Renji could hear Ichigo screwing around in the hallway, and after poking his head down there, saw that he was rifling through his linen closet. Ichigo sniffed and told him he'd put a futon out for him and that he could unpack whenever he wanted.
He pulled out a rolled up bedmat, then promptly dropped it on the floor as he began coughing. Renji wondered if Ichigo had gotten worse over the course of the night or if he'd been like this all along and he'd just been too blind to notice. In any case, he definitely noticed now, Ichigo was sick as a dog. His poor sweet face was pale and clammy, and his body racked and shuddered as he coughed.
"Lay down or I'll beat you up!" Renji hollered in alarm, and glared at Ichigo until he was sure that he really was going to go that time.
He went around the kitchen island towards the sink, setting the dishes inside it, and then put away all the salvageable food, figuring they could still eat it tomorrow if Ichigo felt better.
Suddenly aware that he was alone in the dark and the quiet of someone else's home, Renji leaned against the counter for a second with a thoughtful huff of breath and thought about that sneeze thing again.
'Right when I was thinking about him... It's just weird... Wait a second... '
Feeling as though he were being watched, he narrowed his eyes and turned.
He managed not to jump when he saw Ichigo's cat looking at him, crouched on the arm of the sofa. Even though the counter island was between them, not to mention a great deal of open space, Renji reeled back a bit, staring at it uneasily. Now that he was looking at it more closely, he couldn't help but realize that it was really big – not fat, like large.
It was one of those Savannah cats, or maybe a Bengal, Renji's not in the know on cat breeds. The point was, it was one of those cats that was supposed to be four generations away from a wild cat, and this one looked like it was actually only three away. Just looking at it, he got the sense that it was vicious somehow, and only half-tamed.
As if able to sense what he was thinking, the cat suddenly leapt towards him, somehow making the span from the couch to the countertop. Renji startled, snapping back away from it. "Yipe!"
He watched the cat for a moment, having fallen back against the sink, his heart pounding as he stared at the gigantic thing. It licked a paw and then hunkered down, seeming to glare at him. Renji glared back stubbornly, sticking his lip out at it. "I'm bigger than you," he told it, feeling rather foolish as soon as he had. It licked its impressive chops, and Renji edged away from it, continuing to watch it suspiciously as he cleaned up the rest of their stuff.
Once he finished, he stood and stared at it for a few seconds, then slowly reached for his bag and headed down the hall with it. He rapped on Ichigo's half-open bedroom door with his knuckle and then entered when Ichigo called 'come in.' Warily glancing behind him at the monstrous cat sauntering after him, Renji couldn't help but feel like it was hunting him. Ichigo might be a prime candidate for 'Renji's favorite person,' but that didn't mean Renji wouldn't kick his pet in the face if it tried to get him – that animal was fucking huge, and was looking at him like a fresh carcass. . . Not that he's scared of it or anything though.
Renji tossed his bag down and then slumped to the floor near the side of Ichigo's low-rise bed, glad to see that Ichigo – the stubborn ass – had gotten under the covers, his head propped up on his pillows.
"You feel better?" Renji wondered, twisting at the waist and leaning an arm on the bed by Ichigo's legs.
Pointedly not thinking about how cute Ichigo's nose looked flushed pink like that, or that he was snuggled in like a bug in a rug, or that he was in Ichigo's bedroom – admittedly, as he had been many times before – Renji instead cleared his throat and scratched at the back of his neck.
"Mm." Ichigo seemed wide awake, eyes bright, his brow softened, giving Renji a rare open expression. "Sorta'." He rubbed his pink nose a bit and sniffed. Renji still didn't want to accept that Ichigo really was getting sick and that this wasn't going to go away in the morning. They were going to be alone together this week and Ichigo would need care. Renji didn't know what he was going to do if it turned out it was up to him to take care of him.
"By the way, how bad is your fever?" Renji asked, face creased with a frown as he wondered hopelessly where he was going to find the strength to get through the week without giving anything away.
Ichigo hummed, blankets pulled up onto his chest under his arms. He squirmed his shoulders awkwardly against his pillows, which Renji recognized was an attempt at a shrug after a few moments. "I haven't taken my temperature."
"W-" he sputtered, "Take it already! What kind of idiot-?!"
"Hey, it only came on just now!" Ichigo protested, then winced a bit, closing his eyes and wriggling down under the covers further. He sighed. "I'll do it tomorrow if it's not gone," he mumbled begrudgingly.
"Tomorrow?!" Renji glared at him. "Dude, quit being a loser!"
"Stop," Ichigo complained when Renji put his arm on the bed and reached a hand out to feel his cheek. Ichigo blocked him effectively, and then when Renji realized he was trying to touch Ichigo's face, he stopped.
'Boundaries, Abarai, god damn.'
Ichigo pushed his frozen hand away. "I don't wanna' do it right now, okay? Lay off," he tried, his voice losing its energy near the end and becoming almost a whisper.
'Shit, he looks bad. Well, not bad, but- whatever.' Renji frowned, straightening up. "You wanna' just stay there?" He rose onto his knees, making to get up. "Tell me where it is an' I'll get it."
Ichigo shook his head and coughed. "I don't need-"
"If you don't tell me, I'll look on my own," Renji insisted stubbornly, standing and folding his arms. Ichigo gave him an exasperated glare, then rolled his eyes back with a tired sigh.
"It's in the bathroom cabinet," he said, then put up some more token resistance, protesting rather feebly, "I probably don't even have a fever though, so-" but Renji ignored him and walked out of the room.
He found his way into the bathroom and turned the light on, checking under the sink and then opening the mirror. He tried not to look at Ichigo's comb, his nailclippers, various medicines, and bandages, feeling as though he were intruding, but of course it was impossible not to look at anything when searching for something, and seeing Ichigo's personal items put that familiar warm and achy feeling in his chest.
'His toothbrush is pink,' Renji noted, practically caving in on himself, then shut the cabinet hastily.
He checked under the sink again, moving toilet paper and a bottle of Drano, and was pleased to find a first-aid kit. Pulling it out onto the floor with him, he opened the lid and rifled through it, taking things out carefully, as it was packed several layers deep. Eventually he did find this weird-looking thing that he assumed was the thermometer. It had what looked like the right buttons, but attached to the handle was this weird pod-shaped thing that looked like a cross between a TV-satellite dish and an egg.
He stood and brought it back with him, trying not to look uncertain about whether it actually was a thermometer or not, because if it wasn't, Ichigo would never let him hear the end of it, the little shit. Renji figured it was a thermometer, just not the kind that went inside, otherwise...
He cleared his throat sharply – otherwise he didn't know what the fuck else it could be.
Renji crouched by Ichigo's bedside, holding the instrument out on flat hands, looking down at it and then up to Ichigo's face. Ichigo's expression was its usual mellow tone, and was completely unreassuring. "This is the thermometer," Renji said, "… right?"
Ichigo tried to clear his throat, sinking further into the bed, more lying down than sitting up at this point. He was looking worse and worse. He was sneezing less now that he was in bed, but his voice sounded raspy and strained, and his cheeks were pale. Renji was actually starting to worry a bit.
"Yeah," Ichigo confirmed, and Renji acted as though he'd known it all along. "Give it here and I'll do it." Ichigo reached out to take it, but Renji pulled it away, examining it.
"Just relax," he hummed, turning it over and looking at the pod part, which he assumed went up to Ichigo's ear… somehow. Gripping it and twisting it around, he was surprised when a cap popped off of it, and suddenly it made way more sense, as there was a sort of blunt cone-shaped tip that obviously was meant to go inside an ear. "An' I'll just…"
Ichigo gave him a skeptical look, eyes narrowed. "Do you know how to use that thing?"
"Chill!" Renji shouted hotly, "I do!" He put a hand to Ichigo's chest for a moment to push him back. "Lay down now," he insisted, and although Ichigo continued to scrutinize him with a grimace, he conceded to slide further down beneath the blankets, lying on his back.
Renji was immensely pleased when Ichigo gave him one last look and then trustingly eased his head to the side to turn his ear towards Renji, baring his neck and the underside of his jaw. With an anticipatory breath, he carefully moved his hand forward and tried to put it in, but Ichigo jolted away and peeked an eye at him, lifting an arm to hold his hand back.
"Put on a new cover," he said.
Renji glanced down at the thermometer case and fiddled with it, eventually figuring out how to pop out the bottom where a stack of little plastic lids were stored, probably used to keep it clean of earwax. He pulled one of the shells apart and rested it on the tip of the thermometer, then wiggled it carefully into Ichigo's ear and used it. Ichigo closed his eyes and lay still, letting Renji rest his wrist against his cheek.
Renji held the thermometer there for a second and then took it out and checked the screen. Ichigo opened his eyes and frowned. "It has to stay in for a while," he said. "It'll beep."
"I know." Renji scowled. "I was just testing it."
Ichigo rolled his eyes and huffed, but turned his head to the side to let Renji put it back in. He let his eyes drift closed for a time and then back open halfway, seeming rather dazed. Renji was probably mistaken, but it looked like his cheeks were flushing, a bit more so each time he wiggled the thermometer on accident.
"So…" Renji tried, to pass the time, "I didn't know you had a cat?" He glanced over behind him, and sure enough, the cat was still watching him from the doorway, the tip of its tail flicking from side to side.
"There's two."
"Hm?" Renji blinked, half-thinking he might've misheard Ichigo's quiet mumbling. He almost thought this ear thing was lulling Ichigo to sleep.
Ichigo pointed vaguely, and Renji glanced over his shoulder, then did a double-take when he realized there was another cat sitting on the dresser right next to him looking right at him, and he jumped. "Oh geez!"
"Ow!" Ichigo yelped as Renji jabbed him in the ear. Renji promptly dropped the thermometer to keep from hurting him worse.
"Shit, sorry! Oh wow - are you okay?" Shit, he hadn't blown out Ichigo's eardrum, had he?
Ichigo winced and rubbed his ear with his palm. "Holy crap,," he hissed. "I'm too young for hearing damage, Renji."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Renji apologized meekly, but Ichigo just sighed and gave him a wry twist of his lip.
"Just give it here, you big idiot."
Ichigo lay in bed miserably and held the thermometer to his own ear. Renji frowned sheepishly. Ichigo really didn't look too good. His neck was becoming shiny with sweat and the tips of his bangs were starting to stick to his forehead just a little.
Renji huddled closer to the head of the bed near Ichigo when his cat-beast that had been lurking in the hallway loped in and jumped onto the bed, walking around on top of Ichigo for a while, seeming to be investigating. At least, that's what Renji thought until it began scratching at the blanket and picking it up with its claws and occasionally flashing its teeth at him.
Renji sat back and glared. This damn animal… 'Ichigo doesn't belong to only you!'
"Hey, hey…" Ichigo made a few noises with his tongue and pet the fluffed hair on the cat's back, smoothing it down. Sufficiently distracted, the cat turned its attention away from Renji and wound itself against Ichigo's free arm. Pacified for the moment, it settled near Ichigo's face, but eyed Renji – smugly, he thought.
Renji grit his teeth and scowled at it with a vicious jealousy. 'Fucking brat…'
Ichigo held the thermometer carefully, using his other hand to reach up and pet his cat with one finger. He didn't meet Renji's eyes. "Sorry," he said almost sadly, "they're not that friendly."
Renji generally liked animals, so he tried to stop scowling, seeing that not getting along with Ichigo's pets was upsetting him. "It's not you," Ichigo explained with a sigh. "Even for me, they're not always…" He cleared his throat, looking away. "They weren't likely to be adopted," he said lowly, and Renji's frown softened.
"They were for the chop, huh?" he surmised, endlessly enamored by the warmth of Ichigo's heart.
"Mm." Ichigo still didn't look at him, eyes lowered. He turned to his cat a bit and pulled gently on the end of its tail when it flicked against his nose one too many times.
"They're… interesting," Renji conceded. Ichigo gave him a glance, watching as he reached out a finger towards the Bengal. He made it about halfway before he was wildly hissed at and swatted with clear intent to scratch.
Renji snorted amusedly. "You're not so tough, are you." It puffed its fur up and hissed more, snapping at Renji's hand.
Ichigo shrugged his shoulder then to jostle his cat. "Ah, get out, Grimm, go," he scolded. He pushed the cat away from him, prodding its legs. "Go, get out, meanie." It stared at him almost confusedly, and Renji gave it a triumphant smirk.
'Hah, see?! He likes me better!'
"Go," Ichigo insisted, prodding it off the bed with his foot, and it finally hopped down. As Renji looked at it, it stalked away sulkily. Ichigo shook his head after it with a sigh.
Renji snickered lightly, and Ichigo conceded to smile hesitantly. "Mine are the problem kids," he mumbled.
"Takes one ta' know one."
Ichigo raised his eyebrows at him and scoffed. "Pff'."
They laughed together for a moment, and Renji only shot a half-wary look towards the other cat, which was huddled in the darkness next to a stack of books, still watching them both with luminous green eyes.
Ichigo snorted heavily, and Renji turned back to see him shaking with laughter. "Hey," Renji complained halfheartedly, grinning in spite of himself at the sight of Ichigo smiling. For a moment, their eyes met, and Ichigo continued to smile at him, although it softened considerably.
Renji's laughter died away, his smile fading after a second or two of silence. He knew the color of Ichigo's eyes by heart: brown, warm and dark around the edges, but almost golden in the center – big and bright and burning into his soul. He knew them by heart and still, just looking at them melted him completely.
He licked his lips helplessly, and then, out of nervousness, was the first to blink, managing to look away and clear his throat in discomfort. Ichigo seemed to be about to say something, but then the thermometer beeped, and whatever weird moment had happened or almost happened between them passed.
It seemed like things always happened that way. If ever he was too obvious, Ichigo either ignored it, or Renji somehow evaded the inevitable confrontation. He just wondered when that luck would run out and he would have to face what Ichigo might say.