Renji read the small grey screen of the thermometer. Ichigo did have a fever – shit, it was a high one.
Sighing and resting his elbow on the mattress at Ichigo's side, he sat next to the bed with a sniffly Ichigo, his face pinched with concern. "Is there anything you want me ta' bring you?"
"No," Ichigo sighed, looking away. He'd pulled the blankets up further, covered up to his shoulders. Maybe it was just Renji being silly, but it felt strangely intimate to sit here with Ichigo while he was lying down like this. He'd been in Ichigo's room plenty of times back when he'd been in high school, they'd even had sleepovers occasionally, but this felt different. Sitting at his side here, Renji felt as though he should pet Ichigo's head or tuck in his blankets.
He did reach out and smooth a wrinkle in the covers down, and surveyed Ichigo's poor sick face. At least he didn't seem queasy at all. Trying to lighten the mood, he cleared his throat and huffed a laugh. "Heh', you know what this reminds me of?" Ichigo shook his head with a noise. "Remember that time we tried to see who could eat more soba at that one food stand and we both barfed?"
"Hah," Ichigo snorted, coaxed into a half-smile, "oh yeah. We must've eaten a million bowls 'cause you thought you could beat me."
"Dude, I did beat you!" Renji insisted, to which Ichigo rolled his eyes and sniffed. "Or what about that time Ishida got sick and you drew that thing on his mask without him noticing?" Ichigo began to laugh a bit. "What was it again, anyways - a mouth with sharp teeth or something?"
"Yeah..."
"Hah, he was so mad. Thought he was gonna' sew our feet together in our sleep when he found out."
"He totally would..." Ichigo sniffed and then let the tiny bit of smile Renji had brought out fade. Renji tried not to let his face fall in discouragement and recalled the time Rukia had found that bunny and Hisagi hadn't been able to stop sneezing long enough to tell anyone that he was allergic. Ichigo didn't smile at all that time, his eyes lowered.
"Man, we had some good times," Renji sighed, grinning, and Ichigo nodded again, sniffling, but seemed somehow downcast.
"Mhm," he mumbled, and was quiet for a while. His forehead had turned a bit pink, and Renji anxiously frowned when it seemed like his sickness was starting to worsen. When he'd taken the temperature, Ichigo hadn't seemed feverish, but the thermometer had said otherwise, and Ichigo was starting to look the part now.
Finally Ichigo sighed, surprising him. "Anyway, I'm sorry," he rasped.
"Hm? How come?" Renji wondered, brow creasing at the sad tired look on Ichigo's face.
Ichigo swallowed and fidgeted with his hands a bit, voice colored with guilt. "We used ta' do that stuff all the time... Now... Well, you came all this way an' we promised to hang out like old times, and here I am laid up," he muttered frustratedly. Renji shook his head, waving a hand.
"Ah, so what? We planned to meet, so I came. That's all there is to it." Renji didn't look at him, not wanting Ichigo to be able to read his eyes. 'I would've come no matter what...'
Ichigo looked at him for a moment, then back to his hands. "Renji…"
"Anyway, of course it's a shame you're feeling bad, but it's okay," Renji reassured with a half-smile. "It's been months since I've-" Clearing his throat sharply and trying to keep on track, he amended, "Since we've hung out, I mean – and before that, it was months again. An' well, it sucks… but just 'cause you're sick doesn't mean this week is ruined or something."
Giving Ichigo a wry teasing grin, he needled, "I wouldn't have rather put this off just 'cause your body's pathetic."
The two of them had always had this carefully orchestrated method of conversation and interaction, and the proper response just then would've been for Ichigo to react – or at least put on the appearance of reacting – with anger or some kind of sarcastic retort. However, Ichigo just gave him a long and assessing look, and then quirked his lip in a smile.
"Heh," he snorted. He really smiled then, fully, from cheek to cheek, and Renji, completely thrown off by the disregard for the rules that had been laid down between them for years, just stared, flabbergasted. "Thanks, man."
"Wh- Bu-" Ichigo smiled a bit more at his reaction, and Renji gaped, taken aback, flicking his eyes over him: pretty smile, pretty eyes, pretty face…
"What," Ichigo teased, full on grinning, practically blinding him- "I do know how ta' say thank you, y'know." Renji blinked, taken aback, mouth ajar, and Ichigo snickered a bit, sniffling.
'Ah fuck... fuuuuck.'
He swallowed hard, feeling hot all over. He stood up and turned sharply. "I'm gonna' go… uh… Ice!" he blurted after searching wildly for an excuse.
Ichigo was silent behind him for a moment, and then confusedly noted, "Uh, I'm actually fine, so…" Renji felt a touch to the back of his leg, and hurriedly headed away.
"You've gotta' cool down – ice, ice, ice," he said almost frantically, and then exited the bedroom, closing the door hard. He leaned heavily against it and put a hand to his face.
'Shit, this is bad…'
He sighed and looked down at his feet and wondered if there was any hope at all for the rest of the week if it was already this bad. It was only the first day of Ichigo's sickness after all, and it was bound to get worse.
'I've gotta' cool off this fever… My fever.'