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Bzzt.
Under fluorescent lights, the wilting greens before him manage to look even more pitiful. At this hour— just before the late night workers are set free, and just after all the afternoon workers have staggered into the privacy of their own homes— the store is blissfully quiet. A song plays, so distant as to be mostly unobtrusive, and workers shuffle from here to there, restocking and cleaning and going about their jobs with their heads down.
Aside from them, however, and a few other stragglers browsing the shelves, he's alone. No wet coughs, or stubborn sniffling, or quiet, baritone voices— absolutely none of that at all. It's just him, his thoughts, and the wilting green he carefully sorts through, attempting to find a bundle that best suits his standards as he thinks.
I'll make him soup, and maybe that will keep them both quiet for a while… Something easy, simple, soothing—
Bzzt!
Sighing, Shiki closes his eyes against the beginnings of a throbbing, incessant headache. Slowly, he frees his hands up to pat down his pockets, fishing out his phone and unlocking it before the damnable thing can make any more noise. There, he finds two notifications waiting for him, belonging to a contact with a name and no further information.
Shiki.
Shiki.
Must he act as if he does not know how to use this damn thing properly?
What is it now?
Shiki does not bother with standing there and waiting for a response. As much as he wishes he didn't, he knows Nano far too well to expect for the man to respond in a timely manner. Really, knowing his luck, if he were to try waiting, Nano would manage to time it just so, so that his response would come right as Shiki became tired of waiting.
Damn him.
Like the devil, Shiki spends a moment too long thinking of him, and he appears. With his hand suddenly frozen mid-air, halfway to resuming his previous task, his phone buzzes once more. The patience that is required to keep from ignoring Nano is nigh saint-like, and it's tested further as he pulls his phone back out and looks at the latest message.
Omurice.
No.
I am making him soup, and he will like it.
The little thumbs down emoji that pops up as a reaction to his last text is, he knows, the only response he will be getting. Sighing, he carefully slips his phone back into his pocket, then sets about at last extracting the best looking bundle from the display. Afterwards, he moves on, forcing himself to refocus and rediscover the tenuous calm he'd found as he stepped into the nearly empty store.
Thankfully, with no further texts received, the rest of his shopping trip is spent almost… calmly, peacefully. For the past several days, such things have been quite rare— or, rather, rarer than usual. Illness is a miraculously uncommon occurrence in their household, but not an impossibility. Akira, who typically manages to somehow be the healthiest of them, has in fact recently fallen under the weather, and…
Well, Shiki is quite thankful, to have such an easy excuse to step out for, to say the least.
The trip back home passes by quickly— too quickly, really, as he at last steps into the privacy of their home and is immediately greeted by the muffled sound of sniffling. Sighing to himself, he exchanges his boots for house shoes, then temporarily drops his groceries off in the kitchen before entering the main bedroom.
There, he finds Akira and Nano just where he'd left them.
Nano, in all his infinite wisdom, has stubbornly glued himself to Akira's side. He lays in bed with Akira now just as he's done for the past several days, allowing Akira to shove himself into his side as chills wrack his body, or push him away as hot flashes cause him to fuss. In the rare moments of calm, Shiki has overheard him even reading aloud to Akira, his voice so quiet that, even when he strains his ears, Shiki cannot overhear the words spoken.
It is, in Shiki's opinion, utterly foolish behavior, which will almost certainly lead to only one outcome. He awaits the day in which he will wake up one morning, and finds that Nano has manages to come down with whatever stubborn bug Akira has brought into their home. Were it not for the fact that Shiki is inarguably quite fond of Akira…
Another particularly loud, and wet sniffle pulls Shiki back into the present. Scoffing, he glances at the hardly touched box of tissues left abandoned on the bedside table closet to Akira, then at where Nano lays, curled around Akira like a clingy, overgrown house cat. Next to him, a book lies atop the sheets, its cover so faded that the title can no longer be made out.
"If you insist on attaching yourself to him despite the risks…" Shiki says in a clipped tone. "Could you at least get him to blow his nose? At this rate, if left to his own devices, he'll be drowning himself in snot."
After a moment in which Shiki wonders if, perhaps, Nano has managed to fall asleep, he at last picks his head up. He blinks once, then twice, before turning his tired gaze towards where Shiki stands with his arms crossed in the doorway.
"He does not want to."
"Do you think that I don't already know that?" Shiki asks, raising a single dark brow. "Make him, or are you suddenly incapable?"
Nano frowns faintly. "I do not wish to be so cruel to him… Not as he is now, when he is so vulnerable."
"You can't truly think that I believe that."
"You may believe what you wish."
Shiki stares for a moment, almost dumbfounded. Slowly, he raises a hand, pinching his nose bridge with enough force that it almost distracts from the pain beginning to once again gather in his temples. Nano is, as always, the singular most infuriating person he has ever had the displeasure of meeting. It is truly a wonder that he ever thought to agree to sharing a living space with the man.
"Figure it out," Shiki says, each word coming out in a hiss. "It is for his own good. If you wish to indulge him, then will be your problem to deal with later on, not mine."
"Hm," Nano responds, pale eyes boring into him. "Was the chicken on sale, today?"
"…"
Spinning on his heel, Shiki swiftly exits the bedroom before his sanity can be further stolen away from him. He has better things to be doing, anyhow. If Nano wants to drive someone up the wall, with his elusive manner of speech and his brick wall stubbornness, then he can try his luck with Akira. After all, even so sick as to be openly whiny and fussy, Akira has remained strangely endeared by just about all of Nano's oddities.
Ugh.
Returning to the kitchen, Shiki sets about getting everything in order. What he does not immediately need is put away for the moment, and the rest is laid out so as to make his life easier. Monotonous as the process of cooking is, he soon finds himself lost within the routine of it. Before he knows it, he is setting aside a pot of soup to simmer while he begins work on another dish.
He checks the time, finding that it is, at least, only the early evening at the moment. When he strains his ears, he can just barely catch the sound of a quiet, but deep voice speaking. After a moment of listening, he hears a thin, unnaturally nasal voice respond. Sighing, he quickly returns to his work, knowing that if he doesn't hurry up and finish, the opportunity that has apparently presented itself will vanish.
Preparing the chicken and rice, cooking it all together and topping it off with egg— in the blink of an eye, Shiki finds himself plating a small portion of omurice, with the rest being set aside for later. Satisfied with his work, he carries the plate off with him as he heads down the hall, following the sound of a quiet, even-toned voice murmuring without pause.
Inside the bedroom, he finds a now awake Akira glaring balefully up at Nano. For his part, Nano seems wholly unmoved by this display, meeting that sulky glare without blinking as he holds a tissue up to Akira's nose.
"Is it really such a terrible thing?" Nano asks. "It will help you to feel better, will it not?"
"It's humiliating…" Akira answers, his voice sounding as if a cheese grater has been taken to his vocal chords. "Let me do it…"
"If left to your own devices, you will not do it."
"… Shut up."
"Akira," Shiki says in a sharp, sudden tone, "enough fussing already. Behave."
Two sets of tired gazes suddenly snap over to stare up at Shiki. He meets Nano's first with a single dark brow raised as, slowly, he allows his eyes to follow the line of Nano's arm to Akira's face. Nano blinks, his stare boring into the side of Shiki's face for a moment longer before he, too, turns to look at Akira.
Akira, who is currently glaring at Shiki as if he were the source of all evil in the world.
"'M behaving," he says in a sullen tone.
"Are you, now? Is that what you think this is?"
"I am!" Akira sniffles loudly. "What d'you have?"
Shiki grimaces at the wet sound, glancing briefly down at the plate in his hands. "Food," he says curtly. "If you think that changing the subject is really going to work for you…"
"Is it omurice?"
Shiki sighs. "Why don't you blow your nose already, and find out."
"Don't need to." Sniffle. "'M fine."
"Akira…"
A quiet voice with a steady tone cuts through the tension. "Blow," he says as he shifts to more firmly press the tissue to Akira's nose. "No more fighting."
"Nngh—" Akira tries to extract himself from the situation, only to be kept in place by Nano's firm hold. "Stop… 'M fine!"
Nano is, as he often is whenever he wants something, entirely unyielding. "Blow," he says again, the absent quality of his voice dropping away in favor of a much firmer edge. "You will feel better, and then you can eat."
"Your food is getting cold, Akira," Shiki adds, tilting the plate just enough to allow Akira to properly see its contents. "Hurry it up."
The glare that Akira shoots him is lacking some of its usual bite, but it makes him smile all the same. Even when sick as a dog and whiny as a kitten, Akira is still Akira…
After a few moments longer of being locked in this stand-still, Akira at last bends. With a put-upon sigh, he blows his nose. The sulky look on his face becomes even more apparent as Nano lets him go, carefully tossing the tissue into a nearby waste bin.
Then, finally, with everything settled, Shiki rounds the bed. He sits at the very edge of the mattress, carefully setting the plate of omurice atop his lap. Immediately, Akira makes to grab for it, only to have his hand smacked away by Shiki. He voices his displeasure about this without shame, whining like a particularly fussy toddler.
"Hush," Shiki commands. "With how hungry you are, you'll end up trying to scarf this all down and give yourself a stomach ache on top of everything else."
Akira scoffs quietly. "No I won't. I'm not a child."
"Really, now?" Shiki's gaze slides over to shoot Akira a pointed, piercing look. "Perhaps you might consider acting like it, then."
Shiki moves swiftly so as to avoid letting Akira have the chance to retaliate. He picks up a reasonable mouthful of the omurice and holds it up to Akira's lips, smiling slightly. There is a moment in which he watches as an internal fight plays out in Akira's eyes; to continue fighting, or to obey? In the end, worn thin as he certainly is, the choice is made easy.
Feeding Akira carefully portioned bites of food brings Shiki a sense of satisfaction that he previously never imagined he would experience from such an act. When, at last, the plate is mostly empty and Akira turns his head away from the next bite Shiki holds up for him, Shiki graciously allows him his freedom. Admiring the heavy, slow blinks of an Akira who has been well taken care of is a pleasant enough experience for Shiki to see no reason in insisting that he finish off the plate completely.
Except, when he moves to stand, Akira suddenly jolts himself back into wakefulness. He grabs Shiki by the wrist— a motion which Shiki allows to stop him as he turns to stare down at the offending hand, then at Akira.
"Is something the matter?" he asks, even-toned.
Akira blinks heavily up at him once, then twice. Behind him, Nano stares openly at where Akira has grabbed Shiki. The faintest traces of a smile play at the edges of his lips, and Shiki finds himself frowning slightly as he notices.
"Stay," Akira at last mumbles, squeezing Shiki's wrist and drawing his attention back over to him. "Come lay down."
Shiki sighs quietly. "I shouldn't."
"…" Akira ducks his head, sweat-soaked bangs hiding most of his face from view. "Please."
Staring, Shiki takes in what he can see of Akira's otherwise hidden face. The tired eyes and shadows beneath them despite all the rest that Akira has been getting, the rosy lips which tremble ever so faintly where they've been pulled down into a frown, the faint feverish flush to an otherwise pallid face…
Oh, damn it all. Just who is he kidding, really?
His gaze flicks up to briefly meet Nano's.
"Move."
Chuckling quietly, Nano moves over. He helps Akira move as well, carefully smoothing the duvet back out over Akira's lap as Shiki settles himself within the space that's been created for him. Once all three of them have made themselves as comfortable as possible, with Akira having shifted to rest his head on Shiki's shoulder while his legs lay over Nano's lap, Akira yawns.
Shiki looks at him from out of the corner of his eye. After the briefest second of deliberation, he lifts a hand, combing his fingers through Akira's hair. Though in need of a wash, the strands are thankfully free of snags, likely due to Nano's careful ministrations as the two have laid tangled together.
"Sleep," he says quietly. "You need the rest."
Akira mumbles something that, even this close, is lost to Shiki's ears. The sulky, tired tone conveys plenty, however, and once again Shiki finds himself smiling slightly. Mere seconds later, Akira has dropped off without any further fanfare, and Shiki allows himself a moment to rest his eyes.
"You should, as well," a quiet voice speaks, disturbing Shiki's peace without warning. "Sleep, that is."
"Since when have you been welcome to tell me what I should do?" Shiki replies in a clipped tone as his eyes open. "Keep your thoughts to yourself. I have no desire to hear what you think."
"You have been up all day," Nano says, as if he hadn't heard a word of what Shiki just said. "Run yourself ragged, and you will no longer be able to care for him as you wish to. Man is not, after all, infallible, grating as that may be for one such as yourself."
"Quiet."
Both of them go still as that sharply spoken command rouses Akira. He mumbles something incomprehensible, shifting around restlessly for a moment before slowly settling back down. Several seconds pass by in complete stillness as they wait to see whether or not Akira might fuss any further, or if they'll be able to continue their exchange. Though, were it up to Shiki, that stillness would go unbroken until Akira next woke, and that exchange forgotten.
Unfortunately, however, Nano seems to disagree with him, as always.
"Rest," he says. "I will watch over him, in the meantime."
"Enough," Shiki replies through gritted teeth. "The sound of your voice is maddening. Stop talking."
"Hm." Nano reaches over, adjusting the blanket atop Akira's lap. By coincidence, surely, his ministrations manage to place a portion of the fabric over Shiki's lap, as well. "Goodnight, Shiki."
In other circumstances, Shiki would extract himself from the situation. As it is, however, he is trapped— unable to move, lest he wake Akira up so soon. In such a position, it is also quite hard to deny the needs of his body. He has not just been up, but also kept busy all day, and though he could surely push it down, if he needed to… Well, it has begun to wear on him.
"I do not answer to you," he says under his breath as he allows his eyes to slip closed. "I never have, and I never will. Remember that."
With his piece spoken, Shiki carefully drains the tension from his body. If Nano has anything at all further to say, he does not voice it. Why he would decide to, for once, heed Shiki's wishes on any matter, Shiki could not say. The machinations of Nano's mind are a mystery to him, and he would much, much rather keep it that way, for better or worse.
Either way, relaxed as he can be, cradled by a quiet only broken up by the soft sound of Akira's breathing, it is only a matter of time until, at last, reality drops away, and thus—
Sleep.