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The sun shone in from the blinds, piercing through the darkness of the room. You frowned at the impact the dazing beam was having on your eyes. “Wriothesely… help me close them.”
“Alright.” The reliable voice comes from somewhere in the darkness, and followed by the sound of a few damped footsteps and finally the blinds closing with a faint wrrrssshh.
Aaah, that’s better, you think. You close your eyes, ready to go back to sleep, when you suddenly notice a glaring discrepancy.
“WRIO??!!!!” You screamed and pounced up from your bed. The room was still nearly pitch-black, but you could immediately tell it was him from his imposing silhouette, muscular figure, and his distinct scent, which was a mixture of premium perfume and a hint of masculine grit.
“Ah, my apologies. I must have startled you.” Wriothesley stood up and turned on the lights.
He moves from the chair and looked at you with those icy blue yet gentle eyes, his head slightly tilted and a curious smile on his face. He looks like a Husky from this angle. You wished he would do that more.
“Morning, princess. What can I do for you?”
“Well first I want to know why you’re here- GH!” Your head. It’s hurting… but why?
“You mustn’t exert yourself. You still have a fever.” His tone softened with concern as he put a gentle hand on your forehead.
“Fever…?” You mindlessly repeated the word and the memories from last night resurfaced. “Ahh…” It was a cold October afternoon, and you weren’t feeling too well. You stumbled towards the apartment, and the last thing you could remember was sending a message for help in your group chat of friends.
Well… It’s not exactly ordinary friends, but that’s just a technicality issue.
“Well, breakfast’s ready, won’t want to keep the lion waiting for too long, right, [y/n]?”
“Breakfast…” You tensed up a bit. “Don’t tell me…”
“Mydei! This isn’t salty enough!”
“THIS IS FOR A PATIENT!!! ARE YOU STUPID OR SOMETHING??!!”
“But I’M not sick!”
“THEN JUST FUCKING ADD YOUR OWN SALT!”
Wriothesley sighed with a smile and marched out, leaning against the sofa. “Hello, boys. Having any trouble?”
“Nothing of the sort.” Mydei grumbled. The difference in his attitude compared to just mere seconds ago is unbelievable. “Except that Phainon’s being an idiot again.”
Wriothesley sighed and hopped on the sofa. “Look, Phainon, It’s just toast and bacon and scrambled eggs, you can just season your portion whenever you want. You can add whatever salt, pepper, and ketchup-”
The air seemed to grow heavier and unbearable as Mydei turned back with a murderous glare.
“DO. NOT. MENTION. THE. K-WORD. WITH EGGS. IN. MY. KITCHEN.”
Wriothesley whistled and rest his head on his hands. “Dude, take a chill pill. Fuck, you’re just 24, how are you like an old man?”
Phainon side-eyes Wriothesely. “Says the actual old man who’s a decade older than us…”
“Oh do you want to fucking fight right now?” Wriothesley stands up and rolls his sleeves with a mischievous grin.
You couldn’t help but smile to yourself and Wriothesely and Phainon shoved each other near the fridge while Mydei yelled at them to shut up. Just another Tuesday of boys being boys.
The two men stopped fighting as the doorbell rang, followed by a few strong knocks on the door.
“That’s probably Manato. Get your lazy asses over there.” Mydei ordered. Phainon immediately walked towards the door while Wriothesley yawned and plopped back on the sofa.
The door flung open, and Manato stood at the doorway with a plastic bag. “Uh- hi, Mydei, Wriothesley, Phainon, and [y/n].”
“Just say everyone next time,” Mydei grumbled.
Ah, yes. Komano Manato. The walking contradiction. The youngest among your… friend group, but somehow also the largest thanks to his Dog Thiren genes, and also the most… soft spoken. It doesn’t make any sense, but here we are.
“Just put it over there. Have you got everything?”
“Yes, hopefully.” Manato gently placed the bag on the table. “Water, medicine, the vitamin supplements, heat pads.”
“Thank you, Manato.” you said, and the latter blushed furiously. “I- I’m just happy to help.” His tail, however, betrayed his charade almost instantly for it was wagging like an electric fan right now.
Everyone settled down and enjoyed Mydei’s wonderful breakfast. You still feel a bit funny and your head basically hurts like fucking shit, but a full stomach helped, and you feel a bit sleepy again.
“Guys, I think I’m going to lie down for a sec.” You stood up, but not without Wriothesley interrupting you. “I think you’re forgetting your medicine.”
“O-oh, right. Thanks.” You watched Wriothesley fetch a glass of hot water from the dispenser then added the packet of WELLNESS-ULTRA into the glass. The powder dissolves into a girly, bubbly liquid. He then adds a dollop and honey and stirs the contents. “This is for your throat.” He assured and handed the drink to you.
You finished the drink in a single gulp. It didn’t taste medicine-y at all. Maybe just the fact that Wriothesley was the one who made it was more than enough to make it taste delicious.
Additionally, the combined effect of the warm drink made you even sleepier than before. “Ok, sorry guys, I seriously need to crash. See you later.”
“Have some rest. Good night.” Wriothesley kisses your hand. “Or maybe I should say good morning.”
Out of all the friends, Wriothesley has always been the closest to you. You have no idea whether he’s just being a Fontanian Gentleman or if he actually likes you. Probably a combination of both.
You slip onto your bed, feeling much more invigorated and checked your phone. Two unread messages from Nanami.
Just got off from overtime 09:30
Coming over to your place right now 09:31
Nanami Kento is insane. If he got off at that time, that means he worked a 19 hours shift on a Friday afternoon. Again.
Seriously? You’re pulling another all-nighter? Get some rest! 10:12
I’ll sleep on the tram 10:12
That isn’t good enough! 10:12
Rest well. On my way 10:13
You sighed. Nanami is a nice man, but sometimes- most of the time, you really wish that he could be less of a workaholic and less selfless.
Too tired to think about it, you drifted off to sleep.
After what felt like a few hours, you were awoken by the sound of the doorbell. You got up to investigate, but someone else opened the door for you.
You walked out and what you saw did not surprise you at the slightest. Wriothesley was crossing his arms and staring at Nanami, whose hair looked slightly disheveled, but otherwise, the rest of him was pristine. He was holding another plastic bag in his hand. The other three guys were watching the playthrough of some game. Manato and Phainon seemed quite invested but Mydei looked like he was on the verge of dozing off.”
“Where have you been, you fucker?” Wriothesley tapped his foot impatiently. “It’s nearly 1 pm.”
“Lunch.” Nanami placed the bag on the table.
You walked over and checked the bag. “Oh wow! It’s instant tonkotsu udon hotpot- nice!”
“I’ll prepare it for you, if you would like.” Nanami’s expression was like the usual. His eyes were sleep-deprived and somewhat drowsy, but there was a subtle tenderness in them. Nanami talks and acts like your average overworked salaryman, rigid, exhausted, but full of love.
“Oh no,no,no,no,no, that’s not gonna fly.” Wriothesley blocked Nanami’s path. “Nanami, you brought the stuff already and you obviously didn’t sleep again, so sit down and I'll prepare the udon.”
“It’s just boiling it over the stove. I can manage.”
Wriothesley snickered. “Oh, nah, you’re probably in denial from being too sleepy.”
Nanami paused for a moment and raised his voice ever so slightly. “I said that I can manage.”
“I just don’t want you to burn yourself or something-”
“FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” Mydei roared and jumped up from the sofa. “JUST LET ME DO IT!!!”
“...sure.” Nanami could tell when it was time to disengage.
Wriothesley groaned. “Whatever.”
You ended up sitting at the dining table while the other men clustered around, and trying to avoid eye contact while Mydei cooks angrily. You can’t tell why, but he is definitely cooking angrily.
“You could have at least tried buying us something too, Kento.” Phainon grumbled.
“Are you also sick?”
“Well no but…”
“I ordered pizza.” Kento sighed. “Are none of you capable of taking care of yourself?”
Manato’s ears straightened at the mention of pizza. “Wow, pizza? Thanks, Nanami!”
“Speaking of which,” Nanami checked his watch. “I think they should be coming any time soon…”
“DELIVERY!!!” The voice of a man boomed from the door. The whole floor probably heard them.
Nanami sighed, this time longer and deeper than the last time. “That has to be him.” He swung the door open to see an extremely muscular Varka standing at the doorway with a huge tower of pizza boxes on his hand. Gallagher was behind him, still unshaved, and holding a few bottles of liquor.
Varka slammed the boxes onto the table. “Tuck in, boys! Gallagher’s got the booze!”
“You brought fucking alcohol to a sick visit?” Wriothesley cracked his knuckles. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t throw you out of this house.”
“You can’t.” Varka flexed his biceps with a smirk. “Try me-”
Mydei was pinching his nose bridge in the counter. “Someone fucking file a restraining order for Wriothesley before he gets into his third fight of the day.”
“On it.” A sleek figure wearing a scarf emerged from behind the door, accompanied with an older man in glasses. Dan Heng laughed. “Come on, what’s wrong with you guys?”
“Did we miss anything?” Welt takes off his coat, seamlessly joining the crowd.
“Nothing,” Phainon spoke with a sarcastic voice. “Except that Wriothesley almost started three fights, Mydei is mean to me AGAIN, Varka brought alcohol and…yeah.”
Welt laughed heartily. “You guys really are a bunch of kids.”
“What’s the situation?” Dan Heng walked over to you and examined your face. “Hmm. You probably still have a low fever… your throat is slightly inflamed and your nose is still runny, right?”
“Uh-huh.” You nodded.
“Then I have just the thing. Can I borrow some stuff from the kitchen?”
“Go ahead.”
Dan Heng grabbed a bunch of herbs and a pear, then started cutting.
“Watchya doing?” Manato walked closer and watched Dan Heng’s movement.
“I’m making this Xianzhou dessert. It’s supposed to cure colds.”
“Oh wow.” Manato’s tail moved slightly. “Xianzhou cooking is amazing.”
Dan Heng puts the product into the steam oven. “This will be ready in a jiffy.”
Wriothesley leant on the sofa and smiled at you. “Lucky you, having your personal sick team.”
“Um, hello??” Mydei growled. “Wriothesley, you did JACKSHIT!!”
The man pulled his tie and shrugged. “I made that drink.”
Nanami didn’t seem impressed by that excuse. “That would take a minute at most.”
Varka laughs heartily and chinks glasses with Gallagher, who drinks and mumbles something about “Young people having so much energy.”
You were filled with unadulterated happiness as you looked around. Yes, you were sick, which fucking sucked. But at the same time, you were surrounded by 9 wonderful and gorgeous dudes who gathered her just for your stupid cold. And you wouldn’t change that for the world.
“Hey, is it snowing outside?”
Welt looked outside the window, hands behind his back, and the ethereal scenery reflected in his glasses. “Ah. It’s snowing. First time of the year, and quite early too.”
Wriothesley glanced outside the window as the snowflakes gracefully fluttered down onto the lawn. “Hey, Manato, you gonna go outside and play? As far as I know, this is your favourite weather.”
“Wh-” The Dog thiren blushed and looked sideways. “Come on. I’m not a kid…”
“We promise we won’t laugh at you, kid.” Gallagher mumbled, resting on his arms. “It’s in your genes.”
“Hold on.” Mydei cut them off. “Before we continue, don’t you think that the snow seems to be…”
Everyone looked outside. The snow seemed to have grown much more intense when they weren’t looking.
Mydei raised an eyebrow. “Too… fucking…. Much…?”
It soon became obvious that Mydei wasn’t being paranoid. In the course of a few minutes, the snow escalated from elegant, delicate snowflakes to a celestial ice explosion. The scenery outside was painted completely white and the lawnmower was half-buried in the snow. You silently reached out for the central heater and turned it up to max, as your phone displayed an “Extreme Blizzard” and “Extreme Low Temperature” alert.
Nanami sighed and put a hand to his forehead. “And this is why I kept insisting that we leave since over an hour ago.”
Wriothesley chuckled. “What, you would rather be stuck on a bus or in your shitty dorms?”
Nanami crossed his arms sternly despite being literally eight years younger than the other man. “It’s not about that. How do you suppose there’s enough room for all of us?
“Uh, what?” Varka hiccuped. “We have been doing that for like, this whole time?”
“I suppose we’ll have to stay here now.” Wriothesley shrugged.
Mydei suddenly noticed everyone not-so-subtly glaring at him. “You got a problem? WAIT, YOU’RE NOT ASKING ME TO COOK DINNER FOR EVERYONE, ARE YOU??”
He was met with a collective nod. “You people are fucking unbelievable.” He punched the counter.
"WHO WANTS A SNOWBALL FIGHT??!!" Varka stood up, clearly tipsy.
"Me!" Manato's eyes lit up.
"A competition, huh?" Mydei glared at them. "Sign Phainon and me in."
"I thought we were supposed to NOT go out." Dan Heng commented lazily from the side. "Also, Varka, you're like 38. Lock the fuck in."
You laughed with the rest of the guys, and you realized that while your illness was still there, the physical discomfort had faded since long. Wriothesley is sitting by your side, gently holding your hands.
It’s the best sick day you ever had.