Days Go By | lavashipping

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Cole woke up to a faint smell of butter and soft tapping on the window. Also a headache and a bitchy throat. He lay in bed, scowling at the ceiling, for a good while, hoping like a fool his body would stop complaining any second, then begging the mighty skies to make Kai leave his own flat for whatever reason, then contemplating the easiest way to disappear from the face of earth.

Neither of those intense thoughts led anywhere, despite him asking really nicely. He would have to get out at some point, either to go find another dimension to hide in until whatever this was to wash over or to call in sick.

In the end, his bladder chased him out of bed, to his bones' dismay.

He took his sweet time brushing his teeth, washing his face, as if that would help his eyelids gain some strength. He rather avoided looking at himself in the mirror.

There could be a chance Kai would spare him out of sympathy.

Who was he kidding.

Kai was so going to bask in his triumph.

He should be a man and not feel this amount of shame about coming to them with a tail between his legs, asking for the medicine they refused to use. But every cell in his body ached, did it have to be today?

"What's wrong?" Kai blinked up at him, mittens on, oven open and spewing heat. "Do you hate butter biscuits that much?"

Sighing, he jumped into the grave. "Have you thrown out the pills yet?"

He could see the dots connect in Kai's eyes. And worse – he could see the mischievous glint ignite like forest fire. Smirk in its rightful place, oven closed, mittens tossed aside, Kai dusted off their hands and leaned against the counter.

"Please spare me this—"

"You know, that reminds me, I wanted to tell you something, I just can't remember what exactly it was right now." He tapped his temple, eyes shut to elevate the performance. "Maybe if you could remind me...?"

"Do you not have a heart?"

"I think it was like four words-ish..."

"Nevermind, I think it was a false alarm. Forget I asked."

He tried to turn and leave but Kai acted faster and began pulling him by the arm into the living room.

"Noo, no, no, come on now, I didn't even say anything."

"Your face said it in every language that has ever existed."

"You should worry about your own face, darling."

Had he been feeling better, he would've resisted Kai's attempts to gently push him onto the couch longer, but he did want to sit down. And get buried among the pillows. And wrap up in a warm blanket. At least he frowned through the whole thing. And grumbled his request for his phone.

Then the worst possible thing happened — Kai went silent and minded his own business in the kitchen. As if the calm before the storm wasn't a tornado on its own.

Once he was done with his phone call, all he could do was wait for the inevitable. And hope for a cup of tea as an olive branch perhaps?

He snuggled in the couch and closed his eyes. The silence could make for another fluffy blanket when he stopped worrying about stupid things. Although his head still weighed heavy on his neck, the hushed, occasional noises coming from the kitchen and the gentle rainfall lulled him into a drowse.

Until a clink made him blink his eyes open. Kai was illuminated with hazy golden light amidst the greyness and he pressed a warm mug into Cole's hands.

"You know, I'm getting a strong sense of déjà vu," they muttered.

"Please show me some mercy."

"I'm not sure what that word means." Kai sat down next to him. "Anyway, can I interest you in some biscuits and an I-told-you-so?" He waved the pills in the air before putting them on the coffee table next to the golden mountain on a plate. "Everything properly homemade with only the best interest in mind!"

Cole gave them a blank stare, mug cradled with both hands. He nudged Kai with his foot.

"You're gonna get sick sitting this close to me, you know?"

Kai grinned. "Oh dear, I think we're in for a vicious circle then." He slapped at Cole's knees. "Move." And before giving him a chance to follow that order, he crawled up and forced himself into Cole's space anyway.