44- No good deed goes unpunished

8/2/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut- just past noon

Doro could feel his entire body ache. Specific muscles he'd never really been aware of were screaming at him. His head felt as if it were held underwater; try as he might, he could not get it to surface for a breath, his lungs burning as if filled with acid. In the face of all that pain, it was tempting to give in and let his consciousness fade, carrying it all away.

Then, a pair of hands grasped him, and he felt his body being quickly pulled away; hope rekindled.

If.....I could.....only..... breathe...

He did not want to give in, not this time. As Ben, he'd failed to save his most important person, but as Doro, he would save Sarima's. He only needed to save himself first. As that thought crossed his mind, Doro remembered that he had an advantage over Ben.

Akashic Energy!

Doro had a knack for moving energy inside of objects, but he'd quickly realized that moving the energy within his own body was not something he was talented at. In a last-ditch effort, he targeted the soot and other foreign substances that had made it into his lungs and filled them with his energy.

Doro's sense of urgency rose once again; he could fix this, but he was on a clock. He liquified and started moving the murky composite substance around the inside of his lungs, the mostly carbon slime absorbing any small particulates that had escaped his Abilities. Doro had no time to be careful and immediately tried to force the foreign substance out of his respiratory system.

Oh f-!

He had no time to finish his thought as the slimy substance forced its way out of his throat at a much greater speed than he had expected. It didn't simply feel like a bad cough, but as if time had slowed at the worst moment of the worst cough he'd ever had and just kept going. It only took a few seconds for Doro to rid himself of the black muk, but sadly, it was not the only thing on its way out. Doro's breakfast was next, and then a stream of foamy, foul-smelling liquid followed.

The whole ordeal only lasted about five seconds, but in his oxygen-starved state, it felt like minutes went by before he could finally breathe in again. One might think that first breath would feel glorious, better than any that had come before. That person would be wrong. The breath was raspy and painful. His lungs were still weak and irritated, and Doro coughed again as he tried to inflate them fully.

Slower...Shallower...

It took a minute before Doro's mind could do anything else than concentrate on his breathing, but as the oxygen returned to his brain, so did other pressing concerns.

Shit! Where is he!?

Doro started grasping around him blindly, hoping he would come across Sarima's father, but then he remembered that someone had pulled him away. Doro tried to rub at his eyes but quickly stopped as he felt the gritty residue that covered them and the rest of his face. Controlling the copious amount of tears that his eyes were producing, Doro used his Abilities to try and wash out the residue from his eyes.

His eyes felt as if they had been sprayed with vinegar, but Doro powered through and kept them open, if at a squint. Everything was still somewhat blurry, but he could finally start seeing shapes and colors to some extent; he was outside. Doro started looking around him in a panic, discounting the tall, blurry figures surrounding him as well-meaning passers-by until he noticed another figure lying on the ground nearby.

It might not be too late!

Doro tried to get up to walk toward the figure, but he stumbled forward and fell to all fours as his calf muscle seized up, and the world went spinning. Even with the oxygen flowing through his blood again, his rescue attempt had asked more from his muscles than they could sustain, and his body was telling him he had reached the limit.

C'mon! Just one more push!

Only a dozen feet separated Doro from his goal, but his body would not function as he instructed. He started worming his way forward in a most undignified crawl, clawing at the ground in front of him to gain even one more inch in his discombobulated wriggle. There were still a few feet left ahead of him, and he wasn't quite sure he'd make it, but one of the surrounding figures knelt down and carried him the rest of the way.

"Thanks..."

Doro was able to let out a barely audible and wheezy word to show his gratitude and then let his arm fall over Sarim'as dad's body. He tried using whatever bit of stamina and energy he had left to clear the man's lung, but something was blocking his attempts.

Must be his own energy...Shit, this is going to be rough, but I have no other choice.

Doro moved his hand to the man's head and stuck his finger into his mouth. He swirled his finger around inside to gather some of the soot that had mixed with the man's saliva and shaped it into a thin tendril that he then quickly sent down the man's trachea. Sarima's father immediately began to convulse as Doro aggressively went to work gathering the muk inside of the man's lungs.

"Sorry, this bit will suck."

Doro warned the man, in case he could still process what was happening around him, and jerked his finger out of the man's mouth, pulling along a long tendril of muk, shortly followed by the contents of the man's stomach.

Even the powerful alcoholic stench produced by the man's vomit was not enough to distract Doro from a sense of relief. His goal was accomplished, and a wave of dopamine overrode any other concerns he may have had. His muscles went limp, and darkness overcame his already blurry vision as a final thought went through his mind.

...but was that enough?

*****

"Hey! Give them some space; this isn't a show! Go get some water if you don't have anything better to do! There is still a fire going in there!"

Seamstress Ati and her son had immediately dropped everything to follow Sarima and help out, and the three had arrived just in time to see a seriously worn-out Doro trip and fall through her front door. Sarima was genuinely grateful for their help, as she would have been unable to pull her father out by herself. She wasn't quite sure how he had done it, but Doro had managed to drag her father out of the kitchen and halfway through the entrance before giving out.

"Doro! Dad! Hold on! I'm here and we sent for a healer!"

Seamstress Ati's son, a healthy-looking lad in his late teens, was kneeling by her side, helping turn Doro and her Father on their sides.

"Hey kid, you did some crazy impressive stunt right there! Don't die on us now, or you won't get to enjoy the upside. How is your dad looking?"

Sarima sniffed and wiped away a few tears pointlessly, as fresh ones immediately replaced them.

"I don't know. After what Doro did with his finger, he started breathing again...but he doesn't look good."

For all the harm that Doro had put his body through, his condition appeared to be somewhat stable. They could see that his breathing was becoming more profound and more regular, and his expression did not show any noticeable signs of pain. Sarima was still worried nonetheless; the way he had been blindly grasping around, him falling as he tried to get up, and the horrifying grunts of pain he had let out as he'd tried to force himself closer to her father as he wriggled on the ground all pointed to the fact that Doro was probably not "all right".

When seamstress Ati's son had finally managed to drag her father out, with great difficulty, he had already stopped breathing. Doro hadn't looked much better until he'd suddenly thrown up a puddle of black ooze. The events that had followed were like flashes in Sarima's mind; her grief and fear had frozen her at the time, but he had not only saved himself, he'd also gotten her father back from the brink.

"Make way!"

A burly man split the crowd as he pulled a large empty handcart behind him, stopping by their side.

"Dad, where is the healer?"

"Ashka was out, I sent her apprentice running for another healer and told them to meet us at Suyum's. Help me load them onto the cart, gently. We can't leave them in the middle of the street; the fire volunteers are bound to show up any minute now, and we'll be in their way."

Seamstress Ati sidled up to Sarima and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let the boys take over. There isn't really anything we can do for now. Let's both go ahead to warn Suyum and her husband."

*****

Doro was rudely awoken from his sleep by one of the most foul smells he could ever remember smelling. He tried to shoot upright into a sitting position in an attempt to get away from the smell, but his body barely moved, the effort causing a lot of pain for very minimal results. Luckily for his nostrils, upon seeing him move, whoever was afflicting him with that stench appeared to have decided it was enough as the source moved away.

Well, I'm still alive at least.

"Wait..."

Doro spoke, but the sounds that came out were barely audible, a raspy wheeze as much as words. He knew he would have to open his eyes soon, but he was scared. The last time he'd opened them, the world he'd seen had made Van Gogh's "Starry Night" appear HD in comparison.

Delaying won't increase my odds...Gotta accept whatever comes...but shit, I don't to be blind!

Doro could not quite bring himself to open his eyes as he usually would and slowly, very slowly, lifted his eyelids. As soon as they began moving, it felt to him as if they were made of sandpaper, scraping against his eyes as they lifted; it did not bolster his hopes. As his eyelids passed the halfway point, Doro could no longer stay in denial. His eyes now fully open, both literally and figuratively, he accepted that his eyes were not fine. He was not entirely blind, but it felt to him as if he were looking through heavily clouded glass. He could still roughly see the general shape and color of things within a few feet of him, but anything past a couple's arm's length just seemed to disappear into a white haze.

Something was waved back and forth in front of his eyes, and he instinctively followed it, immediately regretting it as the movement of his eyes in their sockets brought back the raking pain he'd felt upon opening his eyelids.

Damn, blinking is going to suck...

"Alright, the smelling salts worked, and he's following my finger! That's excellent news."

The woman was too far from him for her face to be more than a light brown blur, but at least Doro now knew the voice of his torturer. He knew she was probably a healer, but her actions had, so far, resulted in unpleasant experiences for him.

"Is he going to be fine? Are you sure!? Thank Gallius and his strong seed!"

Now, this voice was one he could place without a thought, although something was a bit off.

That's Mom's voice, but where is her accent gone?

"Here, I got the natron salts you asked for!"

...At least Dad sounds the same, if worried as hell.

Doro slowly tilted his head a bit in his father's direction and lifted the corners of his mouth. In his haste and panic, he'd included his facial muscles in the effort to get Sarima's father out of danger, and so he was only able to sustain a hint of a smile. That had been enough, though; Khetep immediately broke into tears and knelt by his son's side.

"Doro! You woke up! Thank all that is good! You are home now; we'll take care of you. Just rest. He's going to be fine, right?"

"Dad..."

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Doro tried to speak up, but again, the sounds that came out of his throat were barely intelligible.

"Don't speak; the smoke damaged your lungs and your throat. I'll make you a drink; stay quiet in the meantime. You can close your eyes if you want, but don't go back to sleep. I can't promise anything about his final condition or how long it will take him to recover, but I think it is most likely that he will survive. The only thing I am worried about is that I was told he hit his head pretty hard against the ground, so there is a small chance of a brain hemorrhage or concussion. The issue is that in his current state of exhaustion, after the ordeal he went through, it would be normal for him to exhibit the symptoms if he isn't afflicted. I am not sure exactly how he did it, but every single muscle I've checked is both inflamed and somewhat strained. Seems he stopped just short of long-term damage, but if we left him as is, it would probably take days for him to be able to sit up without being in pain. A week or two before he could start walking around again."

Doro was happy to hear that he would probably survive, although he'd have been happier without the "probably", but thoughts of the painful recovery described by the healer.

"Well, that would be without the help of specific medication or a healer. First, though, get me a bottle of your strongest alcohol."

Are they asking for a bribe before even helping out!? The nerve!

"I like drinkin' as much as the next person, but don't you think it's a little early to celebrate?"

The healer laughed, annoying everyone in the room with her lack of decorum.

"It's for your child. I need to make a medicine for him, and I need a strong alcohol base."

Suyum left the room to fulfill the healer's request. Doro suddenly realized that with his impaired vision, he couldn't tell what room he was in. He knew he was in a bed, but he had no clue whether it was his or his parents'. As his thoughts wandered off, his mother quickly returned with a bottle, not that he was surprised at how quickly she had managed to procure it.

The healer filled a large mug, to the halfway point, with the alcohol Suyum had returned with, the grain spirit she'd used to knock out her husband a bit over a decan prior, and gave it back to her.

"Sir, please put three spoonfuls of the natron salt into the bottle and half of one into the mug. Miss, please bring this next door and have the attending healer administer it carefully to the other patient. Tell him that it might be too late but that this is his only chance. Also, can you bring some honey back if you have any? Since your son is awake and has a sore throat, you should mix it in to make the experience more pleasant."

Salt and spirits!? What is that meant to be a cure for?

"Salt and spirits!? What is that meant to be a cure for?"

Way to go Dad! I knew I could count on you to be on the same wavelength.

The healer leaned in and whispered her answer into Khetep's ear too quietly for Doro to have any chance of picking up.

"Ah...I see. Thank you. It's kind of you to keep it quiet for little Sarima's sake. She's a good kid and doesn't deserve this kind of black cloud following her. I'll be careful with who I share the information with."

Well...that sucks. Guess I'll just have to trust that if Dad thinks it's alright...

Suyum hurriedly walked back into the room and handed a clay pot to the healer, who poured a healthy amount into the mug.

"Alright kid, you are probably not going to find this tasty, but there is a chance you were exposed to something toxic. If you were and you don't drink this, a lot of bad and irreversible things will start happening over the few hours. You don't have to drink it in one shot, but you must down it all in the next few minutes to be safe. I'll have your mother slowly feed it to you a few sips at a time. Do your best not to spit it out."

Suyum approached Doro with the mug and gently lifted his head slightly with one hand as the healer slipped a rolled-up towel beneath it. Suyum brought the mug to Doro's lip and tilted it slightly; the liquid began dribbling down into Doro's mouth and down the side of the mug. Then, some of the liquid began dribbling out of the corners of Doro's mouth. His cheeks and mouth muscles were barely responsive; he felt as if he'd just taken a trip to the dentist but got to keep the pain as a bonus.

"Damn, he really went all out, didn't he? He even strained his facial muscles somehow...Better use a spoon. If you get it to the back half of his tongue, it should stay in."

The next few minutes felt like torture to Doro. The medicine wasn't quite as foul as he'd imagined, but the salty and sweet vodka-like beverage was by no means pleasant. No, the issue was that he was forced to just lay there, unable to communicate, questions burning through his mind.

Was Sarima ok?

Was her father going to live?

Would he be able to see normally again?

Did they manage to stop the fire?

The last question that came to his mind sparked a little bit of shame in him.

What was Sarima's Dad's name again?

*****

"Sarima...ok?...Father?"

It had nearly taken 10 minutes, but Suyum had finally fed Doro with the last spoon of the medicine. He knew that he should rest and avoid speaking, but he could feel the alcohol taking effect, and he wanted to try and get at least a couple of answers before he became too drunk.

"Sarima is fine, at least physically. I told her that you were out of danger and that she should stay with her father. They haven't managed to wake him up yet, but he is still breathin' thanks to you. If you hadn't found a way to clear your lungs, they say you two wouldn't have made it until you go into the hands of a healer."

She's downplaying his condition, I'm sure of it. The healer said that the medicine was his last chance, but if he was breathing and I managed to mostly clear his lungs, the difference in our conditions must be due to that toxic stuff. That, or his brain was too low on oxygen for too long, but since there is no medicine for that, let's hope it's not the case.

Doro was too tired to argue, and with the alcohol on its way to rendering him unintelligible, he needed to ask one more important thing.

"My eyes.....barely see...blurry haze...."

He tried saying too much and launched into a coughing fit. The pain in his throat was one thing, but every cough sent a wave of pain through his sore muscles, his chest and abdominal muscles feeling as if they were getting punched from the inside. The healer jumped in before Doro's words could send his parents into a new panic.

"Yeah, you kept your eyes open in the smoke a lot, didn't you? I understand that it might have been necessary, but you kept rubbing soot and other abrasives against the surface of your eyes every time you blinked or rubbed them. Your eyes are inflamed and scratched up; I'd have been surprised if you told me you could see properly with how red and puffed up they are. There is always a small chance of permanent damage, but don't worry. A little regenerative salve-soaked blindfold, and they'll most likely be as good as new by tomorrow."

Doro was so relieved by the news that even his unresponsive face seemed to have conveyed the message across clearly.

"I could leave you now, and all you'd probably need is a week or two of bed rest and nutritious foods and you'd be back to normal, but we can speed that up a bit in areas. No way to get it to stay properly in your mouth, and if we tried filling your lungs with it, you'd drown, but we can use some regenerative salve to fix the inside of your nose and your eyes overnight since the damage is mostly surface level. I have some with me. Now, you'll need something to help with the pain and some muscle relaxants for a day or two. Milk of the poppy, in small doses and no more than for two days, as well as some white willow bark tea. These should be easily available at most local apothecaries, and they'll help you determine the preparation and dosage. They are not cheap, but they should be well within your means. For now, I'll use a couple of abilities to help with the pain and your general recovery. Your parents can start giving you the medicines once my Abilities wear off."

As the healer attempted to use her first Ability on Doro, he flinched as he felt as if something light had just bounced off him, only he couldn't quite pinpoint the location.

"If you don't let my Abilities through, you're just going to stay in pain, you know. If you want to wait for the medicines, be my guest."

"Sorry, he's never really had to visit a healer before; he probably just did it by instinct."

"Ah well, let me try again then."

This time Doro actively tried to remain open; whatever that meant, he was unsure. Quickly though, he could feel his aching muscles start to ease. The pain receded as the tightness in his muscles loosened. A wave of relief washed over him for the second time that day, carrying him off into a deep sleep.

*****

"He's out. Probably won't wake up until tomorrow. Take advantage of him being out to stuff his nose with regenerative salve and wrap a soaked cloth around his eyes, I'll leave you a pot. If you want to do more, cold water-soaked towels if he runs hot, warm blankets if he starts shivering. I used an ability to slow the speed at which his body absorbs alcohols, so he might still be drunk when he wakes up. Now, lay him on his side in case he vomits, and make sure he doesn't move into a position where he has trouble breathing."

"Thank you for all of your help, my wife and I are truly grateful for all you've done. How much do we owe you?"

"Oh, nothing. We are settled. I'll accept the sentiment though."

"Sorry, but I can't accept that. You went above and beyond, gave us some salve, used your Abilities even though it was not strictly necessary, and you came here. It's not like we went to the public clinic and got the minimum service."

The healer laughed, but this time it did not seem to bother the couple.

"Don't get me wrong, I've offered my services to the best of my abilities and will get paid for them in a manner of sorts; it's already been settled, though."

"What do you mean? By whom?"

"Well, I'm part of a certain organization and one of my seniors sent word to look after your son should he be in need of medical help. All I've been authorized to say is that they mean well for your son and that they don't want to bother you or him unnecessarily for now. Don't worry, though; only chapter leaders were given the word, so your son's name isn't just being thrown around."

As she finished her explanation, the other healer walked into the room. Upon noticing her face though, his face went pale and he immediately bowed his head in deference.

"My apologies. I thought healer Aksha was the one taking care of this patient. Had I known, I would have greeted you earlier."

"No matter. How fares your patient?"

The man looked around at Khetep and Suyum, a bit of confusion in his eyes.

"Aren't we keeping it quiet for the girl's sake?"

"Go ahead, I already told the father and he agreed to keep it to himself. I don't think the wife will protest."

Suyum shot a questioning glance at Khetep, but he motioned for her to keep listening.

"Well, from what I've gathered, I don't think he has a chance. Even though he threw up a large quantity when the kid cleared his lungs, it was probably just a small portion of it. From his state, I'd say he drank a large quantity of wood alcohol, without mixing it with drinking alcohol beforehand. With how unresponsive he is, it was probably at the very least 2-3 hours before the children found him. His Abilities did a lot to protect him from the fire and smoke, and between that and the kid's help, he would be fine otherwise. With his state being what it is, he must have either drank a very large amount of it or started as soon as his daughter left. In either case, too much damage has been done. It was already too late by the time the fire had started. The brightside is that most of the wood alcohol would have probably burnt a while before the kids showed up, so if the boy got exposed to any, it was probably minimal. I can keep my patient breathing, though for how long, I do not know; but there isn't anything I, or any healer I know, can do to wake him. I'm not even sure there really is anyone to wake anymore."

"Have him moved to the local clinic. I'll see if I can't find any idea through some of my contacts. Keep him going until the legal limit if you can, and bill it to the organization if you incur extra costs. I can't give you details, but I'm here because one of my seniors asked for a favor."

The man's face went a shade paler than it had already become at the mention of one of her seniors, all pretense of composure leaving him at once.

"Understood, I will do my utmost to make sure it happens, even if it means foregoing sleep. Please, I beg you, just don't mention me to your senior or push the blame onto me if I fail. I'm just a newly minted second-tier healer, you can't expect miracles from me-"

The man did not wait to finish his sentence to turn for the door and make a run for it. Although a brisk walk might be a better descriptor for the motions his body undertook, the fear on his face and in his voice made it clear that the only reason he wasn't actually running was that he was scared to offend the other healer.

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my senior; he looked like he was about to have a heart attack."

The healer smiled at Khetep and Suyum, but the look they returned her made her sigh.

"You guessed what organization I belong to, huh? Come on, we are part of the good guys, don't believe all the children's stories about us. We mostly spend our time saving lives, even when we are forced to kill, it is ultimately to save lives. You have nothing to fear from me. See, I am not even wearing a mask, am I?"

"Thanks for what you did for my son, but don't come back again. You might think you are part of the good guys, as you say, but I don't need to rely on children's stories to know the truth. I want you as far away from us as possible. Thank your senior for his help, and tell him we want absolutely nothing to do with him or his kind."

Suyum looked at her husband in shock. She had never seen him make such an expression of barely contained rage. In this moment, she feared that if it weren't for the help the healer had given Doro, he would have thrown himself at her in a violent fit. She'd heard stories about the "crows" before, but if one believed in those stories, the natural reaction would be fear, not anger. Not only that, but she'd never seen her husband display more than mild annoyance or, at worst, cold displeasure, but this kind of fiery anger was new.

"Sorry, I do-"

Suyum tried to apologize for her husband's reaction, awkwardly thrust into the role that he normally filled in the relationship, but she was thrown even more off balance when her husband glared at her and interrupted.

"Don't! You have no idea Suyum. Her people are monsters; no, worse, because they don't have the excuse of Maya making them crazy."

Khetep turned his attention back to the healer and continued his rant, his emotions taking over his reason.

"Out! Get the fuck out! Now! I mean it! Go find yourself another corpse to feast on you crow!"

Khetep picked up the empty mug at Doro's bedside and brandished it menacingly at the healer. One would think that his short stature and lithe body, aided by a mug, would not make for a threatening sight, but a gentle man's anger is something to fear.

Unused to having to deal with these kinds of emotions, Khetep did not wait for the healer to respond and threw the mug in her direction. Suyum did not know what Ability her husband had used, but luckily, his throw missed his mark and the mug flew an inch to the side of the healer's face. Upon making contact with the wall behind her, the mug explosively shattered into millions of minuscule fragments. The shards being so tiny that air resistance did quick work of sapping their momentum, but the healer was still within the edge of the danger zone. As the cloud of ceramic projectiles reached her, her hair and her clothes protected her from most of the harm, but the exposed back of her neck and her right ear had taken a few nicks, some tiny ceramic shards embedding themselves just deep enough that a couple drops of blood were starting to form here and there.

What in the!?

At this point, Suyum did not really care about the "Crows" or even about whether the healer deserved this treatment; she saw that her husband had lost control and that if she didn't step in, he would do something he would regret. She still wanted to believe that he would regret his last action already, but she knew that no matter how he felt about these people, he would surely regret going any further.

Gah! I hate being the reasonable one....

Suyum grabbed her husband in a bear hug before he could continue down the path he had stepped on, and held on for dear life.

"I don't know what your people did, but I'd run if I was you. Never seen him get like this about anything, so it must have been bad. I don't care about it now. Make your escape before he does something that will land him in jail."

The healer seemed to have expected a reaction from the couple, but the stunned expression on her face revealed that this was not it. She looked surprised, angry, and a little scared, but above all, her confused shock was what came across the most clearly.

"Maybe you personally don't deserve this, and I'm sorry if you were injured, but staying will only make things worse."

The healer finally heeded Suyum's words and left without another word, leaving the couple alone with their son. In order to make sure the healer had enough of a head start that her husband would not follow, and because she felt like he needed it, Suyum kept her husband in a tight hug for the next minute.

"Alright. You calmed down or do you need more huggin? I think you've got some explainin' to do, wouldn't you agree?"

Khetep took a long breath, let it out, and gave his wife a tentative smile.

"Yes, I'm better now. You deserve to know the truth, so I'll tell you, but first, would you kindly explain to me where your accent went earlier? You know, when you were panicking about Doro, and then a minute ago when you were talking to that crow?"

Damn, I messed up! I'd been so good about keeping it up too!

"Would you believe me if I told you I practiced as a present for our tenth wedding anniversary, and was keeping it a surprise?"

Khetep thought over his answer for a moment before responding.

"Would you believe that I just had a momentary bout of insanity induced by our son's ordeal?"

"I see what you did there...Well played. Screw it, let's both come clean. It will be a weight off our chests, and honestly, making sure I don't slip out of the accent even when I am home is tiring."

"You go first, mine will be hard to follow. But let's wait for tonight after we've put Sarima to sleep."

***

A few hours later, a pair of men showed up and took Sarima's father away on a stretcher. The constant care he would need would not be feasible in their home, but the clinic was no place for a young girl to spend the night alone.

Seamstress Ati offered Sarima her hospitality before leaving, but Suyum and Khetep both insisted that she stay with them and Sarima readily agreed. Her father gone, Sarima immediately went to Doro's bedside and refused to leave it for any reason, even when Suyum tried to put her to bed. In the end, they made up a makeshift bed next to Doro's so that she would at least have somewhere to sleep comfortably if she insisted on staying by his side.

Finally, the couple made it to their room, and they would exchange secrets they had kept hidden away for as long as they had known each other, over the course of the next few hours. As is customary, though, what happens behind the closed doors of a couple's bedroom during nighttime is no one's business but their own.