Work Text:
Kyle tapped the desk at their shared office in annoyance as he watched the clock. He would never have gone into business with Cartman as adults if he knew that the man would be late without even a heads up.
“Mr. Broflovski, did you want me to cancel your twelve pm appointment?” Stacy asked, and Kyle sighed in exasperation. He didn’t want to cancel it, it was an elderly couple wanting to make sure their ducks were in order before the inevitable end happened. However, he would prefer to have his mortician with him when he met with them and currently he couldn’t do that.
“Please do that, I will be taking my lunch early.”
“Just so, sir,” Stacy left and he grabbed his coat and keys, walking past her just as she got on the phone and started talking to the people on the other end. Stepping out into the parking lot he passed by the hearse and got into his car, it was a BMW and it was worth all of the teasing that Cartman and Kenny gave him. He made his way to Cartman’s home and input the code, rolling his eyes as he had to take the long winding driveway to his Gothic revival style home. The gargoyles felt like they were following him as he put the car into park and stepped out, sweeping a look at the house. The velvet purple curtains were shut closed, which while it certainly fit the vibe of the house, didn’t match with a person who was awake and moving around. “Did he have to really lean into the aesthetic this hard? It's ostentatious.” Kyle grumbled, as he found the spare key on his key ring and opened up the door. He was met with silence and Kyle couldn’t help the anxious flutter that his stomach made. As a funeral director, you had to be comfortable with silence, it was the most respectful. However, when you have a mortician that is loud and obnoxious, that would normally be making dinosaur pancakes while rock n roll played obnoxiously loud, you find silence unnerving.
“Cartman, you up?” Kyle yelled up at the staircase, and waited to hear back from him. The least he could have done with a house this big is hire a full time staff, lord knows he has the money for it. Kyle climbed the winding staircase and ignored the photos on the wall. Very few were of note, most were those pictures you can get at party city for halloween, the ones that changed as you walked by or were motion sensored to follow you. Kyle thought they were tacky, Cartman loved them though and insisted that he wouldn’t take decoration advice from someone who had more windows than doors in his house. He got to Cartman’s room and opened it up, seeing Cartman in bed, the blanket pushed half of him and clearly sweating. “Cartman?” Kyle asked, unsure about approaching.
“Kyle?” A voice cracked and Kyle sighed.
“Yeah fatass, I’m here, are you sick?” A pillow was tossed his way but it barely moved past the bed, Cartman letting out a pathetic whimper.
“Shut up Kyle.” Kyle found himself smirking, Cartman was kind of cute all sick and stuff. Still, he needed him so he supposed it was up to him to get the man better. He left the room and went into the kitchen grabbing some Campbell's chicken noodle soup and putting it in a pot, then setting the pot onto the stove. While that heated up he went back up stairs into the main bathroom, grabbing medicine from the cabinet and measuring it out. He went to the bed and shook Cartman.
Shaking, Cartman cracked an eye open and glared at him. “What?” He croaked out and Kyle gently shook the cup of medicine in his face.
“Take some medicine, I know you haven’t taken any today.”
“Stalker,” Cartman attempted to get up to drink but fell back down with an oof. Kyle set the cup of medicine down and scooped an arm under him, using his strength to lift him into a sitting position. Grunting, Cartman moved to the side and Kyle climbed into the bed, grabbing the medicine once they were both settled.
“I have to go get you your soup,” Kyle advised, as Cartman took the cup and took the medicine.
“Fine, will you get back into bed while I eat?”
“I guess, I’ll let Stacy know I’ll be out the rest of the day.” He got up and took the cup, going down stairs. He turned the heat off and put the soup into a bowl, then went upstairs again. After placing the bowl onto the side table, he washed the cup and then took his phone out. Stacy was excited to have the rest of the day off, and promised to close the funeral home for the day, and to let another one of the morticians know to be on call in case they get a late night call. Kyle climbed back into the bed and propped Cartman up again. He sat up with a few complaints and started eating his soup.
“You had that appointment at twelve for the Joneses."
“Yep and I canceled them.” Cartman scoffed but then coughed wetly and Kyle took the bowl away from him so he could not spill it everywhere.
“Just to help me while I was sick?”
“To help you get better and back to work? Yes, can't have us losing money.”
“You have Jeff,” Kyle shrugged. Sure yeah he did but they weren’t Cartman. He wouldn’t tell him that though, he would get a big head.
“Regardless, I am here now, so eat more soup and then get some rest.” Cartman glared at him but started eating the soup again once provided it. Once Cartman was done Kyle put it back onto the night stand and went to go but Cartman grabbed onto him and pulled him back. Ah, the medicine was kicking in now and Kyle had forgotten how cuddly his business partner got when sleepy.
“I need to go home, I’m going to get sick as it is.” Cartman shook his head and pulled him closer and Kyle sighed. He settled more into the bed and adjusted the blanket, allowing Cartman to wrap his arms around him and use him as a body pillow. He was going to regret this, he was going to get sick but he had to admit that it was nice to sleep next to someone. Kyle had been single for over three years, Cartman for longer so it wasn’t that out of the norm, still though as Kyle closed his eyes and opted to sleep with him Kyle couldn’t help but feel better than he had in years.