Chapter Text
It happened when they were at Hockenheim for the German Karting Grand Prix, and Nico was not feeling exactly comfortable on that particular afternoon. It started with some tingles at the back of his head but was quickly brushed off by the young driver thinking it was only his new helmet. But the pain seemed to get worse, and eventually became so bad that he had to excuse himself from dinner to rest in the hotel room — the one he shared with Lewis.
When Lewis returned to their room, Nico was already in bed. There was hot steam coming out of the bathroom, and some towels stacked on a chair that was pushed to the side, indicating someone must’ve used the shower not very long ago. Lewis made his way to his bed, trying his best not to make any noise, wondering if Nico had already fallen asleep — despite following a rather strict sleeping schedule compared to other boys at this age, it was still too early for them to go to bed at this time of the night. However Nico was looking really sick earlier. Lewis had noticed the shaky breath that he was apparently trying to suppress when he was speaking with Sina. She pulled her fourteen years old son to the side, shielded him with her body from the people, stroked his face and hair softly whilst comforting him. They were speaking in such low volume, Lewis couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they were probably speaking in German, so Lewis wouldn’t be able to comprehend it anyway. About two minutes later, Sina took him upstairs, and that was the last time Lewis had seen Nico that night.
He climbed onto the bed, shoes off, moving slowly for not wanting to startle Nico. The younger boy was lying on his own bed, facing the other side of the room, cocooned himself in the blanket from head to toe. In his view, Lewis could merely see a few locks of blonde hair scattered on the pillow, being the only clue for him to guess it was Nico inside it.
Maybe it was the silence that Lewis hadn’t got used to, maybe it was the strange smell he sensed from the moment he walked into the room, made him start to feel a bit suffocated. Lewis was sure there was something in the air, but he couldn’t pinpoint its source. It smelt tangy, sticky, stuffy and sweet like someone shoved his face into a bowl filled with hot caramel to stop him from breathing. Despite trying his best to ignore it, the oddly very invasive scent still managed to get on Lewis’s nerves.
Eventually, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Lewis got off his bed, took a deep breath, and began to sniff around the room like a hound hunting for its prey. A few moments later, he came to realise the scent was actually from the steamy bathroom: it smelt extra-strong around the area, from behind the ajar bathroom door. Hence he walked toward the door, put his hand on the knob, and closed it with a click.
He was doing it with the very careful intention of being quiet, so he wouldn’t wake up Nico, who was supposedly still asleep. However, as soon as the door was closed, his ear had picked up a few sounds of someone tossing and turning on the bed. He took a few steps back immediately to check on the situation, and (to no one’s surprise) had found one drowsy looking half-sitting Nico Rosberg, head stuck out of a white pile of bedspreads, leaning against the headboard.
“Lewis? ” He muttered, body squirmed underneath the cover. “Is that you?”
“It’s me.” Lewis replied, actually sounded a bit guilty, mostly for thinking that he might have disrupted Nico from his rest, “Sorry to wake you up, I was trying to close this door, and —”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Nico sniffed softly, but his voice sounded so hoarse and raspy and uncommonly high-pitched at the end of each sentence. Lewis wouldn’t be able to recognise the voice of the younger driver if he was not sitting in front of him, “I wouldn’t call it a sleep anyway, feels more like a pass out.” He then sniffed again, letting out another whine whilst turning his head, looking for the clock that was on his stand — he must have knocked it off somewhere: “Lewis, what time is it now?”
“It’s about eight o’clock.”
“Uh.” Nico paused, then let out a hum, “So it hasn’t been that long.” He vaguely remembered that he went upstairs around seven-fifteen.
“Yeah, it’s only been about an hour. But are you feeling a bit better now? Have they got anyone to check on you?”
Nico shook his head: “I’m not sure. No, no doctor has been here, but I think it’s just a very nasty flu.” said he. Then he buried his head back into the cover to hide a cough: “Oh god, my head hurts.”
“Can I get you anything?” Lewis started to move away from the door, since the smell that bothered him so much seemed beginning to fade, “Ice cubes? Or something from downstairs, if you want.”
“Ah, yes, ice cubes, please. I think there are still some left in the fridge.” Nico pushed himself a bit higher against the headboard, eyes landed on the cream coloured appliance besides the TV stand, “I got myself some before I went to bed, but those have probably all melted by now. Yeah, there’s a poodle on the carpet.”
Lewis wasted no time, he walked straight to the fridge, opened it, grabbed the bucket from the top of the TV, and took a full shovel of ice with him to Nico’s bed. He then seized a clean sock from his suitcase, filled it with ice, tied a knot at the top, and handed it to Nico. The young Finnish-German driver murmured a thank you under his breath, put that self-made ice bag onto his forehead, then pulled up the blanket higher, just to cover himself up a little bit more. Lewis sat down on the side of his bed, body tilted so he could face him, one hand rested on his own knees, and the other hand on the headboard.
“Have you taken any pill?” he asked, whilst quietly observing Nico’s physical condition.
“Mum had given me some before I went upstairs, paracetamol. ” Nico mumbled, “But I had to take a shower because I was sweating so bad, then I took the pill, went to bed...yeah, that’s it.”
“Then you should be alright, and that probably also explains why you passed out, some pills do that, make you feel fatigued and sleepy.”
“Uh-huh.”Nico simply nodded to his comment, without continuing their conversation further.
Nico did look bad -- he looked flustered: his face was painfully red, both cheeks had turned into the shade of crimson, lips parted and trembled as he breathed. His eyes were cloudy, the translucent colour of blue had turned into muddy teal as if they were covered by a veil of mist. Although most of his body was rolled underneath that blanket, Lewis still could see that his friend’s torso was shaking violently. Nico had even curled himself into a ball, put his knees to his chest as close as he could manage, but somehow still not able to stop this involuntary quiver. All of this made Lewis frown in silence, chewing on his lips -- he hated to see his friend suffer like this.
“Do you need anything else?” He asked quietly, looking around the room, wishing to find something that could ease Nico’s pain, “I could go get you some water, do you want some?”
“Thank you, Lewis.” Nico tried his best not to sound breathless but failed, “Thanks, but, no, no water for me now.”
“Okay.” Lewis nodded, “I will be staying here with you anyway, so just tell me if you need anything.”
Nico writhed on his bed, squinting his eyes as he tried to locate Lewis’s face in his currently blurry sights, and stared at him blankly for a few solid seconds. The room fell silent, neither of them had said anything, until Nico suddenly blurted out his request in a muffled voice: “Actually — can you give me your hand, Lewis?”
“What?” Lewis sounded confused, he then looked down onto his knees, where he rested his left hand, “Wait..what? Do you mean ‘give you a hand’? You want me to help you?”
“No, no, I mean — just...just put your hand over there.”
Nico nodded to the empty space on his pillow, beckoned Lewis to place his hand upon there. Lewis, though looking perplexed, still put his hand down from the headboard and lay it near Nico’s head as he was instructed. Nico was burying half his face inside the feather pillow, and Lewis could hear all the muffled sniffing sounds he was making. Then he felt something had landed on his hand — it was soft, hot and a bit wet — it was Nico’s hair, and his forehead.
Nico felt hot — no, he was boiling. His face was as warm as a furnace and his hair was fully soaked. His forehead was slick, completely wetted by the sweat and some of the melted ice, hence Lewis suddenly understood why Nico was struggling to see anything —sweats always hurt his eyes. The temperature on Nico’s body felt so ridiculously high, it actually caused Lewis to start worrying — he didn’t think his friend’s judgement was right, this was definitely more than just a nasty cold.
“Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor?” asked Lewis, whilst still keeping his hand on Nico’s head “You're scorching, mate, and this doesn’t feel normal.”
Nico muttered a few words in response, Lewis wasn’t even sure that he was capable of making out a full sentence at this point. He quickly decided that he should go and find the adults to see if they could get some professional medical help. However, just when he stood up and tried to pull his hand away, Nico whimpered against his skin and stopped him from doing so. Lewis could see the young driver's lips trembling, mumbling a few words, attempting to stop his friend from going.
“Don’t go.” Nico whined, his hot breath sprayed on Lewis’s hand as he spoke. He sounded so desperate, practically begging at his roommate to stay with him, “Lewis, please.”
“Nico, I think you need a doctor.”
“I know, just, just...stay a little longer, please.” pleaded Nico, then he started to cough violently -- he had choked on his own saliva, “Just…please stay here. I feel like — I have no idea why, but — it feels so much better when you’re around...just don’t leave me now, Lewis.”
Lewis didn’t think he understood what Nico was trying to imply here, but his friend looked very sincere, and he knew Nico wouldn’t plead like this if it was not a truly desperate call. In the end, he compromised: “Alright. I’m just going to stay here for five more minutes till you calm down then go and get you a doctor.”
Nico didn’t say anything this time, he just buried his head inside Lewis’s hand, purred softly against his skin, implying that as a sign of agreement. Lewis let out a quiet sigh, rubbed Nico’s wet skin under his hand as if petting a sick puppy. Nico purred again, body stayed still for a moment, eyelids half-closed. Lewis grabbed some tissue from the nightstand to wipe away the sweat, then went back to continue caressing Nico’s hair and forehead. To his surprise, Nico did appear to be much calmer this time, Lewis could even feel the heat gradually fading away from the younger boy’s skin.
“This is…um.” Lewis suddenly chuckled, “This is a bit weird.”
Nico raised his head from the nest he made out of pillows and blankets, eyes squinted, hair still messy from all the sweat and Lewis’s fumbling: “How?”
“It’s just, I’ve never done this kind of thing to others before.” Lewis smiled nervously, his hand slid a bit off, reached down and cupped Nico’s nape: “I mean like this.
Nico shifted on his bed, body arched back unconsciously, pressed himself closer to Lewis’s touch: “I’ve never let anyone do this to me either, except for mum — she always comforts me like this when I’m sick.”
“Wait, are you saying that I'm your mum?”
“She’s an amazing person.” Nico snorted, “You should feel honoured with such a comparison.”
Then both of them laughed, Lewis could even feel Nico’s body vibrating with joy through the palm of his hand. “You seem to be better now.” he commented with a smile on his lip, “Maybe you don’t need a doctor after all.”
“I told you, it’s just cold. I can deal with it.” Nico replied, whilst squirming under Lewis’s caress, then let out a soft moan like a puppy who had its belly rubbed.
“To be honest, it was us who dealt with it.” Lewis corrected him, as he moved his thumb to Nico’s left cheek, stroking the hot skin there tenderly. Nico blurted out a chuckle, closed his eyes, then smiled and shook his head tiredly. He was feeling much better for reasons he couldn’t comprehend either. However, Lewis’s hand did seem to be equipped with some sort of magic. Nico could almost feel his heart and body were both trembling with pleasure every time Lewis touched him. When his thumb slid past his wet skin, it felt like a small stream of electricity passing hrough his veins and made him uncontrollably shiver. It was an odd feeling, which almost scared him for a moment, but he quickly decided it felt too good to be stopped. The unbearable heat that bothered and smothered him had gradually turned into soothing warmth flowing inside him slowly, rendering him to feel like sleeping in a cradle made of clouds. He opened his eyes once again, to his delight this time, his sight also seemed to have recovered, because he now could see Lewis’s face rather clearly under the room’s warm orange light.
And he suddenly felt very thirsty.
“Sorry, Lewis, but.” he started to cough again, “Could you — could get me some water?”
Lewis did not need to be asked twice. He went to the cupboard, picked a bottle of mineral water, found one unused glass and poured some liquid into it. However, just when he was on his way back to Nico’s bed, he noticed something: the scent — the sweet odour he had smelt earlier had resurfaced again. His first reaction was to check the bathroom door, but the door was perfectly closed.
“Nico.” Lewis put the glass of water onto the nightstand, whilst eyes scanning the room from left to right, “…Can you smell anything?”
Nico frowned, and sniffed twice in response to Lewis’s question, then shook his head: “No. What’s wrong, you smell something funny?”
“Yeah, it smells like…” Lewis paused, “I don’t know. I smelt it earlier, but then it was sweet, like melted caramel. Now it has changed, smells a bit more like dark chocolate, and I’m sure there’s also — ”
He took a sudden deep breath, eyes stared into the ceiling above, and blinked quickly. He could feel the smell growing stronger and stronger as they spoke, but it was not the stuffy and suffocating scent that he detected about twenty minutes ago. This one smelt sharp, tangy, peppery, he could even sense a bit of dizziness and excitement that strangely reminded him of the smell of champagne — the one drivers were given at the podium after each race, though they were too young to be allowed to drink it. Lewis had smelt it in the air before, and he couldn’t forget the spicy but sweet, refreshing taste ever since.
“It came from the bathroom, I mean, at least I thought it was — is that your new shampoo?”
“Don’t make fun of my hair routine, Lewis.”
“I’m not, but I still don’t think people need hair shampoo that costs thirty quid. What does it even do?”
“It makes your hair look smoother and shinier, but seriously, Lewis, I can’t smell anything.”
“I can smell it from here.” Lewis sounded very positive.
Nico stayed silent for a moment.
“Alright.” he said, then pushed his blanket aside (as he had felt much better), decided to come off the bed and help Lewis find the source of the mysterious scent that he couldn’t even smell, so Lewis could let go whatever seemed to be bothering him and went back to stroking his hair. However, when he met Lewis's eyes, he surprisingly saw an expression of absolute shock and horror on the older boy’s face, as if he just found a bomb on Nico’s bed and watched it blow up in front of his face.
“Oh shit.” Lewis was shaking, not out of fear, but out of something that even Lewis himself could not explain, “Oh shit, Nico — it’s —”
Lewis was running the fastest he’d ever been in his life, he rushed to the lift, smashing on the floor button, directly went to the floor where Keke and Sina were staying. He knocked at the hotel room’s door, so loud it probably woke all the other guests that were staying on the same floor. A few seconds later, Keke turned up at the door.
“Lewis?” Keke frowned upon the look on Lewis’s face. He looked flustered and confused, and neither of them was expressions that would normally appear on this young boy from Stevenage. Knowing he was coming from the room he shared with Nico, an inauspicious feeling began to rise inside this retired Finnish driver’s chest. “What happened?” he asked.
“It’s Nico, he —” Lewis’s breath was restrained for a moment. He had to stop and waited till he could make sense again.
“I think he’s in heat.”
TBC