(Author's note: When I wrote this, I was in pain myself and wished so much for someone giving me a similar treatment like Ornstein receives in this work.
Prompt 14 Aches and Pain. Requested by an anon on tumblr.)
When Ornstein woke up, he groaned. His whole body felt like it was on fire. His muscles screamed in agony and he felt like he wouldn't be able to turn his head without him getting sick.
He had fallen asleep in such an awkward position again. Upon closer inspection of his surroundings, he laid on the wooden bench in Smough's herbal garden. Sunlight filtered through the windows into the room, especially on that bench. That was why Ornstein had fallen asleep, he always fell asleep in a beam of sunlight. Smough found it to be very endearing, because it cemented his nickname for Ornstein, kitten, even more.
Smough wasn't present at the moment though. Ornstein pulled himself up, hissing as his shoulders complained about being moved and his back screamed in pain. Oh, he would never again fall asleep at this place, even though he knew that a week later it would happen again…
With his muscles so cramped, Ornstein more limped than walked through the cathedral, following the smell of something delicious, landing in the kitchen. Smough was stirring something at the stove and upon Ornstein entering, he turned around.
"Ah, you are awake, Ornstein. Oh dear…" Smough only had to take one glance at him to know what the problem was. "How bad does it hurt?"
"Very…", Ornstein said, limping over to the little corner seat the both of them always would take their meals in together, "Shoulders and neck are the worst… and lower back. In what kind of position did I fall asleep?"
"When I left, you still looked pretty normal. I would have carried you to bed, but when you fall asleep in a beam of sunlight you suddenly weigh three times more, kitten.", Smough said, stirring the pot again. "Let me finish this quickly, and when it has to simmer, let's go to our bedroom. I'll give you a massage."
"Ugh, I probably turned around in my sleep in a way that my neck got the brunt of it…", Ornstein murmured. His mood lightened though when Smough talked about giving him a massage. Smough's massages always helped to get rid of his pains.
"Alright, this should be ready shortly after I finish giving you a message.", Smough said, putting the lid on the pot, controlling the stove so that only a little heat would get out. Ornstein never knew how Smough did it. He always messed up the heat of the stoves. It probably was because he had a negative (and rather violent) reaction to fire.
Smough picked Ornstein up, making him hiss when his sore muscles complained, but he soon leaned into his chest, letting himself be carried to their shared bedroom. There, Smough put him down, pointing at the bed.
"Get rid of your clothes and lie down face down, arms to the side, relax your body."
Ornstein complied and laid down, murmuring: "It's not easy to relax when all your muscles scream in agony…"
"Ah, we are taking care of this right now, kitten.", Smough said. Ornstein could feel how his boyfriend climbed on the bed, kneeled over him, spreading his legs so that Ornstein would lie between them and coating his hands in something slick and wet… some kind of massage oil he would always use. Ornstein was sure he made it out of the herbs, it smelled far too good…
Once Smough's hands touched him, he yelped at first because of the coldness of the oil.
"You will get used to it soon, kitten.", Smough said and then started to knead Ornstein's shoulders. It made the dragon slayer hiss in pain, they were so stiff and they weren't happy being kneaded so brutally. A good massage always would hurt a lot, but Ornstein knew it would be so much better once Smough was finished.
"Tell me when it hurts too much, kitten.", Smough said, his hands wandering from Ornstein's shoulder to his lower back, stroking his sides with each touch. Ornstein had to giggle a bit, that always tickled. His legs started to twitch at the sensation, but Smough simply used his foot to lock them in place.
"No moving, kitten."
"Sorry.", Ornstein said, letting out a sharp gasp when Smough managed to hit the painful spot in his lower back.
"That is where it hurts?", Smough asked and Ornstein let out a small noise to confirm, letting himself droop on the mattress under Smough's care. Smough did work on that spot for a good while, kneading and massaging it, making Ornstein grumble and hiss a bit whenever he hit a particular bad spot.
Once Smough was done, he let his hands wander up again: "Your neck got the brunt of it, right?"
"Right…", Ornstein said, "I feel like I can't turn it without getting sick…"
"Let me see….", Smough's hands wandered over Ornstein's neck. Even these gentle touches were enough to make Ornstein stiffen up again. Smough's thumb caressed it and then he pushed it into a certain location, making Ornstein gasp in pain.
"The bone here feels unaligned. This will hurt for a short while, brace yourself…."
Ornstein knew the pain of getting an unaligned bone getting pushed back, especially because he had gotten hurt plenty of times in battle. He braced himself as Smough counted to three.
"And three.", along with the word, Smough pushed the bone back to where it belonged, making Ornstein let out a small scream in the process. He then started to gently knead the knots out of his neck and continued down to his shoulders and his lower backs, not stopping until Ornstein felt a lot less pain and a lot less stiff.
"Thank you so much, Smough.", Ornstein said, getting up and stretching himself, sighing when the worst of his pain was gone.
"You are welcome, kitten.", Smough said. "Now let's eat and then we can take a bath together."
"With pleasure.", Ornstein said, smiling. "And I will make sure to take care of you while we are at it…"
Smough grinned at Ornstein's implication. "I can't wait."
(Author's note: And that was the fifth prompt of the sicktember fics! I had a lot of fun writing my OTP again, I hope you enjoyed this one as well.)