Work Text:
“It’s just a cold!”
It was not the first time in the last hour that Jim had used those words. This time, they were called, plaintively, through the open bedroom door in the direction of the living room, where he could see Spock sitting upright on the sofa, grading papers.
Spock raised one eyebrow, and refused to smile. A symbolic gesture, since Jim was already returning the feeling of affection his pleas had evoked in his husband.
“Leonard wishes you to remain in bed today,” came the reply from the sofa, as Spock picked up another essay. “As do I, ashayam. You are not well.”
A disgruntled huff was followed by the sound of Jim swaddling himself more tightly in the blankets currently heaped on their bed. “’m fine,” he mumbled. The effect was spoilt somewhat by the muffling of the blankets.
Jim was not fine. Spock had woken first, as usual, and had been alarmed to notice the heat radiating from the body in the middle of the bed. Closer inspection revealed snuffled breaths, and a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Spock had slipped out of bed and woken Leonard, who was already stirring in response to Spock’s sharp spike of alarm. A lifetime of doctoring will do that to you. It had not taken much to establish that Jim was not seriously ill – Spock relaxed at that, just a little – but neither was he well. Leonard prescribed a day of bedrest.
The doctor wanted to stay, too. “He’s not as young as he was,” he’d whispered to Spock, the two leaning against each other at the kitchen counter as their tea brewed. “I should be with him.”
“Your trials,” Spock had reminded his husband gently. “I will remain with Jim. I will contact you the moment I am concerned.”
Leonard looked up at Spock. His shoulders sagged in concession. “You’re right,” he sighed. “All right. I’ll go. But the moment you need me—”
“I will call you.” Spock pressed a long, gentle kiss to Leonard’s forehead, and turned to pour their morning tea.
><><><
“Spock!”
Spock looked to the bedroom. He had managed to read three sentences without interruption, this time. It was almost a record.
“Jim. Do you require anything?”
He would know if something was seriously wrong. But the bond was at ease – more or less. He could feel Leonard’s worry, and desire to return to them. He could feel Jim’s reluctance to stay in bed when there were one thousand and one other, more appealing things he could imagine doing with his time. Nothing that concerned him unduly. Spock shifted on the sofa, turning his attention to Jim.
“Spock, you have classes! Maybe you’re sick, you don’t… forget things.”
Jim waved a solitary hand expansively outside of the mound of blankets to emphasise his point.
“I am grading,” Spock replied. “I have informed my classes that I am needed elsewhere. They were highly understanding.” In fact, Spock had observed that whenever he mentioned his husbands, even in passing, at least half of the class seemed to melt. He had only needed to explain that his t’hy’la was not well, and he had been flooded with well-wishes for the three of them.
Jim mumbled something indecipherable, and went back to sleep.
><><><
The computer chimed at precisely 1pm. Leonard’s lunch break. Spock moved to the monitor and accepted the call. The corners of his eyes softened into a smile. “He is resting,” he promised, before the doctor could speak. Leonard relaxed and nodded. “He’s okay?”
Spock nodded. “He is not enjoying your prescription, but he has thus far complied with it. He is presently asleep.” There was a note of relief in Spock’s voice that made Leonard grin. Spock counted the smile as a victory.
“Still wish I’d stayed,” Leonard said. Of course he did. Whenever either of his favourite idiots got sick, he fussed over them for days.
“I know, ashal-veh. You will be home soon, and we will be here. Perhaps you could read with Jim, for a while. He has been restless today.”
Leonard did smile at that. They’d discovered early in their marriage that Jim loved to be read to. He liked to lie back and close his eyes, and let the story wash over him, filling his imagination. They’d spent hours that way – on the porch outside Leonard’s family home in Georgia, in the cool shade of Spock’s family home in ShiKahr, and most often, in the comfort of their own apartment in San Francisco. Spock liked to listen too, though he less readily admitted it. He would let Jim settle against his chest and hold him as they listened, fingers carding through greying hair. Leonard had a wonderful storytelling voice.
“Yeah, I can do that.” The spark in Leonard’s eyes said that he knew Spock wasn’t only asking for Jim’s sake. “What were we in the mood for today?”
“There is a copy of Pride and Prejudice at the bedside.”
Spock’s improbable favourite. Leonard wondered, yet again, whether it was possible to contain so much affection that one might actually burst.
“Pride and Prejudice it is,” he nodded. Leonard glanced at the time. He shook his head. “I… should be going.” Reluctance seemed to radiate from him, even through the screen. Spock touched two fingers to the display and offered a warm smile.
“It is only for a short time, k’diwa,” he replied. “You will be with us soon.”
They exchanged further soft, murmured affections until time pushed them to disconnect the call.
><><><
Jim stumbled out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes blearily. His hair stood up at angles and his pyjamas sat askew over his shoulders. Spock thought it was probably one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen.
He had had that same thought several times a day for decades.
Jim set himself down at the table, and eyed his husbands’ dishes with no small measure of interest. “Is that soup?”
In place of a reply, Leonard raised his medical tricorder and scanned him. He looked satisfied with the readings, tilting the display so that Spock could also read it. They exchanged a small, satisfied look, and Spock rose to fill a third bowl for their husband.
“Feeling better?” Leonard rose from his own seat to stand behind Jim, arms wrapped around his shoulders and lips pressed to his temple. “You had us worried sick. Both of us,” he added, at Spock’s half-turn to object that he had been logically concerned in proportion with the situation and its context. “You gotta take care of yourself, darlin’.”
Jim made a repentant expression and tilted his head back to return the kiss properly. “Mm, I do? I don’t know, Bones. I have two amazing husbands to do that for me.”
Leonard kissed him back. Spock shook his head. Everything was once again as it should be.