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"A- CHOO!!! "
" Bai sui. " Dan Heng was long past startling whenever Caelus sneezed like that. Three days of hearing his sniffling and snuffling and sneezing had made him practically as resistant to it as he was to the illness itself. He turned from the little packet of powdered medicine he had been preparing to look at his de-facto patient. "Do you need more tissues?"
The Trailblazer shook his head, already blowing his nose like a trumpet to try and free it of the blasted congestion that was working its way up through his chest. "I feel like I'm dying..."
"Stop saying that," Dan Heng scolded, clearly more worried than actually angry. "You'll feel better after you've had more medicine."
A cold chill ran down Caelus' spine. It would be soothing against his fever if that sentence didn't have such an underlying threat to it. "I had medicine this morning." He knew it wouldn't be enough to stave off what was coming, but it was worth a shot.
Dan Heng carefully picked up the unfolded paper the medicine Bailu had given him came in, moving very slowly and very carefully so it didn't go into anything that wasn't the cup of hot water he was aiming for. "It's been twelve hours. That means it's time for another dose."
He nudged the medicine into the water, watching the powder sort of just... sit on top of the water for a little while until he took a spoon to it to mix it all together. Caelus' room began to smell of rich Xianzhou herbs, earthy and deep and a little too strong to Dan Heng's sensitive nose. Caelus, thankfully, was too congested to smell it first hand, but he could already taste the gross, grassy taste of it on his tongue.
Caelus' moping was interrupted by Dan Heng coming to half-kneel on the mattress beside him, cradling the teacup carefully in his hands. "It's a little hot, but don't let it cool down too much."
The Trailblazer stared at the brown water, sniffling to try and hide his disgust. He would honestly rather drink Himeko's coffee…
...But then he looked up and saw Dan Heng watching him, grey-green eyes a little wider than usual, expectant like a cat's. Aeons, Caelus couldn't complain if Dan Heng was looking at him like that.
"Fine..." He sighed. He took a deep breath, then downed the tea in one shot, earning a startled "oh--" from his caretaker.
"Yep! Still tastes terrible. Blegh... "
"You finished it quick, at least." Dan Heng rested his hand on Caelus' forehead, carefully brushing his silver hair out of the way so the contact was proper. "Hm. You're still really warm..."
Caelus made a sound, an exhausted acknowledgement as he pressed his head into Dan Heng's palm. One of the perks of having a Vidyadhara as his caretaker was their naturally cool touch, even if his fingers were a bit calloused from wielding Cloud Piercer so diligently. "And you're really cool... Both temperature wise and in terms of like... general vibe."
Dan Heng huffed, the sound barely a laugh as he let his hand linger on Caelus' forehead. Watching the Trailblazer just melt against his touch like this was actually really sweet, even if he could hear how congested his partner was with each breath.
"How long does it take for the medicine to help with the fever again?"
"About two hours. Why?"
Caelus gave Dan Heng the biggest puppy dog eyes he had seen in a while. It might be the flu doing it, but there was something in his gaze that seemed especially desperate for whatever it was that Caelus was about to ask for.
"You're not busy for two hours, are you?"
Dan Heng sighed, good-natured, despite playing up his annoyance. "No, I'm not."
"Would you mind staying then? And maybe giving me some dragon cuddles to help cool down?"
The Vidyadhara pulled his hand back without saying a word, then turned to start walking away. Caelus' heart dropped, even if the very abrupt refusal was kind of funny in its own way.
"Dannie!" He called, only to be met with a hush.
"I'm not going anywhere! I'm just turning the lights off."
As promised, the room went dark with a click, leaving only a string of yellow star lights by the bed for light. Well, that was until Dan Heng let his Cloudhymn magic fade, letting his translucent teal horns and tail out as he approached Caelus' sick bed.
He didn't even have to be asked to make room. Caelus was already wiggling over to the other side of the mattress, opening the blankets up behind him so Dan Heng could crawl under and make himself comfortable. He elected to lay as he usually did--curled up on his right side--and once he found his little niche in the mattress, he opened his arms and gestured for Caelus to come closer.
"Thanks, Dan Heng," the Trailblazer said softly, moving to rest his face in the crook of the dragon's neck. He was already starting to feel cooler, but once he felt that heavy tail drape over his hips and Dan Heng's arms around his waist and shoulders, it was like he'd died and gone to well-ventilated heaven.
"You're welcome, Caelus." Dan Heng pressed a soft kiss to the Trailblazer's forehead, feeling just how warm he still was for a moment before his chin on top of his silver hair. "Now get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning."
"Good night."
"Good night."