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heavyeditsnz · 3 months ago

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Wipe(d)out (part 2)

so this one turned out to be way longer than i thought... but here it is! the long awaited second half of this lil' saga! i hope you're all ready for more gay sneezy cephalopod fluff >:3

srsly tho yall have no idea how much fun it is writing these two

tags: M/M, cold sneezes, hurt/comfort-adjacent, a few stifles and holdbacks (and subsequent egging on to not do that)

CWs: there's no egregious mess, but definitely a step up from part 1

word count: 5k

Asahi awoke to find himself alone in a car and parked in front of a pharmacy.

A strained groan of discomfort escaped him as he blinked his bleary eyes open and looked around the tiny space, gingerly stretching out his stiff legs as his fever-addled mind tried to catch up. Just a few minutes ago he was in the lobby with Ren, and now he was… in a car, feeling hot and sweaty and barely able to breathe through his nose.

As he pushed himself up he gave a thick, useless sniffle as he roughly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up in the car’s seat, drowsily thumbing at his chapped nose and cringing as his fingers came back wet. He couldn’t have been asleep for long and yet the congestion had returned in full force; his irritated sinuses nearly compacted with inky snot that still threatened to drip down his chapped upper lip, like both of his nostrils had been sealed off with glue… or wet concrete, Asahi thought bitterly. For now he was stuck taking shallow breaths through his mouth, at least until he could blow his nose.

There was no doubt about it at this point, he was feeling awful. Not only physically, but there was a nagging guilt trying to worm its way into the back of his mind, about having to cancel his plans with Ren today, having him drop everything just to take care of him…

Still exhausted from his short nap, Asahi swiped his chapped nose on his hoodie sleeve, wincing as the rough fabric rubbing against raw skin started to sting. His eyes watered as his nose scrunched and wiggled, the wall of congestion shifting in his head and making him feel heavy and hot and all-around gross.

Where was Ren? Still foggy with delirium, he squinted and tried to peer into the building’s windows and seeing only blurred blobs in front of him, wincing as the dull throbbing in his head grew worse as he tried to look. Maybe… not doing that was a good idea, and he slumped back into the car seat with a rough sigh that immediately turned into a coughing fit that left him wheezing and reeling.

The seats were hot, strangely enough, soothing on his aching body and warm enough to keep him from shivering. He reached up to swipe at his nose, rubbing against his hoodie sleeve as he shuffled around trying to make himself comfortable again. Occasionally he’d glance out of the windows; he didn’t really recognize this area of town… that, or his feverish mind wasn’t allowing him to recognize it. Everything was starting to sway and shift around again and Asahi gripped the door’s handle as he waited for his vision to stop spinning and swirling every which way.

With no one else in the car, the sick Octoling was left alone with only the radio and his fever-addled thoughts. The thumping bass from the sound system sent uncomfortable vibrations through his aching body, even when he leaned to rest his feverish head on the seat belt, even with the volume this low. He’d only laid down for a second before the buzzing from the speakers began to irritate his sinuses, already sensitive and all-around overworked.

The hitching came on fast, though weak and unstable, and Asahi wiggled and scrunched his quivering nose, attempting to dislodge the itchy buildup somehow before it got too annoying. His hands were quivering, unsure of whether to try and catch the inevitable eruption into his hands or the crook of his elbow.

Asahi’s eyes were wet with itchy tears as the buzzing behind his eyelids grew more and more overwhelming, needling across his tortured sinuses and barely moving. His hitching breaths grew more jagged and desperate, and suddenly he reeled back with his shaky hands now awkwardly cupped and braced for impact as his watery eyes finally flickered shut… and just as quickly the teasing itch spiked and suddenly receded, and all that came out was a shaky sigh.

…Asahi slumped against the heated seat. That was… weird.

With another thick sniffle he swiped at his raw nostrils and tried to relax a little, leaning back and letting the heated seat soothe his achy body. This was Yui’s car, wasn’t it? She was the only person he knew with heated seats and a sound system like that. At least he wasn’t somewhere entirely unfamiliar, this bringing a small amount of comfort to the ill Octoling.

Maybe a few extra minutes of shut-eye wouldn’t hurt, Asahi thought to himself as he settled in. His eyelids grew heavy as he laid still, warm and comfortable with something to chase that persistent chill away, and he would have dozed off again if the static behind his eyes hadn’t suddenly alighted with renewed fury.

"—eH'pSSHIEW!!"

The itch behind his eyes spiked and with a shaky gasp Asahi pitched forwards without thinking, hitting the dashboard with a small but noticeable misty spray of saliva. He gave a dizzy groan as he resurfaced, muffling a liquidy sniffle into the wrist of his (now well-used) hoodie sleeve as he struggled to stem the warm, inky gunk threatening to spill out of his cold-ridden nose.

Yikes… that was a little too close for comfort. Asahi had just barely avoided a mess.

He’d snuff the mess back up as best he could, but he could only go without blowing for so long.

Now with his leaky nose buried into his sleeve, a desperate attempt to stem the flow of inky snot threatening to drip down his upper lip, his eyes darted around the car interior in a desperate search for something he could blow into. There had to be a napkin or something laying around… He wished he kept his mask on.

His sniffling increased in frequency as he frantically searched the car, but there wasn’t a single tissue nor paper napkin in sight much to his dismay. “sdrrrk-- Ohh, God…” Asahi muttered to himself as he searched the glove box for anything resembling a napkin or a travel pack, thickly sniffling back another wave of snot threatening to leak out… and wincing as the inky gunk rippling against his overworked and inflamed sinuses sparked another burning itch behind his eyes, deep-seated and spreading agonizingly slow. There had to be something here, anything…

“h’heh–... hehh–!...”

Asahi’s vision went fuzzy as the urge to sneeze crept up on him, and he hurriedly pressed the flat of his tongue to the roof of his mouth, stalling the tickle and buying some more precious time.

God, not now! There was a hefty chance he’d drench himself and Yui’s car if he couldn’t hold back, and Asahi wasn’t sure if the sleeves of his hoodie could take any more damage.

Still, he’d sniffle again and roughly wipe his chapped, leaky nose on his hoodie sleeve and searched in vain for a napkin he could use… too caught up in his desperate search to notice Ren making his way back to the car, too focused on keeping his runny nose under control to hear the car’s doors unlock and then open.

“Oh hey, you’re finally up.” Ren’s voice startled the sick Octoling out of his near trance, visibly flinching in surprise at his return. He probably looked pathetic, with his runny nose buried in his hoodie sleeve while he desperately searched for something to blow into while Ren stepped into the driver’s seat. “You were out the whole ride here. Passed out almost as soon as we left the lobby. Figured you needed some sleep, so I didn’t wanna wake you…”

So that’s why he barely remembered having left the lobby…

“Got you a few things, too.” In Ren’s hands were a few plastic bags, likely filled with all sorts of cold supplies and remedies… and hopefully some tissues. He reached over the seat, about to deposit the grocery bags on the back seat and out of his reach when Asahi finally found his voice.

“R-Ren?” He’d gasp out despite the crack in his tone. “I-I need a tihh-” His voice went shaky as the itch in his nose from before suddenly reignited, and Asahi couldn’t finish his sentence before his eyes squeezed shut and he wrenched forwards with a desperate “hiI’gKSSCHHIIEW!!!” -- into the waiting sleeve of his hoodie, drenching the fabric in a barely contained shower of snot and inky mist.

The damp spot was the first sensation he clocked, then the unmistakable, uncomfortable warmth now oozing out of his nose and onto his upper lip… and Ren’s eyes on him, as Asahi woozily blinked back itchy tears and tried wiping his leaky nostrils on his ruined sleeve, but for all his effort this only managed to spread the mess around… and to add insult to injury, he needed to sneeze again, and before he knew it he was already reeling back, with barely any time to see Ren’s expression before he lurched forwards again into his soiled sleeves, soaking the hoodie in more inky snot. “hI’H-... hE’gKSSHHUHh!!”

One of the first things Asahi was aware of when the haze in his head finally settled were the tips of his ears absolutely burning in shame.

He withered underneath Ren’s stunned stare as hot stinging tears began to well up in his eyes and spill over his cheeks, and before he even realized it he was quietly whimpering, ineffectively sniffling back the deluge of snotty ink oozing out of his nose and soaking into his sleeves.

So much for avoiding a mess.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he finally glanced up at Ren; probably shock or disgust at how snotty and all around miserable he looked as he tried to avoid looking into the Inkling’s eyes… and finding neither of his own expectations.

“H-Hey! What’s wrong?!”

The sudden explosion definitely made Ren jump, of course, but his startled look quickly melted away once he caught sight of the tears bubbling up in Asahi’s eyes, and he quickly reached behind the driver’s seat for one of the plastic bags.

The immediate concern for him caught Asahi off guard; his tear-filled glassy eyes went wide, like a minnow entrapped by an angler fish’s light. And yet the only reply he could muster up was a thick sniffle and a pathetic whimper, slightly flinching as Ren reached over to rub behind one of his rounded ears.

It took a while for Asahi to muster up a response, and at that point the dam caved in.

“I-I feel awful…” he finally admitted, even as he shrunk away from Ren’s touch. “I mb’essed u’b our pla’ds and rui’ded everythi’g a’d… a-a’d I just feel gross!” He eventually choked out a quiet sob, his body shuddering with each shaky inhale, with little hiccups and useless sniffles in between, and Ren sighed softly once he realized how unnecessarily guilty his partner had been feeling… and all over getting sick, no less.

With no other response he then moved his hand to stroke across Asahi’s cheek, delicately wiping away his boyfriend’s tears despite the sniffling and his attempts to pull away. He frowned, almost as if the teary look of shame on his partner’s pale face had him feeling guilty as well-- he had to do something.

“Hey. Look at me.”

With his other hand he took hold of his partner’s chin, gently pulling him close so that he was facing Ren despite his weak attempts at escape. The sudden boldness had the desired effect, stunning Asahi so that he was completely still, and once he had his attention he shifted that hand to rub behind Asahi’s ear. “You are not gross, okay?” he spoke firmly. “Why would I be mad at you for getting sick?”

Asahi sputtered. “B-But…”

“No buts,” Ren quickly silenced his boyfriend’s protests with a kiss to his warm forehead. “You’re not a burden, Asahi. You didn’t ‘ruin’ anything, I promise. So what if we couldn’t practice today? We can always come back when you’re in better shape, yeah?”

And then he pulled him in across the seats for a hug, despite the thick sniffling ringing in Ren’s ears and his arm still held up to his face, and even moved to rub his back- unmoving even as Asahi eventually wrapped his own free arm around him- leaning into his boyfriend’s warmth as the tears in his eyes began to dry, muttering a weak ‘tha’g you’ into his boyfriend’s neck before pulling away.

Now that the tears had stopped, there was something else Ren had to attend to-- namely, that leaky nose of his.

“C’mon, let me see the damage,” he’d prod as he grabbed Asahi’s wrist and gently pulled his arm from underneath his dripping nose. The fabric on his sleeves had definitely taken the brunt of the damage, with a thin line of snot connecting his leaky nostrils to the stain on his wrist.

Ren noted a few smaller, dried stains on that sleeve, and a quick offhand glance revealed similar small streaks on the hoodie’s other sleeve. And all while Asahi continued to avoid eye contact, still looking embarrassed about the mess on his hoodie. Just how long had he been doing this? No wonder his boyfriend’s nose was all raw and chapped if he’d been using his hoodie sleeves as a snot rag for who knows how long.

“Old habits die hard, eh?” Ren joked in an attempt to lift his sick boyfriend’s spirits, only getting an exhausted half-chuckle in reply.

“It’s nothing a pre-soak can’t fix, though,” he would decide as he popped open the box of tissues he just bought and swiped up a few, then pressed the clump around Asahi’s nose— gently lifting his head so that he could gaze into his glassy, unfocused eyes, and stopped for a moment.

At this point he’d known that vacant expression all too well, and reached for another tissue to add to the wad bunched around his quivering nostrils. He held the clump close even as Asahi tried to pull away from his hand between short, breathy gasps and fluttering eyelids. Was he seriously still trying to fight off his symptoms?

Getting an idea, Ren would gently press the flat of his thumb against his nose, lightly rubbing the textured tissues against his flaring ink-rimmed nostrils, and slowly nudging that quivering appendage up and down while applying a small amount of pressure. It was nothing drastic, just a small bit of movement to distract Asahi from trying to hold back.

Or to coax that itch out. Whatever came first.

“R-Re’d—?” Asahi gasped out between tickly gasps, quivering as he still tried to pull away from the Inkling’s hand. “W-What are you-? I-I gotta-hhh-...”

“I know,” Ren replied rather directly. “Stop trying to fight it, ‘kay?”

So despite his protests he held his hand in place, protected by layers of facial tissue, while Asahi hitched and squirmed in his grasp. Ren kept his grip steady even as Asahi stopped pulling away and began to tilt his head back, even as his breaths grew more shallow and desperate as his eyes welled with itchy tears, then flickered shut. “hehh-... HE’gKSSHHYOO!!”

Ren held his hand firm and steady as Asahi finally pitched forwards, remaining unfazed as warmth filled his palm, and he shifted his grip ever so slightly to make sure the tissues completely covered his nose despite the force.

“Yeesh, that sounded rough,” Ren chuckled, using his free hand to flick a stray tear from Asahi’s cheek. This was where he noticed the misty, unfocused look in Asahi’s eyes; his lips slightly parted and his chest heaving again with short, tickly gasps— he wasn’t done, clearly.

“Still itchy?” The dazed, shaky nod was all the confirmation Ren needed, and he pinched the tissue wad around his quivering nose as his flickering eyelids closed again.

“u-uhh’hh‐… hh’tSHHUUHh!!” Ren’s hand grew warmer and heavier as Asahi pitched forwards into the clump of damp tissue… then reeled back again, gasping in a strangled breath. “gh’hehh-... he’PSSCH— -g’KSSCHh— -KSHHUuh!!!”

And he pitched forwards into the squid’s hand with an uncontrolled, rapid triple, drenching the soft paper in stringy, snotty ink as each sneeze ripped through him, but the itching finally backed off afterwards and Asahi slumped into his partner’s hand; groaning in relief, barely aware of Ren reaching out to rub the top of his head. “Bless you. Feel better?”

“Uh-huh…” The sniffle that followed was long and thick, but exhaustion overshadowed any embarrassment Asahi felt, and he couldn’t help smiling a little. “Tha’g you, Re’d.”

He froze.

Tha’g you, Re’d. Those three words brought a surprising heat to the Inkling’s face, the tips of his ears burning with an unknown feeling. He felt weirdly giddy, hearing Asahi trying to thank him while horribly stuffed up. Coupled with that sickly smile on his face…he’s still cute even when he’s this wiped.

“R-Re’d...?”

Another soupy sniffle brought him back to the present.

Ren glanced down to see Asahi staring up at him, his pale cheeks suddenly flush with color. “Y-You’re stari’g…”

“S-Shit, sorry.”

He quickly shook off that weird giddiness.

Right, Asahi was more important right now, he could deal with those weird thoughts later. He gently wiped around his boyfriend’s quivering nose before pulling the ink-stained clump of tissue away. For now, he’d stuff the used tissue into the cup holder as he reached for the box again to pull up a few fresh sheets.

Ren was gentle; tenderly cupping the clean tissues around Asahi’s nose while he gazed into his boyfriend’s glassy eyes. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself watching his boyfriend lean into the tissues without a second thought this time, clearly picking up the relieved sigh that escaped the sick Octoling’s throat. “These feel nd’ice,” Asahi muttered.

“Of course they’re gonna feel better than cafe napkins and cheap toilet paper,” Ren would gently rib as he tried to lighten the mood somewhat. “These have lotion in them, though.”

He pulled his hand away once Asahi reached for the tissues clumped around his nose, effortlessly passing the wad of paper into his hands, only to take a second glance at his sick partner in the passenger’s seat next to him.

His tentacles were still very pale; lethargic and limp as they hung from his usual ponytail, and under the sunlight they appeared to have lost even more color. His skin was no different; clammy and beaded with sweat, save for the inflamed tint around his quivering nose, buried deep in layers of tissues with a thick, gurgling blow that sounded desperately needed.

Most of all, however, Asahi seemed tense— even as he tried to clear his sinuses; straining against the aches and fatigue permeating every inch of his body as he gasped in another exhausted breath and blew as hard as he could with a spluttering honk that quickly lost its strength. He groaned in discomfort before leaning to blow again; this time with more force and less regard for how embarrassing he sounded, but still quickly losing steam.

Ren watched as Asahi carefully crumpled up the sodden tissue so that the mess inside remained inwards, then followed his boyfriend’s lead in stuffing the soiled paper into the cup holder, on top of the tissue from earlier before reaching for the tissue box again.

…At that moment, Ren made another mental note to thoroughly sanitize his sister’s car before returning it to her.

There had to be something he could do to help, Ren thought to himself, reaching over to place one of his hands on Asahi’s shoulders, mostly out of sympathy for his sick partner— and then an idea hit once he clocked just how tense the Octoling’s shoulders were.

A few extra minutes in the parking lot wouldn’t hurt, Ren rationalized, before turning in his seat to place both of his hands on Asahi’s shoulders while he was preoccupied with blowing his nose, startling him out of his focus.

“W-What are you—?”

“Want a shoulder rub?” was Ren’s nonchalant reply. The suggestion seemed out of nowhere, but… in all honesty Asahi was too tired to argue, and the idea definitely sounded nice.

He gave a slow, tired but trusting nod and Ren began to do just that; rubbing and gently applying pressure to the tensest parts of his shoulders. Asahi shuddered underneath the Inkling’s hands as the aching in his body ebbed away, if only for a while, and before long his eyelids fluttered shut and he leaned across the center console into Ren’s hands.

Meanwhile Ren chuckled to himself watching his partner melt in his hands, all tension in his neck and shoulders evaporating almost as soon as he laid hands on him. He seemed on the verge of falling asleep then and there, his movements slow and floaty even without the shoulder rub. And despite the weird posture he had to affect to be able to reach both shoulders, he didn’t mind too much as long as Asahi was at least a little bit comfortable.

“Feels gooood…” Asahi mumbled out, eliciting another laugh and a deeper rub. Time seemed to slow, even though the two had only been like this for maybe five minutes. Though he had to pull away after some time though; this position didn’t really agree with him no matter how flexible and limber Ren assumed he was.

Naturally Asahi began to pout once he pulled away to focus on getting home and cut the shoulder rub short. “I can keep going once we’re home,” he quickly added as a compromise, and Asahi reluctantly agreed.

With his seatbelt on, Ren reached for the gear shift, only stopping to take one last look at Asahi before pulling off, and decided that he should maybe keep that tissue box within his sick boyfriend’s reach. So he unceremoniously plopped the box into his lap, startling him as soon as he was about to doze off, along with another important item he’d bought- a bottle of orange juice, which he’d placed in the only other open cup holder where Asahi could reach it. “Got you some juice, too,” he called out to bring his sick partner’s attention to the drink, then he turned to focus on pulling out of the parking lot for real this time— or he would have, had Asahi not spoken up again.

”T-Thank you…” the sick Octoling muttered. His voice, though clear of congestion now, still came strained and weak. “F-For the tissues, and t-the orange juice, and…”

“Don’t mention it,” Ren replied. “You sound better, too.”

He looked over to notice that Asahi was avoiding his line of sight again, hiding behind the wad of fresh tissues pressed to his nose. There was visible embarrassment in his glassy eyes, and he shrunk in on himself once he caught sight of Ren.

“S-Someone in the lobby bathroom said I sounded like a jammed Nautilus…”

And then Ren snorted; unable to suppress a giggle at that comment; unable to stop giggling despite the pout on Asahi’s face. That was… so out of pocket and Ren would be lying if he claimed he didn’t pity his partner being jabbed at by a stranger in the restroom.

But it was so specific and weirdly blunt that the comparison blindsided him, and he couldn’t help but just laugh. Not to mention the added irony in Asahi’s recent decision (last week) to try and take up the weapon in question. A perfect storm all-in-all.

”It’s not funny…” Asahi gave a weak rasp, and Ren eventually stopped laughing. “S-Sorry dude… that was just so outta pocket.”

Still unconvinced, Asahi continued to pout, and Ren eventually sighed in defeat and reached out to rub behind his ears again. He was surprised to see him resist, weakly pulling away from Ren’s hand as he continued to rub, but he held out for exactly four seconds before the sick Octoling relented, slowly leaning into the embrace as the pout melted from his face. “Knew you’d come around eventually,” Ren chuckled.

”But seriously, it’s no big deal. Just wanted to make sure you were at least a little comfortable.” He pulled away from Asahi’s ear once he began to lean back in his seat, gently patting his cheek before returning to the wheel— for real this time. “I’m no nurse, but I do know how to make a cold less painful. So don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”

…Okay, he may have been a little overconfident in that last statement. But Ren was determined to make sure his sick boyfriend didn’t suffer too much, and it even seemed to alleviate Asahi’s concerns as he began to settle in his seat for the ride home. He kept the tissue box in his lap, of course, as he reached to crack open the bottle of orange juice to take a sip… which turned into the delayed realization that he’d barely had anything to drink all day, if gulping down half the bottle was any indication.

“S-Sorry we still couldn’t do any warm-up rounds, though…” Asahi admitted after a period of silence, staring down into his bottle of juice.

“C’mon, you don’t have to keep beating yourself up over it. We can go back when you’re in better shape.”

That seemed to finally convince him, and Asahi eventually slumped into his seat, carefully re-capping his orange juice before placing it back in the cup holder. He gave a soft, crackling sigh as he got comfortable in the car seat, humming contentedly as he settled in against the soothing heat radiating along his back… Ren chuckled to himself, wondering when Asahi would notice the car’s heated seats. “Feels good, don’t it?”

“Mmhm…” Asahi purred, slowly sinking into the seat’s warmth.

“Alright, let’s get outta here. You wanna get somethin’ to eat before we head home?” Ren asked as he buckled himself in and shifted gears, but got no response… He glanced over to find Asahi asleep in his seat, lightly snoring with his head resting precariously against the seatbelt.

He smiled to himself. “You’re gonna be alright. Swear on it,” Ren reassured again, as he moved to plant a small kiss right in the middle of his warm, sweat-slicked forehead.

It was a small display of affection, sure, but the sleepy smile on the feverish Octoling’s face meant a lot to him.

——

“Yui won’t be back till seven,” the tall Inkling rattled off as he shouldered his sick partner all the way up to the complex doorstep, “so until then we’ve got the place to ourselves.”

Noon had only barely passed when the two made it back to the apartments. At this point Ren was essentially dragging a delirious and clearly sleepy Asahi into the complex he shared with his older sister, held up with his arm braced across his shoulders and matching his uneven, staggering pace, keeping him upright as they hobbled up to the doorstep and Ren dug for his house key.

“We’re almost there, just hang on.” he’d reassure him as he guided him over curbs and low steps that Asahi would have no doubt tripped over in this state.

At this point Ren sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself rather than the one who actually needed it, who seemed barely responsive save for a weak nod and a shuddering, unrepressed cough that caused Ren to wince in sympathy.

There was something needling at the back of his neck… Pity.

It sucked seeing Asahi so ill; so low. He didn’t deserve this, if anything! Someone so sweet and kind and gentle, laid low by the changing seasons… He didn’t deserve this!

“Hang in there, alright?” Ren would try reassuring him as the two hobbled up to the front door. Now he just needed his house key, and he’d be home safe and Asahi could properly rest…

As he retrieved his key and unlocked the apartment door, Ren glanced over at his ill partner, who seemed barely awake while he leaned his full weight onto him for support. His eyelids would frequently flicker between thick, inky sniffling, and he still shivered even underneath the blazing sun.

Asahi suddenly whipped to the side before doubling over, and his grip on Ren’s arm would clench even tighter as more deep, heavy crackling coughs wracked his trembling frame. The force was enough to nearly pull Ren down with him, and he winced in sympathy once the coughing subsided and Asahi was left dizzily wheezing.

He wasted no time in pulling his boyfriend through the front door and into the air-conditioned space before locking the door behind him.

“Chez Takahashi welcomes you,” Ren announced with a goofy flourish once the two were inside, hoping to get a giggle or at least a smile from his sick boyfriend. And it worked, somewhat; his silly little show eliciting a small, tired giggle from Asahi, though it quickly dissolved into another fit of coughs.

Home safe, finally, Ren thought to himself as he guided Asahi to the couch, letting him sit down so that he was finally off of his feet. “Kick off your shoes, make yourself comfortable! Remote’s right there if you wanna watch TV.”

He’d have to run back to the car to grab their backpacks as well as the supplies he bought, as getting his unstable boyfriend inside was his main priority, and once Asahi was seated and stable he ducked back towards the door to grab everything he’d forgotten.

Once outside he’d release a heavy sigh, as the day’s events weighed on him— and it was only just past noon.

He kicked a nearby rock as he went to unlock the car, reaching for Asahi’s backpack first and slinging one of its straps around his shoulder, followed by his own. The grocery bags he could grab with one hand.

“Got the stuff,” Ren called out as he made his way back through the doorway and over to where his boyfriend was seated before depositing the grocery bags onto the couch. Asahi hadn’t moved much from his spot (he hadn’t even kicked off his shoes), groaning and wetly sniffling with his visibly damp hoodie sleeve pressed against his nose, woozily blinking back dizzy tears as he gazed up at Ren… All he could rasp out was a weak, stuttering “sorry” followed by another soupy sniffle.

It didn’t take long for Ren to piece together what happened while he was gone, but he decided not to draw attention to it. At least not yet, anyway.

He searched through the bags for a few choice items, not missing the change in Asahi’s expression once he pulled out the open box of tissues— reddened eyes going wide with a grateful gleam as he reached for the box, then promptly swiped up a few of the soft sheets to bunch around his nose in an attempt to stem the leaking. Ren decided not to comment on the honking, gurgling blow that followed.

While his boyfriend was preoccupied, Ren dug through the bag of supplies again, looking for a few more choice items to help ease Asahi’s symptoms somewhat— cough drops, tea, more tissues (because one box was never enough), cup noodles, an ice pack, vapor rub, and most importantly, nighttime-strength, severe cold medicine. “You have your inhaler, right?”

Asahi gave a weak nod and pointed towards his bag, the one that was just brought in. Which was sitting next to Ren’s backpack on the ground by the door, so that was good.

“You want me to wash that?” he’d question as he gestured down to the snot-stained sleeves, and Asahi shrunk away in embarrassment; this eliciting a small, amused chuckle from Ren. “C’mon, that hoodie’s basically a petri dish. You’re not gonna get any better sulking around in it.”

“B-But I’b cold…”

“We’ve got blankets, yknow.”

Asahi eventually relented, and he shuffled out of his hoodie with assistance from Ren; now he sat in only his undershirt, sniffling and shivering as soon as his exposed skin hit the air-conditioned front room atmosphere. The sudden temperature change definitely wasn’t easy on his tortured sinuses, and he suddenly pitched forwards into the crook of his elbow with an unusually harsh sneeze that left him winded and dizzy. “–hE’tSHHIUUH!! Uughhh…”

There he was, clumsily fumbling for the tissue box a few feet in front of him… nearly dropping it a couple of times as he tried to get a hold of it.

“Still can’t believe you thought you could still play like this,” Ren sighed out without thinking.

He stopped once he noticed Asahi withdrawing in on himself underneath his stare, a faint, embarrassed blush coloring his flushed cheeks.

“Shit, I wasn't thinking straight… Sorry, dude.”

Quickly shaking himself out of his thoughts, Ren slid the tissue box to where Asahi could easily reach it, even plucking up a few sheets himself to help clean him up a bit before folding the soiled hoodie so that its snotty ink stains were inward facing while he blew his nose again. “You wanna take a shower? It’ll warm you up the fastest.”

The idea of a hot shower was tempting to the sick cephalopod, but there was one problem. “S-Shower? B-But I dod’t… ha’be ad’y clothes…”

“So? You can borrow some of mine while I wash yours.”

He’d worn Ren’s clothes before, and in better situations than this.

But even so, Ren’s straightforward suggestion had him blindsided and slightly bashful, but a chill up Asahi’s spine quickly changed his mind and he pushed himself off the couch. “Okay t-the’d…” Besides, the idea of a hot shower definitely sounded appealing to his fever-ridden mind.

He began to sway as soon as he was on his feet and upright, shivering and stumbling while he used the couch’s arm for support, only to double over into a coughing fit— deep, crackling coughs that ripped through his chest and left him stumbling, tumbling over his foot and close to the ground had Ren not swooped in to catch him mid fit.

Asahi gasped in a shaky wheeze once the taller Inkling helped him upright, leaning into his chest for support as Ren eventually steadied him on his feet. He felt heavy. Standing up too quickly made him dizzy, and all of that coughing only made it worse.

“Y’know…” Ren sighed after a short silence as he eased his clearly unsteady partner down the hallway and to the bathroom. “Maybe a bath sounds safer.”

#sp.txt #sp writes #snzblr #snz kink #snz #snzfucker #sneeze kink #snz fet #snzfic #sneeze fic #my ocs #oc:asahi #oc:ren

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