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You feel awful the second you wake up.
For a moment, you simply lie still on your mattress, trying to figure out why on earth your bedroom floor appears to be swaying. The sunlight coming in from the windows is bright, far too bright, to the point your eyes hurt when you try to gauge what time it is. Annoyed, you shove the blankets off you, wincing at the soreness in your muscles. Why didn’t you close the curtains yesterday night?
The second you try to sit up, however, your vision swims and you’re forced to lie back down before you can puke all over your nice, clean floor. “Ugh…” You raise a hand to your head in an attempt to block out the light, but the moment your palm makes contact with your forehead, you’re forced to admit it - you have a fever. You’re burning up.
You’re not one to fall sick often. Although you tend to sleep late at night and eat at odd times because of your job, you do try to take care of your body in other ways. The last few days, however, you’d been dealing with a major case and had slept for a grand total of twelve hours altogether. It’s honestly no wonder why your body has given up on you...
The shrill sound of your ringtone makes you groan. Fumbling about your mattress for your phone with one hand, your fingers finally close around the noisy little device, and you lift it to your ear without a glance at the caller ID. “Who is it? What do you want?”
“Whoa, whoa, I haven’t done anything to offend you recently, have I?” Marius greets you over the phone, his words carrying their signature teasing edge. You wince, suddenly regretting your snappy tone earlier. You didn’t intend on sounding so harsh. “On the other hand, I’m the one who should be upset with you. Didn’t you agree to attend today’s art convention with me as my plus one? I’ve been waiting for you outside the gallery for the past fifteen minutes.”
Art convention? At Marius’ words, you let out a gasp, pulling your phone away so that you can look at the date. Sure enough, today is the opening of the art convention under PAX group. You’d promised a week ago that you’d go with Marius… and now, you’re already late by fifteen minutes.
It’s the first art convention that Marius has organised personally. You’ve seen with your own eyes just how much effort he’s put into it, personally meeting all the art collectors, coming up with the concepts and choosing which works to display. And the fact that you’re the first person he invited…
You grasp the sheets hard with your fingers and try to sit up again. As if to reprimand you, your head pounds indignantly, and you can’t help but let out a soft groan of discomfort. “Hnng…”
“Is there something wrong? You don’t sound too good.” Marius’ voice is no longer teasing, something close to worry creeping into his tone. His concern is cute, you think to yourself. If he ever heard that from you, you’d never hear the end of it.
“I might have a fever,” you explain simply. There’s no point worrying him too much, especially not on a big day like this. “I’m sorry for being so last minute about this, but I don’t think I’ll be able to go with you today. I’ll make it up to you another time, alright?”
“Silly. What do you mean, you’re sorry? It’s not your fault you’re sick.” As awful as you feel, you can’t help the small smile that tugs at your lips when you hear those words. “As for making it up to me next time… I’ll keep that in mind, jie jie.”
“I suddenly regret saying that.”
Marius laughs quietly. “You can’t take it back now! Don’t worry about the convention, just focus on resting well. I’ll see you in a bit.” With that, he hangs up on the call.
You sigh and let yourself flop onto the mattress. Marius knows how to handle himself around businessmen and art connoisseurs alike, so you’re not particularly worried about him having to attend the opening alone - with him there, it’ll definitely go smoothly. But still, as his friend, you would have liked to be there in person to support him…
There’s no point thinking these thoughts now. Tossing your phone to the side, you glare at the curtains before throwing the covers over your head to block out the light. You should probably measure your temperature and grab some medicine from the kitchen, but you can’t quite muster the effort or strength to leave the bed. “Later,” you promise yourself, closing your eyes and tucking yourself into the soft cocoon of blankets. For now, you’ll just do what Marius said: focus on resting well. Just as you’re about to slip away into unconsciousness, you recall his parting words over the phone.
“I’ll see you in a bit.”
Before you can properly think about them, however, you’ve already fallen asleep.
---
You feel like you’ve barely closed your eyes when you’re woken by a knock at your door.
Blearily, you tug the blanket off your head to stare at the front door with tired eyes, wondering what on earth you’ve done to deserve this. You don’t remember having ordered any deliveries recently, so part of you is half hoping that whoever is outside your door has simply gotten the wrong address. To your disappointment, however, the knocks only resume after a short pause. It doesn’t seem like the person outside is going to leave any time soon.
Grumbling, you clamber out of bed, the blanket still tucked around your shoulders. Your hair is probably in a mess, but you can’t really bring yourself to care right now. If it’s a package for the neighbour who keeps submitting your address instead on accident… Slowly, you make your way down to the first floor and pull the door open with a sigh.“Hi, if you’re looking to deliver a package to Mrs Luo, she’s next door-” Your eyes widen when you finally realise who it is standing outside your door. “Ma…Marius?”
For a moment, you wonder if you’re still asleep, whether this is some sort of strange fever dream your brain has cooked up. He’s dressed in a tailored suit and tie that you’ve never seen on him before, a deep indigo shade one step away from black, his hair slicked back and a casual grin on his face. If you weren’t feeling so awful right now, you’d probably be caught off guard with how debonair he looks - it’s rare that you get to see him dressed up quite so nicely.
“Von Hagen. That’s my name.” Marius leans against the doorway, looking as though he’s enjoying the expression of shock on your face all too much. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
You’re about to step aside to let him in when a coughing fit grips you all of a sudden. Hunching over, you throw both hands over your mouth and try to hold back your coughs. “S-sorry, the house isn’t very tidy today…” Marius rushes over to support you in an instant, all the teasing on his face immediately replaced with concern.
“Do you think I mind about something like that?” he shakes his head, tucking your blanket tighter around you before he helps you to the couch. “Wait here, I’ll get you a cup of water.”
When Marius returns from the kitchen with a glass in hand, your coughing fit has already calmed down considerably. “Drink up,” he coaxes, holding the glass out to you as he stands over you. You stare at it blankly. “Unless you need me to help you with it?”
From the light tone in his voice, Marius probably means that as a joke, but you look up at him hopefully the second those words leave his mouth. You feel unbearably thirsty now that you’ve woken up, but you’re also worried that you might drop the glass with how weak your limbs feel at the moment. “Will you?”
Marius’ cheeks suddenly bloom red, and he frowns at you a little. “Jie jie, I feel like you’re taking advantage of me. Why is that?”
“I’m the sick person here, how could I possibly be taking advantage of you?” you mutter, curling up against the arm of the couch. Your head is starting to throb again. “Please?”
He sighs quietly. “Here.” Taking a seat next to you, Marius holds the glass to your lips, careful to keep his hand steady so that the rim doesn’t knock into you. You take slow sips over a few minutes, trying not to get any water on the sleeve of his expensive suit, but he doesn’t seem to mind. “Your lips are cracked. Did you not drink any water earlier? What about medicine?”
You laugh awkwardly. “I think I forgot to stock up on medicine for the first aid box…” you say with a sheepish smile, retreating into the flimsy safety of your blanket. Marius gives you a mock disappointed look, shakes his head, and starts looking through a white plastic bag that you didn’t notice earlier. “Luckily for you, I stopped by a pharmacist on the way here from the art convention.” Pulling out a white box, Marius squints to read the fine print on the side, brows furrowed in concentration. “The staff there said that this pill should be good for reducing a fever…”
As he mumbles to himself, you can’t help stare at the strange sight before you with some degree of amusement. Marius looks so out of place in your ordinary apartment dressed in his fancy tailored suit, yet his presence seems to be making you feel better already, almost as if it’s magic. Is this some sort of placebo effect?
“What are you doing here, though?” you ask, suddenly confused. Marius looks up at you when he hears the concerned tone in your voice. “Wasn’t the convention supposed to last until evening? Did something happen during the opening?”
Marius put so much effort into planning that. If the art convention went badly, then...
“Don’t worry,” Marius reassures you blithely, seemingly completely unconcerned about it. “The opening went smoothly, and I’m sure the convention is still going on fine now. They only needed me for the opening ceremony, so after I finished with that, I just came straight over. Pretty quick, don’t you think?” With that, he turns his attention back to the bag, humming a tune to himself as he begins fishing out various bottles and boxes.
“But it’s your first personal art convention,” you begin to argue, totally appalled. You know how important this project is to him - in comparison, you’re probably just suffering from a bad bout of the common cold. “There’s no need for you to be here, I-”
“There’s no need for me to be here, yes,” Marius interrupts, tapping a plastic measuring spoon against your lips. You blink at him, a little caught off guard by his easy concurrence. “But I want to be here to take care of you. Is that so hard to believe?”
You stare at his profile for a moment as he begins reading through the labels once more. “Cough syrup… why are there so many brands? I should just have Pax take over all of them...” you catch him muttering out loud to himself. “I can’t remember which one Vincent gets when I’m sick…”
There’s a gentle heat stirring in your chest, one that you can’t blame on the fever, as much as you’d like to. A sneaky sort of warmth, just like the person who’s caused it, one that finds its way into the deepest corner of your heart and roots itself there. And by the time you notice its presence, it’s already…
“Have you ever taken care of a sick person before?” you say abruptly, trying to ignore the strange feeling growing inside you. The depth of it is almost scary, but luckily for you, the embarrassed flush of Marius’ cheeks is sufficient to distract you from it. “Marius, have you taken care of yourself when you’re sick?”
He makes a face, and you have to bite back a laugh at the expression he’s wearing. “I… stop smiling like that,” Marius complains, looking at you helplessly. “It’s not my fault. Vincent usually takes care of stuff like this…”
“The blue one,” you point at one of the bottles on your coffee table. Marius picks it up, eyes skimming over the instructions curiously. “That’s the one I usually get when I’m sick. One big spoonful, but it’ll make me drowsy.”
“You’re supposed to be resting anyway.” You watch as he uncaps it swiftly, measuring out a spoonful before he turns to you, holding it to your lips. “Here. After you finish it, I’ll carry you upstairs so that you can rest properly.” You begin to open your mouth, but he interrupts you by pushing the spoon between your lips before you can say a word. “And don’t even try to argue that you can just sleep on the couch instead. I'm not gonna listen to that.”
The cough syrup seems to taste sweeter than you remember it to be. “I was going to say thank you,” you tell him slowly, a slight smile touching your cheeks. You were going to turn down his offer, but since he insists, the only polite thing to do is accept. Maybe it’s the fever, maybe it’s the strange feeling, but part of you wants to be spoiled by him, just a little bit. “You sure you’re strong enough to carry me, though? It’s going to be embarrassing for you if you drop me halfway up the stairs.”
Marius lets out a noise of amusement, crouching down next to the sofa so that his back is turned to you. “I’ll have you know that I try to exercise on a regular basis. Don’t underestimate me. I think I’m strong enough to carry two of you, at the very least.” From behind, you find yourself looking at the shape of his shoulders, the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Did he always appear so reliable?
He’s always maintained the image of a frivolous, careless playboy. Although you’ve grown to learn that Marius’ true personality is nothing like what the media makes him out to be, you’re often caught off guard by just how considerate and sincere he really is, time and time again. For a moment, you almost feel conflicted - you wish everyone could see for themselves what sort of person Marius is on the inside, but a part of you wants to be the only one who gets to know him like this...
“You’re wearing a suit, though,” you point out in an attempt to distract yourself from your own thoughts. Although you know next to nothing about haute couture, the sheen and weave of the fabric he’s wearing seems expensive. That one article of clothing is probably worth a whole month of your salary, bonus included. “What if it gets wrinkled?”
Marius eyes you over his shoulder. “I know that you’re a lawyer, but sick people shouldn’t argue so much,” he says with a light smack to your leg. “Come on, get on my back before I end up bridal carrying you instead.”
Your cheeks immediately burn at his words. “N-no need!” Slowly, you place your arms around Marius’ neck, before you hesitantly rest some of your weight on his back. “Is this okay?”
“As I said, don’t underestimate me.” When he’s sure that you’re holding onto him properly, he rises to his feet, clearly careful not to jostle you too much on his back. “Here we go.”
You bury your face in his shoulder as he begins to move. Marius’ hands are wrapped securely around your thighs, the sound of his breathing steady and constant, even as he begins to climb the stairs to the loft that functions as your bedroom. There’s a faint hint of lavender and musk scent hanging around him. It’s comforting.
The medicine must have started kicking in, because you’re already starting to feel drowsy by the time the two of you reach your bed. Gently, Marius sets you down on the mattress, adjusting the pillow beneath your head and tucking you into the blanket before you can protest. “Be a good girl and rest now,” he says, a slight smile on his face as he looks over you. Your eyelids seem to have gotten heavier all of a sudden, but you can’t seem to tear your gaze from Marius.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” It seems that he’s noticed you haven’t yet closed your eyes. “Is it uncomfortable? Too hot? Too cold? Do you need more water?”
You shake your head quietly. “Can you…” you say hesitantly, and Marius has to lean in closer to hear you. The ends of his hair tickle your cheek. “Can you pat my head? Just until I go to sleep.”
Marius blinks at you, and for a moment, you wonder if your request is too odd, too much. You’re about to tell him to forget about it when his hand suddenly rests on top of your head, his long, delicate fingers beginning to comb through your hair. Almost immediately, calm washes over you, and your eyes slip shut as you bask in this feeling of comfort.
“Thank you, Marius,” you finally say, and his fingers are still in your hair for just a second. “For taking care of me today.” He’s quiet for a few moments before he replies.
“No problem,” is his answer. His voice is soft, tinged with a strange sort of gentleness… almost tender. With that, you finally allow sleep to pull you under, slipping away into dreamland as Marius’ fingers continue to stroke your hair. When your breathing evens out after a few minutes, Marius pauses to look at your sleeping face, so relaxed and unguarded around him. It feels as though you’ve entrusted him with something important, and Marius decides to keep it close to his heart.
He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and smiles.
“Sweet dreams.”