𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒌𝒂,𝑰𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝑿 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑶𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒔

☠︎︎Sickness☠︎︎Chrollo

1033 words                                                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you feeling okay, sweetheart?"

You shook your head out of your daze and looked up at the man next to you. You were trying so hard to keep you budding sickness in check, but you guess it wasn't good enough. Chrollo knew something was off.

The two of you were at lunch with the phantom troupe. He had told you about it a week before, saying that you had to be at your best. While it was posed as a friendly catchup meeting, your old team mates were high up in a their assigned tasks within Japan, and Chrollo was hoping to plant some seeds about other tasks that the troupe may need to account to. Subtlety, of course. Chrollo Lucilfer was nothing if not a master manipulator, you knew that first hand.

When you had started feeling sick the day before, you did everything to prevent it. You probably downed a whole bottles' worth of vitamin C and Zinc, but to no avail. The morning of the so called 'lunch date', you woke up in a cold sweat and could barely stumble out of bed. You took four tylenol to try and counteract the heat you knew to be a fever. You had to be there for him. You had to be perfect for him.

When he asked if you were alright, you simply smiled and nodded, not wanting to draw attention away from the pleasant conversations he was beginning to have with your friends.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Without warning, he moved a hand up to your forehead, drawing his eyebrows together in concern. God, you knew the whole perfect boyfriend spiel was an act, but couldn't help but lean into the touch. "You're burning up."

You started to protest, but Machi across from you added quickly, "If we need to meet up another day, we can do that. You're looking pretty bad Y/N."

"I'm sorry," Chrollo apologized, and you said a similar sentiment. "Thank you so much, I'll call you very soon. I'm going to get this one home."

He got up and shook the hands of his dear friends, before offering you his arm to grab a hold of. "C'mon, let's get you to bed." He said to you brightly, while still within earshot of the public.

After that, he went silent. You could tell he was pissed. It was silent the whole walk to the car, the whole way home. A part of you wanted to say something, but the apprehension from disappointing him and the roughness of your throat let the quiet thicken.

As soon as he closed the door of your shared apartment, he sighed loudly. "That was going so well," he said wistfully, still staring at the door. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick? I wouldn't have brought you."

"You needed me there," you countered, though you knew what you were going to say was barely a good excuse. "They aren't your friends, they're mine. They wouldn't be receptive to a man they barely know."

You saw him work his jaw before turning to you. "You need to go to bed. The sooner you recover, the sooner we can do that properly."

You didn't have the desire, or strength, to go against him. You padded off to your bedroom to collapse your aching limbs, hearing the sound of cabinets opening from the other room.

A few moments later, Chrollo walked in with a tray of medicine, tissues, and other resources. He set in on your bedside table before looking at you.

"Sit up," he ordered gently, and grabbed a glass of water.

When you propped yourself on your elbows, he cradled the back of your neck with one hand, while pressing the cup to your lips with the other. He stayed there until all the water was gone. You looked up at him as he set it back on the tray. He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, meeting your gaze. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, and you leaned into his warmth.

He reacted quickly, apparently not enjoying the openness in which you were receiving the affection, he removed his hand got up.

"I'm gonna go to work now. Text or call me if you need something," he said coldly, shutting the door behind him.

His main goal is for you to get better as quickly as possible. He needs you to be well so you can both continue to work towards greater things. He's attentive in the same way a nurse is, doing the tasks he needs to do for you quickly and efficiently before leaving off to do other things.

He keeps his distance from you as best he can manage. He has tasks to do after all, he doesn't have time to get sick! But, as mentioned, he's gonna take care of you until you're better. If you ask really nicely, he might stay in the bedroom with you and work. The sound of pages from a book flicking is a comforting background noise.

If he's reading or researching something interesting, and knows that you're bored out of your mind, he might come in and read to you. Granted, it's gonna be a few paragraphs of reading before he starts outwardly analyzing it and basically lecturing on it. But, hey, his voice is really pleasing to listen to, so you don't mind.
A touch more gentle than he usually is, it's barely noticeable, but it's definitely there. He's less abrasive at times, tending to you so you can get better. He says it's because he just needs you to get back to work, but the way he fixed the sheets and tucked you into bed begs otherwise.

He's Chrollo Lucilfer. Everything has a ulterior motive, and for the most part it's going to be getting you healthy so he can have an extra set of hands. But, he's still at least a little empathetic, he understands that you're in pain and you need his help. In some ways, you depending so heavily on him could feed into his ego, which might make him more loving.