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Guy woke up and felt an immediate sense of undirected dread settle somewhere in the back of his mouth. A slight soreness when he’d swallow or yawn especially loudly. He brushed it off of course, what’s a slight iffy feeling after a bad night's sleep after weeks of benzodiazepine withdrawals. It felt normal even when his muscles felt less tight and more jelly-like and weakened, he’d just chalked it up to overexerting himself.
Throughout the day however the seemingly small itchy discomfort in the back of his throat settled into a persistent ache. By sunset Guy was in bed, surrounded by dirty tissues and mugs with boiling water. He was filing away some intel he managed to get on the 752 yesterday, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as heat started to settle behind his eyes, making every line swim around softly.
Guy sighed, immediately regretting that because of a sharp pain the action drew out of his throat. Concerned, he made his way to the nearest mirror, noting how heavy he felt. This was quickly becoming unfortunate, Guy was increasingly sure he caught something. A quick look in the mirror confirmed his suspicions. The back of his throat was red and inflamed, the outside air only worsening the impression that he chewed up some asphalt.
He knew better than to rummage through his first aid kid, he’d long since stopped stocking it up with anything other than Klonopin and bandaids for minor injuries. He could of course ask Jasper , but something told him that the vampire was as likely to keep cold medicine as Guy was.
Guy felt a wave of discomfort spread from his irritated throat, reaching as deep as his stomach, tugging on it uncomfortably. For a terrifying second he’d thought that little lurch would make him spill his meager breakfast all over the carpeting. Not that anyone except Owen would care, still, that wasn’t a great prospect for the start of an evening.
Suppressing a groan the best he could, Guy turned to head out into the living room. They had a tea station there, maybe some tea would lessen the drilling grinding pain that coiled over the whole back of his throat, seeping down his esophagus along bitter stale mucus. He shuddered, swallowing the next time.
The living room was quiet but already lit, Jasper didn’t ever care about Talamasca’s electricity bills and would leave lights on everywhere. Guy never made the motion to change that. Breathing with his mouth as congestion gathered up his nose, Guy turned the kettle on, rifling through multitudes of different tea packets. Distinctly bougier than those he used to get in America sometimes, though they tasted pretty much the same in his opinion.
Over the mellow roaring of the kettle, he must have missed the soft creak of the master bedroom door opening, and the pillow soft footsteps that stopped just inches away. It was the soft caress of a gaze that made Guy turn around to face Jasper.
The vampire clearly woke up recently, his hair standing up in slightly outlandish angles, clad in one of his undershirts, he looked remarkably soft. His hands wrapped around guy’s waist, settling into a comforting, grounding weight as the vampire nuzzled against Guy’s cheek.
“ Morning,” Jasper hummed, leaning slightly back as he looked Guy over.
“Night, actually” his voice was slightly wispy, coming out softer and lower than usual. Guy’s face tensed as his throat protested him swallowing again, all as if a giant oversensitive blister.
‘What’s up with you?” Jasper looked puzzled, his brow quirked up just a bit, making him oh so handsomely unsure. Guy was about to smile when his throat gave out another unsavoury pang, making even his chest tense up. He watched as the vampire’s azure eyes welled up with worry. “ Are you okay?”
Guy shook his head dismissively, reaching for the kettle, “ Just a cold, no need to worry.” Though , honestly Guy himself was starting to worry, the pain wasn’t quelling and he already felt the signs of coming fever. For some reason he felt as if it was embarrassing to get a cold, to show this sick vulnerability that he locked up all the way back in his childhood.
“I can help you, kid, you don’t have to play hero.” Jasper’s hands were drawing circles into his sides as the vampire propped his chin up on Guy’s shoulder, watching him brew the tea straight in the cup. The smell of lemon and ginger wafted through the air.
Eager for some sort of relief, Guy wrapped a hand around his cup, "I know you can,” he nodded before taking a sip. Which he immediately spit out , groaning as he set down the cup, hot tea splashing slightly out and on his hand. “Fuck!” the loud exclamation did nothing for his soreness, making him wince and clutch his throat with the other hand.
“Ah, come here, pup.” Jasper’s hands spun him around pinning his hips between the tea station and the vampire. He grasped Guy’s chin with one hand, biting the other’s thumb. “ Say ahh now sweetheart.” He was practically cooing and Guy had half the mind to object, but the vampire’s thumb already slid up to his lips once he opened his mouth to speak. So, like an obedient pup he licked the precious blood, salty and coppery it was distinctly blood. But something about it’s origin being Jasper made it somehow sweeter. Not in the confectionary sense, but like wine, Guy felt as if he couldn’t get enough.
The burning pain from the tea disappeared as soon as Jasper’s thumb was done regenerating, which Guy now felt was a disappointingly short amount of time. When the vampire gently took back his hand, Guy felt himself follow it forward just a little, a pathetic whimper frozen unshed from his lips. Yet it looked as if Jasper didn’t need to hear it to know it was there.
“Ah, now that is interesting,” he mused, his bright eyes crinkling knowingly in the corners, boring into Guy, “is there,” his clawed hand traced down Guy’s neck, “anything else?” he knew the answer already of course, Guy’s thoughts had been all but screaming about how he wanted Jasper’s lips on his, how he wanted to, despite his sore throat, make out for amounts of time usually considered impractical.
“I think you miscalculated your medicine dosage,” Guy batted his eyelashes, leaning back as he set his palms on the tea station, “I’m very very sick you see” he even coughed a little, the motion echoing in crackly dull pain in his whole upper body area. Jasper leaned in, nudging Guy’s ear a little with his nose, his hair brushing up Guy’s cheek and forehead.
“Whatever shall I do with my sick puppy?” Jasper purred, facing Guy, letting his warmth, his breath ghost his face, reveling in the aching warmth of other’s lips.
Guy didn’t answer, instead pushing off the station to press forward. His mouth landed squarely on Jasper’s. Both already open and hungry, it was hardly a chaste peck. A leisurely paced devouring would encompass it better. Jasper’s fangs were out and sharp, drawing his own blood and Guy’s alike, flavoring their kiss with blood. Guy felt completely and utterly dazed, his head swimming with every brash lick of his own tongue into the vampire’s mouth, tasting and offering his own taste.
His hands were long tangled up around Jasper’s neck, tugging him as close as possible as their teeth clashed together and blood smeared all around the mouth. The essence of the vampire was like solar energy concentrated on Guy’s aching throat. It coated the inflammation, dimming it, allowing Guy to breathe and to think of anything without the undercurrent of pulsing acidic discomfort.
He was torn out of the kiss by Jasper, his mouth was all smeared with red, pupils blown wide and oh so radiant. Guy , in passing, thought that one wouldn’t need the sun if Jasper was there, with his halo-like hair and eyes of purest ice.
Flatterer. His thoughts however betrayed the fondness that hid behind a harmless jab. He was right, Guy could never want as he did, and oh how he earned to share that feeling still.
You know I am telling the truth. Jasper nodded, pulling Guy into his arms, into the cool but firm embrace. His lips brushed over Guy’s temple as he buried his face in Jasper’s neck. His throat had backed off, leaving only the warm fuzziness that compared to that of alcohol but so much better.
“Let’s get dinner now, yeah?” Jasper murmured into Guy’s hair, his lips pressing silent kisses through the curls.
“Yeah. Let’s” guy agreed, only huddling up closer. The clutches of fever settled on him, but there was now no sharpness, only the fuzzy warmth and a promise of care.