#failed cures

Fandom: EPlC, Modern AU 

Second year, first semester, week 5

Sunlight filtered into the dorm room, the sound of birds chirping filled the sky, and Dorian was humming a song they'd been listening to on their headphones.

TeIemachus had slept in, and Dorian let him. He didn't have to be in class until later anyway. Though, they did find it weird that he hadn't woken up earlier. TeIemachus was an early riser. Every day, he would be the one who woke Dorian up with a sweet kiss or whispers in their ear that sent a shiver down their spine. It was honestly their favorite way to wake up nowadays.

Dorian didn't have any classes scheduled for today–he liked to have Fridays all to themselves to study. However, he was aware of TeIemachus’ class that started in about…3 hours, they checked on their watch.

Deciding to surprise his beloved with breakfast, they got dressed in a black vest with a chest window, black ripped jeans, and covered up with a dark green varsity jacket. Throwing on their sneakers, he grabbed his key card and walked over to TeIemachus, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.

“You're burning up…” he noticed and removed the blanket from covering him.

Dorian, now concerned, placed the back of his hand against his forehead. Their lips were right, TeIemachus was unnaturally warm. He gently shook him, “Telly? TeIemachus, wake up, dearest.”

TeIemachus groaned and whined in protest, moving away from them. Dorian kept attempting to wake him until they saw his eyes slowly flutter open.

He squinted his eyes at the brightness, turning to look at Dorian. His voice was hoarse from a mixture of his morning voice, and what Dorian figured was a sore throat, “Dorian?”

TeIemachus winced and held his throat. It felt like needles were constantly scratching his throat and he was sweating, but also cold. He pulled up his blanket and covered his mouth to cough. One cough turned to two turned to an entire coughing fit.

Dorian watched him concernedly, “that…does not sound good, hun.”

TeIemachus groaned and pouted, “m'sick…”

“My poor guy,” Dorian frowned, “I was going to surprise you with breakfast from the cafeteria, but…I think I need to send someone else. I'm not leaving you here by yourself.”

They grabbed their phone, ignoring the time that said 8:30am. Out of their three friends, they called on Ari, as she was the most responsible. 

It took a few rings before Ari answered the call, “Dorian? What did you do now?”

“He- wait, why do you think I did something?” Dorian was taken aback by the question.

“You never wake up this early on your day off,” Ari raised an eyebrow.

“Right, well, do you mind doing me a favor?” Dorian cut to the chase. “Telly's sick and I don't want him here by himself, so can you please pick up some medicine and breakfast for him? Something not too rough for his throat.”

Dorian heard a sigh, but eventually heard the sound of movement and he knew she was getting ready.

“What is he sick with?” Ari asked him.

“Uhhh, I dunno,” Dorian shrugged, starting to pace the room, “he's burning up, so he probably has a fever, and he's been coughing, also, I think he's got that weird hot and cold thing going on? You know when-”

“Yes, I'm familiar. Any nausea?” Ari asked.

Dorian looked at TeIemachus, his face melting into concern at TeIemachus’ pathetic look. They brushed his hair back, feeling the heat radiating off of him, “hey baby, you feeling any nausea?”

TeIemachus winced, his voice crackling with a nod, “yeah…a l-little.”

“Aww, poor Telly,” Dorian frowned sympathetically. He hated seeing TeIemachus like this.

“Dorian?” Ari questioned on the phone.

“Right, yeah, he's a little nauseous,” Dorian replied to her original question.

“Fever, nausea, sore throat, chills and sweats…sounds like the flu to me,” Ari deduced, “I'll get him lots of fluids, lozenges, the medicine, and soups and oatmeal will probably be his best bet.”

Dorian's eyes widened and he backed away from TeIemachus, “the flu? Isn't that, like…contagious?”

“Highly,” Ari confirmed. 

“Oh gosh…” Dorian bit their lips.

“Is there a problem?” Ari raised an eyebrow.

“Uhhhh…no, not at all,” Dorian lied, looking at TeIemachus worriedly, “but, uh, thank you and I'll send you the money and everything for you.”

“Alright, I'll be there in about 30-45 minutes,” Ari told him.

“Okay, thank you,” Dorian hung up the phone and took a shallow breath.

See, Dorian was afraid of being sick. They literally felt like death whenever they would get any kind of sickness. From just a head cold to a simple sore throat to a stomach flu, it would overtake them and they'd be bedridden until it was over.

“D-Dori…? ” TeIemachus sounded confused, looking around for him.

“I'm right here, Telly,” Dorian reassured him, “over here.”

TeIemachus locked eyes with him and reached for him, “Dori…no feel good…”

“Aww, I…I know, TeIemachus,” Dorian backed away, “I'm sorry, but you're contagious, I can't be near you…”

TeIemachus only frowned and attempted to sit up, the world spinning in circles. He whimpered and closed his eyes. Dorian frowned, “hey, lay back down, you need to rest.”

“But snuggles…” he whined and made grabby hands.

Dorian sighed, “fine, just…just give me a minute.” They walked to their bag, then turned to TeIemachus, “and lay back down.”

TeIemachus groaned but did what Dorian told him to, getting snug under the covers. With him situated, Dorian turned back to their bag, grabbing some gloves and a face mask. Putting on the equipment, they looked back over to TeIemachus, reminding themselves that they were doing this because he loved TeIemachus.

And his TeIemachus was requesting cuddles. Pronto.

“Okay, I can do this…” they muttered, hyping themselves up, “for Telly.”

Dorian walked over to the germ-infested bed. TeIemachus saw him and reached for them. “Dorian…”

“Yes, I'm…I-I'm here,” Dorian looked a bit apprehensive, looking at the bed, then at TeIemachus’ face and nodded to themselves before climbing into the bed. “I'm here for you, Telly.”

TeIemachus instantly latched onto Dorian, snuggling close. He had always been a bit of a snugglebug, but with the addition of being sick, he'd turned the snugglebug factor up to snuggle monster levels. Dorian cringed slightly, but snuggled him back.

“Dorian…” 

“Is your vocabulary limited to just saying my name whilst you're sick?” Dorian smirked and kissed his forehead through their mask.

TeIemachus groaned and turned his head away from Dorian, coughing himself into another harsh fit. Dorian kept a hand on his back, supporting him. The boy frowned and whined, taking a moment to catch his breath as he wheezed. 

“You good?” Dorian asked him concernedly.

“Ngh…I hate this,” TeIemachus frowned even more, coughing again into his arm.

“I know,” Dorian empathized, “but I'm gonna be here with you the whole time.”

“Kay…” TeIemachus nuzzled back into their arms, “my knight and shining armor.”

“I think it's ‘knight in shining armor.’ babe,” they corrected him, stroking his hair back.

“Meh,” he replied nonchalantly and closed his eyes again.

As Dorian nuzzled close to him, TeIemachus had fallen back asleep, clinging to them closely. Dorian smiled and kept a close eye on him.

Later on, after Ari dropped off the supplies, Dorian woke him up and fed him. TeIemachus whined, complaining about not being hungry. Dorian was patient with him and once they'd gotten him to eat half the bowl of soup they prepared, they were satisfied. They grabbed the medicine, coaxing TeIemachus to take it to help him feel better. He swallowed the grape flavored medicine and cringed.

“Blegh, that's not how grapes taste,” TeIemachus complained.

Dorian covered his mouth to hide their amused smirk, not realizing it was already hidden due to the mask over his nose and mouth. “I should've told her to get the bubblegum flavor…”

“Probably wouldn't have made a difference…hate medicine,” TeIemachus frowned as he held his stomach uncomfortably.

Dorian frowned concernedly, “Telly?”

TeIemachus replied with a sickly burp and a whimper. Dorian's eyes widened and he mumbled an expletive before hurrying to grab the trash can from the kitchenette. They brought it over just in time for TeIemachus to gag into it.

‘Shit shit shit, this is bad,’ Dorian freaked out internally. He was terrified of the thought of throwing up, seeing others throwing up, and being around vomit. But the one person he loved most in the world was suffering right now. They had to be there for him.

TeIemachus gagged again and Dorian closed his eyes, rubbing his back, “i-i-it's ok, T-T-Telly, I'm h-h-here.”

The boy coughed wetly, and groaned before he jolted with a silent but strong hiccup. Dorian peeked at TeIemachus, their hand still on his back. “Tel?”

“M'go—od,” TeIemachus winced and rubbed his chest.

Dorian blinked, his brain somewhat malfunctioning. “A-are you gonna…?”

TeIemachus shook his head, then held it regretfully as the room spun around him, “ugh, no, I think I'm ok—kay, ow.”

“Let me get you some water,” Dorian made to stand up, but TeIemachus grabbed their hand. “I'll be right back, just a few steps away. I think Ari said she'd gotten you some anti-nausea meds too.”

“Bu-huck-” TeIemachus frowned.

Dorian failed to hide the way TeIemachus’ neck caving in and chest jolting made their breath shudder. That was his fourth hiccup which pretty much confirmed he'd gotten a case. They couldn't help the initial excitement of the rare occasion, but they also knew TeIemachus was hurting, so they wanted to cure them as soon as they could.

“I-It's okay,” Dorian stammered, closing his eyes and telling himself internally to get it together, “I'll get you some water. It might calm the nausea…”

“But I hmp I got the hngk-” he winced quietly, “got the hiccups hngkuh…”

Dorian shivered and took a shaky breath, “I-I know…but it's gotta be hurting your throat, I hear those winces. These aren't fun ones. And I still love you regardless, okay? You gotta take care of yourself too…”

TeIemachus frowned, but inevitably nodded through a silent hiccup that jolted his head back. Dorian kissed his forehead a second after that. Then they stood up, grabbing the room temperature water as well as the anti-nausea chewables. He walked back to the bed and sat down, feeling the bed shake with TeIemachus’ next “huckuh! ow…”

“Here, honey,” Dorian frowned as he opened the bottle of water for him and helped him drink it.

Unfortunately, TeIemachus hiccupped as he swallowed, causing him to choke. Dorian's eyes widened and they patted his back as TeIemachus was attacked with hard cough after hard cough mixed with hiccups after every cough.

TeIemachus groaned once the attack was over, leaning into Dorian’s shoulder, once again jolting against them with another hiccup.

“Hun?” Dorian stroked his hair comfortingly.

“...hingk! owww,” TeIemachus whined, his voice crackling making his hiccups squeakier.

“Aww,” Dorian frowned, “you wanna try holding your breath?”

They really hated how much discomfort his boyfriend was in. As TeIemachus started to hold his breath, they rubbed his back in a circular motion. Dorian wanted to provide as much comfort as possible.

As TeIemachus eventually started releasing his breath, they both waited for the results.

“I think…think they're HICKGOLP!-owwww,” TeIemachus whined and shut his eyes tightly, preparing himself for the next, “hi'ip!-nnngghh.”

“I'm sorry, sweetheart,” Dorian frowned, watching him rub the front of his neck.

“Guh hickuck!,” Tel replied and leaned more into Dorian’s shoulder, closing his eyes.

Dorian hugged him closer, feeling every jolt that seemed harder every time. Any other time, they would love hearing TeIemachus hiccup, it's such a rare occasion. But these were painful and they hated hiccups that caused pain. Especially to his boyfriend.

It took them a moment to realize that TeIemachus had somehow managed to fall asleep while he had the hiccups from hell. Was Dorian really that comfortable?

They slowly lay them both down on the bed, Tel resting on their chest, still hiccuping strongly. His face would scrunch up slightly before relaxing again. Dorian wished there was something they could've done to cure their boyfriend before he'd fallen asleep, but maybe time was all he needed. They watched Tel sleep for a bit before dozing off himself.