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A sigh escaped Aether’s lips as he set the shopping bags on the kitchen counter.
“I’m glad the line wasn’t long, I’m starving.”
The blonde stopped by the store to pick up a few things after finishing one of his many freelance jobs. He had the rest of the day free, as well as the next day. After spending all morning doing non-stop manual labour under the sun, Aether was reading to take a nice shower, cook dinner, and wait for his beloved to get off work.
As he organized their spice rack, he took notice of the microwave beside it. A plate of food sat inside and the blonde took it out, thinking it was just his partner’s leftover breakfast. Upon setting it out, he felt heat radiating from the dish, “Huh? Foods still warm?”
The smell of the salty pasta on the plate made Aether’s mouth water. But before he could get a fork to fulfill his cravings, a sudden noise brought his attention towards the bedroom. Setting the plate down, he put his guard up and slowly approached the room.
Aether pushed the door open and jumped in, fists at the ready to confront whatever intruder was there. But nothing came at him. The curtains covered the windows all the way, but the light from the hallway helped him make out a hand hanging out from under the covers on the bed.
“Uh, (Name)? Did you get out of work early? Why didn’t you say anything?”
A groggy voice spoke from underneath the bedcovers, “Aether…welcome home…”
Golden-eyes took notice of a fallen mug on the floor, which had produced the noise he heard. He walked over and knelt down to pick it up and place it on the nightstand where a half-empty box of tissues sat along with some cough drops and cold medicine.
“Aw, baaabyyy, you feeling bad? You seemed alright in the morning,” Aether took up (Name)’s hand that was outside of the covers and felt it was a bit colder than usual. Their hand, though weakly, clung onto him to take in the natural warmth.
“My head was spinning in the morning and my runny nose wouldn’t stop even after breakfast, I could barely stand up to make some dry pasta a while ago,” (Name) ever so slightly lifted the covers to let the blonde see their face, “I just want to sink into the mattress…”
Aether smiled and stood up, “Well, I’m here now! Don’t worry about anything, I’ll take care of you.”
~`~
After taking his much-needed shower and chowing down the leftover lightly salted pasta, Aether cleaned up around their shared bedroom. As he says, “A clean environment, a clean body and mind!”
He knows (Name) is sensitive to light and sound when sick, so he made an effort to be as quiet as he could in the dark room without opening up the curtains.
A struggle ensued between the two when Aether tried to get (Name) to wrap themselves up with a fresh blanket. “H-Honey, come on,” the man pleaded, “you know it will make you feel better.”
His beloved finally gave in and leaned against the bed frame while wrapped in the clean blanket. The blonde sat on the edge of the bed and felt their temperature with the back of his hand, “Hmm, pretty warm. When was the last time you had medicine?”
(Name) spoke while resting their eyes, “Before I went back to bed…after breakfast.”
“That was a while ago, but it’s too late in the day for another dose…” Aether thought before coming up with something, “How about some tea, and you knock out for the night? That always makes you feel better, right?”
They nodded and cuddled into the blanket some more as their boyfriend left the room.
~`~
Through the bedroom curtains, the sun had set and made the room darker for Aether when he came back with a tray of things to aid his helpless lover in the most trying times. (Name) was strong, they knew how to take care of themselves. Aether knew that, yet he loved being able to play the role of ‘big strong hero’ whenever he could, even when the enemy was a common cold.
Carefully, he set the tray on the nightstand and raced over to the bathroom to turn on the light in order to see what he was doing.
(Name) whined, “ Aetheeer, liiight.”
“I know, I’m sorry,” the blonde left the bathroom door slightly open and walked over to the bedside.
He sat down and picked a spoon up from the tray he had brought, “The tea is piping hot, so guess what I brought you as we wait for it to cool down?”
(Colour) eyes fluttered open to see Aether holding up a spoon along with a snack cup of peach slices. It was a good snack, who doesn’t like peaches? But, if they remembered correctly, they hadn’t bought any in weeks.
“I stopped by the store to pick up some stuff to try out a recipe I saw online,” the blonde spoke as he scooped up a spoonful from the cup, “I got more than we needed, so why not have one now? Plus, it’s better to have a light snack before sleep. I know you had dried pasta, but…well…that kind of speaks for itself.”
Aether held the spoon up to (Name)’s mouth, “Come on, honey, open uuuppp.”
Semi-reluctantly, they let him spoon-feed them as they weren’t in the mood to keep their eyes open, much less hold a spoon.
They were halfway through the cup when (Name) averted their face and muttered, “It’s not fair…”
“Hm? What’s not fair?”
“This,” (Name) said, “It’s shit like this that makes me love you and want to kiss you over and over again. But I can’t kiss you right now…it’s not fair…”
Aether chuckled, “Aww baaabyyyy, it’s alright, this is just temporary.”
He set down the half-empty snack cup and spoon on the tray and picked up the tea he had prepared. After taking a sip, he deemed it good enough to drink.
“I put some honey in it, for my honey,” his toothy grin acted as a way to tease (Name) for their words. They knew this, of course, but what were they to do? They were under his mercy.
Aether held the mug for (Name) as they drank the entire thing. It was a bitter tea, with the slightest taste of honey that made it just bearable.
~`~
Aether knew (Name) was asleep by the time he came back from doing the dishes in the kitchen.
The blanket covered their entire being except for a tiny gap where their nose and mouth had room to breathe.
The blonde smiled as he walked over to get them into a comfortable sleeping position. He fluffed up the pillows before laying (Name) down on their back, moving the blanket wrapped around them in order to see their face.
He took the opportunity to caress their face (if they were awake, (Name) would be protesting, saying that he would get sick and whatnot). From the tray on the nightstand, he picked up a damp towel, removing any excess water before placing it over (Name)’s forehead.
They slightly moved when the coolness touched their skin, but Aether was there to make sure they wouldn’t wake up.
“Shh, it’s alright…you’re alright.”
(Name) made peace with the damp towel and dozed deeper into their slumber. Aether took out another blanket and placed it over them as he made himself comfortable beside them.
“I’ll be here for you. Today, tomorrow, the day after that- and everyday afterward. Then until forever. And you’ll be able to give me all the kisses you want, which I’ll happily receive…”