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Madix chewed his food while studying Riley carefully. He looked down at his almost empty plate of food and compared it with Riley’s untouched meal. His boyfriend’s whole demeanour seemed off somehow. He continued to watch Riley push food around and occasionally force a few vegetables down his throat.
“You don’t have to eat it if you’re not hungry, Ry,” Madix said, setting his own plate aside. Riley looked to be really struggling to make a dent.
Riley didn’t even react to what Madix. His gaze remained pointed downward and his eyes unmoving as if in a trance.
“Riley,” Madix repeated in a louder tone, “did you hear me? You don’t have to force yourself to eat if you don’t want to.”
This time Riley reacted by shaking his head and meeting Madix’s stare. “Oh sorry, Mads… I’m a bit off tonight.”
“I can see that. You feelin’ okay?”
While setting his full plate on the coffee table, Riley shook his head no. “My stomach feels a little funny.”
Madix nodded in understanding. He rose from the couch and took both of their plates back to the kitchen, seeing as Riley most likely wasn’t going to be eating any of it.
“Why don’t you put a movie on and we’ll just take it easy,” he suggested.
* * *
So that’s how they found themselves staring mindlessly at The Avengers for the next two hours. Well, at least Madix was trying to pay attention. Riley, on the other hand, had fallen asleep with his head in Madix’s lap early on. His sleep was restless or so it seemed that way to his human pillow. Hearing moans and whimpers coming from Riley’s unconscious form worried Madix, but not enough to wake his boyfriend just yet.
Madix traced his fingers along Riley’s body while he slept. He could feel the fever burning under Riley’s skin that was slick with sweat. He decided that no matter how numb his legs had gotten, Riley needed this rest more than anything, so Madix would not be moving for a while.
It wasn’t until Riley’s breathing was interrupted by a strange gurgle in his throat that Madix dared to move. It sounded like he was choking on something which Madix quickly discovered was vomit by the warm feeling of liquid seeping through his pants.
“Oh fuck! Riley, wake up!” Madix began to shake his sick boyfriend awake. He lifted Riley’s body into a sitting position just as he opened his eyes to see a thin string of vomit hanging from his lips.
In a state of half-consciousness, Riley brought his hands up to his lips to figure out what was going on.
“Madix? I don’t…feel well…Wh- what is…” Riley slurred while wiping at his mouth.
“You just threw up in your sleep, babe,” Madix explained.
Riley looked around feverishly, trying to make sense of what happened when pain suddenly registered in his mind. He hugged his stomach and groaned.
“Ugh, my belly is really upset, Madix.”
“I know, love, I know.”
With a sudden heave, Riley leaned forward where he sat and threw up a thick stream of brown sludge onto his lap. His stomach convulsed painfully and immediately sent up another wave of partly-digested food.
“Oh, Ry. Alright, you’re okay,” Madix said softly while keeping a hand on Riley’s shoulder.
Riley didn’t feel okay; he felt miserable. His belly was churning and sloshing around inside disgustingly. He felt like he had no control over his body as he continued to lurch forward with each gag.
Eventually, Madix saw a break in the heaves, so he lifted his boyfriend to his feet and dragged Riley to the bathroom. Riley could barely hold himself up which caused them to sway from side to side down the hall.
“Almost there, we’re almost there,” Madix mumbled under his breath, probably more so for himself than Riley.
By the time Riley was staring into the toilet bowl, he was breathing heavily and had tears running down his face. His body was shivering, and his head was lolling from one side to the other. He heard running water before he felt a cold washcloth against the back of his neck.
“ ’s cold…” he whined, feeling goosebumps spread across his skin.
“I know, baby,” Madix cooed, “but you’re burning up with a fever.”
Thankfully, Riley didn’t protest, he simply let his head fall in defeat against the toilet seat. He felt incredibly nauseous and almost positive that there was more in his aching belly to bring up.
A deep burp shot passed his lips and echoed in the bowl, causing a shiver to run down his spine. His tongue was drowning in saliva but still nothing came up.
Another burp bubbled up from his chest followed by an unproductive heave. This set in motion the next ten minutes of dry-heaving. He hated the feeling of his back arching and his shoulder rolling forward without his consent, but his body was manning the ship tonight not his mind. He found himself crying from the pain and exhaustion, desperately wanting relief that seemed to never come.
Seeing tears run down his boyfriend’s cheeks made Madix sick to his own stomach. “Oh, don’t cry, love. You’re alright.”
“It hurts…” Riley choked out in between heaves.
The only thing Madix could think to do was to rub Riley’s back even until yellow bile forced its way up his esophagus. Eventually, Riley just spat frothy saliva and bitter tasting acid into the toilet, and exhaled deeply.
Once again, he heard the tap running and prepared himself for another chill to race down his back. God, when would it be over?
He wanted to hold Madix’s hand or something, but he couldn’t find him. Was he behind him? Where was he?
Riley found it hard to focus on anything. His vision was dim and blurry for some reason, causing him to feel all disoriented. He needed something steady. He needed to see Madix. He made a low whimpering sound in his throat and reached his arm out behind him, hoping to touch his boyfriend. Finally, he found Madix’s hand and gripped it tightly, their fingers intertwined together.
“I’m right here, Riley. I’m not going anywhere.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Riley saw Madix move into view and he relaxed a little bit. The room was still swaying like a boat on rough seas, but he knew he wouldn’t fall off if Madix was holding onto him.
While Riley mumbled something about waves, Madix kept some sort of physical contact with his boyfriend. He became the anchor that kept Riley’s fever-soaked mind at bay through the night.