"Ban-chan," Ginji whines as Ban carries him bodily into the Honky Tonk, slung over one shoulder. "I'm cooold."

"Yeah." He pats one of Ginji's thighs, waves to catch Paul's attention. "I know."

"...n'hanging upside down like this is making my nose run..."

"Yeah. Hey, Paul, can I put him down in the back?"

Paul puts the dish he was working on back in the sink and dried his hands on a tea towel. "What's wrong with him?"

Ban shrugged Ginji more firmly onto a shoulder. "He caught a cold."

Paul's eyebrows nearly disappeared. "Ginji did? He never gets sick."

Ginji sneezed.

"This time he has," Ban said. "We ended up in the river after Himiko got him with some devolution poison. Washed it off, but..."

Sneezing again, Ginji tried to lean up to look at Paul. "I'm okay, really," he said, and sniffed hard, sucking snot back into his nose.

"Ginji, that's disgusting," Paul said. "Stop it. Tissue, tissue-" he dug around in his apron and offered a napkin to Ginji, then turned back to Ban. "Yeah, just put him down in the back for now. He shouldn't be spending all night in a car if he's sick."

Tears running down his cheeks, Ginji clutched the napkin. "Paul!" he said. "You're so kind and generous and nice and can I get some food too-?"

"If you have money," Paul said, and gestured them into the back room.

Ban carried him into the back room and sat him down on the couch there, where Ginji shivered for a moment. "Just stay here," he said, and vanished out into the restaurant for a few minutes.

When he returned, there was a small bowl of chicken noodle soup in his hands. "Here," he said, and thrust it towards Ginji. "I asked for pizza, but Paul said that soup's better when you're sick. Gets the snot flowing, he says."

"My snot's already flowing, Ban-chan," Ginji protested, but took the bowl and inhaled deeply. "Ahhh, it smells so good-"

Ban handed him a spoon. "Don't sniff it, eat it. It'll get cold if you do that."

"Then I'm digging in," Ginji declared cheerfully and plowed his way through the bowl of food. "Mmm," he sighed when he'd finished, and tilted the bowl back to lick it.

Ban grinned. "Now you're gonna lie down and get some rest."

Ginji frowned up at him. "But what if work comes in?" he asked, then sneezed.

"We'll deal with that when it happens," Ban said, and pushed him down with a firm grip, yanking a blanket over him. "Now rest."

While Ginji curled on his side on the couch, Ban rose and went to turn the lights off. His hand was still on them when Ginji spoke again. "Ban-chan?"

"What?"

"I'm cold."

Ban sighed, came back over. "I don't think Paul has any more blankets," he said. "'Sides, you're not really cold. You've just got a fever so you think you're cold."

"If I think I'm cold, then I'm cold," Ginji protested. "And I do feel cold, because I'm cold."

"Oh, just shut up and stop whining," Ban said, and climbed onto the couch with him.

"Ban-chan?"

"Hold still, I'll fall off, idiot."

Ginji smiled at him, the expression visible even in the dark room. "Sorry."

Ban grumbled once, then was silent, arms wrapped around Ginji.

A few minutes later, Paul looked in at them and sighed silently, shaking his head. If Ban got sick, Paul wasn't going to cover any more food for him. He shut the door, softly.

"Ban-chan?"

"What?"

"I'm not cold."

"Good. Go to sleep."