Now my muse isn't feeling angsty, we can move onto the important stuff. Like FLUFF!
With lots of Xanxus Whump because eight years of forced, last-minute cryostasis would leave more than just scarring.
Warnings for bodily fluids, nudity and sickness.
Having their Sky throwing up in a motel toilet was really not helping Squalo, Belphegor or Lussuria stay calm.
They had gotten one hour into the drive from the airport to Namimori when Xanxus grew silently irritable, as he did when in discomfort. When he paled drastically and started sweating like a pig in a slaughterhouse, Squalo veered the hire-car onto the grass verge and slammed the brakes. Their hopes that it was just car-sickness caused by his current weakened condition soon died as he began retching up murky brown slime into the bushes.
Between then and now was a panicked blur as they somehow got him to a motel and booked a room without alerting bystanders to his condition. Luss threw a wad of cash at Squalo, telling him to buy all the sports drinks and bottles of water he could, before heaving a half-conscious Xanxus into the ensuite bathroom.
The Rain Officer returned to find Bel muttering anxiously to himself in the corner and a pile of Xanxus' soiled clothing on the carpet. Lussuria opened the bathroom door, topless with hair and arms dripping with water, and wordlessly pulled Squalo inside. His breath caught in his throat.
His Sky was carefully laid in the shower against the wall, stark naked and unconscious underneath the stream of cold water. All colour was drained from his skin, save for a feverish flush to his face, his scar tissue red and sore-looking. A greenish discharge was weeping from his eyes and nose, crusting on his cheeks and more of the brown muck was seeping from under his hips and swirling down the drain.
"What's wrong?" Squalo snapped, fear settling in his gut.
"Instead of little by little like anyone else, his Wrath-natured Flames are purging the eight-year build-up of toxins, bacteria and other waste from his system all at once. By any means necessary." Lussuria summarised, chewing on his lower lip as he cracked open one of the bottles of sports drink. "It seems the vomiting has passed though. Now strip; get in there and support his upper body. I need an extra pair of hands and your Rain Flames for this."
He shucked off all his clothes save his boxers without protest, sliding into the cubicle and sitting down, pulling Xanxus into his lap as he did so. His skin was hot and clammy and trembled at his touch. "Voi, isn't there some drug for this?"
"Drugs are for treating something wrong with the body," Lussuria hissed as he rooted through his spatially-expanded first-aid bag. "There isn't anything wrong with him, this is a good thing. Giving him something will just make it longer, if not worse. All we can do is ride it out, keep him clean, hydrated and his temperature under control. Now see if you can wake him up!"
Shutting his mouth, Squalo, rest Xanxus' head in the crook of his shoulder. "Boss. Voi! Boss!" He said loudly, snapping his fingers and flaring his Flames urgently. A low moan was his answer, gummy eyes opening half-way as red irises swam aimlessly.
Lussuria thrust the carbonated sports drink at Squalo. "Get him to drink some, he needs the electrolytes or his blood sugar will drop and he'll dehydra- No,nonono, he's wheezing! Rain Flames, centre them on his ribs and diaphragm!"
Setting down the bottle, Squalo took a deep breath and focused his Will, easing the sheet of muscle and the ones over the rib-cage. He was duly rewarded with the sound of easier, if still heavy, breathing from Xanxus. Picking up the drinks bottle, he put it to his Sky's lips, after checking that he was semi-conscious once more. As Lussuria placed heated packs on certain muscle groups, Squalo trickled the brightly coloured drink between Xanxus' lips. After the first coughing gulp, and a sharp glance from Lussuria, the Rain remembered to massage the muscles in the throat to make swallowing easier.
Four hours later, the fever lifted and Squalo had gotten Xanxus to down two and a half bottles of liquid. The swordsman stifled a scream as his muscles protested the lack of movement. He surreptitiously flexed his legs as Lussuria leaned forward and took some of Xanxus' weight. As the Sun turned off the water and reached down with a washcloth to clean his bare hips, Xanxus stirred, and began to thrash in his half-awake state at the unfamiliar touch. Fortunately, he wasn't too out of it; sending thoughts of calm, safe and helping down their Guardian Bonds was enough to settle him. Squalo pitched in, grabbing his own cloth and wiping at the residue around Xanxus' eyes. It came away with little effort, but he took care not to get any water or scum in the eyes themselves.
Once done, Lussuria grabbed towels off of the rail, wrapping one around Xanxus waist and draping the other over his shoulders.
"Fuck!" Squalo groaned in pain as he tried to stand up, the cramp in his legs making him lose his balance.
"I can carry Boss by myself, dear. I'll come back for you in a minute." Indeed, Lussuria came back and helped Squalo to stand up and hobble into the bedroom. Belphegor was deep asleep next to Xanxus on the bed, despite the damp towels.
"How did he stay so calm?" Squalo wondered out loud.
"He didn't," Lussuria replied bluntly, tossing another towel at him to dry himself with. "I sedated him while you were out buying drinks."
"Sneaky," Squalo complimented, drying his hair. "Is Boss okay now or can we expect a relapse?"
"His eyes will probably be all scummy again in the morning," the Medical Officer yawned, flopping down on the bed. "Be weak and sore and have to be careful what he eats for a few days, but should otherwise be fine. Get some sleep now...'"
"S-shar-rk?" Xanxus croaked, waking Squalo. "E-eyes? Wha'?"
He flared his Flames against Xanxus' as he heaved himself up and fetched a damp washcloth from the bathroom, so that his Sky would be able to track him.
"S'okay Boss," he mumured gently, wiping the crust away. "You were really bad last night. Luss and I stayed up to look after you." Calloused fingers twined through his hair, Xanxus pulling him closer. "Wha' was 't?" He slurred.
"Apparently your Flames decided to purge your body of all the muck built up while you were on ice, all at once. Wasn't exactly pretty. Had to clean you up in the shower, that's why you're naked save for towels."
"S'rry."
"Not your fault," Squalo said firmly. "Even if it was, we would have done it anyway, shitty Boss."
"Plain, mild food in small portions, Boss-honey," Lussuria groaned sleepily, coming back to wakefulness. "Cramps that you had should be gone though, they were caused by toxins. Had to sedate Bel, should hate me when he wakes up. I'm going back to sleep...'" He was out the moment his head hit the pillow once more.
Squalo resisted the urge to cackle; weak as he was, Xanxus' usually blood-curdling glare looked more like an angry kitten's. He couldn't conceal the bubbling of mirth in his Flames though, not at this proximity, and Xanxus jerked on his hair.
"VOI! Boss! No steak for you, doctor's orders, voi! How do you like your rice? OW! Stoppit, voi!"
Blame Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer for this chapter.
When Artemis makes a deal with a fairy, he turns to leave because 'several centuries worth of alcohol poisoning leaving the body by any means necessary, is not a pretty sight.'