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The knock on IV's door is half knuckles and half porcelain. "Five more minutes?" he groans.
"If you want your tea to get cold," says II.
IV sighs. "Well, come in, then."
The doorknob jostles for a moment before II's laden hands manage to turn it. One hand holds the mug, the other holds a plate with a pancake, a fried egg, a few orange slices, and some berries. "You look better," II says.
"I think one more night of soup and I should be able to kick this thing," says IV.
"Good." II passes him the mug and sets the plate on his bedside table. "Ves and I are going to the store in a bit, is there anything else you need besides stuff for soup?"
"Not that I can think of," IV says, sipping the tea.
II nods and strokes the side of IV's face. IV leans into the touch, relaxing against his Dom. "Eat something and have your tea, then you can go back to sleep. I told III to come check in when he gets done in the shower. We'll try not to be long." II kisses IV's forehead and smiles at him as he closes the door.
IV listens to the sound of the shower as he eats. Between that and the melodies floating into his mind from III's end of the bond, he drifts off easily when he's done.
His dream is fairly nebulous for a while. Dark, vague, peaceful scenery that he strolls through at a leisurely pace. Slowly materializing into the rocky edge of a lake under the light of a half-moon. He sits on a dock, letting his feet dangle above the water as a reflection surrounds his own, and a presence settles in behind him. One spindly hand settles on the weathered wood next to his hand. He smiles and lets his knuckles graze against Sleep's. "Did Vessel actually ask you to help me get better?" he asks.
"He did, but he need not have," she says. "I was already on my way to your side, my fourth."
"Do you usually come to help us get through being sick?" he says.
Her other hand comes up to stroke his face, just like II had done. "Oh, my precious fourth," she sighs, "if only it were just that you are sick."
IV tilts his head, brows pinching together in concern. "What does that--"
"I'm sorry, dear one," she says. "I can't stop it, but I will try to ease it this time."
IV wakes to pain in his lower belly, and a familiar, unwelcome warmth between his legs.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," he murmurs.
He rolls out of bed, scowling at the stain on his sheets, shucks off his soiled garments, and starts to rifle through his underwear drawer.
So he's half-naked when III knocks shave-and-a-haircut and doesn't wait for a response before pushing the door open. "Hey sunshine, how are--"
IV looks up, mortified, as III freezes mid-word. His face falls as he spots the blood on IV's thighs. "Oh, honey." He beckons IV into his open arms.
IV doesn't need to be told twice. "Hello darkness, my old friend," he sings as his head thumps into III's chest. He scrunches his eyes closed and breathes through another cramp. Breathing in the scent of III's skin and body wash for comfort. Breathing out the pain.
"Just when you thought you were safe, eh?" says III, stroking the back of IV's head.
"Just my fucking luck," IV grumbles.
"Want me to put that stuff in the wash for you while you clean up?" says III.
IV nods and pushes gratitude down the bond towards the switch. "Cold water."
"For you or the laundry?"
"Yes."
III smiles, then. IV joking like that means he's definitely feeling better than before. "Meet in my room," he says. He kisses the top of his head, pats his back, and sends him off to the bathroom.
**
A deep sense of annoyance, tinged with dysphoric dread, washes down the bond. Frustration and disappointment follow, ebbing in like overlapping waves. A shock of shame flashes in and out in a second. The Sound of Silence, for some reason?? Then IV's end of the bond goes quiet.
II and Vessel stop in the middle of the aisle to look at each other, confused. Questions flutter back and forth between their minds until an older woman clears her throat pointedly at them. Vessel startles. II apologizes and beckons the switch to follow him out to the end of the aisle and off to the side.
"Do you think he's okay?" Vessel asks.
"III should be taking care of him," II says. Still, he gently pushes concern towards IV.
The frustration and disappointment crash back in. All at once, heavier than before, blended into a single crashing wave. The pair look at each other again.
"Yeah, I'm calling him," says II. He passes an ear bud to Vessel and puts the other one in, then pulls out his phone and video calls IV. Vessel peering over II's shoulder to see the screen as well.
III answers the call with a cheery wave but a gloomy expression. "IV's period started," he says. "I've just put his laundry in, and he's in the bathroom."
"Oh, no, now?" says Vessel. "He was almost done being sick!"
"What shit timing," says II.
"Tell me about it, he's so upset." They wouldn't need the bond to feel III's sympathetic misery, it shows so clearly in both his body language and their minds.
"What're you doing with my phone?" says IV from the door.
"II called you," says III, pointing it towards him.
"Oh." IV's face softens, and he waves as he comes in to sit next to III on the bed.
"Hi, Sweet Boy," says II. "Sorry to hear what happened."
IV sighs, snuggling into III's side. III draping an arm over him. Positioning both of them, and IV's penguin squishmallow, to be in frame. "It is what it is," IV says. "Sleep showed up in my dream and said she would try to make this one easier on me, but the first few days always suck."
"We were almost done here, but if this means you need anything else, let us know, okay?"
III and IV start broadcasting a grocery list together in the bond. Vessel follows along, repeating each item as they think it.
Dark chocolate. Big bars.
"Two big bars of dark chocolate."
Pain pills.
"Pain pills."
Do they have a tea blend for periods?
"Check if they have a tea blend for that. Probably your usual as well?"
Yes please. Tampons, too. IV projects the image of the box he usually gets.
"Those too. Hey, what do you want for lunch?"
"Could go for a grilled cheese, honestly," says IV.
"No tomato soup this time," III says. IV and the penguin both stare at III indignantly as II rolls his eyes.
"We're already having soup for dinner, so we can skip it with lunch," Vessel says. Smiling like he wants to laugh but won't for IV's sake.
Maybe get him a plushie, too.
"Want me to check what squishmallows are in season?" says Vessel.
"You don't have to," says IV. His guilty excitement at the idea seeps into the bond despite his words.
"But I will," says Vessel. "And batteries."
Batteries? IV tugs at that thought. Vessel pushes the sensation of a vibrator to him. The others can hear it buzz.
"Vessel!" II and IV bark at the same time, while III snorts.
"What?" Vessel says, feigned innocence in his voice and his smile.
II shakes his head. "Incorrigible."
"Ooh, I like it when you use big words."
"Save. It." II's voice low and dangerous as he flicks Vessel's thigh.
"Okay, okay. Is that everything?"
III and IV look at each other and nod.
"What do you say, divide and conquer?" says Vessel.
"I'll get the rest of the food and meet you at checkout," says II.
"Sounds good. See you in a bit, boys," says Vessel. He blows kisses to the phone, gives II his ear bud, squeezes his shoulder, and heads off.
II stays on the call, watching tenderly as III shifts IV a little closer to him. "You two holding up okay at home?"
"I am," says III. "You?" He looks down at IV.
"III's got me," says IV. III lets his head drop gently onto the top of IV's. His head tilted sideways, one cheek smushed into IV's skull, hair tickling his nose.
When IV reaches the penguin up to let it kiss III, II's heart squeezes and the rest of him relaxes.
"My Darling Boys," he sighs. "We'll try to be home as soon as we can, okay?"
III and IV both nod. "I'll keep him warm for you," says III.
"Thank you, III. See you at home." He hangs up the call and tucks his phone away.
**
They're cuddled up in III's bed, wrapped in blankets with a heating pad on IV's stomach, playing New Pokemon Snap when II and Vessel get home. III is laser-focused, trying to get the angle right on the Zangoose stalking an unwary Seviper. IV had been cozy enough to almost doze off again. He hears the car door and sits up fast enough to knock into III's arm.
"My photo!" III groans.
"Pause it, pause it, they're back!" IV counters, already on his way out of bed. So III pauses the game and follows him.
IV makes it downstairs awfully fast given his circumstances. He skids right into Vessel and presses his face into the switch's back, humming happily at the reunion. "Hey handsome, haven't seen you all day," he says.
Vessel turns to hug IV. III takes his grocery bag and starts unloading it.
"Glad to see you're well enough to be down here, IV," says II.
"Missed you," IV says, reaching for the Dom. II obliges, taking his turn to hug IV next.
"Lunch, since we're all here?" says II. The collective agrees.
When they're settled into their sandwiches, Vessel sets a gift bag into IV's lap. "For you," he says.
"Thank you, Ves," IV says. He digs through the tissue paper and pulls something soft out of the bag. A Piplup squishmallow. "No, you didn't!" IV gasps as adoration for the plush and the man who bought it floods the bond.
"I did," says Vessel, a little smug. "There was one of him left, IV, it was fate."
IV pokes the plushie's little beak, sets it back in the bag, and stands up to hug Vessel hard. "You didn't have to," he says, his voice muffled in Vessel's chest.
"I did, though," said Vessel. "Just like II had to get stuff to make brownie sundaes tomorrow."
"Brownie sundaes?" IV says in disbelief.
"A loved sub is a spoiled sub," II says with a shrug and a smile.
IV has never felt so loved, nor so spoiled.