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In hindsight, Ky should have realized he was feeling worse than he had initially believed the moment he was unable to notice Sol’s heavy footsteps outside his tent.
With one hand pressing a handkerchief to his nose and the other slowly, but meticulously, writing out one of many reports, Ky kept his attention focused on the document before him. Only when Sol spoke did he notice the other’s presence.
“Word’s going around you’re sick as a dog,” Sol said.
Ky rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t put it so crudely, but yes,” he muttered.
A shadow loomed over his report, prompting Ky to look up and come directly face to face with Sol. “Do you need something?” he said, willing himself to not go cross-eyed.
“You should rest.”
“I have to complete these.”
“You won’t be any use to us if you stay sick.”
Ky frowned and stood, pulling his handkerchief away to speak more clearly. “Sol, you—” he paused upon seeing the clear thread of snot hanging from one nostril to the handkerchief.
Sol raised an eyebrow.
“Just… just let me finish this, okay?” Ky said while wiping furiously at his nose.
“Yeah,” Sol nodded and leaned against a tent pole.
Ky stared at him when he didn’t move. In all the time Sol had been with the Holy Order, he had never waited for Ky’s command to leave. Sol tilted his head forward as if to prompt Ky to continue with his work.
“You’re dismissed,” Ky said.
“Nope, I’m not leaving until you’re done.”
“That’s—”
“Orders from up top,” Sol grinned.
Ky sighed, sat back down, and resumed his writing.
It was still bright out when Ky finished the report. He glanced at Sol, who had nodded off rather quickly. With as steady of a hand he could muster, Ky slid the topmost document off the stack of paperwork.
“Thought we agreed on the one.”
Ky froze, and silently cursed himself for feeling guilty. He set the document down and straightened. “Though I appreciate your concern, I’m not so ill to need rest this early,” he said and positioned his pen over the subject line.
“I didn’t join this little club to be a goddamn babysitter,” Sol growled.
Ky’s reprimand caught in his throat as Sol stalked towards him. He raised an arm weakly, feeling dizziness set in when Sol pushed at his chair. A headache pounded into his head as the scraping sound against the ground pierced his ears. That distraction caused him to squeeze his eyes shut, giving Sol the advantage he needed to swoop down and throw Ky over his shoulder.
The world spun too quickly for Ky to register exactly what had just happened. He pressed his fingers against the sides of his head to quell his headache. Once he noticed the exterior of his tent appeared further and further away with each second and the curious looks of an increasing number of his men, he nudged Sol’s back. “Sol, put me down,” he said.
“Settle down,” Sol grunted.
“This is an order. Put me down now.”
“Like I said, I’ve got orders from up top. You’re superseded this time, boy.”
Ky made sure to aim the spray of his oncoming sneeze onto Sol’s hair. The satisfaction he felt dissipated quickly, and he yelped embarrassingly, when Sol slapped his bottom resoundingly.
Eventually, Sol set him down next to the nearest barrel of water inside the baths tent. “Alright.” Sol tugged at his uniform. “Take everything off.”
Ky, feeling more self-conscious for an inexplicable reason, took a step back. “Could you at least give me some privacy?” he asked.
“Do it yourself or I’ll do it for you.”
Ignoring the the heat rushing to his face, Ky unclasped his belts in record time. He shucked off his boots and shirt, but his hands danced around the waistband of his pants. He’d stripped before without a second thought around others to bathe, but then again, he’d never felt eyes boring into him as Sol’s currently were. Slowly, he turned so his back was to Sol, and climbed out of his pants. Thankful for Sol’s lack of comment, Ky neatly folded his clothes and set them on the table conveniently placed next to the barrel.
Despite his uncontrollable shivering, he grabbed the bucket under the table and moved to scoop water, but stopped when a large hand wrapped around his arm. The warmth emanating from the hand was so unexpected, so appealing, that in a brief moment of delirium, Ky considered falling back into Sol for a chance of that warmth to envelop him completely.
“Hang on.” Sol’s voice snapped Ky out of his thoughts. He let go of Ky’s arm, unaware of the warring emotions tumbling around Ky’s mind, and dipped his hand in the water. In a matter of seconds, steam wafted steadily upwards.
“Thank you,” Ky said quietly.
“Can’t have you getting worse under my watch,” Sol scoffed.
“Regardless…” Ky poured the hot water over his head and sighed deeply as the water flowed downwards, tension lifting from his shoulders. Forgetting his usual restraint, he plunged the entirety of both arms into the barrel. He hummed softly as he sank into the warmth, stopping only once he pulled his arms out to splash water onto his face.
“Hey, watch it!” Sol said and jumped back.
“Oh, sorry,” Ky said languidly. He dipped his arms back into the water but was pulled back by Sol. A large hand rubbed shampoo into his hair, kneading roughly. Ky shivered as the hand rubbed into the short hairs on the nape of his neck. “Cold?” Sol asked.
“Uh… yes,” Ky muttered, praying that the blush on his cheeks wouldn’t reach his ears. He bit his lip and attempted to distract himself by lathering soap across his shoulders and chest. Though he cleaned the rest of his body in short order, time seemed to move much too slowly with Sol paying him far more attention than necessary.
He had to admit, despite feeling tense with Sol minding him, he hadn’t felt this relaxed for as long as he could remember. He’d later blame that state of mind in conjunction with his cold for why he let Sol towel off his hair. “I’m sorry to inconvenience you like this,” he said.
Sol snorted and ran his fingers through Ky’s hair, detangling enough of the strands to make Ky somewhat presentable. “Kid, anyone out here would step into my shoes without a second thought.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“Yeah, yeah, doubt me all you want.”
Ky took the towel and dried off the rest of his body. While he insisted on pulling his pants back on by himself, he put up no protest when Sol helped him with his shirt and boots.
“Let me walk this time,” Ky said as they exited the tent.
“If you fall over, don’t blame me.” Sol shrugged.
All things considered, Ky didn’t think he was walking that slowly. He was perfectly capable of walking back to his tent alone, but Sol was intent on staying with him. After a few minutes of constant grumbling, it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise when Sol swept him up into a bridal carry.
Ky covered his face with his hands. Sol seemed to be relishing in the entire affair, barking out laughter or answering back when others wolf-whistled and jeered at them.
“Wasn’t your intent to head back faster?” Ky hissed.
He suppressed a yelp when Sol suddenly readjusted his grip and dropped the arm supporting Ky’s upper back down to his lower back. Ky instinctively looped his arms around the other’s neck, heart hammering. “If you drop me, I’ll have you cleaning the latrines for months,” he said.
“Relax, I’m just following your orders, sir,” Sol said and tightened his grip. Recognizing the warning he was given, Ky gripped Sol’s back with all the strength he could muster and buried his face into the crook of Sol’s neck. Even knowing there was no risk of falling, his heart continued to beat much faster than normal. Thankfully, Sol either didn’t notice or chose to make no comment, though the former was unlikely, and jogged steadily back to Ky’s tent.
As if their arrival had been anticipated, a soldier with a tray of bread and a steaming bowl of soup entered the tent soon after the two. In a daze, Ky mumbled a quick thanks. Blinking slowly and staring intently at the food, he barely registered Sol waving the soldier away.
“Something wrong?” Sol asked.
“I half expected you to insist on feeding me given how you’ve been acting,” Ky retorted.
He realized his mistake once Sol pulled the spare chair over to the side of his desk.
“Wait—” he shot out his hand to no avail; Sol grabbed the spoon and twirled it between his fingers. A large smirk stretched across his face as he scooped a spoonful of soup and held it out to Ky. “Eat,” he said.
“It was a joke,” Ky said, glaring.
“Then humor me.”
“Sol, give me the spoon.”
“That’s what I’m doing.”
Ky sighed heavily, and then clamped his mouth around the offered food.
“Now, was that so—”
The rest of the sentence was lost in a loud grunt as Ky crashed into Sol. He had intended to merely snatch the spoon out of Sol’s hand, but the latter had anticipated this attempt and had jerked back. In a split-second decision, which admittedly was not his best one, Ky had lurched forward further with a single-minded determination.
They landed in a tangled heap on the ground, Sol somehow keeping the offending utensil from falling from his hand. Ky scrambled up and managed to twist the spoon from Sol’s grip. He smiled triumphantly before noticing he was essentially straddling Sol’s waist. The look Sol was giving him was one he couldn’t interpret.
Ky carefully peeled himself away so that he was kneeling beside Sol instead. “I… excuse me,” he cleared his throat as Sol propped himself up with his elbows, that indecipherable expression still present, “that was unbecoming of me.”
He shifted uncomfortably as Sol’s silence continued. “I’ll be returning to my meal. You’re dismissed,” he said softly but firmly, and took his seat. He concentrated on eating, refusing to look when Sol stood up and set the fallen chair back to its usual spot.
“Whatever,” Sol muttered, then in a louder, annoyed tone, “go to sleep right after. Undersn’s orders. You have any complaints, go whine to him.”
“Dismissed, Sol.”
Sol grumbled on his way out, but nonetheless left Ky alone.
It wasn’t exactly clever of him, but Ky figured if he still had food he appeared to be actively consuming, then he technically wasn’t going against orders. He grabbed the report he had been forced to abandon earlier and started writing.
By the time he started chewing on the last of his bread, he’d worked through a moderate amount of paperwork. He stood up to stretch, and then promptly fell over.
The pounding in his ears muffled the stomping approaching his tent. He could only look up lamely when the tent flapped open to reveal a frowning Sol.
“Knew you wouldn’t get in the damn bed,” he said.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was still eating.”
“Doesn’t take two hours and then some to finish your food.”
Ky scowled. “Do you need something?” he said stubbornly.
“Yeah, actually. I need you,” Sol said, striding over, “to rest.” He picked Ky up and tossed him into the nearby bed. Before he could even protest, Sol rolled him into the blankets available.
“Perks of being a higher rank huh? What do I need to kill to get a bed like yours?” Sol said as he climbed in behind Ky.
“Sol, what are you doing?”
“Making sure you don’t run off. You overexerted yourself, idiot.”
Ky stilled when arms wrapped around him and pulled him into radiating heat. “You’ll catch my cold,” he whispered.
Sol shifted into a more comfortable position, nose skimming the back of Ky’s neck in the process. The puffs of air when he answered sent a shiver down Ky’s back. “I won’t. Sleep.”
While exasperated from the current turn of events, Ky acquiesced and let his eyes flutter close. He wasn’t quite sure what Commander Undersn did or said to convince Sol to be his personal caretaker for the day, but truthfully, he didn’t entirely dislike it. Eventually, Sol’s slow, heavy breathing lulled him to sleep.