Work Text:
When you woke up this morning you hoped it was a fluke. You hoped the headache was a fluke, the clogged sinuses a fluke, the aches and chills? A fluke.
You had hoped when your brother invited you and Jake over to his house to catch up over some lunch, that the fatigue you felt all throughout your body as you ate was a fluke. Of course this means when you went home and couldn’t stop the marathon of snot and goop from running down your face, you hoped that this too was a fluke.
None of it was a fluke. Obviously. But you spent all day hoping it was. You don’t even know how catching a cold at this point in your life is possible, but it is. You, Dirk Strider, are sick.
Goddamn it.
Jake turns in early and you tell him you’ll join in a bit. What a lie that was. You weren’t planning on lying but time just kept passing and you just kept feeling so terrible, too terrible to even want to imagine what laying down would do to your sinuses. Swelling and clogging aside, you know the minute you start snoring, it’s over. Jake will know.
“You feeling all right, love?” He had asked you once.
No, no you had not been. “What makes you ask?” You asked, making a point not to answer.
“You’re not much for snoring,” he pointed out, like that meant anything, “but last night you were snoring like a hog! And take a look at yourself!”
He was right. You looked like shit. You felt like shit. He clocked your ass.
You groan and run a hand through your hair. Guh. It feels greasier than usual. Showering could help though, maybe clear your airways enough to let you sleep without any issues, or at least without giving Jake any issues.
Quietly you pad to the bathroom and ease on the shower, closing the door and letting the bathroom fill with hot steam.
You strip fast, wanting to take an uncharacteristically short shower in a futile attempt of not waking Jake up. Once the water hits your skin you realize how tight it’s felt all day. Shit, this is exactly what you needed. You run your hands through your hair and feel the water rinsing all the sick haze off you. It’s only when you exhale in relief that you notice you can breathe through your nose again.
The relief is instantaneous and you try to get an inhale of fresh air before the heat and steam loosen up enough mucus to make your nose too runny. Too late. You must have sniffed too hard because it hit you right in the… “hhih.. hehhh… haah— hi’TCHU! HAH’SHOO!” Fuck! You try to stifle the next one but it beat you to it. “AHH—TCHU!’
“Dirk?” You hear a gentle knock at the bathroom door. Goddamn it. “Honey, it’s the middle of the night, why are you up?”
Ugghhh. “I was just— hhhuh..” you trail, hitching against your will.
“Just what-? Dirk, you know I can’t hear you over that darned shower.”
“I was workin’ on somethin’ didn’t mean to go so la-aay.. la..,” fuck fuck fuck, “laa-TSCHIEU!” Guh. You wipe your face with a damp washcloth, giving your nose a good blow, and shut the shower off. This is futile.
Jake takes his cue and pushes into the bathroom, he clocks it immediately. Damn him.
“Oh my dear,” he coos, “look at you…”
You try to retort with “I’m fine” but it comes out more like “I’b fibe.”
Jake shakes his head and wraps you in a towel where you’re standing. You could’ve sworn he was even tsk’ing at you like a tutting housemaiden. “You and I both know that’s not true. Now come to the bed you should have been in, please.” His arms are so warm around you that you can’t help leaning into them as he guides you towards the warm inviting mattress across the room.
“Mmkay,” you concede, eyes getting heavier. You touch down on top of the comforter and feel yourself immediately slipping into sleep. Jake gently brushes some wet hair off your forehead before giving you a soft kiss as you doze off.