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The moment Caesar woke up, he could tell that something was wrong.
The weather outside was pleasantly dreary, overcast with rain gently pattering on the windows. The wind blew roughly, shaking the trees to create a mellifluous sound.
Joseph was still in bed.
Despite their lazy attitude, they were always up early in the morning (perhaps too early), desperate to not "waste the day". Caesar always woke up at the normal time of around half seven alone in bed, sometimes being greeted with a premade breakfast if Joseph was feeling kind. For them to still be in bed this late (to them at least) in the day meant something was afoot.
Joseph was face-down onto their pillow, bundled up in the covers (typical). Despite curling up beneath the cocoon of fabric like they were cold, they were sweating up a storm. If Caesar didn't know any better, he'd think Joseph was ill. However, Caesar knew today was the day Joseph was meant to deal with the mess they'd made in the bedroom, piles of clothing strewn haphazardly across the floor. They'd promised that they'd do it today, but lazy as they usually were, Joseph had clearly devised a plot to try get out of it. Caesar was having none of it.
Caesar gave Joseph a firm shove. "Hey, you've slept in. Promised to clean your mess up today, remember?"
Joseph sluggishly rolled onto their back, revealing their flushed face. Their usually wild hair laid limply down.
"I know you're faking sick." The lengths someone would have to go to to fake sick as well as this was ridiculous. Perhaps even more effort than actually doing the chore. This was Joseph however, and no length was too great for Joseph, the conniving little bastard. They'd probably been planning this ages ago, for future reference.
"I'm not...promise." They muttered, voice raspy.
"Yeah, sure you are." Caesar untangled the covers from around Joseph because clearly he was going to have to drag Joseph out from hiding and–
That was warm.
Sure, Joseph was under a lot of layers, but now that he'd worked his way into the bundle, Caesar could tell that that sort of heat wasn't normal, even taking the layers into account.
"...You're actually ill?"
"Yeah. Feel like I've been run over and stuffed with damp towels." Sometimes it felt as if fate looked down on Caesar in particular. Joseph just had to get ill on this one day out of any other day of the year, didn't they?
"Don't think you're getting out of cleaning your mess. Once you're better, I'm forcing you to do it."
"I know, I know..."
"You're too hot. Come on, get out from there."
"I'm freezing, like hell I am!"
"You have a fever. That's why you feel cold. You're going to overheat otherwise. You can still have the covers, just don't use them like that, OK?" Caesar finally undid the bundle, setting Joseph free. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"
They glowered, but didn't do anything else in protest. "Had a slice of bread."
"A slice of bread? Just one?" It certainly wasn't the weirdest thing Joseph had had for a meal (That title would go to when they ate digestives with mustard spread on them. Simply thinking about that combination made Caesar's stomach turn.), but it was certainly up there.
"Tried to make toast. Felt like I was gonna pass out. Just...stuffed it in my mouth and made my way back here." They'd had something to eat, at the very least.
"You're much quieter than usual." Caesar stated.
"Throat hurts."
Caesar sighed. "I find the place much more peaceful without you yapping my ear off, but as your boyfriend I guess I have to help you with this, don't I?" He said, very much not missing the near constant stream of chatter. It wasn't like he found the fact Joseph felt comfortable enough around him to open up to that extent heartwarming at all. Definitely not.
"I can see right through you." Joseph grinned. They always did.
Caesar left and made his way into the kitchen, boiling the water in the kettle. He delved into the cupboards, sifting through the array of items in there. The damn things were too high for him. You'd think the nine centimeter height difference between him and Joseph wouldn't make much of a difference in day-to-day life. And yet here Caesar was, straining and standing on his tiptoes and still not being able to reach the back of the cupboards. He couldn't tell if Joseph had moved everything as far back as possible to save on space, or simply to spite him. Probably both.
One trip to get some books thick enough to use as a makeshift stool later, and he managed to get the jar of honey he desperately needed. The stuff was processed – Joseph believed raw and processed tasted the same, when they clearly did not, they were so unsophisticated when it came to food – but it'd have to do. That bottled lemon juice would also have to be something he put up with. Sometimes he wondered why he even put up with Joseph, with the way their views clashed so often. They could buy four whole and fresh lemons for the price of this one bottle. Why go with the liquid riddled with unnecessary chemicals and preservatives rather than the pure authentic thing?
Pushing his frustrations on Joseph's lack of care for proper food away, Caesar poured the heated water in a mug and mixed the honey and lemon juice with it. His mother always used to make it for him when he was sick as a child. Sure, it wasn't the best in terms of taste, but it sure as hell made his throat feel a lot better. He preferred to use remedies like this over medicine, if possible.
"Here, sit up." Caesar ordered when he got back to their bedroom. "I made you a drink. It'll soothe your throat."
"Mmh?" Joseph hummed in curiosity.
"Be careful, it might still be too hot to drink just yet." Caesar softly handed Joseph the mug, sitting beside them on their bed. Tentatively, they took a sip. Their face almost immediately scrunched up in response.
"Augh! It's sour!" They rolled their tongue on the roof of their mouth, desperate to get rid of the taste. Caesar couldn't help but laugh. "Don't laugh! I've gotta drink this whole thing you know!"
"Sorry, sorry..." Caesar lied. Joseph had a knack for having exaggerated expressions for the simplest of things. It was like when cats get so scared of a cucumber because they think it's a snake that they launch themselves into the air – it was too ridiculous of a reaction to not laugh at.
"You're so mean to me." Joseph jokingly cried. They seemed to have perked up a little bit now that Caesar had woken them up and talked to them. The next time they took a gulp, they didn't react as bad.
Joseph hummed a little tune as they leaned into Caesar. "This isn't too bad, now that I'm used to it."
"Is it making you feel better?"
"A little." A little was better than nothing, at least.
"You want anything else to eat? Or do you need anything else in general?"
"I'm fine. Don't really have the stomach to eat anything else right now." Joseph had almost finished the drink.
"Well, I've got things to do." Caesar couldn't exactly put everything on hold for Joseph – he needed to prepare lunch for himself (and think of what Joseph would be able to eat that wouldn't possibly upset their stomach), sort out the black and white clothes from the coloured ones to be washed, do a little spring cleaning as he'd very much been neglecting that job, tending to the plants in their garden...Hm. There looked to be a lot more to do now that he'd actually thought about it. "Let me know if you need me at all, just–"
Joseph's previously unnoticeable grip on Caesar tightened. They put their empty mug on the bedside table and grasped onto Caesar with all their might. Which wasn't much, given the sickness. He could easily pry Joseph off of him if he wanted. They rested their head on Caesar's shoulder, giving him big puppy dog eyes.
"I don't wanna be on my own..." They begged, pouting. Caesar mustn't give in. He had to stay strong. Joseph's tricks had worked on him many times before – this time would be one where it ended in failure.
"I will check in on you, you know." Rational thinking was the way to go here. Joseph couldn't plot up a way to get him to stay if they had been cornered by by logic right at the start. "I'm not going to leave you."
"I know...It's just that I have nothing to do. And I feel absolutely terrible, and...it makes me feel a little better, being with you." Persistent. Caesar pushed back with his own stubbornness. If they were going to go with that tactic, then this would have to turn into more of a waiting game than anything else.
"There's so many things I have to do around the house. I'd stay here with you if I could. You know I would."
"Just ten minutes then?" A slight adaptation. They were bending; When having exactly what they wanted seemed out of reach a compromise usually managed to snag Joseph at least something.
"JoJo–"
"If we keep arguing it's going to take longer for you to get started. Ten minutes isn't much." Joseph did have a good point. Little squabbles like this could go on for hours between the two if neither wanted to back down. And the longer they took, the more Joseph was winning – they still had the company of Caesar that way, after all. Caesar sighed deeply, signalling his defeat.
"Alright, alright. Ten minutes, and that's it, OK?" He relented, flopping back onto the bed and dragging Joseph down with him.
"Heh. I win." Joseph settled themself on top of Caesar. They closed their eyes as they rested their head on Caesar's chest. "Can you...talk to me? To make white noise? Your voice is relaxing."
"Sure. If it makes you feel better I'll do it." Caesar began to ramble in a mix of english and italian, placing his hands on Joseph's back and gently tracing patterns on it. The moment was calm. Peaceful. Just him and Joseph, having a moment together that wasn't chaotic in one way or another. Part of him wanted to stay like this. He knew he couldn't.
Once the decided on ten minutes had reached their end, Caesar gently spoke to Joseph. "Time's up, buddy. Come on, get off of me now."
Joseph didn't respond.
"JoJo." Caesar considered simply just sitting up, forcing Joseph off him – if Joseph wasn't going to keep up their part of the deal and ignore him, then they'd have to deal with the consequences. Even if they looked so at peace with the world, comfortably on top of him. If he didn't know any better, he'd think Joseph was–
Caesar became very accustomed to all the details on the ceiling as he tried his hardest not to cry out.
That motherfucker.
The two had not met at a compromise. The "compromise" was an act. A ploy. Joseph had planned this all from the beginning. They hadn't asked for Caesar to speak for the purpose of relaxing them while they probably felt stressed and like absolute shit. It was to help them fall asleep faster. Joseph knew all of Caesar's weak spots. There was no way in hell he'd purposefully wake up a sick person – they were asleep for a reason. He'd look like an asshole for it. And they'd taken advantage of his morals to trap him.
There was no way he was getting out from underneath without waking Joseph up. And if he woke Joseph up he definitely wouldn't hear the end of it. "I can't believe you'd do that to me, with me being as ill as I was! How selfish of you!" They'd probably say. Anything to make him feel guilty about it. Caesar was at a checkmate.
He should've seen this coming from miles away. Sickness or not, Joseph's senses were always honed for mind games. It was their trademark thing, for heaven's sake. Maybe this was his punishment for not taking it as seriously as he usually did.
Or...maybe it wasn't. Surely, the chores could wait a little longer to be done, right? If not for them, he'd be completely happy to stay here. And it wasn't as if he could actually do them anymore, stuck where he was, so...
"You should stop being so smart." Caesar joked. Joseph, of course, didn't respond. "Sometimes it feels like you've got me wrapped around your little finger."
"I would be leading quite the boring life though, without you and your shenanigans." The two balanced each other out, really. Functioned like two cogs in a machine, performing their tasks in unison to make everything around them work. If not for Caesar, Joseph would probably get too bored, or too distracted to get things done properly. Like the clothing, but on a much worse scale. Without Joseph, Caesar would try too hard. Do work all the time, making sure everything was as perfect as it could be, nice and presentable, admirable to others for his working ethics, running himself into the ground.
Maybe, this entrapment by Joseph was a blessing. The weather still wasn't the best to go out in. The rain had picked up, coming down harder and in fat droplets. It was the sort of weather you'd sit down somewhere comfy and read a book in, not work your ass off pruning plants and getting soaking wet in. It was the sort of weather that you'd stay inside and snuggle up next to a loved one in. He really did waste precious moments like these on work without a second thought, didn't he?
How much had he missed out on? How many more precious times would he have passed on if not for Joseph forcing him to relax for once?
No. This wasn't the time to think about things such as that. Being sad over the time lost over the years would simply just cause him to waste time instead of savouring the precious moment now.
Caesar moved his hand to Joseph's head, slowly running it through their hair. It wasn't as satisfying as usual, teetering on disgusting, with it being somewhat slick from sweat. The way Joseph hummed and sluggishly nuzzled into Caesar's chest in response made doing it worth it.
"Get better soon, JoJo. Love you."