Chapter Text
Tai is sick.
He has to be.
He's got some kind of fuckass fever and it's boiling his brain (as well as the rest of his body) into a miserable soup. His spine hurts, especially his lower back, and he's dealing with it by curling up on his side in his bed and hoping it will all go away if he just doesn't move. He feels too hot and sweaty, but he needs to stay in this bed because like fuck is he going to move for anything.
Another wave of pain rolls through his body and he curls up tighter in the bed, eyes firmly squeezed shut.
Everything feels horrible. Everything also smells wrong, which is kind of weird cause usually he doesn't really give a damn about the scents in his base— it makes no sense why his room feels so inadequate and empty right now—
"Tai?"
Tai goes tense. Fuck. Of all the fucking people to walk in when he's like this…
"Fuck off, Rejoice," he says.
Rejoice doesn't fuck off. He walks straight in, and despite the lethargy from the sickness, some part of Tai fills with immediate rage at the gall that Rejoice has to invade his space while he's like this.
"You don't seem like you're doing too hot," Rejoice says. "Actually, maybe it's the opposite? Are you maybe feeling a little too hot right now?"
"I'm sick," Tai snaps. He tugs the blanket over his face. "You can't kill people while they're sick. That's against the rules."
"Kill?" Rejoice repeats. "Who said anything about killing you?"
Tai groans. He really wishes Rejoice wasn't here. But since he's invaded his space anyway, the least Rejoice could do is maybe get him some food and water. And maybe some towels to deal with all this gross sweat. And some warm blankets and—
No, he doesn't want Rejoice here.
But Rejoice is walking a little closer and Tai catches his scent and—
Oh god, that is so fucking embarrassing. Tai feverishly prays Rejoice didn't hear the sound he just made—
"I don't know, Tai, you seem like you could use some help." Fucking Rejoice, Tai can hear the smirk in his tone, but some fucked up part of Tai whines again at the comment anyway.
What the hell is wrong with him?
"I'm sick," Tai grumbles into his pillow.
"Yeah, something like that," Rejoice says. "You want some help?"
Tai curls up tighter in his bed. This unfortunately doesn't make him feel any better. "Get me some water," he says.
"Oh, you can't just demand things like that. What's the magic word?"
Tai's hands clench in his blanket. "Fuck you, you asked if I wanted help and I just fucking gave you something to do! If you're not gonna help then fucking leave!"
"That's not the magic word, Tai. Say 'pretty please, Rejoice' or I'm gonna leave."
If possible, the ache in Tai's body gets worse. He doesn't want Rejoice to leave. Rejoice sucks and his scent is awful but the thought of having no Rejoice here and going back to dealing with all of this by himself is worse. Tai muffles another pathetic sound into the layers of his bed.
This sucks! This fucking sucks!
"Please," he whispers.
"Aww, you're so fucking cute," Rejoice laughs.
It's sweat on his face, not tears. Tai's face is only hot because he has a fever and he needs water. He keeps the blanket over his head and shivers because he's sick and his body is wracked with horrible cramping pains, not because Rejoice's teasing is affecting him. There's no goddamn way he's that fucked up.
"Alright, stay here, Tai!" Rejoice says. "I'll be right back."
The sound Tai lets out is not a sob. But he still throws the blanket off and twists in his bed towards the sound of Rejoice's voice. The action uses up nearly all of the energy he has, and he's left with his arm extended out of the bed, panting with exertion and half delirious with fever.
"No," Tai says. "Don't… don't go."
Rejoice is standing a few feet away from him, the smile starting to fade off his face. "It's okay," he says. "I'll be right back. I promise. I'm not gonna leave you."
Tai squeezes his eyes shut and drops back in the bed as his body gives out on him. "Why're you being so nice?" he mutters. "You're fucking weird."
"Well, you're sick," Rejoice says. "Be a good boy and don't try to get out of your nest again, okay? I'll get some stuff and I'll be right back in, like, five minutes. Okay Tai?"
"It's not a damn nest," Tai says, but he thinks Rejoice has already left.
And now that Rejoice is out of the room, Tai is back to curling up in misery in his bed. The cramping goes all the way to his bones. His hips and his lower spine are the worst, and it feels like every fucking muscle and organ even remotely close to those parts of his body are in agony. He needs… fuck. He would kill for someone to hold him, as much as the thought mortifies him. Shit, he'd even take Rejoice.
Tai smells Rejoice returning before he hears him, which is crazy. Rejoice's scent is thick and sort of musky, which Tai knows because he's complained about the alpha scent before. For some reason— maybe just because Tai is feeling horrible and the scent is kind of familiar to him— he smells so goddamn good right now. It makes his stomach turn to think about it. Also makes his stomach bloom with warmth.
Probably just nausea.
"Got you some more blankies!" Rejoice announces.
Tai flinches at the noise, but he reaches up to grab at the blankets anyway.
"I didn't ask for these," he says.
"Do you want me to take them back?" Rejoice says.
Tai moves, unraveling himself from the tight ball he'd worked himself into. He tugs one of the blankets close, and he's hit by more of Rejoice's scent. Not a whole lot of it, but enough that Tai's fever-ridden brain manages to connect the possibility of Rejoice scenting this blanket before he gave it to Tai. Tai makes a face and decides it doesn't matter. He squashes it into place on the bed, close enough that he can still smell it.
"No," Tai says. "Gimme."
Rejoice passes over blanket after blanket, all of them freshly scented with the alpha's nasty scent. It is still nasty, Tai reminds himself, even as he makes sure he's surrounded by all the new blankets on the bed. He's still annoyed about Rejoice being weird like this while he's sick, but he can't deny that it's getting a little better. Maybe the nausea from the sickness is being canceled out by the nausea Tai often experiences in Rejoice's proximity. Makes enough sense that Tai doesn't feel like questioning it.
Okay.
That's… better.
No the fuck it isn't.
Tai growls and grabs at the nearest blanket, shoving it into a new position. No, that's not right either. He drags it back to its original spot. No. No! This bed feels horrible and it doesn't smell right, and Tai is going to fucking lose it.
"I can see if I can find you some pillows," Rejoice offers.
"Fuck off!" Tai yells. He grabs another blanket so roughly it nearly rips at the seam and he actually does scream at that.
Why does it feel so wrong?
This is so fucking stupid! He still feels like shit and now he can't even relax in his fucking bed because it's all fucked up!
He pushes and shoves at the blankets, frustration building in him along with the fuckass fever at how wrong it all is. It sucks! It's not going to work! He can't get comfortable like this! It's not safe!
He whirls around and bares his teeth as Rejoice's scent draws closer behind him.
"Whoa, hey," Rejoice says.
He's got a mountain of pillows in his arms.
Tai grabs them immediately. This is better, fuck yes. He tucks them one by one into all the spots that were missing something. And they don't smell so heavily of Rejoice which is… well, it's okay. He adjusts the blankets, then readjusts the pillows, then nearly gags at the truly horrific combination of his own scent and Rejoice's scent, then he readjusts the blankets again.
Fuck, this bed is a goddamn nightmare.
He drops facefirst into it anyway and lets out a long groan.
"Tai?" Rejoice says.
He's not gone yet? Tai's body feels like it warms even more at that realization but he doesn't bother to unpack that for a second longer. He rolls over in his bed and blinks at the ceiling. He's not going to cry over this bullshit, but…
Fuck, it's not comfortable. It's not right. This is the worst fucking day of his goddamn life. He's sick, his body feels horrible, and he can't even sleep it off.
Rejoice is standing at the edge of the bed. Tai stares at him.
"Why are you still here?" he says.
Rejoice offers a smile. "Come on, Tai, I'm not just gonna leave you. I got all this stuff for you. Did you need anything else?"
Tai's eyes water. Shit, he's actually gonna start crying. And in front of Rejoice, no less. This is so goddamn embarrasing.
He grabs one of the blankets that wasn't positioned in the bed right and drags it over his face. Forget the fact that it smells like Rejoice. Actually, maybe that's a good thing, actually.
Tai breathes in the scent. A wave of… something passes over him and he shuts his eyes.
"Can…" he stops himself. Part of him is scared of asking, because he can already imagine Rejoice laughing at him and walking away. But the larger part of him is just so goddamn miserable. And Rejoice has gotten him the blankets and the pillows and Tai hopes he grabbed water too because he knows how he gets when he's sick.
"Can you…"
"Hm?"
Tai turns his face into the blanket. Rejoice's scent isn't really all that bad, actually. The pain in his body is still extremely present, but now there's also…
Tai keeps the blanket over his face as he takes a careful breath, getting himself ready to say the next words.
"Can you come here? And… and can you…?"
"Sure!"
That's all the warning Tai gets before there's a weight on top of him in the bed. And all of a sudden, Rejoice's scent is so much closer and Tai can't hold back the moan he lets out.