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The first alarm for the day sounded at 6:00 AM sharp, perhaps for some twisted anxiety that the day would start without the two.
Found underneath the covers of a bed that creaked under movement, Josh Myers lay, wrapped in the arms of a man who went most peculiarly by "Romper Stomper". The apartment bedroom shared walls with a few others, and hardly any noise traveled in the early day. It was tranquil, even with the digital screech emitting from Romper's phone.
He shifted to switch it off, removing a hand from the warm body curled next to him. Through the creases of their blinds, Romper could see grey clouds just barely against the light of the streets below. He gave Josh, who had barely reacted to the alarm, a small shake. "Mmmmorning." He droned, his voice heavy with the sleep he had just left behind.
Josh gave no reaction.
Romper gave the other a peck next to his ear, then rolled off the other side of the bed. The silence from the other this early was not inordinary. He would check again in 15 minute's time.
In 15 minutes, Romper accomplished much- he'd started the coffee to brew, and changed his clothes for the declining temperatures outside. He had just lit a cigarette when he went to check on the other.
"Josh? Hey, it's time to get up." He said, smiling down at Josh. The light of his cigarette just barely illuminated Josh's features. His dark hair hung in his face, almost hiding his eyes from view.
"There's coffee going now."
Josh groaned and turned over in return. He didn't seem particularly awake, so Romper shook at his shoulder once more and left the room.
He'd finished doing his hair for the day, and he'd poured himself coffee when he thought to check if Josh had awoken himself yet. He decided, alternatively, to fix toaster waffles for the two (who were on a college budget) before he did so. As he started the waffles, rain began battering gently on the window. A subtle rumble hinted at a storm.
Romper stood idly in the bedroom doorway, lips pressed tight in disapproval. Josh Myers had moved, but only to cover his face with a pillow.
"Dude." He started, moving his finger to the lightswitch by the door. He looked on, knowing that Josh could only see his posture in his silhouette- well, actually, Josh could only see his pillowcase at the moment.
Romper opened his mouth to begin his threats of blinding light when he was stopped by a voice from the bed. Josh spoke with a distinct hoarseness in his throat that hadn't been there before.
"Yeah, I'll- I'll get up. Give me a minute."
Romper felt his irritation move and become shame, and he considered just giving a nod and leaving to wait. It would spare any admit of fault on his behalf, but the more he stood, the more he felt he should move forward.
He sat himself on the foot of the bed, just below where Josh had curled into a near fetal position. He looked over the bed in silence, then leaned forward to push away the pillow, and he pressed the back of his hand to Josh's forehead. It radiated a heat that he had missed earlier. Feverish. Despite the warmth in his flesh, Romper was acutely noting Josh's trembling body.
"Actually- uh, don't worry about it. The weather is bad enough that your professor called off for today." Romper lied smoothly. "Somethin' about a branch in the street…"
Thunder stroked overhead, and Josh pressed himself against the hand left on his face.
"This early in the storm?"
Romper had not, in fact, lied smoothly.
"Uh, yeah."
Josh had a habit for seeking out lies as soon as they were presented to him. He had a manner that easily analyzed people and picked them apart. A distinct empathy that he used for very little good.
Romper also had that awareness about him. He knew how to treat others, but he made a choice long ago not to make any sort of effort to treat people correctly. He found it tedious to do so when others would never do so for him- at least, that's what he told people when they asked.
There were certain people that were exceptions to this rule.
Back when the two boys were still in school, Josh seemed persistently ill. When it came to school, Josh seem to show up in any state. No matter how sick he seemed, he would arrive with whatever symptoms the illness brought.
Josh had also made himself one of the exceptions to the rule.
Romper was content with missing class today. He was well enough in his grades to be sound in an absence. And he knew Josh wasn't even close to failing.
"Let's see. Waffles will be done in a minute, so I'll bring them in here."
The rain beat on the glass a little harder, and the thunder sounded stronger.
"You don't need to-" Josh cut himself off with a dry, painful sounding cough into his blanket.
"No, dude. You'll get your germs all over. I'll bring them in." He assured, pushing a bit of hair away from Josh's eyes. "Do you want cream in that coffee?"
It was now that Josh opened his eye to look up.
"I'm not that sick." He protested.
"You didn't seem too great last night." Romper argued.
"I was fine."
"I mean, if you want to wait for this to be bad enough to see a doctor, that's cool." Romper reminded, feeling a sting of regret when Josh winced at the thought.
"Actually," he started, "I think I could use some rest." Josh had switched his idea after what seemed like heavy consideration. "And no to cream… please."
Romper left without much of another word. When he'd collected the breakfast for the two, he returned. Josh had sat up and turned on the lamp on his nightstand. The area surrounding it was occupied by a stack of books (and notebooks), as well as pencils and pens contained in a ceramic mug. The cup had been placed on top of the books in an effort to create room. Josh was sat up now, smiling at the other. He didnt hold any semblance of happiness or content, but he also didn't hold that fear he'd tried to make everyone feel ever since he was old enough to be feared in the first place.
Romper felt his heart skip a beat. It felt premature to be so infatuated with someone so far into your relationship (they'd known each other since their youth), but even in moments like this, Josh held his attention easily. Even in the state where Josh felt himself most undone.
Romper gulped and swallowed any stupid compliments set on his tongue. He brought the plates over and flopped back down on the other side of the bed, legs crossing over themselves.
"You were just joking earlier, right?" Josh glanced from behind his hair.
"Huhh?" Romper breathed through his teeth. "Sort of." Losing Josh's current agreement to rest might be dangerous to the integrity of a sick day.
There are a lot of things you just don't mention when you talk about yourself. Especially when you'd been where they had been. Little details like dread over men in scrubs were very common details to gloss, but Romper knew Josh hated hospitals. He hated being sick altogether. And Josh might have known that Romper knew.
"Sort of?" Josh dipped his waffle into his coffee, earning a strange look from Romper. Maybe it tasted better that way.
"Well, if you don't get better, then…"
"I can get better." Josh agreed through a mouthful of food. "Really fast."
Romper pulled the waffles apart with his fork.
"Let's run down symptoms," he proposed.
Josh nodded in agreement, and so they started.
"Fever, yeah. I'll check it again later."
Josh nodded.
"Sore throat?"
"Mm-hm."
"Okay. Weird pains?"
"Sinus," Josh explained, poking at his own face. "Stomach."
"Nausea?"
"Uhh."
"What? Anything else?"
"My legs are too weak to walk to the kitchen. Oh no!"
"You are just so funny, you know what?" Romper rolled his eyes, embarrassed at the phrasing.
"I am making a serious complaint here. Are you not giving a serious diagnosis?" Josh teased, poking Romper in the arm as he finished off his coffee (which, in contrast to Josh's, had both sugar and cream).
"My diagnosis is, uh…" Romper paused. "Asshole disorder."
"That was brilliant. You really got me there." Josh encouraged. He sipped at his coffee once more, and suddenly erupted into hoarse coughs and gasps. Romper swiveled his head in alarm, but as Josh proved not to be choking, he began to rub the other's back with his free hand.
"I'll get some of that throat medicine for you," Romper said, taking the empty dishes from Josh and stepping back into the doorway as the coughing died down. "Seeing as you're some, like, Victorian orphan."
"Yes. And I can't wait for this plague to ravage my body, leaving a shell where I once was, fungus blooming from the cracks in my flesh."
Romper paused, cringing at the imagery. "Don't. Don't say shit like that." He scolded. Then, beneath his breath, "that's not even the right era." As he turned back to the kitchen.
With the dishes in the sink, Romper pulled a transparent bottle of medicine from the cabinet that was filled about three-fourths of the way with a blue liquid that he could almost taste from the bottle. Medicine had always tasted horrible to himself, but he found he had quite a healthy immune system. He rarely ever got sick in comparison to Josh, which made perfect sense when you considered how they spent their childhoods.
As he considered that difference and frowned, he migrated back to the room to give Josh the stuff, and laid back down next to him.
"If I pretend it's fine wine, might it go down easier?" Josh eyed the measurement he'd given himself in a small plastic cup, squinting narrowly.
"Yeah, probably. Not that you've ever had fine wine." Romper replied, planning out the day for the two of them as Josh forced the bitter syrup down his throat. He didn't register him shaking and gagging on it until it all passed. "Reactionary?"
"It doesn't taste good." Josh said, almost defensively.
"Well, I wouldn't expect it to taste like cotton candy." Which was the flavor on the label. "It always just tastes like chemical bullcrap." He chuckled to himself before he turned to actually look at Josh, who was insanely disgusted by the medicine. And unlike usually, it was showing in a million different ways. He would almost be amused if not for how irritated he looked. "Do you need water?"
"No, no." Josh waves a hand in disapproval, flopping down towards his pillow. His breathing shifted slightly, and Romper began to talk at him:
"I was thinking after you start feeling better, we can make some lunch and maybe sit outside for a while, because I've heard that fresh air can-"
Click
The room, quite abruptly, filled with darkness. Romper stared forward in a bit of shock, as if the power had suddenly zapped out- but in the kitchen, it was still on. Josh had turned off the lamp.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked, slightly offended.
"Sleeping. It's not even 7:00 yet."
Romper felt his face warm in embarrassment once again, and he nodded his head. Right. Relax for now.
"Right. Goodnight, Josh."
"Mmmm."
Staring at the ceiling, Romper heard the train out of town power through. He laced a hand with Josh's, perhaps out of habitual contact, and turned to look at the rain clinking against the window as he drifted back to sleep.
— —
Josh Myers awoke to no sunlight and no hand in his own.
Drowsily, perhaps tipsy from the medicine he'd had, he turned over, recognizing that the bed next to him was empty.
Despite his vision clearly telling him no one was there, Josh mumbled Romper's name to the rain before he rolled over to leave the room.
In the kitchen, he looked over the counters for some sort of hint to what that man could possibly be up to now. He'd left the toaster out, supposedly from breakfast, as well as a pack of cigarettes. Half empty. Seeing as there was no set of keys next to it, Josh assumed he had left the house. He took his phone from its spot on the counter(doctors suggested that sleeping away from the phone could make it easier to sleep) and checked his messages. Sure enough, there it was.
Between a somewhat mocking message from Trent and one from his sister reminding him of trash day, Romper had sent him a little warning about his whereabouts:
"news says storm will get worse so I'm running 2 get some stuff we need and for dinner. in case of power outage. will get ginger ale"
Josh blinked at the message once, then twice, then looked towards the window. The storm was battering down hard, and Josh heard its groaning from the warmth of his apartment.
He felt guilt on one half, and something strange and weighted on another. His skin turned cold and claims, suddenly, despite his sweating, and he remembered his condition.
But, oh, trash day! He needed to take out the garbage. He looked at the trash can and stalled, waved by tiredness he couldn't quite get over. His legs felt like weights, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep. What time was it?
Halfway to the task at hand, Josh stopped, realizing he was not going to get anything done in his state, and made a beeline for the couch. It had never been his preference to quit at such easy things, but he felt so pathetically exhausted he could hardly move. In fact, he had stopped walking once more, feet just on the warm carpet in the living room. He imagined himself laying here for good, the carpet soft against his face… and suddenly, there he was, face down on the ground.
He basked in the softness for a minute, perhaps wanting to pretend he was on some itchy cloud that smelled faintly of mold. He reasoned that he would lay there for a minute, then resume his walk to the couch.
He was asleep again within 5 minutes.
"Josh?"
The voice was gentle above him, soft. Spoken like it had a lick of concern within it. He noted a faint, cold pressure on his wrist, and batted his eyes open. Oh, yeah. Laying on the ground facedown.
He flipped himself over, and there was Romper next to him, leaning over him and holding him by the wrist. Well, it was less of a hold and more of a pulse-check. Josh thought it might be overdramatic, but so was Romper.
The larger man let out a sigh of some sort, looking down at him with a noted frown. "What the hell are you doing, dude?"
Josh smiled upward, suddenly embarrassed to be laying facedown on the floor. Nevermind that it was technically his floor in part. "I got tired."
"Tired?"
"Yes. The, uh, medicine."
Romper sighed again, standing now- Josh realized immediately after that he was absolutely drenched. His shoes (which were still on, to some dismay of Josh's) were covered in mud and slick. Josh sat up, and noticed the groceries dropped in the doorway. He felt terrible for simply the act of sleeping. Albeit he had been sleeping face down on the floor, which was much more concerning…
Romper was holding out an arm, but Josh didn't even notice until he shook it in front of him.
"Do you need help, man?"
Josh whipped his head to the sound, seeming flustered, and grabbed him by the wrist. Romper pulled him up, then stood in front of him idly. As if he had something to say that he hadn't thought of yet.
"I, uh, gotta change."
Romper disappeared into the bedroom, and Josh didn't move. He rubbed his arm, feeling shame like grime stuck in the hairs of his skin. He sighed, and carried himself to the door to pick up the slick plastic bags left there. With 2 on each arm, he walked to the counter and set them gingerly on top, unpacking the contents as the storm continued its assault on the window. AA batteries, pocket flashlights, a couple bags of ice, canned goods (nevermind that they wouldn't be able to heat them with no power), and finally, at the bottom of the bag, several cans of ginger ale.
As Josh observed the contents, a hand dropped upon his shoulder and he jumped.
Romper jumped as well, apparently startled that he had startled Josh at all. "Hey," he smiled almost nervously. "Whatcha doing?"
"I was going to put this all away." Josh gestured, smiling back, but not at all nervous as he set the batteries and flashlights aside. He felt it was all he could do for causing so much dramatic trouble.
"It's fine, man. I'll get it." Romper put a hand back on his shoulder.
"No, I'm here… I'll do it." Josh affirmed himself, swinging the door to the freezer open and sliding the ice inside.
Romper stood behind him for a moment. Josh could almost see the cogs in his head turning, but he couldn't put his finger on what was making them go as he moved for the cans.
"No, you wont." Romper said, and suddenly Josh was off his feet, being held in raised arms, and he yelped. Josh had hardly processed the fact he wasn't standing when he began processing the fact he was moving. Despite himself, he felt his cheeks growing hot, and he knew it would show.
And so, back in the living room, Josh was toppled onto the couch, and suddenly, Romper had a hand pressed to his chest, forbidding him to move. "Nope. Today is, uh, Take-Care-of-Your-Josh day. It's a national holiday." Josh saw right through the made-up celebration.
"It is not any national day- its okay, I'm-" Josh broke into hacking coughs again, eyes watering at the mucus sliding up his throat.
"Nope. I'll get you a blanket, and you'll put in a movie. I'll make dinner, and you sit here. You're gonna take care of your Josh." Romper insisted. He didn't move, maintaining eye contact as if to reflect that this was serious business. As if to let Josh know he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Exhausted and sick, Josh knew he didn't actually want to do anything anyways. Still, he looked up like he had something to say. But he did not speak. Instead, he nodded and looked down. He saw the sleeve of the sweater Romper had put on to stifle the soaked skin he'd earned earlier.
Maybe it was best if he just listened.
Romper left, eyes darting back and forth as he left to the bedroom again. Josh stood and walked to the television, which only worked if you used the buttons on the side. Pressing each, he got the thing set to take the DVD player, and he easily picked a movie to watch.
He heard Romper approach this time, but didn't move until he right over him, and the blanket had been thrown over his shoulders in a hug. Josh smiled to himself, aware that Romper couldn't see it from where he was.
After a minute or so, Josh spoke up. "Since I've proven I can walk, will you let me go?"
"Oh. Oh. Yeah. Uh…" Romper stepped back, and Josh turned to see that sheepish look in his eyes. "I'll have dinner ready soon."
"You'd better not waste your time holding me captive."
"God!" Romper yelled behind him, and Josh heard thunder crack almost right overhead as he nestled himself into the couch. Romper punctuated his own words with a laugh as he disappeared.
Silence of the Lambs started on the screen, and Josh immediately lost track of time. Of all the stories in the world, Josh got sucked into the world of Hannibal easiest. It was realistic, gritty, and nostalgic. To him, its artistry was never paralleled. He stared stupidly at the screen, searching for new details to point out and finding none. He became so absorbed in the story that he didn't think about the smells from the kitchen or the thunder clamoring overhead. He did, however, keep thinking over how light he must have been to be scooped up that easily. In his opinion, that simply wasn't possible.
"