Jake knocked on the door of Dirk and Roxy's apartment, a bit worried for his boyfriend. The texts they'd been exchanging were rather flat on Dirk's side, the way he got when he was hiding something. "Can I come in?" the dark haired boy called.

"Ugghghh fuck sure the door's probably open," Dirk's voice echoed from inside the apartment, sounding almost pained.

The door swung open easily, and Jake walked in, looking around. Roxy must've gone to the store, he noted, as she didn't seem to be around. However, Dirk didn't seem to be anywhere either. The TV was on, however, so maybe he was watching it.

Dirk was, in fact, watching TV - or at least pretending. The TV was on, surely, but the blond was curled up on the couch, covered completely in a blanket and clutching at something held at his waist. "Dirk, hey, you alright?"

"No," he moaned, "Everything hurts."

Raising an eyebrow, Jake sat down on the arm of the couch, and stroked Dirk's hair a little. "Did something happen? Dave hasn't come over recently, right?"

"Yeah something happened and it sucks."

"What?"

"Idon'twannatalkaboutit," he mumbled, "Makeseverythingworse."

The familiar tone persuaded the curious boy to discontinue his questions. "Can I help?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Tea. There's peppermint tea in the cupboard. Make it."

"...Alright."

He was unsure of how tea would help, specifically, but that was alright. "Anything else?"

"No. Not right now. Owowowowowow…" his voice trailed off into a tiny moan.

Jake ran a hand through his hair and walked into the kitchen. The aforementioned box sat on the counter, with a note in Roxy's handwriting.

he's in a not so good state rn. give dirk a dose of the pain killers on his sink every four to six hours. he took some at nine this morning, doubt he's moved from the couch. make some of this too

"Well, then. Why hasn't this come up bef-?" Jake stopped, and thought for a moment. Yes, he supposed, something similar had come up. Dirk would cancel plans, or Roxy would call and say he wasn't able to go out, usually due to pain. Only occasionally, never really often. Only once every few mo.

"Oh."

Jake paused, and started to pour water into the pot on the stove. Dirk made a tiny noise that sounded like he was calling for Jake, but he didn't respond when Jake yelled for him. While the water boiled, Jake walked into the bathroom and found the painkillers Roxy had mentioned.

"Dirk," Jake asked, "have you taken any pain killers since this morning?"

"No... haven't moved."

"Well it's nearly one thirty, you should take another dose."

"Ew."

"C'mon Dirk," Jake held out the two pills and a cup of water he'd brought. "You're feeling awful, aren't you? Take some."

Dirk groaned, and sat up. He took the pills and popped them into his mouth with one hand, the other still pressing something to his lower abdomen. He swallowed the pills with a swig of water, then slid back down onto the couch. "There," he mumbled.

"You should take a nap too. Grandma always told me sleeping helps all sorts of pains. Sleep and water."

"Tea first."

"Well of course. But afterwards, we are going to turn off the television and cuddle until you go to sleep."

Orange eyes - he wasn't wearing shades, Jake noticed - flickered up to meet green ones. "Really?"

"Yes. I'm not going to catch anything, right? Naps are good for you, Dirk."

"Fine."

The microwave went off, calling Jake in to check the water. He went about making the tea, then walked into the living room. Handing the tea to Dirk, the dark haired boy also switched off the TV, cutting off the narrator of How It's Made mid-sentence. Dirk sat up, frowning. "I was watching that."

"You're recording it?"

"Yeah."

"Then drink. Clear your head." Jake sat down beside his boyfriend, rubbing his side slightly.

The more tea he drank and the more tiny massages he got, the less tense Dirk became. Once his mug was drained, the blond boy leaned up against Jake with a tiny yawn. "Shall we go to the bedroom them? Ready to nap?" Jake asked softly.

"Sure," Dirk mumbled. "I'll walk there."

Jake helped him up, and saw Dirk had an electric heating pad pressed against his lower abdomen. "Want to bring that?"

Dirk nodded, unplugging the device and dragging it with him. Frigglish darted out of his hiding spot to bat at the cord. "Frigglish stop," Dirk moaned, tugging on the cord.

The two boys headed for the bedroom, and Dirk plugged in the pad. "I gotta go to the bathroom, be back in a second."

"Alright, I'll wait for you," Jake pecked Dirk on the forehead.

The blond smiled then disappeared into the bathroom. Jake realized he was still wearing his shorts and vest, which weren't very comfortable for sleeping in. He slipped out of the vest and shorts, folding and stacking them in a pile by the door while setting his phone on the side table. Dirk reappeared, sweatpants and tank top ruffled. His hair looked like he'd attempted to comb it while in the bathroom.

"Hey Dirk," Jake wrapped his arms around Dirk's waist, looking up slightly at the taller boy. "So, ready to sleep?"

"Yeah. The pain killers started to kick in..."

"Good. You're already dressed for it, lie down."

Dirk grabbed the heating pad, and flopped down onto the bed, holding it close to his abdomen. Jake slipped in next to him, covering them both with blankets. He snuggled closer to the blond, who wrapped an arm around him. Dirk breathed out a tiny "love you" before closing his eyes. He was out like a light, and Jake took the opportunity to simply look at him. His hair was a mess, and the dark haired boy ran a hand through it. He reached behind them, and set an alarm to wake them up in about a half an hour. Setting it back down, he closed his eyes.

"You're an amazing boyfriend Dirk. Nothing less, not matter what," Jake mumbled to the other, before falling asleep himself.

I know I'm supposed to be on hiatus and I am? Kinda? I still do this shit in my free time.

But I wrote fluffy DirkJake since as a dfab person I have that thing known as a uterus and I needed someone to feel my pain so

I coupled it with wanted to write fluffy DirkJake w/ trans Dirk. So have Jake being accepting that his boyfriend is a boyfriend no matter what parts yay.

These methods come from experience btw. Hot pads/rice socks are heaven during those troubled times.

Any questions or comments, leave in a review, I'll get back to you! (whispers If you leave suggestions for Homestuck fics I might write them)

Thanks for reading!