Chapter Text
Sand knew the second he woke up that something was wrong. He groaned and tried to kick the sheets off. He was burning up. However, his legs felt like lead and he could barely manage to get the sheets past his waist. He let out an irritated sigh when he suddenly felt cold. Suddenly, his stomach turned and he shot up out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom before dropping to the floor in front of the toilet and vomiting.
“Sand? You okay?” Ray called from the bedroom.
Sand was about to respond but his stomach heaved one more time, barely anything coming up.
He spat into the toilet and then slumped back against the wall, sweating and panting hard. He didn’t open his eyes when he heard Ray come in and crouch down in front of him. He felt a rag wiping at his mouth and finally cracked his eyes open to look up at Ray.
Ray looked extremely worried as he wiped at Sand’s face. Sand never got sick. Even though he looked skinny, he always took care of himself.
“Can you get up, baby?” Ray questioned gently while starting to wrap an arm around Sand to help him up.
Sand just groaned and slowly stood up, leaning heavily against his boyfriend as he helped him over to the sink to wash his mouth out. He was shaking from the cold and Ray squeezed his waist a little harder when he felt him shiver. Sand was too queasy to try and tell Ray he was fine so he begrudgingly closed his eyes at the wave of nausea and let him lead him back to bed.
Sand grumbled when Ray tucked him in. He needed to get some work done. He couldn’t just lay in bed. Sand tried to sit back up but Ray gently pushed him back down.
“Sand you need to rest. You probably got sick from me,” Ray said firmly, his tone not giving any room for argument.
Sand looked momentarily surprised at his boyfriend but let himself be tucked back in. He’d never seen him in caretaker mode. Ray was always cute and pouty, begging Sand to do things for him. He seemed determined to take care of Sand though, already coming back from the bathroom with some medicine and a glass of water from the kitchen.
Sand gave him a small smile, too tired to speak, before reaching out to take the water and medicine from Ray. Ray wasn’t having it though. He shook his head with a short tsk.
“Let me help you,” Ray said shortly. However, his tone was soft and sweet.
Sand was baffled. He wanted to protest but something inside of him liked how his boyfriend was gently manhandling him. Sand always took care of others, usually hating it when he needed to rely on someone. Seeing Ray do the same for him made his heart tug. Still, he wouldn’t go down without a little resistance.
He gave Ray his best pout, something he had learned to do from his boyfriend.
Ray just snorted and booped his nose lightly to get him to stop, before gently putting the back of his hand on Sand’s forehead.
“This is just nausea medicine. You’ve got a fever, baby. I’ll go pick up some actual medicine in a bit.”
Sand just stared at him a little dazed when he ignored him. Ray smirked at his reaction and held out the pill, pushing it into Sand’s mouth before helping him drink the water. Sand momentarily forgot about resisting when his stomach turned a little from the water. He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back against his pillow, trying to breathe slowly until the discomfort went away.
He felt Ray rubbing his hand gently that was curled around his stomach, the other gently carding through Sand’s sweaty hair. Once he felt the queasiness go away, he squeezed Ray’s hand gently to let him know he was okay. He scrunched up his nose and tried to turn his head away from Ray’s hand.
“Dont….sweaty and gross,” Sand croaked out.
“Oh relax, Sand. You did the same for me,” Ray said softly, giggling at his boyfriend’s attempts to get away from him.
Sand gave in and resigned to his fate. He wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. Once Sand settled down, Ray left some more water on the night stand and told him to sleep while he went to go get medicine. When Ray reached out to boop him on the nose for frowning at him, he had half a mind to bite his finger. Ray must have guessed as much because he quickly pulled his finger back when Sand opened his mouth.
“Nice try tough guy. Behave while i’m gone,” Ray ordered while leaving.
Sand stared wide eyed at him, mouth still slightly open like a fish. He felt awful…. But he didn’t want to acknowledge why that turned him on a little. He let it go quickly and settled into his pillow with a sigh. Ray was right. He knew sleeping would help. Since his boyfriend was sick yesterday, he hadn’t really slept. Sand had stayed up late, watching over Ray to make sure his fever was going down. He woke up several times in the middle of the night as well to check on him and wipe him down as the fever finally faded. His body shivered and he hid his face more under the covers, quickly falling asleep from the medicine.
Sand stirred awake with a low groan when he felt something cold and wet on his forehead. He cracked his eyes open to find Ray leaning over him and wiping his face gently with a cool towel.
“There you are. Time to take your medicine!”
Sand groaned and tried to hide under the covers when he heard Ray’s all too happy tone. Ray pulled the cover back immediately and ignored Sand’s protests, helping him to sit up more.
“Come on tough guy, you’ll feel better after you take this. Then i’m going to wipe your body down. You’re gross,” Ray joked.
Sand looked at him offended but it must not have had much effect because Ray just laughed at him and held out the spoonful of medicine he had measured out. It would’ve looked like Sand was blushing if his face wasn’t already flushed from the fever.
Ray gave him a look, like a parent scolding a child, and held out the spoon expectantly. Sand just sighed and took the spoonful of medicine, gagging a little at the taste. Ray quickly gave him some water and Sand swallowed the glass down quickly before he could throw up. Once he laid back down, Ray peeled the covers back so that he could wipe him down.
Sand let out a little whine at the cold. He just wanted to sleep. Ray seemed determined to torture him though, smirking at his reaction before sitting on the bed next to him. Sand could tell by the look in his boyfriend’s eye that he was enjoying this a little too much, probably to get back at him for doing the same thing yesterday.
He didn’t want to admit that he was starting to feel a little better as Ray wiped his neck. He felt a little warmer and stopped shivering as much. He gave a small content hum, closing his heavy eyelids. The medicine was slowly taking effect and Sand could feel the drowsiness taking over. He missed the gently smile on Ray’s face as he gently wiped down his stomach, letting the comforting motion lull him into a deep sleep.
While Sand was out cold, Ray finished wiping down his legs and tucked him back in. He left a lingering kiss on his forehead before leaving him in peace to go take a shower and order some food for Sand, when he woke up.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sand wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep, but when he slowly woke up again it was starting to get dark outside. He blinked his eyes a few times to get rid off the grogginess and took note of how he felt. He was relieved to feel less queasy and he wasn’t cold anymore. The stickiness of his skin against the sheets however, felt gross and he groaned and sat up.
As he was swinging his legs over to stand up, Ray came in quickly.
“I don’t think so, mister. You need to lay back down,” Ray admonished while gently pushing Sand to lay back down.
“But I’m fine now,” Sand protested. He was pleased to find he could talk more.
His boyfriend wasn’t though.
Ray ignored him and felt his forehead. He sighed in relief when he felt Sand’s fever had gone down.
“At least let me clean you up one more time. I got food for you as well,” Ray tried to reason.
Sand opened his mouth to protest again but Ray interrupted him with a long sigh.
“Sand, I know you can take care of yourself but….please just let me. You took care of me…. I want to take care of you.”
Ray’s eyes were a little watery and he all but whispered the last part of his sentence. Sand immediately felt bad when he saw how sad Ray looked. He didn’t know how badly Ray wanted to take care of him. His boyfriend took some time when opening up about his feelings, so Sand was surprised to hear Ray sound so vulnerable and admit that. How could he say no to that.
When Ray didn’t hear him protest, he started wiping his face again. His movements were gently. Sand watched his face the whole time. He observed how Ray looked concentrating. He could see the love and care in his eyes. Could feel it in the way he gently wiped his neck. Ray noticed him staring and gave him a quick kiss on the nose.
Sand couldn’t help the little giggle he let out. His heart melted when he finally saw a smile return to Ray’s face. He decided that maybe this wasn’t worth the fight. Maybe he could let his boyfriend take care of him….occassionally at least. Sand wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
As Ray wiped down his chest he spoke softly, eyes still concentrated on his task.
“I got you some soup. If you’re really feeling better then i’ll help you take a bath after you eat something.”
Sand felt the protest coming up but he forced it down. He could do this. Ray looked as happy as he did when taking care of Ray. He suddenly felt a rush of emotion. He didn’t understand why he suddenly felt teary but maybe it had to do with him being too sick to control it. Ray was treating him like he was his whole world, just like Sand did with him. He suddenly felt the need to tell him.
Sand gently reached a hand up, stroking at Ray’s cheek. Ray looked a little surprised and paused his movements to look at Sand.
“........Thank you for taking care of me,” Sand said simply, voice cracking a little. He blinked his eyes to keep the tears in.
He knew he wasn’t always good with his emotions either. He didn’t always know how to say how he felt, but Ray seemed to have picked up on it. He practically beamed at Sand’s simple response and reached his own hand up to cover Sand’s hand. A little tear leaked out of his eye even though he was smiling. Sand wiped it away gently. He never realized how much Ray wanted to take care of him. He always joked and brushed it off. Ray never genuinely got upset and complained about it so he didn’t think much of it. Now he could see how much his boyfriend wanted it. Sand didn’t want either of them to cry though so he joked with Ray to lighten the mood.
“I didn’t know you were so good at taking care of people. Usually I have to help you just to turn the dishwasher on,” Sand teased.
Ray feigned an indignant gasp before gently smacking Sand’s thigh while his boyfriend cackled at his reaction.
“I’ll have you know it is an honor to be taken care of by me,” Ray informed him with mock disgust in his voice, not able to hold back the smile at his laughing boyfriend.
Sand calmed down after a moment and wiped the tears from his eyes, still giggling. Ray pouted and gave a fake huff while he got up to go get the soup he bought. He returned shortly and Sand let him feed him, now in a much brighter mood. It felt good to let go a little, at least for his boyfriend.
Once Sand ate about half of it, he felt full. Ray had him drink some more water and then helped him up to go take a bath. Ray hovered for a second while he stood up, giving him some room in case he didn’t want help. Sand was relieved that he didn’t feel nauseous anymore and his legs were just a little shaky. He could tell Ray wanted to help and was holding back. He still felt pretty weak so he gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile and let him take his hand while the made the slow walk to the bathroom. He let Ray manhandle him to sit on the closed toilet lid while he filled the tub with warm water and some scented oil.
Ray helped him strip his boxers off, kneeling in front of him to help him step out of them. Sand smirked at the position he was in and gently grabbed Ray’s chin to get him to look up. Ray gave him a heated look but quickly got up to help him into the tub, smirking at Sand’s pout. Sand let out a long sigh as he finally sat down, letting the warmth soothe his muscles. He closed his eyes and let Ray wash his hair while absentmindedly playing with the bubbles. He couldn’t help but let out a short, low moan when he felt Ray’s nails scratching his scalp. It felt so good and he relaxed more against Ray’s thigh. Sand felt Ray’s hands pause momentarily when he heard his moan, but he continued quickly.
Sand smiled to himself. He loved teasing Ray and getting him riled up. Sand wouldn't say it out loud, but he secretly loved when Ray would get needy and get a little rough, like he needed to claim Sand as his.
By the time Ray had finished washing his hair and his body, Sand had almost fallen asleep again. The feeling of his boyfriend’s gentle hands and the sweet scent of apples enveloping the room made him feel too relaxed. He groaned when it was time to stand up and shakily stepped out of the tub. Ray quickly dried his hair and wrapped a towel around his waist. Sand felt wobbly and suddenly very exhausted from the sickness and the exertion of getting up to take a bath. His eye lids drooped and he fought to stay awake while Ray helped him stumble his way back to the bed.
He gave a dopy grin as Ray pulled some boxers up his legs and tucked him back in. He couldn’t help feeling a little aroused despite the exhaustion. In a moment of lucidity, he reached out and grabbed Ray’s wrist that was pulling the covers up. Ray looked at him a little confused, but then he caught Sand’s expression. Despite the fact that he looked sleepy, Ray could see the little spark of desire in his eye. Sand felt himself harden a little and looked down, Ray’s eyes following.
“Oh? Does my baby want something to help him sleep?” Ray teased in that honey sweet voice, biting his lip as he noticed Sand’s arousal.
“You don’t have to,” Sand whispered sleepily, a small pout on his face.
Ray just smirked and climbed on to the bed, sitting down by Sand’s lanky legs.
“Just lay back and get some rest, Sand. I’ll help you feel better,” Ray reassured while slowly pulling Sand’s boxers down.
Sand closed his eyes and laid back, relaxing completely. He felt himself starting to drift, a small sigh and a satisfied smile covered his face as he felt this boyfriend take him in his mouth. He knew he would feel better in the morning, thanks to Ray.