Chapter Text
The gang had just gotten Jerry fired and the laser known to the public. Now they were all getting ready to pack up and leave next week, but of course, in pure Chris Knight style, he was starting to feel run down and sick the second he actually took a second to calm down. All the excitement of the last couple of weeks had really taken its toll on him and he just couldn't get himself out of bed. He told Mitch he was just catching up on some sleep. Of course, Mitch was concerned and went to Ick for an explanation.
Mitch went to Ick's bedroom and knocked until the genius answered the door, "Something's up with Chris.."
no formalities, straight to the point, which Ick liked, "figures, it's the end of term."
"what does that have to do with anything?" Mitch scrunched up his face in confusion, hating that he was clearly missing the obvious.
Ick just sighed and pulled him inside where there was some strange set up that Ick had abandoned when Mitch knocked, "he always gets sick right after finals. It's his body's way of catching up with all the stress he'd gone through all term." Ick went back to scribbling in his notes, "he's so upbeat and energetic all the time, he's gotta crash and burn at some point."
"so, he's just sick?"
"Yup," Ick looked over at Mitch and sighed again, "relax, we all take care of him, just like he does for us." He gestured to the machine, "I'm making him soup."
"We have a kitchen-"
"Whose oven hasn't worked properly in years, and besides," he showed Mitch his notebook, "I'm coming up with a way to make soup with even more nutrients to make him feel better faster, like I did with the cherries, except the vegetables will absorb more nutrients while boiling."
"wait," Mitch looked at the sides of the machine, "you're infusing it with extra vitamins and stuff?"
"Yup," Ick tinkered a bit, "those vitamin supplements taste awful and this is way more fun."
Mitch let out a small laugh before sitting next to Ick on the bed, "so what can I do for him in the meantime?"
"he's pretty self-sufficient, but Jordan always runs in and makes contraptions so he doesn't have to leave the bed."
Mitch smiled and blushed, "she's really great.."
"yup," Ick's eyes never looked away from the machine, "He's probably also a bit depressed about Lazlo moving away and getting married. So just.. keep him company, I guess."
Mitch nodded softly before getting up and going to the door, only to stop and turn around, "thanks, Ick."
"yeah yeah," he waved him off.
Mitch went back to their shared quarters and looked at Chris, who he was surprised was awake and staring at nothing, "hey."
"hi," his voice sounded a bit rough, "Ick tell you I was sick?"
"How did you-"
"you're pretty predictable," he coughed lightly, "besides, I don't snore unless I'm sick." he looked apologetically at Mitch, "kept you up.."
"no!" Mitch walked over and sat on the chair by the bed, "you didn't wake me."
Chris smiled a bit and squeezed his knee, "we need to work on your lying, but thanks for trying."
As if on cue, Jordan burst in, "OH good you're both up!" she sat something down on the table and was starting to hook something up to the wall, "I heard you snoring from my room so i spent the night making a humidifier to help you sleep- not that you were loud or annoying- i was just worried you couldn't breathe right so i checked up on you and Mitch who was awake, but that's not your fault because you're sick. You kept coughing in your sleep so i opened the window to help since it had rained earlier and has since stopped-" she stopped talking when she saw that Chris' face twitched.
"Jordan?" Mitch looked confused, not used to her stopping mid... run-on sentence.
"I'm waiting."
"For-?" Mitch heard Chris hitch and looked over to see Chris pull his shirt over his face, "oh."
"EH'kiew-ehkiew-ehkiew-ekhiew-ehkiew-ehk'ehk'ehk-ehkshiew!"
"bless you!" Jordan piped up and continued putting in the humidifier.
"wow, bless," Mitch awkwardly rubbed Chris' back.
"his record here is 15, Ick keeps a counter in his room," Jordan turned on and smiled as it worked.
"oh," Mitch looked over Chris and noticed he was blushing, "do you have a record outside of school?"
Chris just huffed and leaned back against the wall, "probably.."
"24," Jordan passed a bit, "You told Ick about it when he first heard your sneezes and thought you were having an allergic reaction to something. You mentioned it was the first time your younger sister brought a cat into the house and you had to go to the hospital." She blushed a bit, realizing she was being watched.
"i thought it was too," Chris coughed a little, "apparently it's 26," He rubbed his nose, "Lazlo."
"he did say he was watching you," Mitch shrugged.
"who's watching you," Ick came into the room with a bowl of hot soup.
"awww, and I didn't get you anything," Chris pouted as Ick handed him the bowl.
"tell me how it tastes, that could be the gift," ick sat on the bed and wrapped an arm around Chris' waist, fingers slowly going up under his shirt, "you're warm.."
"at least let me finish the soup before you cop a feel," Chris teased, but leaned into the hand on his back as he ate the soup.
"We should have gotten his temperature earlier."
"I did," Jordan shuffled awkwardly, "When I first came in to open the window.. he's at 99.3F"
"Gee, round the clock care," Chris winked at Jordan in between bites of soup.
"yup," Ick removed his hand and took the finished bowl of soup from Chris and put a hand on his forehead, "back to bed? or mine?"
"how forward of you," Chris mocked faint before grabbing Ick and holding him close, "I just want you, baby."
"Does that mean you're going to force me to take a nap with you?"
"pwetty pwease?" Chris pouted.
Ick sighed, "only because I pity you."
The grin that spread across Chris's face was quite frankly criminal. How could anyone say no to that smile? Certainly not Ick.
"Let me grab some things, then we can cuddle, ok?"
MItch was looking around like 'am i interrupting something?'
"oh, I need Mitch's help with cooling system I was working on." She looked at Chris who had his eyebrows raised, "you always get so hot when you're sick so I was making something to put under your bed to keep you from overheating. It also tracks your temperature and changes accordingly."
"that.." Chris sniffed and scrunched his nose up, "Sounds amazing.."
Ick rolled his eyes and moved his finger up to gently run down Chris' bridge, "so stubborn.."
"hih-" Chris ducked into his chest, not caring that Ick's finger was still tickling his nose, "Ehk-ehk-ehk-ehk-ehk-ehk-ehkshiew.. hih.. itschiew-itdsch-itdshi-tdshiii!" Chris took the tissues Ick was now handing him and put them to his face, "Etsch'etsch-etschiew..itschiew..Ekschiew!" he blew his nose and coughed as the congestion shifted.
"are you ok?" Mitch was looking at Ick like he was upset he caused such a display.
"i'm ok, Mitch," Chris threw the tissues away and leaned back into Ick, "that felt good..."
"I know," Ick rubbed his side, "tired, now?"
"little dizzy," Chris rubbed his nose on Ick's neck, as Ick moved his hand up to play in his hair.
"Mitch, can you grab some cold medicine from my room? it's labeled for Chris."
Mitch ran to the other room and noticed there was a shelf with medicine specifically for each of them, even himself. He shook off the shock and grabbed the ones labeled Chris before running back, "got it."
"good boy," Chris smiled at him, eyes closed, most of his face still hidden in Ick's neck.
"I used your genetic makeup to make the best medicine for each of you."
"I love you so much," Chris fake cried for a moment.
The blush and smile that moved across Ick's face made Mitch smile, "that's really cool."
"Yeah, well," Ick looked down at Chris's stomach, "someone's gotta take care of you all."
"and we appreciate it so much," Chris ran a hand along Ick's thigh, "and when i'm better.. i plan on showing you just how appreciative I am.."
Ick slapped his hand, "you have a fever, stop it." He took one of the bottles and tapped Chris' mouth, wanting him to open up; pouring a little of it in.
Chris swallowed and licked his lips, "tastes like cherries."
"yup," Ick put the medicine's cap back on, "should stop the cold from going to your chest, but there is a side effect-"
"HUschiew!" Chris quickly ducked into his cupped hands, trying not to spray Ick.
"that.." Ick made an apologetic face and rubbed Chris' back as he was thrown into another sneezing fit.
"utschiew-hutschiew-itschiew-itschiew-itschiew-tdschiew!"
"those were forceful..." Jordan looked nervous.
Chris slowly sat back up, "jesus.." he sniffed and blinked, "I still need to sneeze.." He squinted at the light but it just made the tickle die down, "shit.."
"the light never helps you, dummy," Ick ran his finger back down the bridge of nose, watching as Chris' eyes fluttered shut. HIs nostrils flared as he got ready for another sneeze, but seemed to be stuck there. Ick moved his finger underneath his nose, letting his nail gently scrape along the underside, carefully moving along his nostrils, until Chris hitched loudly.
"HIH-" Chris turned away from all of them and sneezed so hard he bonked his head against the wall, "HAHSChiew!"
"ah!" Jordan jumped at the sudden loud sound.
Ick moved to put a hand between his head and the wall, only lessening the blow, "ow."
"i'm sorry.." Chris leaned back down against Ick and closed his eyes, "that hurt.."
"the sneeze or the wall," Mitch looked like he was gonna jump out of his chair and run and get a medic.
"both?" Chris saw Mitch run outside through the corner of his eye, "Shit... Jordan don't let him call a nurse... or 911."
Mitch came back only seconds later, before Jordan could stand, with an ice-pack.
"so that's what you ran for, I thought you were being chased," Chris took the pack and put it on his head before grabbing Ick's slightly bruised hand and putting it overtop, "we can share.."
Ick rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time, "are you done?"
Chris sniffed, testing the waters, "yeah, I think i'm done."
"Good," Ick moved his hand from the Ice pack and positioned Chris to lay on the bed, "then you're taking a nap while the medicine kicks in."
"without you?" Chris was back to pouting.
"no, i'm just fixing your mess of a bed so you can actually have some blankets.." Ick was half tucking Chris in, while leaving a space for him.
"Mitch can come in my room," Jordan took MItch's hand, "sleep well! Let me know if there's anything you need, you know i don't sleep!"
"We know," Ick walked them out and closed the door before turning off the lights.
Ick made his way back to the bed and into Chris' greedy arms. He crawled into bed and gave Chris' forehead a kiss before putting the Ice-pack back on. Chris snuggled into Ick's chest, legs now tangled with his, and promptly fell asleep. It took Ick a while to fall asleep too, worried if he fell asleep and Chris needed something.. He finally succumbed when Chris whined and nuzzled into his neck again, happy, safe, and very loved.