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Weeks passed. Kauff didn't wreck anything. He never got so antsy that a walk wouldn't cure his unease, never got mad or cursed in front of the kids. It was easy. Maybe there had never been anything to worry about at all. Maybe.

He admired a little of his handiwork as he passed, running his fingers over the former hole in the wall. It had taken three attempts to get it to look right, but you could barely tell where it had been now. With a satisfied smile that was just for himself, Kauff pulled a tall glass bottle of orange liquid out of a cupboard. It tasted of fruit that had been run through a bubble bath... only without the soap. Belrea's influence, probably.

Kauff strolled back to their room, standing in the doorway and watching her as he took another sip of his drink. He was more of a hype man than a caretaker, but maybe now was the time to start being a little more nurturing. It was a shame that he had absolutely no idea how to proceed. He took a deep breath. Okay. He could fix this just like he'd fixed the wall.

"What feels gross?" He kept his voice low as he stepped closer to the bed. "You want some water? I think we've got some of those chewy things for headaches?"

"Hm." He knelt by her bedside and rested the backs of his fingers against her forearm. It wasn't any warmer than usual, but that didn't mean this wasn't serious. There were plenty of illnesses that didn't present with fever. Even he knew that.

As if he had seen her thoughts, he asked, "I could take you to the healer? I'll carry you the whole way. Gently." Kauff smiled, though his brows tilted with worry, making him look a bit like a poscuta begging for scraps. Something else flashed through his mind, another reason she might feel sick for no reason, but the thought was quickly forced as deeply as he could bury it.

"I do. If it's nothing, we come straight back and I find a bin for the side of the bed. But I don't want to ignore something serious." He held his breath as she rose, anticipating a shower of vomit splashing onto his face, and he sighed faintly when nothing happened.

"The market will still be there tomorrow. I'll just... bribe Liyn to be on his best behavior until then." Kauff chuckled. "Are you ready? Sure you don't want any water?"

Kauff squeezed her closer to him as he stood, an assurance for them both. With Xariy gripping his neck so tightly, he managed to grab the light sheet from the bed and was busy cocooning her in it when she spoke. He froze.

"Yes." His first attempt at speech came out as nothing more than air and he swallowed to moisten his throat. "Yes. I, um, did think." He closed his eyes as the thoughts he had pushed so deeply came speeding back up to the surface, making his stomach drop.

"We weren't exactly careful."

He nodded, the bobbing of his head going on three or four times too long for simple agreement. This was okay. It really was. There was nothing he could do to a baby that Xariy couldn't fix. And they didn't even really know what was going on here. Maybe they'd be prescribed a potion or a healer would clear things up with a simple touch and some magic words. Despite his fear, the possibility of an average illness made him a little sad.

"Yeah. We'll be fine no matter what."

He carried her from their room, down the hall, and out the front door, his fizzy orange drink abandoned on the bedside table.

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It took longer than usual to reach the healer, which wasn't a surprise considering how slowly he was walking. He told Xariy stories along the way, but they were fairly nonsensical tales that sometimes devolved into decently melodic humming that he hoped was soothing. When their destination came into view, he gave her another little squeeze.

"We're here."

He watched the woman for a little too long and with a little too much suspicion as he helped Xariy to sit, deliberately smoothing his face when he realized what he was doing. She wasn't trying to slight them or deny service deliberately. Preparations had to be made and other patients had to be seen. He was being ridiculous. It wasn't the first time.

"That was... very concise," he said with an airy chuckle, his knee bouncing with unconscious nerves. He stilled that too. "How are you doing? Is it any better?"

"I mean... we could turn around and go home right now, but... we need to know. Right?" They kind of didn't, to be completely honest, but things would be a lot easier if they did. "Either we walk out of here with a cure, or... we know things. And we prepare."

When she uttered her sheepish apology, Kauff just stared back, his lips nearly twitching with indecision. "You..." Amused disbelief won, and he grinned in spite of all of this, releasing a single surprised laugh from deep in his chest. "I was there. I could have stopped this. If... you're..." He sobered again, gathering both of her hands and cradling them between his. "Please don't be sorry."