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Abolish stayed at his home while others ran around fortifying and collecting silver. It was strange to him, as the situation was usually reversed. He sighed lightly and leaned further into the wall behind him. Every part of him wanted to be out there; to be helping the last of the humans. Every part of him, however, also screamed at him in discomfort and pain. His vision swam slowly, its sharp fins pricking into the sides of his temples. Sweat beaded at the surface of his skin, and no matter how many layers of his clothes he shed, it remained so. Abolish was usually neat and composed, but he now sat in the corner of his rather unfurnished attic, his suit coat, vest, and tie lay thrown across the wood floor. While he hadn’t removed his shirt, it had been unbuttoned significantly. Abolish never got sick— not usually, anyway. So why, he wondered, was this happening on assignment of all times?
His eyes shot open as something banged against his attic window. Admittedly, his guard was low enough to the point where the unexpected noise had startled him slightly. He slowly sat up more, shaking softly from the weakness within his muscles. Abolish moved to the window and unhooked the side before pushing the pane outward and open, allowing a small dark brown creature to dart into the room. The young man was thankful he’d given Pyro an open invitation, as he didn’t have the energy to welcome him in, nor did he wish to express the current state of his voice.
Pyroscythe shifted back into his vampiric form, landing against the floor after descending. He turned, his gaze flicking from his landing spot to the objects he’d seen sprawled across the floor upon his arrival. Pyro wasn’t unfamiliar with seeing Abolish unadorned with the added layers, but to see his clothes scattered across the hardwood was almost concerning. Abolish was the cleanest and most sensible of anyone they knew— so for him to have not at least laid the clothes nicely upon his bed sent his stomach into knots.
“Bolish..?” They asked hesitantly, taking steps toward the man at the window.
He closed the pane and ignored the other type of pain within his skull. He didn’t respond with words, but gave a soft look instead.
Pyro picked up the nearby coat before walking to retrieve his tie and vest as well.
“Are you okay..?”
Abolish took the coat from Pyro’s arms and gave a light nod, accompanied by a similar smile.
He forced his breathing to normalize and for his heart rate to at least appear steady, not to mention keeping his eyes open. Pyro frowned, and his eyes scrunched at their corners.
“Abolish…”
He looked down from them and preened out the jacket before setting it across the chest at the foot of his bed. Pyro’s eyebrows knitted further as they followed in his movements, laying the gray vest and black tie across the chest neatly.
Their eyes never left him for more than a glance, scanning for whatever was wrong with him. His breathing was normal, and while it was faster than usual, his heart rate was still steady.
After the clothes were dealt with, Abolish fixed up the ones he wore, buttoning up his shirt and smoothing it out nicely. Which Pyro then proceeded to mess up once more by pulling him closer and wrapping their arms around him tightly. He was shaking, they noticed. It was subtle, but the slight movement within his body was there. After a moment, Abolish exhaled deeply and gave up, allowing himself to fall into Pyro, wrapping his arms around him weakly. He stumbled slightly as more weight leaned against him than expected. He mumbled wordless sentences into Pyro’s shoulder, shuddering against him.
“Whoa, Bolish?” They asked worriedly, guiding him to the bed, “Are you okay?”
The two lay down, and Veylocke found himself snuggling closer into Pyro, burrowing his head into their chest.
“Mmmmnmmmn-“ Abolish grumbled.
While Pyro was glad to have him in his arms, he couldn’t shake the worried feeling in his gut. He wrapped their arms around his lover and held him, kissing the top of his head gently as he rubbed their hand over his back. Abolish pressed closer against Pyro in response. Pyroscythe considered asking once more what was going on-- why Veylocke was acting so foreignly-- but decided against it. It was clear the man had no words to muster any sort of explanation.
“Do you want anything?” They asked softly, “Water?”
Abolish took a moment before prying himself slightly off of Pyro. He formed both hands into fists and circled one on top of the other vertically. His eyebrows hitched upwards slightly as he asked, his expression pleading.
“Babes, you should not be having coffee right now,” Pyro chided, “no caffeine.”
Abolish’s frown deepened and gave him a well-known sign involving his middle finger.
He laughed lightly, “what about tea then?”
His eyes flicked downward as he thought, but nodded a moment later. Pyro smiled softly before getting up and off the bed. With a disappointed exhale Abolish grabbed at his boyfriend, not wanting them to leave. He kept a grip on Pyro’s long coatjacket, though it wasn’t very strong considering his weakened state. Pyroscythe allowed his lover to pull him closer, gave him a kiss, then ran a clawed hand through his hair before setting off once more.
Abolish watched as he made his way down the ladder from the attic to prepare tea on the ground floor. He was grateful for his kindness, but hadn’t taken into account that Pyro had to be elsewhere while he made the drink. Really he just wanted to be back in his arms. Back in his arms and out of this pain. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what kind of pain he was feeling, all he knew was that it was something that reminded him of motion sickness, or when he’d gotten hot flashes from his period. All he knew is he wanted it gone and Pyro back.
Not too much later, the creak of someone’s weight upon the latter sounded rhythmicly. Abolish pricked up slightly at the noise of his partner bringing him tea and cuddles once more. Pyro emerged from the hole in the floor, strangely, he might add. Pyro smiled with a tilted head and through a full mouth, his scythed fangs and teeth gripping at the handle for a small tea pot. Their boyfriend’s already solemn face melted into concern and almost horror at the sight. Pyroscythe pulled a cup from the abyss of his large pockets and made his way to Abolish’s bedside table.
“Pyro, what the hell?” He asked, his voice weak, strained, and cracking slightly.
He ended up coughing not a moment later. A hum of sadness and pity came from Pyro as he set the object down before carefully transferring the still hot teapot from his teeth to the table. He didn’t bother with them any further as they moved over to embrace Abolish in a hug once more, murmuring soft words of “oh, baby-” and “I’m so sorry”.
He wasn’t fond of being coddled, but Abolish could handle being cuddled. He leaned into Pyro’s soft clothing and inhaled slowly. Pine, campfire, cow’s blood. Veylocke noted the scent of his lover with a lighter heart. After a moment he shuffled back out of his grip.
“The tea?” He signed this time, not wanting to expose his voice once more.
Pyro nodded and poured him a cup, handing it to Bolish. They sat beside him and turned his head to kiss the top of Abolish’s before wrapping his arms around his waist. Leaning against him, he allowed a soft breath to skim over the surface of his tea. He’d drink later, but for now he just wanted to hold it— to feel the warmth within his hands. The contrast of the cold vampire’s flesh against his to the temperature of his drink to the lukewarm air around him allowed the shifting-from-sweaty-to-freezing feeling of his skin to let up slightly.
With a yawn, he buried his head into the chest of one Jack Von Pyroscythe and allowed his eyes to shut.
He didn’t even drink the tea.