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Jayce has a fever.
It’s not surprising, considering he spent the better part of last week getting Viktor through a bad bout of the flu, but he’s usually over whatever he picks up himself pretty quick.
Which is the problem. Jayce has a fever and it won’t go down.
“S’just a cold,” he mutters, curled up on the sofa his arms drawn into his hoodie, shivering. Viktor lays a blanket over him and sets a cup of ginger-lemon tea on the coffee table. “Gonna be fine on Monday.”
Viktor sighs. “Today is Monday,” he says gently. “I called us both out of work this morning, remember?”
Jayce frowns. “Huh?”
“It’s alright.” He reaches down and brushes the sweat-damp hair away from Jayce’s forehead. “You get some rest. I’m going to make soup.”
Jayce coughs in response.
In the kitchen, Rio is perched on the edge of the counter, licking his paw and eyeing the pile of ingredients suspiciously. “You’re not supposed to be up there,” Viktor chides. “Your father doesn’t like it.”
“Mrow.”
“I know, but he’s very sick today, so you should try and be a good boy for him.”
Rio rolls onto his side in response, tail flicking happily back and forth.
Viktor sighs. “Well, it will be our secret, hm?”
He manages to get Jayce to eat a bit of soup and drink some water, which gives him a small amount of energy to go back to bed.
“M’streaming tonight,” he mutters.
Viktor frowns. “You are not. You’re very sick.”
“I’ve streamed sick before.”
Viktor sighs and holds up the thermometer. 101.9. “Alright,” he says. “If you can tell me what we ate for dinner last night, you can stream.”
Jayce tries, and fails, to sit up in bed. “...We ordered takeout.”
“Mmhm. And what did we order?”
He frowns. “Uh, sushi. I think.”
“And what did you eat?”
Jayce shrugs. “Some rolls?”
Viktor smiles. “Ah. That was a trick question. You passed out before the driver even got here.”
Jayce groans and falls back into bed.
Rio’s life has been very difficult the last week. As much as Viktor will feign ignorance, he knows their cat prefers him over Jayce, and being forced to follow him around the apartment, endure Jayce-lead feedings, and, in general, be in Jayce’s presence, has bothered him.
Unfortunately, now that Jayce is sick, things really aren’t that much different.
“Rio, please.” Viktor scoops him up from the end of the bed where he has been yowling for fifteen minutes. “Your father is trying to sleep.”
“S’fine,” Jayce mutters, reaching for his water bottle. He tucks it close to his chest and rather pathetically searches for the spout with his mouth. He looks forlornly at his phone. Viktor takes his temperature again and frowns. 101.2, now.
“We’ll leave you alone so you can rest,” Viktor says.
“You don’t wanna stay?”
“I’m going to work a bit from home today.” Viktor leans down and kisses Jayce’s temple. “When you feel better you should get a hot shower. It will clear your chest.”
“That’s a good idea.” Jayce yawns and closes his eyes. “I’ve got the smartest boyfriend,” he mutters, and begins to softly snore.
Viktor carries Rio out of the room and shuts the door behind him. He feels terrible, getting Jayce sick like this. Usually Jayce pushes through it, even when he shouldn’t, and it’s not okay that Viktor’s gotten used to that, but —
He’s gotten used to that.
He’s gotten used to Jayce mixing Emergen-C into his water bottle, or sucking on cough drops at his desk at work or during a stream. He’s gotten used to Jayce simply being the strong one, and he’s not quite sure when that happened.
Even Ximena is surprised that he’s down for the counter.
“I can bring over some of his favorite soup,” she says over the phone, and Viktor can already hear her fishing things out of the fridge. “Will he be home tomorrow still?”
“I think so,” Viktor says. “He’s still running a fever.”
“That’s no good.”
“I’ve given him medicine,” Viktor says quickly, hearing the concern in her voice. “It’s my fault he’s sick. He took care of me last week, but he shouldn’t have done so much—”
“Viktor.”
He shuts up. Jayce’s mother and his own share a terrifying knack for being able to silence their sons using names alone.
“Jayce loves you. He would do it again, I know it. It’s just a few days,” she adds, softer now. “He’ll be on his feet again in no time.”
Viktor nods. “I…I know. I’m just worried.”
“You’re very sweet,” she says. “I will bring something by in the morning.”
Something turns out to be a lot of things, because while Jayce isn’t one to take advantage when he’s under the weather, he also grew up largely alone, so Ximena brings by pretty much anything she can think of.
“I also got some ice cream, I know he prefers not to keep it in the house, but I think a little treat when he’s feeling down is a good thing. Do you like ice cream? It’s chocolate.”
“I love ice cream,” Viktor says.
Ximena smiles. “Bueno. I’ll put the soup in the fridge, or maybe the freezer? Whatever you cooked yesterday looks delicious.”
“Something my mother made for me when I was younger.” She’d been around the week before herself, helping Jayce with some breathing treatments and cooking them dinner. Viktor thinks she and Jayce watched a nature documentary together.
“That’s very sweet. She told me she was here last week—”
“She what?”
Ximena looks up. “Jayce didn’t tell you? Your mother and I have been getting coffee on Sundays. It’s very nice to get to know her better, now that you two seem to be—” She gestures with her hands. “You know. Committed.”
Viktor feels his cheeks flush. He hadn’t realized. Maybe Jayce had mentioned something, and now that he thinks about it, he seems to recall a conversation being had while Viktor brushed his teeth and Jayce showered, but then Jayce got out of the shower and Viktor got distracted and it’s hard to remember things when your boyfriend is very good at —
“Viktor?”
“Ah, yes?”
Ximena smiles. “Why don’t you go sit down? You’ve done a lot the last few days.”
“But I—”
“It’s alright. I will not intrude much longer, but I’d like to baby my baby for a little bit, if it’s alright.”
He laughs. “I’m sure he will appreciate it.” Viktor goes into the living room and sits down on the sofa. Rio jumps into his lap. “Just a little nap,” he mutters. “Hm?”
Rio lays down and begins to purr.
Viktor wakes, and the apartment is dark.
There is a note on the kitchen counter from Ximena — soup in the fridge, heat up when you’re hungry — with a heart drawn at the bottom. Viktor smiles and takes the container out of the fridge and pours it into a clean pot on the stove. Usually, Rio is immediately climbing up his leg, or sitting on one of his feet, but not tonight.
“Where have you run off to, hmm?” Viktor looks around, but doesn’t see him. “Ah, well.” He stirs the soup and watches as it begins to bubble at the edges, then throughout, before turning it off. He doesn’t know if Jayce is awake, or even hungry, but the clock on the stove tells him it’s just after eight. He spoons soup into the bowls and calls for Rio again, but no luck. “Eh.”
Their room is at the end of the hall, past their shared office which used to be Viktor’s room with its glowing PC towers and pulsating keyboards. Vikto peers in, expecting to see two little dots looking up at him from his chair, but still. Nothing. He shrugs and keeps going, managing to hold his crutch under one arm and getting the door open with a little trick of the elbow.
“Jayce?” The lump on the bed makes a noise and rolls over. “Your mother made soup. Are you hungry?”
“Hm?” An arm appears. Viktor sets the bowls on the bedside table and turns on the lamp.
Viktor is often endeared by Jayce. By the flowers he brings home, or the meals he prepares, or the way he walks up behind Viktor and will massage a spot on his lower back, like he knew it was giving Viktor trouble. Viktor is endeared when he sings in the shower, and even when he steals the blankets.
Viktor is always endeared. But this is something different.
Jayce looks much better, a healthier color in his cheeks, and his eyes are more focused. A cursory touch to his forehead tells Viktor his fever is either very low or gone. He blinks awake.
“What’s happening?”
“Dinner,” Viktor says, and picks up one of the bowls.
Behind Jayce, Rio lifts his head. “Mrow?”
“So that’s where you were. Did you know someone needed company?”
“I, uh, think my mom shut him in here.”
“Yes, well, he doesn’t seem too bothered by it.”
Jayce looks behind him and drops a weak hand to Rio’s back. “Yeah. I guess not.”
Rio lays his head back down and huffs.
After, Viktor takes the bowls away and comes back, curling up in bed beside Jayce. “You’re still a little warm,” he murmurs, kissing his jaw. “My personal heater.”
“That’s me. Always—” He yawns. “Always hot.”
“Ugh. You may go back to being sick again.”
Jayce grins and leans back against the pillows, pulling an arm around Viktor and hugging him close. “Nah,” he says. “You love me.”
With a sigh, Viktor looks up at him and pulls out his phone so they can watch something together.
“Yes,” he says. “I really do.”