Work Text:
ding ding
Ivan woke up to his alarm and sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He looked out the window and squinted at the early morning's brightness and groaned.
He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off. Instead of dwelling on it, Ivan got up from his bed and walked to the bathroom. He turned on the sink and splashed water onto his face before grabbing his face wash that was on the counter and putting a bit in his hand to wash his face. Once he got done, he brushed his teeth and left the bathroom.
When Ivan closed the bathroom door, he expected to see Till groggily making himself some coffee, black coffee just the way he liked it, and telling Ivan 'Morning!' as always. But he wasn't there. And there wasn't the smell of coffee anywhere.
"Till..! Did you oversleep again? Stop staying up and playing your guitar all night!" Ivan called out, turning toward the small hallway where his roommates bedroom was. He opened the door and nearly freaked out when he saw Till's bed.
Till's face was all red and hot, and he was all sweaty. How could he suddenly get this sick..? Ivan was so worried, he didn't even care if he caught whatever Till had or not, even if it was the plague or something..!
Ivan rushed to the side of tills bed and put the back of his hand on Tills forehead and then his cheek. "Huh..? Till, you're burning up..! Wake up!!" He shook Till awake.
"Stop.. I'm tired, Ivan." Till mumbled, his voice sounded weird. Oh gosh... He must be really sick.
Ivan remembered that Till went out yesterday after they got done with all of their classes, and he asked about it to see if that is how Till suddenly got sick. "Till, what did you do yesterday evening while you were gone?"
Till thought for a few moments before speaking, "Get your hands off of me. And I went to a cafe and worked on an assignment for art, and walked home. It was raining a lot, I love rain so I was happy." Till smiled a bit.
"That's it, that's why you're sick!" Ivan shouted, covering his mouth when Till glared at him, "You dumb-dumb, why would you walk in the rain?? I was still awake when you got home, you should have called me to drive you."
Till scratched his head and looked away from Ivan, knowing that he had a point. "Well, it felt nice.. Rain smells good too."
Ivan let an exasperated sigh escape his mouth, "Till, I'm gonna make you soup. You're sick, please rest." He stood up and walked out of the room before Till could argue.
Ivan was panicking, biting at the skin around his nails anxiously as he looked up a good recipe for soup. He decided on chicken noodle soup, since that what you usually make for sick people. While pacing around the kitchen and chewing on his nails nervously, he couldn't shake the thought that Till would be really disappointed that he had to miss his music and art classes today.. those are his favorite, and seeing Till upset makes Ivan upset.
Once he found a recipe he liked, Ivan got the ingredients out of the fridge and pantry, then started to cook. He enjoyed cooking a lot, and he was good at it. Actually, he was the one who always cooked for himself and Till because, for lack of better words, Till wasn't a good cook at all. Last time Till tried to cook, they ended up at Mizi and Sua's apartment room, asking to stay the night because theirs reeked of smoke and burnt food.
Ivan smiled to himself while thinking of that little incident, finding it endearing that Till wasn't the greatest at taking care of himself and Ivan. But before he could think about that much more, he heard quiet footsteps from the hallway and into the kitchen.
"Ivan, I can't go back to sleep, my head hurts." Till said groggily.
Ivan walked toward Till immediately and put his hand on Till's shoulders. "I will get you medicine when I finish cooking, okay? It's almost done. Please go lay down, you need rest."
Till blinked slowly at him, eyes glassy and cheeks flushed with fever. “You’re…really worried, huh?”
Ivan frowned and looked away, trying not to let how panicked he felt show on his face. “Of course I am, dumb-dumb. You look like you’ve been boiled alive.”
That got a soft chuckle out of Till. “That’s dramatic. I’m just a little warm…”
“You’re sick.” Ivan gently turned him around and guided him back toward the hallway. “Go lie down, the soup’s almost done. I’ll bring it to you, okay?”
Till wobbled a bit but let himself be steered, too tired to argue further. “You always get so bossy when I’m sick…”
“That’s because you’re stubborn and would probably go run laps or something if I let you,” Ivan muttered under his breath.
Till grinned faintly as he shuffled back to his room, “Maybe, just to bug you.”
Ivan shook his head but waited at the hallway entrance to make sure Till got safely back into bed before returning to the soup. He stirred it carefully and let out a breath when the noodles turned out just right. He quickly ladled a portion into a bowl and grabbed a spoon, then rummaged in the medicine drawer for some cold and flu tablets, holding them in his hand and getting a glass of water.
Back in Till’s room, he nudged the door open quietly.
Till had curled up into a tight ball again, his messy hair sticking to his damp forehead. He looked so small like that. Vulnerable, even.
“All done, here,” Ivan said gently, walking over to place the soup and water on the nightstand.
Till sat up with effort, the motion slow and heavy. “Thanks, Ivan… I really didn’t mean to make you worry this much.”
Ivan handed him the medicine first. “I know. But I still do.”
There was a pause, the kind that lingered just a little too long to be casual.
Till took the pills and chased them with a sip of water, then let the cup rest in his lap. “You’re too nice to me.”
Ivan blinked. “No, I’m just… a decent roommate.”
“No, you’re not.” Till gave him a weak but sincere smile. “You’re way better than that.”
Ivan felt his cheeks go warm, and he turned to fiddle with the blanket on Tills bed. “Eat your soup before it gets cold.”
Till hummed quietly, letting Ivan feed him the first spoonful. “Okay, okay… Bossy.”
Ivan tried his best not to flush completely while he helped Till eat his food. He didn’t know exactly when the shift had happened; when being around Till stopped being easy and started meaning more. But it had. And moments like this only made it clearer.
Till ate the last of the broth and leaned back into his pillows. “That was really good.”
Ivan smiled softly, not looking up. “Glad you liked it.”
“You take care of me a lot.”
“I always will,” Ivan said before he could stop himself.
The silence that followed made his heart skip. He glanced up—and Till was looking at him. A little too long. A little too quiet.
And then, very softly, “You’re kind of stupid.”
Ivan blinked. “What??”
“For walking in here and being near me for so long. You’re totally gonna catch it now.”
Ivan rolled his eyes and stood. “Then I guess you’ll have to make me soup next week.”
Till laughed, hoarse and tired, but real. “You'd make a good boyfriend for someone, Ivan.”
In that moment, Ivan's heart stopped and he looked away with a red face. "Glad you think so..!" Was all he could sputter in response before he stood up and brushed Till's hair off of his forehead.
"Get some more rest. Okay?" Ivan said in a soft, quiet tone of voice.
Till only nodded tiredly, his face flushed– just from the sickness. At least that's what Ivan chalked it up to. He didn't need to know that Till was extremely flustered at the little statement he let slip.. "Okay, I'll sleep. Get out before you catch it..."
The next day, Till was just fine again. He 'didn't remember' anything that happened while he was sick, and he denied all of Ivan's little statements poking fun at him.
"You're lying..! I was fine. Just because I let you take care of me doesn't mean I need it!" Till grumbled.
"You were all red in the face and sweaty, you were a total mess." Ivan chuckled, pushing the memory of Till's comment into the back of his head.
"Yeah, whatever. As if," Till grumbled under his breath. "Ivan, come here."
Ivan tilted his head, confused. He walked to Till and asked, "Why? Are you sick again?" His voice was laced with concern.
Till got on his tip-toes and kissed Ivan's cheek, before speaking. "Thanks for taking care of me. I meant what I said yesterday."
Ivan's face instantly flushed red. He brought a hand to his cheek where Till's lips had just been and mumbled a quiet "No problem."
Till turned on his heel and walked to the front door and put his shoes on. "I have class now. You're making dinner tonight." He rushed away, hiding his flushed face.
Ivan smiled, forgetting to even tell Till goodbye. But.. wait– He meant what he said yesterday?
"So he remembered?! That liar..." Ivan muttered to himself, secretly not minding in the slightest that Till acted dumb. It was cute. Everything Till did was cute to Ivan, though, so it's no surprise. He smiled to himself and grabbed his keys and shoes to go shopping for dinner. He'd make something nice tonight.