Chapter Text
Hermann is past the point of staggering, past the point of tired. Past the point of thinking, really, beyond shuffling in the basic direction of his bunk. He can’t remember the last time he slept, or ate, though he knows he must have had coffee a few hours ago because he was close to passing out and he needed to crack that problem open like a walnut.
Hermann puts one foot in front of the other, and then slams into a wall.
Ok, he’s done this before. He blinks, swaying in place, and the “wall” suddenly grows arms, which warp around Hermann’s torso, which is a good thing because Hermann’s legs are starting to buckle underneath him and he was about to fall on his face. He’s that exhausted. He can’t even stay upright anymore.
“Are you well?” Aleksis rumbles from somewhere above Hermann’s head.
Hermann … hisses with pain because his leg is starting to send stabbing sensations up along his whole side, it was a background feeling when he was moving but now that he’s stopped … it’s agony.
Hermann feels his body starting to tilt, and it’s only the increased hold of the Russian keeping him upright at this point. Hermann cannot stand on his own. His cane slips from his shaking fingers.
“You are not well.” Aleksis says. He gently lowers an arm underneath Hermann’s knees, scooping him up almost bridal-style, and crouches to retrieve the cane. “Where shall I take you?”
“Bed …” Hermann manages, squeezing his eyes shut. His head is pounding, the lights are too bright, and his leg hasn’t hurt this bad in months. He’s not sure if he’s dehydrated, it’s a migraine, sleep deprivation, or some unholy combination of the three, but he’s afraid he’s going to throw up.
“Yes, good.” Aleksis says, easily striding down the hallway with Hermann in his arms. “Where is it you sleep again?”
Hermann has already passed out.
~*~
Hermann wakes with an unfamiliar cold sensation on his leg. He gasps, and it’s only a hand pushing down on his chest that keeps him from lurching upright.
“No. Your head was hurting before. Rest.”
Right. Aleksis. Carried him off. Because Hermann couldn’t even stand up anymore.
“This … is not my room.” Hermann manages. Then he coughs because his mouth is dry.
“Drink.” Aleksis hands him a glass with a straw.
Hermann sips at it and watches while Aleksis bandages an ice pack to his leg.
“You could not tell me where you slept, you were asleep. So I brought you here.” Aleksis waves a giant hand around the room. “Sasha is at dinner.”
Hermann can see now, that he’s lying in their room. A few photographs and prints on the walls and bedside table, a bookcase with well-worn Russian and English novels on the shelves. A lamp mercifully dimmed, leaving most of the room in darkness.
“What do you take for pain? Pills? Liquids? Herbs?” Aleksis asks once Hermann has finished the water.
“Uh …” Hermann thinks, and names a generic painkiller, easily obtained from any pharmacy.
Aleksis grunts and shakes his head. “No good. You need …” He crosses the room and rummages in a cabinet, and brings back a packet of something Hermann hasn’t seen since his college days.
“I’m … fine …” Hermann says. “Where did you even –”
Aleksis grins. “Have you not heard? ‘The Russians can get you anything.’ Is good for pain. For … relaxing. For reminding stupid scientists to eat more.” Aleksis prods Hermann’s ribs meaningfully. “Then, helps you sleep. You need more sleep.”
Hermann isn’t about to argue with that. “Very well,” he sighs. “Help me?”
Aleksis rolls two, lights one and hands it to Hermann, and keeps the other for himself. “To take edge off,” he says, taking a few hits and watching as Hermann tentatively smokes his own.
It does help. It’s not like what Hermann smoked in college, it’s … better. Certainly less foul-smelling. And he is beginning to feel much sleepier.
“Eat, then sleep.” Aleksis chuckles to himself and heads for the kitchenette, bringing back a bowl of greenish paste and small grains.
“Your rice is on steroids,” Hermann giggles. “Like you.”
Aleksis snorts. “No, not steroids. I am born this big. And this is orzo, not rice.”
Hermann eats it. He’s not sure what the greenish sauce is, but it’s good. Filling. Exactly what he needed.
Aleksis brings more water, and then stretches out on the bed, stubbing out his joint, and then pulling Hermann’s from his pliable fingers. “Now we sleep.” Aleksis drapes an arm over Hermann’s chest.
“T-together?” Hermann asks.
“My bed. I sleep here.” Aleksis states simply.
“I –”
“Is your leg still hurting?”
“Um, no. It’s … good.”
“Good. Then sleep.”
Hermann decides he doesn’t have much of a choice, and lacks the inclination to protest, and sleeps.
~*~
Later, when Sasha opens the door, she merely waves a hand in the air to clear away the last remnants of smoke. Then she kicks off her boots and jacket and slips in beside her husband.
Aleksis stirs, smiling, as she presses a kiss to his forehead.
“Husband?” she whispers, as he runs his fingers through her hair.
“Yes, wife?” he asks.
“There’s a man in our bed.”
“Yes. I put him there.”
“… why?”
“He was hurting. I fixed him.”
“That’s good.” Sasha yawns. “Will he be staying for breakfast?”
“I think so.”
“I will make pancakes.”
Aleksis sighed. “We have not had sex.”
“Oh. Then I will make cereal. After you seduce him, I will make pancakes.”
Aleksis giggles.
Sasha flicks his ear. “You have been smoking again.”
“It was for him. He was in pain.”
“There are better things for pain.”
“He needed to eat.”
Sasha curls against Aleksis. “In the morning, give him the pills. The good ones.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Aleksis nods, smiling sleepily, and slips back into his dreams.
Sasha eyes Hermann over her husband’s bulk, considering him. “We shall see,” she says at last, laying her head on Aleksis’ chest.