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Ow. Everything hurts. His bones ached and he couldn’t seem to be comfortable for any extent of time, finding the temperature to always flip from one extreme to the other. Regardless of the heat, he found himself buried in a blanket more often than not, occasionally sticking a leg or two out in hopes it’d cool him down without causing him to freeze.
He continued shifting about and getting mad at the lack of sleep for what felt like an eternity before looking to the door of his room. He had things he needed to do today. Besides, maybe the tasks could distract him from the general discomforts of being sick. He’d be out and gone before anyone would have the chance to stop him.
He heaved himself out of bed, nearly falling as he forced his legs to move. He managed to open the door before being stared down by an accusatory pair of eyes behind a pair of glasses. “Sir.”
“T.” Stitches replied, staring the shark down.
T. Bur sighed, shaking his head before pushing his glasses up a bit, holding up a bowl of soup. “You’re supposed to be in bed.”
“I’ve been in bed all day.” Stitches frowned, holding back a cough in the back of his throat. He was fine. He stood there for a minute or two before it became clear that not only was T. Bur not going to move, but that he insisted Mr. Stitches eat something. Of course.
He stole the bowl away, trying to make his movements as upbeat as possible as he stuffed a spoonful of the soup into his mouth. He ignored the immediate burning sensation along with T. Bur's shocked expression. “MHmMmM. Good.” He choked out, his throat aching more than it was a moment ago. He tried to push past the shark, but it was of no use with how weak he felt and how easily he was pushed back.
“Come on.” T. Bur rolled his eyes, guiding Stitches back to his bed, changing his path to a bean bag chair when it became clear Stitches wanted to do anything other than lay in bed again. Stitches flopped into the chair, giving quiet protests as T. Bur draped a blanket over him, carefully guiding the soup to a safe place before letting it settle in his boss's lap. T. sighed, letting himself settle down on a couple of nearby pillows, finding them to be comfortable enough.
“.... What are you doing?” Stitches asked while blowing on his soup this time, not keen on repeating his earlier mistake.
“Getting comfortable. What’s it look like?”
“You’ve got work to do.” His voice tensed, fighting back another cough.
“And leave you to try and escape again? Nice try.”
Stitches huffed, rolling his eyes as he sipped at the soup, judging it to be a fine temperature now. It was actually pretty soothing when it wasn’t boiling. “I hate you.” He mumbled, eyes feeling a bit heavy now.
“I love you too, sir.” T. responded, curling up closer to Stitches, a small smile finding its way onto his face when he felt Stitches’s hand clumsily locating his head, laying there once he found it. Part of him wanted to curl up in the chair with Stitches, but he’d never hear the end of it if he got sick because he tried to cuddle with him.
So, at least for the time being, he could just stay here and offer his silent support. It wasn’t too hard, considering the lengths Stitches had gone to to make sure his room was full of pillows and blankets and a generally comfortable atmosphere. It was easy to doze off, and it wasn’t long before he could hear quiet snores and murmurs from Mr. Stitches.
T. Bur willed himself to stay awake enough to get the soup from Stitches’s lap, placing it on a drawer. He glanced over at the sound of the door sliding open, Alexo poking their head in, Ellie tucked into their hood. “Hey.” He greeted, earning a wave from the child. They pointed at Stitches, somehow managing to convey concern despite their mask. “He’s alright, just needs to rest.” They nodded, awkwardly standing there for a while before pointing into the room, asking if they could come in. Really, T. Bur should turn them away, but it’s hard to, especially when he himself isn’t very willing to leave.
T. gives a sigh and nods. Dumb idea or not, it’s adorable to watch MK peer over the bean bag, observing Stitches before taking a pillow and getting comfortable. Of course they had no plans to leave. Ellie didn’t seem to mind, making inaudible comments to the kid. They laughed a couple of times before T. Bur let himself relax again, getting comfortable. Alexo took that as a clear opportunity, taking several pillows and stacking them up against T’s torso, cuddling into it. They grabbed Stitches’s hand, and held onto it like it was a plushie. Like they knew it didn’t pose a threat despite knowing how strong Stitches was.
Stitches might disagree with T. Bur for letting them in, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. This was his family, and it was comforting to have them all in one place, caring for one another.
It wasn't long before the family had fallen asleep in each other's arms, the only sound in the room was the distant chatter of residents outside the room and their quiet murmuring snores.