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Yuri knew something was off as soon as he opened his eyes. He was feeling way too warm under his covers. Which never happened. Yuri was more likely to be too cold than be too warm at any given moment. Even Potya who was peacefully sleeping curled next to his head emitted too much heat for him to handle.
Yuri sat up sluggishly in his bed. As soon as he moved, he noticed the headache that was pounding against his temples. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly for a few seconds. He couldn’t ignore it anymore he was definitely sick. Yuri sighed. This was going to be a long day.
He got out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake up his cat. He made his way to his wardrobe with slow steps. He could hear Yuuri and Victor speaking softly in the kitchen. He tried to focus on the thought of coffee and breakfast as he put his training clothes on. Yuri grabbed a hair tie and put his blond hair up in a ponytail with shaky hands. He just needed to drink and eat something, and he’ll feel better. Yuri pocketed his phone and made his way to the kitchen.
Yuuri and Victor were at the counter, each with a mug of coffee in hand. Yuri shuffled into the kitchen which earned him a raised eyebrow from Yuuri. The older skater said nothing but kept his eyes on him as the teenager poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, Yuri!” Victor exclaimed with a wide grin. He hadn’t noticed anything wrong with the blond.
Yuri hoped no one had noticed the way he winced at Victor’s word. Usually, Victor's loud greetings were annoying first thing in the morning, but they didn’t hurt. But of course, Katsudon had noticed. It was like he had a sixth sense when it came to Yuri.
“Is everything ok?” Yuuri asked him softly.
Yuri nodded. “I just have a bit of a headache. I’ll feel better soon.” He tried to shrug.
Yuuri was already out of his seat. He approached Yuri slowly and brought up his wrist to Yuri’s forehead. Yuri hissed at the touch. Yuuri’s skin was way too cold for his overheating skin.
“You’re burning up Yuri. You should be in bed.” Yuuri told him as he retracted his hand.
Yuri shook his head. “I can’t afford to stay in bed. The next qualifiers are coming up and I need to be ready.”
“We talked about taking better care of yourself.” Yuuri insisted. He looked over his shoulder at Victor.
If Yuri had enough energy, he would roll his eyes. Victor was whipped. He would agree with everything Yuuri was saying.
“Yuuri has a point. You wouldn’t be productive anyway.” Victor said keeping his voice down.
“Whatever. You can’t stop me from going.” Yuri argued.
“Oh, I’m staying here with you.” Yuuri said.
“What?” Yuri asked looking up at Yuuri in disbelief. “I can’t let you do that!” He exclaimed.
It was bad enough that he was sick and would probably waste a whole day of training. He didn’t want Yuuri to get behind himself because of him.
“Stop that, Yuri.” Yuuri said softly as he put his hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “It’s not because of you and it’s not your fault. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway today. I’m confident enough in my programs to take a day off.”
“Ok.” Yuri whispered. He still didn’t like it, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.
“I’ll tell Yakov what’s going on.” Victor added.
Yuuri nodded at his fiancé’s words. “Why don’t you go back to bed?” Yuuri suggested turning back to the teenager. “I’ll clean things up here and I’ll come to check on you after.”
Yuri hesitated for a second. His limbs did feel heavy. And just the thought of doing his routine from start to finish was exhausted. Yuri nodded and didn’t miss the relief in Katsudon’s eyes. He waved at Victor and turned around to go back to his bedroom.
Potya must have woken up while he had been in the kitchen because she wasn’t curled up on his pillow anymore. Yuri took off his training clothes and put some clean pyjamas on. He slipped under his covers and heard Yuuri and Victor tell each other goodbye. Then the door opened and closed. Victor was gone for the day. He heard Yuuri doing some things in the kitchen. Yuri closed his eyes. The slight light wasn’t helping his headache.
He opened his eyes a few moments later when he heard soft knocks. Yuuri was standing at the door. Yuri blinked slowly at him and realized he hadn’t closed his door earlier.
“I wasn’t sure if you were asleep.” Yuuri said with an apologetic smile.
“I wasn’t.” Yuri assured him.
He sat back up as Yuuri entered his bedroom. He handed him a glass of water and some painkillers. Yuri accepted everything, his hands still shaking a little. When he was done, he gave back the painkillers bottle and the empty glass. Yuuri smiled at told him he would be back soon. Yuri shrugged. It wasn’t going anywhere. The glass of water did seem to help. He just hoped the painkillers would kick in soon. His head was throbbing.
True to his words, Yuuri came back a few minutes later. This time he had a fuming mug in his hand. Yuri raised an eyebrow. He hoped Katsudon would understand his question. Talking demanded a lot of energy.
“This is tea with honey. It should help.” Yuuri explained as he stepped closer to the bed.
Yuri extended his arms to accept the mug. He brought it back carefully closer to him. The warmth he could feel coming from the mug was appreciated even if his body was still too warm.
“So, hum… I should let you rest.” Yuuri said after a moment of silence.
Yuri looked up at him in alarm. “No!” He said his voice breaking in his hurry.
“No?” Yuuri asked him with a confused look.
“Can you…can you stay?” Yuri asked in a whisper. “It’s just… if I’m alone I’ll start overthinking things. I hate being sick.” Yuri added quickly.
Yuri cradled his mug closer to his chest as he waited for Yuuri’s answer. He felt stupid. He was 16 he should be able to deal with a cold alone.
“Of course, I can stay. You don’t even have to ask.” Yuuri assured him. “Where do you want me?”
Yuri thought about it for a second then looked down at the empty spot next to him. Then he looked back up at Yuuri. Katsudon was already smiling at him.
“No problem.” He said before sitting next to Yuri in the bed. He stayed over the covers which were probably for the best. Yuri was burning up and didn’t even want to how warm it was under the covers. “Relax, Yuri. Drink your tea.” Yuuri encouraged him.
Yuri nodded and blew on his tea before taking a careful sip. He wasn’t sure what was in it besides honey, but it was good. Yuuri brought his hand up slowly so Yuri could see his movements. Slowly he untied his ponytail and brushed his hair away from his face with slow fingers. The teenager leaned into the touch when Yuuri was about to take his hand back. He hoped it would be enough to keep Katsudon running his fingers through his hair. He saw the older skater’s eyes lit up in understanding and he started petting Yuri’s hair slowly. Yuri hid a smile in his mug. This felt good. They stayed silent until Yuri was done with his tea. Yuuri took the empty mug and put it on the bedside table. The black-haired man never took his hand away from Yuri’s hair.
Yuri’s eyes grew heavy, and they were itching with exhaustion. He fought it as long as he could. He knew sleep would help, but he didn’t want Katsudon to leave as soon as he was asleep.
“Come on, sleep Yuri.” Katsudon whispered. He gently brought Yuri closer until the blond was leaning with his head on his shoulder. “I’ll still be there when you wake up.” Yuuri assured him.
Yuri wanted to say something. Maybe thank him. But as soon as his head was comfortable against Yuuri’s shoulder he was out. He could still feel Katsudon playing with his hair and maybe a small smile stretched his lips. He still felt like shit and he knew he wasn’t done with this cold just yet, but with Yuuri caring and being there for him Yuri thought that maybe getting sick wasn’t so scary anymore.