Jacob was lying in his wide bed with a damp warm washcloth that substituted for his eyelids. He was never quite certain exactly when he was asleep or just resting with his eyes closed. He spread his arms and legs out as if the bed was an ocean and his body was floating endlessly. The waters were calm, and the waters calmed him. Jacob saw a red-orange dusk colored sky under his closed eyes, varying in hue as the color traveled from one horizon to the other. There was a sun in the sky that sneaked under his closed eyes. He could be content just doing this forever.

"Master?" called a voice very far away. Jacob's entire body was so limp that he could not even move his lips.

"Forgive my speaking out; master appears to be in pain that he does not enjoy." Who would want to enjoy pain, thought Jacob. Suddenly all that thinking destroyed the calm waters and the sunset. Lightning split the sky and the pieces splashed into the water. The thunder roared and every clap passed through his body. His mind refused to stop thinking. He should be drowning in the chaos of water. But he realized he was not even in water. He felt a solid bed beneath him and the sopping washcloth leaking drops of water into his eyes.

"Kirin," uttered Jacob in disappointment. Jacob took the washcloth off of his eyes and wiped the excess water off of his face. The face has abruptly become cold. He looked up and saw Kirin's face upside down hanging over him. Jacob felt the weight of Kirin's knees kneeling at either side of his ears. "You woke me up."

"I'm sorry, master. Please forgive me," said Kirin, restraining a soft almost stuttering voice. "Master appears to be straining in his sleep." Kirin gently took the washcloth from Jacob's hand and dipped it into a gold basin full of warm water sitting on a nightstand within his reach. But when Kirin was about to place it on Jacob's forehead again, the cloth heavily sopped with warm water plopped in the middle of Kirin's lap. Endless amounts of water trickled between his legs. Kirin did not make a scene from the mishap. He took the cloth from his lap and placed it again on Jacob's forehead. His hand barely touched the crown of Jacob's head and right away, he knew Jacob had a headache. Kirin could feel a rhythmic pulse from the side of the forehead that told him so.

Kirin kept his hands on Jacob's body at all times. There was an instinct within Kirin to just wrap himself completely around Jacob's body until he became better. He knelt to the side of Jacob and held Jacob’s head to his chest.

Jacob wanted to protest to be simply left alone. He did not need help and he needed to rest. But his body was limp and he was totally helpless. He was so limp he felt he would have to cry in order to be heard but he did not even have the energy to do that. Jacob had never felt more awkward. Jacob thought he could hear the thumping in his head but with a little concentration, the noise syncopated with the throbbing. Kirin adjusted Jacob's head to be more comfortable in his arms and Jacob then knew that the throbbing was not his. The constant steady beat that played only for Jacob's ear allowed Jacob to let himself go.

"Are you singing something?"

"No, master, I'm not. Not unless master wants me to."

"No, no. It's just that I thought I heard humming." Believing Jacob's remark to be an indirect request, Kirin softly hummed an impromptu tune that took no effort to compose. Jacob fell even limper in Kirin's arms.

Again, Kirin removed the washcloth from Jacob's face and left the cloth to soak thoroughly in the basin. His free arm grabbed a glass of warm milk that he was drinking as he watched Jacob strain in his sleep. Kirin held it to the edge of Jacob's mouth.

""I'm sorry to have no medicine, master. Warm milk is the best I can do. Please open for me," Kirin requested politely. Jacob looked up at him and nodded his head. Without questioning or fussing, he drank the milk very slowly so he would not choke on it. Kirin poured the glass of milk very carefully in intervals between his lips so he could give Jacob time to breathe. Not a single ounce of milk dribbled from Jacob's mouth. Kirin wiped Jacob's lips with the pad of his thumb. Jacob drank the milk until the glass emptied out.

Kirin rolled Jacob off of his lap and faced him down unto the bed. He puts a pillow below Jacob's head. Jacob turned his head to the side. Jacob's eyes were closed and Kirin combed back the strands of hair that fell on Jacob's face with his fingers. He sat on top of Jacob as he pressed his palms into Jacob's back.

"I can do one other thing for master. A rubdown will put master into an easeful sleep," said Kirin before Jacob said anything. Kirin was not burdening Jacob at all, although Jacob was doing all he could to feel his weight. Nothing. Nothing but hands that kneaded his shoulders and pressed into the sensitive spots at the back of his neck. Hands climbed down the broad vine of his spine and put pressure between the shoulder blades pushing out tension, worry, care and--

A burp popped out of Jacob's lips.

Kirin's hands still moved about Jacob's back, pressing his warm hands into the back of shirt through to his skin. Jacob's body flushed with embarrassment for being so… disturbing. His skin pricked up to everything from Kirin's palms and fingers to the scratchy fabric in the discreet places of his body. Any heat on his sensitive body broke out in a sweat. The clothes flattened between his body and the bed, the palms pressing against his back and a strangely wet part of Kirin who was sitting on top of him made him perspire and tingle uncomfortably.

Kirin felt the discomfort in his master’s torso and moved his hands accordingly so that Jacob could not stay tense for long. He could feel the traces of sweat coating the nape of his neck. Jacob felt his clothes and Kirin's weight and Kirin's hands and Kirin's wet spot but after twenty minutes Jacob did not care about a damn thing.

A bead of sweat fell from Jacob’s brow and tried to creep into his eye, where the washcloth used to be. If my face was covered, how did he know I was hurt? I felt fine…

Jacob could not complete his thoughts. He was drifting to sleep and refused to fight it.

Kirin still remained on Jacob's back and tried to drink the last droplets in the glass. After looking at Jacob's sleeping face for a few moments, he laid down carefully on Jacob's back and puts his arms around him. As he puts his arms underneath Jacob, Kirin felt his hands become warm and slightly damp. He turned his head to one side, the opposite way Jacob turned his head and rested his head on Jacob's back.

Kirin responded in his own mind: All things warm and wet easily reveal anything underneath them. Anything.