He was hot.

He was cold.

The blankets were too heavy. He could not even tell he had any covers around him at all.

He was wasting away from hunger. He hated the sight of all food.

He wanted to look out the window. There was a draft when the draperies were open.

He did not want to sleep. He was tired.

There was so much he needed to do. No, he did not want to work on his correspondence.

And so went the very first afternoon of Legolas' watch, and most of the second day.

Toward nightfall, Aragorn sat up and proclaimed that he was going to have a bit of a walk about the palace.

"No," Legolas said simply.

"No?" Aragorn asked incredulously; clearly it was something he was unused to hearing.

"You are not to leave this room."

"This id my cidy! The crown cidy of the realmb of free med! You are tellig me thad I, de Kig," he glared when Legolas grinned widely at this assertion, and repeated with greatest dignity, "Kig of God--" he sneezed, "Godord, can nod walk aroud my owed homb? Is thad whad you are tellig me?"

"Well, I did not understand very much of what you just said, but yes, I suppose so. You are not going anywhere."

"You thig you cad stob me?"

"I am quite certain of it."

"I will cald de guards. They will log you in the dugeod."

"They have been instructed that no one is to come into, or leave, these chambers, except Arwen or me. They would stop you."

"I ab de Kig! They are my guards! They answer to me aload."

"Unless your very charming, and very beautiful wife speaks to them with different orders than you give. Now they are hers, bought and paid for with a smile."

"And somb said her grandmother wad an elf-witch," Aragorn muttered at the very moment the door opened.

Legolas took great joy in watching how quickly Aragorn closed his mouth as the elf-witch in question entered.

"Arwen, we were just talking about you," Legolas said warmly and purposefully ignored the quick look Aragorn gave him to demand his allegiance and silence.

"And what were you saying?" Arwen asked with a knowing smile as she shut the door firmly behind her.

"Aragorn was just saying how much you reminded him of Lady Galadriel at times," Legolas smiled widely as Aragorn erupted into a fit of what Legolas suspected was convenient coughing.

Arwen came forward to sit beside her husband, placing a hand on his brow, still finding it hot to the touch, but not so hot as it had been the day before. His eyes looked a little clearer today too, now glittering as they watched Legolas with a poorly veiled threat in them.

"How is he behaving?" Arwen asked, keeping her hand on Aragorn's head but turning to Legolas.

"Unbearably. But I would have expected no less."

"He is being difficult then?" Arwen made a disapproving noise and Aragorn straightened defiantly.

"Well, yes he is. But it is nothing I cannot handle, Lady. Do not fret for him or for me."

"He id siddig righd here!" Aragorn growled, waving his arms a little bit in case he'd disappeared entirely, as he once assured Frodo he could not do.

Arwen turned her attention back to her husband. "How do you feel?"

"Much bedder. I ab ready to be sed free."

"No, you are not," Arwen disagreed. "But I am glad you are feeling better. So you think perhaps you will live now?"

"Nod if you leave me wid himb," Aragorn muttered and jerked his chin in Legolas' direction, an act which left him dizzy. "Sed himb to watch de childred. You cad stay wid me."

"Estel, surely you are not suggesting that I leave the children without either of us for the rest of the week! The staff cannot watch them, they may carry your illness. And poor Legolas cannot do that alone. He is unaccustomed to being around the young. You would leave him to look after three mischievous children instead of his very dear friend?"

"Yed!" Aragorn exclaimed. "He id goig to kill me!"

"He is not going to kill you," Arwen reasoned.

"He can nod do anythig righd," Aragorn protested, glaring at Legolas who looked unaffected.

"And you said the same thing about my care for you yesterday."

"I did nod mead it. I ab sorry, Arwed. Stay wid me," Aragorn begged, reaching for her hand and holding to it tightly. "Do nod leave me here wid himb! He id a fool."

"I can still hear you," Legolas pointed out from behind Arwen, and Arwen turned to see that Legolas was looking as aggravated with the situation as the King.

"I do nod care!" Aragorn snapped back. "You should know whad a fool you are! You have had a few thousad yeard to figure id oud!"

"I am the fool? I am not the one who cannot speak without spittle flying from my lips, I am not breathing like a wild boar so that everyone else in the palace cannot find a moment's rest, and my nose is not pouring yellow water like a poisoned fountain! You weak, ailing man!" He said the last with contempt edged raw in his voice.

"Stop it, both of you. It is only for a few days, and you are being unreasonable. You and Legolas surely have a lot of visiting to do still. You can plan your hunting trip," Arwen offered brightly, with just an edge of worry. She did not want Legolas to go back on his promise. Not because she thought Legolas incapable of caring for her children, but because she was quite certain she would do harm to Aragorn if she had to spend another day as his nurse. The prospect of having time with her lovely children was so much more appealing. "What is a little illness between two friends who have been through the battles you have seen? You have stood at each others' side through worse than this!"

Aragorn and Legolas both glared at each other around her, but began looking increasingly abashed.

"I think apologies are in order," Arwen said, looking from one to the other expectantly, as she did when Eldarion pulled Imeren's braid, or when Gliriel dirtied Imeren's favorite doll.

And she got a similar reaction as she would have from her children. Both man and elf reddened slightly in the cheeks and cast down their eyes.

"I apologize," Legolas said, looking at his boots.

"Sorryd," Aragorn mumbled, and looked over at the wall.

"Well, now, that is better, is it not? I must be getting back before the children set themselves loose upon Gondor. I'll come back tomorrow. Someone will be bringing your dinners very soon. They'll leave it outside the door." She had to pry Aragorn's fingers from about her own as she stood up.

She kissed Aragorn's forehead, then Legolas' cheek and floated from the room as silently as she'd entered it.

"I shoud pud a bell on thad womad." Aragorn observed when she was gone.

"Elf-witch, indeed," Legolas murmured in agreement.

And with what would turn out to be a very temporary truce thus called, each fell to silence.

******