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Joel woke up feeling miserable. He felt exhausted, despite his body deciding now would be the best time to wake. He rolled over slowly, his head exploding in pain when he did so.
“For goodness sake..” Joel muttered as he glanced at his clock, reading it to be almost 2 in the morning.
He’d groan, shoving the blanket off his sweaty body. Gods, he was burning up.
Now, a normal person would probably recognize that they were ill, and head right back to bed. Joel was not one of those people. He would quickly shove his communicator into his pocket before pushing himself up- way too quickly. His hands immediately found his head as he cried out in pain.
The thought of getting up and grabbing medicine was fighting the pain in his head, causing him to be applying tons of pressure to his head with his hands, in the hope his headache would die out long enough for him to retrieve medicine.
As he began to sit up again, his mind pondered on what medicine he should take. He was never really good with knowing exactly what he should and should not combine, so he settled on grabbing some pain killers for the headache and then chugging a glass of water in hopes his temperature would go down.
He’d stand, body unbalanced as his legs shook. He’d barely make it to the doorway before collapsing on the ground. He’d stay like that for a while.
Slowly, Joel’s eyes would flutter open, adjusting to the dark surroundings of his home.
“What the hell..?” He’d mumble, body shaking as he reached his hand out. “Why am I on the floor?
He’d sit up, before the feeling of headache consumed himself again. Was he sick? Pain shot up his head, causing him to cry out. Gods, that was embarrassing. He was glad he was all alone.
But on second thought, was it really a good thing that he was alone? No, no, he would be fine. He could handle a little cold himself.
Slowly, he would lift himself up, holding onto the wall like it was his only savior. He’d stumble a bit, deciding he could handle the headache and choosing to hold onto the wall as he stood.
“Probably passed out like an idiot..” Joel mumbled, his voice sounding scratchy. Joel was unsure if he was hearing it wrong or his voice was affected by the illness.
Joel would only move a few feet before deciding that he wasn’t going to get far. He’d flop himself onto the floor, deciding that lying on the hardwood was more comfortable than moving back to his bed. He’d lie still for a few moments.
When Joel moved again, he didn’t know how much time had passed until he glanced down at his communicator, pulling it out of his pocket. His ears pinned back against his head, glancing at the time. 3am. He’d been on the floor for a bloody hour.
It didn’t even feel like that. Maybe like a few minutes at most, in Joel’s opinion. Still, he’d lay on the floor for a few more moments, before deciding he really needed to move.
Joel would push himself up, sitting up and leaning against the wall with a heavy breath. Nope, not doing that. He sunk back into the floor, putting his hands around his head to soothe the headache. His vision was foggy, the world moving around him.
He came to the conclusion that he would not be getting up anytime soon. He should really ask for help. With a sigh, Joel would reluctantly open his contacts, glancing at the list. Etho’s name popped up first. He’d click it immediately, listening to his comm ring for a few minutes, before the buzzing would stop.
“Joel?” Etho’s voice filled his ears, sounding like he just woke up. “Is something wrong?”
Joel would stay silent for a moment, just listening to Etho’s voice with a smile. He’d never admit it to Etho’s face, but his voice was soothing.
“Joel?” Etho’s voice continued, sounding more panicked. “Are you there?”
Joel blinked, realizing he’d left Etho practically on read for the past minute.
“Eefo” Joel would respond quietly.
“Joel” Etho would respond, a frown being heard through the call. “You don’t sound so good.”
“Feel great” Joel would respond, flinching at his own voice.
“I’m coming over.” Etho would say, leaving no room for Joel to argue.
Joel would hum in response, body relaxing. Etho was coming, Joel was fine. He’d close his eyes for a moment, before feeling someone grabbing at him. He’d flinch, pushing himself away and right into the wall.
“Joel, Joel, it’s just me.” The person spoke, voice soft. “It’s Etho, buddy.”
Joel peaked an eye open, sighing. Just Etho “You’re fast.”
Etho grimaced, putting a hand to Joel’s forehead. “You’re burning up.”
Joel would stay quiet, slowly putting his hands underneath Joel’s arms, moving him slowly in his grasp. Joel would squint his eyes shut, letting out a small whimper. A frown could be seen from Etho’s eyes, his mask hiding the rest of it as he put a hand into his hair and began to gently stroke his head.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Etho would speak softly, waiting a few moments before speaking again. “You’ve got a headache?”
“Of course I’ve got a bloody headache” Joel tried to resort back, but instead sounded pretty pathetic in the process. Etho would just hum in response.
The two would sit in silence for a few moments, Etho holding Joel close to his chest with one hand, the other gently stroking his head. His hand moved up to the set of feline ears on Joel’s head, rubbing gently at the base and working slowly up.
Joel’s eyes would soften, head resting against Etho’s chest as he let out a soft purr. Etho would smile, continuing to sooth Joel until he felt Joel relax. Etho would remove his hand, glancing down at Joel and noting how his eyes were shut.
Etho would carefully begin to lift Joel, being careful as not to wake him up. He knew that Joel’s body needed all the rest it could get. Carefully, Joel was moved back to his bedroom, Etho laying Joel on his back before covering him with a thin blanket. After assuring that he was still asleep, he’d leave the room and retrieve a glass of water and medicine to help his fever and headache go down.
Etho placed the water and medicine on Joel’s nightstand, before dragging the chair at Joel’s desk over to be near his bed, sitting next to him. It was nearing 5 in the morning, so in a few hours the earliest risers would begin to get up. Etho made note to possibly ask someone about helping watch over Joel.
Etho would watch Joel for some time, before finding himself begging to doze off. He’d quickly wake up again upon the sound of something hitting the floor. He’d shake awake, moving upright quickly and his eyes navigating down to the floor, only to see Joel lying there, the blanket half on the bed and half fallen.
Joel was facing in Etho’s direction, staring out at him with a hand reached out towards him.
“Joel!” Etho began to scold, crouching down to Joel, squeezing the hand reached in his direction. “You’re pretty sick, you need to rest.”
Joel would only mumble in response, looking pretty proud of himself as he did so.
“Didn’t quite catch that.” Etho would respond. “C’mon, back to bed.”
Joel wouldn’t put up much of a fight as Etho lifted him up and back into bed, a feeling of Déjà vu rushing through his mind. This time though, Etho would join him, not wanting to risk Joel waking up confused again, or trying to escape bedrest.
“You didn’t hit your head when you fell, right?” Etho would question, examining Joel’s eyes and head, much to Joel’s dismay.
“‘M fine.” Joel would mumble, “no need to fuss all over.”
Etho rolled his eyes with a snort. “You’d do the same thing.”
“Lies” Joel would mumble.
Etho would reach out to the glass of water, holding Joel close to his chest and supporting his head.
“Drink, it’ll help with your temperature and headache”
Joel would reluctantly accept the water, Etho making sure he didn’t drink too quickly. The last thing he’d want is to make Joel nauseous.
“Think you can handle some medicine?” Etho would ask, eyeing the medicine left on the bedside table.
“Of course I bloody can.” Joel would respond, his body practically crying out for medicine. Anything to make his headache disappear.
Etho would administer the medicine to Joel slowly, before having him finish the glass of water. After Etho was left satisfied with Joel’s water intake, he’d lower Joel to lie down again. Joel would practically collapse onto the bed, looking exhausted.
Etho would smile softly, his hand once again finding Joel’s head as he soothed his fevers. Joel, unsurprisingly, fell asleep quickly. Etho was glad for that, but his movements never stopped. He’d hold Joel tight to his chest, wanting to protect him from his illness.
Etho would swiftly reach for the mask on his face, pull it down as his lips went to Joel’s head, planting a soft kiss on the top before pulling the mask back up. He’d hum softly, smiling down at Joel.
“Sleep well” Etho would speak softly, resting his own head against the pillow behind him. “Hopefully you’ll be feeling better in the morning.”