The Sniffles
Demyx squirmed uncomfortably underneath his blankets, throwing them off violently. Groaning loudly, he once again cuddled beneath them, shivering pitifully. Almost immediately he began to sweat again. Wrestling his arms out of his cocoon of blankets, he pressed his palms into his eyes; try to subdue the pounding in his sinuses. Why me…he moaned internally, only a slow uncomfortable whimper escaping his parched throat. Demyx was inflicted by the single most daunting, terrifying thing ever to strike Organization XIII…the common cold. Currently eight members of Organization XIII were ill, Roxas being the one who brought it into the castle. After becoming sick Roxas demanded Axel take care of him, which in turn made Axel sick. Through Axel's firey violent sneezing Larxene, Xigbar, Xaldin caught the cold; they in turn gave it to Saix and Xemnas and while being given a mission brief by the superior, Demyx caught it worst of all. It seemed to snowball from member to member, and Demyx was bed-ridden and miserable. The only ones who escaped the cold's deadly clutches were the members more inclined to solitude; Vexen, Lexeaus, and Zexion, Luxord escaped being the lucky bastard he was and Marluxia had cured himself using his herbs but refused to come in contact with the rest of the sick members. Demyx wished one of the fortunate ones would care for him just a little, bring him some chicken noodle soup, a new box of tissues, maybe some cough drops, but the prospects of Vexen, Lexaeus or Luxord treating him only made his chills worse. Demyx felt a tickle in his nose that steadily got worse, until it finally exploded out his nose and into his hands in a snotty mess. "Ewww…" Demyx cried out audibly, reaching down to the side of his bed for his box of tissues. Finding it, he brought it up to see its empty form looking at him sadly. He sobbed melodramatically, longing for the sweet caress of death; until his head a soft knocking on the door.
"Come in, if you dare" he said, wiping his hands on clean portions of the used tissues that were scattered around his bed. He saw someone backing through the door, pushing it open with their hip, obviously carrying a tray of some sort.
"Number Nine" said the figure, turning around and walking towards Demyx with a full tray. Demyx didn't even notice who it was, he was consumed with joy at the sight of a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup, two fresh boxes of tissues, little packets of cough drops and a book. Demyx decided that whoever brought all this for him was officially his new best friend. Tearing his eyes away from the tray, he looked into the face of the person who cared enough to bring him all this.
"Zexion, I love you" Demyx said somewhat weakly, his usual enthusiasm drained by his current state.
"Yes, I'm sure you do. Sit up, don't spill this" Zexion said maternally, handing the tray to Demyx once he was sufficiently upright. He began collecting the tissues strew about the room, and collected Demyx's mp3 player from its charger on the floor and placed on his head board.
"Oh, thanks Zexion" Demyx said, momentarily looking up from his soup. Zexion began to arrange the items on the tray around the room, the tissues and cough drops in easy reach and the book tenderly placed on the nightstand, its bookmark adjusted so it just barely peeked from it's place a quarter of the way through the novel. Demyx blushed at the highly organized Zexion tending to his messy room, even worse than usual from his bed riddance. Zexion, satisfied with his handiwork, reached into his coat and pulled out a small bottle of greenish liquid and poured it on his hands and rubbed fastidiously.
"What's that?" Demyx asked between gulps of soup.
"Hand sanitizer. I don't want to get sick" he said, looking sympathetically at Demyx. Demyx simply moaned in reply. Zexion sat on the edge of the bed, looking somewhat uncomfortable. Demyx shifted his legs to give him more room, being obviously careful with his soup bowl, though it was now mostly empty. There was an awkward shifting of positions for a few moments, followed by shy eye contact and silence.
"You should probably go. I mean, if you don't want to get sick. You could stay, but you'd probably end up like me. With Vexen left to take care of you" Demyx tried desperately to relieve the tension with humor, but the remark was punctuated by coughing and ended up sounded more pitiful than funny.
"Would you rather I go get Vexen? He could probably…"
"Please no!" Demyx shrunk back into his pillow, and Zexion laughed knowingly.
"No, I would never do that to you, never fear." Zexion grinned shyly at Demyx, trying to hide his smile by busying himself with taking the empty soup bowl and tray off of Demyx. Demyx stretched and yawned loudly, remembering to cover his mouth at the last moment, fearing a reprimand from Zexion for being rude.
"Thanks Zexion. Really, I was fairly miserable…"
"I know" Zexion cut him off. Demyx blushed slightly; Zexion was gently brushing the slightly damp hair away from his eyes. Zexion smiled sincerely and Demyx could help but smile back. They stared at each other like this for what seemed like forever and a fleeting second at the same time. Just this simple eye contact seemed to help Demyx's condition, and he felt like this could cure his sniffles. They both blushed, and Zexion looked away first, fiddling with his sleeves.
"You're probably exhausted, Demyx" it was one of the rare times Zexion used his actually name instead of his standoffish number. Demyx knew he was right, he had spend most of his time sleeping, and his body was beginning to protest his wakefulness without the aid of more soup. He moaned lightly and dropped his head on the pillow, clearly communicating to Zexion that he was going to end up asleep even if he didn't want to. Zexion only laughed again, and took off his boots. Demyx propped his head up on one hand, not understanding what was going on. Zexion pulled back the covers, careful not to expose Demyx and slipped quietly underneath, once again pulling them tenderly up over himself and Demyx. This other presence in the bed seemed to stabilize Demyx's temperature, he no longer felt like he was in a sauna and an iceberg at the same time. Zexion's warmth drew Demyx to him, and soon he felt into a deep, restoring sleep with Zexion's chest as his pillow. Zexion smiled again and adjusted his position so he was holding Demyx closely with his chin resting against the blonde's head. Zexion bent down and kissed Demyx's forehead tenderly, Demyx sighed contentedly in his sleep and snuggled closer. Zexion reached for his carefully placed book, opening his page and finding the exact paragraph where he had left off. Zexion's smile was rare, but it made an appearance for the third time in an hour. Instead of shy, this was a satisfied smile; contented, fulfilled and a tiny bit smug.