Milo x Oz One-shots (Request's are always open)

♡ Reaping Concern ♡

Summary: Milo has been acting differently and Oz tries to figure out why.

Requested by: @Colorful_Idiot

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! We're officially halfway through Fluffuary and I wanted to do some sort of halfway checkpoint, so here you go:

Total Words Written: 20,230

Total Characters: 115,027

Total Pages: 51

Day #14: Spooning / Cuddling

Oz was getting quite concerned over his partner. It all started after Milo had to travel out of town for a business trip (aka, a shit ton of people died) and after they returned, it felt as though they were avoiding Oz.

Whenever Oz entered the same room as Milo, they would either stay silent on their phone and just not acknowledge him, or they would just retreat to another room in their apartment. It wasn't just with Oz though; Milo also hasn't posted on any of their socials since the trip, which is basically unheard of.

The fans were starting to panic along with Oz, they haven't had any updates on Milo's life in about two weeks and for all they know, Milo could've accidentally reaped their soul or something!

Oz decided to give Milo their space for a bit, hoping that being alone would raise their spirits, however, that wasn't the case at all. About three weeks in, Milo wasn't even getting out of bed and calling into work sick every day.

That's when Oz started to research what might be going on with Milo, originally searching for an illness, but their symptoms more lined up with depression rather than a disease. The fearling stayed up all night researching depression and how to help partners out when they're being effected.

The main things were to just listen to them, tell them you care, and check up on them; so that's what Oz was going to do. He made some of Milo's favorite soup and picked up their overly-complicated Starbucks order and headed into their bedroom with lunch in bed.

"Hey hun," Oz says while entering the room with the lunch. "I brought you some soup and Starbucks, are you feeling any better today?"

Milo looked up from their phone when Oz put the food he brought in on their nightstand and sat down on the edge of the bed. They notice that Oz made their favorite soup, which they couldn't help to slightly smile at.

"Uh no," Milo speaks up. "I still feel awful, I might've caught something when I was away that my immune system just isn't used to."

Oz looks at them with a bit of concern and Milo feels absolutely awful, they hated lying to their boyfriend, but weren't ready to tell the truth just yet. They haven't really talked to Oz since their trip, and whenever they did talk, Milo was lying the entire time. They're getting sick of this and just wish they never went on that trip.

"You know," Oz begins. "I'm here to help with whatever you need, right Milo?"

That question made the room go silent, ears being filled with tension rather than sounds. It might've been the way Oz called Milo by their name instead of some sappy nickname, it might've been the question itself, or it might've been the person saying it, but it made Milo's eyes water.

"My throat is feeling really coarse, I don't think I can have a full-on conversation right now darli-" Milo was interrupted by Oz shoving their Starbucks drink into their hands and whispering a small, "Just try, please?"

Again it went quiet and Milo felt even worse for lying to their boyfriend. Oz was clearly affected by the reaper's actions and they wish they could just go back in time and prevent this all from happening; not just for themself, but for Oz too.

"Oz..." Was all Milo could get out before a tear ran down their face, which Oz promptly wiped away before responding, "Milo..."

It was clear Milo wasn't ready to talk, at least not in the current state of this conversation, if you can even call it that. So, Oz decided to follow the advice of the lists he researched and speak up again.

"If you're not ready to talk then you don't have to, I just want to help you in whatever way I can. I've noticed that you're avoiding so many things and I want to know how I can help you, but if you're not ready for help yet, then I will stay by your side and wait." Oz said while tearing up halfway through his monologue. Milo sat up and pulled him into a hug, knowing physical touch always comforted Oz.

"Ozzie, I am so sorry I've made you feel th-" "Don't be sorry." Oz interrupted his partner before grabbing their hands and looking down at them.

"You're the one that's struggling Milo, don't be sorry for me, okay?"

Milo pulled Oz into another hug and the room went silent again, this time it was a good silence, with the two just basking in each other's presence.

"Okay," Milo speaks up and Oz slightly holds onto them tighter, worried they might pull away. The reaper smiles before returning to what they were saying. "On the business trip, I was sent to a battlefield and had to reap the souls of soldiers, kids, and families. I guess it was just a very grim place to be and I couldn't help but want to be anything else besides a grim reaper..."

Oz stayed quiet the entire time while Milo was talking, listening attentively to his partner as they continued.

"A-and when I returned back home, everything felt different. Whenever I saw someone, I couldn't help but imagine reaping their dead corpse, hence why I stopped leaving the house. Then eventually my thoughts started affecting you, despite your immortal status. So I started avoiding you, which ended in me staying in bed all day..." The reaper took a minute to breathe before continuing.

"All the things I used to enjoy are ruined. I can't post to my followers anymore because I feel like I'm lying to them. I couldn't talk to you because I was actually lying to you, and I can't care about myself because why should I?"

Oz started running his hand through Milo's hair in an effort to comfort them. The two stayed quiet after that, once again just enjoying each other's company after being separated for so long.

"I can list so many reasons why you should care about yourself Milo, don't let your brain tell you otherwise. I care about you so much and I'm so sorry you have to deal with your mind torturing you like this, if you'd like we can set up some therapy appointments or something..." Oz resites, jumbling out the random bullet points he read online in an effort to comfort his partner, which luckily succeeded.

"I want to try working out life myself before trying therapy, but yeah, thank you so much Oz," Milo says, slowly growing more and more tired, suddenly being hit with the exhaustion of expressing repressed emotions. Oz was feeling it too, and they both lay down under their sheets.

Milo was curled up while Oz draped his arm around their waist as if pulling them closer to his chest, which the reaper wasn't going to complain about. They both fell asleep to the smell of cold soup and the truth, and for the first time since the trip, Milo genuinely felt happy.