Honkai Star Rail (READER)

Natasha- Sick day

In your opinion Natasha was an extremely hard-working woman, with no time for delay and not a moment to spare. Getting a word in with her was like fighting a leaf blower as a leaf, impossible. Though, today was different, as she had asked you out for an adventure. 

"Hey Nat, everything alright? Your message looked kind of threatening." You mustered, looking back at the chat logs to Nat's earlier comment, of 'Y/N, big emergency come to the clinic ASAP free time.' 

"Oh right, sorry. I'm just a little busy right now." She said, rushing around the clinic sorting people into the right hospital beds as she concocted some medicine for the sick children in the med bay. 

"Did i come at a bad time? When you wrote free time I thought-"

"I'm so sorry Y/N, I meant to ask you to free time. But my lunch break is soon, would you like to sit down for a meal?" She asked, moving the loose strands of hair off her sweat ridden face. 

You agreed, and so an hour later you and Natasha were sat down in her office. Once she'd gotten in, she immediately crashed on a couch covered in papers and passed out from exhaustion. You were a relatively understanding person, and as much as you wanted Nat's attention you realized everyone else needed it. Just as she laid down she whispered something while half dazed, you leaned in to hear her clearly, feeling the heat of her breath on your ears. 

"Chart.." She mumbled through snores. 

"Rest up Nat, while you're out, I'll get a bit of work done to lessen your load!" You whispered, placing your jacket on her sleeping figure and rolling up your sleeves. Looking around you wondered what the most essential parts to running a clinic were, and honestly you hadn't the faintest idea. 

Though the notion did stumble upon you to read her diary, you realized how invasive it would be, and decided to ask around. First up on Nat's clipboard was Ms.Einstein, a young girl with short wavy blue hair and a simple white clip. In Nat's notes it specified a small cough. 

"Hello, Einstein?" You introduced yourself with a handshake, to which she accepted without a word. Confused you realized that her throat was probably too sore, and could be a sign of pneumonia, abscesses or even the deadly flu variant Nat was working to make a vaccine for. Worried with all the possibilities you sat Einstein down and rushed to gather all the cough medicine you could gather, writing down your hypothesis in a separate book. 

Einstein looked at you a bit nervously before opening her mouth so you could check for soreness, redness, and any odd cavities. Nat had a nice, ordered checklist, to which you checked off only slight redness to any symptoms you noticed. From what Nat had written down it would need rest and warm water, a tablespoon of cough medicine and a full day's recovery. The girl nodded and thanked you with a bow before leaving. 

You turned around ready for the next patient and were greeted with a small child by your leg, nearly knocking the poor thing over. "Hook?" 

"It's you! Y/N- Where's the scary witch lady?" The pitch-dark Hook demanded. 

"She's resting right now. Do you want me to help you out?" You asked, flipping through the chart of chores. 

With a pout Hook nodded, showing you a small cut on her arm. You were about to laugh but noticed the redness around the rim of Hook's eyes. Smiling you told her, "You know it takes a really strong person to ask for help." With that Hook seemed to light up, receiving a bandage and running off to play with her friends. You hoped she wasn't trying to head into the orphanage around Rivet town, the last time you asked Nat there was an outbreak of odd spores in the area. 

A couple hours went by, and the day came to a close, the floors of the clinic had been deep cleaned, the medicine restocked, and every patient was checked-in with. As you went back to Nat's office to gather your belongings, Nat woke with a startle. 

"It's dark out already!?" She scrambled to her feet, but you pushed her back onto the couch. 

"No can do doc. I covered everything on your checklist, so you just take it easy." She was startled but took a breath of relaxation. 

"I- can't think of anything else to say but, thank you, Y/N." Nat let herself relax a little. 

Just before you left the clinic, Nat stopped you, grabbing your hand and dragging you back into her office. "Nat?" 

"I forgot to compensate you." She stared you down before leaving a tepid peck on the left side of your face. "Come back to the clinic tomorrow and we'll go on a real date, I promise. I realize, that there will never come a time to spend with you if I don't make it myself." 

The next day, you and Natasha went to the surface, buying a bunch of bell peonies and a bouqet of flowers for her mother. The three of you sat down by a cafe, reading the latest news on Bronya's progress. Ready to tackle the next challenge thrown your way, you resolved to making time instead of waiting for the universe to do it for you. 

---X---

A/N: Wanted to thank everyone who reads these chapters, it truly gives me the encouragement to keep going! These stories are going to progressively get more and more affectionate, as I tend to elevate scenarios and tension through time. 

TBH I forgot that Nat and Raven are (kinda) the same person. though the shift in their personalities is quite jarring. The photo up top gave me some horrible ideas on angst I can start writing...Heh.