Chapter Text
Chosen was getting concerned. Ever since he and Dark wrecked a sketchy website filled with pop-ups, his partner had been acting strange.
Dark was significantly less energetic than usual, which was already scary on its own. He had also stopped working on his projects late into the night, which unsettled Chosen because he knew how much of a workaholic Dark was. The weirdest thing of all was his shivering, even though his body temperature was always above average due to his pyrokinesis. In fact, his skin felt hotter to the touch than usual.
Chosen opened the door to Dark's bedroom and quietly walked inside. Dark, once again, was still asleep despite the late morning hour. As he stepped closer to the edge of the bed, Chosen's eyes narrowed when he noticed how pale and sweaty his partner was. He gently nudged his shoulder to wake him up. Dark slowly opened his eyes before suddenly letting out a small cough.
"What do you want from me, Cho? Can't you see I'm on my deathbed?" Dark rasped dramatically before suddenly breaking into a violent coughing fit. Chosen watched in utter disbelief.
"What's wrong with you?" Chosen asked skeptically.
"I'm dying. I need to write my last will-"
"Stop acting like you're about to die. What's really wrong with you?" Chosen cut him off, not in the mood to deal with Dark's dramatic nonsense right now, especially not when his partner was obviously unwell.
"How am I supposed to know?!" Dark grumbled, glaring at Chosen.
Chosen sighed in resignation and placed his hand on Dark's forehead. He was burning up, way hotter than usual, even though he was shivering.
"How did you even get sick? I thought sticks like us were immune to diseases?" Chosen murmured, taking his hand away.
"I don't know, stop asking so many questions and do something about it!" Dark snapped back, burying his face into the pillow.
"What am I supposed to do? Neither of us were sick before." Chosen said, to which Dark only huffed in anger.
Chosen decided to leave Dark to his shenanigans. He turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He made his way down the stairs and towards the kitchen. He leaned on the counter and began to think. Usually sick sticks used medicine, but would that work on Dark? They aren't even supposed to get sick in the first place.
Chosen looked through their kitchen cabinets only to find out that they didn't have any medicine besides a half-empty container of melatonin gummies. It was quite a disappointing discovery.
He decided to take matters into his own hands and cook something for Dark. Chosen wasn't very skilled at cooking. The most he could achieve was a grilled cheese... Yet this time he opted to make a soup that was, hopefully, edible. He rummaged through their fridge and took out the needed ingredients before placing them on the counter.
Surely he could cook something normal and tasty.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Dark tossed and turned in his bed. He felt terrible! Sweaty, clammy, uncomfortable and utterly exhausted. And that unbearable cold... He pulled the covers up to his chin and sneezed. His throat felt like it was on fire! Swallowing a liquid was enough to make him wince with pain. On top of that, his head throbbed! Was this really how The Dark Lord dies?
The sound of the door opening interrupted his train of thought. Chosen walked in with a bowl of soup in his hand. Dark watched silently as Chosen dragged the nightstand closer to the edge of the bed and set down the dish. Dark slowly sat up with Chosen's help, keeping the covers wrapped around his shoulders for warmth. He peered into the bowl. The liquid was a weird beige color, and to his surprise...
Actual letters were floating in it! The exact ones from computers and websites! Black, plain and with absolutely zero taste!
"I'm not going to eat this! I'm not a letter fanatic like you! This is gonna taste like nothing!" Dark protested with his raspy, weak voice.
"You have to! It's warm, and letters are the most neutral food ever. They can't possibly give you a stomachache or make you feel worse." Chosen said firmly, nodding towards the bowl.
"No! This is disgusting! Cursors know what you put in that... Thing!" Dark resisted, crossing his arms and huffing.
Chosen only raised his brow and took the spoon from the bowl. He slowly aimed it towards Dark's mouth.
"Come on. At least take one sip." Chosen said, holding the spoon expectantly in front of Dark's mouth.
Dark grumbled. He moved away and shook his head.
Chosen moved closer.
Dark moved to the furthest edge of the bed.
"Dark, don't act like a baby!" Chosen said with an annoyed sigh. Yet Dark didn't budge.
Chosen tried to pull Dark back to the edge of the bed. But to no avail, he held onto the bedframe for dear life, as if consuming the soup would kill him. The conflict turned into a small scuffle. Pushing, pulling and dragging until eventually, Dark gave Chosen a hard shove.
Chosen stumbled back and his hip bumped into the nightstand. It wobbled, and the impact sent the bowl crashing onto the floor with a sharp CRACK. Its contents spilled onto the wooden panels.
. . .
Silence fell over the room. Dark chuckled before once again, getting hit by a violent coughing fit. Chosen sighed in annoyance and ran his hand through his hair.
"I'm getting you disgusting medicine. No more warm soup." Chosen muttered, before leaving the room to get some paper towels.
After Chosen got rid of the 'letter soup mess', he took Dark's temperature. It was 52°C. Chosen shrugged, it was like a normal fever to them.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Chosen prepared himself for his venture out to the pharmacy. A hood over his hollow head, a bag slung over his shoulder, and some money in his pockets to pay for the medicine. Now he only had to hope no one would notice that the infamous "Angel of Death" was walking through the streets.
His trip to the city was fairly quick. He used his powers to fly instead of walking. He landed behind an old building, and slowly stepped out onto the sidewalk. He kept his eyes peeled for a nearby pharmacy, while also keeping his head low enough to stay anonymous. Some sticks gave him weird looks, but mostly no one paid attention to him. He passed by countless 'WANTED' posters on walls and streetlights before finally arriving at a pharmacy.
It was empty and devoid of color, harsh white lights bounced off every surface. It reeked of disinfectant and nothingness. An old stick with glasses sat behind the counter, typing on her computer. Chosen slowly walked up to the counter, hoping that she wouldn't pay much attention to his face.
"Mm, what can I get for you?" She asked, not even glancing at Chosen as her fingers worked on the keyboard, tapping one key after another.
"I'd like..." Chosen paused. "Something for a 52°C fever."
. . .
The stick behind the counter froze. She looked at Chosen as if he were insane.
"A WHAT fever?!" She asked in disbelief and concern.
"I meant 42°C, excuse me." Chosen quickly lied through his teeth.
"That's still one hell of a fever. Do you have a prescription?" She asked. She stood up from her chair and began to look through the shelves of medicine.
"... No." Chosen mumbled quietly.
"Well then there's nothing I can do for you." She answered, putting her hands on her hips. Although she paused when she saw the stack of bills on the counter. She hesitated before caving in.
"I... Can get something strong for you." She murmured and began rummaging through the shelves and drawers again. A small smirk formed on Chosen's lips. Money would really get him anywhere.
She placed three boxes on the counter. Pills, and two syrups. Chosen pushed the stack of bills towards her, and hid the medicine in his bag. He left the pharmacy shortly after and snuck behind an old building to fly back home unnoticed.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Dark was convinced Chosen had left him for good! His partner had been gone for half an hour meanwhile he suffered in agony! He sighed dramatically and sneezed. He felt hungry, and a small tinge of regret hit him for that spilled soup. Dark opened one eye lazily when he heard the door to his bedroom open.
"Finally! Where have you been all this time while I slowly came to my demise here?" Dark rasped out.
"Getting you medicine." Chosen answered flatly, already used to Dark's exaggeration.
"The lady behind the counter looked at me weird when I said I wanted something for a 52°C fever. I don't know why." Chosen said, Dark shrugged in agreement.
He made his way towards the nightstand and put down the three boxes of medicine. Dark eyed them skeptically, wrapping the covers tighter around himself and sneezing.
"I'm going to force-feed you if you don't take them yourself." Chosen said, putting his hands on his hips. Dark nodded begrudgingly and rolled his eyes.
Chosen let out a small resigned breath. He leaned down and kissed the top of Dark's head before leaving the room to get him something to eat and drink before he took the medicine. Dark felt a familiar warmth bloom in his chest at the soft gesture. He giggled quietly to himself.
Soon enough, Chosen came back with proper food. A tasty sandwich along with a cup of warm tea. Thankfully this time devoid of any letters. Placing the plate and cup on the nightstand, he sat down on the edge of the bed and helped Dark sit up. While Dark leaned against Chosen's shoulder and ate his food, Chosen tried to decipher from the receipt how many pills and how much syrup he was supposed to give Dark.
He held Dark close with one arm and traced patterns on his back. He put down the receipt and patiently waited for his partner to finish eating. Only then did he make him take a pill and the two syrups. Dark grimaced and cursed at the taste, yet he kept himself from spitting it out.
"Ugh... You're torturing me with those... Disgusting substances." Dark said, sipping on his tea to get rid of the bitter aftertaste.
"Don't be dumb, you know it's for your own good. And for my sanity so you stop acting like you're dying." Chosen mumbled, watching as Dark put the cup away. He sighed when he felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Are you seriously making me cuddle you right now?" Chosen asked. He received a confirming nod from Dark. He knew how stubborn he could sometimes be.
Chosen surrendered to the cuddles for the sake of Dark's comfort. He joined him under the covers and pulled him close against his own body. Their legs tangled together, their arms wrapped around one another. Dark let himself relax in the embrace of his loved one, it was already making him feel much better. The room was swallowed by a comfortable silence, soft breathing, the occasional rustle of the covers, and every now and then — a cough from Dark.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Only after getting better did Dark finally admit with shame that the cause of his illness was a pop-up ad that he accidentally stumbled into during one of their latest website raids.