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Shoyou was sick and he deserved it. Sure, maybe he didn’t deserve the high fever and the shivering and the sniffles, but he definitely deserved to be knocked down from his pedestal. For as long as they’ve been dating Shoyou had only gotten sick once before, it knocked him out for two days before he was back on his feet, bright as always. In Shoyou’s case, the phrase ‘idiots can’t catch colds’ was absolutely true.
Kei, on the other hand, got sick every year. Sometimes twice a year. Every time winter rolled around he inevitably ended up with the flu and by the time he recovered he was worrying about the spring cold he had a good chance of getting. If he thought that Shoyou had one evil bone in his entire body then he would be entirely sure that he was somehow cursing him so he got sick for the both of them. But Shoyou wasn’t like that.
Kei was a grumpy sick person. He was a grumpy not-sick person too but something about his immune system shutting down on him really turned up the crankiness. When he was sick he wanted to lay around in bed and didn’t want to eat or drink anything because it took too much energy. His mother, and then Shoyou, always told him that’s why he didn’t get better as quickly as he could, but there was something cathartic about complaining while sick. They learned when to indulge him and how to coerce him into at least taking some medicine.
But he wasn’t the one who was sick this time. Shoyou was. Shoyou was a terrible sick person because most of the time he couldn’t accept the fact that he was sick and his body wouldn’t do what he wanted it to do. Kei could only race into the bedroom after hearing a thump because Shoyou collapsed trying to do push ups so many times. He hated being still so being bed bound was his worst nightmare. For someone who always wanted to be moving forward, having a solid immune system was a blessing.
“Keiii,” Shoyou whined pathetically, “I’m bored. Can I at least sit outside.”
Kei pushed his glasses up his forehead so he could rub his eyes, all Shoyou did for the past few days was ask if he could do things he wasn’t physically capable of doing in his current state. This must be payback. “It’s still raining and that’s how you got sick in the first place.”
He frowned at the window. It was only drizzling lightly, he would hardly call that raining, “Can I--”
“--No.” Kei cut him off before he could ask for something stupid, “No you can’t go outside. No, I won’t do anything volleyball related with you. No, you can’t exercise. You can rest and get better.”
Shoyou smiled at him. He looked so small and tired, so unlike himself. Kei wanted him to get better quickly so his larger than life presence would return and invade every part of his life again. It was selfish of him, he knew, to want him to get better for his own gain, but Kei never told anyone he was a good person. So he would continue to be strict with him.
“I was going to ask for some food.”
Kei lowered his eyes at him, “I don’t believe that for a second. I’ll make you some soup.”
Shoyou gave him a sleepy smile, he still looked pale so some food would do him good. “Okay, I’ll stay here,” he flopped back down on their bed. It was absolutely covered in blankets and germs. Everything would need to be washed soon. “Love you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kei waved his hand dismissively as he left the room, “love you too.”
-
The soup didn’t take long to make. Shoyou had stocked up on quick microwavable soup that Kei hated, (Shoyou had stuck out his tongue and said that he didn’t have to eat it) and for once Kei was grateful for Shoyou’s terrible taste. He dumped the contents of the can into a bowl and warmed it up, making a face the whole time. He wished Shoyou was up and about to make fun of his utter distaste.
When the food was ready he placed it on a tray and carefully balanced it back to their room. The last thing he needed to do was drop a hot bowl of soup onto his sick boyfriend. Kei pushed the door open with his foot and Shoyou barely lifted his head to see what was happening.
“Oh…” he said blearily, “Food time already?”
Kei held back a small smile, “If you’re not up to it I can save it for later.”
“No,” he pushed himself into a sitting position with shaky arms, “No, I want it now.”
“I’m not feeding you.”
Shoyou chuckled but it sounded like it hurt, “You can go to work if you want. I’ll be fine here by myself. I have food and I won’t do anything stupid.”
Kei tsked at him, “I already called and said I wasn’t coming in, they can get by without me for a little bit. You, on the other hand, I’m not so convinced.”
While Shoyou was eating, slowly and not with his normal gusto, Kei reached over and brushed his sweaty bangs away from his forehead. Even in that brief touch he could feel how hot Shoyou still was. Without thinking about it he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Shoyou’s forehead to better gauge his temperature, just like his mother used to do to him.
Shoyou looked up at him with confused eyes.
“You’re still hot,” Kei blushed and looked away.
“Thanks. It’s good to know you’re still attracted to me when I’m a mess,” Shoyou teased, almost sounding like his normal self but with a definitely exhausted edge.
Kei shoved his shoulder lightly, barely putting any force behind it because he was worried Shoyou would actually topple over, “You’re always a mess.”
“Hmm,” Shoyou hummed, his energy sapped from sitting up and the few bites he had eaten, “then you always like me.”
“Yeah,” Kei admitted, “But don’t tell anyone.”