#SickTaiga

[onaka-ga-itai]

A/N: Thanks for being patient. I’m sure this one’s not up to my usual standards but lotsa factors in life got in the way. This was my means of escape; but it seems that these two aspects keep butting heads and getting in the way of each other. Anyway, please enjoy this, whatever it is. 

             Splish. Splish. Clink-Clinka-Clink.

             Tetsuya quietly wrings out the dishtowel into the bowl of ice water. He uses it to wipe down the sweat covering Taiga's face and neck. Taiga is finally resting after a long night under the influence of fevered dreams. He was thrashing around all night, yelling and screaming and overall making himself sick. Tetsuya was kicked awake each time until he decided to drag a chair from the kitchen over and sit vigil over his sick boyfriend all night. He feels responsible. There's a part of Tetsuya that blames himself for Taiga's current condition.

             Tetsuya works as a caregiver at a daycare, mostly caring for children too young to be put in school. It's a tough job mainly because some parents pull overtime and Tetsuya's job doesn't end at 5--it ends when every last child has been signed out by their guardians. It's getting close to the holidays and some parents are clocking in more hours to prepare for their holiday spending. Unfortunately, that means longer hours for Tetsuya.

             It's also flu season right now, which means a large part of the job is wiping noses, cleaning vomit, administering medicine, and rubbing sore tummies. Tetsuya has worked in the field long enough to develop a resistance to the common cold and flu, which is all well and good considering the long hours means he sometimes forgoes personal hygiene for sleep. He wishes he had made more of an effort this week, what with Taiga coming home. Who knows what sorts of germs he exposed his lover to, all because he was too tired for a shower.

             Taiga's been in America for the last seven months or so, living the life of a pro-b-baller. He comes back to Japan whenever he can and he's been back for about three days at this point. They were planning to go on a date today since it's a rare day off for Tetsuya. Too bad that's not happening. The fever has robbed Taiga of all sense--he still mutters as though he thinks he's back in America with his legion of rabid fangirls.

             "Nooo...don' want...ge'off..."

             Tetsuya sighs as Taiga weakly bats at the hand holding the cool towel. He tosses the towel in the bowl and sits on the edge of the bed, pinning Taiga's arms to his side in an embrace.

             Around 2AM the delusions started. Tetsuya texted and asked Alexandra what happened in America that could traumatize Taiga enough to have fevered dreams. Apparently there were some fans that wanted more than just an autograph from the redhead. Tabloids love portraying the celebrity as a rapist, but they don't really report on it when the fans are the ones that attack the celebrities. Tetsuya heard from Alexandra about how Taiga had to change hotel rooms every day because some rabid fan will sneak into his room and wait for him in the nude, or about how some girls want Taiga to sign their breasts as they reach over to grope his ass.

             As guilty as he feels about possibly infecting Taiga with the germs that caused his sickness, Tetsuya feels a little better when he hears some of things spoken, unfiltered, by Taiga. Taiga is many things, but 'unfaithful' is not one of them. Throughout the night Tetsuya listened as Taiga mumbled in his fevered state. At times he was talking to a fan, telling them off. Other times he was complaining to his coach or manager, telling them to get them away. Most touching of all were all the "Only Tetsu...get away...only want Tetsu" murmurs he lapsed into on more than one occasion. It's good to know that even though Taiga could have any number of people, man or woman or anything in between, he still remains faithful to Tetsuya and only to him.

             Gurk...ggrrrrrrr...rrrrll.

             Taiga's face twists in pain. Tetsuya's pale hand immediately goes to Taiga's stomach. He lets out a sigh, he was dreading this. Even with all the vomiting he's been doing, it was only a matter of time before Taiga got hungry.

             "What am I supposed to do? You're the one that knows how to cook, not me."

             Many things have changed since their high school days but Tetsuya's cooking skills are not one of them. He still pretty much only knows how to cook a boiled egg or microwave some popcorn--neither of which is something you'd feed a sick person.

             GRRRRRRRRR....rrrrr...

             Taiga shifts in bed, curling up to try and stop the ache in his stomach. Tetsuya sighs and settles back in his chair. He reaches out and begins to rub Taiga's stomach. He puts his head down on the side of the bed as he continues to massage Taiga's cramping belly. He's starting to wonder what the difference between work and home is.

 --

             Taiga opens his eyes and squints against the orange light streaming through their gossamer curtains.

             "Oh? You awake?"

             Taiga turns to the voice and sees the face of his friend, Himuro Tatsuya.

             "Tatsuya? Why are you--"

             "The double date, remember? I texted when you didn't show. You didn't answer. I got worried."

             Right--they had planned a double date with Tatsuya and Atsushi on...Saturday.

             "Sorry--I guess my phone died. Did you take care of me? You shouldn't have--you should have gone on your date and forgotten about me and--where's Tetsu?"

             Tatsuya smiles and gestures over to the side of the bed. Taiga looks down and sees a head of unruly grey/blue hair.

             "I wasn't the one that took care of you. I just got here. Kuroko looks like he ran himself ragged trying to take care of you so I decided to stay and see if I could help any."

             Taiga's belly rumbles.

             "I guess it's a good thing I sent Atsushi out to grab us all dinner."

             "Nnngh..." Tetsuya sits up and groggily rubs at his eyes. "Oh...you're awake."

             "Tetsuya--you haven't slept much either, have you? You need to take care of yourself if you're going to try to take care of Taiga."

             "Himuro-san? Why are you--oh." It's only now that Tetsuya remembers their plans for a double date on Saturday--2 days ago. He called in sick at work today to take care of Taiga--it's not like he's up for much in his current state anyway. His days off were spent spoon-feeding Taiga water, washing the sheets each time Taiga threw up on them (Tetsuya gave up on trying to guide Taiga to a proper vomit receptacle), and rubbing Taiga's finicky tummy. "Sorry."

             "It's fine. You should have told us though--we could have helped."

             Tetsuya mentally kicks himself for forgetting about the double date on Saturday. He's been dealing with a lot of stress--what with parents sending their sick kids to the daycare, and their relationship (or lack of one) being as it is with Taiga in America, and multiple other stressors. Tetsuya's been at his wits end for a while now.

             Grrrrrr...

             Tetsuya's arms fly to his stomach and his face turns red. Tatsuya chuckles.

             "Tetsu? Don't tell me you caught my fever."

             Tatsuya starts laughing even harder as he watches Taiga fret over an embarrassed Tetsuya.

             " 'Muro-chin, I'm back."

             "Murasakibara-kun."

             "Oh? Kuro-chin's awake?"

             "Thanks, Atsushi." Tatsuya gets up. "Now then, since everyone's awake, who's up for oden?"