Spent some time writing together with a friend today, this was the resulting story! Not my bestest work but... it was kind of nice to be back to writing digimon!
Warnings: a pretty sick Yamato. A couch. Silence. errr... Yes, I still can't warnings. A blanket?
"Yama?"
Taichi slowly opened the door. There was no answer, the apartment laid silent. He closed the door behind him, placed the keys on the small table just inside before removing his shoes and dropping the backpack to the floor.
"Yamato, are you there?"
Still silence. Taichi walked further into the apartment, checked the couch, the kitchen. He opened the door to the refrigerator just because, but no sign of Yamato.
"Come on, I know you're here, I saw your shoes", Taichi called.
There was a noise coming from the bedroom, a light thud and a groan and Taichi hurried over there. He stopped in the door opening, looked at the pile that most likely was his friend and leaned against the doorframe. A bucket was placed next to the bed and Taichi crossed his arms over his chest.
"You okay, man?"
Another groan. An arm escaped the clutches of the cover, reached down to fetch the pillow that had fallen down, but almost knocked over the bucket instead and Taichi hurried over to save it. He placed the pillow in Yamato's hand, moved the bucket a little further away and settled down on the edge of the bed.
"Soo... you missed school today."
Yamato tried pulling the cover higher, but it didn't move under Taichi's weight, and instead Taichi pulled it down to reveal a very pale face.
"You okay?"
"Do I look okay?"
Yamato's voice was strained and Taichi let go of the cover again. Yamato made no move to pull it back up, but turned towards the wall instead.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I brought your homework."
"Just what the doctor ordered."
Yamato placed his forehead against the wall and closed his eyes. Taichi looked at him, waited. Looked around in the room. It looked like it always did – messy but still somehow organized. Not like his own room, which looked like a bomb had dropped on it. Yamato's breathing got slower, more relaxed and Taichi got up from the bed again.
"You need anything?"
Yamato shook his head, pulled the cover over his head again and Taichi left the room.
"Just call if you need anything, I'll be right out here!" he called back, before sinking down on the couch, turning on the television and zapping through the channels. He found a soccer game on one of the channels, and quickly became immersed in it. He followed along as the ball was passed over the field, moved as the players moved, and shouted when they finally scored. Yelled at the judge when he gave one of the players a yellow card.
"Taichi..."
He didn't hear the voice of his friend, too occupied with yelling at the television how that person from the other team was the one who...
"Tai."
Yamato's voice was a little higher, a little more firm, and it caught Taichi's attention and he turned the television off, turned to his friend. Yamato leaned heavily against the wall, sweat was running down his forehead and his cheeks were slightly green. Yamato closed his eyes, leaned his back against the wall for a second, then opened his eyes and took a shaky step towards the couch. Taichi got up, grabbed his arm as he swayed and guided him to the couch.
"You probably shouldn't be up."
"Headache", Yamato stated. "Don't yell like that."
He leaned back, closed his eyes again. Taichi could see him shivering, even though he was wearing a thick sweater and equally thick pants.
"Do you need a blanket?"
Yamato slowly shook his head, then groaned. Taichi sank down on the armrest and looked at his friend.
"You probably should have stayed in bed."
"mf."
"What was that?" Taichi grinned.
Yamato opened one eye and sent a half-hearted glare towards the other.
"I would have, but someone didn't hear me."
Taichi was almost certain he could see a faint pink shade beneath the green on Yamato's cheeks. Yamato closed his eye again and placed his arm over his eyes. Taichi left the couch, picked up a towel from the kitchen and soaked it before returning to Yamato and carefully placing the damp towel over his forehead. Yamato's shoulders relaxed and Taichi settled down again.
"I missed the bucket", Yamato said after a minute.
Taichi frowned as he tried to register what Yamato had said and what the words meant. Slowly his face went from confusion to understanding to disgust to sympathy.
"I'll take care of it, you stay here. It was my fault for moving it anyway."
"Thanks", Yamato mumbled.
Taichi got up, grabbed a blanket from the armchair and wrapped it around Yamato before fetching a mop and cleaning up the mess in the bedroom. Yamato had slid down and fallen asleep when he got back out into the livingroom and Taichi put the bucket next to the couch in case another accident would happen before cleaning the mop. After that he went out into the kitchen, made himself some eggs and returned to the living room. He sank down in the armchair and started eating. Yamato moved in the couch, kicked off the blanket then pulled it over himself again.
"It's not a stomach bug, if you're wondering", Yamato said when he noticed the bowl in Taichi's hands. Taichi stopped eating, looked at his friend. Yamato kicked the blanket off again. "I don't know what it is. But it's not the norovirus. You probably won't catch it."
Yamato groaned as his body started shivering again. Taichi put the bowl down and got up, then stopped.
"Do you want some tea?"
"Can't keep it down."
Yamato buried his face in the back of the couch.
"Feeling better?"
"Define better."
He rolled over to his back again, looked at Taichi.
"A little."
Yamato's hand found the damp towel and dumped it over his face again. Taichi choked down a laugh.
"I could make you some food?"
"Definately wouldn't be able to keep that."
Yamato's face got slightly greener again and Taichi sank back down, grabbed his bowl again.
"Wanna watch the television?"
"I just wanna sleep..."
Taichi shrugged and Yamato lifted the towel so he could glare at his friend.
"Do not start the television."
"Aww, then what am I gonna do?"
"Go home?"
"I'm not leaving you."
Taichi got up again, dumped the bowl in the kitchen and went to get his backpack. Yamato had pulled the blanket over himself again when Taichi returned. He sat down, pulled out the school books and tried focusing on the homework. Which was harder than he thought since every sound from Yamato made him tense up and lose focus. After about an hour Yamato was sleeping again and Taichi gave up and pushed the books away. He looked at Yamato, considered teasing him, just a little, but decided that no, it wasn't what Yamato needed right now. Instead he redampened the towel, took care of the dishes, threw what he suspected was dirty clothes into the laundry bag. Rolled his thumbs for a while when he was out of stuff to do, sent a text to Sora, to Koushiro, to Mimi. Answered a text from Hikari and had to calm Takeru down when the younger boy found out what state his brother was in. He looked at Yamato as he talked to Takeru, marvelled at the fact the other could sleep through Takeru's distressed shouting. After that he made another attempt with the homework, but abandoned it again and made some more food. Took care of the new dishes. Redampened the towel again.
"I'm home!"
Yamato stirred in the couch and Taichi hurried out to tell Mr Ishida to be quiet. Mr Ishida raised an eyebrow, then noticed his son in the couch and nodded. Taichi put the books back into his backpack, left the homework he had brought for his friend on his desk and then said good bye to Mr Ishida before leaving the apartment. Surely Yamato would be feeling better tomorrow.