Work Text:
Tomoru doesn't even get to wake up properly. His day starts with a cough escaping his system. He barely has a recollection of last night. He slowly rolls over, groaning in the process, to pick up his glasses and put them on, even if they're a bit crooked. Touching his face alone makes him realize he feels warmer than usual. He gets a glance at his alarm clock. He should already be heading out the door by now.
“WORK!!” Tomoru shouts, shooting straight up. Now he remembers. Many people left early because of the cold, but he pushed through and stayed, even making up the work some of the others left behind. To add on, he needed to wait to be taken home. Frankly, he overdid it, and now he pays the price. Because he overworked himself, he's sick, and he can't even deny it. He has no energy within him to even get up.
Maybe he could be a little selfish and call Jun to help him. He wouldn't mind being called despite being in the same house, would he?
Tomoru struggles to pick up his phone, but manages to dial Jun's number. There's a delay in Jun picking up.
“T-Tomoru? Uh- h-hi.” Jun can barely be heard. There seems to be a lot of chatter in the background. Where is he?
“Oh, uh, sorry, Jun-” Tomoru coughs mid-sentence. “Is this a bad time to be calling?..” He follows it up with a sniffle.
“N-No, it's fine, I'm at a gaming panel right now and no one is coming up yet. U-Um, you can just say what you want now?” Jun didn't even sound so sure.
Well, it was worth a shot.
“I'm pretty sure I'm sick.. I was wondering where everyone is? Is anyone still home?” Tomoru asks, sounding completely tired.
“O-Oh, no, I don't think so.. Felix-san is visiting his brother, and Koharu-san and Daimon-san are out on a field trip for the nursery. I'm.. I'm sorry~..” Jun's voice was hushed the whole time, but he whines a little at the end, feeling bad for not being there.
“Ah, no, it's fine, Jun, thank you. Do you know if we have any soup in the house at least?” Tomoru tries not to sigh as he answers.
“I-I don't know, sor-” Jun goes quiet as someone else speaks to him. “THEY'RE COMING?!” Jun shrieks into the phone, causing Tomoru to flinch. “I NEED TO GO IT'S STARTI-”
Within a second, the call abruptly ends.
Tomoru is surprised Jun even managed a call in those conditions. Well, this sucks, even more than before. He'll get better eventually, he guesses. He can just lay here until that happens. And he hasn't even considered work. Will he even keep his job? How can it get worse? Maybe this is the end for him. He's going to be sick and fired from his main source of income, never to get another job again. He feels miserable, and no one is even here to hear him out. But, either way, he doesn't want to burden anyone.
Tomoru continues questioning the decisions he's made up until this point. Who knows how long he's stayed here for now. All of a sudden, a knock is heard at the door. Do people know? Champ de Fleur is closed if Daimon is out..
The knock is heard again, more intensely and paired with slight murmuring. Tomoru gulps, then groans, knowing he has to take it at this point. Please, let it be something simple. He's more scared than he should be, heightened by how unwell he feels. Is it okay that he's going to be answering this in his pajamas? Whatever, he can't be bothered to change. All of these thoughts race through his mind as he makes his way down the stairs.
Arriving at the door, he finally gets a closer look at who's there. He fixes his glasses to see more clearly. He finds Misaki looking over after getting distracted, immediately becoming shocked in his own exaggerated way.
Tomoru opens the door. “Jun's not home, he's at a gaming convention, or something..”
“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, MAN??” Misaki yells out. That's right, this kid is loud. Kind of reminds him of when Jun shrieks.
Tomoru gives no reaction. That's when Misaki calms down a little. He doesn't seem to be giving away his intentions. It's pretty obvious, though. There's no reason why he wouldn't be here without Jun. “..So, can I come in?” It was a drastic shift, a bit of a funny one.
Tomoru snickers just a little. “Sure.. But, don't get close, I'm sick.. I don't want it to spread further. Be careful.”
“Y-Yes sir!” Misaki stands up straight, saluting. “H-Hey, you should go back to bed, right?”
Tomoru tilts his head down. “..Yeah.” He pauses, not wanting to bring anything upon him, but it would be convenient if he could. “Hey, Goto-kun, could you check if there's soup somewhere?.. I..I can just make some for myself.”
Misaki waves his hands. “Wait, I like to cook! I can make some for you!!” He really seemed like he wanted to.
Tomoru was too tired to say no to the offer. “..Go ahead. Just, please clean after yourself.” With that being said, he walks back upstairs to lay in bed and probably tries to make a call to work.
Misaki throws his fist up, cheering. “Alright, let's do this!! Make the best soup ever for ZACK-san's friend!”
Misaki enters the kitchen area of Champ de Fleur. He can't help but gasp at the wide assortment of options. Maybe he'll have to ask Daimon for some lessons or even just an opportunity to use this place more often, since this is his, right? While he often cooks at the Fuurai sharehouse, they can never afford this many ingredients. It makes him a little sad, but it's a combination of everyone that kind of causes their financial situation. At the end of the day, he still loves them very dearly, and will instead focus on making this meal worth Tomoru's time! Though, he'll avoid making anything too crazy. Sick people would probably want something tame. But, he doesn't really get that, since Aoi seems to always tolerate spicy stuff, and he's always the sensitive one. Eh, maybe they're just built differently than older adults.
Time to think, what ingredients are most optimal? That's right, Misaki remembers Tomoru's sniffling. He could use some garlic in the soup to clear up his sinuses. The ingredients are so fresh, too. Man, it would be awesome to work at a place like this. Misaki wonders if he could even get hired.
Misaki takes a look at the vegetable section. Strangely enough, there's.. a lot of garlic? He thought they were vampires, right? Is this okay for them?? Are those bags 5 pounds worth? Who knows, maybe these older vampire adults are just further built differently yet again.
The next while is spent on the soup. He just goes with what his heart says. Eventually, Misaki creates a product he is very satisfied with. If Misaki's nose was plugged up, this would instantly cure it. He could even serve it all nicely with a tray and everything! Cool, right? He does just that, grabs a spoon, and makes his way out. Now, to conquer the stairs. He takes several minutes to climb up them, not wanting to spill a drop on the delicate interior, at least he assumed it was.
Misaki successfully makes it up and wanders into the hallway, assuming all of their rooms should be that way. He raises his voice a little. “Uh, Kurokawa-san? What room are you in?”
He hears a faint cough come from one of the rooms. Misaki's question has been answered. “Oh, I got it.” He walks up to what he suspects is Tomoru's room, knocking. “I'm coming in!”
Tomoru looks about the same as he did earlier, barely alive. Misaki gets shocked yet again, but plays it cool by doing a cool pose. “I made garlic soup! That's okay, right? I thought it'd help with your sinuses.”
Tomoru stares at him, a small smile appearing on his face. “..Yeah.” He reaches out for the tray, slightly sitting up to start enjoying it. “Ah, um.. It's.. best if you stay away from me, again.”
Misaki understands that and backs up into the corner of the room. He anticipates the approval of Jun's friend. He assumes he's gotta be somewhat as cool as him, but nowhere near as much, because Jun will always be coolest.
Tomoru takes a spoonful, a little surprised. “..This is very nice. Thank you, Goto-kun.”
Misaki can be heard celebrating in the corner. It was nice to see such youth.
After a moment of awkward silence, Misaki brings up a topic to continue things. “So, uh, you guys have a lot of garlic. I didn't know a vampire household would be like that.”
Tomoru chuckles, even if it sounds like it has no life to it. “That's true. Daimon-san says he ends up using it for a lot of recipes, but Koharu-san has said he is also a little scared of vampires, truthfully.”
Misaki laughs harder than expected. “Ahh, Koharu-san is so funny!”
Tomoru forgot, Misaki used to have a thing for Koharu. He wonders how that is now. “Uh, hey.. Goto-kun, I apologize if this is a weird question, but how do you feel about Koharu-san? I remember being told about everything in the past.”
Misaki gets flustered at the mention. “Oh, I'm over that now, because I have Fuuta, and Aoi, and everyone else! But, I still think Koharu-san is really cool, and.. maybe I can be like him some day!” He scratches the back of his head.
Misaki seems hopeful, and that once again got a chuckle out of Tomoru. Tomoru makes a lighthearted statement back. “You know, I haven't had food this nice since Felix started cooking, but, admittedly, the bar isn't very high if we go off of what he chooses to make, haha.” Tomoru takes another sip. “I really do enjoy this. Thank you again, Goto-kun.”
Misaki laughs along. “Yeah! I really love to cook. I don't get this opportunity much, y'know?” Tomoru intently listens. This sounded more heartfelt. “Um, over at Fuurai, I do a lot of the cooking, but we're often pretty low on money. I don't get to experiment as much as I want. So, I was really happy to be given this experience.”
Tomoru sees how genuine Misaki is being here. Despite how he appears, he's a very, very sweet kid with a lot of passion, too. That is something to treasure. He needs to know that. “...Hey, Goto-kun, please take care of yourself, and take advantage of your youth. Don't be like me, overworking yourself for a job you don't like very much. Pursue what makes you.. happiest, and stay with your friends. They seem like good people, too.”
Misaki takes these words very seriously, quickly bowing down. “I WILL! Thank you, Kurokawa-san!”
Tomoru smiles one last time before they agree to cut things off here. It's nice interacting with fellow musicians.
-
Misaki: HEY!! ZACK-SAN!! How are you today???
ZACK: aaaa… there's too much happening today… (╥﹏╥)
Misaki: Why's that?? Can I help?
ZACK: i don't know (˘ŏ_ŏ) tomoru is sick and i can't do anything…
Misaki: Wait that's your friend right?? I can visit!! I don't have anything better to do lol
ZACK: if you say so (•﹏•;)
-
Misaki: Hey!! I did well with Kurokawa-san!! I think he's also cool 🔥
ZACK: that's good ˶ˊᜊˋ˶ i think so too... ( ⸝⸝´ ᵕ `⸝⸝)