from frowning. Rodil toyed with his claws and looked away. It looked like both of them were trying to move the conversation forward. “It makes Rodil nervous so he watches and worries.” his face sunk with that confession and his eyes started gazing past Jack. “And then Rodil ‘overdoes’ it and turns into the wolf human, the wolf man?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. You care, that’s perfectly normal and it’s not like Lys has had the nicest life.”

“No. Lys had things tough.” Rodil nodded. “Feels like things have gotten better for Lys and Rodil both.”

“I think this is more a matter of trust. Do you trust me, Roddy?”

Rodil looked like he hadn’t expected that question any more than Jack though he’d be asking it. A palpable silence reigned afterwards and the two stared at one another. Roddy’s face went from its usual bombastic expressiveness to unreadable and Jack worried that he might lie just to keep up appearances. The yellow kobold took a deep breath while his tail flitted about behind him. “He wants to. He’s sorry about earlier. Feels stupid about trying to take away Lys and he’s sorry about ‘breaking’ and sorry about anything else and everything else.”

“Let’s not break down and start hugging each other or something.” He laughed nervously.

Rodil nodded, flashing a smile. “Is Jack really okay with Rodil staying here while he’s gone? He didn’t look okay yesterday.”

Jack rubbed his head in that telltale way. “I wasn’t, but I think I am now. Unless you’re planning something while I’m gone,” he said, half-kidding.

“No, nothing. Rodil wouldn’t. But…what if something does happen?”

“If you’re unsure about something you can call me.”

The yellow kobold shook his head. “Used a phone once, but never one like Jack’s.”

“It’s not too hard, here, let me show you.” He spent the next five minutes going over it, continually dropping hints to pester Lys about it tomorrow as well since there was a lot of information to take in at three in the morning. He gave the talk he’d been given ages ago about how 911 was only for real emergencies. One of his most embarrassing childhood moments came to mind, he’d called dispatch because someone said they didn’t want to be his friend anymore. “Get all that?”

“Rodil thinks so, but will remember to ask Lys. He will make sure nothing happens. Thanks J…You, thank you for letting Rodil stay here tonight.” He looked up at Jack with gratitude and Jack had to resist the urge to pat him on the head. “Should probably sleep now. Good night, Jack.”

Jack took the mug back in hand and stood up. “Good night, John Boy.”

The yellow kobold’s snout wrinkled in confusion. “Who is John Boy?”

Jack shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s something my parents used to say to me when I went to bed.”

“Weird parents.”

“You got that right. Good night.” He slipped back into the bedroom, secretly hoping Lys had managed to fall back asleep, but she was still there by the bed, eyes closed and tottering a bit. “Here,” he said a bit loud, making sure she wasn’t dozing. She opened one eye and then the other and took a long look at the mug before taking it out of his hands. Her expression drooped at the first sip.

“This isn’t very warm.”

“Sorry, the microwave might be acting up. How are you feeling?”

“Like last year’s skin.” Her voice sounded a whole octave lower and raspy enough that he had to lean in to hear clearly. “But better than earlier.” The green kobold looked at the mug in her hand, turning it about in her hands. “What were you and Roddy talking about?”

“You, mostly.” No point in fibbing.

“Why was he up though?”

“I woke him up by accident.”

Lys looked up at him. “How did you do that?” She gave him a funny look.

“I…was tucking him in.”

She laughed a raspy laugh. “What?”

“He was sleeping in his jacket and looked cold and that blanket was still there. I thought I’d do a good deed. Should have figured he’d be a light sleeper. From there we just got to talking a bit.”

“About me?”

“About you.”

She gestured with the mug in her claw. “And?”

“If you really must know he was voicing his concerns about us being together. I guess I’m a dirty joke to kobolds.”

“Huh?”

“He said something about kobolds going with humans used to be an insult.”

The green kobold sighed and finished off the tea with a smile. “It was a pretty common insult when we were younger. I'd never have thought…”

“Well, don’t look at me. I didn’t either, but here we are.” Jack leaned over and kissed her on the head. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure humans have made the same kind of jokes.”

“Not really. I’m worried about seeing your family.”

“So am I.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

Jack shrugged. “There’s no way of telling how this will go. Other than that I'm sure there’s going to be some arguing, maybe a bit of yelling. I’ve talked it over with them as much as I can.”

“Lying.”

“No, not lying. I’ve told them I met a wonderful girl and she’s made my life so much better.”

Lys sighed. “But you haven’t told them the most important part.”

“Of course not. That’s the surprise. Besides, I don’t think they’d believe me if I told them over the phone that I was going out with a kobold.”

“Another dirty joke.” She shook her head. “What if it goes bad?”

“So? Wouldn’t be the first time I’d made my parents mad at me. In the long run it’s not that important. What’s important is that we’re happy together…and we are, aren’t we?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Yeah…” She wasn’t having it. “I just don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“If you didn’t want to cause trouble, you shouldn’t have stowed away in my trunk. If only you’d known the kind of trouble you’d be getting into.”

She smiled at that. “It’s a nice kind of trouble, even if you make me sick.”

“Hey, I didn’t make you sick. The rain made you sick. Besides, you look cute when you’re sick.”

“You think I look cute no matter what. Right now though I want to look cute while sleeping.” She yawned wide, her forked tongue stretching out of her maw for good measure. The green kobold leaned back against her pillow, laying on her side like usual to avoid poking it with her horns. Jack brushed her cheek and settled into bed himself. “Thank you for the tea, even if it was kind of cold.”

“Next time I’ll skip tucking your friend in.”

She laughed and coughed at the same time. The sound of it still grieved him. He hated seeing her like this, but there was a pleasure in it as well of caring for her. It certainly wasn’t the first time she’d been sick, she said that, but he swore to himself she’d never have to face such things alone again.