Archive of Our Own ^beta

Norman hates being sick. He doesn’t even know how he got ill, but yesterday he began coughing and sniffling; however, his covid test came back negative. Which left Rose tentatively suggesting that it’s probably just the flu and she told Norman to get lots of fluids and rest. So, he has been stuck in bed ever since, feeling utterly dreadful and miserable.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to deal with it alone. Rose and Blum bring him his meals in bed (not that Norman has much of an appetite), and his fellow residents pop by to visit him whenever they remember. And, of course, he has Ahti.

Other than to fetch things for Norman, Ahti has not left the bedroom since Norman got confined to bed. Sometimes, he sits on the bed with him and cuddles Norman, whilst at other times he sits in a chair across the room and works his way through Norman’s supply of books, glancing up every so often to check on Norman.

The first time Ahti got into bed with him, Norman worried that Ahti might catch his illness, and immediately voiced this worry.

But Ahti just shook his head and said, “No need to worry, rakkaani. You won’t get me sick.”

And he said it with such confidence (when that couldn’t possibly be the case) that Norman laughed until he gave himself a coughing fit. Ahti just sighed and rubbed his back until the coughs stopped, and then kissed Norman’s forehead.

Anyway, he feels fucking miserable. But at least he has Ahti at his side, doing everything in his power to help Norman feel better.

---

By the late evening, he begins to feel chilly despite being covered in warm blankets. It takes his sick mind a few seconds to realise that it isn’t actually cold in here, and he just has chills from being unwell. Norman sighs, making himself cough.

The cough immediately alerts Ahti, who still sits in that same chair, reading a book of puns and occasionally chuckling to himself. “Are you okay, Norman?” he says, jumping to his feet fast enough to make the chair wobble.

As he coughs into a tissue, another shiver runs through him, and Norman groans. “I… I’m fine,” he gasps before Ahti can get too worried and start thinking Norman is going to die. Ahti tends to overthink things when worrying about Norman; it’s adorable that he cares, but Norman doesn’t like seeing him stressed.

Still, Ahti perches on the bed and rubs Norman’s back until he stops coughing. When Norman is left gasping for breath, Ahti grabs the trash can and lets Norman weakly throw the tissue into it, and then hands Norman his bottle of water (bottled because nobody in the house feels comfortable drinking the tap water, a worry that Ahti actively encourages for whatever reason). Norman takes a sip, the cool liquid soothing his aching throat.

“Thanks, Ahti,” Norman says, his teeth chattering a little.

“No problem,” Ahti says, but he frowns. “Perkele, you’re getting worse.”

“A-A bit, I think.” Norman sniffs, wrapping his arms around himself the moment Ahti takes his water bottle from him. “I think I’ve got chills.”

Ahti nods, gently placing the backs of his fingers against Norman’s forehead. “That sounds about right.”

“Hey, at least it means my body’s fighting it off,” Norman says, trying to look on the bright side (mostly to get that nervous frown off his partner’s face). “That’s good, right?”

“That… I am not so sure about, rakkaani,” Ahti mumbles, tucking the blankets tighter around Norman’s trembling frame. “Do you need more blankets? I can get you some.”

“If you don’t mind.”

“I will never mind, Norman,” Ahti says. “Minä rakastan sinua— I love you,” he translates, but Norman already knows what ‘rakas’ and all its variations means. “And I love taking care of you. Now, stay put,” he says as he stands up, hands on his hips like Norman will climb out of bed the moment he turns his back, “and I’ll be back with blankets.”

And Ahti hurries out of the room. Sure enough, he returns within thirty seconds, carrying a big pile of blankets.

As Ahti covers Norman’s bed with yet more blankets, Norman asks, “Where did you get those?”

“My bedroom,” Ahti says. “I won’t be sleeping in there, so why not use them?”

“You don’t have to sleep with me tonight. I, I know I’m not good company right now,” Norman mumbles, fighting the urge to sneeze.

“Jumalauta, how many times…” Ahti says, shaking his head. “I want to do this, Norman. And you are always good company, sydänkäpy.”

Norman highly doubts that’s the truth (after all, his nose is streaming mucus and he keeps hacking up phlegm, so nothing about him could be considered attractive right now, and he really doesn’t think someone with a cough is good company) but he doesn’t bother to argue. Among his many other traits, Ahti is goddamn stubborn when he wants to be, so Norman knows he would never win that argument.

“I’m staying tonight.” Ahti leans closer, kissing his cheek. “No matter what you say.”

And Norman rolls his eyes, but he chuckles.

---

Norman awakes to overwhelming heat. He wants to rip his clothes off just to escape the suffocating warmth. Groaning, Norman wriggles in his bed, his limbs tangled in his sweaty blankets, and opens his eyes to darkness except for a lamp casting shadows across the ceiling. When did it become nighttime? And when did it get so unbearably hot?

“Norman, Norman, it’s okay,” Ahti says, and a freezing cold hand touches his forehead, making Norman flinch—and it takes Norman’s foggy mind a while to realise that Ahti’s hand isn’t cold, so much as his forehead is burning hot. “Saatanan helvetti, you are burning up.”

Norman groans again. Everything aches so much, his muscles like jelly. Shit, he forgot how terrible fevers feel. “Ahti… I… I don’t…”

“Shh, don’t try to speak,” Ahti says, stroking his hair. He reaches for something on the bedside table, producing a digital thermometer and holding it out to Norman. When did he get his hands on that? Norman pictures Ahti swiping it from the first aid kit when Rose wasn’t looking, and a weak smile crosses his face. “Let me take your temperature.”

Norman complies, letting Ahti slip the thermometer into his ear. A few seconds later, it beeps, and Ahti removes it, reading the display.

“Perkele…” Ahti mutters. “This is bad.”

“H-How bad?”

“One hundred and three degrees. We need to get that number down.”

Norman gulps even though the action hurts his sore throat. He may feel foggy from the fever frying his brain, but even Norman knows that’s not a good body temperature to have. “What… should we do? Who’s on night shift today?”

“Blum,” Ahti says. “But we don’t need him. I have an idea, rakkaani.”

“You do?”

“Uh-huh.” Climbing off the bed, Ahti pulls back the blankets, and then leans down. “I promise not to drop you.”

“Huh?” Norman mumbles a second before Ahti scoops him up in his arms, holding Norman against his chest bridal-style. Too startled to even question how an old man has the strength to lift another adult with ease, Norman just clings to Ahti as his partner walks into Norman’s adjoining bathroom. “What’re you…?”

“You’ll see,” Ahti says. Setting Norman down on the closed toilet lid, Ahti pulls the light switch cord, and Norman squints through the sudden brightness. “Perkele! Sorry, I should have warned you.”

“It’s fine,” Norman says, blinking as his eyes adjust to the light. “Seriously, though… what are you doing?”

“The best thing to get a fever down,” Ahti explains, gesturing to the bathtub. “A cool bath.”

Unsure how he feels about being submerged in cool water, Norman just stares at his partner.

Ahti gives him a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry. It’ll help.”

And Norman sits there, hugging himself through his sweaty pyjama shirt, as Ahti runs him a lukewarm bath. Ahti hums to himself as he tests the temperature of the water, and when he seems satisfied by it, he stands back up, wiping his hand dry on his shorts.

“Do you need help?” Ahti asks.

“I, I should be able to do it,” Norman says. He manages to get his shirt off without too much trouble, but he almost topples over when trying to remove his pants.

“Perkele!” Ahti cries, grabbing Norman before he can smack his face against the floor. “Careful, Norman.”

Norman chuckles weakly. “I… might need help after all.”

Ahti tuts, a fond smile crossing his face. “Fool. Okay, let me help.”

With Ahti’s assistance this time, Norman manages to strip naked without falling. Ahti keeps hold of Norman as he climbs into the bath, hissing in discomfort at the temperature of the water—even though he knows it’s lukewarm, it feels like he put his foot into a bathtub full of ice. Still, he perseveres, managing to ease himself into the tub, submerging his feverish body.

“Well… this isn’t what I thought I’d be doing at… what’s the time?”

“Just past two o’clock,” Ahti says, perching on the edge of the tub.

“At two o’clock in the morning,” Norman says, sighing hard enough to make himself cough. “Did I wake you up?”

“Yes. But don’t you dare apologise,” Ahti says, holding out a hand when Norman opens his mouth to do just that.

Smiling, Norman closes his mouth again.

“Good, you’re learning,” Ahti chuckles, gently resting his hand on Norman’s burning cheek. “How are you feeling, rakkaani?”

Honestly, it’s hard to tell if sitting in the bath helps. Norman certainly feels a bit cooler, but he doesn’t know if his fever is actually going down. Either way, he feels better than he did when he woke up. “A bit better.”

Ahti smiles, leaning closer to kiss his forehead. “That’s good. I hate seeing you suffer.”

“If it makes you feel better…” Norman trails off to cough into his elbow. “I don’t like suffering either.”

And when he gives Ahti a cheeky smirk, Norman sees some of Ahti’s stress begin to fade away, obviously relieved that Norman feels well enough to mess around a bit.

---

After perhaps fifteen minutes of sitting in the cool water in the middle of the night, Ahti puts the digital thermometer into his ear again. Sighing in audible relief, Ahti says, “Good. It’s going down.”

Norman smiles weakly. “That’s a relief. I’d rather not go to hospital tonight.”

Ahti chuckles. “Perkele, I’d had the same thought. But this should stop us needing to resort to that.”

“This… this sounds silly, but… when I woke up and I was so hot and trapped in my blankets and I didn’t know what was going on,” Norman says, trying and failing to hold back a cough, “I thought I was dying. I’m very glad that wasn’t the case.”

“That isn’t silly. And I’m also glad you’re okay, rakkaani,” Ahti says, “but there’s no need to worry. It isn’t time for you to throw your spoon into the corner.”

“What does that one mean?” Norman asks, his brain too foggy from the fever to deduce what Ahti’s translated idiom could mean.

“Oh…” Ahti lets out an awkward chuckle. “It’s not your time to die.”

That makes Norman laugh out loud, so hard he almost sets off a coughing fit. “Jesus, that’s a bit morbid, Ahti…”

To his amusement, Ahti’s cheeks flush almost as red as Norman’s (and he has a fever right now). “Um… sorry.”

But Norman smiles and clasps Ahti’s forearm with a wet, trembling hand. “It’s okay. I know you were just trying to reassure me.”

Smiling, Ahti presses a kiss to his forehead.

---

Once Ahti seems satisfied that Norman’s fever isn’t at a dangerous level anymore, he leaves the room and returns with a change of pyjamas for Norman, and also grabs Norman’s towel off the shelf.

“Oh, am I allowed out now?” Norman asks, sniffing as he smirks at his partner.

Ahti raises his eyebrows. “Yes, yes, because I was absolutely forcing you to stay there,” he says, chuckling. “Seriously, do you need help getting out?”

“I… I might,” Norman says, remembering how wobbly his legs were before he got into the bath. But then a thought occurs to him. “But if you help… you’ll get wet.”

Ahti scoffs. “A little water will not kill me. Water is my friend,” he says, and Norman can’t tell if Ahti jokes or not. As he pulls his T-shirt over his head, casually stripping shirtless in front of Norman, Ahti asks, “Are you ready, Norman?”

A little flustered at seeing his partner shirtless, Norman nods. “Yeah.”

Getting Norman out of the bath proves to be more challenging than getting into it was, but they manage it. Ahti pulls Norman’s arm across his shoulders, one hand holding that arm in place and the other touching his waist, and helps Norman get to his feet. He wobbles a lot but manages to get out of the bath without falling, and only mildly sprays the bathroom and his partner with water. He still feels incredibly weak, so Ahti helps Norman dry himself and put his pyjamas on, and this time Norman doesn’t apologise for causing a fuss. He knows that Ahti loves helping him. And when Ahti once again picks him up and carries Norman back to bed, he doesn’t resist.

Once Ahti has Norman settled back in bed, covering him with just a thin sheet to stop him overheating, he hands Norman his water bottle again. As Norman takes slow sips of water, he watches Ahti hurry back into the bathroom and return with his T-shirt in hand, pulling it over his head before sitting on the edge of the bed.

“You look better too,” Ahti says. “Less red.”

Norman sniffles, grabbing a tissue to wipe his nose. But that doesn’t stop him grinning and saying, “Why thank you, Ahti.”

His partner chuckles. “Idiot,” he says fondly.

As Norman playfully demands that Ahti not ‘bully’ him when he’s sick, and Ahti laughs at his silliness, his partner climbs back into bed with him, putting an arm around his shoulders. And Norman slumps against Ahti, glad that he has such a wonderful partner by his side.