Saga - ST Comfort Food | OC Comfort Challenge | Wren/Kaz

Title: Comfort Food
Author: Raissa Baiard
Timeframe: ST era
Genre: mush, fluff
Characters: Wren Ordo (OC), Kazuda Xiono
Synopsis: When Wren is ill, Kaz knows just what will make her feel better.

Notes: Because I can’t help myself, I jumped forward in my timeline to a point when Wren and Kaz are newlyweds. And yes, the flu (in various forms) exists in the GFFA.
———

Having the flu sucked, Wren reflected--or would have if she’d had the energy to do anything as strenuous as reflecting. As it was, the best she could do was lie in her darkened bedroom in a state of misery and try not to die. This was absolute poodoo, she decided (she had barely enough energy to decide). A Mandalorian should not be incapacitated by a little thing like the flu. Normally, she wouldn’t have been; however this was apparently some previously unknown strain of evil mutant Sithspawn flu. It had started off innocently enough the day before as a slight tickle in her throat and a mildly stuffy nose, but by that night, she was sweaty and feverish at the same time she was shaking with chills. She ached so badly that even her hair hurt, and she could hardly muster enough energy to peel off her beskar’gam and collapse into bed. She’d been there since, leaving only to shuffle to the ’fresher or to the kitchen to get some shig and toast, but for all that down time she didn’t feel particularly rested or all that much better.

“Wren?” There was a soft tap on the bedroom door; it slid open halfway, admitting a flood of much-too-bright light that stabbed at Wren’s eyes through her half-closed lids. Kaz peeked in around the door frame. “Wren? Are you awake?”

“Hhhhnyurghhh…” she replied, wondering what time it was. She’d slept longer than she’d thought if Kaz was already home--she hadn’t even heard him come in. Wren tried to sit up to look at the chrono on the bedside table, but someone had filled her sinuses with dura-crete while she’d slept and now her head weighed a kiloton. She plopped back down onto her pillow with another little groan.

Kaz slipped into the room, sat on the edge of the bed next to her and brushed her hair back from her clammy forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a rancor’s chew toy,” she rasped, pulling her blankets up to her chin and shrinking down underneath them. “My head’s pounding, I’m chilled and I can barely breathe.” A Mando never complained, but she could, however, offer an accurate summary of her condition.

“Aww, my poor Senaar’ika,” Kaz murmured, kissing her forehead. “Don’t worry; I’ve got something that’ll make you feel better.”

Wren peeked an eye out from beneath under the covers. “You’re going to shoot me with one of my WESTARs?”

Kaz laughed and tousled her hair lightly. “Nah, you know I couldn’t hit you at point blank range even if I tried. No, it’s something a lot better… Dinner!” He stood up with a flourish as their housekeeping droid Huey, an HU-3 unit who looked like nothing so much as an oversized mouse droid, twoodled into the room bearing a hover-tray with a covered dish and a steaming mug.

The logical, practical Mando in her knew she needed to eat if she was going to get better—nutrients to fight the virus and all that—but the sick, achy, blah part of her just didn’t know how she was going to be able to pick up a spoon. And then raise it to her mouth. And chew. And then do it all again and again. “I don’t think I can eat…”

“Not even…” Kaz paused dramatically to whisk the cover off of the plate. “... homemade tiingilar?!?”

“You made tiingilar?” Wren peeked out with both eyes this time. That changed things. Tiingilar was practically the food of the gods--or it would have been if Mandalorians had gods. Food of the Ka’ra, maybe…

Kaz grinned and nodded. “From your mom’s recipe and everything.”

Huey twirled around again with a little “ta-da!” sound and the tiingilar’s aroma wafted across the room. A wave of fragrance enveloped Wren—kessinamon, catabar, durmic, pepper oil! Wayii! Suddenly her mouth was watering and her stomach was growling with a hunger she hadn’t known she had. “I…guess I could manage a couple bites.” Wren struggled to a sitting position, and Kaz fussed around her like a mother avian, propping her up with pillows and situating the hover tray on her lap. He handed her the spoon, and Wren took a tiny bite.

Ohhhhh…

Rapturous warmth flooded her. Not just because the tiingilar was piping hot, and not just because it was spicy enough to pack a good wallop of hetikles and heturam, but because it was tiingilar—homemade tiingilar, just like her mother made for her when she’d been sick when she was little..And because tiingilar was more than just food, it was nourishment for body and soul. Tiingilar was part of the fabric of her family history: her parents had tiingilar on their first date, Wren had cooked it for Kaz and his family on their first visit to Ordo, and now he’d learned to make it for her. Tiingilar was home and family and love, all mixed into one rich, tasty stew. Her achiness and malaise melted away with every bite, and before she knew it, Wren had eaten the entire bowl.

“Jate,” she sighed, leaning back against the pillows.

“You’re looking better already.” Kaz smiled as he cleared her tray, setting it atop Huey, who whisked it away to the kitchen. Kaz smoothed out the blankets and tucked them around Wren. “I knew some nice, hot tiingilar would do the trick.”

“You must have been cooking all afternoon.” Wren looked away, fiddling with the hem of the blanket he’d so carefully tucked around her. “You must hate having to take care of me like this. Ugh! I just…I just hate being so weak!” Because that, really, was the worst part of this. She was a Mandalorian; she was supposed to be strong and self-reliant, not some pathetic little pittin who could hardly get out of bed. She wasn’t supposed to need to be taken care of.

“Wren! You’re not weak, you’re just sick. You’re fighting this off like…like a supercommando!” Kaz sat next to her and clasped her hands in his. “And I don’t mind taking care of you, not at all. Mhi solus, remember? You’d do the same for me.”

“That’s…” Different, Wren almost said. But was it? And if it was, why? Just because Kaz hadn’t been born a Mandalorian? He was part of Clan Ordo now. They’d pledged to share all, and all meant all, not just their possessions and not just the good things, but the times like this when they had to rely on one another. “That’s…true,” she amended.

“Right.” Kaz swung his legs up onto the bed, propped his pillow behind him and flipped on the holo screen across the room. “Feel like watching the limmie playoffs with me? It’s Fondor versus Kinyen.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll get you sick?”

He shrugged and put his arm around her, pulling her towards him. “If you do, then you can make me tiingilar!” he told her with a grin.

“Deal.” Wren leaned against Kaz’s shoulder. Her headache had receded, and thanks to the sinus-clearing properties of thetiingilar’s hetikles, she could actually breathe again. She was still kind of tired, but it was a warm, pleasant drowsiness instead of the achy weariness she’d had all day.

There was nothing like a nice, hot bowl of tiingilar to make her feel better—except for the husband who loved her enough to make it for her.

Mando’a glossary
Senaar’ika: Kaz’s pet name for Wren, literally, Little Bird
Tiingilar: spicy Mandalorian stew, rather like a curry.
Ka’ra: honored ancestors, said to be among the stars.
Wayii: an exclamation of surprise
Hetikles and hetruram: literally “nose burn” and “mouth burn”, the spicy qualities prized in Mandalorian cooking.
Jate: good.
Mhi solus: We are one. Part of the Mandalorian wedding vows.

 

WHOO Wrenkaz! Kazwren! They are so sweet here and I love that Wren has the little moment of reminding/realization that yeah, Kaz has taken on the role of caring for her just as much as she does for him and that's okay. It's the not-so-little little things like a bowl of homemade tiingilar that help make the foundation of a loving relationship like theirs and it's so wonderful to see them in the process of growing into being more comfortable in that.

This was one of my favorite sections; comfort food is so much more than just food!

 

Love how he makes her favorite comfort food, that is delicious and nostalgic because of the family feels that go along with it, and it doesn't hurt that it clears the sinuses ... He really is a treasure of a darling and I'm so glad she realized it.

I can well believe it's something she's not used to: having to be taken care of, but it's a sweet cherishable moment.

 

Love the sweet and caring nature of Kaz for Wren. A nice moment

 

Great work! I'm sorry that Wren feels so icky, and I can understand that feeling of "I should be strong enough to not need help." I'm glad Kaz was able to show her it's okay to be taken care of by someone who cares about her. Like the other posters above, I also loved how the tiingilar wasn't just something for her to eat, but instead was woven through so many important memories in her life. Hopefully this experience with Kaz will be a good new memory for her to add to that particular collection now.

I liked seeing Wren's growth here and how she reevaluated her automatic preconceptions based on this new stage of the life she's sharing with Kaz. That's not an easy thing to do, especially when someone's not feeling well.

LOL, I'll have to remember this. I may steal it IRL.

Great job!