Summary: Cisco wakes up with a cold on Thanksgiving morning. Thankfully he's got a doting boyfriend to take care of him.
(For Hartmonfest June 24 - Parade)
Sick For the Holiday
"Cisco, bae," Hartley pressed a light, lingering kiss to his boyfriend's forehead. "You've got a fever."
"I don't feel that bad," Cisco insisted, his voice nasal and his throat sore. "I don't wanna ruin Thanksgiving."
"You're not ruining Thanksgiving. We'll have a nice lie in on the couch this morning when the parade starts and I'll make a pot of chicken and dumplings for dinner. Sound good?" Hartley grinned when Cisco licked his lips. "I'll take that as a yes."
"You make really good chicken and dummlings... dumpelings." Cisco frowned. Snuffled. "Dumplings."
"Go get the blankets set up. I'll make some tea and let the others know we won't be coming, okay?" Hartley waited for Cisco to nod his head despondently before heading back into their bedroom to fetch his phone.
He took a moment to scroll through his contact list, then called Caitlin first.
"Hey Hartley," Caitlin greeted. "Everything okay?"
"Cisco's got what's probably a cold. Mild fever, sinuses all stuffed up, and a sore throat. We're not going to make it to Thanksgiving dinner tonight." He headed towards the bedroom to find the cold and flu medicine as he talked to her.
"Need me to come by with anything?" She sounded worried.
"No, I think we're good for now." Hartley beamed at the sight of the Tylenol he was looking for. "He's more listless than anything. We're just going to have tea and maybe some toast while we watch the parade this morning. If he gets worse, I'll let you know. But otherwise, I'll probably try to get him to sleep most of the afternoon away."
"Tell him hi for me," Caitlin said. And then her voice took on an icy cast. "And me."
"I will. He'll know you're both thinking of him," Hartley said, a little amused that Frost was speaking up over this. She was rapidly developing a soft sport for all of them, for all that she was loathe to admit it.
The call came to an end and Hartley called Joe next, then Iris, which took care of Barry too. Ralph got a text just because the man didn't know how to shut up on a phone call.
By then Hartley had migrated back to the kitchen to put on the electric kettle. Some bread went into the toaster and then he wandered over to the couch to check on Cisco. He was buried under blankets and had the tv on, sound low with the captions turned on. Hartley settled on the arm rest for now, watching the pre-parade chatter without really bothering to process what they were talking about. "How's toast sound?"
"Cinnamon toast?" Cisco asked hopefully.
"Cinnamon toast," Hartley confirmed with a grin, ruffling Cisco's hair. "And some vanilla chamomile tea."
"Yum..." Cisco sighed, reaching up to catch Hartley's fingers with his own. "You called the others?"
"Yeah. Caitlin and Frost send their love. Everyone hopes you'll feel better soon. Joe offered to set aside some leftovers to send over tomorrow. Which I took him up on. We'll still get to have his amazing smoked turkey after all." The toast popped up and Hartley was back on his feet, letting Cisco's fingers slide away. He came back over first with the tea, making Cisco sit back up in order to drink it and take the Tylenol cold meds with it. Then Hartley returned again with the toast, sliding an arm around Cisco's shoulders.
Cisco nibbled on the toast and sipped his tea and leaned heavily against Hartley as, on tv, the parade finally began. "Are you sure I'm not ruining Thanksgiving?"
"I'm here watching the parade with you, Cisco," Hartley said, bussing a kiss against Cisco's temple. "I love you. Any time I'm with you is time well spent."
A smile curved along Cisco's lips. "Sap. I love you too, mi alma."
Once the parade actually began, Cisco turned up the volume a bit more, though they left the captions running. The sound of Cisco's breathing eased as they listened to marching bands and singers on sponsored floats and Broadway stars performing the biggest number from their latest show. Good to know the medication was kicking in. Midway through the parade, Hartley pressed another kiss to Cisco's forehead, checking to see if he still felt a little clammy and feverish. Still a bit clammy, but the fever had cooled already. Cisco would probably feel better tomorrow
"Pass inspection?" Cisco teased, voice sounding sleepy.
"Fever's down," Hartley agreed.
"I think I'm going to nap some," Cisco said, curling back up into the blankets and resting his head on Hartley's lap. "Wake me up for lunch?"
"Sleep well." Hartley turned the volume down again. He could hear well enough from other people's tvs in the apartment building for the music and the captions on the screen gave him everything else. And Cisco snoozing on the couch with Hartley gave him some quite welcome comfort.
Notes: This was supposed to be more about them watching the parade together, but then the parade sort of turned into a background thing.