Harihar 【Harith/Harley】

11 | sick and stubborn

❝ eleven. ❞
sick and stubborn

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
»»————-　♔　————-««

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
"Harley, aren't you going to sleep?"

Harley shook his head and covered his mouth when he started coughing. Harith could feel his lips twitching into a frown, and he approached the mage to start examining him. He placed a hand over Harley's forehead, but he was surprised to find that the mage had no temperature. He looked back at what Harley was doing, and he couldn't help but disapprove that the Mage Genius was currently staying up for some kind of project.

"What is this for anyway?" Harith asked, pointing at the bottles of chemicals on the table. He glanced at the time and found it to be past midnight already. "You can do this tomorrow."

"I can't," Harley answered, coughing again. He looked at the paper in his hand before pouring one of the liquid inside a bowl. "Nana needs this for her exam tomorrow. If I don't get it right, she might fail."

Harith crossed his arms before raising a brow. "Why are you doing this for Nana? She should be doing this herself if it's for her exams."

Harley gave him a small smile. "She had been working on this spell for a few weeks now, but she just can't seem to get the formulae right. She came to me all teary-eyed for my help. You know I can't say no to her face."

"Harley, why are you so soft? You know you're going to spoil her if you keep helping her like this," Harith said, letting out a sigh. "But that's not the point. You've been coughing since this morning. You're probably sick, so you need to rest. It's almost one already."

"Don't worry, Harith. I'll be fine," Harley said. But, just as he was about to smile, he started coughing again. When Harith gave him a look that proved his point, Harley added, "I'm almost done, okay? Just a little more, I promise."

Harith had to end up waiting for Harley to finish. He doesn't trust the mage if he leaves him. Harley was a perfectionist when it comes to magic. He would say that he was almost done, but, whenever he sees any small mistakes after that, he would spend hours just to fix it. This time, however, Harith wasn't going to allow that to happen. Harley only had ten minutes. After that, he was going straight to bed, even if that meant he had to be dragged to it.

"Finally," Harley muttered, laying his head onto the table. "I can rest in peace now."

"Good," Harith said, tugging at his arm. "Now, let's go to bed."

Harley's eyes started drooping. "Give me five minutes..."

"Oh no you don't. I am not letting you sleep at the table." In one swift motion, Harith lifted Harley in his arms and started carrying him up the stairs. He could hear Harley making a protesting sound at the back of his throat, but, other than that, the mage made no move to walk on his own. Instead, he shifted so that he was in a more comfortable position in his arms.  Harith couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Someone's really tired, huh?"

Harley let out a faint hum, but his eyes were already closed. Judging by the sound of his breathing, Harith could tell that he was asleep. Gently, he placed Harley down onto the bed, and he smiled as Harley started curling himself up.

"Goodnight Harley," Harith whispered. He knew that the Mage Genius was already fast asleep, but he still felt like saying it.