Work Text:
If Mercury were sick:
Mercury is… rarely sick. And if he was sick, Venus is protective and watchful, constantly checking on his temperature, looking up ways to cool down. Mercury stays in bed. He once gets up to get himself ready, but that’s it. Venus would be the type not to let Mercury go anywhere, worried about his health and well-being.
The usually hyperactive planet now lay curled under the blankets, flushed cheeks peeking out, his curls a little messier than usual as he coughed weakly into the pillow. Venus had been watching him like a hawk ever since he admitted, reluctantly, “I don’t feel so great.”
From that moment on, Venus became relentless.
“Stay in bed,” Venus ordered for the fifth time that morning, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.
Mercury looked up from his cocoon of blankets, pouty and defiant. “I just wanted to brush my teeth.”
“I already brought you water and a toothbrush.” Venus narrowed his eyes. “You’re not walking around. End of discussion.”
Venus would look up recipes that could help let Mercury eat on, like soup. He would grab something from the store real quick to get the ingredients and also watch videos on how to do it properly. While Mercury smells the aroma, trying all of his might not to get up and see it himself:
A few hours later, Venus stood in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up and phone propped against the counter, watching a cooking video with furrowed brows.
“Chop the carrots finely… stir slowly to avoid burning the broth…” the cheerful voice on the video said.
Venus mimicked it with as much precision as he could manage, even though his knife skills were clumsy at best. He wasn’t great at cooking, but the thought of Mercury lying in bed, weak and uncomfortable, made his chest twist uncomfortably. So, soup it was.
As the pot simmered, a soft aroma of vegetables and broth began to fill the apartment. Mercury, still bundled in the bedroom, sniffed the air, his eyes fluttering open at the smell. His core felt warmer, not just from the fever, but from the thought that Venus, his Venus, was actually cooking for him.
He sat up slightly, tempted to sneak out and peek, but the sound of Venus’s voice from the kitchen stopped him.
“Don’t even think about getting up, Mercury!”
Mercury groaned, flopping back onto the pillows. “How did you know I was about to move?!”
“I know you,” Venus called back firmly. “Stay put!!
And… I see Venus finally preparing the soup, entering the bedroom with a stand on a tray so it could rest on Mercury’s lap.
He would help Mercury sit up so he could prepare him to try on the soup:
A little while later, Venus reappeared at the door with a tray balanced carefully in his hands. He walked over, setting it on the nightstand before gently adjusting Mercury’s pillows. “Sit up, slowly,” Venus said, voice softening as he reached over to move some stray curls from Mercury’s face. His touch lingered just a second longer than necessary, thumb brushing against Mercury’s cheek.
“You made soup, Venus?” Mercury softly said. “Yeah? I mean- what else was I supposed to do, watch you suffer?”
Venus grabbed the spoon before Mercury could reach for it, dipping it into the broth and blowing gently on it to cool it down. Mercury raised an eyebrow, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips despite how exhausted he looked.
“I can feed myself, you know,” Mercury said, his voice still hoarse but teasing.
“Yeah, and I can also make sure you don’t spill hot soup all over yourself,” Venus shot back without missing a beat. “So open up.”
Mercury narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but eventually he opened up, letting Venus gently feed him the first spoonful. “Good,” Venus said, watching Mercury swallow closely, “not too hot?”
“No..” Mercury responded, “It’s…really good.”
“Then stop complaining and let me do this,” Venus said, dipping the spoon back into the bowl.
“I wasn’t complaining, you doofus.”
Mercury chuckled quietly, but he obeyed, leaning forward slightly for the next spoonful. Venus’s eyes softened as he brushed a stray curl out of Mercury’s face again, letting his fingers linger a second longer than necessary.
They stayed like that for a while, Venus patiently feeding Mercury one spoonful at a time. Mercury, despite his teasing, didn’t fight it; instead, he let himself relax, leaning more against Venus as the warmth of the soup—and Venus’s presence—slowly eased the tension in his body.
Now that I think about it, once everything is settled and nighttime, Venus had already prepared a cloth to place Mercury’s head on to cool down. Venus lies next to him, making sure he’s alright and sure he’s fallen asleep, small kisses despite Mercury not wanting him to get sick too:
Venus moved quietly around the room. He would dampen a cloth with fresh cool water and wring it out carefully while Mercury lay on his side, half asleep. Venus came back to the bed and would shift Mercury so he could place the cloth against his forehead.
Mercury, who stirred slightly, opened his eyes slightly, “Venus?”
“Just relax, go back to sleep,” Venus said softly, adjusting the cloth and brushing some curls from Mercury’s face.
Mercury, despite being unwell tried to push Venus away, “Stop, you’re gonna catch it too if you get any closer–”
“I’ll be fine,” Venus said, giving him a quiet look, his expression softening. “Venus…” Mercury’s voice was weak but firm enough to be scolding.
“I mean it,” Venus said, lying down beside him finally, the bed dipping slightly under his weight. “If you think I’m gonna sit on the other side of the room while you feel like this, you’re insane.”
Mercury was too exhausted to fight, too exhausted to argue; he found Venus’s hand wrapped around his neck, pulling him down so he could rest below his neck. Before, Mercury had chills all day, despite being covered by several blankets from Venus. The moment he relaxed, with as much effort as he could, he raised his arms so they could rest on Venus’s waist, leaving only Venus to pull him.
With how warm he was, the chills quickly got covered up by him. Mercury could already feel his core relaxed, his arms tightened around him as much as he could, his eyes would slowly begin to get heavy, to the point he would start to make small snores. Once Venus heard them, he looked down, feeling Mercury’s breathing; hearing his core, he didn’t want to move, otherwise that would’ve woken him up. Tomorrow, he would have thought of what else to cure him, perhaps making a better meal that could relieve his throat? Giving him a massage when he wakes up?
Those seemed to be a tremendous help for Mercury. He looked behind him, turning his head as much as he could to see one lamp turned on. He reached one arm out, pulled down the rope that made a ‘click!’ and turned the light out.
He can clean up the kitchen later; right now, just cuddling with Mercury is enough.
If Venus were sick:
It wouldn’t take too long for Mercury to figure out Venus was unwell. Just a little coughs here and there, and one or two sniffles. Mercury was able to diagnose exactly what was messing up with Venus’s core and try to fix it as quickly as he can.
But we do know Venus can be a bit stubborn. Really stubborn. Mercury would ask simple questions and Venus would try to avoid them as much as possible, even knowing very well in his core that he was sick. It could’ve been an important day, something he wanted to attend. And he was NOT going to attend just because of a small cold.
Not only that, Mercury could tell if Venus’s voice was lower than normal and stuffy instead of gruff.
Venus and Mercury would take a walk outside, a bright sunny sky, birds were chirping, a little cloudy, but not enough to rain. And let’s not think too much about the part where it seems like they’re on Earth; let’s… ignore that.
Mercury would have had a cup of slushie he got for him, and despite asking Venus 10 times if he wanted one, he respected Venus’s wishes and got one for himself. It was weird, think of it, Venus hadn’t been eating all morning.
As they still walked, Mercury looked up at Venus, the stern look he had always given, looking around for surroundings, always in the outside spot in case anything happened. “Venus?” Mercury called out.
Venus looked down, “wHaT?”
That small voice crack made Mercury stumble. His hand wrapped around his cup loosened for a moment; that would normally be his hand to cover his mouth, but he gripped the cup again. “Pfft- why are you saying it like that?” he chuckled, trying to keep himself together. Venus stood quiet, his mouth remained closed, and of course, he blushed everywhere. Mercury looked back at him again, “What’s going on with you? Asteroid got your tongue?”
Venus didn’t answer. Mercury, who still had a smile, faltered a bit, “Is.. something wrong with your voice?”
“nO!” Venus said back, his hand quickly went back to his throat, and the pain left his face scrunched up slightly. Mercury could tell what it had; for once, he pulled Venus’s hand, moving to the side so the other celestial bodies could continue to walk. “Sore throat?” he asked, looking up at him.
Venus didn’t answer, looking down, then back up at Mercury. Mercury sighed, “You know you can tell me; there is medicine we can grab,” he said. He used his hand to rest on Venus’s forehead; his eyes widened. “Venus, you’re burning hot! Hotter than your surface– why didn’t you tell me?” he said, standing back.
“I… didn’t want to worRy yoU,” Venus said back. “Worrying me enough by not telling me. Come on, we’re going home.” Mercury said back, pulling Venus’s hand, walking him back.
Venus thought it would be humiliating to feel vulnerable. But he was more worried about making Mercury upset of him for keeping it secret rather than telling him directly. I feel like he would say, “You’re not mad at me?” and Mercury would be so baffled and not be able to fathom how Venus would think they’d be mad for something when it’s out of their control.
Once Mercury quickly unlocked the door, pulling Venus in, letting go of his hand for a quick moment to lock the door. “Go to bed, Venus,” Mercury said, walking to the kitchen. Venus stood by, taking off his shoes, “It’s noThIng sEriOus, it’s just a little cOlD.”
“How is it cold if you’re feeling like the Sun right now?!” Mercury turned back to him. “I-” Venus spoke up, but a thought came back to him, and he kept quiet. Remembering what Mercury said earlier, he walked back to the bedroom, and the lights were turned on all around the walls, pictures of him and Mercury, along with Earth and Mars.
Mercury grabbed a clean rag from a closet, turned up the faucet, and adjusted it to a nice cool temperature. Once let the rag sit on the water, he looked up to see Venus in the bedroom. “Go lay down!” he shouted.
Venus turned to him, “WhY wOuLd I–”
“Lay. Down.”
Mercury doesn’t like repeating twice.
Venus looked at Mercury, then back at the bed, he dipped on the mattress, letting himself lie back. His muscles relaxed as soon as his head rested on the soft pillow; he wasn’t sure whether to get under the blanket or just genuinely lie down on it. Either way, it felt like he was getting hotter by the second.
“Shoot, I forgot to grab medicine on the way home!”
Venus leaned up just a bit to see him, but as soon as he heard footsteps, he immediately lay back down. Mercury walked into the bedroom with a vamp cloth, along with a 3 water bottles around his arm. Once he placed the bottoms on the small table. He turned back to Venus. “Stay still,” he said.
Venus did as he was told. He felt the cold rush through his surface, immediately giving him shivers, but it quickly went off when he felt Mercury’s hand place gentle pressure. Once he did, he looked up to see Venus' hair tied up. Without moving his head, his hand moved behind Venus’s neck, seeing the tie, making Venus move. “Wait, don’t move,” Mercury whispered. Mercury unwrapped one tie, then the other. Once he did, he moved the tie aside; he gently moved Venus’s hair down, making sure Venus didn’t get any coreaches.
After he did that, he looked at Venus. He didn’t notice the small sweats that came through his surface. Mercury sighed, “Be honest with me,” he said, his hand resting on Venus’s hand, “how do you feel?”
Venus looked at Mercury, stars; he’s so beautiful.
He had forgotten they were home now, where no one was there watching them. He took a slow breath, relaxing completely. Mercury watched as Venus’s atmosphere changed; his hair had grown thicker and longer. Mercury was used to the brightness. “It must be that bad, huh?”
Venus struggled to make a word, so he nodded.
I see Mercury trying to make Venus relax as much as possible. As many kisses as he wanted to give Venus, he didn’t want to be sick either. He would make a nice cup of tea to help soothe the sore throat. In fact, when Venus gets sick, he acts a little differently than he intends to.
But Mercury wasn’t the greatest cooker. Neither of them was. Normally, they would’ve ordered takeout or eaten snacks from the pantry. With all the processed meals in the universe, Venus was too sick to have that in his core. So, Mercury decided to make soup, similar to what Venus did for him. But he made it his own way.
As hours passed, Venus had already been asleep, a fresh cloth wrapped around his forehead, wore light clothes with the help of Mercury, and a cup of tea was halfway drunk. Mercury had sent a text to Earth and Mars that they were probably not going to come over the following week since Venus got sick.
Once he placed his phone down, he walked back to the bedroom, seeing Venus sleeping soundly, he gently felt the cloth, making sure if it needed to be rinsed or not. After that, he adjusted the blanket, making sure it was covered top to bottom. He fixed Venus’s hair, pushing the strands back.
Ding dong!
Mercury was startled by the doorbell; he quickly turned to the door, then back at Venus, who moved slightly. The rag was nearly about to fall off, Mercury quickly fixed it, then got off the bed and walked toward the door.
“Hermes! Your order!”
Mercury sighed in relief, he unlocked the door, seeing a former worker, holding a tray, already prepared medicinal stew, along with snacks that contained elements to help fight sickness. “Apologies for the wait, Hermes. "
“No, no, it’s fine! Thank you!” Mercury thanked him, already grabbing the tray. “And here is the medicine.” The worker placed the pills next to the tray. Once Mercury thanked the worker one more time, closing the door with his leg, he looked down at the meal he ordered.
One soup is the most recommended meal when someone is sick. On the side were small snacks that can help boost a planet’s core, and drinks that can help keep the planet at a stable temperature. The food smelled delicious, coming from the most popular chef from their apartment, of course… being owned by the Sun, he took it seriously when it came to taking care of his planets.
Venus, who stirred, the aroma lured all over the apartment, including the bedroom. The moment he smelled, he opened his eyes, turning over again, then leaning his head up, he noticed Mercury walk past him, then past him again. He opened his mouth, but he hesitated, realizing that if he spoke, the pain from his throat would happen again. But the small grunt he made, no pain came out.
He looked at the finished tea Mercury made for him, the cloth that fell off his forehead, and it was a relief that he was getting better in such a short amount of time. He was able to move his arms slightly, pushing himself up. Mercury passed by again; his eyes went to Venus, he stopped, “Venus!”
Mercury speed-walked toward him, his hands resting on his shoulders. “You alive over there?” asked. “Barely,” Venus muttered, blinking slowly, looking up at Venus. “Good,” Mercury breathed. “How do you feel?”
While Mercury grabbed the rag that was left on the blanket, he felt the dip of the bed when Mercury sat down, still waiting to hear Venus’s voice before doing anything else. Venus cleared his throat. “I fEel…” he looks at Mercury, “fine.”
Mercury smiled, “Good! You hungry?”
Mercury sat up, holding the rag as he left the bedroom. After he placed the rag down, he grabbed the tray. With ease, he walked into the bedroom, watching as Venus instinctively sat himself up, which couldn’t help but make him grin a little more.
I could imagine Venus being surprised that Mercury could cook up something like this. A whole tray of a freshly made stew, along with tops that he couldn’t remember where he and Mercury got it from.
Either way, he would be too exhausted to think straight right now. I picture him bringing a small table that was rarely used as a stand for the tray. He would help Venus sit up a little more. I see Mercury trying to tie Venus' hair up, but Venus insists on doing it himself, and Mercury insists he do it. Venus didn’t feel like arguing so he would let him do what he needed to do.
After Mercury tied his hair up, he sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the table carefully, making sure not to make the bowl shake enough to where the broth would spill. Venus stared at the soup. “You made that?”
“Yep, I did,” Mercury lied. “Took a while, though. I took that video you used when you helped me when I was sick; I just made it better.”
Venus watched as Mercury grabbed the spoon, stirring the broth, then lifting it up, Venus could tell where it was going, slowly moving his head back, avoiding the spoon coming toward his mouth. Mercury blinked, halting his move. “What?” he asked Venus. Mercury looked at Venus’s face. “Are you not hungry?”
“No,” Venus quickly answered. “No,” he repeated. “I’m not, gimme the spoon.” Venus rose his hand up; however, the energy felt drained just living a muscle, his hand dropped back to the mattress, and his breath began to grow shallow. Mercury looked down at his hand. “You need more energy; come on, just let me feed you, then you can rest,” Mercury said, placing the spoon down to stir again and pulling it back up toward Venus’s mouth.
Venus kept quiet; the aroma was strong, the broth looked delicious, and Mercury obliged to help him. How in the stars could he say no to this? “Now, can you say ahh for me?” Mercury grinned. Venus eyed him, Mercury giggled, “Okay, okay! Just open your mouth.”
Venus took a sip of the soup. Mercury already went to scoop seconds for him, but before that, he asked, “So, how is it?”
“It’s good, really good,” Venus said, and he was genuinely impressed. “Is it too hot? Too cold?” Mercury asked, and even when he did that, he moved the spoon toward Venus, and he took another sip of the broth. Mercury made a small smile. “I take that as a no then.” he scooped the spoon. “Is it perfect?”
“Yeah,” Venus answered. “It’s perfect.” he looked at Mercury. “Thanks.”
“Of course, do you want to do it yourself?”
“No, I want you to do it.”
“Alright then.”
When it’s personal hygiene, Mercury helps Venus take baths/showers, and after that Venus would have energy to brush his teeth, and Mercury would help him with his hair, tying it up for the night.
I think the best moments are when Mercury doesn’t know if he should sleep on the couch so he won’t get sick from Venus. But what would make Venus feel a lot better mentally and emotionally is for Mercury to cuddle with him the entire time. I see Venus having the love language of physical touch, and Mercury does that. Venus would get better shortly after a few days than Mercury does. Some signs that he was getting better: One, he didn’t have any voice cracks. 2. The atmosphere he would have in bed would start to disappear, but normally, he would show it only at home.
Mercury reads the core temperature with his thermostat, and a soft smile was created. “Looks like you’re back to yourself,” he said, putting the thermostat down. “Even though you’re always hot, you went back to the right temperature you should’ve gone to.”
He looked back to see Venus, completely relaxed at the bed, his atmosphere had started to thin down to normal, his hair highlighting the cream orange as his atmosphere, the dark orange covering most of it. He felt Mercury’s hand place the cloth on his forehead. Feeling the coldness that had already taken over, he gently took it off, placing it back in warm water. Venus didn’t really say a word, even when Mercury asked a question about how he was feeling; he was too in his own core that wouldn’t stop beating fast when he heard his voice. “Venus?”
Venus blinked, “Huh- what?”
“Do you feel better?” Mercury repeated. “I- yeah,” Venus answered back. “A lot better.”
“Good,” Mercury said back, already running down one strand of hair behind Venus’s ears. He leaned in, a soft peck on his forehead; Venus’s eyes closed for a second. Feeling the warmth for just a moment before Mercury pulls back. “Good,” Mercury repeated, but his breath caught as if it were in relief. “Do you need anything, some water? Do you need me to reheat the soup?” “Just a hug.” “The cloth should be warming up by now–”
Mercury blinked, “Wait, what?”
Venus said it softer, “a hug.”
Mercury looked at him to see that Venus was clearly feeling some type of embarrassment; his eyes looked away, and the way he tilted to the right told him everything. Mercury grinned, “If you wanted me to cuddle with you, you could’ve just asked, silly.”
Oh, how Venus wanted to ask that, firstly, he didn’t even know why he hesitated to ask that, knowing Mercury was a bit of a germaphobe; perhaps that’s why he didn’t want to ask him while he was sick.
He’d thought he would wait until he felt better to see if Mercury was comfortable. He couldn’t make a word out of his mouth; he didn’t realize his hands were already wrapped around Mercury’s wrist, his thumb tracing them to his palm. “Well, don’t just lie there,” Mercury said back, “make some room for me!”
Venus didn’t hesitate on that; he slid himself, pushing to the left side of the bed, making Mercury have enough room to scooch in, going under the covers. Venus moved downward, his blanket wrapping around up to his shoulders; his hand rose up to wrap around Mercury's back, his head resting in Mercury’s chest, feeling the core thump, as well as hearing his breathing. Mercury rested his head above Venus’s hair; they took a moment in silence. Mercury could feel Venus’s breaths go softer; he leaned in closer, and his eyes were closed. “Does this feel better?” he whispered. “Mhm,” Venus nodded.
Mercury kissed Venus’s hair multiple times, his hand running down the strands. “Good,” he said back. Silence lingered again, but it wasn’t awkward; the fan was turned on, the hanging lights were dimmed, the star they had orbited on had started to sleep, leaving a sunset, touching the bed, everywhere in the room, leaving a long shadow on all of them. However, it brought out the brightest features on Venus. Mercury watched as the sunlight glowed on his hair, bringing out the brightest features, his eyelashes, everything about him, brightened.
“Mercury?”
Mercury looked down to see Venus, already looking up at him. “Thank you for taking care of me. While I was sick.”
Mercury grinned, “Of course. You know I will take care of you. Even though you are a bit stubborn,” Venus gave him a stare, “Shut up.”
“I love you too.” Mercury chuckled, pushing Venu’s hair back. “Now, sleep. I’ll be here.”
Venus didn’t say anything at that moment; he closed his eyes to relax. And it didn’t take long for him to sleep. Mercury looked down at him, double-checking if he was still awake. He took a long, deep breath. Venus was better. It was all that mattered; it was about time for him to take a rest too.
To leave everything behind for just a moment.