Work Text:
“Don’t you think that’s enough blankets?” Watson asked, sneezing several times.
“Nonsense,” Holmes said, piling another blanket around him. "There is never enough blankets." Holmes paused and glared at the window as if the snow outside was personally offending him. It likely was.
They had traveled outside of London for a case and had been out investigating when the storm hit. Holmes had been quite disgruntled when they had finally made it back to their lodgings, cold and drenched. It had taken them quite some time to warm up and it seemed Watson’s health had not managed to handle being chilled for that amount of time.
Watson sneezed again, shivering despite the blankets Holmes had piled around him. He felt unusually cold and the blankets did not seem to be enough to warm him up. Holmes draped another blanket over his lap before pushing a cup of tea into Watson’s hands. Watson held the tea in his hands for a few seconds before sipping at the tea, pleased at its warmth. Holmes had stirred in honey which felt nice on his throat.
Watson took another sip of the tea before looking at Holmes carefully and frowning. “You should bundle up as well," he said.
“I am not the one who is ill,” Holmes said, eying the blankets piled around Watson as if deciding whether to add more. He seemingly decided Watson had enough.
“No, but it is quite cold and you are chilled,” Watson said. He paused to sneeze a few more times and set down his tea to blow his nose. Being ill was quite inconvenient. “You do not want to fall ill as well.”
“Your sneezes are more of a danger to me than the weather,” Holmes said.
Despite what he said, Holmes snatched up a blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders. He turned and poked at the fire until Watson could feel the warmth from the flames. It seemed this illness made it difficult for Watson to warm up as he continued to shiver.
When Watson had first fallen ill, he had told Holmes that he could tend to himself as he did not want to infect Holmes. As expected, Holmes had not accepted this and insisted upon fussing over Watson.
“Dear me,” Holmes said after observing his shivers. “You are still quite chilled. It seems I must take drastic measures.”
Watson did not know what Holmes meant until he sat down on the couch next to Watson. Holmes shifted the blankets carefully and entered the nest he had made for Watson. Holmes fussed around with the blankets for a minute before attaching himself to Watson’s side.
Watson sneezed and sniffled before melting against Holmes. They did not often cuddle, but Watson quite enjoyed it when they did. Holmes felt quite warm which was unusual and likely because of how chilled Watson was. That would not be helpful to warm Holmes up, but Watson hoped the blankets would keep Holmes from getting further chilled. Watson himself already felt warmer.
The cold weather was not enjoyable for either of them, but huddling together was quite pleasing and Watson would enjoy his cuddles for as long as they lasted. And hopefully Watson would feel better soon so they could return to their case.