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Niki woke up practically choking on his own mucus.
Bones cracking, he emerged his sweaty body from the bed he and Rinne implicitly shared, cautious not to wake the other up. To his disarray, however, an unattractive cough from Niki was the alarm in which woke Rinne up today. Rinne arose sleepily.
"Niki?"
His voice coarse, Niki choked out a couple words. "Good–CCHOUFG–" Niki doubled over. "–morning, Rinne-kun."
"Uh..." Rinne stepped out of bed and quickly helped Niki keep his balance. "Niki, I think it's best if ya stay in bed for today."
"I need to–CCOIROURGH. Urgh. Cook breakfast first."
An exasperated sigh left Rinne's lips.
"I'll uh... I'll cook today, Niki-kyun. Okay? I won't try anythin' too complicated, so don't worry about me burnin' down the whole apartment. Just get some rest, okay?"
Niki gave Rinne a slight nod of approval. Rinne slowly guided Niki back to his side of the bed, one step at time, and gently tucked him in.
"Be right back, okay? Gonna take yer temp."
"The thermometer is in the–"
"I know where it is, Niki. Jeez, yer voice sounds like shit. Don't talk."
Niki couldn't help but feel a little offended, but didn't have the energy nor the incentive to smack Rinne on the head. Besides, Rinne definitely had a point.
Rinne returned to Niki as quickly as he left, an electric thermometer in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Rinne held the glass to Niki's lips.
"Drink."
"...I can hold the cup, Rinne-kun." Niki's already heated face rose a degree from Rinne's unusually domestic gesture and strangely assertive tone.
"I would rather not have ya spill it. Your hands're shaking."
Niki hadn't realized how weak his body actually felt until now. He voiced a murmur of approval before sitting up and opening his mouth slightly, inviting Rinne to give him a sip. Carefully, Rinne tilted the glass so as to not spill any water onto Niki and stopped when a slight hum escaped his mouth. He gestured to the thermometer and plopped it in Niki's mouth.
"One minute."
"Mm mnow ow a omome–"
"SHHHH!!! No speaking!!! Quiet game now. Loser gets kissed." Rinne's shit-eating grin prefaced once again.
"MMH? MMNE-MN, M–"
"Shh, shhhh. I'm gonna make some congee, so don't get on my nerves! Ya never know, I might spit in it! Nyahahah!!!"
Niki sighed. In a state like this, he was completely under Rinne's control, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Rinne's attempts at domestic love were endearing, though. He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy being nursed by his dear Rinne-kun.
"Anyway, ya bett–" Niki's mouth beeped. "Oh, thermometer's done. Let's see here."
Rinne popped the thermometer from Niki's lips, eyes widening immediately after seeing what the device read.
"Oh shit. Niki, yer burning up. About 102 degrees. I'm gonna get ya a cold pack, hold on. Then I'll let ya rest."
Rinne used Niki's mouth as an outlet to hold the thermometer and left before Niki could mumble any other incomprehensible response to his thoughtless antics. Niki wrapped the thermometer in a tissue, placing it beside him, as Rinne emerged once again from the door to their bedroom.
Rinne sat beside Niki on the bed and gently folded a cold, wet paper towel onto his forehead. A fresh sensation circulated throughout Niki's face. Laying back down, he finally felt a bit relaxed.
"Ah... Thank you, Rinne-kun."
Rinne felt satisfied knowing that Niki felt the slightest bit better. His eyes softened as he unknowingly stared at Niki.
"Mhmm."
Rinne's gentle expression caught Niki off guard, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Niki pushed the covers slightly closer towards his face.
"Rinne-kun,"
"Hm?"
"Can you stay with me here a–cough–a little bit?"
"I was gonna, anyway." Rinne gave Niki a smile and began to rub his thumb in circles on Niki's forearm. Niki flinched.
"Aghhh! You know, Rinne-kun, you're gonna make me sicker if you keep doing stuff like this!"
"Then I'll just hafta take care of ya more! Hehe... Niki-kyun, you're so cute when he's helpless, y'know that?"
Normally Niki would shout out an involuntary "Rinne-kun!" or give him a light smack on the arm, but Rinne's teasing felt different than his usual less-than-diplomatic play fighting. His touches were gentle. His contact gave Niki's mouth an aftertaste of sweet honey, as he immediately found himself craving more of this side of Rinne.
Niki leaned his arm into Rinne's touch, slightly surprising the other. Niki's gesture made Rinne so indescribably happy to see that he appreciated his sentiments. Rinne wasn't exaggerating when he said he'd do anything for this man, so seeing Niki express genuine appreciation–-albeit wearily–-made Rinne's heart flutter.
Rinne got up from the bed. "Niki-kyun, how do ya feel about a bath after I make something to–ACK!"
Falling almost on top of him, Rinne's arm had been pulled by Niki, using the maximum caliber of strength that he had.
"Niki? Wh...hah?????" The color in Rinne's face mimicked Niki's.
Niki tilted his face towards Rinne. "...Rinne, can you stay here until I sleep?"
Thump.
"Woah, woah, woah. Waita minute here, hold on. Makin' a move on me AND no honorifics? Niki-kyun, now I'm starting to get worried!"
As playful Rinne was with his expression, his heart was racing like an engine in his chest.
"Guh... Just shaddup," Niki pushed his body into Rinne's, practically forcing Rinne to spoon him. "After today, we don't talk about this."
"Wh…What do you mean 'we don't talk about this'?! Ah..."
Rinne took Niki's palm, placed it on his heart, and stared at him.
"Look what yer doin' 'ta me, Niki-kyun."
Niki turned his face away from Rinne's eyes. "Shhh. I'm trying to sleep."
In an attempt to settle both of their racing hearts, Niki quickly pretended to doze off into slumber, unsure of whether he hoped Rinne would stay or leave.
It was quiet for a moment.
Only the sounds of Rinne and Niki's forcibly quiet breathing sheathed the two into a state of utter silence and tension for what seemed like ages.
Until Rinne decided to one-up Niki by kissing his forehead.
Rinne knew Niki wasn't already asleep. Niki knew that Rinne knew he was full of shit. Yet they both kept acting oblivious, thinking that it'd somehow ease the tension that was less than an inch between them.
Rinne went in to kiss Niki's forehead again.
He waited a bit.
Rinne went back in again,
and again,
and again,
and again,
until their faces were both glowing red.
Niki opened his eyes and stared at Rinne with–-what Rinne thought was utterly adorable–-a look of both irritation and embarrassment.
“I wasn’t asleep, y’know,” Niki mumbled under the covers.
“Really? Coulda sworn ya were.”
“I would kick you if I had the strength to right now.”
Rinne sat up and chuckled. “Why don’t I make you some food so you can get the strength to kick me?”
Receiving a nod from Niki, Rinne made his way towards the kitchen to prepare Niki the (self-proclaimed) best meal of his life.
Rinne fucked up.
Rinne somehow managed to fuck up congee, porridge made from boiling rice in a pot and letting it sit.
There was rice stuck at the bottom of the pot that was somehow hard and burnt. Was he supposed to stir it? No, you don’t stir it. …Do you stir it?
Nevertheless, most of it was still intact. He seasoned the pot with a bit of salt, careful as to not over salt, and plopped the product in a bowl with a spoon. Rinne tried his creation to make sure he wouldn’t poison Niki, and after being pleasantly surprised by the taste, headed to the bedroom with the bowl wrapped in a towel to avoid burning his and Niki’s hands. Though...spoon feeding it to Niki didn’t sound like a bad idea…
“Niki?”
To Rinne’s dismay, Niki was actually asleep this time. Rinne knew enough to not wake him up, so he placed the bowl onto the night table next to Niki and covered it with the towel to retain its heat. Rinne gave Niki a peck on the forehead and headed out the bedroom.
Niki awakened much more refreshed than his previous attempt this morning. He managed to sleep a considerate amount of time given how horrible he felt. However…there was a problem.
Niki’s stomach roared.
“Rinne-kun?”
No response.
“Rinne?”
So this was how he was gonna go out, huh? Sick, stinky, Rinneless, and most importantly, foodless. It was nearly 5pm. He knew Rinne didn’t have plans. Did he actually decide to go play pachinko while Niki was on the edge of his deathbed?
Niki always knew well enough to keep his expectations for Rinne low. But after this morning he actually thought Rinne had some level of human decency. The hunger was definitely getting to Niki–giving him these thoughts–-but he couldn’t help it.
He was tired, really. It didn’t matter if Rinne was out; he had his own life, anyway. Niki just felt stupid for putting so much trust into him nowadays. He missed the days he and Rinne were younger. Niki would tease Rinne then, and Rinne didn’t know enough to feel comfortable teasing back. But now Niki constantly gets trumped by Rinne's antics. Niki enjoys Rinne’s company, he really does. But sometimes he wishes their relationship was a little less comfortable.
Rinne walked into the bedroom to be greeted by a teary, hungry Niki.
“Huh? Niki? What the fuck.”
Niki could only respond with choked-off "Rinne-kun's."
“I just left to get some medicine. What the hell.”
Niki sniffled. “Huh?”
“What?”
“I thought you- sniffle -went to go play pachinko…”
“Pachi--What? Niki, why would I go play pachinko when you got a 102 degree fever? Ah…what am I gonna do with you… Ya really got no expectations for me, huh?”
“Guh…I hate you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now open up. I’m gonna make ya drink this.”
“But Rinne-kun… I’m hungry…”
“Huh? I made you congee. See, it’s right beside ya here.” Rinne opened the bowl covered with a towel. “Ah…It’s a little cold now. Ya shouldn’t’ve fallen asleep when I made it!”
“Oh.” Niki sat up and brought the bowl to his lap, looking at the contents apprehensively. ”...I won’t die if I eat this, right?”
“I ate some and I’m still alive. Go ahead. Ah, wait…” Rinne grabbed the bowl. “I’m gonna heat it up.”
“Rinne-kun, just– cough –give it to me now. I’m hungry.”
“If ya say so!”
Rinne scooped up some of the congee with a spoon and brought it towards Niki’s face.
“Rinne-kun!”
“What?”
“I’m not five! Give me that!”
“C’mon, just open wide.”
“Ugh…”
Niki’s open mouth was greeted by a spoonful of…pretty decent congee. Pleasantly surprised, he opened his mouth for another bite.
“Oh, now you want me to–”
“JUST FEED ME THE DAMN CONGEE, RINNE.”
Rinne always thought ravenous Niki was such an amusing side of him. He was, of course, slightly intimidated and concerned that he’d get his arm chomped off if he teased too far, but the cannibal accusations were never confirmed, so he feels comfortable not worrying about it.
“Plbplbptplbpt weeeeew!” Rinne made airplane noises and spoonfed the congee to an agitated Niki, who for a moment considered spilling the bowl all over Rinne. He tried holding in his laughter.
A couple more choo-choo trains and airplanes later, the bowl was scraped clean.
“Better?”
A satisfied but slightly embarrassed Niki nodded.
“Good, good. Medicine time!” Rinne poured the neon pink syrup into a tiny cup that came with the bottle and brought it to Niki’s mouth.
“Um, Rinne-kun? Isn’t this– cough –for kids?”
Rinne read the bottle. Children’s Cold & Cough.
“Uh, well… I mean, I just got it ‘cuz it was the cheapest one. Should work the same?
Niki sighed. “Ah… Just give me three doses.”
“You got it, baby.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Niki choked down his first dose of the sugary, slightly bitter syrup.
“Eugh. Is feeding this to me by hand really necessary? Just give me the bottle.”
Niki snatched the bottle from Rinne’s lap and gulped a considerate amount of the cough medicine down.
“Niki! You’re gonna die if you do that!”
“Calm down. It’s children’s cough syrup. I used to drink this by the gallons.”
Niki finished off the entire bottle.
“...If ya die I’m not comin’ to yer funeral.”
“Okay.” Niki threw the bottle to the bin across the room. It didn’t land.
“Um, well. Now that ya’ve eaten, do you wanna get yer stinky ass in the bath?”
“Can’t you just talk to me like a normal person? I swear, you–WHATCOUGHCOUGHAREYOUDOING.”
Rinne began to lift Niki off of his bed and into his arms, carrying him bridal-style to the bathroom.
“Gotta get ya ready for yer bath, Niki-kyun~!”
Niki couldn’t hide his face anywhere with the way Rinne held him, so he just buried his face into Rinne’s body. Niki mumbled
“102 degree fever, Rinne… 102.”
“Hmm?”
Rinne plopped Niki down on the toilet seat and began running some room temperature water. Niki began to turn the dial towards the hotter setting. Rinne set his hand on top of Niki’s, stopping him from altering the temperature.
“Ehhh? What gives?”
“Niki-kyun, it’s common knowledge that ya don’t bathe with hot water when ya’ve got a fever. Ya gonna faint.”
Niki pouted and let Rinne move his hand away from the dial.
“As much as I’d love to see my precious Niki-kyun’s beautiful naked body, I’ll give ya some privacy~! Lemme know when you're in so I can come back.”
“Okay… Thank you, Rinne-kun.”
Rinne headed out the bathroom and closed the door.
Niki undid his ponytail and got into the cold tub, wetting his hair. He hesitated before calling out to Rinne.
“Comin’, comin’~!”
Rinne stepped into the bathroom. Niki refused to face him.
“Wow! Who would’a thought Niki-kyun would look so sexy takin’ a bath!”
Niki threw a bath sponge at Rinne.
“Scrub.”
Rinne couldn’t help but smile. Niki was too damn cute.
Rinne dropped some fresh clothes on the toilet seat. The bath sponge found its way into Rinne’s hands as he dunked it into the bath water and frothed it up with a squirt of body wash. Gently, Rinne scrubbed Niki’s back. He couldn’t help but feel slightly shy as he massaged Niki, so he stopped and handed him the sponge.
“Uh… Continue?” Niki tilted his head.
“Umm, ya see… I don’t wanna make ya too uncomfortable. So here ya go.”
“But I like this.” Niki was too relaxed to realize what he was saying. “Can you wash my hair?”
“Uh, um yes. Yeah. Uh…”
Niki handed Rinne the right shampoo. “Use this and stop being weird. It’s 3-in-1.”
Rinne took the shampoo and frothed it up in Niki’s hair. He used his fingers to massage around his scalp, his full attention on the task. Niki got lost in the sensation of Rinne’s fingers tracing circles on his head. He let out a relaxed sigh.
“Ngh...Feels good.”
“Urk. Time to rinse ya off.” An embarrassed Rinne swiftly turned on the shower without thought, water blasting straight onto Niki’s face.
“HGUHRWHAT THE FUCK RINNE-KUN.”
“I’M SORRY. I’M SORRYYYYYYYY!!!”
Frantically, Rinne grabbed the shower head and turned it off.
“Y’know, I was really enjoying that for a second! Now I got soap in my eyes!”
Rinne buried his face in his hands for a second “I’m sorryyyyy… Aaahhuuuuuughhuuiogh…”
Rinne grabbed a towel and wiped the soapy water away from Niki’s face, careful not to get more in his eyes.
“Ah… I’ll finish washing up, Rinne-kun. Thank you.”
Rinne exited the bathroom with a stream of jumbled "I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry’s," leaving the bathroom to a slightly amused Niki.
Rinne could be cute sometimes.
Niki returned to their shared bedroom, finding Rinne sitting patiently on the edge of the bed. Niki plopped beside him and rested his hands on his own lap. There was no verbal exchange between them. Niki tilted his head to face Rinne.
“Mm, y’know, I’m not really mad, Rinne-kun.”
“I got soap in yer face…”
“Yeah, but you cared for me the entire day. You really spoil me, y’know...” Niki wanted to admit he loved being spoiled by Rinne, but decided against it.
“Mmmmmm.” Rinne mumbled incomprehensibly in his hands as he hid his face. “Ya really drive me nuts sometimes, Niki-kyun…”
The two sat in silence for a couple minutes.
“Rinne-kun.”
Rinne faced Niki curiously.
“Who lost the quiet game?”
“Who lost the…huh?”
“Didn’t you say we were playing the quiet game? And um, whoever loses gets a kiss?” Niki darted his eyes away from Rinne.
“Ah…yeah.”
…
“So, who lost?”
“Uh…well. We both spoke eventually.”
“So we’re both losers?” Niki chuckled.
Before Rinne could open his mouth to say anything in retaliation, his lips met with Niki's in a slightly more-than-chaste kiss.
“...Niki!”
“Nehehehe. Your turn.”
Rinne let out an exasperated sigh. Fondly, he lifted Niki’s chin and dove in for a kiss of higher caliber than Niki’s. Niki smiled into the kiss and buried his body closer to Rinne’s. Their lips parted, faces now cold without the warmth of each other’s cheeks.
“Niki-kyun, you know I’m gonna wake up sick tomorrow.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to take care of you.”