Chapter Text
Serizawa walked into the office on a blustery Thursday morning in early December, shivering into his scarf as he stood in the entryway, working up the will to remove both it and his coat. It was abnormally cold out, considering how early it was in winter. But the meteorologist on tv had been saying that morning that a major snow storm was expected that weekend, so perhaps it made sense.
“Good morning, Reigen.” He called out, finally shrugging out of his coat and moving towards his desk. He stopped short as he was about to sit down, ignoring Reigen’s muffled greeting in return as he stared in confusion at the blond’s bundled up form.
“Err… do we need to leave in a minute?” Serizawa hazarded, eyeing the two coats, scarf, and blanket currently turning the other man into a human caterpillar.
“Nah, I’m just a bit chilled,” Reigen chattered, clearly in understatement. “My building lost heat last night, so it’s taking me a bit longer to warm up this morning.”
“Oh. Do they know when it’ll be fixed?” Serizawa asked, finally sitting down.
“They’re supposedly having it looked at today, so I guess I’ll find out when I get home tonight.” Reigen said, staring at Serizawa’s discarded coat with something that Serizawa would hesitantly name longing.
Serizawa wondered if he’d like to borrow it (maybe Serizawa’s lingering body heat would be warmer than what Reigen was already wearing, Serizawa knew he tended to run hotter than most non-espers), but before he could decide if that would be weird to offer, Reigen seemed to shake himself slightly, and focused back on his computer, listing off the pre-scheduled appointments they had for the day.
Their first appointment was a last-minute addition, a man who believed he’d been cursed earlier in the week - Reigen and Serizawa were both pretty sure he’d just slipped on some early-morning frost, and had strained his shoulder when he landed.
At ten minutes til, Serizawa stood and went in the direction of the kitchenette to start preparation for tea, his eyes instinctively catching on the way Reigen’s fingers were plucking at the edges of his outermost coat while he read an article of some kind on his computer.
Serizawa contemplated the action as he set the water to heat - Reigen wasn’t usually one to fidget with his clothes, preferring to channel excess energy into rapid hand and leg movement. Eventually, he came to the realization that the younger man would likely need to divest himself of his excess clothing in the name of ‘professionalism’ before the client arrived. Serizawa couldn’t help but wonder just how bad the night had been, that Reigen hesitated to take off the coats even now.
Serizawa stuck his head out from behind the kitchenette’s divider, “Ah, would you like me to turn up the heat before the client arrives? It’s awfully cold outside.”
Reigen startled in his seat, glancing up at Serizawa before looking at the front door, biting his lip in indecision as he considered the no-doubt tempting offer. With a sigh, he shook his head a moment later, finally sliding out of his coats and shoving them, the blanket, and the scarf under his desk.
“No, it’ll mess with the budget for the month if we crank the heat. It’s already gonna be more expensive this month from how unseasonably cold it’s been.”
Serizawa ducked back into the kitchenette, making a face to himself at the logic. One of these days, he really needed to get his hands on Reigen’s elusive ‘budget’ and find out once and for all if it was really as tight as Reigen sometimes implied, or if he was just a cheapskate after all.
Serizawa knew if he asked the kids, they would all unanimously agree that Reigen was just cheap… but the blond had started mentioning things being against the budget a bit after he’d finally started relaxing between clients, rather than continuing the performance in an effort to impress Serizawa. Plus, he’d looked anxious and embarrassed the first time he’d mentioned a budget in the first place. All told, it oddly implied that the stingy behavior was actually an act intended to hide a genuine financial struggle…
Serizawa wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that, considering the man in question was both his boss and his friend/crush.
The timer for the tea rang, shaking Serizawa from his thoughts. Probably for the best, Reigen was reticent about office finances on the best of days, and judging by the slight shivers that still ran through his lithe form as Serizawa dropped off the first round of tea (the client had arrived at some point while Serizawa was distracted, and was already mid-consultation), today was hardly the best of days.
Pausing to signal to Reigen that there wasn’t anything supernatural about the client, Serizawa settled at his desk, pulling out a notebook with an outline he was working on for an English essay that he could pretend to work on while he watched Reigen started to massage out the kinks in the client’s shoulder.
Serizawa always enjoyed watching Reigen’s fine-boned and surprisingly strong hands at work, his movements graceful and filled with purpose. After particularly stressful days, when he struggled to fall asleep at night from the endlessly tumbling thoughts in his head, Serizawa sometimes imagined what it would feel like to have those hands against his own skin; pressing firm but gentle against his shoulders, sliding smoothly down his back…
Reigen gave a boisterous (false) laugh at something the client said, snapping Serizawa out of his reverie. He felt his face heat at having gotten lost in such thoughts while in the same room as Reigen, but tried to shake it off, as it had obviously gone unnoticed.
Writing up the invoice once the massage was finally completed, Serizawa walked the client through the check-out process, handing over a business card (“10% off your next exorcism if you bring in the card!”) as he watched from the corner of his eye as Reigen massaged out a wrist with a grimace.
The client finally left, and Serizawa turned to Reigen with a concerned frown. “Are you… doing alright, Reigen?”
Reigen looked up from where he had switched to the opposite wrist, a bit surprised from the question. “Uh… yeah? Why do you ask?” he followed Serizawa’s gaze down to his hands. “Oh, this, you mean? Yeah, my joints are just a little stiff from the cold. I try to stretch out with yoga in the mornings, but with how cold it was inside as well as outside…”
Reigen trailed off with a shrug, but Serizawa had mostly gotten the picture anyway. Carefully not picturing Reigen in his yoga clothes, features soft and sleepy from the early morning, yawning messy and adorable as he contorted his body into increasingly pretzel-like configurations (dang it!), Serizawa nodded his understanding.
“Is there anything I can do to help? I could probably jury-rig a hot compress?” Serizawa offered, eyes traveling along those delicate wrists and forearms again. “O-or, um… you mentioned the other day about t-teaching me some massage skills… maybe I could help somehow with that?”
Reigen let out an odd choked wheezing sound, facing heating to a vivid crimson. Serizawa felt his own face heat in turn (shit, that was too forward, wasn’t it?! You’re supposed to keep it at friend-level, Katsuya!), and he sputtered his way through an attempt to backpedal.
Reigen, kind and generous soul that he was, started sputtering his way through attempts at reassurance, and there was a solid minute of nothing but random noises and utter nonsense. Eventually, Reigen glanced towards the door, and froze mid-gesticulation, his expression doing something complicated before he turned back to Serizawa with a wry and nearly disappointed grin.
“Ah… looks like we’ve got a walk-in about to, uh, walk in.” Reigen said, nodding towards the door where a pair of girls were dithering, reading the posted sign of their monthly specials. “Next time, big guy. Remind me!” And off he went, greeting the girls who were finally entering the office.
Next time…? That- that wasn’t a no then! Serizawa hid a beaming grin by absconding to the kitchenette under the guise of making a fresh pot of tea.
The rest of the day had gone relatively smoothly, with only one minor mishap when Reigen had grabbed a cursed clock to inspect it before Serizawa could warn him (luckily, it was a fairly minor curse, and Serizawa had been able to exorcize it before any harm was done).
They were packing up the office in preparation to close for the day when Serizawa heard Reigen mutter a curse under his breath.
“Everything ok?” Serizawa asked, looking up from the pages he was attempting to organize into his bag.
“Yeah, it’s all fine,” Reigen said with a distracted wave, diverting his attention after a moment from the computer screen to Serizawa's face. “Just an email from the manager of my apartment complex… they’re saying it’ll be a few days before the heat is fixed.”
“That… seems dangerous.” Serizawa slowly considered. “Do you need someplace to stay in the meantime? I don’t have a lot of space, but I’ve got a decent couch and working heat.”
“No, no! Thank you, but I don’t want to impose.” Reigen assured with several rapid-fire waves of his arm. “I’ve got a space heater I can use tonight, so I’ll be fine. But thank you!”
“It wouldn’t be an imposition,” Serizawa denied, eyeing the awkward, crooked grin Reigen had so clearly pasted on. “But… if you’re sure. Please call me if you change your mind though, I’d be happy to have you over.”
Serizawa watched as Reigen’s eyes darted across the room several times, expression hesitant. But then it resolved itself, and Reigen gave another smile full of false confidence, patting Serizawa lightly on the shoulder. “I’m sure. You don’t need to worry about me so much, Serizawa, I’m your boss after all!”
Ah. Reigen was back to performance-mode then. A bit glumly, Serizawa couldn’t help but wonder what had pushed the younger man over the edge to faking things again. Serizawa cared about Reigen dearly (probably more than he ought to), but the blond was terrible at dealing with feelings of vulnerability.
“I know… but you’re my friend as well.” Serizawa responded, giving Reigen a slightly helpless smile. “Of course I’m going to worry about you, that’s what happens when you care about someone.”
Reigen blinked at him, and his grin shifted to something more genuine, if a bit embarrassed. “Ha… well, I appreciate it.” Reigen finally said, rubbing lightly at the back of his neck. He pivoted on his heel then, striding towards the door as he started a hurried monologue on the innumerable problems that tended to haunt heating systems at the start of winter, leading the way out of the office for the evening.
The next morning was even colder, slowly pushing towards that promised snow storm for the weekend, and Serizawa spared a concerned thought towards his boss as he hurriedly got ready, not wanting to be less than fully clothed for any longer than necessary.
When he arrived at the office (10 minutes before his normal time; the cold had caused him to walk faster than normal), he was mildly surprised to find that the door was still locked. Rather than digging through his back to find his rarely-used office key, Serizawa weaved his aura around the pins of the tumbler, gently unlocking it from the inside. Reigen wasn’t inside, which made sense since the door was still locked, but it was mildly concerning.
Serizawa was significantly more concerned when the blond finally stumbled through the door, nearly 20 minutes late to open for the day. And stumbled really was the word, as Reigen nearly face-planted into the floor in the attempt to both hold the door open and get himself through the doorway.
Serizawa jumped to attention, hesitating halfway between his desk and where Reigen was haphazardly attempting to unwind a scarf from his neck without choking himself.
“Ah, Reigen?” Serizawa started, pausing as Reigen jumped in surprise, clearly having not realized Serizawa was there. Once again, the blond nearly toppled to the floor, unstable balance unable to adjust quickly to the dramatic movement. Serizawa stepped closer finally, reaching over and untangling the scarf, pulling it free and leaving it on the coat rack instead.
“Heya, Serizawa!” Reigen cheered, face flushed and eyes glassy. He tossed a pleased grin Serizawa’s way, and then shrugged off his coat, attempting to place it on the coat rack and seemingly not noticing when it fell to the ground instead.
Reigen wobbled on unsteady legs towards his desk, and if Serizawa hadn’t known better, he would have thought Reigen was drunk, for some reason. He was well acquainted with how stringent the blond was when it came to his own professional image, and none of this was adding up to anything good.
Expression creasing in a frown, Serizawa followed behind Reigen, subtly moving his chair with his powers when Reigen misjudged the distance, preventing him from collapsing onto the floor instead. The esper ignored Reigen’s continuing ramble, reaching out to lightly press the back of a hand against the younger man’s forehead, hissing between his teeth at the heat he felt there.
“Reigen…” Serizawa started, interrupting the blond. He considered the situation, then shook his head, starting over. “Arataka, I think we should close the office today. You are clearly sick, and I don’t think we’re going to get any customers right before the storm hits anyway.”
“Eh? I’m not sick, what’re you talking about?” Reigen asked, head tilting to the side in confusion. This was quickly followed by the rest of him tilting, and Serizawa quickly reached over, pressing a hand to the listing shoulder to guide Reigen back into sitting upright.
“‘M feeling better than ever! Way better’n yesterday.” Reigen said, giving Serizawa a loopy smile. “Which is great, ‘cause my space heater caught on fire las’ night, so I couldn’ use it.”
“Caught fire?!” Serizawa grimaced, neither the slurring words nor the apparent near-miss with the heater sounding promising.
“Uh huh. I stopped it ‘fore it spread though. Pulled out all m’ blankets when I went to bed, but it was still really cold when I fell asleep.” Reigen relayed, sounding a bit absent as his gaze drifted away from Serizawa. “Real warm when I woke up though. Was nice.”
“You are very definitely sick, Arataka. And it sounds like your apartment isn’t particularly safe to go back to right now,” Serizawa said, absently using his powers to shove his notebook back into his backpack and summon it to his hand, “so you’ll have to forgive my forwardness, but we’re closing the office now, and unless there’s someone else you’d rather stay with, you’re going to spend the weekend at my apartment instead of your own.”
“What?” Reigen’s eyes darted back to Serizawa, and the blond blinked at him confusedly for a moment. Serizawa could just picture the way his thoughts bounced slowly around the inside of his muddled mind, like the dvd logo screensaver from Serizawa’s old dvd player.
The confusion suddenly cleared from Reigen’s face, replaced with a grimace of a smile.
“Ah, no no, I’m fine!” Reigen assured, weight shifting away from Serizawa’s hand. The esper watched with an eagle eye, trying to make sure Reigen wasn’t about to tip over in the other direction. “If I were sick, would I be able to do this?”
Serizawa watched as Reigen continued to sit in his chair, a look of vacant concentration on his face.
“Er… what, exactly, are you doing?” Serizawa asked, a bit hesitant.
“Cartwheels,” Reigen responded, “... am I not doing them?”
“N-no. Can you… normally do cartwheels? When you aren’t sick?” Serizawa asked.
That seemed to give Reigen pause, and he considered the question. “You know, I don’t think so? I’m pretty sure the last time I tried, I sprained my wrist.”
He was quiet for a moment, expression contemplative. Serizawa waited the moment out patiently, well aware that taking care of the blond would go much smoother if he could convince Reigen that he was ill in the first place.
“You really think I’m sick?” Reigen finally asked, voice oddly vulnerable.
“I’m very certain.” Serizawa promised, “But there should be a thermometer in the first aid kit, if you want to double check?”
Reigen heaved a gusty sigh, waving a negligent hand in rejection. “Nah, that’s fine. If you’re sure, then I’ll believe you; you’re not prone to lying, Katsuya.” The ‘unlike me’ was obvious in his tone, but was left unsaid. Serizawa was tempted to say something against the self-depreciating tone, but bit his tongue, as it was unlikely to accomplish anything at the moment.
Reigen got to his feet, leaning against his desk when he wobbled unsteadily. “Might as well close, I guess. Don’t want customers leaving bad reviews ‘cause we got them sick.”
Serizawa dutifully helped Reigen back into his coat, but paused in the process of helping with the scarf at the mumbled “Shouldn’a even left home. Now I gotta go all the way back, an’ all the blankets are gonna be cold.”
“Er, Arataka? You aren’t going back to your apartment, remember?” Serizawa checked, worry and frustration pooling in his stomach.
“Why not?” Reigen asked, genuine confusion in his tone even as he fought with his scarf.
“You… don’t have any heat, remember? That’s probably why you got sick in the first place; your immune system probably got lowered from being so cold.” Serizawa explained, hoping that keeping his tone confident and even would forestall any argument.
“Oh.” Reigen uttered, pausing his movements to stare in confusion at the loose end of his scarf. “Ah, I’ll just stay here then, I guess.” Reigen said, plopping onto the ground by the coat rack, leaning his head back against the wall in clear exhaustion.
“Wh- that’s not-... no!” Serizawa stammered, “You can’t stay here while you’re sick, especially when there’s a major snow storm on the way. We’ve already lost heat twice this month, and there wasn’t even a storm to blame it on either time!”
“... you don’t like the office?” Reigen asked, expression dropping into genuine distress.
“No no, the office is fine! I really really like working here!” Serizawa rushed to reassure, not feeling equipped to deal with the devastation that he was only vaguely aware lurked just beyond that particular facial expression. “It’s just… not very comfortable or safe to stay here over the weekend?”
“Oh, that’s fine then.” Reigen said, expression easing to one of mild concern. Serizawa hesitantly let himself hope that they’d finally be able to leave, when the younger man continued, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to stay! I’ll be fine by myself; I don’t really feel sick, so it’s probably just a mild cold.”
“I’m not leaving you here by yourself!” Serizawa all but shouted, aura popping and spitting in a radius a couple inches from his skin as testament to the frustration he was trying not to take out on the blond.
Reigen is sick, he’s not trying to be difficult, Serizawa reminded himself while running quickly through a breathing exercise.
“I dunno what you want from me then,” Reigen was saying when Serizawa refocused. “You don’t want me to go home, you don’t want me to stay here alone, and you don’t want to stay here with me. ‘M I supposed to ask Dimple to come over?”
“No, ‘Taka, you’re coming over to my apartment. We already discussed this.” Serizawa said, kneeling down in front of Reigen so they were at the same eye level again.
“What? No, can’t go to ‘Tsuya’s apartment! It’s rude.” Reigen fussed, looking distressed.
“... why would it be rude? I’m literally the one inviting you?” Serizawa asked, genuinely baffled as to how Reigen would have come to that conclusion.
It was true that Reigen had never been to Serizawa’s apartment, despite having the esper over to his own home multiple times for movie nights, cooking lessons, or whatever other activities they thought to do together. Serizawa had never thought too much about it, beyond a vague sense of relief from not having to worry about his apartment not measuring up to Reigen’s standards. If pressed, he probably would have assumed it was due to Reigen being polite, considering the (very) few times Serizawa had offered to host, it tended to be delivered with much fumbling and anxiety.
It simply made no sense that Reigen might be avoiding it out of a sense of propriety.
“Nope, can’t go to ‘Tsuya’s.” Reigen continued to insist, glazed eyes staring at where Serizawa’s aura was still fizzing away in the air around them. “It’s, um…not rude… unfair’s not right…”
Reigen trailed off, humming in consideration as he tried to place which word he meant.
“Oh! It’s unthcle! No… un-eth-i-cal. Unethical!” Reigen declared, pleased at solving the self-imposed puzzle. “‘Cause I love ‘Tsuya! …but I’m his boss. So it’s unth-, unc-, unethical to do anythin’. An’ if I go to ‘Tsuya’s place, I’m gonna wanna kiss him. It’s already bad I wanna kiss ‘im when he comes to mine.”
Serizawa distantly felt the way his aura exploded into stardust throughout the room, feeling overwhelmed with shock and hope and affection for this ridiculous man who, against all odds, apparently liked him back. Though it seemed like it would require a Discussion of some kind, once Reigen was feeling better. Reigen did always seem to have the worst view of himself, Serizawa reflected with no little sadness.
“It’s a secret though,” Reigen continued, and Serizawa forced himself to refocus. “So you can’t tell ‘Tsuya I like him, ok? Promise?”
“Ok, I promise,” Serizawa assured with a huff of laughter. “But you still can’t stay at the office.” Then, struck with inspiration: “How about this? We’ll measure your temperature; if it’s under 37.5C, we’ll stay here, and if it’s 37.5C or over, we go to my apartment. Fair?”
Reigen started to hum in consideration, but it trailed off as he finally noticed the purple static sparkling like electric confetti in the air.
Serizawa waited a couple moments, then prompted him again, “‘Taka? Is it a deal?”
“Mhm…” Reigen hummed, wide eyes still staring at sparkling air.
Serizawa hurriedly fetched the first aid kit, and the thermometer within it, hoping that moving quickly would prevent Reigen from finding another reason to argue. Returning to Reigen, he carefully stuck the end of the thermometer in his slack mouth, relieved when Reigen maneuvered it under his tongue after only a second of confusion.
The thermometer beeped roughly 30 seconds later, showing a concerning 39C.
“Shit… that’s higher than I would have thought.” Serizawa said to himself, before turning it to show Reigen. “I wonder if you already had a fever yesterday, and we just didn’t notice?”
“I dunno, ‘M not really sure I ‘member yesterday,” Reigen slurred, ending the statement with a wide yawn.
“Right… let’s get going,” Serizawa stated, carefully sliding one arm behind Reigen’s back and the other under his knees before standing, lifting Reigen into a bridal carry to more easily get home. He shifted Reigen slightly, tilting the blond so his weight more firmly rested against Serizawa’s chest. “I’ve got cold medicine at home, and you could probably use some sleep someplace that wasn’t freezing.”
Reigen didn’t answer, already dozing off where his head rested against Serizawa’s warmth.
Finally arriving at his apartment, Serizawa gently deposited Reigen on the couch, before wandering into his bathroom to fetch the cold medicine, and then detouring to the kitchen for a glass of water.
When he finally returned to the couch, Reigen had tipped over so his head and torso were sprawled across the seat, legs still draped over the edge so his socked feet rested on the floor. He blinked blearily as Serizawa approached and knelt in front of the couch.
“You need to take some medicine before you fall asleep,” Serizawa said, voice gentle as he prodded Reigen back into sitting up. It took some cajoling, but he managed to get Reigen to take the medicine and drain the glass of water. He looked a little queasy when he finished drinking, and Serizawa wondered if it had been a bad idea to have him drink that much at once, but he seemed to settle after a few minutes.
Serizawa helped Reigen lie down more comfortably on the couch, pulling the fleece throw blanket from where it rested on the back of the couch to wrap around Reigen’s shivering form. And then, between one breath and the next, Reigen was asleep. Serizawa continued to sit there, watching over the blond for a timeless period, feeling the need to assure himself that Reigen was safe and warm and peaceful.
Eventually, he was distracted by his phone alerting him that he’d received a text. When he pulled it out to check, it was a message from one of his friends from class, excitedly telling him to check his email, that class had apparently been canceled.
And yes, upon checking his inbox, there was indeed an email from his teacher, explaining that lecture would be canceled that night, and likely on Monday as well, in deference to the snow storm that had arrived early. Serizawa glanced up at the window, and sure enough it was snowing, large fluffy flakes drifting from the sky like down feathers from a ripped pillow.
The sight was peaceful, and he was struck with a sudden longing to share it with Reigen, easily picturing the two of them cuddled together on the couch, drinking tea as they watched the snow accumulate. It was a terribly domestic scene to imagine, and Serizawa yearned for it with a fierceness that surprised him. If he was lucky, Reigen would feel better quickly enough to make at least some part of it a reality.