Work Text:
The morning light filtering through the bedroom windows was usually a welcome sight, but today, Umbrella couldn't stand it. They buried their face deeper into the pillows, letting out a weak, miserable groan. Their entire body ached, their throat felt like sandpaper, and despite being bundled under three heavy quilts, they were shivering violently.
Firebrand was awake beside them, propped up on one elbow. He reached out, placing a massive, calloused palm flat against Umbrella’s forehead, his brow furrowing as he felt the unnatural spike in their temperature.
"You're burning up, sweetheart." Firebrand rumbled with a deep, rough voice that sounds dangerously close to a panicked yell. "This makes no sense. How are you freezing if you're sweating? Do I call a medic?”
"Your pacing is making the bed shake." Umbrella muttered from beneath the blankets.
"I can't just sit here!" Firebrand stormed, looming over them like a frantic, muscular mountain. He reached out, his massive hands hovering over them, completely terrified to touch them. “What if I touch you and my heat makes your fever worse? What if I accidentally cook your brain?!"
"You're not going to cook my brain," Umbrella rasped, peeking out from under the blanket with a bleary, irritated eye. "Just... stop yelling."
"Do you need water? Food? Meat? I can have the kitchen roast a whole boar right now. Or soup? People eat soup when they're sick, right? What kind of soup?!"
"Just... water," Umbrella muttered, shivering violently as another wave of chills hit them. "And come here. I'm cold."
Firebrand froze, his amber eyes wide. "Are you crazy? I just said I'm too hot-"
"Gear ID 81154592, shut up and get in the bed." Umbrella ordered, their cracked voice leaving no room for argument.
Firebrand who looked entirely out of his depth. Slowly, with the absolute maximum amount of caution, he slid onto the mattress. He looked like he was handling a live explosive. When he finally opened his arms and let Umbrella crawl against his broad, radiating chest, he held his breath, his whole body tense as he waited to see if he was helping or making it worse.
As Umbrella finally stopped shivering and let out a weak, content sigh against his skin, Firebrand relaxed just a fraction, his heavy arm wrapping securely around them. But his eyes stayed wide open, staring fixedly at the ceiling.
Firebrand lay there as stiff as a statue, his chest barely rising and falling because he was genuinely terrified that breathing too hard would mess up whatever fragile recovery process Umbrella was going through.
Minutes ticked by in agonizing silence. Umbrella’s breathing finally leveled out into a slow, rhythmic pattern, their forehead resting right against the center of his chest.
"Hey," Firebrand whispered, "Umbrella. You still breathing?"
No answer. Just a soft, warm huff of air against his collarbone.
Firebrand’s eyes darted around the empty bedroom, his panic flaring right back up.
Great. They're unconscious. Or dead. Can people die from being too cold and too hot at the same time?
Slowly, using only two fingers so he wouldn't crush them, he reached down and carefully nudged the edge of the blanket away from their face. Umbrella’s skin was flushed, a few strands of hair stuck to their damp forehead. They looked completely miserable, but their eyelids fluttered open at the intrusion.
"If you wake me up again," Umbrella rasped, their voice incredibly weak but still carrying a distinct threat, "I am going to stab you."
"You're alive," Firebrand breathed, "Listen to me, you can't just pass out like that. You're sweating through the sheets. Is that normal? Is the sickness leaving your body, or is your body melting?"
"It's a fever, love." Umbrella murmured, already drifting back into a heavy, feverish sleep. " It has to break, just... stop talking and stay warm."
An hour crawled by, and Firebrand hadn't moved an inch. His muscles were locked so tight they were starting to ache, but he refused to shift, he just lay there, his amber eye wide and hyper-focused, staring at the bedroom door like a guard dog on high alert.
A sudden, incredibly timid knock at the door made him practically jump out of his skin.
Firebrand’s tail whipped violently, smacking against the bedpost with a loud crack.
The heavy door creaked open just an inch. One of the mansion’s staff members holding a silver tray, peeked in, completely terrified to be interrupting whatever’s happening right now.
“M-my lord...” the servant squeaked, their eyes darting from Firebrand's furious glare to the tightly bundled shape of Umbrella beside him. “The kitchens... we heard the advisor was taken ill. The chief cook sent up some broth and warm water. We- we didn’t want to disturb you, but...”
“Put it on the table and get out,” Firebrand hissed.
“Y-yes, right away!” The servant scurried over on tiptoe, they glanced at Umbrella, then looked up at Firebrand with genuine concern. “If I may, Lord Firebrand... you look like you’re about to melt through the mattress. You might want to... tone the heat down a bit, since too much heat may make the advisor delirious.”
Firebrand blinked, “What? I'm making it worse?"
He looked down at Umbrella, who let out a soft, unconscious whine at the sound of the voices, their brow furrowing in their sleep.
"Fucking hell." Firebrand muttered.
The servant, realizing they had probably said entirely too much, paled drastically. With a terrified, breathless squeak, dropped their hands, backed away from the bedside table, and practically bolted for the exit. They scrambled through the heavy oak door and shut it behind them with a sharp, echoing click, leaving the room completely silent again.
Firebrand stared at the closed door, his jaw clenched as the servant's words swirled around in his head.
He let out a low, irritated growl under his breath. The absolute audacity of that dude, giving him advice in his own bedroom. But as he looked back down at the bed, his irritation instantly dissolved back into that knot of pure, helpless panic.
What if the little idiot is right?
With the absolute maximum amount of caution, he slid his heavy arm back around Umbrella’s waist. He pulled them flush against his broad chest again, checking their face every single second to make sure he wasn't overdoing it.
As Umbrella finally stopped shivering, their features relaxing as they let out a weak, content sigh against his skin, Firebrand let out a breath he felt like he’d been holding all morning.
"You better be glad I love you, honey. Because this is taking years off my life." Firebrand rumbled.