Work Text:
Lying in bed next to him you could see his slow and deep breaths making his chest rise and fall and consequently moving the blanket in the same rhythm. Simon’s presence in your bed always improved your sleep, and you like to think it’s vice versa. After having to basically drag Simon to bed yesterday, you weren't too surprised that he was still asleep. He truly must have been exhausted.
Outside the safety of your bedroom, the rain hasn’t stopped yet from what you could tell. Slowly but surely the rain droplets were making their way down your bedroom window, and you knew they would eventually find their way back to earth. Where they would nourish plants and animals alike.
Some people don’t like the rain, but you never understood why. Even if the rain may seem dark and gloomy to some, it only gets us to appreciate the sunny days even more. After all, there would always be sunshine after the rain.
You wouldn’t let a beautiful rainy day like this one, go to waste by decomposing in bed all day. One downside of being a grown-up is that there are always chores waiting to be done and no one else was going to do them for you. So, begrudgingly, you tried making your way out of the bed as quietly as you could manage. Cringing at any small creak and groan the bed made because of the changes in weight distribution as you pushed yourself up. Planting both of your feet on the cold floor didn’t aid in motivating you for your day but there was no backing up now. Your steps were still causing small creaks of the floor as much as you tried to avoid them. Moving forward your feet made quiet pitter patter sounds against the hard wood floor. Small noises were coming from Simon but nothing that would suggest he was awoken by you sneaking out of the bedroom.
Pride swelled in your chest that you had managed to avoid disturbing his sleep for the most part. You figured you might as well start going through your daily routine, maybe then you would feel a bit more alive. First things first, you visited the bathroom to freshen up a bit and maybe try and breathe a bit of life back into your sleepy face. After finishing up in the bathroom you moved to the kitchen. Mentally you could already picture exactly what breakfast you were in the mood for. You were acutely aware of the fact that you recently bought fresh fruits and now the time has come for them to be the main act of your first meal of the day. Together with some yoghurt they would fill that hole in your stomach that has been evidently created by the however many hours of rest you managed to get and has now been pestering you ever since you got up. Opening the fridge, you looked for that yoghurt you had purchased a little while ago-
Your thoughts were abruptly cut off when a sneeze that came from just across the room made you jump. Only after turning around, to try and identify where this sneeze suddenly could have come from, did you notice Simon standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He had always been able to be more silent than you were, always sneaking up on you, but this time it seemed like his body was set on betraying him.
But to be perfectly honest he looked a bit worse for wear. He was slouching slightly, doing very little to actually make him any smaller, he was still towering over everything as per usual. His face was undeniably flushed, and something told you it probably wasn’t because you were the first thing he was seeing this morning. He had eyebags under his eyes that made him look like he pulled an all-nighter rather than sleeping well over eight hours. Your favourite feature of his face, his eyes, were slightly red and half lidded, not used to the light difference from the rest of the house compared to the brightly lit kitchen. With his slightly down turned expression he quietly rasped out a scratchy “g’ mornin’” followed by a few sniffles. He looked as pitiful as a more than six-foot tall, scary looking, military man could look. Poor Simon must have come down with some sort of bug.
To be fair you had heard that the flu was making its rounds and that it has been spreading like crazy, especially during this time of the year. Combined with all of the hard physical exercises and trainings they were to complete in the freezing cold, was it only a matter of time before Simon would inevitably get sick.
You liked to think he only walked into the kitchen because he missed your warmth in bed. Your theory was only fortified when he slowly slouched over to you and slid his fingers under your shirt to rest his cold hands on your back. He was mumbling something about how warm you were, when in reality he was the one that felt like he was burning up. You bounced into action and started directing him backwards in the direction of the couch where he fell asleep on the previous day. After transporting him safely to the couch you told him stay put while you would get him some blankets. You returned to the living room with your favourite blankets in arms. You draped them all around Simon and tucked the edges under him to make sure he would be as snug as a bug in a rug. Satisfied with your work you moved back into the kitchen.
There you grabbed the kettle and watched as it slowly got filled underneath the stream of water pouring out of your faucet. You asked Simon in a slightly raised voice which kind of tea he would prefer. Hardly hearing his reply, due to his scratchy voice, you prepared his tea with an extra heaping amount of honey to maybe soothe his raw and raspy sounding throat. You grabbed his mug, the one you had gifted him a few months ago.
He didn’t admit it back then, but he really liked the present, so much so that you saw him using this specific mug any chance he got. That might be the reason why there was already a chip missing along the rim of the mug. The nearly constant usage and maybe some occasional rougher handling ended in a small piece breaking off. But he obviously cared too little about such small imperfections to throw it out. After all, it still served its purpose flawlessly, and you are sure he still loves it as much as before the chunk broke off.
You set down the mug on the small side table next to the couch where he could easily reach it. Before returning the kitchen to hopefully finish making breakfast, you gently placed the back of your hand on his forehead to try and gauge his temperature. He might have a bit of a fever but to accurately determine how bad it really was you would need to get the thermometer to check. Making a mental note to go looking for the small device later, you whipped up the quick breakfast you abandoned earlier. In the other room you heard him scrambling for the box of tissues. Poor Simon really caught a bad case of the flu, but you already know you wouldn’t hear him openly complaining, not when you were the one taking care of him.
You made a quick bowl of granola with some yoghurt and most importantly some fresh fruits. Simon would need every vitamin he could get to help his body in battling his sickness and hopefully avoid getting ill as easily. You brought both bowls to the living room and sat down on the couch close to Simon and handed him his respective breakfast. Bowl in hand you watched as Simon poked around in his yoghurt but didnt really eat much of it. You knew Simon was really sick when he didn't even finish his bowl of breakfast. Once you finished eating, you sat both dishes down on the coffee table, to be dealt with later. Firstly, you needed to ensure that Simon at least got some pain killers into his system to maybe get him to fall asleep again and hopefully heal up while sleeping.
You dragged Simon onto his feet and together you slowly trudged back into the bedroom. He instantly cozied into the warm sheets, and you brought him a glass of water alongside some pain killers. Simon popped the pills into his mouth and chased them with a few sips of water. You asked him if there was anything else you could get for him to maybe make him feel better. Simon listed the box of tissues and his mug of tea, both of which were still left on the side table back in the living room. You gathered both and returned to Simons side in the blink of an eye.
When you stepped back into the bedroom Simon was staring at you with a dreamy smile on his face and a slightly dazed but all in all content look in his eyes. You sat back down at his side and heard him mutter his thanks. You once again repeated if there was anything else you could do for him. Simon only hummed in thought before he replied, “a kiss on the cheek?” with a cheeky smile plastered on his face. You slightly chuckled at his antics and gave him his kiss on the lips instead. “You’ll get sick” he argued after you pulled away. You only shrugged and as you got up told him playfully how much superior your immune system was.
As with most things Simon was right about this one too and shortly after Simon was starting to feel better, you were the one laying in bed feeling miserable. Now he was the one having to take care of you.