Work Text:
He knew it. He knew he would get sick.
Two days after Langa’s apology and big confession in the rain, Reki got a cold. Fucking great. The universe is a cruel cruel place and Reki is almost positive that if there is a God, She's got it out for him.
“This is all your fault you know,” Reki spoke into his empty room, the only other occupant in his entire house was his phone next to him with Langa on the line. “I can't breathe out of my dumb nose because you decided to tell me you love me during the middle of a storm.” He complained, his nose stuffed with two wads of toilet paper to catch the constant stream of snot leaking out of it.
“It wasn't even storming, you're just being dramatic.” Langa laughed, breathing heavily into the phone. Reki heard some shuffling and slight talking through the other end as Langa called him from work. Oka would probably kill him if he found out he was on the phone during his shift. Reki would pay good money to see that happen, that's what Langa gets for getting him sick.
“Am not!” Reki argued, playing with the piece of wood Langa had gifted to him a few nights prior, he couldn't believe he once called the item with such value to him now, trash. “You didn't even let me go inside and change my socks, my wet socks! You know my heat source comes from my feet, that's just plain cruel.” He teased, sitting up slowly in his bed. His head throbbed with one of the worst headaches he’d had in a while. New objective for the day: find medicine.
“Mm,” Langa hummed back, obviously distracted by the work in front of him. “You didn't have to stay, you know. Could have gone inside and changed those little socks of yours.”
Reki laughed weakly, a cough finding its way out as he did. After a coughing spell that lasted all of 20 seconds, he continued. “Hey, who are you calling little?” He defended, “I’m like, an inch shorter than you.”
“I could still be growing,” Langa argued, forcing another laugh to slip from Reki’s mouth.
“You wish, pretty boy,” Reki replied, slowly dragging himself out of bed. His head pounded as he stood up, the world around him going into tunnel vision. Reki grabbed a hold of his desk chair to stable himself as he waited for his vision to uncloud. Being sick is the fucking worst.
“Hmm.” Langa hummed in response. Reki could almost hear him blush if that was possible. “You think I’m pretty, eh?” He asked, a bell rang on the other side of the phone, accompanied by Oka’s voice booming through the store.
“Almost as pretty as my boyfriend,” Reki teased, tucking his phone under his ear and slowly making his way into the hallway. The word ‘boyfriend’ danced around in the air as it escaped Reki’s mouth. “Prettiest boy I ever did see.” He gushed, the thought of Langa’s most likely red face crowded his thoughts.
“Not as pretty as mine,” Langa replied quickly.
Blood flushed Reki’s cheeks as he pressed the phone between his ear and his shoulder, a smile stretching across his face. “Oh yeah? I’ve heard of him. Isn't he super cool and talented and super hot?” He joked back, finally making it into the kitchen, out of breath.
Fuck being sick.
“The hottest,” Langa replied. Reki couldn't tell if he was dizzy from his boyfriend's comment or the headrush from walking down the hallway.
“Alright, that's enough.” Rang another voice from the phone. There was shuffling then the voice grew louder. “If you're gonna flirt on company time at least come in and work.” Oka, their manager, complained, seemingly having taken the phone from Langa.
“Well hello to you too, grumpy.” Reki greeted, sitting down on the couch in his living room across from the kitchen. “Dude, I almost just passed out just now walking from my room to the kitchen, pretty sure I would die if I came in right now.”
“One could only hope.” Oka sighed, passing the phone back to Langa.
“I gotta go,” Langa spoke again, his soft voice like music to Reki’s already ringing ears.
“Okay,” Reki replied, neither of them making an effort to hang up. After a small but comfortable silence, he spoke up again. “I miss you.”
There was a soft puff of air blown through the speakers, then a reply. “I miss you more.” Langa cooed.
“Stop by after work? Mom and the girls are out until later, some kind of dinner for Tsukih. I don't know I wasn't paying attention when she told me.” Reki responded, propping his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. “We can watch a movie or something.”
“She got an A on a big test and your mom’s taking her out to dinner as a reward,” Langa filled in the blanks laughing into the phone. “You should be glad I pay attention, you would be lost without me.”
“So lost,” He nodded, smiling into the phone. “See you later?”
Langa hummed softly, “You bet.”
“Okay.”
“I have to go,” Langa spoke softly, yet not making an effort to hang up the phone.
“Then, hang up.” He responded, a small smirk coming to his lips.
“Okay.” A small pause. “Bye, Reki.”
Reki hummed into the phone, a light igniting in his chest. Ever since that night, Reki’s chest was a fire that would never extinguish, as long as Langa was there with him.
“Bye, Langa.”
Another small silence. Then, the line disconnected.
Reki sighed happily and threw himself back on the couch cushions, laying his head against one of the throw pillows his mother had purchased years ago to make the living room look more presentable. Four kids later and the pillows had been torn apart at the seams, yet they had never seemed so homey.
––––
The rest of Reki’s day consisted of two things, stuffing his face with whatever was leftover from the fridge and watching Soap Operas on television. Daytime television is weird, none of these shows truly make sense to Reki but for some reason, he can't take his eyes off the screen. He finds himself tearing up when something emotional happens and genuinely laughing at the plot. Maybe he was just so sick and sleep-deprived he was losing his mind. That had to be it.
At 6 pm on the dime, the usual time they get out for work, Reki received a text from his boyfriend.
Langa 6:00 pm
Leaving Dope Sketch now! Want food?
Reki 6:01 pm
plzzzzzzzzzz
& tissues
& ur sweater
i wanna wear it
Langa 6:01 pm
I need it I can't be shirtless
Reki 6:02 pm
give me ur sweater when u get here or i'll never talk to u again
Langa 6:02 pm
Fine :P b there in 10
If Langa is anything, he's someone who’s always on time. It’s one of the many things Reki admires about him. Reki, on the other hand, has a horrible perception of time. Either time passes so fast and he doesn't remember anything he did in the hour, or time passes so painfully slow it feels like the world stopped turning.
In the 10 minutes it took for Langa to leave work, get food and travel back to Reki’s house, Reki is pretty sure he aged 15 years. They were the longest 10 minutes of his life.
Finally, after what felt like years, there was a knock at the door, quickly followed by a ping on Reki’s phone.
Langa 6:12 pm
Here (:
Slowly Reki sat up from his spot on the floor of his living room, not sure why he wasn't occupying the empty couch above him or how he ended up on the floor in the first place. Surely, Reki’s sick brain wasn't making much sense. He got an intense head rush as he sat up too fast. Deciding it would be too much work to stand up and open the door, he shot Langa a text.
Reki 6:12 pm
key under doormat
head spinning can't get up
Almost immediately he got a reply. His head buzzed knowing Langa was most likely sitting staring at their text conversation for Reki to reply.
Langa 6:12 pm
):
Reki stared at his phone screen, his chest warm with admiration. Everything Langa did made Reki lose his mind, whether it was intentional or not, he melted like pudding at the idea of him. His point was proven as the door unlocked, followed by the sound of Langa humming another unfamiliar tune under his breath. Reki couldn't help but smile.
“I come bearing gifts,” Langa called from the front door, slowly making his way through the hall. A rose blush immediately spread across Reki’s cheeks as he heard his smooth voice.
“In the living room,” Reki replied, his voice crackled and raspy from his cold. Langa had been to Reki’s house many times, to the point where he could navigate his way through it. He made his way into the living room, carrying two bags worth of food in one hand. His eyes landed dead on Reki as he entered the room.
“Why are you on the floor?” He asked, a small laugh escaping from his mouth as he placed the bags down on the kitchen table across from the living space.
“I don't know, Langa. I just ended up here and now I can't get up.” Reki replied, his voice nasally from his stuffy nose and raspy from his sore throat, he barely sounded like himself. “Can you help me up?” He asked quietly, looking over to the boy across the room.
Langa glowed as he smiled over at Reki and laughed again, slowly shaking his head as he walked over to the couch. “Poor baby,” He mocked, standing above Reki, extending his arm out for the boy to grab.
“Yeah, yeah.” Reki rolled his eyes, gripping onto Langa’s arm and pulling himself up. Quickly he shifted his weight and fell directly onto the couch, sighing in relief as he felt the soft cushions underneath him compared to the hard floor.
“Come here,” Langa spoke softly, sitting down on the spot next to Reki, who was spread out haphazardly laying on the couch. Reki whined and slowly scooted himself closer to Langa, eventually placing his head on Langa’s lap as a pillow.
Sure, he was sick, and sure he was in pain. But, was he playing it up just to get Langa’s attention? You bet your fucking ass.
“I know, I know.” Langa cooed, running his pale lanky fingers through Reki’s fiery red hair, sticking out in the most ridiculous and unnatural places. “I’m sorry you're sick, baby.” He spoke softly, the pet name slipping out of Langa’s mouth with ease.
Reki’s eyes shot open to look at the boy above him, a large smile plastered on his face. Langa on the other hand looked like he might be sick. Reki tried not to laugh. It was cute.
“Did you just call me ‘baby’?” Reki grinned, poking Langa’s side.
“Uh,” Langa mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, a dark red blush flushing his face, even collecting at the tip of his ears. Reki might die here and now. “I did.” He spoke again, finally making eye contact with Reki. “Is that alright?”
“Yes,” Reki responded almost instantly, seeming a little too excited about the new use of pet names. This time a deep blush flushed Reki’s face. “I mean– yeah, it's cool. I liked it, a lot.”
“Good,” Langa smiled, continuing his sweeping motions through Reki’s hair.
Reki hummed softly, taking Langa’s free hand and lacing his fingers between the others, gripping on tightly. All Reki ever wanted to do was hold onto Langa and never let go. Now that he had the status to always be latched onto Langa’s side, he planned to take advantage of it. Langa never really seemed to mind, just enjoyed Reki’s company. He looked up at the boy above him as he ran and soft hand through Reki’s hair. This right here was heaven.
“How was your day?” Langa asked quietly, twirling several strands of Reki’s hair around his pointer finger.
“Horrible,” Reki complained, using his free hand to trace over Langa’s fingers that were laced together with his own. “I’m fucking exhausted. My head has been pounding all day, I can’t breathe out of my nose and every time I walk even a few steps I almost pass out. Earlier when I was cooking lunch I almost passed out face-first into the burning stove.” He whined, tugging on Langa’s arm to bring him closer. “But, the cold is worth it, if it means I got you.” Reki smiled up at the boy now crouching over him, hand still in his hair.
“Baby,” Langa groaned, the remnants of the name tugging the corner of his lips into a small grin, “You shouldn't have cooked on the stove while you're this sick. Just use the microwave or something.” He laughed, moving his hand that was previously tangled in Reki’s hair to the side of his face. “I’m glad you think it's worth it, I feel horrible for getting you sick.”
Reki laughed softly, turning his head to cough into his shoulder. “Don't feel bad, I just like to tease you. I always get sick when I’m in the rain too long, I knew what I was getting myself into.” He explained, moving his free hand to the back of Langa’s head as he leaned over him. “I got a pretty cool boyfriend out of it, so I’m not complaining.”
“Mm,” Langa hummed, shifting his weight down so he could lean in closer to Reki. “You give and you take.”
“Mhm,” Reki mumbled back, leaning up closer to Langa’s face above him. The boy above him moved his hand from Reki’s face to the small of his back, holding him up slightly. Reki repositioned himself further up on the couch, face low level with Langa’s, getting easily lost in his deep blue eyes.
Langa kept his arm placed around Reki’s back, supporting his sick boyfriend in his arms. Reki lazily scooted himself further on the blue-haired boy’s lap, legs draped across the rest of the couch.
“Am I hurting you?” Reki asked quietly from his position on Langa’s lap. Langa just shook his head slowly, eyes still connected to Reki’s face. He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, looking at Reki’s with eyes so wide they might burst. Instead, Reki just got more lost in them swimming around in the large blue pool, diving so deep he might drown.
Reki’s head still pounded against his skull, but with Langa sitting below him, looking like that, he really couldn't care less.
“Can I kiss you?” Reki asked after a moment, snaking one hand to lay on Langa’s chest right over his heart, the other on the side of his face.
“Of course, you don't have to ask.” Langa laughed, pressing his lips to Reki’s hot cheek. The kiss sizzled in its spot, tickling Reki’s skin.
A smile stretched across Reki’s face, blush flooding his cheeks. He pushed his hand back off Langa’s cheek, tangling his fingers in the boy's hair.
“Don't wanna get you sick,” Reki responded softly, leaning in closer. He could feel Langa’s warm breath on his face.
“I don't care,” Langa mumbled, his eyes distracting his brain from working correctly. They flicked from Reki’s eyes to his lips over and over again. Reki’s chest tightened, his breath suddenly caught in his throat resulting in a gasp for air. “Besides growing up in the constant cold I got sick all the time as a kid, my immune system has built itself up over the years.”
“Yeah but, so much gross snot,” Reki continued as he caught his breath, seeming to self-sabotage himself in this situation. Langa didn't seem to care at all, instead, he just tightened his grip, pulling him closer as a result.
“Stop talking.” He chuckled, running his free hand over Reki’s warm cheek.
Reki nodded slowly, biting the inside of his bottom lip intensely as he stared back at blue eyes. Langa leaned in slowly, pressing a soft kiss to each corner of Reki's mouth. He pulled away slowly, running the pad of his thumb over his lips.
“I thought about doing this from the moment I met you, you know?” Langa spoke in the form of a question, whether it be rhetorical or not Reki just shook his head and let him continue, softly playing with the hair as the nape of his neck. “I wake up every day and feel lucky to have you, even more so now.”
Reki rolled his eyes playfully, leaning in to place a peck on Langa’s soft lips. “I feel lucky too.” He replied, smiling wide at the boy in front of him.
“Thank you for forgiving me.” Langa gushed, brushing Reki’s hair out of his face.
“I was always going to,” He admitted, “I just needed some time.” Langa smiled in response, pressing his lips against Reki’s jawline, holding him close. Reki hummed softly, loving the feeling. He tilted his head up, allowing more access. “Thank you for getting me sick.” Reki teased, trying to conceal the laugh from his own joke.
Langa laughed softly and pulled away from Reki’s jaw to shove him playfully, his hand still laid flushed against his back as support. Reki laughed louder, a cough following.
“You're never going to let me live this down are you?” Langa laughed, laying his forehead on Reki’s shoulder in embarrassment.
Another laugh erupted out of Reki’s belly as his boyfriend pouted on his shoulder. He threw his head back gleefully, which was a horrible idea considering the headache. His hand once on Langa’s chest finding a way to his chin, tilting his head up slowly to meet Reki’s gaze.
“No you are not,” He teased, their lips finally meeting each other again.
Kissing Langa is fun. A lot of fun. Kissing shouldn't be that fun, should it? It’s not even that the two of them do much with it either, they've only officially been together for two days, and most of that time they’d spent at school, another large chunk of that time Reki’d been sick. So, it wasn't like they had gotten all that much kissing in. The most they had kissed had been the night prior, just before Reki was starting to feel the full effects of his cold. But even then, kissing was kept to a minimum.
Langa, as Reki came to find out, is an amazing kisser. He knows just what to do and when to do it, it makes Reki wonder how many people he kissed back in Canada, not that it mattered but there had to be a reason for this skill. He swears that Reki was his first real kiss, that he had only kissed one other in kindergarten, and that it didn't count. Maybe, just like he was with skateboarding, he was just plain talented.
None of that mattered as Langa slowly moved his lips against Reki’s, dragging them along in a way that made Reki’s heart sing. Reki tried his best to keep up but found it best to let Langa take the lead.
The kiss didn't last long as Reki realized that his mouth, which was currently being preoccupied with another, was his only breathing method, no thanks to his stuffy nose. Hesitantly, he pressed his hands against Langa’s soft sweater, which Langa still owed him, gently breaking up the kiss.
Langa pulled away slowly, lips kiss swollen and red.
“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” Langa asked in a panic, his hands flying up to his face to hide his embarrassment.
Reki laughed loudly, grabbing Langa’s pale hands to tear them away from his beautiful face. He placed one more kiss on Langa’s lips. “No, babe, god no you were amazing.” He praised, placing another kiss on the boy's cheek. “I want to do that more, a lot more, just– I, uh– Can't really breathe through my nose, it's kinda hard to kiss like that.”
Langa’s tensed shoulders, Reki hadn't even noticed until now, fell with ease, a smile now cracking on his face. “Okay, good.” He sighed, his hand returning to its place on Reki’s back. “And, um, yes. Once you're not sick I want to do it more too.”
“Good, me too,” Reki spoke softly, running his hands up and down Langa’s sides, along the hem of his soft sweater. “I think you owe me this.” He teased, sliding his cold hands underneath the fabric. Langa jumped at the sudden, cold, contact.
His cheeks quickly turned the same shade of red his lips were, placing his hands on Reki’s waist. “I do.” He mumbled, his eyes growing more worrisome.
Immediately, Reki caught on that something was the matter. The boy sat up, his face at the same level as his boyfriends. “Hey,” He cooed, removing his hands from Langa’s torso to each side of his face. “What's wrong?”
“Do you, uh, have a shirt I can wear?” Langa asked shyly, his whole body glowing red as he blushed for probably the millionth time since he got here. Not that Reki was complaining, it complimented him. “I just–” He continued, getting flustered as he tried to think of the words to explain himself, not that he needed to. “–don't want to be cold.” He mumbled, his eyes looking anywhere but Reki’s face. He could tell Langa was lying, but didn't push.
“Yeah, you can wear mine. We’ll swap.” Reki answered, looking down at the graphic Tee draped over his torso. Langa just looked up and nodded, a small and insecure grin stretching across his face.
“How do you want to do this?” Langa asked shyly, acting like they were doing something scandalous. The insecure tone didn't fit him all too well, it raised concern in Reki’s brain.
“Uh,” Reki questioned, wiping under his nose with his bare arm. “I’ll take mine off, you take off yours. I’ll put yours on, you put on mine.” He joked, blowing a laugh through his nose. When Langa didn't laugh back, just stared blankly at his lips, Reki’s concern was raised. “Langa, what is going on?” He asked softly, furrowing his brow. “I’ve seen you shirtless before, dude.”
“I know,” Langa replied softly, shaking his head like he was trying to expel his thoughts. “But, it's different now.
“I guess.” Reki shrugged, “I’ll close my eyes while you change if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
Langa nodded softly, placing a soft kiss on Reki’s cheek.
Carefully, Reki lowered himself off Langa’s body and back onto the couch, still not able to stand up without all the blood in his body rushing to his head all at once. Langa stood up slowly, awkwardly standing next to the couch, eyes glued on Reki like he was waiting for something. He was, Reki realized, catching on after a few seconds he laughed and slipped his shirt over his head, tossing it over to Langa. Promptly after his hands flew over his eyes, a small smirk collected on his lips.
“Hurry up and change, your sweater looks soft and I’m cold as shit.” He scolded, his sick body shivering from his bare chest suddenly in contact with the cold air of his living room.
“Sorry, sorry.” Langa apologized, a small quiet pause lingered in the air before he shuffled to take his sweater off and slip Reki’s on. A wider smirk formed on his lips, the thought of Langa staring at his bare chest burned in the back of his mind. Suddenly, a heavy weight was placed on Reki’s chest, followed by Langa’s voice cutting through the air. “You can look now.”
Reki uncovered his eyes to see the tall boy, now wearing his graphic Tee with Tony Hawk plastered on it, some American skateboarder Reki was obsessed with when he was a kid. Somehow the shirt still fit Reki, but not Langa. As it turned out, the shirt was too small on his long torso, revealing part of his stomach right above his pant line.
A laugh escaped Reki’s mouth as he slid Langa’s sweater over his shoulders. “Oh my god, you look so good.” His eyes attached to the pale exposed skin.
“Reki,” Langa whined, trying his hardest to tug the shirt down, his whole being glowed red with embarrassment. “Can I please have a new one?” He asked, seeming to shrink in on himself.
“Why?” Reki complained, reaching out for Langa’s waist tugging him towards him on the couch. “It’s cute! Like a little crop top.” He laughed again, smiling brightly up at his boyfriend. “Please keep it on.” He begged, grabbing Langa’s hands that still tugged on the hem of the shirt. “For me?”
With a roll of his eyes and a small nod of the head, Langa kept the shirt on. He made sure to let Reki know it was simply because he was sick and nothing else.
Maybe being sick has some perks.
For the rest of the night, Langa did his best trying to comfort and care for Reki while his body seemed to be attacking him at every angle. He finally managed to shove a few pills into Reki’s hand, swearing it would help him feel better. Reki hated taking pills, but put on a brave face for Langa and swallowed them down with a glass of water.
His head still ached, (they ended up having to turn most of the lights off in the living room as they ate and watched TV, the brightness proving to be too much for Reki’s suddenly light-sensitive eyes), and his throat still burned every time he swallowed or spoke. But, just having Langa sitting next to him, their limbs tangled together in an almost inhuman way, Reki didn't care that he was the sickest he’d been in months. As long as he had Langa beside him, he couldn't complain.
A few hours, two movies, a filling meal, and one piggyback ride to his bedroom later, the two boys laid in Reki’s small bed, tangled into each other. Reki slung himself over Langa, legs and arms extending across his body, and head nuzzled right under Langa’s chin. Langa’s hands, of course, found their way into Reki's hair and every now and then he would lean down to press a kiss against the top of his head.
Reki had never felt so content.
“I’m insecure about my chest,” Langa spoke up suddenly, cutting into the quiet room, some American artist Langa had put on playing softly in the background. Reki recognized the tune from Langa’s incessant humming, so he immediately loved it even if he could barely understand the words, because Langa loved it.
Trying to not let sleep overtake him, Reki replied with a cough, warming up his sore throat to speak. He looked up at Langa confused, wondering why he would say that. “Wha’?” Was the only thing he managed to get out, his throat burning from the friction, a small whine followed.
Langa frowned and placed a small kiss on Reki’s head, brushing his hair out of his face. “It's okay, you don't have to talk.” Langa cooed, moving one of his hands from Reki’s hair to his arm, slowly running his fingers up and down the tanned skin. “I said, I’m insecure about my chest. That’s why I didn't want you to watch me change. That’s all.”
Reki looked up at Langa lazily, slowly shifting his weight not to strain his neck as he looked up. Langa’s eyes met Reki’s, a small smile formed on his lips.
“You don't have to explain yourself to me,” Reki croaked out, followed by a fit of coughing which only made his throat hurt worse. Colds are always worse later in the day, an unfortunate fact that Reki was currently relearning. “Fuck,” He cursed between coughs, trying to catch his breath.
Langa, being the amazing, beautiful, perfect person he is, patiently waited for Reki to stop coughing, rubbing a soft hand up and down his arm. “Shh,” He lulled, placing an attack force of small kisses all over Reki’s warm face. “No more talking.”
Once finally over his coughing fit, Reki looked up at Langa, shining bright above him in his darkroom. He nodded his head slowly, carefully nuzzling back under Langa’s chin.
Reki felt lucky, despite his cold gifted by Satan himself, he hadn't felt this good in what seemed like a really long time. Slowly, as the air hummed around them, and Langa’s playlist came to an end, the two boys drifted off to sleep, cocooned in each other’s arms.
Three long days later, Reki finally got over his cold, no thanks to Langa’s constant and somewhat annoying hovering, but Reki didn't seem to mind. He just liked to have him around.
Then, by some stroke of bad luck, (or maybe payback from getting Reki sick), Langa “I’m from Canada my immune system is strong!” Hasegawa came down with a cold.