(Author's note: Welcome to the prompt that I misread. It was "Intense Coddling" and I totally misread it as "Intense Cuddling". But... I like the story I wrote too much, so that is what you get.
This prompt was requested by scrawnytreedemon from tumblr and they said the pairing is up to me, so Smoughstein you get ^^)
"You have a fever, Ornstein.", Smough said shortly after they both had woken up. Or more, Smough had woken up, Ornstein had been awake for a while, hoping that the budding illness inside of him wouldn't take root. To no avail.
"I know…", Ornstein murmured, "It has been some time since I last got sick."
"And that means that you will stay in bed today and I am taking care of you for the whole day.", Smough purred, giving Ornstein a squeeze, "And my first activity of the day to make you feel better will be cooking breakfast."
"I am looking forward to it.", Ornstein murmured, getting tucked in by Smough once the executioner left the bed. Ornstein had to admit, despite his fever, he was freezing. He had a sore throat and a stuffy nose as well. It surely was a little cold that got him down.
As Smough left the room, Ornstein wondered if Smough had ever gotten sick since they had started their relationship. It was always Ornstein who got sick. Ornstein supposed that both Smough's giant blood and him having lived near a swamp were the reason for his sturdiness. If Smough ever would get sick, Ornstein would do his best to take care of him, though he probably shouldn't cook for Smough, he didn't need to make his boyfriend even sicker…
As tempting as it was to stay in bed until Smough returned with the breakfast, after a full night's sleep Ornstein unfortunately was in need of the privy. He wasn't too keen on walking there, the bed was so much more nice and comfortable, but his body wouldn't leave him with a choice.
Ornstein slowly pulled himself up and peeled the blanket off him, regretting it the moment it was off. He started shivering violently and he decided to just take the blanket with him, nobody wandered the halls anymore anyway and he rather was comfortable than proud. With the blanket tucked around him, Ornstein put his feet in some slippers and was on his way.
Ornstein crossed the kitchen on his way to the privy and stopped shortly to look at Smough cooking. He loved watching his boyfriend cook. However, Smough would carry him back to bed when he spotted Ornstein, so Ornstein continued his way. Unfortunately he couldn't take the blanket into the privy with him and had to face the cold of the morning without protection.
Needless to say, Ornstein's violent shivering was back once he was done. He tucked himself in the blanket right away, but it didn't warm him up again. Just when had Anor Londo gotten so cold? It wouldn't surprise Ornstein if he would see snow or frost outside, but when he glimpsed out of the window, all he saw was the eternal twilight that Anor Londo had been basked in for the last several decades.
Finally Ornstein made it back into bed. He slipped out of the slippers and cuddled himself not only in his blanket, but also Smough's blanket. His shivering didn't want to stop. Ornstein decided to go one step farther and he unbraided his hair so that it would fall down over his neck and shoulders. Ornstein's hair was incredibly long, almost falling down to the ground when it was loose (and Ornstein wasn't a small man), but even though it was thick and soft, it didn't help a lot with warming Ornstein up.
It was like the cold would come from within Ornstein. Or maybe he had leeched warmth from someone else. Thinking about it, Ornstein had started to freeze once Smough had stopped cuddling him. They always would cuddle for the whole night.
Ornstein considered moving to the kitchen to hug Smough from behind, to get his warmth back, but that would require that he moved out of bed again and the first time had ended up cold enough for him. Besides, Smough would just carry him back to bed and Ornstein wouldn't even win anything on this trip.
It was best to wait. Smough would come back with breakfast eventually and then Ornstein would not let him go anymore.
(Not literally of course. Ornstein would let Smough go if he really needed to go somewhere else or to get more food, but Ornstein planned to keep Smough as close to him as possible until he was warmed up.)
"Kitten, the soup is almost ready.", Smough entered the room, gaze on Ornstein who was currently buried by two blankets, "Oh, it looks like you are rather cold. The soup will warm my kitten right up and I should get some tea as well…"
"Smough, please…", Ornstein muttered, a pleading look in his face, which made Smough hesitate to leave the room. Once Ornstein shedded enough of the blankets to extend his arms at him, a shudder going through him, Smough understood and came nearer. He sat down next to Ornstein, the bed creaking under his weight.
In an instant, Ornstein had buried his face into Smough's big, warm and soft chest. Smough laid his arms around Ornstein and pressed him against his chest.
"There there, Kitten.", Smough murmured, "You are cold, right? You don't have to worry, I am here. You can leech all the warmth of me that you want."
These words were so incredibly comforting to Ornstein. He was so used to having to pose as the knight, as the hero, the stoic one who couldn't show weakness, that he always would retreat when he felt unwell and not even show his closest friends his weakness, always putting on a brave face for them. Only with Smough could Ornstein let himself relax, let himself feel weak. Smough never judged him. Smough understood. He knew that Ornstein just needed bodily contact to feel better.
They stayed like this for a good while. Ornstein slowly noticed how the shivering of his body ceased. He could feel how the warmth of Smough's body was absorbed by his own body. Smough didn't complain at all, instead, he just kept cuddling Ornstein, whispering sweet nothings in his ear.
Eventually, Smough had to break the hug. "I could do this the whole day.", he said, "But your soup will burn if I don't return to the stove. Don't worry, I will coddle you the whole day. And I will start with feeding you the soup."
"Ah, sorry.", Ornstein said, sinking back into the pillows, now feeling a lot warmer, "I am looking forward to your soup."
Smough smiled at Ornstein and then disappeared towards the kitchen. Ornstein tucked himself back into the blankets, looking forward to the day. Even though he was feeling a little sick, Smough would do his best to make him feel better in no time. He always did.
Ornstein loved him more than anything else in the world.
(Authors' note: It was so nice to write Smoughstein again and I am so sorry that I misread the prompt, but well, cuddling and coddling aren't that different in my book. Both are smothering someone ^^
The next fic will be posted on the 10th and it will be for a fandom that I never wrote before. Are you excited to see which it is?)