Work Text:
“Slowly, you got this,” Issei thought while biting his lower lip in concentration. He was in the middle of pulling hundreds of tiny thorns out of the hand of a patient – one couldn’t be careful enough with wallets that had a safety mechanism installed, the amount of times they malfunctioned wasn’t worth the theft-safety in his opinion – when someone pushed the door open to the room.
“A personal call came in for you, Dr. Matsukawa. It seems urgent,” he was informed.
Issei raised his eyebrows. What could be important enough to call him during work? “Thank you, I’ll better go and take that. Can you take over for me here?”
His colleague nodded and took the tweezers.
Issei walked down the hallway to the centre of their wing. A call was on hold for him. He recognized the number immediately. Makki.
“Hi? Are you still there?” He better not be calling him at work just because he was bored.
“Mattsun! I have a medical emergency, you need to come right now!” Makki’s voice was strained and he could tell that he wasn’t just joking around.
The alarm sirens were going off in Issei’s brain. “Are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
“No, I’m not in pain but I think I got cursed…” He ended in a pause.
Issei let out a deep sigh. There was no immediate threat. “What happened?”
“I was at a flea market and I bought a record for my collection and I think it’s cursed. I’m pretty sure, actually.”
“I’m at work, why don’t you come here and I’ll have a look at what happened.” It seemed like the fastest solution.
“I can’t leave the house like this. Mattsun, please, you need to come here and have a look at me.”
It wasn’t often that Makki lost his cool, so Issei made a rash decision. “Fine, I’ll be there in a second.”
He rushed back to the room where his colleague was still pulling needles out of the patient’s hand. “I have a family emergency, I have to leave for an hour. I’m so sorry, I’ll cover for you next time.”
His colleague only nodded understandingly. They all had emergencies once in a while. The hospital would be able to do without him for an hour.
Issei was probably familiar enough with the way to Makki’s apartment that he would able to drive there in his sleep, so it was only a matter of minutes before he arrived at his place. Something unfamiliar in contrary was the spare key resting in the right pocket of his jacket.
Everyone who said that the change from friends to lovers wasn’t really that noticeable was a liar. They had only been together for a month and Issei had been even more aware of each and every move of Makki’s than usual. He might even say that he was nervous. Maybe. Sometimes.
He unlocked the front door to the apartment building, but he still knocked on the door of Makki’s apartment. Issei didn’t know why, but it felt wrong to walk in like he owned the place, when all he had was a key.
“Mattsun, is that you?” he heard Makki from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
He heard the sound of a key being turned and with a squeak the door opened a tiny crack. “Is someone else out there?” Makki asked.
“Nope, just me.”
“Then come in quickly.” The door swung open and Issei slipped inside.
His eyes were glued to Makki as soon as he had stepped inside. The change in his appearance was apparent.
“Don’t look at me like that, I know,” Makki said as Issei stood there with wide eyes. His hair was completely white, almost blending in with the wall behind him, and the iris in his eyes had turned black.
Issei gave him a once-over to see if there was anything else that had changed. “I actually don’t think – “
“Don’t you dare tell me that it doesn’t look that bad,” Makki threatened, already guessing what Issei had been about to say.
Issei bit his tongue and followed Makki into the living room, where he sat down on the couch. He patted the spot next to him for Makki to sit down.
“So, tell me step for step what happened.” His expression got more serious as he focused and started running his fingers through Makki’s hair. The texture felt the same as ever.
Makki crossed his arms while Issei examined him. “I was out, running some errands, when I saw a bunch of records in a box in front of this antique shop. I browsed through them and found one that I really enjoyed and thought it would look good hanging from this wall over there.” He pointed to the right.
“Nothing happened as you were just looking through them?”
“I don’t think so, I would’ve seen my reflection in the windows of the shops and noticed it. But when I got home I was already looking like this,” he moved his hands up and down his body,” so I’m a bit clueless.”
“Hmm, I see.” Issei said, deep in thought. He tugged on Makki’s hair before pulling one strand out.
Makki gave him an offended look. “Ouch, say something before you do that.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Issei mumbled, clearly not too preoccupied and gave Makki a light kiss on top of his head.
“If this is contagious you just caught whatever I have.”
Issei laughed. “I don’t think that’s it. This reminds me a lot of those 24-hour curses that used to be popular four or five years ago. Remember when they were trending and people ran around with wings and horns and all kinds of hair colours?”
Makki considered it for a moment, before he nodded. “So it’s nothing to worry about?”
“Probably. Let me check your eyes first before I can say so for sure.”
Makki turned around and tilted his head up, so Issei could have a better view. He gently cupped his cheek with one hand, while the other one was holding his phone with the flashlight activated. Issei carefully moved from side to side while giving instructions in which directions Makki should look, while he observed his pupils. He gave him the softest pat against his cheek when they were done.
“I’m pretty sure we’re dealing with one of those temporary curses that only alters your appearance.”
“So I won’t have to die?”
“Nah, at least not of this.”
Makki elbowed him in the side, before leaning against his shoulder. “Thanks, I know it seems stupid but I was really worried,” his voice grew quiet.
Issei put an arm around him and soothingly rubbed his back. “It’s fine, everyone would be concerned by that. I have to get back to work soon, but I’ll come back after my shift is done and I can stay with you until the 24 hours pass.”
Makki nodded. “I’d like that, yeah.”
Issei managed to get back to the hospital in no time, but his mind stayed with Makki. He focused on work as much as he could, but every second that he was free was spent on doing research regarding what curses had been floating around recently. He debated with his colleagues, read newspaper articles and medical journals, until he was almost certain that there was no way that it was anything else.
His phone was in his pocket – something he never did during work – but Makki hadn’t called once. He knew that he had tried to keep his anxiety down, even though he had every right to be worried. Issei almost lost his patience while he was looking for a vial in the fridge and couldn’t find it, only to see that it had been right in front of his eyes the entire time. Couldn’t the time pass faster?
He tried not to rush to Makki’s place. Issei even stopped by a bakery to get some creampuffs for Makki to make him feel a bit better, and a piece of cake for himself because he wanted to.
The key stayed in his pocket as Makki opened the door for him.
“Any change?” he asked as he eyed him up and down again to see if everything was alright.
Makki shook his head. “No, still the same. It’s freaking me out every time I see my reflection but that’s about it.”
“Good, so nothing changed. I brought a solution with me that’s able to change your eyes back again.” Issei showed him a small bottle. “They’re eyedrops, so you have to sit down somewhere.”
Makki tilted his head to one side. “Can’t I do that by myself?”
“You don’t want this stuff on your skin, so it’s better if I do it.”
A suspicious look was cast in direction of the bottle, but Makki sighed and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. Issei opened it and gave the bottle two quick shakes.
“Could you hold your left eye open?”
Makki nodded and positioned his thumb and index finger above and below his eye. Issei carefully put his hand against his chin and tilted his head back. He noticed Makki’s hands shaking a bit.
“It won’t hurt, trust me.”
Makki only gave him a curt nod, ready to get it over with. Their faces were close as Issei leaned down. He could count Makki’s eyelashes if he wanted to, but he wouldn’t want him to sit there in uncomfortable anticipation any longer than necessary. Makki flinched a bit when the solution hit his eye, but after he blinked a few times the black mist that had previously covered it was gone.
“Did it work?” he asked, looking around for a reflecting surface.
Issei nodded and handed him his phone to check.
“It’s gone, this actually worked.”
“Don’t sound so surprised, of course it worked.”
Makki regarded him with a look like it had only been a fluke. But they were done with the second eye in a heartbeat – the solution worked again – and found themselves cuddling on the couch shortly after. The TV was showing a random program that neither of them paid attention to.
“See, that was all the proof we needed to know that it’s only going to be temporary.” Issei was running one of his hands through Makki’s snow-white hair, while he was eating one of the creampuffs. “But I really don’t hate the hair.”
Makki made a noise like he wasn’t happy to hear that, but he continued chewing on his creampuff.
“I’m glad that you came to me for this, I like being there for you,” Issei said, with his eyes on the TV screen to hide the blush that crept onto his cheeks. He knew Makki would love to tease him about it.
Makki shrugged. “Actually I called my mum first but she didn’t pick up.”
“Oh.”
“Just kidding, I called you first.” He leaned back, his chin tilted towards Issei, and he gave him a soft kiss. “Thanks for coming right away.”