Work Text:
Tango and Impulse had arranged a whole day for themselves, with the main event being building another shared farm — in half the time, with double the fun. Breaks were included in their plans, mostly for snacks and to recharge. After a whole lot of busy schedules and being unable to spend time together outside of pre-planned hangouts, Tango was excited to get to spend a day with his husband again.
They'd meet at Tango's mountain, then fly off further to where all their other farms were situated. Should be easy enough. Once Impulse arrived though, Tango could immediately tell something was off.
Usually Tango would at least get to see his husband around — catch a quick glimpse, share a small kiss or two, then go off on their merry ways again. This past week had been way too busy for both of them, however. Which meant Tango hadn't been able to keep a watchful eye on how his partner was doing. Not that Tango was any better about taking care of himself, or even being reasonable about when he was pushing himself too hard — but he'd be a stubborn hypocrite if that's what Impulse needed.
Impy was trying so hard to hide it too. Tried to cover up the way he stumbled and almost face-planted while landing, tried to hide how his body trembled by keeping himself moving. Was he… swaying, too? His balance felt off, like he had to consciously readjust his weight so he wouldn't fall over. Hell, he was even breathing shallow just to make sure he wasn't making the sniffles too obvious. Impulse barely got the chance to greet Tango before being grabbed by the arm and dragged down into the depths of Tango's base.
He barely knew what was happening to him, but didn't dare fight Tango off, either. Maybe he just wanted to talk a little first? Or he'd prepared something before they'd get going… Impy hoped for the best.
Taking not a single moment to pause, Tango dragged his husband down to his bedroom. The casket was a little grim of a bed for a sick man — but he quite frankly couldn't give less of a shit about looks while his partner was being a dumbass. With a lot more care than before, Tango pulled Impy up next to the bed. There was a small space carved out in the casket's wall, right by the pillows, to make getting in and out of the bed easier. And so Tango wouldn't have to climb in each time he wanted to take a nap. That bit of carpentry genius was what Tango used to his full advantage here. He gently manhandled Impulse down to sit on the bed, earning a thoroughly confused yet slightly encouraging noise.
His husband stood above Impy, daylight shining in behind him, candle-light illuminating his front. The soft yellow light bounced off of his cheeks and the gorgeous vampiric outfit. It even made those confident red eyes that Impy could get lost in pop out more. Impulse's heart skipped a beat. Tango was almost caging him in, standing in the way to make sure Impy wouldn't get up again. Arms on either side, leaning over him with a careful, analytical gaze. Impulse swallowed hard.
"Uhm, wow— …r-right now? Jeez—" Impy's stuffy face somehow still managed to get redder in a blush, chuckling nervously. Not that he'd decline—
Tango had half the heart to scold him as he realized what this must've looked like. He hardened his gaze, brows furrowed, and leaned back a little.
"No, we're not— whatever," he huffed a breath, trying to keep the smirk from showing on his face. Even while delirious, Impulse couldn't seem to keep his mind to himself. Passive perceiver, rather than active participant.
The vampire abused the fact that his undead status meant he couldn't get sick with regular ailments, and got a little closer again. He put his knuckle under Impy's chin, lifting slightly. If he wasn't so focused on making sure his hubby was alright, maybe he'd be doing more with how Impulse melted into the touch, and how he seemed to relax just from that single caress alone. Something to keep in the back of his mind for later.
Looking at Impulse closer just made Tango's face scrunch up more. Yeah, their plans would have to wait. Impulse was in no condition to carry heavy weights, let alone be on his feet for more than he already had been. In Tango's opinion, he shouldn't even be upright anymore.
Impulse frowned slightly as he watched the shift in expression happen. Despite his brain scrambling bitterly, he still managed to try and worm his way out of this whole thing.
"Tango—"
"Don't you dare try to tell me you're fine," Tango hissed without much oompf behind the noise, a short glare shot his way to make sure Impy knew he meant business. There was no way Impulse would allow Tango to even attempt to play nurse if there was any question or hesitation in Tango's actions. They were both too stubborn and set in their own, stupid little ways. Double negatives didn't make a positive when it came to old, thick-headed redstoners.
"I'm taking care of you."
"You don't have to—"
"Impulse." Tango stopped Impulse's attempt at getting up before he could even put any weight on his legs. He kept his hand on Impy's thigh a little longer than strictly necessary, just to drive home his point. Tango's tail whipped up some dust from the ground, sparking and crackling slightly in frustration.
"You can't even stand straight, let alone breathe right. And I can tell you're burning up because you've got a whole aura of heat around you. I'm insulted you thought I wouldn't notice."
Impulse huffed — as best as he could with a congested nose. He had a hard time keeping his eyes focused on Tango, struggling with a headache that just… didn't want to go away.
"…sorry."
"I'm surprised you even made it this far," he scoffed, softly letting go of Impulse's chin. Clearly he was more worried than truly mad, though that didn't make being scolded feel any nicer.
"What were you thinking? You could've cancelled the plans, you know. Health comes first. Always."
"But I didn't want to disappoint you! I just thought… it's fine, right? Being a bit sniffly shouldn't ruin our one scheduled day where we get to hang out and have fun..."
"You are more than just sniffly, big guy. And you're not moving from this bed. That farm can be built another day, you're way too sick to build. Now shut your face-hole and sit," Tango sneered the last word, making sure he made himself clear. Impulse gulped, eyes big as he watched his husband be all assertive. Message received, Tango hoped. Though he wasn't sure if Impy really listened, or if he was in his own little sickness-induced world already. Either way, it seemed like he wasn't going to try and run off in the time it took for Tango to find his kit of medical bits and bobs. He should really be keeping them in his enderchest rather than in some random chest in his base. What if they had met up at Impy's base instead? Surely, with how well he knew the guy, Impulse wouldn't have pointed him towards where he kept his own share of medicinal supplies. Instead, he would have insisted he was fine and dandy, while snotting the place up and shivering like he'd been stuck in powdered snow for at least an hour. One deep breath, then Tango padded down the steps again with the shulker in hand. Wiping the thermometer thoroughly clean, he offered it to Impulse. Rather than taking it and doing the measuring himself, Impy stared up at Tango. He opened up his mouth, sticking his tongue out as well. Reminiscent of… something else entirely. The vampire froze for a second, blushing as he grumbled a few noises. Fine, if that's how he wanted to play, so be it. Showing a glint of his fangs in a stupid smile, Tango shoved his thumb into Impulse's mouth, keeping his jaw in place by holding his chin steady as well.
"You're dumb."
"You smiled!" Impulse somehow managed to get out around Tango's thumb. His eyes sparkled with mischievous joy despite being so puffy and unfocused from being sick.
"Be still so I can get your temperature," Tango shushed him, waiting until Impy's little giggles died down so he could poke the thermometer under his tongue. Just a bit of patience, he kept it there until it beeped. Sadly the lighthearted mood didn't stick around for long, as Tango's forehead creased seeing the number on the device.
"That can't be right…" Tango muttered under his breath, catching a small glance of Impulse's worried face in the corner of his eye. He put the thermometer away before Impulse could see the temperature, making him whine in protest. Tango ignored him, instead putting the back of his hand against his forehead. Impulse raised his hand up as well, weakly wrapping his fingers around Tango's wrist. Tango didn't let the hand disturb him, more so using it as an opportunity to soothe Impy a bit. He softly brushed his hand down Impulse's cheek, placing a small kiss to his forehead.
"It's alright, I promise. We'll just have a sleepover instead," he tried to reassure the worried snot-machine. Impulse didn't buy it, but he still leaned into Tango's familiar hands. Slightly calloused, yet surprisingly soft despite having spent so long placing rock on rock on even more rocks to construct the hulking behemoth of a mountain they currently sat under. Something about Tango's hardened edges just seemed to… smooth over and grow all the more tender when met with Impulse.
Letting the gentle moment wash over them, Tango made an effort to get Impy more comfortable. His bed wasn't exactly big, nor made for more than maybe one and a half people to sleep in — but he could at least offer Impy some more blankets and pillows. Afterall, he was the one forcing Impulse to be bed-bound away from home. He earned a huff as Tango stepped away to grab the fabrics meant for keeping him warm, smiling slightly about how clingy his partner was being. Keeping Impulse in the corner of his eye, he saw him shift his position slightly.
"I'll get you some more blankets and sit with you for a bit, yeah? I'll have to message Xisuma and go get him once he arrives, but—"
"Is it that bad?" Impulse immediately interrupted, a note of anxiety strumming through his voice. Tango's heart ached.
"Well, you're not fine," Tango started carefully, dragging some of the softest blankets out of a shulker and putting them down on Impy's lap.
"You've got a fever. I know that much."
"Netherborn can't get fevers…" Impulse interjected, dragging his hand across the soft plush to keep himself from panicking too much.
"Which is exactly what worries me," Tango added on. He softly shooed Impulse towards the end of the bed, away from the pillows, then took one of the blankets to wrap around him best he could. With his partner sitting encased by the casket's frame, Tango could sit down as well. His forehead was creased, eyebrows firmly cemented in a worried expression. Tango tried to hide it, a bit at least, but it was hard to ignore the gnawing hole in his chest.
"Rest a bit, please?" he carefully cupped Impy's cheek, helping him settle his head down on his lap of all places. Rolling his eyes with love, Tango grabbed a pillow to put in between, to hopefully support his head better than his thighs could.
Clearly unhappy with absolutely everything going on, Impulse still seemed to relax a bit while cuddled up with his hubby. Probably one of those cases where if Impy didn't appear relaxed to the outside, he'd be exploding into pure panic and tears. Not a good look, and not a smart move while his body was running on borrowed energy. At least he had Tango. At least he had someone taking care of him, now. And one of the only people he'd let take care of him. Even if he'd always still put up a bit of a fight. His head thrummed and pounded, as if punishing him for feeling more comfortable.
While one of his hands was threaded into Impy's hair, Tango was taking full advantage of his admin powers with the other. A whole screen was pulled up to monitor Impy's vitals, though it was too high of clearance for Impulse to actually see. On another floaty screen, he had his private messages with X pulled up. Impulse also couldn't see that one, but it was clear Tango was busy with typing away on his communicator.
Netherborn as a species weren't exactly researched well in Overworld databanks — mostly due to the fact that there weren't enough netherborn around to do any research with. Tango and Impulse were the only two on Hermitcraft and adjacent servers, with only sporadic examples of more netherborn-turned-players on other networks as well. That meant that all Xisuma, and Tango for that matter, could do was to attempt to figure whatever they could do to help on the basis of Impulse being a player, rather than using his nether origins for help.
At least the given immortality of being a player able to respawn was a fun one, but slowly dying over and over again from sickness wasn't painless in the slightest. Everyone involved would prefer to avoid a respawn, if possible.
Illnesses had all kinds of symptoms and remedies depending on a player's base species. Hermitcraft itself had a lot of the more dangerous, permanently-influencial sicknesses barred from its players' codes through a perpetual 'vaccination' of sorts. Nothing that the players themselves had to upkeep, since it was woven into the very code they lived on the server with. Tango remembered one of the Life Series events not having those safe-guards in place, which ended up with a zombie-induced corruption-nightmare-situation that forced them to evacuate the server and restart the whole event. Secret Life's pretend-infection was an almost funny, harmless call-back in comparison. Cleo, and anyone else who was affected, managed to luckily recover quickly while seeking refuge on Hermitcraft. Grian and his team had Doc help input the safe-guard before restarting the event and letting everyone play as normal.
So, for Impulse's impossible-to-get fever, at least Tango knew it wouldn't be permanent, or some sort of… demonic calling taking over his body. Hopefully. Without the research available, he couldn't be completely sure that the safe-guards were able to catch any kinds of netherborn-specific problems. All they really had was hope, and a good bit of elbow grease to keep Impulse comfortable while they figured it out.
Tango softly stroked through Impulse's hair, listening to the full extent of his stuffy nose — now that he wasn't trying to hide it anymore. After a few more minutes of Tango being busy, he finally closed down the direct message screens. The display of Impy's vitals was the only screen he kept open.
"How are you feeling?
"I'm fi—"
"Be honest with me," Tango interrupted immediately. Something heavy in his voice and eyes that let Impy feel like shrinking himself down to a microscopic level, just so Tango couldn't possibly see him anymore.
His tail thumped a few beats in embarrassment, Impulse softly rubbed himself closer to Tango's hand.
"Bad. It feels like my bones are trying to fall out of my skin, my head is attempting to split open, and I feel weak in a way that I hate," Impy offered, hesitantly at first. He kept a close eye on Tango's reactions, seeing nothing but empathy mirrored back to him. Taking a big gulp of air, he continued.
"I— I was trying to stay on my feet, because I knew that if I sat down I'd just… be doomed. It does feel nice to lay here with you but, well, I think I'm stuck now."
"Is that a bad thing?" Tango gently poked, clearly he was ready to do whatever it took to bring Impy someplace where he could be more comfortable, if necessary.
"…no, I don't think so," Impy hummed, voice all quiet, "as long as you're around."
"I won't go far, I promise." Tango pressed a kiss to his partner's forehead, letting his hand run over his upper body.
"You're so warm… have you taken anything against the pain yet?"
Impulse shoved himself closer against Tango's side, arms wrapped around his waist in a snuggle.
"Mmh, I had a potion of regen earlier… that was it, though."
That checked out with Impy's vitals… they were steady, if only for the slow ticks up in health that were mirrored by slow ticks of damage. Not a fun feeling, Tango was sure. Perpetually feeling hurt, but also being healed at the same time — so nothing changed about the miserable state that he was in.
Tango gently scratched along Impy's beard, massaging the spots he knew liked being scratched. Earning a soft hum of purrs, he watched Impy shove his cheek further against his corset. Surely a little uncomfortable with the boning, but Impy wouldn't say a word. Figuring it would be a good way to get them both more in the relaxed no-work mindset, Tango began to carefully undress while trying not to disturb Impy too much. Luckily, he had enough comfortable clothes for both of them.
First he shrugged off the imposing coat, then the fancy bits of jewelry, then lastly the corset. He gently slid his fingers between Impulse's arm and his own back to undo the ties keeping it in place. Impy hummed, waving Tango's hand away to undo the ties himself. Tango looked down at him all confused at first, but the mischievous little smile explained Impy's intentions better than words could. A little blushy again, Tango averted his eyes and did his best to hide his own smile. Though struggling to get the noise to sound right, Impy giggled and miraculously managed to open up the corset without even seeing what his hand was up to. At least they'd know his fine motor skills weren't affected too badly. With a small, amused huff, Tango lifted the corset to fully undress.
There it was. That soft, squishy belly Impulse loved so much. Sure, it was still hidden under a silky white dress shirt, but this was already way more comfortable to rest against. A bright smile spread onto Impulse's face immediately, and he earned a soft giggle from Tango.
"You can be so glad I love you," the vampire playfully threatened, ruffling through Impy's hair before smoothing it out again.
Impulse purred, quiet and shy. It soothed him, at least. The pain was still clearly bugging him, but the purring alleviated a bit of the worst feelings. It also sounded funny, all nasal-y and muffled, like the noise got stuck in his throat every now and then.
It only took a few more minutes for Xisuma to arrive. Bringing a whole shulker of all sorts of things that could help against Impy's symptoms, X also packed a small notebook and pen for Tango to write down the progression of Impy's health. On the go research, hopefully to help them out in the future. With no way to know just how infectious Impy was, X didn't get to see him face to face. He still wished the pair a good bit of rest, and told them to not get too rambunctious with a wink. Tango was blushing again as he carried the shulker downstairs, chucking it down near his bed. Impulse had wrapped himself up in one of the blankets in the meantime, now all toasty and warm. He looked as curious as he could with his headache making his eyes pound horribly, trying his hardest to keep them open despite the pain.
Shuffling the shulker closer to the bed, Tango sat himself down and rummaged through the contents. Impy rubbed his cheek against his partner's back, way more invested in cuddling than reading labels or doing anything that required him to use his brain. Tango, meanwhile, sorted through what he considered to be immediately effective in keeping his husband comfortable, versus what they could try later. First order of business was to get Impulse a nice, warm nap. Sleep was always a good remedy, especially to the more sleep-deprived on their server.
There were a few health potions in the shulker, one spiked to be more of a painkiller of sorts. Grabbing the bottle, Tango swirled the sparkling liquid a few times before putting it down on the bed.
"Impy? One more thing before you fall asleep, hm?" Tango reached around to his back, blindly petting Impy's scalp to get his attention.
All he got in response was a tired hum — clearly Impulse was way ahead of Tango with the sleeping idea. Still, he lifted his head slightly towards Tango's hand, subtly rubbing up against it.
"X brought us some painkillers, they'll probably knock you out harder, too," he quietly explained, not wanting to be too loud for Impy's ears, "I'll help you take a few sips, and then we can cuddle the rest of the day." Tango softly slipped off of the bed, crouching beside it to help Impulse take the potion.
"…you promise?" A quiet voice, almost scratchy at this point.
"Yeah, I promise," Tango smiled, softly tipping Impy's chin up to let the liquid trickle onto his tongue. It seemed to tasted quite bad, based on how Impulse scrunched up his face in reaction, but Tango gently sweetened the deal by following it up with a soft kiss. Getting up to put the empty bottle away, he watched his husband for a moment.
Impulse huffed a large breath, labored and heavy, as he rolled himself over on his back. He wasn't opening his eyes anymore at this point, too painful to make it seem worth it. So instead, he waved his hands around trying to find where Tango was hiding. An amused little snicker revealed his location as the vampire stepped closer, and Impy smiled brightly as his hands were met with strong arms.
Tango carefully took one of his hands, placing little kisses to his knuckles and palm. Impy purred immediately, all the love made the pain way easier to deal with. He watched Impulse's tail wag in glee, smiling about the small, most likely involuntary gesture, as it meant the world. Combing his fingers through Impy's hair once more, Tango purred along. He knew the physical contact would help.
"Are you comfortable? Need any more pillows?" he asked lovingly, still with a lowered voice.
"...would help if you were in here, with me," Impy rasped, not letting go of the arm he'd captured between his weak claws. Tango scoffed amused, then sighed all dramatically. He couldn't deny Impy if he tried. Doing his absolute best to clamber over the casket's walls without stepping on Impy or his tail, after a whole lot of grunting and old man noises, the vampire eventually laid himself on top of his love. Impulse didn't even react to the less-than-graceful flop Tango did on top of him. Though unsure if Impy simply didn't feel it due to sickness-numbness, was already used to Tango doing that to him or if he was just that strong, the vamp was quite happy to not be called out on it.
"Is this better?" Tango asked as he wiggled himself into a more comfortable position. Impulse barely gave an answer beyond small noises of approval which got a hearty chuckle out of his husband. A hand managed to sneak out beyond the blanket again, wrapping around Tango's middle to pull him just that much closer. With a little squawk, Tango managed to not make an even more embarrassing noise. Something about promised cuddles, Impy wouldn't let himself be swindled.
Not quite ready to settle yet, Tango quickly grabbed another blanket. He made sure it would cover both of them, to maximize how much comfy-cozy Impulse would be subjected to. Snuggling his head into the crook of Impy's neck, his hand was gently drawing circles over Impy's chest.
Smiling, and seemingly very proud of himself, Impy sighed one last large, stuffy breath before fully settling down. He quickly passed out with a strong set of snores to accompany him. Tango didn't mind, quickly following him into the land of warm, comfortable dreams.