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Neil is bored. Now that in itself is nothing new, Neil gets bored quite easily but today he´s bored. Andrew is in their living room, having his weekly online therapy session with Bee and even though he said nothing, Kevin left to go over to Nicky´s dorm and Neil decided to do some homework in the bedroom to give Andrew some privacy.
Quarantine has been hard on all of them. Not being able to go to practice or Eden´s, Sweeties or even to fucking classes is leaving all of the Foxes - probably everyone on campus - on edge and tense. While running is nice and the weather isn´t horrible either, it doesn´t give Neil the satisfaction he craves. With Exy it´s different. After a day of hard practice or another gruesome game Neil´s arms are shaking, his legs burn, his feet hurt but his mind is quiet. And while running is nice, there are only so many places he can run to before he's running away. Andrew knows this, which is why he sometimes grabs Neil by the sleeve and drags him off to the car, just to drive him to Columbia where they'll stay the night and leave the next morning after Neil has thoroughly exhausted himself.
Neil is just about to fall asleep in front of his laptop when the door creaks open and Andrew appears, leaning against the doorway, looking relaxed and at peace.
“Hard at work, I see,” he snorts, making Neil turn around with a sleepy grin.
“Session over?”
With a nod, Andrew pushes away from the wall and comes closer until he´s able to slide a hand through Neil's hair, pushing away unruly, long curls and frowning at Neil´s pleased smile.
“You need a haircut.”
Letting his head drop back until it´s leaning against Andrew´s stomach, Neil looks up.
“I could ask Allison to give me one,” thinks Neil out loud, voice soft and silent, too sleepy and warm to speak up.
“She´ll give you an undercut again.”
“Is that a bad thing?”, Neil asks cluelessly, stifling a yawn.
There´s the shadow of stubble across Andrew´s chin, partly covering the little constellation of freckles across the left side of his jaw where Neil likes to plant kisses. Dark lashes turning blond at the ends throw light shadows over the dark circles beneath his eyes, blond eyebrows move together into a frown when Andrew notices Neil staring.
“You couldn't be more creepy if you tried, junkie,” he grunts and pushes Neil´s face away gently. That's also a thing. Andrew is gentle. He's always been gentle, mostly invisible to people that do not care to look closer. But he's gentle in his conversations about dystopian topics with Renee, in the frown he holds when he tries to hide his disappointment over sold-out ice cream, even when he pushes Neil against the wall or into the mattress roughly, he always stays gentle.
Without even trying to stop himself, Neil leaves a light kiss against Andrew´s palm before straightening his back again. He doesn´t see Andrew´s red ears but he knows they´re there.
“You didn't answer me,” he then murmurs, breaking the silence,” is it a bad thing?”
“You tell me.”
Andrew will always stay Andrew. To the other Foxes this would´ve sounded like a dismissal, but Neil is pretty much fluent in the language that is Andrew. You tell me if you want that. You tell me if that´ll make you feel comfortable. You tell me if short hair gives you nightmares. You tell me if you´ll still recognize yourself in the mirror.
“He never had hair like that.”
“I didn't ask about him, did I?”
“No.” Neil smiles because how can he not. “I'll think about it.”
Another sigh and Andrew drops his head, sniffling for a moment before glaring at Neil.
“You´re tired,” he states. “Sleep.”
“It's not even 3pm, I can´t -”
“It's nap time,” decides Andrew without letting Neil finish. “Come on, bunny.”
A warm feeling sloshes through Neil at the nickname. It's not like he and Andrew are very affectionate people, not in a way anyone besides them notices anyways. Neither of them feel the need to hold hands or share kisses in public, reserving their physical emotions when they're alone. Kevin is usually the only one seeing them acting like a couple and he doesn´t care enough to say anything to the others.
Without another complaint he gets up and lets Andrew tug him over towards the bed where he pushes Neil down before closing the door and curtains. By the time he's back, Neil is already laying near the edge of the bed so Andrew has to climb over him - something that has gotten easier since Neil and Andrew got used to casual touches - before curling up in the small space next to the wall, sniffling once again while settling down.
“Do you need a tissue?”, Neil asks while turning his head to face Andrew, who´s laying on his side, facing Neil.
“No.”
“Don´t get sick, you hear me? It´d be very unfortunate timing.”
“Because we're so busy all the time? Stop being dramatic and sleep.”
“Can we-”
“Just turn around,” sighs Andrew, already knowing what Neil wanted to ask. Neil does as he's told, turning his back towards Andrew and getting comfortable. Just a moment later a strong arm sneaks around Neil´s waist and Andrew´s nose brushing against Neil´s neck before he settles down.
“Okay?”
“Yeah,” nods Neil lightly, already feeling his burning eyes falling shut while Andrew´s breath warms up the collar of his shirt. Entangled with his goalie, Neil falls into a warm slumber that lasts a total of thirty minutes. It's enough for him to feel refreshed and energetic but knowing Andrew and his need for sleep, Neil stays still, listening to the deep breathing of the man behind him.
Never would have Neil nor Andrew expected that spooning would become their preferred nap-positions on good days but it makes sense. Neil´s scars are the first thing Andrew feels after waking up and Neil enjoys having the warm, solid barrier of Andrew´s body behind him.
After another five minutes, Andrew stats puffing out air with every exhale while inhaling through what sounds like a very stuffy nose. Maybe he really has gotten sick? A cold perhaps? He did drive with the windows down after taking a shower and not drying his hair. It doesn´t have to be corona, they always wear their masks outside and make sure to stay away from large crowds.
Neil´s thoughts are already spiraling by the time Andrew starts stirring behind him. A groggy stop thinking pulls Neil out of it for now and after Andrew lifts his arm, he rolls onto his back to look over to Andrew.
Puffy eyes, red lines on his left cheek and a soft scowl await Neil and he can´t help but smile and lift a hand, waiting for Andrew to nod before he combs one hand through Andrew´s soft blond hair. Andrew, with a low rumble coming from the back of his throat, lets his head fall back into the pillow and allows Neil to lean up on an elbow to continue scratching at his scalp. It´s not often that Andrew feels cuddy - well, cuddly in his own way - so Neil is happy about every opportunity he gets to give some of the silent care he receives, back.
Neil is just about to slide his hand through Andrew´s hair once more when his fingers stop, brushing against his forehead. It feels warm, warmer than it should feel after a nap. Trying not to annoy Andrew with it, Neil cups Andrew´s face in his hands and leans their foreheads together. Definitely warm.
“I know what you´re doing,” mutters Andrew accusingly,” stop. Let go you clingy bastard.”
With a soft chuckle Neil takes his hands away. It might´ve been a joke from Andrew´s side - he jokes more often lately but other than Neil and sometimes Renee nobody seems to understand his humor - but Neil wouldn´t be Neil if he wouldn´t still listen.
“I´m not sick,” Andrew frowns, sitting up and rubbing his eyes,” and you´re insufferable. Get up, I want ice cream.”
Neil rolls out of bed so Andrew can pass him on his way to the kitchen, while he himself enters the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth. The nap has left a sour aftertaste in his mouth and drinking a cup of coffee now won´t be enough to help.
Andrew is curled up on the couch with a large bowl of icecream in his lap by the time Neil comes back. They spend the rest of the afternoon together, watching tv and exchanging the bare minimum of words. It´s nice, it´s calming and gentle and Neil doesn´t think about Andrew being sick for a couple of hours.
- - -
The coughing starts two days later. Neil is sitting at his table, trying to work through online lectures from yesterday when Andrew wanders out of the bedroom, sleep in his eyes and a hand under his shirt, scratching at his stomach. With a smile, Neil raises his arms over his head and waits for Andrew, body and clothes still warm from bed, to step behind him so he can lean his head back. With a sigh, Andrew slides a hand through Neil´s hair while glancing at the mess on the table.
“It's not even 10 am, bunny,” he complains softly. Kevin is still asleep and he will be for another two hours minimum. Yesterday had been a long night of him playing games and drinking with the others. Neil and Andrew stayed behind at their dorm - much to the amusement of Nicky - because Neil´s social battery needed recharging.
“I have a paper to finish till tomorrow and I haven't worked through the last two lectures.”
With another sigh Andrew nods and lets his eyes travel until he meets Neils.
“Coffee?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Don´t get used to being served, junkie,” frowns Andrew, pressing a kiss to Neil´s forehead before pushing away to walk towards the kitchen, bright orange socks on his feet. Then, the coughing starts. At first it's just Andrew clearing his throat once, then twice, then a third time. After an annoyed groan and what sounds like a glass of water being filled, there's a cough. Once, twice, three times.
“Drew, you alright?”, calls Neil. A couple of months ago they found out that Andrew is allergic to strawberries which for him is no big deal but Neil had to give up one of his favourite fruits to avoid cross contamination. But since then they have banned strawberries from the fridge, in favour of saving Andrew from a scratchy throat and rashes on his face.
“Yeah,” comes a raspy answer. For a moment it's quiet and Neil turns to concentrate back on his homework, when the coughing starts again, this time forced and quiet.
When Neil arrives in the kitchen, Andrew is leaning against the sink, glass of water in his hand and the other one on his chest, cheeks rosy. Once he notices Neil, he drops his hand and puts the glass away to turn on the coffee machine.
“Drew, is everything alright?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, Neil.” Andrew sounds pissed, but if it's because of his strained voice or Neil´s nagging, he doesn´t know. He also doesn´t ask, just says,”feel free to look through the tea cabinet,” before returning to his school work. A couple of minutes later a cup of coffee is placed on Neil´s table, next to a small bowl of cut up apples and bananas. Before he can say anything, Andrew has turned around, heading for the bathroom. Before the door closes completely, Neil hears him quietly coughing again.
- - -
“You´re clearly cheating, Neil, what the fuck?”
“I don't know how to cheat at Monopoly, Nicky.”
Nicky whines and pushes his little figure towards the jail. Again. Matt just snorts and wraps an arm around Dan to reach for the dice.
During the lockdown game nights have become somewhat of a tradition at the Fox Tower. Sometimes everyone joins, sometimes one group plays board games in the kitchen while the others play games in the living room. Alcohol is always involved, next to mountains of snacks that pisses Kevin off every single time.
Tonight everyone is sitting around the coffee table in the girls room, playing Monopoly. They´ve been at it for two hours now and so far Neil is winning, probably but not entirely because Andrew didn´t want to play and took the role of the bank. He finds the weirdest reasons to force everyone to pay extra. Apparently Nicky´s obnoxiously colorful sweatshirt is insulting, Kevin has a stupid face and Allison´s perfume is annoying Andrew´s nose. He's being a petty little asshole which is exactly why Neil is already thinking about making chocolate chip waffles for breakfast.
“$20 extra, Kevin.''
“What? Why?”
“Don´t think I didn´t see you taking that shot earlier,” Andrew shrugs,” $20 extra or you have to go to jail until I feel like letting you out again.”
With french insults on his lips Kevin pays the extra fee, looking even more pissed. He's always been a sore loser regarding board games.
“Who even decided to let Andrew be the bank? He's terrible at this,” complains Aaron after throwing the dice and moving a couple of blocks down the road.
“That's against the law, you can't insult a governmental facility. $35.”
“That's not even a law, stop talking shit!”
“It is.”
“Since when?”
“Since I said so.”
“Okay, okay,” jumps Renee in, a grin tugging at the corners of her lips,” I think we´ve had enough of Monopoly, hm?
With a frown, Andrew opens his mouth to say something - he's having way too much fun annoying everyone, Neil notices - but is quickly stopped by another cough. This one is dry and painful sounding and Neil can see the firm set in Andrew´s jaw. He's forcing it down.
“Drew?”
“Fine,” grumbles Andrew, pushing away to get up. Nobody stops him but eyes are glued to his back once Andrew disappears in the kitchen, probably to get something to drink.
“Is he sick?”, asks Kevin the same time Aaron asks,” did he take a test?”
“He said he's fine,” Neil just answers and shares a look with Renee before joining her in putting away the game. After a few more minutes Andrew is back, a bottle of beer in his hand and a light scowl on his face. For the rest of the evening he ignores every question thrown at him by both Kevin or Aaron. When Neil climbs into bed after Andrew at one in the morning, Andrew turns his face into the pillow and coughs again.
“Not a word,” he grumbles. Neil says nothing. But tonight he dreams of sickness and fever, of a coughing Andrew and his angry mother.
- - -
Andrew is sick. He feels it as soon as he wakes up from a feverish, messy dream. Limbs feeling like they´re filled with boiling led, back aching and head feeling mushy and stuffed, Andrew rolls out of bed. It´s late, late to the point that calling it morning would be a lie. Even Kevin isn´t laying in bed anymore and while Andrew forces himself to change into clothes - wearing one of Neil´s extra soft shirts beneath his sweatshirt even though it´s slowly turning warmer and warmer outside. Clammy hands fight with the strings of Andrew´s sweatpants and by the time he´s dressed, he´s ready to go back to bed.
A bit of water to the face helps him with feeling less dead but still, when he enters the kitchen and sees Nicky and Aaron cooking while Kevin sits at the table tapping away on his laptop and Neil is filling the kettle with water, Andrew is once again seconds away from turning around and leaving. Kevin notices him first, standing in the doorway looking conflicted and grumpy.
“He´s up,” Kevin notices, addressing everyone else in the room. Aaron immediately scans him from head to toes while Nicky pushes away from where he´s cutting vegetables and comes closer and Neil smiles concerned in the background.
“Andrew, finally! How are you feeling? Aaron and I are making veggie soup, it´ll be done soon. How did you sleep, do you have a fever? Here, let me-”
Andrew flinching back is instinct but his mind is too fragile and fuzzy to allow Nicky to touch him while on other days he probably would´ve just suffered through it.
“Don´t.”
Nicky looks like he´s been hit but Neil steps in, pushing between the cousins and turning towards Nicky with a calculating look in his eyes.
“Nicky, about that soup…”
“Ah,” Nicky nods, doing a horrible job at catching himself,” yeah, right.”
Neil gives Andrew a look before walking around him to sit on the couch. Andrew, knowing what Neil wants, follows while trying to move as little as possible. There´s a headache starting to pounce at the back of his head and while ignoring is always a good strategie, he´s not sure for how long he can before it gets too much.
“Can I feel your forehead?”, asks Neil after they´re seated next to each other.
“I´d rather you don´t ask that question.”
“Too late, yes or no,” smiles Neil patiently. Andrew frowns, wanting to say no but he also knows that Neil has cold hands because he always does and the thought of something cold against his burning skin is enough to mutter a quiet yes.
The sigh that slips out from between Andrew´s lips as soon as Neil´s fingers brush against his cheeks would´ve annoyed Andrew at any other day but not now, not when his eyes flutter close while Neil cups his face with his hands.
“You´re burning up, Drew,” Neil mutters quietly like he doesn´t want anyone else to hear.
“Am not.”
“Can I take your temperature after lunch?”
With a displeased frown Andrew opens his eyes again.
“I´ll think about it. You should stay with Nicky and Aaron for a bit; Kevin too.”
“Why?”, asks Neil, back turning rigid in alarm and his hands against Andrew´s face tightening for the blink of an eye.
“Just in case.”
Realization fills Neil´s eyes and before Andrew can say anything else, he´s already shaking his head vehemently.
“No. Nope, I´m not leaving you when you´re sick. I can wear a mask, I can sleep on the couch but I won´t leave this dorm.”
Andrew should´ve seen it coming. Neil is and will always stay a junkie but Andrew won´t let him stay, not when he might have covid. Neil has a debt to pay and he can´t play stickball with long-term symptoms. Knowing their luck in life it´d be possible and Andrew can´t have that.
“I don´t want you to stay."
“You´ll have to drag me out of here then,” glares Neil, a determined glimmer igniting his eyes.
“Boys, soup´s ready,” yells Nicky from the kitchen. And that´s that.
The topic of taking Andrew´s temperature doesn´t come up again but after Andrew has taken a shower in the evening - he feels slightly better than when he woke up - he takes a covid test, just out of curiosity. It´s negative.
Still, he tells Kevin to sleep somewhere else for a couple of days and much to his surprise, Kevin follows the order without complaint, packing a little bag and nodding at both Andrew and Neil before leaving to head over to Nicky´s. Neil is one with the floor, blue mask on his face but with a will of steel. After a short argument Andrew gives up in favour of curling up on the couch. Neil brings him ice cream and their argument is forgotten while watching a baking show together, sitting on opposite sides of the couch.
Tonight, Andrew´s dreams are fever-fueled again. He dreams he´s a fox with wings, a little ant, a ladybug crawling up Neil´s arm until he sits over the scar on his cheekbone. Then, he´s talking to Neil who looks like one of his professors, he´s making out with a boy he hasn´t thought of since his time in juvie, he´s hugging Aaron and letting Nicky lead him down a path towards Neil who´s dressed in a horrible, orange suit.
When Andrew wakes up the next time, it´s to the sound of the kettle boiling. Noticing that it´s the next morning already and he fell asleep on the couch, he sits up with a groan. For a moment everything is spinning and by the time Andrew feels stable enough to bring his legs over the edge of the couch to get up, the constant scratch at the back of his throat transforming into a coughing fit that brings up mucus Andrew has to swallow. It´s disgusting enough that he feels sick by the time he has calmed down and takes a couple of shallow breaths.
“Here.” Neil has appeared beside him with a cup of tea in his hands that Andrew takes without looking up. Taking a sip, he cringes.
“Tastes horrible.”
“It´s chamomile, good for your throat. Drink up, I´m heating up soup.”
“Not hungry,” Andrew rasps but Neil ignores him in favour of getting up.
“I also asked Aaron to buy some medicine for your fever and coughing.”
“I´m not swallowing pills,” frowns Andrew, pissed that Neil is for once acting like a responsible adult.
“Don´t worry, I told him to buy syrup,” grins Neil before heading back into the kitchen. Andrew stays behind, pouting like a kid and feeling small and helpless like one as well.
He hates being sick, hates the feeling of his body not entirely belonging to himself, of his mind bringing up memories he´d rather forget. Andrew doesn´t get sick, he just doesn´t. When he was younger he didn´t allow himself to get sick and that just stuck around for some reason.
A knock at the door gets Neil to leave the kitchen. Aaron is standing in the doorway, a mask over his face and a little paper bag in his hand. Glancing around Neil, he takes in Andrew´s pitiful state on the couch and says something Andrew can´t hear from across the room. Not that he cares. Laying back down and turning his back towards the room, he closes his eyes again and, much to his surprise, falls back asleep easily.
Waking up once more, Andrew feels like there´s something he forgot which isn´t possible because Andrew can´t forget. Groggy and with a sharp pain in his neck, he rolls off the couch and falls to the ground with a muffled umph.
“Andrew?”
Neil, that´s Neil. Andrew knows this because it sounds like Neil and when he looks up and sees Neil, he´s pretty sure that that´s what he looks like too. Neil. Neil. Repeating the name in his head a few more times while still glaring up at his junkie, the letters start to shift and change, to lose old and gain new meaning.
“Drew, you can stop saying my name, I´m here.” Neil comes closer until he´s kneeling infront of Andrew. He´s too close, looking up hurts his neck and Andrew will go crosseyed sooner or later, so he lets his head fall back down against the cool floor.
“Ew,” he grumbles into the blanket still wrapped around him.
“What´s up?”
“Look.” Andrew nods towards the space beneath the couch where large clumps of dust have formed. Neil lays down curiously so they´re head to head, and follows Andrew´s eyes.
“I´ll clean later, okay?”
“But it´s disgusting now.”
With a soft smile Neil raises to his feet with the elegance of a cat and offers Andrew a hand. “I´ll clean as soon as you´re in the kitchen with some food.”
Sensing that Andrew has to save his dignity from another harsh blow, he ignores Neil´s hand and struggles to get up. Once he´s standing on shaky legs, Neil is already there to lead the way towards the kitchen where a pot is waiting for Andrew. Watching as Neil pours some of the orange soup into a bowl, Andrew frowns and flops down on a chair. There´s something he wants to say, something he needs to say. To Neil. Always to Neil. Junkie.
“You can´t wear orange.”
Ah. That´s it.
“What?”
Neil places the bowl infront of Andrew, hands over a spoon and elegantly moves to put Andrew´s mug of cold tea into the microwave. His legs are long, Andrew notices, long and trained and strong. Andrew remembers the way they clench around his waist. Neil has a good ass, too. Firm and solid.
“I appreciate you telling me how much you like my ass…” snorts Neil. Oh. That was meant to stay quiet. For some reason Andrew can´t keep his mouth shut today. That´s bothersome.
“...but I´m more confused about the not wearing orange. You do know that one of our team colours is orange, right?”
“Idiot.”
Taking the first spoonful of soup, Andrew thinks. Neil can´t wear orange, he knows that. He can´t wear orange because it´s a hideous colour and the gear is enough, but that´s not what this is about. Neil can´t wear orange because…because…
“Drew, just eat. Stop thinking, yeah? You´re already boiling hot.”
Neil is rummaging through the paper bag Aaron brought over earlier. Right now he´s putting medicine on the counter, together with a box of covid tests and two boxes of masks.
Ah, there it is.
“When we marry,” murmurs Andrew into his soup. “You can´t wear orange when we marry. I won´t marry you if you wear orange.”
Something hits the counter and when Andrew looks up, Neil is already staring at him, hand still a few inches above the counter where a bottle of cough syrup slipped from his grip.
“When we marry…?”
“Did you get a ball to the head?”
“Are you proposing right now?”, asks Neil, a strange sound in his voice giving Andrew the impression that he should continue eating his soup. So he does just that, ignoring Neil´s look and the pounding behind his eyes.
“How about a shower after dinner? Your hair is all sweaty.”
“Cass said I shouldn´t shower before bed or I´ll get sick.”
Where that came from, Andrew doesn´t know, but now that it´s out he feels sick. Pushing the bowl away, he raises to wobbly feet and moves to go back to the couch but Neil stops him with a simple Drew.
“I will blow-dry your hair, okay? You won´t get sick, I promise,” he smiles and that simple smile is so sweet, so wonky and a little uncertainaround the edges, so Neil that for a moment Andrew wants with every fibre of his being.
“You shower and I´ll prepare your bed on the couch, okay? Then you can have icecream and watch tv if you want to.”
“I´m not allowed to watch tv before bed…”
“Then I could read to you?”
Andrew thinks for a moment before nodding. He doesn´t stop nodding until he´s standing in the shower, letting warm water fall down his back.
- - -
Hearing Andrew talk about Cass started Neil enough for him to stay behind and stare at where Andrew was standing while the shower is already turning on on the next room. Neil recalls Andrew´s slurred speech, his feverish cheeks and glassy eyes and hurries to carry blankets and pillows to the couch to make Andrew a cozy nest. He´s just about done, turning the main lights off to give Andrew´s eyes some rest, when the shower turns off again.
Andrew is already dressed and sitting on a little stool infront of the mirror when Neil knocks before entering. Blond hair dripping wet, Andrew is swaying ever so slightly, eyes closed and breathing through his slightly opened mouth.
Drying his hair is an easy task. Andrew is sitting still, letting Neil comb through his hair and blow-dry them. Once Neil is done and Andrew´s hair is fluffy and soft, a tuft behind his left ear sticking out, Neil looks up to see Andrew already looking at him through the mirror. They share a look before Andrew, slow enough for Neil to react in case he needs to, lets his head fall back until it´s resting against Neil´s stomach.
“Tired?”, asks Neil softly, cupping warm cheeks between his cool hands. Andrew just hums, letting his eyes close again. His breathing goes heavy and entirely through his mouth, there´s a little unhappy frown pulling his eyebrows together and tension in his jaw that Neil knows comes from grinding his teeth.
“I think it´s time to take some medicine, hm? It´s just some syrup to get your fever down so you can sleep better tonight.”
Andrew lets Neil gently drag him along towards the couch where Andrew curls up like a cat and allows Neil to feed him a spoonful of medicine. Just as he´s about to fall asleep again, he mutters,” don´t let them drug me again.”
Then he´s out and Neil is alone with a million thoughts and no idea how to work through them. In the span of just one day Andrew has mentioned Cass and his childhood twice and asked Neil to look out for him in his usual Andrew way. Neil knows that the covid test Andrew took yesterday - he left it on the edge of the sink - came out negative but that doesn´t mean anything. As far as Neil knows Andrew could be positive and get worse and worse and worse until -
No. Matt always says that bad thoughts bring bad actions and before Neil never really cared because most bad thoughts either involved asshole people or himself, but this is Andrew. Andrew who´s curled up on his side, back pressed against the pillows and a deathgrip on the blanket wrapped around his body. So Neil carefully raises to his feet and starts collecting laundry laying around in the bedroom before he texts Dan and asks her to pick it up, knowing that she wanted to wash today anyways. A few minutes later someone softly knocks at the door.
“Hey Neil,” Dan greets him, crinkling eyes the only indication that she´s smiling behind her mask.
“Hey,” murmurs Neil back,” Andrew is asleep on the couch right now.”
After a moment of hesitation Dan asks,” how´s he doing?”
With a shrug, Neil glances behind him at the mountain Andrew is hidden under. “Fever is still high and he´s coughing from time to time but for now he´s apparently negative.”
“Fingers crossed. You have laundry for me?”
Neil hands over the basket and exchanges a few more words before closing the door again. Sitting around makes him go crazy so he starts cleaning the kitchen, wiping the shower clean and mopping the floor. After two hours the entire dorm is squeaky clean, Neil is exhausted and his head pleasantly empty. Andrew is still asleep, mouth slightly opened and eyes fluttering behind closed lids. Still, he seems calm so Neil feels good enough to tug one of the beanbags next to the window and grab his laptop to get some work done or - more likely - watch an old rerun of whatever Exy game he comes across.
At some point, Neil is in the middle of taking notes, movement coming from the couch makes him look up. Andrew is sitting in a pile of blankets, looking sleepy and soft while rubbing his eyes.
“Hi,” smiles Neil gently,” how´re you feeling?”
With a little frown, Andrew flops back down and pulls the blanket up and over his head. Beneath the mountain, Neil hears a little grunt.
“Can I take your temperature again?”
“Go away,” says the mountain, sounding pouty.
Neil snorts and moves to get up and reach for the thermometer laying on the coffee table. Once he´s close enough, he already notices Andrew glaring up at him, cheeks rosy and hair messy. Still, he doesn´t complain once the thermometer is in his mouth, even when he can´t stop playing with it while Neil tries to read what it says.
“You´re not as hot as earlier today, that´s good. Are you hungry?”
Andrew shakes his head, still staring at where Neil is kneeling down next to him. Leaning over Andrew while he´s sick and vulnerable feels like the worst idea and Neil isn´t stupid enough to do either that or reach out to Andrew without asking.
“No,” hums Andrew, closing his eyes again. “Hand.”
“Hm?”
“Hands,” Andrew repeats, moving his face ever so slightly towards Neil.
Ah.
“You want my hands on your face?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I sit next to you?”
“Yeah.”
Andrew hums as soon as Neil´s cool fingers brush a few strands of hair from his forehead. When Neil cups his cheeks, he full on sighs and wiggles closer. He really doesn´t feel as warm anymore, the fever seems to be going down. The coughing and sniffling is still there but perhapy it really is just a nasty cold. A soft, repetitive blow of air against the inside of Neil´s arms make him look down.
Andrew has fallen asleep again, face turned towards Neil and lips slightly parted. With a soft smile, Neil continues softly brushing over Andrew´s cheeks and combing through his hair.
They´ll be fine, one way or another.