~ Written for a Tumblr request ~
The sky outside of the London flat wept crystalline tears, clouds of the bleakest grey painting the sky with their monochromatic desolation. Autumn was upon the bustling city, and with it came days of endless cold and rain. With the weather so damp and chilly, it came as no grand surprise to Sebastian that he fell ill on the fourth day of the new season, after venturing out into the downpour three days in a row for his shift at the bakery down the street. However, he was fairly certain his boyfriend wouldn't be very pleased with his current predicament when he got home… It was one thing to hide his sickness from him before he'd finished his first cup of tea in the morning, it was entirely different when Ciel was fully awake and aware of every slight difference in both his appearance and mood.
A rattled cough shattered the silence, muffled into Sebastian's elbow as he forced his weary limbs to cooperate with him. His arms moved to sluggishly push him into a less-reclined position on the couch, where he currently burrowed beneath a thick blanket. With great reluctance, he shifted to kick the crimson fleece to the far end of the sofa, fighting the shivers coursing through his feverish form. How it was possible to be both hot and cold at once, he was unsure, but he found that he didn't care much for the science of it anyways; not when he felt as if he were snugly sandwiched betwixt lava and snow in his own living room.
His muscles ached terribly, the sore spots seeming to pulse in time with his throbbing temples; it was a feeling he would almost compare to being repeatedly impaled by a hundred knives. Meanwhile, his stomach seemed to churn uncomfortably with even the slightest of movements, tender and queasy as he rubbed at his tired eyes. He had taken the day off due to his steadily deteriorating health, and yet, his fatigue was so profound that he felt as if he'd worked three shifts simultaneously.
The quiet 'click' of a lock turning rang out from the door behind him, announcing Ciel's arrival, and he hastily reached out to flick the nearby lamp on. He flinched as the warm light assaulted his pained eyes, his migraine seemingly spreading as he retrieved the hardback novel from the coffee table. He attempted to focus on the small print, but the words before him only blurred with every blink, the words entirely nonsensical as they failed to register in his malaised state. He strove for some sense of normality, to create a sight less concerning to his lover than coming home to find him sprawled on the couch, breaking out in a cold sweat. But the longer he stared and failed to read H.P. Lovecraft's eerie, yet elegantly written passages, the more he doubted that such a feat was even possible.
Ciel would see right through him, he always did. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't try his best to hide it for as long as possible to keep his boyfriend from worrying...
The front door swept open with a faint squeal, its aging hinges standing no chance against Ciel's eagerness to be inside where it was warm and free of the coffee scent that had plagued him for his entire shift at the local bookstore's coffee counter. Ciel's shoulders visibly relaxed as he stepped into their cozy apartment, shoulders visibly relaxing as the door shut behind him with a muted 'thud'. "Sebastian, I'm home," he called softly, oblivious to the thick tufts of midnight hair peeking over the back of the couch from where Sebastian slumped. The boy's azure apron was slung unceremoniously over the back of one of two chairs at their small kitchen table, his dark beanie and wool coat following swiftly after.
"Welcome home, love. Long day?" A raspy voice rang out from behind Ciel and he turned quickly, finally taking note of the man tucked into the corner of the couch with his legs crossed and a novel grasped loosely betwixt sable-nailed fingers. The golden halo projected by the sage lamp a few feet away was the only light seeping into the otherwise dark room, but faint as it was, it was still enough to illuminate Sebastian's tired features as Ciel neared where he lounged.
"You could say that. It seems everyone stopped by today just to escape the rain, there wasn't a lag in business all day…" Ciel grumbled, settling next to his boyfriend with a silent yawn. Without hesitation, he leaned into Sebastian's side the second his legs were curled upon the cushion beneath him, gazing up at him with a slight curl of the lips when he received an understanding hum. "What about you? Was the bakery terribly crowded today?"
"Business was scarce today, I'm afraid," Sebastian fibbed smoothly, unwilling to admit his absence at work, lest Ciel grow suspicious. Offering a small, somewhat-strained smile to the petite form that all but melted into his side, the taller man pressed himself closer into the armrest in what he hoped to be a subtle fashion. It would be wise to put some distance between them to decrease the chances of Ciel catching whatever illness currently clung to him like the sweltering heat on a hot summer day. Rather than coiling around the boy beside him as he would on any other day, Sebastian's hands remained atop the book he pretended to read. It was a small action, one that would surely never be questioned by anyone else in his life, but it was one that seemed to set off alarms within Ciel's mind.
The boy's smile quickly fell when warm arms didn't reach out to pull him closer, mismatched eyes of violet and cerulean narrowing ever so slightly as the little thing scrutinized him from head to toe.
It was then that Ciel noticed the unnatural heat exuded from his lover's increasingly pallid form, as well as the uncomfortable position he'd found himself perched in as he attempted to push himself further away. Sebastian's eyes were lined in dark circles and bloodshot as proof of his poor rest the night prior, his normally fair cheeks flushed a vibrant scarlet as the inky strands of hair falling elegantly across the bridge of his nose became plastered to his forehead by a fine sheen of sweat. His limbs trembled faintly, the vibration-reminiscent shivers noticeable only through a brush of his fingers across his lover's shoulder. With concern heavy in his gaze, the boy wordlessly sat-up straight, and pressed the back of his hand to Sebastian's forehead, tsking at the uncomfortable warmth radiating against his fingers. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"
"I'm fine, love. It's just a bit of a cold. I didn't want to make you worry," Sebastian assured, forcing a smile despite the sting in his throat that made itself known the second he spoke. Mismatched eyes bore into his own with concern, and fondness lit Sebastian's tired gaze as he raised a single hand, guiding Ciel's cool palm from his forehead to his left cheek. He stroked along the thin digits with reverently tender touches, the tense set of his shoulders relaxing as his boyfriend melted into his overheated touch. Now, if only that gesture would spare him his boyfriend's reproachful expression...
"A bit of a cold, Sebastian? You're burning up..." Ciel sighed, exasperation heavy in his tone as he slowly pulled away from the fingers ensconcing his own. With an outstretched hand to encourage Sebastian to follow him, the boy stood, raising a single brow at the man now gazing down at him sheepishly. "You should have told me that you weren't feeling well. I would have taken the day off work." Ciel chided in an uncharacteristically gentle tone, lightly tugging at Sebastian's wrist to guide him to their bedroom. "Lay down and I'll make you some soup. I'm assuming you didn't take any medicine?" Sebastian's silence spoke volumes, and the younger male could only shake his head in disbelief as he pulled a heavy, wool blanket from the closet. His boyfriend was clearly chilled, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably and his pallid skin bearing goosebumps despite its feverish burn.
On any other day, despite the hypocrisy, Ciel would scold his boyfriend for his refusal to take medicine for his fever at the very least, but the malaised expression and vibrant flush adorning his captivating features more than gave away just how miserable he was feeling. Combined with the drooping of ruby eyes, the sight alone was enough to make Ciel hold his tongue.
With little complaint aside from a defeated groan, Sebastian complied with his boyfriend's command, groggily climbing beneath the thick blankets lining their shared bed. The heavy weight of wool soon joined the rest of the coverings in providing him warmth, but before he could revel in the soothing shift in temperature, his damp hair was pushed from his face-swept aside to make way for the cool cloth now draped across his brow.
He cleared his aching throat with a wince, finally answering the question his lover already knew the answer to. "No, I didn't think it was necessary," he said slowly, eyes falling shut so that he wouldn't have to see the glare his words surely earned him. His headache was bad enough without adding insult to injury… "And you don't have to go to the trouble of cooking for me, love. I'm not particularly hungry right now. Besides, I don't want you to get sick from being around me too much. It takes you much longer to get over colds."
With a stubborn 'hmph', Ciel frowned and raised a single brow, as if daring Sebastian to try pushing him away when he sought to care for him. "Even if I do get sick, which I won't, it doesn't matter to me. You always help me when I'm ill and I refuse to not do the same for you."
Heaving a heavy sigh at his boyfriend's tendency to be hard-headed on even the best of days, Sebastian couldn't seem to hide the fond smile forming upon his lips. How sweet his boyfriend was, even if the boy would deny it to his final breath. "If you insist… Then just come sit with me for a while. We've both been rather busy this week and haven't had much time to relax."
"I will gladly do that, but you still have to eat something later," Ciel relented, steeling his sulking boyfriend with a lingering stare to make it known that he couldn't simply argue or flirt his way out of it.
When he received a reluctant nod, the boy relaxed a small fraction and leaned down to press a single kiss to Sebastian's hair. "Good. Now, stay there, I'll be back with your medicine." With a final brush of his hand to smooth out the plush blankets draped across his lover's chest, Ciel quickly made for the kitchen.
With every ounce of haste he could summon without shattering Sebastian's favourite cat mug in the process, Ciel set to work, heating water for the herbal tea he planned to prepare whilst pulling a box of tablets from the nearby medicine cabinet. It was rare that Sebastian fell ill, but when it did happen, it was troubling Though the illness was mild and of no great concern to the man, Ciel never knew the best way to get him back to full health as soon as possible. It was made far more difficult by Sebastian's reluctance to accept his help, as well as his refusal to admit that he was sick to begin with.
He would call Sebastian stubborn, but doing so would surely achieve nothing, aside from earning a mocking grin from the older man. After all, he had been scolded by his boyfriend countless times for overworking himself when he had a high fever…
A 'beep' from the alarm on his phone announced that Sebastian's chamomile tea was done steeping, and he quickly added a spoonful of honey before returning to the bedroom. Unsurprisingly, Sebastian was still awake, despite appearing more tired than ever before. Perhaps the hints of lavender in his tea would help him sleep off his sickness.
Careful not to spill any of the soothing drink, Ciel clambered onto the side of the bed he always occupied, offering the cup to Sebastian as he was given a small smile. He hummed in a pleased fashion when his lover accepted the medicine and tea, almost chuckling when Sebastian grimaced at the pill's sour coating. While he pitied him for having to taint his palate with such a foul flavour, he also vividly remembered the man's call of, "It's not so bad," when he himself had to take one of the pills for a bout of the flu a year prior…
Sebastian brought his mug to his lips with great urgency, his expression softening when the light and floral taste of tea washed away the medicine's awful flavour. "I won't thank you for making me take medicine, but I will thank you for the tea," Sebastian declared hoarsely, a teasing lilt in his tone as he all but melted into the pillow tucked against the headboard.
"And I won't apologize for it anymore than you apologized to me for the same thing last winter," Ciel countered, crossing his legs atop the blankets while his shoulder brushed against Sebastian's. "The steam from the tea should help if your nose is stuffed-up, and the honey will soothe your throat. Just try not to talk too much until it stops hurting, you'll make it worse."
"Sounds like someone just wants to shut me up," Sebastian chuckled, mirth still present when he met the younger man's unimpressed stare. "Oh, don't give me that. You know I'm just teasing you," he crooned, wrapping an arm around Ciel's waist. He muffled a cough into the crook of his free arm with a pained wince, face scrunching up when his cough caused his throat to burn once more.
"I'm all too aware of your poor sense of humor," Ciel droned, voice just a bit more fond than he would have liked given the tasteless joke. His left hand rubbed betwixt Sebastian's shoulders when he was silenced by his throat's protest, a frown forming on his lips as he pulled the blankets more taut. "We have plenty of time to talk once you're feeling better, love," he assured, "for now, just focus on getting some rest."
"Fine..." Sebastian muttered, growing silent in hopes that it would prevent him from coughing again. He sank further down into the bed until his head rested only a few inches above Ciel's chest, and easily gave into his lover's beckoning when he shifted to let him rest against his shoulder.
Sebastian nuzzled into Ciel's neck without resistance, allowing his eyes to fall shut when small fingers brushed through his sleep-matted hair. They swept stray strands away from his cheeks and massaged along his nape where his headache seemed to linger most, quickly easing him into a drowsy state. It seemed his boyfriend knew even the smallest gestures that relaxed him most… As Ciel continued to weave his fingers through his ebony locks, the boy's right arm curled around the front of his waist, stroking his side in calming motions.
Lost in the lulling touches, and the combination of Ciel's warmth and the coolness of the cloth on his forehead, Sebastian easily found himself drifting off - even more so when he heard the young man he rested against beginning to hum a quiet, yet unfamiliar melody. And as he fully relaxed, giving into the pull of fatigue, he heard a quiet whisper from above him just before he fell into slumber.
"Sleep well, love."