Chapter Text
(Sylus)
MC dragged her feet to the front steps of Sylus's–one of many–penthouses. Her boots, worn out and dirtied by the dust kicked up during missions, scrapped against the steps leading up to the door where a familiar crow sat. Mephisto let out a caw, most likely expecting some scathing remark from MC, beady eges unblinking. However, she merely waved him away with a weak hand, muttering something incoherent in a sleepy mumble. This seemed to offend him more than that time she put pink stickers on him. He scurried off shortly after, a tornado of black and metal.
She raised her hand and formed a loose fist, barely knocking one soft knock before the door opened silently. Sylus stood there, crimson button-up undone two buttons, suit jacket dangling lazily from his fingers.
"Sweetie," he began in an amused drawl, "You know you can simply come on in without..."
His eyes flickered to the bags beneath MC's, to the slumping of her posture and the half-lidded look she stared at him with. He stepped closer, hand coming up to feel her forehead; her skin felt feverish despite the parlor flooding her normally bright face. He frowned, bringing his hand down to her chin. Sylus lifted her face gently. "You've been working too much, Miss Hunter." It wasn't a question.
She nodded mindlessly, eyes fluttering shut for a moment.
Sylus let out a resigned sigh before his arms encircled her waist, picking her up and settling her on one arm. MC's head lolled onto his shoulder, her face in between the space where his shoulder met his neck. She let her eyes shut completely, trusting Sylus as he brought her to his bedroom–though, it might has well been theirs with the amount of clothes she left in his closet–and laid her on his bed. She pulled the minky blanket over herself, her eyes opening to see Sylus grabbing his phone before she closed them once more.
Sleep came soon, with the only sound being Sylus calling his chef for soup and water.
When she awoke, Sylus was sitting beside her in bed, reading a book she knew he'd read dozens of times already. He looked over as she awoke, his hand coming to feel her forehead once more. "I tried to wake you for water earlier but you seemed rather persistent about staying in your dreamland," he commented half-teasingly, reaching to grab an iced glass of water.
His free hand helped MC sit up, letting her situate herself before he handed her the glass. "Drink," was all he said, swinging his legs over the bed. He stood, the faint light from the nightstand lamp casting a shadow across the fur carpet, and stretched for a moment before grabbing a pair of MC's clothes that she'd left before on her previous stay.
MC brought the glass to her dry lips, the coldness stinging for a moment before she sighed in quiet relief. The dryness of her mouth seemed unending now that she had water, and soon enough, the glass was already empty. It clinked with the sound of the ice dancing together.
Sylus nodded in approval, taking the glass and setting it aside. He grabbed a hairtie from his wrist–no doubt MC's from their...escapades–and stretched it. "I'll go and run you a bath, afterwards, you'll eat properly," he announced, hand coming up to tenderly pull her hair into a ponytail, leaving it loose over MC's shoulder.
MC nodded. "Alright," she replied. Her voice was hoarse from sleep, still raspy from her cold.
He seemed a bit off put by that, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment before he relaxed them. Sylus stood and disappeared into the bathroom, the sound of running water soon spilling out from the open door.
MC stood shakily, legs feeling sore and wobbly, to follow him in, taking her t-shirt and sweatpants with her. Inside, the cool tile pressed against her feet, the mirrors already fogging up from the heat of the bath. Sylus knelt in front of the bath, dipping his hand in every once and a while to check the water before putting the stopper in and turning off the faucet. He stood, drying his arm on a hand towel. "It's ready, kitten."
A towels sat on the countertop, white and fluffy, and Sylus turned turned around to fold it as MC undressed, only turning around when she said it was okay.
MC sank into the tub, letting the warm water swirl around her neck as the scent of lavender oil filled her nose, the faint bubbles forming on the surface acting as her entertainment.
Sylus sat down beside her, draping her ponytail off of the edge of the tub. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing toned forearms as he scooted behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders, kneading into the tense muscle.
MC winced at first and he gentled his movements, letting her adjust before deepening the massage to release the knots. She relaxed once the muscle stopped screaming. Her head leaned back on the rim of the marble and Sylus leaned down to kiss her temple. "You can relax, sweetheart, I've got you."
MC hummed, feeling the exhaustion of the past four days melt away as she felt Sylus's firm hands relieve the built-up tension. Lately, she'd been working tirelessly to perfect her techniques. She had been sloppy and felt that she needed the training. Even so, she could admit she went a bit overboard with the training, though she would never said it aloud.
"Let's get you to getting better soon," Sylus remarked, moving down to her upper arms.
"Why?" MC inquired, shuddering as the muscles in her upper arms twitched.
"Because, I don't find pleasure in seeing you so...pliant." He said the word like it was an oddity. "I find great fondness in your stubbornness, your spirit, your delightful frustration. Seeing like this isn't something I would like to see again. Besides, Mephisto is quite miffed he has had no one to argue with for the past four days."
MC couldn't help but snort at that, a small, shaky sound. Sylus smiled nonetheless.
"I do want you to rest, sweetie, this isn't good for you," Sylus added, his voice low and worried. "You'll give me white hairs from the stress."
MC laughed, her hand coming up to his already light hair, dampening the strands with her drenched palm. Sylus feigned mock outrage with a swat of his hand, brushing his hand to the side. "How dare you."
After the bath, Sylus brought up the soup from earlier, sitting on a tray in front of MC. Her stomach grumbled at the smell of the chicken and seasoning, so she wasted only a moment before beginning to eat, the warm liquid helping soothe her throat.
Sylus watched as she ate, his attention drifting occasionally to his polished gun that he had decided to clean again.
The twins came up for a minute or two to see how MC was doing and to tease boss-man about his softness before Sylus hinted that he might shoot them if they continued. They scrambled out after that.
MC finished the soup in silence and Sylus went downstairs to bring the empty dish to the kitchen. She crawled back under the sheets and rested her head against the silk pillowcase, listening to Sylus's footsteps vanish down the hall.
She knew he'd came back when the bed dipped beside her. MC glanced over her shoulder to see Sylus taking off his socks and slipping under the covers as well, ready to sleep, despite the fact it was night and this would mean he would wake in the morning, his least favorite time and that he was in a button-up. At least he had black sweatpants on. He didn't move closer until MC sat up and laid herself against his chest. Then he let himself wrap an arm around her, tucking her head under his chin as she drifted off to the sound of his steady breathing and the chattering of the twins downstairs as they played their spaceship game.