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Jetfire's tanks felt funny, and his throat had been killing him.
He had been out in the cold for a few days now, and he could tell it was taking a toll on his body.
He landed and transformed on the road before walking to their house. He stopped momentarily to cough painfully. Jetfire felt weaker now as he trudged his way to the house.
Jetfire didn't want Red Alert worrying about him, though. Just needed some actual recharge and he would be better.
Probably.
He opened the door, Red Alert already in the living room. He quickly padded over to his partner, hugging him tightly.
“Hi, Red.”
“You're warm.”
“I know, you're the one telling me I'm a heater-”
“No, like, really warm.”
Jetfire kneeled down to Red Alert's level. “I'm fine, Red.”
Red Alert sighed. “Okay. Okay. Do you want some energon?”
Jetfire nodded as both of them padded over to the kitchen island. Red Alert had already prepared some energon for them beforehand.
When Jetfire drank, it provided some temporary relief to his aching throat. It wasn't actual medicine, so he doubted it would actually fix anything.
They did have a few bits of medicine in their closet, so Jetfire could grab some for his throat, but he didn't want to waste any medicine, especially since it was hard to come by.
He didn't want Red Alert to be left with nothing if he got sick.
Plus, Jetfire was fine enough. He didn't need anything.
*
Jetfire couldn't recharge. Which was strange, because Red Alert was snuggled up next to him, and he found that he could actually recharge when he was with them.
His tanks felt worse after drinking the energon, his throat was still bothering him, and he could feel a headache coming on.
He had also been trying to hold back a cough for the past few astro cycles, and that was a battle he was close to losing.
He sighed as he shuttered his optics, trying to ignore everything going on in his body. Which was easier said than done.
Eventually, he had to cough. He started quietly, trying to not wake Red Alert, who was curled up next to him.
Then it got louder. And louder.
He soon had to sit up to properly get the cough out. That may have been a mistake, as his coughing became violent.
“Jet…?” Well. There goes his plan of not waking up Red.
He couldn't speak, as he continued coughing. Red Alert put a hand to his side, and started rubbing it.
It took an astro cycle for the coughing to subside, and Jetfire sat there in silence.
“Jetfire, are you okay?”
Jetfire nodded slowly. His tanks felt awful.
“You don't sound okay.”
Jetfire stayed silent. Soon, he felt something come up in his throat. He tried to keep it down, but like the coughing, he was starting to lose the battle.
While his first thought was to throw up in the washracks, they didn't have any running water, and would be difficult to clean up.
He really didn't want their house to smell like puke.
Jetfire got off the berth, and left the room.
“Jetfire?”
Red Alert followed Jetfire as he left the house entirely. He went off to the side, and threw up everything in his tanks. Red quickly moved to his side.
“Remember to breathe, Jetfire.”
He nodded as another wave of nausea hit his throat.
*
Red Alert sat Jetfire down on the couch, and quickly went off to find supplies.
He returned with a blanket and some medicine. He got on the couch, and wrapped the blanket around Jetfire.
“Here. Drink.”
Jetfire was too weak to argue as he grabbed the cube, and drank slowly. Red Alert helped him keep the cube steady.
When he finished, Jetfire placed the cube aside and leaned against the couch. Red Alert curled up to his side, and grabbed his arm.
“Red…?”
“Don't worry. I'm just seeing what's going on.”
Jetfire sighed as Red Alert plugged his medical cable into Jetfire's arm. He ran a diagnostic.
“Just some sort of flu. You probably picked it up while out in the cold.”
He unplugged the cable. “Just rest for now. You're not going out again until you’re recovered.”
Jetfire closed his optics, already feeling the effects of the medicine.
“Thank you…”
Red Alert smiled. “Of course. You’re my partner.”
Jetfire smiled as he felt himself finally fall into recharge, feeling Red Alert curl up further into him.