Title: Need and Affection
Autor: Leya
Fandom: Gravitation
Characters: Eiri/Shuichi, Tohma
Disclaimer: All the characters are the sole property of Maki Murakami. I'm only playing with them.
Word Count: 759
Rating: PG
Warnings: fluff
Written for the Tag Challenge at tohma_love. Written for blameshimself. Prompt: Their kind, smiling faces were similar.
I'm sorry. Really, I am. I don't know what I were thinking. I'm sure you something completely different in mind.
Normally Eiri vehemently denied being sick. Being sick meant being weak and Eiri didn't do weak. Ever. But after two days of feeling hot and feverish combined with the sharp pain of a constant headache that gave him the impression that his head was about to explode he happily would have admitted to not feeling well – had there been anyone around to listen.
Unfortunately his lover was still on his latest tour and his sister and brother-in-law were out of town visiting God knew who so there was no help to be expected.
The novelist moved around in distress, desperately trying to find a better position for his aching head but like all the times before he soon had to admit defeat. Whatever he had tried so far – nothing seemed to help.
First he had tried to ignore it. But pretending everything was alright by taking an aspirin and gulping down the pill with the help of a bottle of beer hadn't been an especially smart move to make. Of course he knew that alcohol and pharmaceuticals didn't mix well but this particular little detail had slipped his mind due to sheer exhaustion and now he was lying on his couch and felt even more miserable than before.
He was so out of it that he nearly missed the sound of the front-door opening.
"Yuuuuki I'm back!"
Eiri winced in pain when Shuichi's arrival shattered the pleasant silence of his apartment. Footsteps neared the couch. Only a few seconds later the lithe body of his lover landed right on his already upset stomach with a heavy thud and the novelist groaned in pain.
"There you are, Yuki! Why didn't you answer? I'm baaaaaack!"
"I'm neither blind nor deaf, brat. And now shut up and leave me alone", Eiri groused angrily and attempted to push Shuichi to the floor. The pink-haired singer barely caught himself before he ended in an undignified heap on the floor and threw a wounded look in Eiri's direction.
"I have been on tour for the last two weeks and all you do is pushing me away. I thought you would be happy to see me! It's not fair!"
Eiri closed his eyes in exasperation and turned his head away. "Fuck off."
"Yuki? Is everything alright? You look kinda sick." A small hand reached out for his forehead and suddenly Eiri was too tired to pull away. "You're burning up! Yuki why didn't you tell me…Yuki? YUKI!"
The sound of his own heartbeat grew louder and louder in his ears and suddenly he felt reality slipping away.
The next hours were nothing but heat and pain, with Eiri constantly drifting in and out of consciousness. All he remembered were cool hands on his forehead and a soft soothing voice talking to him in a low tone. He knew this voice, recognized it immediately for the unmistakable promise of safety and love and understanding it emitted and with a relieved sigh Eiri allowed the darkness to claim him once again.
The morning his fever finally broke Eiri woke to the sound of soft breathing. Slowly he opened his eyes and for a moment he just lay there, bothered by the itching of cold sweat soaking his pyjamas before he realised that he wasn't alone.
Tiredly he listening to the well-known soft child-like noises of his sleeping lover until he found the strength to turn his head.
Shuichi was curled up at the end of the bed, clearly trying to get as near as possible while at the same time doing his best not to bother him with his presence. Next to him Tohma was resting with his head pillowed on one of his arms while his other hand kept hold of Shuichi's hand.
They looked so incredibly peaceful that Eiri at first believed to still be dreaming but soon it occurred to him that Shuichi must have called Tohma, both of them overcoming their differences and doing their best to take care of him while he was too sick to even realise that they were there.
Overwhelmed by a sudden outburst of affection Eiri needed to reassure himself that he was awake. He reached out and covered their joined hand with his – watching in silent wonder when the touch of his hand caused them to smile unconsciously.
Why had he never noticed before that their kind, smiling faces were so similar?
Secure in the knowledge that they would always be there for him Eiri contently closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
END
