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It started with a light cough.
Lukas didn’t quite know when it first started happening or where he got it, but it seemed innocent enough-just a light cough, maybe allergies.
Not wanting to miss out on a day of work or the opportunity to visit friends, Lukas had continued the day as normal. Wake up, feed Dewey, visit Beacontown, meet with the New Ocelots, come back to his cabin, then sit down to work on his next book. That had been his schedule (for the most part) since the Admin’s defeat, and not much else.
As the day passed, Lukas was beginning to suspect such a decision would come back to bite him.
He was right.
Not long after the cough came a headache, which grew in intensity by the hour. It made the many bright lights dotted throughout Beacontown borderline unbearable, especially as it got worse and the slow hands of fatigue crept closer. By the time Lukas came back to his cottage-early, no less-he was an exhausted mess.
It was late summer, leading into fall, but his cabin felt oddly cold on the inside, making Lukas shiver as he lumbered through the front door. There was the light padding of paws, and Dewey entered his line of sight, rubbing his face against Lukas’s leg. With a tired sigh, he gently petted the large cat, before making his way to the fridge-because he knew very well why Dewey was rubbing against his leg, he was hungry.
Lukas took out a mix consisting of pieces of chicken and salmon, mashed into a pulp for his beloved feline, and dumped some into a bowl on the floor. Dewey shot him an approving look, before digging into the meat mix, leaving Lukas to lean against the wall, massaging his head.
They sat like that in silence for what felt like forever, the man trying to deal with exhaustion and increasing soreness, and the ocelot paying all of its attention to the food in front of it.
He could really use a nap, just a small rest.
Standing up slowly, Lukas peeled off his jacket and left it on a coat hanger, trudging to his small bedroom. He laid upon the soft mattress, limbs and eyes feeling heavy. Why he felt so bad, he didn’t know, but all that mattered to him at this point was rest. Just a small rest, nothing more, it’s probably allergies, he told himself.
Lukas allowed his eyes to fall shut, focusing on deep breaths, only to be interrupted sporadically by coughs. Despite that, he still felt sleep slowly pulling him under, as if he was being dragged underwater.
Just a small rest…
-
Lukas didn’t quite know when he came to, but it wasn’t light that caused it, rather, it was the dainty prodding of paws on his face.
What he next became aware of was how much worse he felt than before.
The poking continued, and the author let out a hoarse groan alongside a short sputter of coughs. His headache had evolved into a migraine, and his body felt like a deadweight. Opening his eyes netted him a pair of emerald slits staring right back, extremely close to his face, and Lukas became aware of a weight on his chest.
“Dew…ey?” Lukas slowly ebbed out, given how it hurt to talk. The cabin was dark, the only form of light being the glow of the moon.
…Wait, the moon?
Lukas bolted upright, eyes screwing shut as the sudden movement caused an onslaught of dizziness. Good grief, this was one of the worst things he’s ever caught. Dewey hopped off his chest at the sudden movement, the large cat meowed at him, sounding hungry.
“...Have I really been asleep-” A harsh cough “-that long?”
At the question, Dewey’s gaze seemed to veer off to the side, slowly moving back to staring at his owner.
“Gosh, I’m…so sorry Dewey. Let me-” Lukas broke out into a coughing fit, “-Let me get up first, then I’ll feed you.” After taking some time to let the dizziness abade, he slowly stood up. The world swirled around him, and he leaned against the wall for support as he slowly and painfully trudged out of his bedroom. Dewey trailed behind, watching his owner struggle to move faster than a chicken with a broken leg.
Lukas’s legs could barely uphold his own weight, and quickly buckled under him after a few short steps. He let out a groan between his teeth as his face hit the wooden floor, finding that his legs were too weak to stand up. The author laid like that for several minutes, waiting for his limbs to hopefully regain their strength. He felt awfully nauseous as he laid there, Dewey emerging from the corner of his vision, appearing concerned for the state Lukas was in.
“...I’m sorry, Dewey.” Lukas ebbed out.
That was…fine, the ocelot could go out and catch another chicken, he was more worried about his owner at this point.
“Just…give me a few minutes, I’ll-” More horrible coughing, “-I’ll…crawl, or something.”
The only response Lukas got was the sound of the cat door’s flap, then complete silence.
The author gazed blearily at the empty, dark room around him. “...Dewey?”
-
Jesse sat at the main door to the Order Hall, locking it up for the night and preparing to head home. There was no one else around him, and the usually lively-streets of Beacontown were dead silent, somehow still looking lively despite the quiet.
Jesse turned away from the now-locked door and began to stroll through the empty streets, silently thinking to himself. The town’s mayor didn’t usually have much time to himself during the day, with all the work and projects to be done, all the people that needed to speak to him. In fact, this was the one moment he had to himself, his reward after a long day.
The mayor’s attention was pulled away from his thoughts as he spotted a four-legged figure in the distance, moving quickly and seemingly getting closer. Jesse tensed, lacking armor and completely unarmed, unsure of what the approaching figure was.
As it trotted closer, passing under various streetlights, it became abundantly clear that it was an…ocelot? What was an ocelot doing here?
The second thing Jesse noticed was that it was running towards him, speeding up as it got closer.
…Wait…
“Dewey?” Jesse whispered as the cat approached, who “mrrp’d” in response. Its large paws silently padding against the stone beneath, it came to a stop and sat directly in front of Jesse. The man stroked its head, and it purred briefly.
The cat suddenly shook off his hand, however, seeking a less-affectionate kind of attention, as it bit his pant leg and tugged. Dewey meowed, pacing back and forth between him and the way it came.
“Is something wrong?” Some could say it was silly to talk to an animal like it was a person, but Jesse would disagree.
Dewey nodded, tugging at his leg again.
A thought emerged in his mind, one that made worry tug at him, but he couldn’t think of many other reasons why Dewey would be all the way out here. “Is…is Lukas in trouble?”
The ocelot seemed to squint at him, giving the cat’s equivalent of a “so-so.”
That felt like a strange answer to give, but…okay. Jesse drew out his signature diamond sword, glowing in the moonlight “Alright then, lead the way!”
-
Lukas laid on the floor for what felt like an eternity, floor ice-cold against his warm cheek. He’d fallen into a light haze overtime, not quite asleep but not quite…aware. The author was mostly focused on the painful migraine that dominated his mind, and distantly thinking about how he still needed to get up and feed Dewey. At some point, Lukas managed to roll over on his side.
…Where was the clever ocelot, anyway?
A pounding on the door startled him out of his thoughts, along with the sound of the cat door flap opening. Lukas caught sight of said ocelot batting at the door knob from the inside, standing on his hindleg's until a small click was heard and the door immediately flew open.
“Lukas!”
He knew that voice.
…Oh no.
The sight of the dark haired man putting away his sword and rushing to his side was immediate, normally brown eyes pitch black in the night. Jesse glanced over him worryingly, prompting a weak grin from Lukas.
“H…hey, fancy seeing-” A coughing fit took hold of Lukas’s throat, “-you here.”
In Jesse’s humble and not-a-doctor opinion; Lukas looked terrible. His skin was far paler than usual, starkly contrasted by a harsh flush painted across his face, his eyes appeared sunken in with dark bags under them, and his hair was completely out of whack.
“Lukas, what happened?” Jesse placed a hand on Lukas’s cheek, unknowingly making the other man’s flush grow deeper.
“Just a cold,” Lukas’s tone was rather casual, given the circumstances. “I came home from talking to you guys earlier today and felt pretty awful, so I took a nap…and overslept.”
That…explained a couple things, actually. “Lukas, we haven’t seen you since yesterday.”
It took a few moments to process, but the blonde shot up in a sudden burst of surprise, swaying heavily as dizziness hit him. “What?!” His throat greatly disagreed with his shout, and Lukas broke out into a coughing fit. “I…I slept…for a whole day?”
Jesse wrapped an arm around the other man’s back to keep him from slumping over due to dizziness, Lukas’s eyes trailed around his home, catching sight of his beloved ocelot.
“Gosh…I’m so sorry, Dewey.” Lukas groaned, eyeing the cat in question. Dewey seemed to shrug, before walking over to a nook behind a shelf and dragging out a…piece of raw chicken, how did he fit that, and how long was it there?
“I think he’s probably fine.” Jesse chuckled a bit, before turning his attention back to the other man and placing a hand on his forehead. He was extremely warm, like hovering his hand by a furnace. It was worrying how ill he seemed, how tired he seemed. “Jeez, you’re warm.”
“I feel really cold.” Lukas murmured, “...And terrible in general, but y’know.”
Feeling the anxiety within him wind down some, Jesse wondered what he was going to do next. Given that it didn’t seem like Lukas could get up and walk without collapsing, Jesse opted to do something else instead.
Lukas was given a brief respite from dizziness before the hand on his back tightened, another grabbing his legs as he was lifted into the air. He could make out Jesse’s face in the dark as the world around him swayed, and the flush on his face grew deeper again.
Truth be told, he’d always had a small crush on the man, one that he desperately shoved down no matter what. Jesse was a hero, a busy one at that, and Lukas was just an author out in the woods.
It was hard to keep his feelings down, however, when he could hardly think straight in the first place, the brain fog in his mind felt like it was getting worse by the minute.
“-to bed, alright?”
Deep in thought, Lukas had completely missed what Jesse said. “...What?”
But Jesse was already marching off, not responding to the author’s confusion. Lukas swiftly realized what he was saying when the other man entered his bedroom, placing him on the bed. Jesse dug through the nearest chest, finding a neatly folded pair of pajamas which he left by Lukas as he laid staring out into space.
“You haven’t eaten anything, right?” The hero leaned on the doorframe as he spoke, drumming his fingers against the wall.
Quite frankly, he didn’t want to eat anything whatsoever, but he knew he needed it. Lukas slowly shook his head, eyeing the clothes next to him.
Jesse hummed, concern clearly painted all over his face. “Well, I’ll make you something, you just get ready for bed.”
Before Lukas could protest such an act, the other man was already gone. The author sighed, already feeling guilty that Dewey had gotten his crush for help, while said crush was already burdened with an entire town to take care of.
After a few minutes of continuing to stare at the ceiling, Lukas slowly peeled off his clothes and slipped on the pajamas placed right by him. Jesse didn’t have to consider such things, but it was so sweet of him to do so anyway, one of the many reasons why Lukas liked him so much.
The author quietly slipped under his bed’s covers as his train of thought chugged along, a sweet relief from the cold floor slowly killing his back. Yes, Jesse was sweet, and courageous, and awesome, and however-many-positive-words-Lukas-could-conjure-up-before-he-ran-out. Jesse was a hero, and a special kind of hero to Lukas. But, the author knew he stood no chance of ever expressing those feelings.
…Then again…Jesse was usually accompanied by other people when Lukas went to see him, it was just the two of them right now.
Maybe illness was making him delirious (and stupidly brave), but an idea began to swirl in the author’s mind, though how to word it? Lukas resolved to turn this over in his head as he waited for the other man to return, willing himself to stay awake. He was so lucky the flush on his face could be easily passed off as part of the fever.
Jesse did eventually return, holding a bowl in one arm as he approached the sickly author. A reddish liquid sat in the bowl, steaming lightly. “Hope you don’t mind me using some of your beetroots.” He murmured as he set the bowl on the bedside table next to Lukas’s bed.
The hero helped Lukas sit up, handing him a small wooden spoon. The author took a small sip of the reddish soup, which tasted a bit earthy-expected from beetroot-but that wasn’t a bad thing.
They sat in silence until Lukas finished, Jesse watching and seemingly staring off into space. He only moved to take away the empty dish now sitting in the author’s lap, moving it back to the bedside table. Lukas slumped back on his pillow, breath hitching in his throat when Jesse…laid down next to him.
His anxiety was mounting, but this might be the only chance he’ll get for awhile…if ever.
“J-” Lukas was cut off by a cough the moment he spoke, his throat betraying him. “Jesse?”
Jesse-who had his hands clasped as he stared at the ceiling-turned his head, “Yeah?”
“Can I-can I ask you something?” Lukas felt like he was going to lose his voice before he got to confess, his tone sounding horribly cracked and strained. “I’ve been wanting to ask for a while, but…I’ve never gotten the chance.”
“You’re one of my best friends,” Jesse gestured. “So, anything, hit me.”
“...Do you ever get crushes?” Internally, Lukas screamed, because he had absolutely no idea where he was going with this. He watched the other man carefully for his reaction-if at all.
Said reaction seemed to be surprise, then silent studying of the author, then…smugness?
Jesse let an almost comically wide smirk take over his face, knowing where this was going-at least, he thought he knew. “Ohhh…is it someone we know?”
The author screamed internally even louder, seeing a path to expressing his feelings but incredibly unwilling to go down it. Hesitantly, he nodded, “You…could say that.”
“Who-wait, don’t tell me, I wanna guess.” Jesse chuckled, something that sounded like music to Lukas’s ears. He knew Jesse could be playful, but this felt like the absolute WORST time for it. “Gimme some clues.”
Lukas swallowed and suppressed another cough, clearing his throat. “Well…he’s the sweetest person I’ve ever known, braver than anyone I’ve ever known…” The author secretly hoped that Jesse would put two and two together quickly, without him having to elaborate much more.
Jesse seemingly had no guesses so far, eyes deep in thought “Go on…”
Lukas was about as red as the soup he ate earlier, “H-He has nice fluffy hair, with the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re…” He paused to cough again, throat extremely strained at this point. “...They’re like little puppy eyes.”
“Wait!” Jesse suddenly shot up, but almost immediately faltered. “Or-no, nevermind, keep going.”
Lukas weakly ran a hand through his ruined hair, wishing he could completely break through the fortress his nerves had become and just say it was Jesse already. A different, but still much more direct response came instead. “And…he’s right next to me.” Lukas smiled, but it hid a wince as he waited for a reaction, refusing to look at the other man.
“But we’re-” He heard Jesse begin, then instantly pause. The heavy weight next to Lukas shifted, then stilled. “Oh…oh.”
There we go, was Lukas’s only real thought as he shut his eyes and braced himself for rejection. Maybe when he recovered he could pass it all off as delirium, pretend that he didn’t remember anything of the sort happening to soften the awkwardness. He waited for something to break the tense silence, anxiety ravaging through his mind. At least he wasn’t cold anymore, he’ll probably pass out at this rate if how his face felt was anything to go by.
To his surprise, he felt a hand first touch his cheek, then cup it. Lukas willed his eyes open again only to find two enormous brown eyes gazing right back at him with wonder, Jesse was right in his face.
“Lukas?” Jesse didn’t sound upset, at least. “Do you really…?”
Unable to find his voice, the sickly author nodded quietly.
“That’s…I…” It was the brown-haired man’s turn to struggle with words, “Lukas, I…”
This was it, this was the end of one of his closest relationships.
“Actually, you know what? Words are for losers.” With no further warning, Jesse grabbed the blonde’s face, planting a large kiss on Lukas’s cheek.
Said kiss might as well have completely shut Lukas’s brain down, as he froze completely, his train of thought at a complete halt. The author had no idea how to respond, and he just laid there, eyes as wide as they could be.
Jesse slowly clasped Lukas’s hands within his own, smile wide as could be. “...I love you too, Lukas.”
Lukas slowly came back to reality, still trying to process the kiss on his burning cheek. His thoughts, however, were still less than coherent. Jesse…loved him back? He really did? He wasn’t dreaming, right? A broken string of chuckles were forced out of him, heart racing. “Really?”
“Really.” Jesse used one hand to brush loose hair out of Lukas’s face, then curiously felt his forehead.
The sweet moment was interrupted by Jesse rather comedically sitting up and swinging his legs around to leave, Lukas grunted in confusion, then longing.
“Hold on, I’ll be back, just getting something for your fever.” Jesse mumbled rather sweetly, heading into the kitchen. Lukas heard the sound of a chest opening, followed by what sounded like running water, then silence.
Jesse soon returned, holding a cold, wet rag in one hand. Curiously, he kicked off his shoes, leaving them by the doorway, before gently placing the rag on the blonde’s head-who was both happy to see the other man return and devastated his hair would be both ruined AND wet. He laid down next to the other man again, above the covers and closer to Lukas this time.
Lukas felt both beyond delighted and exhausted, melting slowly into the covers, especially with the warm body next to him. There was one thing he still wanted to do before he fell asleep, however.
The hero watched as the ill author rolled to face him, then scooted over, inch by inch. Lukas seemed to shiver the more he did so, but he pressed on, eventually being close enough that he slumped against Jesse’s chest. Breathing somewhat shallowly, the author could hear Jesse’s heart beat, a slow, soothing rhythm.
…This is nice…
His eyes slowly drifted shut, sleep easily grasping him and pulling him under.
Jesse watched as his newfound lover fell asleep in a matter of minutes, clearly worn out despite having slept all of yesterday. He didn’t show it too much, but the blonde reciprocating the feelings Jesse had kept in the back of his head for years had been the highlight of his day, even if it took said blonde being sicker than a dog. He himself thought that Lukas would never love someone like him, that the author’s type would be something else. But…it seems that wasn’t the case, why or how, Jesse may never know.
The hero gingerly relaxed against Lukas, taking care not to wake him, and closed his eyes. He didn’t particularly care if he got sick doing this, if he did, so be it.
Thoughts warm and fuzzy, Jesse quietly fell asleep.