Rune Flu

The day was going by, but the door of a certain apartment in Magnolia didn't open even once. Usually the owner of that apartment was up early and have a morning jog, then pick up his mail, eat breakfast and after some time leave so they could head to the Fairy Tail guild house.

Today the apartment was quiet, but there was one little light on to show that someone indeed was home.

Freed was lying in his bed, breathing through his mouth and his head was aching. He had a flu and because of that he couldn't even get up no matter how much he wanted nothing else but go to the guild house and see his friends.

Hand was raised to grab another tissue just in time when Freed sneezed loudly and he wiped his nose.

"This sucks..." the rune mage muttered, his voice raspy and quiet. His mind was mushy, his eyes coul hardly focus and it just felt like his muscles were nothing but air. Even the blanket felt like it was too heavy for him to move.

Freed coughed and took a few deep breaths again, trying to calm down. Just after he was almost ready to try and sleep again, he heard the doorbell and it made him annoyed. Why would anyone want to come and visit just now?

He was more than tempted to just ignore the doorbell, but he knew it might be something important so very reluctantly the green haired man forced himself to sit up and put his feet down on the cold floor. He pushed himself up, swayed a little and finally grabbed his robe and pulled it on.

"Yeah, I heard you already", Freed croaked when the bell rang yet again and he stepped in the hallway from his bedroom. His apartment was small, there was only one bedroom, kitchen and living room were combined and he had a small bathroom.

Freed got to the door and he opened it and saw who was standing outside.

"Laxus?" he said looking at the blond man.

"You look like shit", Laxus said, seeing that red nose, pale skin and messed up hair.

"Why thank you, that made me feel a lot better", Freed huffed and he let the Thunder God in, closing the door after that. "What brings you here?"

"You never came to the guild house today", Laxus said. "And you looked pale yesterday so I thought you might be sick. I was right."

"Congratulations", Freed muttered and he slowly walked into his small kitchen, taking out some medicine.

"Have you been sleeping?" Laxus asked and he took off his big dark coat.

"Trying."

"Eating?"

"I can hardly even breathe, how do you expect me to eat?"

"Then you'll only start to feel worse", Laxus said.

Freed always said the same whenever he, Bickslow or Evergreen were sick. Now that he thought about it, Freed rarely even got sick. He didn't remember when was the last time he had seen Freed having flu, it must've been years ago.

Freed swallowed a pill and drank some water.

"I'll be fine soon", he assured to Laxus. "I'll come back to the guild as soon as possible."

"You shouldn't rush", Laxus said, looking how Freed started walking back towards his bedroom. "You want me to make you something to eat?"

"You don't have to", Freed assured.

"I could make some simple soup. It would make you feel better."

"You know what? I'm too tired to try and fight back", Freed sighed and he just flopped back on his bed. "Do whatever you want."

"You really are sick", Laxus said amused and he went to find a kettle and other stuff.

Freed really didn't care and he just listened to occassional noises coming from the kitchen, until for a moment he actually felt like he managed to doze off.

He woke up when he heard steps coming closer and with a huge effort he managed to turn around and sit up.

"You're sweating like a pig", Laxus huffed when looking at the Rune Mage.

"You always know how to make sick person feel better", Freed just grunted and brushed some green hair out of his face. The hair felt sticky and gross after sweating so much.

"Yeah whatever, here's the soup", Laxus said and he carefully set a tray in front of Freed. The man could comfortably lean against pillows while eating.

Freed stared at the soup for a moment.

"There are whole carrots", he said.

"So what? You can eat them."

"When you're sick you eat chicken soup, not carrot broth or whatever this is."

"It's soup and it's not like I poisoned it, just slurp it away", Laxus said annoyed.

Again, Freed just stared at the bowl and finally Laxus rolled his eyes, taking the spoon.

"I forgot how irritating you are when you're sick", he muttered when taking a spoonful and starting to feed the green haired man. "You become a needy, spoiled and super annoying toddler."

"I want tea", Freed said, not caring about what Laxus was saying. "Honey tea."

The Thunder God sighed and he got up and went in the kitchen. Yeah, Freed was really annoying when sick but he would take care of the captain anyway.

"You forgot salt", Freed yelled from the bedroom and Laxus grunted, taking the salt shaker.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"No."

So when Laxus finally got the cup with hot water and a teabag, he returned back to the bedroom. He sat down next to the bed and made sure Freed ate everything. It was important to eat and drink when sick after all.

When the man finished, he took away the tray and then returned.

"Feeling any better?" he asked.

"Not really", Freed sighed and he laid down on the bed.

"You'll get better soon", Laxus assured and he gently touched that hot forehead, feeling how the fever was high but not yet dangerous. "You just need to rest."

"That's exactly what I was doing before you decided to come over."

"Stop being a bitch and just let me take care of you."

Freed sighed and he leaned his face against that big hand that was now caressing his cheek. It felt so nicely cool.

"You might get sick too", he muttered, closing his eyes.

"Doesn't matter", Laxus assured. "Then it's my turn to act like a brat and order you around", he smirked and Freed let out a small tired chuckle. "Just sleep, Freed."

Freed nodded and it didn't take more than seconds and he was already sleeping. Laxus didn't move his hand, caressing the skin with his thumb. He was glad he came over, he knew Freed woul've never told anyone he was sick or ask any help, he was too damn proud to do that and wanted to take care of things all by himself.

Laxus huffed and he looked around. He would've noticed this sooner if only he had seen the Rune Mage earlier today. Maybe it was time for them to start thinking of taking next step in their relationship and try living together? It didn't really sound bad.

Laxus moved a bit but immediately Freed's hand grabbed a strong hold of his arm, not letting it move and Laxus chuckled.

"You're such a brat", he said.

Annoying or not, he would still love Freed with all his heart and take care of him.