Isa-tope on tumblr drew a thing and I was inspired by that thing so I wrote a thing based on that thing so enjoy my shitty attempt at akusai fluff.
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It was getting dark when Axel stopped by.
Axel's phone conversation log was a slew of unanswered texts that he'd been sending Saïx for almost two days, and he was starting to worry. Saïx didn't answer the door when he knocked, so he dug the spare key that Saïx had given him from his key ring and let himself in.
"Saïx?" Axel called out, his voice echoing and being met with silence. The TV was off, but the lights were on. "Sai?"
Axel closed the door quietly behind him, tiptoeing through the house. "Saïx?"
He came upon him when he entered the kitchen, to find Saïx lying on the kitchen floor in front of the stove, wrapped up tightly in a light blanket.
"Are you okay?" Axel asked, approaching the shivering lump on the kitchen floor to be met with a pained groan. "Regretting not getting your flu shot this year?"
"Fuck you," Saïx mumbled.
"What are you doing exactly?"
"Making soup,"
Axel looked over at the pan on the stove, full with a tiny can of condensed soup, stone cold.
"Are you aware that you never turned the stove on?" Axel asked.
Saïx sighed and sat himself up on shaky arms, letting the blanket fall around him. His hair was unbrushed and stuck to his face with the static from the blanket, his face was flushed and his nose redder than Axel's hair. The bags under his eyes were prominent, a by-product of having very little sleep over a two-day period.
He looked like shit.
He swung one hand up and slapped at the front panel of his stove in a very sad attempt to turn the element on to cook his food. After a third unsuccessful slap that managed to turn on the wrong burner, he gave up and slumped against the over door, pulling his blanket back over his shoulders to fend off a chill. Axel sighed and turned the correct burner on, seating himself on the floor beside Saïx.
"But why were you laying on the floor?"
"Too tired to stand," Saïx answered with a sniffle, leaning against Axel, using him to keep himself in an upright position. Axel stood up and Saïx nearly fell over, catching himself on one trembling arm and glaring at Axel with a look that could probably have killed him if he had felt better. Axel was standing over him, his hands outstretched, waiting for Saïx to grab hold. So he did, and Axel used all his strength to pull Saïx to his feet.
"You," Axel began, leading the other man through his house by the hand. "Are going to lay down on the couch while I finish your soup for you."
Saïx didn't even argue, he just flopped onto the couch like a sack of potatoes, adjusting himself enough to wrap himself in his blanket, but otherwise remaining in the awkward position he'd fallen over in.
The soup was hot within minutes and Axel emerged from the kitchen with a bowl. Saïx had armed himself with a box of kleenex and had a tissue clasped in one hand, with that arm slung across his eyes to block out the light. Axel thought he'd fallen asleep, until Saïx moved his arm to peek over at him when he heard Axel's footsteps. Axel turned off the lights.
Saïx sat back up with an annoyed grunt to make room for Axel next to him on the couch, who started rubbing circles along Saïx's back with his fingertips as he took his first spoonful of his food. Axel leaned over to plant a kiss under Saïx's eye.
"Don't do that," Saïx whined, tilting his head away. "You'll get sick. You do not want this, trust me."
"I'm gonna get sick anyway just by being here. May as well make it worth it," Axel grabbed Saïx's chin to tilt his face back toward him and planted a hard kiss in the center of the 'x' scratched across his face. Saïx did not have the energy to argue.
"I've been texting you for two days now," Axel said.
"I know,"
"Why didn't you answer?"
"The light from the screen just made my headache worse. I haven't even read your texts yet,"
"I'm sorry,"
"Don't be,"
Saïx was only able to eat a few spoonfuls of his soup before he was done, setting the bowl on the coffee table and grabbing for a clean tissue to wipe his nose with, his nostrils already rubbed raw.
Axel laid back against the arm of the couch, pulling Saïx down with him, his head against Axel's chest. Saïx's entire body felt like lead, and Axel was a comfortable, and very very warm pillow to cradle his aching body. Axel ran his fingers through tangled blue hair, Saïx listening to the steady, strong beat of Axel's heart against his cheek, a crumpled tissue clutched in his hand.
Axel laughed under his breath, and Saïx furrowed his brow at the disturbance, but didn't move otherwise. "I should make you come over and take care of me in a few days when I'm sick with your flu,"
"Euuugh," Saïx groaned. "You're a terrible sick person."
Axel full on laughed, and Saïx grunted, lifting his head off of Axel's chest as the redhead's laughter rattled his already scrambled brains. "Don't do that! My head is pounding as it is..."
"Sorry," Axel apologized, evening out his breathing. Saïx laid his head back down, and Axel slid his arm down around Saïx's shoulder, going back to rubbing circles on his back. Saïx let out a pleased hum, burying his face into Axel's shirt.
"Sleep well, okay?" Axel whispered, receiving a quiet grunt of affirmation from his sick lover.
Saïx slept.