Chapter Text
There's something nice and cool going all over his back, and there's this really comfortable warmth and nice smell in front of him...
"Sykkuno?"
He opens his eyes slightly and sees a blurry figure in black, the sound of his name is muffled. He feels like his body is floating within a vast expanse of water...
"Sykkuno can you stay awake for me?"
There's that nice voice again, he can’t see right, he wants to rub his eyes and clear his vision— ah, no good, his arms are too heavy...
"Sykkuno—
Let's just sleep instead, it's easier.
—
Corpse frowns before further hiking the sick man's shirt up, running a damp cloth across Sykkuno's rib cage. He delicately leans the older against the cold walls of the bathroom and works on rolling up Sykkuno's pant legs.
He rinses the cloth out and wrings it, continuing to wipe down Sykkuno's calves. It would have been better for Corpse if Sykkuno were awake but with a fever of that temperature, he can't blame the brain for shutting off the older's conscious. The pant legs are rolled back down.
Corpse flips the cloth to the other side and gently wipes Sykkuno's face, cleaning off the sweat that's built up, before sliding a hand over his forehead. His fingers brush against soft hair as he checks whether it was still as hot as it was when Sykkuno first fainted. He'd need to pull out the ear thermometer from whatever depths it's in to accurately check this, for now though, he settles for a rough gauge.
He hooks an arm underneath Sykkuno's knees and folds the older forward to brace a hand at his back to pick him up in a princess carry. Of course by doing this, his joints protested greatly but he did it anyway and carried Sykkuno back to the bed.
He's careful not to jostle the man awake and lays Sykkuno's body down gently, pulling the blanket over in an effort to let him not get cold from the amount of sweat his body was generating. Sometimes sweating it out is the way you have to do it, even if there technically isn’t any proof it helps.
Jogging lightly back to the bathroom, Corpse quickly washes the cloth clean and soaks it with cold water before twisting it slightly to leave it moist.
Corpse sighs as he places the cloth across Sykkuno's forehead, he hopes the streamer gets well soon.
———
Sykkuno feels his tears slip from the outer corners of his eyes and leave a cold line of water on his temples as he wakes with a pained groan, turning his head and causing the cloth in his forehead to drop onto the pillow. The piercing pain at the back of his head made him promptly regret the decision to even move and shifting back made it even worse as it jostles his head.
He had a splitting headache and his ears were ringing, opening his eyes made them sting and water like mad and in general everything just felt like shit. His nose was stuffed and his mouth was dry from sleeping with his mouth open to breathe. Fun fact, his tongue was numb too since it dried out from open-mouthed breathing.
The sound of his room door being opened pulled Sykkuno out from internally cataloguing his suffering, he couldn’t see who it was as his eyes were still closed since the stinging was really bad, but there's only one person who would in the house currently.
He hears water sloshing slightly as footsteps came closer to him, a sigh before a thump from something being placed on his bedside table. The cloth Sykkuno previously displaced from his forehead is taken from his left, the edges of it brushing against his cheeks.
He assumes it’s rinsed using the water he heard earlier since the sound of water splashing came, a few micro droplets reaching his face. The cloth is then returned to his forehead and he feels the blanket shift, his arm being pulled out from underneath and exposed to the air.
A different cloth makes its way to his forearm and starts wiping up and down gently, a warm hand holding his arm while the other continued with the reciprocating motion. The action is repeated on both arms and his calves, soothing enough that Sykkuno could feel himself almost drift into dreamland.
What startles him is when the cloth is rinsed again and it makes its way to his neck, the coolness of the cloth making him flinch. It most definitely didn’t escape Corpse's eyes as the next thing Sykkuno knows a the low voice asking if he was awake.
Moving his arm was tiring since he doesn’t have the energy to spend, so his hand shakes a little as he gives a little wave. "How are you feeling?" Corpse asks, fingers gently carding through his hair.
Sykkuno makes a rough sound, his voice catching in his throat and causing him to cough. The motion makes his head hurt a lot, but he needed to cough so he disregarded it for now. Corpse immediately helps him to try sitting up, the hand braced at his back a warm comfort. "I’ll get some water," the younger says softly, and his hand retreats with him, leaving Sykkuno a little upset at the loss of warmth.
He wasn’t really upset for long since Corpse returns soon after with a cup half-filled so that it didn’t spill easily. His hands tremble as they grasp around the glass, but he doesn’t worry, it won’t drop since Corpse is holding onto it.
The brunette takes small sips, swirling the liquid around his mouth to moisten it and his vocals. While at it, he also tries to open his eyes, blinking rapidly as the stinging came, the buildup of water leaking down like tears which worried Corpse. "Sykkuno?"
Sykkuno raises one finger to acknowledge the younger's worry but doesn’t give any other indication of needing Corpse's help so the man steps back. The stinging subsides gradually, leaving his eyes extremely watery after when he could finally open them fully, the light from the open door looking like some sort of camera filter.
He tests his voice with soft hums and smiles, "thanks Corpse," he croaks nasally, his voice cracking slightly while getting used to it. "My throat's a little dry and I’m not crying, my eyes were just stinging a little."
It is also at times like this that Sykkuno thanks Corpse for having a deep soothing voice because his ears are ringing, remember that? He highly doubts that he could stand hearing someone else's voice at this moment in time without potentially losing his cool.
"How are you feeling?" Corpse asks again, worry evident in his voice.
"I’m having a really bad headache every time I so much as turn my head, and my nose is blocked, but other than that I think I’m feeling a lot better!" Sykkuno smiles, "thanks for taking care of me Corpse..."
The taller doesn’t respond but does shift a little awkwardly, "um, there's vegetable soup I made for your dinner if you’re feeling up to it. I can bring it to you," Corpse offers.
And because ComplicatedComplications is a cliché person, Sykkuno's stomach chooses that moment to grumble and growl in protest of its lack of food.
The older grimaces, "yes please."
———
Sykkuno's back to streaming within the next three days —after being taken care of by Corpse for two of those three days, the younger finally allowed him to work— still on medication for his still existing flu symptoms.
"Sorry for being on a sudden hiatus guys," Sykkuno says sheepishly, "I uhh— fell sick and got a fever...yeah." He rocks his body gently back and forth, "I’m not completely well yet but I figured I’m well enough to stream and y'know...there's a water bill to pay and all that."
There's a spam of 'get well soon' and variations of it that floods the chat, his viewers greatly worried for him. "Oh don’t worry! My roommate's been taking really really good care of me," he smiles while he nods to himself, "they cooked for me and all that, they even banned me from using my phone!" He laughs a little, "but they deemed me well enough to stream so here I am and— oops, oh yeah guys we're playing Among Us with Corpse today."
He joins the Discord call, Rae immediately saying hello to him. "Hi Rae, hey Corpse."
"Welcome back Sykkuno."
And somewhere in the back of Sykkuno's mind, he can’t actually quite believe that Corpse really took care of him for that amount of time. It felt like a fever dream.