#☾ caeli's imagination

[caeliuluru]

warmth (in all its forms)

Summary: You are sick. Xavier takes care of you. Tags: gender-neutral MC, established relationship Xavier/MC, so fluffy sweet that YOU might get sick (with diabetes), very slight angst (if you’ve read his anecdotes)

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You've always prided yourself for being on top of things when it comes to your health. It's no surprise that being a Hunter requires a good level of fitness, with all the running around and killing Wanderers. Despite your heart condition, you were considered well enough for your line of work. You eat properly, work out, and get enough sleep (or try to, at least), and you’re quite happy with yourself!

Which is why it is surprising when you wake up with a cough, and a few sniffles. No matter, it’ll probably go away within the day. Out of consideration for the people around you, you pocket a face mask as you head to work, and ignore the slight throb at the back of your head.

The hours fly by. After finishing your paperwork, you go on patrols with another Alpha Team member whose partner caught a bad cold. You even got to say hi to Xavier at headquarters before going out. Your limbs do feel a bit heavier, and some of your shots missed, but you assure your teammate that you’re fine. Thankfully, there weren’t any high-level Wanderers lurking this time around.

Captain Jenna shakes her head when you get back. “Take a break when you get home, you’ve done well today,” she says. Stubborn as you are, though, you don’t pick up on the underlying meaning of her words.

You leaf through some reports while eating a snack, feeling stuffy. The dull pain you felt earlier has intensified to a full migraine.

“Hey! Wanna get some milk tea? Captain Jenna mentioned you looked a bit low on energy today.” Tara beams at you from above your desk. You’d drank so much water today, was it just the city heat? And your favorite drink did sound good…

”Your treat?” You playfully ask your friend, and stifle a cough.

“Of course not! We have the same paycheck, anyway, don’t we?” She pouts and flicks your forehead lightly.

The expression on her face changes to one of concern. “Wait…” She rests the back of her palm on your forehead this time. “You’re burning up! And you still went to work!”

“It was just a cold…” your eyes turn away from her awkwardly, not wanting to admit that you really just wanted to power through the day despite the symptoms.

“Just go home!”

Suddenly, Tara leans to whisper in your ear. “And I’m pretty sure Xavier will do a good job taking care of you.”

She winks, and you feel your fever rise a little bit more, flustered.

The two of you spot a familiar silver-haired hunter coming in your direction. “Well, I’ll head back now. Get some rest, okay? I’ll keep you updated on work. You can’t go fighting Wanderers when you’re sick!”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine in no time,” you reassure her.

“You will, as long as you stay in bed!” It’s that tone she uses when she chides you for working overtime days in a row. You clearly love your work, sometimes to a fault.

She then turns to wave at your hunting partner and recently-made-boyfriend as she walks back to her cubicle. “Hey Xavier!”

He nods in acknowledgment, his usual aloof expression recognizable from anywhere.

If there’s one thing you did notice about him these past few months, however, it’s that it softens when he looks at you.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

You pout.

“I wanted milk tea.”

“And you look like one of the crying kitties in Kitty Cards.” He tilts his head to the side with a knowing look. “It seems that you can’t wait to get a good rest.”

“Aren’t you scheduled for patrol duty?”

“I just finished my shift, which is why I was able to come to you. Now, let’s go.”

Unable to retort, you throw the wrapper of your snack into the bin below your desk and put your face mask back on.

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After returning your weapons and packing your things, you commute home with Xavier. The cold air from the air conditioning is a relief, but you still feel too warm. It’s an annoying feeling— and your upset only grows when you feel the sunshine rays on your skin as the train moves above ground. At the very least, you’re glad it wasn’t rush hour, else you’d have to deal with being squished as well.

“We can switch seats if you want. It’s less hot here.” Xavier looks at you, his hand close to yours.

“I’m fine, nothing I can’t handle.” With the heat and your head pounding, it’s tempting to rest your head on his shoulder and drift off, but you arrive at your stop before you can.

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Xavier follows you to your apartment, where you both remove your boots and change into house slippers. He doesn’t say a word, only looking through your cabinets for… something.

“You’re not going to cook, are you?” you ask from the bedroom, where you’re getting changed into pajamas. Your voice comes out a bit more hoarse than you expected.

“Mmm… just checking if you still have medicines here.” As you walk to the kitchen island, you can see him place a few medicine packets on the counter.

“I can get you soup from the hotpot place. Stay here.”

“Xavier, I can handle it, really.”

He doesn’t answer, silent as he grabs a small basin to fill with cold water. “Aren’t you tired?” Your head turns toward the direction of his voice, and you follow him into the bedroom. He rummages through your closet for smaller towels, right below the area where his spare clothes are placed. You have a few pairs of clothes in his apartment as well, just in case you slept over.

You acquiesce to his efforts, and finally decide to settle down in bed, wrapping the duvet around you. The soft pillow and the arcade plushies around you add to the cozy feeling, and you try to relax as you watch your boyfriend move around.

He dips the towel into the cool water, and places it over your warm forehead.

“Too cold?”

“No, perfect, actually.”

He takes a seat near your bedside table, hand on your blanket-covered leg.

“You didn’t tell me you were feeling sick.” To many, Xavier is unreadable. But you catch the small changes in his facial expressions. The way the corners of his lips turn slightly upward when he’s waiting for his hotpot order after a long day. The faraway look in his eyes when he looks out the balcony, stargazing. Now, it’s a small frown, although it doesn’t mean any anger. A mix of concern, tenderness, and something else… hurt? Fear?

“I told you, I’m strong enough. It’s just the flu, right? Someone at HQ caught it too, I filled in for them.”

“You can be so hard-headed sometimes, you know that?” His gentle voice wafts over you.

“Says the one who comes home looking like they got mauled by a bear.” You smirk under the face mask, and he huffs in response.

“Some people are delirious when they have a fever. You must be remembering things wrong.”

“Ah,” you tilt your voice higher to sound dramatic. “So the first aid kits I use on you are just delusions. What ever shall I do then, my knight?” He sighs and looks away, a hint of a smile lingering on his face. This time, he doesn’t look necessarily sad. More wistful, nostalgic. “Maybe he’s the one reminiscing,” you think to yourself. When he chuckles, a smile crosses your lips, too.

“Think about good things. And sleep.” He brings the Galaxy Kid plushie beside you. You notice him lift his hand further near your cheek, then move it to pat the stuffed toy.

Before he can fully pull his hand away, you grab his hand and nuzzle into it. It strikes you that this is something that he usually does towards you.

“I still have my knight to thank. How would I ever recover without his service?” You feel his eyes on yours. Although you feel bashful, you hold his gaze. It’s hard to look away from him— not when what’s reflected in the blue is security, comfort, love— only for you.

Then quietly, “I’ll let you know when something happens to me next time.”

He smiles, thumb rubbing your cheek, then gently takes your hand to kiss your knuckles.

“You should rest for now. I’ll get you that hotpot so you can take your medicine already.”

“Alright. Oh, I should message Dr. Zayne, I was supposed to have an appointment with him tomorrow but I’ll just have that rescheduled. I’ll tell him I’m sick.”

He frowns, eyebrows knitted together. “Do you really need to do that immediately?”

Was that jealousy? You hold in your laugh and boop his nose instead.

“Okay, okay. Don’t forget to ask for more tofu with my soup.”

“Mhm.” He kisses your cheek gently. “See you later.”

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A/N: my hc is that other than MC’s heart condition/Protocore Syndrome, she rlly is healthy and fit (realistically i think you would need to be if you were a hunter) but she's the kind of person who tends to get Really Sick if she does fall ill (which is rarely). thinking abt it actually i have a lot of hcs for MC haha.

anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this one! take care, stay hydrated yall <3

[caeliuluru]

tags: so fluffy, established relationship xavier/mc

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A day off-- no emergencies, no Wanderers, no urgent tasks.

To get closer to each other, you and Xavier decided to "idle together," as he endearingly put it. In between missions and trying to catch Heartbreaker, you couldn't deny that this was an unexpected breath of fresh air.

You, however, were still restless.

The sunset's light flows into the room from your balcony, casting shadows onto the floor. It would have been too dark to read if it weren't for the lamp beside your sofa. Other than the flipping of pages and you and Xavier's soft breathing, everything is silent until...

Beep, beep!

"Do you want to keep reading?" Xavier asks. You turn off the alarm on your phone, having used a Pomodoro timer just to get you to focus on the book, and shake your head.

"It's getting dark, m’have to turn on the lights." You try not to look at Xavier as you get up from the sofa. He made for a very comfy pillow during your reading sessions together, and if you so much as glanced at him after he spoke you probably would have made up an excuse to keep laying against his chest. Quickly, you switch on the light in the living room and flop back onto the sofa (and by extension, your partner) before he could properly sit up.

"Are you okay? You went quiet all of a sudden." He asks. You can hear the tinge of worry in his voice, and you're quick to reassure him with a soft squeeze of his shoulder, having decided to put your arms around him. "Just... remembering things.” As you speak, you listen to his heartbeat, slow as ever. It's a familiar and calming sound. Your mind goes back to when he had helped you review for one of your Hunter exams, took care of you when you were drunk, planned a whole-day trip that was essentially a date, even before the two of you became lovers. It's in the quiet moments like these where you feel most grateful for someone like Xavier. While his expressions of love weren't exactly the same as the ones in the cheesy rom-coms you watched, his love felt like home. These were times where you felt like you didn't need to try so hard, and still felt so seen by the person you loved the most.

His hand gently cards through your hair as you listen to his breathing. He smells good, too, the woody scent being a trademark of all his hoodies. In the midst of your quiet reflection, though, you can feel his eyes on you.

“You’re staring,” you quip at him. “Or is it Xavier cipher?”

“Well, I haven’t been blinking much.” His gaze is soft, tender. “Is there anything you wanted to tell me?”

“I should be asking you that. I’m not the one trying to send secret messages through my eyes. Or through telepathy.”

“Aren’t eyes the windows to the soul?”

“I still need translations for whatever your eyes are saying, dummy.”

He lets out a light laugh and looks you in the eye.

“What I mean to say is: I’m happy you’re with me. I like holding you like this.”

Both his and your faces are flushed, and he tucks a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

You playfully squeeze his face and move it around. He smiles, focusing on the crinkle in the corner of your eyes when you grin and the mirth your face holds. “That’s unfair, you can’t just say things like that!”

The banter isn’t over, because he takes the opportunity to lightly grab the hand was just holding his cheeks, and slots his fingers in between. His other hand stays on the small of your back, ensuring that you don’t accidentally fall off him and the sofa.

“Let’s make this even, then. Is there still anything you wanted to tell me?”

A beat, then, “If you choose to answer with your own cipher, I’ll try to understand it as best as I can.”

When was the last time you had gotten to be together like this? It’s not as if you felt distant from each other, but it had been a while since you felt you could truly relax with him. You didn’t want to waste precious time keeping your emotions to yourself.

“Earlier, I was just thinking about how I was glad to be with the person I liked. You like to help other people, but you don’t want to be in the spotlight for it. You’re earnest. You look out for me even if I don’t ask for it.” You say the last sentence more quietly, still learning what it’s like to have a soft place to land, to be held by a shooting star.

He turns his head to plant a kiss on your hand.

“I won’t let you go, then. Whether we’re just on the couch, or on missions, or anywhere else, I’ll be by your side whenever you need me.”

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A/N: oh god my first xavier fic. anyw this was just a Developed Brainrot i had after ep 3 of the partner go-go event, so this can be treated as an extra account of how Xavier and MC spent their days “strengthening their relationship” before capturing Heartbreaker :3

if yall want to ramble in asks or say hi pls go ahead! i do wanna make new L&DS/tears of themis/genshin frens here so yay lol