Disclaimer: These characters and their world are as not mine
as they could possibly get.
Summary: Ryo comes down with a cold during a time of year
he's already not especially fond of. Luckily, he doesn't have to suffer alone
for too long.
Gift for Gayle
"ahhh... ahhhChoo! Sniff!
Sniff, sniff, sniiiiiiiff!"
Dee
did not look up. He did not need to. Keeping his gazed fixed on the papers on
his desk in front of him, he tilted his hand and used
the end of the pen to push the box of tissues that straddled their back-to-back
desks. The gentle push made the box slide a few inches until it was completely
on Ryo's desk.
A few
seconds later, Ryo seemed to have taken the hint as Dee
heard him blowing his nose. "Sniff!
Thanks, Dee," he said, his voice a bit deeper and
heavier than usual.
Dee
finished reading a paragraph and looked up, the end of his pen now pressed to
the spot where he'd stopped. Ryo's face was pale, his eyes bloodshot.
Considering that he knew Ryo had been up all night tossing and turning,
coughing and sniffling, Dee wasn't surprised. "Ryo," he started
with a soft sigh.
Ryo
sniffled, balled up the tissue, and dropped it into their shared waste paper
basket. He shook his head. "It's just a little cold." But Ryo knew Dee
wouldn't believe him about that. Dee knew him too well.
It was already looking like it might be more than a little cold. "Besides, you
know this time of year I like to keep busy." This was Ryo's way of saying he
liked to keep his mind off matters like his parents' death and liked to be at
work because it meant he wasn't alone. Besides, there was important work to be
done and he wanted to help Dee with it.
Ryo
sniffled again, and Dee eyed him suspiciously. "Why
don't you just take off? You look beat. I can finish the paperwork on my own."
Ryo
frowned. "But you hah... hate..." Ryo's voice died away and he quickly grabbed
another tissue to catch the oncoming "ahhhShooo! hahhhChoo! Sniff!"
With a
sigh, Dee pushed back from his desk, rolling back a foot
or two and turning in his chair before standing and rounding the desks. He laid
a gentle hand on Ryo's shoulder, not wanting the guy to collapse from his
touch. "I know I hate paperwork, but I can handle it. I'll get JJ to help me
with it."
Ryo's eyes widened in surprise. "But Dee...
JJ..."
"I know," Dee
sighed. JJ wasn't as painful to handle as paperwork, but he was hardly Dee's
favorite person to be around. "See what a sacrifice I'm making for you?" He smiled
kindly. "But only if you promise to go back to your apartment..." He lowered his
voice. "Put on those adorable striped pajamas of yours..." He reached up and
brushed some of the soft brown hair from Ryo's face. It fell right back in front
again, but that was hardly the point. "Climb into bed, and get some rest."
He sighed
resignedly and nodded. "All right. I promise. Sniff!" Ryo coughed into a fist and
nodded again as he stood. "Sniff, sniff, sniff! I'll
stop by the chief's on my way out."
Dee
pecked Ryo's cheek with a reassuring kiss. "Good. And bundle up out there. The
snow's really coming down today."
Ryo took a
step away, then leaned back and pulled a few more tissues from the box for the
trip down the hall and then home.
Glad his
apartment building was only a few blocks from the station, Ryo braved the snow
with his hands stuffed in his coat pockets and his head bent down against the
wind. He could feel the snow settling on his hat and shoulders, and he could
feel the wind whipping against his cheeks. "ahhhShooo! AHHHShhhhh!" He sneezed
twice, freely, and sniffed hard afterwards. He didn't want to bother with his
nose at the moment. It was hard to handle a tissue with gloved hands, not to
mention with wind and snow coming at him. So he sniffed hard and quickened his
pace to get home. He shook the snow off as he mounted the stairs to the front
door of his building.
Just a few
minutes later, Ryo had made good on his promise to Dee.
He found himself in his apartment, in his pajamas, in bed resting. Resting, but
not sleeping. He had been trying all afternoon, just as he had tried the night
before, to get a decent sleep. But every time he drifted off he either woke too
quickly or had dreams about his parents' death. And even when surrounded by soft
pillows and warm blankets, he simply couldn't manage to relax enough to fall
asleep properly.
Not at all
surprising considering tomorrow was the anniversary of their death. Here he was
on the eve of Christmas Eve and alone again. Sitting up against his large
pillows, Ryo pulled one of his smaller pillows to his chest and hugged it
tightly. Instead of feeling sad, however, he was smiling. He might have been
alone at the moment, but wouldn't be so for long. Bikky would be home from
school in a little while. And then there was Dee... Dee
was his someone. Not just a partner but a friend and a lover.
"ahhh..." Feeling another sneezing coming on,
Ryo tensed up and reached for the tissues. "ahhh-Shooo! ahhhChooo!
ahhhChoo!" His nose
twitched and ran, but he didn't want to sniffle as there were more sneezes to
come. He could feel them taking him over, and he waited patiently for him. He
didn't have the energy to fight them off. "ahhhShooo! hahhhChoo!
Huh-hah-ahhhShooo!" Wearily, he reached for more
tissues and blew his nose hard into the whole handful until all the twitching,
running, and tickling was gone. At least for the moment.
He heard a
key in the lock and smiled, glancing at the clock. School was out for the day
and, more importantly, winter break. Bikky would be bouncing off the wall with
excitement, as though he didn't normally bounce off the walls. "Ryo? You home?"
Ryo stifled
a cough into his shoulder as he tried to answer. He cleared his throat and
tried again. "Yeah, in here!" Ryo called. He hugged
the pillow tighter to his chest as he shivered again as he sat up straighter,
trying to make himself look a bit stronger.
"Those last
few minutes in school went by sooooo slowly. I tried
not to think about getting out and going to the arcade or anything so I
wouldn't jinx it, but it still took forever!" Bikky came bouncing into Ryo's
bedroom, as predicted, but stopped grinning the moment he saw Ryo. "You don't
look so good, Man." He took in the scene, Ryo being in
bed in the middle of the day and the small pile of used tissues around the
trashcan by Ryo's bed.
Nodding,
"It's just a little cold. Sniff, sniff!
I came home from work early." He put on a strong smile. "So, last day of school
this year, huh? Big plans to celebrate?"
Bikky
shrugged, frowning at Ryo. "I guess. Hey, can I get you a drink? Tea? I think I can make tea."
Ryo smiled
gratefully, relaxing back into his pillows with a light sigh. "That would be
wonderful. But use the micro, not the stove," he warned. He didn't need Bikky
hurting himself, or burning the place down, either. Ryo shivered again.
Before
leaving, Bikky darted forward. He grabbed the blanket folded at the bottom of
the bed and tucked it around Ryo's front. Deciding that Ryo was all right for
the moment, he headed towards the kitchen, dropping his backpack in the middle
of the hallway without a care.
Ryo ran a
hand through his hair with another sigh. He was lucky to have people to look
after him when he was sick. He just wished he didn't feel quite so sick. Whatever
he had had, at first, seemed like a little cold. Mostly a
sniffle or two in his nose and a headache. But colds usually came over
Ryo slowly and he could tell this one was still just getting started. Already
he had the shivers, and a scratchy throat, in addition to the sniffles and
aches and congestion. Ryo tilted his head to the side, letting it sink into a
corner of a pillow, and closed his eyes. He'd be able to handle this, so long
as it wasn't the flu.
But it
couldn't be the flu. He didn't know anyone with the flu now, did he? Of course,
he couldn't think of anyone around him with a cold either. With his eyes
closed, he tried to imagine his floor at the precinct, mapping out the other
cops and trying to remember if any had taken sick leave lately.
"ahhh... ahhh-ah-Chooo! HahhChoo! Chhhooo!" Ryo's imagination
could not compete with the sneezes, apparently. He reached down to the tissue
box he'd brought over from the bathroom and took out two. After the last hour
of sneezing, he decided that he needed two at a time, at least.
Bikky
returned with the tea but hovered in the doorway while Ryo blew his nose. It
wasn't a particularly pleasing sound, Ryo knew, or a pleasing sight, Ryo
guessed. He finished up quickly and tossed the tissues away. "Excuse me." He
gave Bikky a weak smile.
"It's all
right," Bikky said, moving forward and carefully handing over the cup of hot
water he'd just nuked. It was on a saucer which also held a spoon, a slice of
lemon, a few packets of sugar, and of course a teabag. "I was away the last
time you got sick," he said, hovering over the low bed. He watched Ryo sniffle
and dunk the teabag into the water. "Are you always this..."
Ryo set the
tea down for a moment and snatched up two more tissues, cupping them over his
nose and mouth completely. He didn't need Bikky catching this from him. "ahhh-AHChooo! Ahhhchooo!
Sniff! Sniff, sniff!" He cleared his throat and wiped his nose. Then he
picked the tea up again and held the sugar packets all together to rip them all
open in a single rip. "Am I always this miserable?" he suggested with a laugh.
Bikky
laughed. "Actually, I was going to say sneezy."
Ryo laughed
a little as he stirred the tea, then took a few sips. "This
is great," he told Bikky, who beamed proudly. "Thank you. Sniff! And yes, usually I am this sneezy." Ryo didn't want to
mention that he suspected he was going to get worse. Not to mention feeling
depressed about tomorrow.
Ryo heard
heavy footsteps in the hallway approaching the apartment, the stopping in front
of it. There was a few seconds of silence, then several loud, thumps against
the door. Bikky and Ryo both jumped. Bikky went for Ryo's gun on his nightstand
and Ryo pushed him away from it. "Get in the corner and stay quiet, sniff, sniff, whatever happens," Ryo
instructed.
"But you're
sick--" Bikky began to object but was silenced by Ryo's strong look as the man
swiftly crossed the bedroom in his pajamas. The short series of banging came
again and Bikky retreated to the corner of the bedroom, out of sight between
the wall and dresser.
Trying to
get his shivering under control, Ryo walked quickly down the hallway, hitting
his bare foot against Bikky's backpack and stumbling
over it as he couldn't stop on his way to the door. Ryo took the safety off the
gun. Another set of thumps sounded, quicker, more anxious. And then, following that, "Hey, Ryo, you there? Get the
door! My arms are full!" Ryo put the safety back on and quickly unbolted and
opened the door.
Dee
was standing there, grinning from ear to ear, a large Christmas tree hugged
against his body with his arms and several bags of things in one hand. The tree
was only inches off the ground, and towered over him a few feet, but he seemed
able to actually move it. And he narrowed his eyes when he saw Ryo. "You look
awful. What are you doing up? Go get back in bed."
Ryo laughed
as he closed and locked the door behind Dee. When he
turned around he saw, out of the corner of his eye, the blur that was Bikky
running into the room and kicking Dee in the shin. Dee
howled and set the tree down carefully. "Ow! You
idiot! What was that for?" He rubbed at his sore shin.
"That was
for scaring us and making Ryo get out of bed when he's sick!" Bikky said
matter-of-factly.
Dee
sighed and shoved the bags at Bikky. "All right. I'm
sorry." He certainly sounded sorry. "Now take these into the bedroom and I'll
get the tree."
Ryo shivered
again, watching the two head down the hallway to his bedroom. He wasn't quite
sure what was going on, but he was certainly glad it had been Dee
at the door and not someone he'd have to use a gun against. "Dee!"
he called quickly, rubbing at his tickling nose in order to get his words out
before another sneeze struck. "Watch out for the--"
Unable to
see it for the tree, Dee tripped over the backpack and
fell forward. He managed to keep from falling to the floor on top of the tree,
and instead slammed into the wall with it. He swore and hurried on, limping
slightly. Then he stood the tree up in the corner sigh a sigh and backed up to
view it.
Ryo emerged
from the hallway and looked it over, as well. The slam against the wall had not
damaged it any, and Ryo recognized it as the tree he and Dee had picked out a
few weeks back and set up at Dee's apartment, where they had decided they would
celebrate Christmas. The trip over had caused it to lose some pine needles, and
there was a small trail of them from the front door to the bedroom. But,
otherwise, it looked well. "Dee?" Ryo did not have to
finish asking.
"You should
be sick in your own bed," Dee explained, coming at it
from a strange point. "But you also deserve to have a merry Christmas with
everything that comes with it. So I brought Christmas to you!" Dee
said cheerfully. He looked down at his front. "Unfortunately, that involved me
getting covered in tree sap." Ryo laughed lightly but sympathetically.
"Can I put
the lights on?" Bikky asked, looking in one of the
bags he'd been carrying to see a string of lights.
Ryo nodded
towards Bikky. "You may decorate to your heart's content," Ryo told him. "And
you," he said, going over to Dee and kissing his cheek
very lightly. "Thank you," he started, smiling. "Sniff! Sniff! You should go shower and change. There's some cream in
the cabinet that you can use to get some of the sticky off your hands if soap
doesn't... work." Ryo held a fist up to his face and closed his eyes, coughing. "And
I'm going to get back in bed with my tea," Ryo ordered himself, already moving
automatically towards his bed.
Ryo
readjusted his pillows and lay down on his bed, leaning against them. He drank
the sweet tea slowly as he watched Bikky wrap the brightly colored lights
around the tree. Bikky then dove into the same bag, pulling out a few boxes of ornaments.
Dee
emerged from the bathroom, drying his dark hair with a towel around his neck.
He'd changed into some clothes he kept at Ryo's place for when he spent the
night. And he nodded in approval at the tree and filled the base he'd brought
along with water. Then he slipped beneath the covers and scooted up behind Ryo.
Ryo sighed and leaned back, into Dee's arms. His partner
was so warm and his arms were so strong as they
wrapped around Ryo. Ryo smiled as Dee's lips touched the
back of Ryo's head, and then the beck of his neck and the spot just behind his
ear.
He finished
the tea and went to set the cup aside, but Dee took it
off his hands for him in exchange for another tender, soothing kiss. Ryo's
eyes, bloodshot and tired, went a bit blurry as he watched Bikky dress the
tree. The small lights glowed like large, fuzzy orbs to Ryo's eyes. "So, SNIFF! So pretty," Ryo whispered. His
eyes watered when his nose tickled again, but he was sure it was unrelated to
his cold.
Dee
felt him tense and reached over him, pulling out tissues and handing them to
Ryo. Ryo breathed out heavily into them, unable to do anything to show his
appreciation. "hahhh-ahhh-Chooo!
ahhhShooo! Shoo! ahh-ahh-Shooo!" He snuffled
into the handkerchief but hesitated to blow his nose. Dee
hugged him tightly, reassuringly, and whispered to him that he shouldn't hold
back if he needed to. So Ryo blew his nose several times, feeling Dee
hugging him through the whole thing. And when it was over, no one mentioned
anything about it. Instead, Bikky pointed out an ornament he'd just hung of a
ceramic house in which you could insert a small light bulb. Both Ryo and Dee
suggested colors to use. It was all so simple and comforting.
When Bikky
had finished with the ornaments, Dee gave Ryo a hard
kiss and then slipped out of the bed. He took a star out of the box and handed
it to Bikky. Then he knelt down and offered a knee, probably correctly assuming
that Bikky would not want to be
picked up by the other man just so he could put the star on the top of the
tree. After Bikky had climbed up and put it on securely, Dee
dug some presents he had rather badly wrapped out of one bag and set them down
beneath the tree on a thick red tree skirt.
Then he
crawled back beneath the layers of blankets and got back into position with
Ryo, hugging the man from behind and kissing the back of his head again. Bikky
rolled his eyes but said nothing this time. Probably correctly assuming Ryo did
not have the energy to break up another fight between Dee
and Bikky. Or, perhaps, Dee bringing a tree and presents over and being so
sweet to Ryo might have helped convince him, even just a little bit, that there
could be much worse people than Dee for Ryo to have given his heart to. "I'm
going to go call Carol," Bikky declared cheerfully. He rocked on the balls of his
feet. "Unless you need me to get you anything, Ryo?"
Ryo shook
his head and waved his hand dismissively. "No, no. Sniff! Go enjoy the start of your vacation." Bikky gave it one
second more, eyeing Dee in warning. Then he bounded out
of the room towards his bedroom. Ryo laughed. Then he pulled a few more tissues
out. "ahhh... ahhhChooo! AHHChooo! AhhhChooo!" He blew his
nose quickly and relaxed back against Dee, who quickly hugged him. His sneezing
was getting worse, wetter, stronger, but if Dee hugged him
like this every time, Ryo couldn't really manage to feel miserable about it.
"Bikky
doesn't want you taking advantage of me in my weakened state," Ryo told him.
"Mmm," Dee agreed, hugging Ryo as
close and as tight as he could. "As if I would!" Ryo
laughed. Dee didn't have to fight to convince Ryo to go
out with him any more. And he didn't have to worry about seizing a moment alone
with Ryo away from Bikky's interference for fear that
he may never get another. "You know I wouldn't," Dee
said soothingly. "Not when you're feeling so sick and miserable."
Ryo nodded.
He knew. Dee felt him tense up again and had tissues
already in hand for Ryo. "ahhhh... thah-thanks-" Ryo managed before "AHHHShhhhh! AhhhShooo! AhhhChooo! hahhh...
ahhhh-AHShooo!" He blew his nose into the
tissues, then Dee eased the
used tissues from Ryo's hand and threw them away for him. Ryo sighed happily, actually
feeling happy even with the nasty head cold that was upon him.
Dee
cuddled Ryo from behind, giving him a snuggly, adoring sort of "Mmmph!" Then he kissed Ryo's cheek again. "I'm just here to
cheer you up and help you feel better," he whispered, sounding as though he was
uncertain that his presence was doing any good at all.
Ryo smiled.
"It's working," he said.
Dee
brightened, and Ryo could tell that from his voice. "Really?
You're feeling a little better?"
Feeling Dee's
arms around him and Dee's body pressed up against his
back, with the pillows on one side and beneath his head, and with the covers up
to his shoulders, Ryo couldn't imagine feeling more comfortable. The glow of
the tree was soothing and made him feel drowsy as he hadn't felt all day or the
night before. So Ryo nodded, and Dee hugged him again
affectionately, apparently relieved by Ryo's answer.
"Ahhh..." Ryo moved again for the tissues, and
again Dee anticipated the sneezes and handed off some
tissues. "ahhh-hah-AHShooo!
AhhhChooo! HChooo!" He barely got
a breath in before he blew his nose.
This time
when he was finished, he rolled over onto his other side, right into Dee's
chest. His breaths were hot against Dee's shirt, and
though Dee was not a much larger man than Ryo, Ryo felt
almost completely enveloped by Dee's body. Dee
nuzzled the top of Ryo's head, making Ryo smile yet again. He never would have
imagined a man like Dee to be so soft and tender, both in words and in touch. But
when he felt sniffly and miserable, there was
absolutely nowhere he would have rather been than curling up in Dee's
arms.
Despite his
cold, Ryo felt wonderful. He could not remember having laughed so much while
being sick before. Ryo closed his eyes, feeling surrounded by warmth and
excitement and love, though Ryo knew neither Dee nor Bikky would actually admit
to that just then especially in front of the other. He certainly would not be
spending the holidays alone this year and, with any luck, never again. And it
was that realization, perhaps, that made him finally relax enough. "I'm going
to... sniff, sniff... going to sleep...
now," Ryo informed Dee, practically slipping off to sleep
before he could finish talking.
"You do
just that," Dee said reassuringly. "Sleep as long as you
want. I'll be right here when you wake up." And before Ryo could say it, Dee
nodded. "Right here, I promise."