Chapter Text
The moment Noah had woken up, having to force his eyes open and struggle to even move his limbs, he knew today was not gonna be good.
He groaned in agony, laying on his stomach with his arms curled up around his pillow. He glanced over at the clock on his bedside table, squinting and taking a few moments to read the time. 9:36am. It was far too early to be feeling like shit. He huffed, closing his eyes and burying his face back into the pillow. He needed to get up, make breakfast and go down to the garage to work, but just the thought of sitting up wasn't fun.
Eventually, after wallowing in pity, he rolled over onto his side and pushed himself up, propping his body on his elbow. He grunted quietly, forcing his eyes shut and slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position. He sat on the edge of his bed, legs pressed tightly together and hands digging into the edges of his sheets. Noah took a slooow breath in, forcing himself to relax before standing and squinting his eyes open. He stumbled out of his room, walking down the hall and into the open living room area. He paused at the dining table, brows furrowed together and picking up a piece of paper. It was close to his face, reading through blurriness and mumbling the words aloud, "..Ma and me went to the library..Be back soon."
He sighed in relief. It meant he could go back to bed for a little bit. Even just for another hour. He crumpled the paper in his hand, tossing it into the trash can as he stumbled back down the hall and into his room. He collapsed onto his bed, face down in his pillow again and he sunk into the slightly cooler material. Just as he settled, he startled as the walkie-talkie in his drawer was brought to life. The static was loud, clasping a hand over his ear before the static settled and Mirage's voice came through.
"Ayo, Sonic! Whatcha doing?" He spoke eagerly through the talkie before it clicked off. Noah groaned, tilting his head to look over at his bedside table. He didn't want to ignore Mirage, but he could already feel a headache forming and his body was aching all over. He flinched a little when the walkie-talkie clicked to life again, the other's voice filling the empty air, "Sooonic? Yooo? I know you're up, bro."
He huffed, letting a few seconds pass before reaching his hand blindly over. He fumbled to grab the drawer, finding the handle and yanking it open awkwardly. His hand searched the open drawer, face still pressed into the pillow and finally, locating the talkie. He brought it closer, grasping on it and rolling his finger between the knobs to lower the volume. He then pressed the button, tilting his head to speak more clearly, ".. What's up, 'Raj..?"
He cringed lightly, his voice coming out raspy and sore. He swallowed, waiting for the other to respond, which took less than a second, "Just wanted to ask when you're coming down to the garage, but uh - You ain't sound too good. What's wrong?"
Noah frowned a little, as Mirage sounded concerned over him. Ah man. He pressed the button again, trying to keep his voice clear, which he was failing miserably, "Just - Just sick. My body is all..sore and shit."
He let go of the button, shifting on the sheets below him in uncomfortableness. He was sweating profusely, shirt sticking to his skin and he flipped himself onto his back. The walkie-talkie was quiet. He paused, squinting his eyes open and looking down at the blocky device. Was it still working? He tilted it, looking at the small blinking light. It still worked. Why was Mirage taking so long to respond then?
Noah huffed, closing his eyes again and placing the talkie down onto his bedside table. He tossed his arm over his face, sprawled out on his bed and he was already starting to slip back into sleep. It wasn't hard to fall back asleep, considering he was still so tired and felt like shit.
However, he had barely been asleep for a few minutes when he heard a rattling noise outside his window. He was coherent enough to hear it, but he didn't bother to check it out, thinking it was nothing. He shifted, turning onto his side with his front facing the wall. He breathed through his mouth, hot and harsh breaths. Then there was a tap at his window and then, a moment later, he heard his window start to be pried open. His heart slammed into panic, practically jumping out of bed and standing dizzily on his feet. He stumbled to the wall, grabbing his nearby bat and holding his stance. Who the fuck breaks into someone's apartment in the morning? He spoke in fear, eyes wide open yet blurry, "H- hey! Get back, whoever the fuck is there! I'll swing!"
The figure in the window held their arms up, already having pried the window up and was halfway through it. They spoke up, the voice a little fearful, not because of him, but in a sense of not wanting to be wounded, "Aye, woah, woah! Chill, chill! It's just me, Mirage!"
Noah paused, slowly lowering the bat and standing there awkwardly. He blinked, squinting a little as his vision cleared and he saw Mirage fully form in front of him. He stared at him, dumbfounded and tilted his head a little as he mumbled, "..Mirage? What - what the fuck? What are you doing here?"
He tossed the bat to the floor, moving over to him and helping him inside of his window quickly. He then shut the window and closed the blinds, before turning to look at him. The two had figured out shortly after Mirage woke up that he could displace his mass and bits, taking out parts that weren't as needed to make himself smaller. The shortest he could go was around seven foot and five inches, as anymore shorter started to become uncomfortable for him. Like the armor around him was too tight. He had only done it a few times since learning, a mixture to test it out or when he wanted to freak Noah the fuck out. But now, he was using it as a way to visit Noah.
"Well, I wanted to come check on you! Can't sit in the garage knowing my boy ain't feeling good." The mech grinned, resting his hands on his hips and tilting his head a little. He just barely fit in Noah's apartment, being a few inches shy of his helm touching the ceiling. Noah sighed, running a hand down his face as he glanced up at him, "That's - that's sweet, 'Raj, but it's light out. We can't just have you - like, walking around and shit man."
He crossed his arms over his chest, the short adrenaline rush he had calming and slowing down. But he was also beginning to feel a bit - lightheaded? He had stood up fairly fast, considering he thought someone was breaking in. He narrowed his eyes up at Mirage, vision blurring and doubling a little as his body swayed. It was like his headache had suddenly doubled over, his hearing becoming muffled as Mirage spoke. At least, he thought he spoke, cause his mouth was moving and he was beginning to look concerned. Suddenly, Noah swayed forward, stumbling over his feet, but Mirage caught him, securely wrapping his arms around him and holding him up.
"Woah - Noah! Dude, holy Primus, are you okay?" He spoke in shock, both because of Noah suddenly falling over, but because he was so warm. Like, far warmer than normal. His optical ridge was knitted together, a frown settled on his faceplate as he shifted Noah's weight in his arms. The human groaned in agony, leaning his forehead against Mirage's chassis and weakly moving his hands to hold onto his arms. He mumbled, eyes closed tightly, "..'M fine. Just - fuck, stood too fast."
He was unconsciously leaning closer against Mirage, soaking in the cold to cool down his warm skin. He sighed in relief, sagging a little in his arms. Mirage only watched, tilting his head before chuckling at the sight. It was pretty funny, Noah pressed against him and practically nuzzled into the metal that made up his body.
"Wow, didn't realize you turn all clingy when sick." He snorted when Noah slapped his arm, who had turned his head up to look up at him and give him a little glare, "..I do not get clingy."
Mirage hummed in response, tilting his head the other way and grinning, "If you say so, if you say so."
He then looked over at Noah's bed and then back down at him, who he was practically holding up. Actually, no, he was definitely holding him up, cause he was sure if he let go, Noah would fall to the floor like a bunch of rocks. He was amused at that thought, but he wouldn't do that to his boy. So, instead, he slipped his arm down and under Noah's knees, easily and swiftly picking up the sick man in bridal style. He grinned as Noah let out a short squawk and he couldn't contain his short giggles, especially when Noah had turned flustered and slapped a weak hand against his chassis.
"You gotta warn a man, you know!" He huffed, rolling his eyes as Mirage giggled at him. But he let Mirage carry him, for two reasons: One, he didn't actually mind being carried by him and two, Mirage was cold and he was warm. So it was perfectly fine with him. Mirage strolled over to Noah's bed, bending down and lowering Noah into his plush fabrics. He slowly moved his arms out from under him, moving to stand, but Noah stopped him, reaching out to grab onto his wrist. Mirage blinked down at him, one optical ridge raising in question. Noah looked like he wanted to say something, but he seemed embarrassed, by the way his eyes shifted and his cheeks had turned a little redder. Cute. Ahem. Nothing.
The sick man then huffed, turning his sight back to Mirage and murmuring, "..Can you lay with me?"
The mech looked at him in shock, briefly and he could feel the way his own cheekplates heated up. Okay, yeah, Noah had slept inside of him many times before, but the idea of laying with Noah, in his actual body, that did something to the wiring in his head. He swiftly pulled himself together, grinning as he poked a digit onto Noah's forehead, "And you say you're not clingy."
The sick man scoffed, rolling his eyes, but smiled and scooted closer to the wall, "I am definitely not. Just using you to my advantage right now."
Mirage let out a dramatic fake gasp as he sat onto the bed, carefully moving and lowering his body down beside Noah's own. He held a servo over his chassis and another servo rested against his forehelm, optics closed as he spoke, "I cannot believe this, you're using my poor metal body. How rude!"
He grinned when he heard Noah snort, opening one optic as the curly haired man chuckled with slight shaking shoulders. He shoved a hand against the cool metal, grinning and shaking his head a little.
"You're so stupid man." His smile softened before he paused, shuffling closer to Mirage and leaning his forehead against his chassis again. He felt the other stiffen briefly, ready to move away, but then he felt the other's arm slip around him and pull him closer. He smiled, tiredly and closed his eyes. He moved an arm over Mirage, listening to the faint thrum of his spark underneath his chestplate. It was a pleasant noise, something he had grown to find comforting, especially after hanging around Mirage's spark for months. You know, fixing him and all.
The mech was quiet, optics swirling slowly as he watched Noah's breathing slow and how he so easily relaxed against him. His arms were settled around his waist, servos resting flatly against his back and rubbing slight motions there. Noah was warm, he was always warm, something that Mirage had grown to love. Obviously, he was a bit too warm right now, but human's bodies were just naturally warm and soft. Cybertronians were cold, hard metal. So it was different to hold someone who was so vastly different to him. He sighed, leaning his helm down and resting his chin against the top of Noah's head. This wasn't exactly the most comfortable spot, considering the bed was a little too small for him and he had to scrunch his body up a bit, but how could he complain when he's holding Noah?
After a few minutes of silence had passed, Mirage spoke up, slow and carefully, "..Hey Noah?"
He waited a few moments, waiting for the other to respond and when he didn't, he glanced down at him. He blinked, then chuckled and rested his chin on Noah's head again. Well. That explains why he had been so quiet, Noah's fallen asleep. He guessed it made sense, he didn't feel well.
He settled against him, pulling Noah flush against his body and he closed his optics. It wasn't like he'd get the chance to do this often, so he was savoring it for all that he could for now. Not like he could stay long anyway, he did not want to be caught by Noah's mother or Kris. That kid would never let this down!
But whatever. That's in the future! A future Mirage worry, ya know. He's overthinking this when he shooooould be enjoying this! With a little sigh and a few moments of shifting, finding the best comfortable spot, he let himself slip into a light recharge.
You know, gotta always be prepared to protect his boy.