Summary: Seven short fics for the DenNor Christmas Week on Tumblr. Lukas is cold in this summer night.
Pairing(s): DenNor.
Warning(s): Nope.
Notes: Not beta-ed. Inspiration came from a night I spent suffering like Norway.
Denmark is Matthias
Norway is Lukas
Lukas shudders once more and covers his mouth with the back of his wrist, coughing. It's three a.m. and he's been dozing off and waking up constantly due to the severe pain in his throat, that makes it really hard to swallow- and now that he notices it's also getting a little difficult to breathe. His throat feels swollen, and it wasn't like this when he went to sleep five hours ago. He's no doctor and he doesn't understand health issues at all, so he doesn't know if this is normal but it doesn't feel like it. It was just a small discomfort last night, and now it feels like someone is practicing voodoo on him.
He can't silence a whine that escapes his dry lips, as he once again tries to swallow without dying. It's only half-working. And he's cold, so cold, even if they're at the middle of summer. Two nights ago the thin sheet and light bedspread were too much for him to handle during the night, but now he needs more blankets and he needs them now.
Matthias moves at his side, the rustling of sheets alerting Lukas. His boyfriend is so warm that he couldn't help to snuggle closer and closer to him, sliding his cold feet below Matthias' legs. But even with a source of heat, he's still cold.
Deciding that staying in bed won't help, he gets up and walks around the house aimlessly, not knowing what to do. A bath? A warm bath could help, he thinks. But he doesn't want to take a bath right now.
Ugh, his throat hurts.
Standing in the living room, he sighs. Whatever is happening to him, he wants it to end now.
Since he doesn't feel well enough to go back to bed, and he thinks it would be better to stay awake in case he feels so bad he needs to tell Matthias to take him to the hospital, he opts for staying on the couch and reading something until he feels better, or too sleepy to be alive. Bending his knees over the couch, he starts going over the pages of the novel he's been reading lately until he finds the place where he left it last night. He's more awake than he should be right after waking up, and it's strange but right now nothing is normal, so he doesn't think much of it. After shivering a couple of times, he stretches and takes the fabric that they use to cover the couch, putting it around himself like some kind of cocoon.
It's only when he hears careless footsteps that he unglues his eyes from the book, and he knows it's been a while since he left the bed, but he's still amazed to find out that it's already half-past five. Oh, it makes sense that he's feeling tired now. He looks up in time to see Matthias appear through the door, only in his black boxers and with his sweet eyes clouded by tiredness.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, voice rough like every time he wakes up after sleeping for a long time. He's still trying to adjust to the bright light, squinting. "I heard you groaning at night," it's like an affirmation, but Lukas can notice that his boyfriend isn't exactly sure and is waiting for confirmation, so he nods. Matthias blinks, not moving from his position under the doorframe, "Why?"
"My throat," the Norwegian speaks softly, hoping that Matthias' sleepy mind can remember what he said earlier about a sore throat. He forces himself to swallow once more, making a face. His throat doesn't feel much better than when he woke up. He kinda wants to rip it off.
A moment of silence makes Lukas think that Matthias isn't finding any logic in his words, but before he can muster up the will to speak again and explain, Matthias nods.
"If your throat hurts, you shouldn't be here with the window wide open. The air is cold," he states, walking towards him and closing the window. "Come back to bed," the Dane puts a heavy hand over his shoulder, voice sweet and soft as if trying to convince him to join him in bed.
"I stayed up because I didn't feel good, I wanted to stay awake in case I needed to go to the hospital," Lukas clears his throat after talking, trying to do it softly so it doesn't hurt.
Matthias, at his side, opens his eyes wide.
"What? Is it that bad? Why didn't you wake me up?" the Dane demands, clearly worried and only a word away from putting his pants on and carrying Lukas to the nearest hospital. And Lukas knows that, so he sighs and looks up at him, lifting his right hand to put it over Matthias'.
"I was going to, if I felt bad enough," he assures, voice void of emotion but eyes soft and grateful for Matthias' worry.
"You don't have to wait to feel 'bad enough' to wake me up!" he's frustrated, Lukas knows it, but he does what he does for a reason. He doesn't want to bother Matthias for every single thing, and he isn't so weak. He can handle a sore throat. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"Did I wake you up?" the Norwegian answers with another question, raising a thin eyebrow at the taller man.
"… no," Matthias responds, sounding defeated and reluctant to let Lukas win the discussion.
"Then there's your answer," he releases Matthias' hand and looks back at his book, silently stating that this conversation is over.
Matthias sighs. He can't fight Lukas' stubbornness. But he can do other things, like ignore it.
"Come on, we're going back to bed," and with that, he peels the couch fabric from around his boyfriend and scoops him up from the couch, turning around and walking in the direction of their bedroom. He loves being bigger than Lukas because he can easily pick him up like this when he's winning the discussion.
"Matthias, put me down," Lukas growls, fingertips pressing over Matthias' back and shoulder, where he placed his hands to hold onto him when the taller picked him up, "Now."
"Nope. You're coming with me," the Dane chants, not caring about Lukas' apparent discomfort. They've been dating for years, and he's long since gotten used to being picked up like this. At first Lukas would kick around and try to resist, but he gave up and started to silently enjoy it somewhere along the line, Matthias knows.
It's not like Lukas really minds going back to bed with Matthias, so he doesn't complain more until he's placed over the mattress, taking the opportunity to flick the man's forehead.
"Ow!" Matthias overdramatically exclaims, holding his forehead and looking at him while pouting, "Why was that?"
"For carrying me. I can walk," even if he secretly likes being held like that, he has an image to maintain.
"You didn't need to do that," Matthias remarks, hand still over the attacked spot and lips still twisted in an amusing pout.
"And how can someone train a dog if it's not by 'prize and punishment'?" for a moment Lukas forgets the pain and a malicious smirk shows in his lips as he speaks; he doesn't even try to hide it. He loves teasing Matthias by saying he resembles a dog. He always considered him the human representation of an overgrown golden retriever puppy.
"Dog!?" Matthias makes a show of looking deeply offended, even if this isn't the first time Lukas calls him that, "I'll let it slide because you're sick. But you're gonna pay me when you feel better," he swears, making Lukas smile a little. Walking around the bed, Matthias crawls over his side and watches as Lukas gets under the blankets and proceeds to cover himself up to the chin. He frowns, half concerned and half confused, "Aren't you hot? We're in the middle of summer," he whispers, stretching his arm toward the younger.
"I'm cold," the Norwegian states, closing his eyes as Matthias' big hand takes place over his forehead, "I don't think I have a fever."
The hand goes back to its original position over the mattress, caressing Lukas' cheek in the process and leaving him with a cool sensation on his forehead that lasts only a second.
"No, you don't. But it's strange," with that, Matthias gets up with a huff and walks to the wardrobe, opening the door where they keep the extra blankets. He comes back with a woolen cover and places it over Lukas' frame, making sure he's tucked in and warm. "Better?"
Lukas, not losing any of his boyfriend's movements, nods.
"Good," he smiles, leaning down to softly press his lips against the younger one's forehead, "Wait, I'll go make you some honey and lemon tea. It'll make you feel better," and then he turns around and walks out of the room, under the ever watchful eyes of the Norwegian.
Lukas sighs, shifting under the blankets and closing his eyes. His head is spinning and he feels like throwing up for some reason, but he ignores it and instead concentrates on the sounds coming from the kitchen. It's soothing in some way, even if Matthias is being a little noisy because he's tired. He likes how he's willing to get up at half-past five in the morning just to make him some tea for his sore throat. It's good to have someone to rely on when you're not fully functional, Lukas decides as he hears the blonde's footsteps coming into the room, and he sits up to grab the cup of tea he's being offered. He's grateful to have this man in his life.
As he starts drinking in small sips -the tea tastes awful-, Matthias sits down beside him and puts the woolen cover over his shoulders. Lukas looks at him from the side of his eye, but doesn't say anything. They sit in silence as he slowly empties the cup, with Matthias rubbing his back all along.
"Did it help?"
Matthias sounds eager to hear the answer, but also a little worried that it didn't work, and because of Lukas' health.
"Yeah," Lukas feels his throat softer, it's not perfect but he doesn't suffer so much anymore when he has to swallow.
"So…"
"So, we're going back to sleep."
"No hospital?" Matthias has to make sure.
"No hospital," Lukas confirms, and puts a hand over Matthias' cheek to hold him in place as he stretches enough to place a kiss on his other cheek.
"Good," Matthias smiles, hugging Lukas by the waist and pulling him closer to kiss him on the forehead once more. Taking the cup from Lukas' hands, he places it over his nightstand, "But wake me up if anything happens."
Lukas laughs a small laugh, letting his head fall on Matthias' shoulder in the same way a cat bumps its human to show affection.
"Yeah, I will," he whispers, laying down and turning around until he finds a comfortable spot, conveniently right beside Matthias. He can hear the Dane laughing softly as he lies at his side, turning off the lights and hugging him.
Maybe it's the fatigue, maybe the woolen blanket or the tea, but every trace of coldness has left Lukas' body. No more goosebumps, and certainly no more constant pain. Maybe all he needed to feel better was those strong arms holding him close, that firm chest to lay against, that rhythmic heartbeat lulling him to sleep. That warmth that is Matthias, always constant and always there to calm him even in the coldest nights.
Seventh Prompt: Done!
Wait, what?
I know, I know, I forgot a prompt, right?. To be honest, I had this one idea that I couldn't take out of my head, and I wanted to write it for the 'Fairy' prompt, but I haven't been able to finish it and I've had this one sitting in my folder for too long. So I'm uploading this prompt and marking this as complete. If I (someday) finish the other, I'll publish it. Even if it's in a year. But for now, this is it :(
I hope you enjoyed the DenNor week! (let's all ignore the fact that this is super late).
Kirin off~