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“Sick?”
Primo nodded, continuing to remove his paints in the dim lighting of the sacristy. Beside him was Omega, who had been quietly folding the Satanic Pope’s vestments before having asked, in an almost nervous tone, why the youngest Emeritus brother had been absent from that morning’s Black Mass.
“I took him to the infirmary four days ago, they said he would be better within the week. Fever broke this morning around 2:00 AM.”
Having wiped his face clean of its adornment, Primo watched from the corner of his eye as the large ghoul paused his ministrations, the end of his tail swishing in an anxious manner. Omega cleared his throat.
“What, uh…what sort of sickness, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Frostbite, and the following cold that comes with it. Very mild.” The last part had been added as a sort of balm to the ghoul’s now apparent fear. In all honesty, Primo was surprised that Omega hadn’t known of Terzo’s condition, seeing as the two were so close. Then again, he had refused visitors all week, even his own brothers.
Omega fell back into silence as he finished storing away Primo’s cassock before asking to be dismissed. When his request was granted, he gave a small bow before hurrying out of the room, leaving the human to ponder his odd behavior.
Once back in the Abbey, Omega made his way straight up the stone stairs at the farthest end of the building. He had no plans on returning to the den, where he usually spent mornings after service with the other ghouls. Instead, he found himself before the door to Terzo’s chambers, a hushed whine of concern in his throat.
It had been almost a week since he and Terzo had held each other in Primo’s garden, tucked away from the world that snowy night as they shared their desire with one another. They had said their goodbyes just before sunrise, having retreated to the kitchen to enjoy some hot chocolate after their intimate time together. Omega wasn’t sure what to expect in the following days, but it surely wasn’t the silence he received. When the first day passed with no sign of the Emeritus, the ghoul chalked it up to the human simply needing to rest. Come the second day, he decided it was because of their busy schedules. On the third day, he began to fear he had done something horribly wrong. His mind raced with possibilities, ranging between him simply being a lousy lay to having unknowingly harmed Terzo in some sense. Filled with dread at the thought of causing his beloved friend pain in any sense of the matter, Omega had spent his time as a bundle of nerves, wondering where he went wrong. It was so bad that he couldn't even bring himself to share his thoughts with Alpha, who had certainly noticed his change in demeanor.
Now with the truth in his mind, Omega knocked hesitantly at the door. There was a chance Terzo could be asleep, or perhaps not feeling up to see anyone either. The response the ghoul received was in a low, groggy voice.
“What?”
“It’s me,” announced Omega, his voice soft. He bit his lip, waiting to see what Terzo would say. Instead, he heard the gentle pattering of feet making their way over before opening the door. There stood the normally proper and glamorous Emeritus brother, now donning a large sweater and loose pajama pants instead of his usual tight, complex outfits. His expression was one of a man who hadn’t had proper sleep in days. Despite this, there was something about his current look that still made Omega’s heart beat a little faster.
“Ciao, Omega,” he greeted in a sleepy, congested voice. Even with his clear exhaustion, there was an undeniable twinkle in his eyes at the sight of the ghoul.
“Terzo, hi. Primo told me you were sick?”
“Oh, uh- yeah, I’m…I’m not feeling so great.”
“I’m sorry to hear that…Could I come in?”
Terzo, who had turned his gaze down to his slippers, looked up in surprise at the question. Omega gave a small smile, hoping he hadn’t crossed a line.
“You can, but…I don’t want to get you sick as well.” Terzo’s worry was met with the shake of a head.
“It’s pretty difficult for a human to pass on their sickness to a ghoul, so you don’t have to worry about the cold. Aside from that, last time I checked, frostbite wasn’t contagious.”
Terzo’s heart dropped at the mention of his frostbite, a light blush dusting his features at Omega’s grin, which, try as he may, didn’t mask his concern as well as he wished. He cursed at Primo for sharing his state with Omega under his breath as he stepped aside to let his friend in.
“Before you kill yourself with guilt,” he started, plopping back down onto his bed, which was currently littered with snotty tissues, “I know what I asked for. I wanted to stay outside. This isn’t your fault.”
Omega sighed, standing across from Terzo with his arms crossed. True, it had been Terzo’s idea to lay in the snow while they were intimate; as a ghoul, Omega was able to tough out the January chill, and how could he refuse when those mismatched eyes were looking at him so full of desire? Still, it broke his heart seeing the human like this.
Even if it was undeniably a bit adorable the way his face scrunched up when he sneezed.
“How bad is it?”
“Not bad at all.”
“May I see?”
“See what?”
“The frostbite?”
Hesitant at first, Terzo reluctantly waved Omega closer. He turned around, lifting the back of his sweater carefully to reveal his reddened skin, grimacing at the poorly stifled gasp the ghoul let out at the sight.
“It looks a lot worse than it is, Megs. The nurses said it was mild. I just have a crappy immune system, you know that.” Despite his grumbled explanations, Terzo knew that Omega’s head was swimming with worry. After a moment, the ghoul cleared his throat.
“Would..would you like if I…?” He trailed off, but Terzo knew what he was asking. He waited a second before nodding, a barely audible “please” leaving his lips. Soon after, he felt a large, warm hand placed against his aching back, the soothing pulse of quintessence magic creeping over his flesh.
Quintessence magic was an incredible thing. In small doses, it was able to urge along an individual’s recovery. However, too much at once could backfire, leaving the sick or injured recipient in a worse state than they previously were in. Because of this, Omega made sure to concentrate completely on what he was doing, remaining focused as the angry burn of frostbite began to slowly lessen under his touch. It took everything in him to not lovingly caress Terzo’s spine as he pulled away, aching to feel him just a little longer.
“You’re already healing pretty well. I’d say give it a day or two and you should be all better.”
“Thank you,” whispered the dark haired man, lowering his shirt. He could already feel the sting coming down as he spun back around to face Omega, who grinned at the sight of his blushing face. He would’ve asked if Terzo’s cheeks had been affected as well if he didn’t feel his own face flushing.
“Of course…and your fever broke already?”
“Si.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Let me feel.”
Before Terzo could protest all the dotting, Omega pressed the back of his hand to his clammy forehead, immediately reducing his complaint into a soft sigh. Even this time, without any magic at the ghoul’s touch, he couldn’t help but melt at the contact, so much so that he had to fight back a whimper once it was broken.
“No fever,” confirmed Omega, a pleased tone in his voice.
“Told you so.”
The two remained in silence, just staring at each other. Really, what could they say? Omega had finished playing doctor, and yet he was still looking at Terzo with such deep compassion. He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around the room as he tried to search for the right words.
“...I missed you, Ter…I really did. I had no clue that you weren’t feeling well. I thought after not seeing you for a while that…I don’t know, maybe I did something wrong. That I was too much. I didn’t want to bother you, so I just acted like everything was ok, even though it wasn’t.”
He sighed, still looking at the Bauhaus poster that hung on the other side of the bedroom. He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a small, cold hand take hold of his own, prompting him to look back at Terzo, who sat at the end of his bed, eyes wide with something between compassion and guilt.
“I am sorry, Omega,” he rasped, pushing aside how scratchy his throat felt from his current ailment. “I should have told you instead of just disappearing. That was inconsiderate of me.
“You got sick,” said Omega, shaking his head with an understanding smile. “You needed to rest.”
“That doesn’t mean it was right to leave you in the dark for so long. Mi dispiace di averti spaventato.” He gave Omega’s hand a gentle squeeze, his heart filled with genuine sorrow for his actions. The ghoul squeezed back.
“You have nothing to apologize for, agnus.”
Agnus.
Lamb.
Terzo felt his face heat up once more at the nickname. He cleared his throat, hoping it looked more sickly than sheepish.
“Would you…mind staying with me? Just for a bit? I haven’t really spoken with anyone in a while.”
Omega swore his heart flipped in his chest. He nodded, moving to join Terzo in the bed, wrapping a nearby blanket around the both of them and pulling him close to his chest.
“Of course.”