Wesley was
practically cursing the fact that he hadn't gone for a ground-level apartment
as he made his way home at last. To say the last few days had been long and
hard would have been an incredible understatement. First there had been the
matter of the pack of Partanul demons laying waste to a particularly upscale
part of the business district. Then they'd had to break into Wolfram and Hart
which, even on a good day, was virtually impossible. But tracking down the
charm that had been used to summon the demons had required far more skill and
precision than any of their other missions as of late. Even after they had
ended the spell, they'd had to track down one demon which had broken away from
the pack and gone rogue.
Cordelia
had not missed the opportunity to tease Wesley about how he must have had
practice with this sort of thing in the past. Her jokes about his past
profession were less than amusing when he was ducking the blows of the
aggressive and rather angry Partanul in the middle of an antique shop. For as
exhausting as it had all been, it was a relatively normal few days, all things
considered. At least, normal for him.
But on top
of all that, sometime during all that, Wesley had contracted what was now
proving to be a very formidable cold. Now that the demons had been defeated and
he could afford the luxury of bed rest, Wesley was determined not to squander
it. He had made some final notes in a case file and cleared his desk of all
pressing matters, doing so one-handed of course while pressing a handkerchief
to his nose. Then he had congratulated the rest of his team on a job well done
and headed straight home.
A deep
rumbling in his stomach told him he was hungry, as right he should be considering
he couldn't remember the last time he'd taken a proper meal. But at the moment
the thought of fluttering about in the kitchen for an hour preparing food was
not a particularly happy one. He was much keener on the idea of crawling into
bed with a thick, clean handkerchief and a hot water bottle and sleeping for
days on end.
He paused
in the stairwell, pressing a palm to the wall to steady himself. "hehhhh-IGSchhhh!" Wesley sneezed with a
shake of his head and his nose buried into an overly utilized handkerchief.
His fingers
curled and petted the wall as he blew his nose heartily. The sound was not
pleasant, but he would be in his apartment in a few moments and would have more
clean handkerchiefs at his disposal then. And he really needed to clear his
nose as best he could. It felt so stuffed that he wasn't sure he'd be able to
taste a thing even if he were to fix himself a dinner. Truly, a long sleep
would be more beneficial.
But as he finished
climbing the stairs to his level and he opened the door to his apartment at
last, it seemed neither task was what fate had in store for him tonight.
Sitting on his couch was a man Wesley could recognize just from the back of his
head. Something fluttered in his stomach as the man turned his head and looked
over his shoulder at the doorway.
Wesley
closed the door quickly behind himself and shoved his handkerchief into his
pocket. "Giles," he said, slightly out of breath from his climb up the stairs
and, in part, the shock. "What are you-- I mean, what a pleasant surprise it is to
see you here. An unexpected surprise, I think, but certainly pleasant." Giles
smiled back at him and Wesley swayed with uncertainty as he tried to recall the
date. "I didn't know you were coming today, did I?"
"Ah, no,"
Giles said, still smiling. "It's been a trying week in Sunnydale," Giles said, pulling
off his glasses with one hand and taking out his pocket handkerchief to rub the
already clean lenses cleaner. "I am glad to be able to leave the Hellmouth for
a few days to be with you."
Wesley
chuckled, thinking about the week he had been through. "I'm afraid the City of
is not an entirely peaceful place for a retreat at the moment."
Giles carefully
replaced his glasses and blinked as his eyes focused on Wesley again. "Any
place where I can find comfort in your arms is one I will find peaceful."
Wesley
smiled but felt terribly uneasy. He did not have much comfort to offer at the
moment. Sneezes he had in plenty, but comfort? Not so much. "Giles," he
started, unsure of where he was going with that. Unable to stop himself, he quickly
took in a sharp breath. "hhh-" and
pitched forward as he fumbled for the handkerchief he didn't have ready. "IHGschhhhhh! EhhhGShhhhh!"
Giles
walked over with the handkerchief he'd been about to put away. He offered it
without prodding or questioning. Wesley took it gratefully and wiped at his
nose. "Excuse be," he said softly. Then, "I'b so sorry. I've caught the bost
dreadful cold. Had I dowd you were thigig of visitig, I would have suggested
you do so adother tibe."
"So I
suppose the only thing you feel much like doing is climbing into bed and
sleeping all weekend?" Giles speculated. When Wesley nodded in strong
agreement, Giles heaved a sigh. "Thank God. I'm not up for much, either. I've
had a wretched headache for the last two days that I can't seem to shake." Then
he smiled. "And I have an unnaturally strong craving for hot soup. Would you eat
some if I made it?"
Wesley took
a moment to consider this, weighing his options. While normally he would have
insisted upon going straight to bed, perhaps by way of the bathroom to get cold
medicine for himself and pain killers for Giles, the thought of home-cooked
soup was awfully tempting. As was the idea of a nice, quiet meal with Giles,
which was ultimately what swayed his decision. "Thadk you," nodded Wesley, his
stomach rumbling with hunger he'd been trying his best to ignore.
"Good."
Giles smiled. "Then why don't you go wash up and I'll start cooking. Shall I
put on a pot of tea in the meantime?"
"Ohyesblease,"
Wesley sighed in one word, without having to think about that one. Not wanting
to give Giles his cold, Wesley moved in for a hug only, but Giles did not seem
overly worried and kissed him all the same, except with the addition of a few
comforting strokes of his hand against the back of Wesley's head.
Despite his fatigue, Wesley went to wash up
for the meal, if only to be sure he got all the demon blood off himself. He
changed his shirt and undershirt, as well as retrieved a few handkerchiefs.
Then he
joined Giles, sitting down at his relatively small table that stood at the edge
of the incredibly small kitchen. He took his tea just as it was, and held it in
both hands even when not drinking it in order to absorb the warmth through the
mug. The only time he set it down and took his hands away was when he needed to
sneeze. He kept a handkerchief out and unfolded on his thigh, so he could reach
down at a second's realization and have it to his face before his nose twitched
a second time. Wesley had to blow his nose occasionally, but did so by turning
and curling in on himself a little to try to muffle the terrible sound.
"heyyShhuhhh! hihhTSchuhhhh!" And rarely
did the sneezes come alone. On the rare occasion that there was a single one,
it was still accompanied by all sorts of tickles and sniffles and coughs. In
fact, he probably did more sneezing than tea drinking. The level of tea in his
cup dropped very slowly as he waited for Giles to finish the soup. Its warmth
was nearly enough to make him forget about eating altogether and nod off right then
and there "ehhhGSchphhhh! hehh...
ehhh-Hishhphhhh! Eh-hehhhh... Sniff! HEHGShuhhh!" were it not for the
sneezes, of course.
"You really
do have a bad cold, don't you?" Giles said from his place at the stove where he
was continuously stirring the soup. He pulled off his glasses and massaged his
eyes with thumb and forefinger, especially rubbing at the bridge of his nose.
He replaced his glasses as he spoke. "Are you sure you're up for soup, even? If
you'd rather just go to bed, I can put this away to heat up another time."
Wesley
tried to smile encouragingly. "If I cad haddle debods, I cad haddle your soub."
After
ladling helpings of the soup into two bowls, Giles took a seat at the table
across from Wesley and bid him to tell about his latest adventure. Wesley was
always eager to share the good stories, even if they contained some less
remarkable moments. "But with by dose all stuffy, they all thought I said 'back
of bartadul' add started to target... well, you get it."
Giles did
indeed, and was laughing quite heartily. Not only was it that a Bartadul was an
actual type of demon, but Bartaduls could actually be killed with a blow to its
back.
Even Wesley
laughed a little even though, "It wasd't so abusig at the- the tibe- hahh..." He was quick with the
handkerchief this time. "ehhh-Ehh'KShphhhh!"
He was thrown forward, into the table, and winced slightly as he righted
himself again, sniffling wetly into the folds of his handkerchief.
"Poor
Wesley," Giles sighed, taking his empty soup bowl. "You can handle another small
helping, can't you?"
Wesley
shook his head. Now that his stomach was full and his body putting what little
energy he had into digesting it, all he could think about doing was going to
bed. "ehhhH'GSchhhhh!" And getting a
fresh handkerchief. "Thadk you, bud doe," Wesley said in-between snuffles into
his handkerchief. He crumpled it up and gave a light cough. He'd put it off
long enough, but now it was time to resort to being his normal, logical self.
"I really thidk I should be id bed."
And, before
he knew it, that's precisely where he was, being tucked in and having Giles lying
beside him with a hot water bottle between them. Wesley immediately snuggled
into Giles' side, avoiding the cold compress Giles had on his forehead to help with
his headache. Wesley had offered to sleep out on the couch for the night, but
Giles would hear none of it and had directed him straight to bed.
"hehhh-hehhShphhh! ehhhShhmphhh!" Wesley
sneezed into one of the clean handkerchiefs he'd set aside for himself. "ehhhGShhphhhh! Oh... excuse be, sniff, sniff!" He buried his face into
the handkerchief and then curled up a little to use Giles' body to hide himself
as he blew his nose.
Giles put
his hand to the washcloth on his forehead and applied a little pressure there,
then wrapped his other arm around Wesley in a hug. "We make quite a sad pair
tonight, don't we?"
Nodding,
Wesley pressed his handkerchief to his nose and held it there to keep his nose
from running as he worked on falling asleep. "This certadly isd't what I
exbected out of life whed I started at the acadeby."
Giles
chuckled lightly and massaged Wesley's shoulder. "After all we've been through
lately a touch of normality should be a welcome change."
Wesley
sniffled and nodded. He had reached the same conclusion, however he still would
have liked normal better had it not been accompanied by so many sniffles and
aches and just included snuggling in bed with Giles.