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Sword took a long, deep breath, feeling absolutely disgusting. After a grueling long day of a phight after a phight, he wanted to go to his boyfriend’s house to calm down.
..Definitely not to guilt him into buying ice cream for the two of them..
He knocked in a rhythmic pattern, swaying as he stood by the door. After a bit of waiting, the door opened. He knew it was Zuka by the smell of smoke so strong it made him squint his eyes.
“Hey, kiddo.” Zuka had a cigarette in his mouth, a quick nod towards the one at his door.
“Hi, Mr. Zuka!” He blinked before he immediately smiled, enthusiastically waving. “Rocket’s here, right?”
“Yep.” He opened the door wider, stepping back so he could squeeze in. “Good chance he’s napping, though.”
“Oh gosh, I hope not.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. He’d learned one too many times not to disturb him when he was asleep.
“Heh. Good luck with that, kid.” He smiled. “Ya want any tea?”
“Sure!” He walked towards Rocket’s room. “Let me go check if he wants to kill me or not. I’ll be out in a second!”
“Don’t sweat it. I can bring it to ya.” He took a drag of his cigarette, smiling. “Good luck.”
He softly pushed the door open to Rocket’s room, seeing his bed messy but uninhabited. He scratched his head, walking further in.
There he was on the ground, comfortably strewn across the carpet. Sword smiled at the situation in front of him, rolling his eyes at the oddity of him.
He was wrapped in a blanket, chest under a pillow, headphones on, looking at his phone as he basked in the sun. His foot was methodically flexing and curling in, and as he looked to the side he noticed that his prosthetics were probably not on.
Sword thought about how to not sneak up on him— his headphones must’ve been up too loud to hear his initial intrusion.
Definitely not something that’d startle him, that never wound up well either. But what could he do that wouldn’t catch him off guard??
He lingered for longer than he should have. Rocket was literally his boyfriend, he could probably just fall on top of him and he’d get over it.
But he looked so at peace.. and Rocket hated people spooking him……. But he couldn’t hear!! So what was he supposed to do?!
He held his hair in his hands. Goodness, why couldn’t he just pick something to do and just, just do it?!
He looked up, pulling down his face with his hands, before seeing Rocket staring at him with a very confused expression.
“..Are you okay??”
Sword felt as his face went a new shade of red. “H.. Hi, cutie..”
Rocket looked at him up and down, before beginning to laugh. “You’re such a weirdo.”
“I’m trying my best!!” He huffed out, walking over to him, lying down beside him.
“How long were you standing over me, dumbass?”
“..A few minutes.” He melted into his hands, quite embarrassed. “I didn’t want to startle you, but I couldn’t think of a way to do it..”
“Sorry. My headphones do block out a lotta noise.” He pushed them down to rest on his neck. “Why’d you show?”
“Cause I love you?” He shook out his initial embarrassment, confidently leaning into his palm.
“You want something from me.” His eyes narrowed.
“..No..”
Rocket put down his phone, flicking his forehead with his finger before getting right back to the silly thing he was watching. “Later.”
“Naw.” His hand went to Rocket’s face. “You look so comfy. I won’t be the one to make you get up.”
“Eh. Dad’s gonna force me up sooner or later.” Rocket nudged him. “You smell like sweat.. So, I guess that means you’ve had a long day?”
“Do I really??” He sighed, shaking his head. “But, yeah. Long day.”
“Maybe we can go get ice cream or something, then.” He saw as Sword lit up. “Hehe. So predictable.”
“Only a little bit.” He rubbed his hand on Rocket’s back, jealous feeling the soft blanket he was wrapped in. “Can we share?”
“Ya. After you drink your tea.”
“How’d you know I—“
“Cuz every time you come over, Zuka asks if you want tea.” He curled up in his blanket. “And you’re too sweet to say no.”
“I guess I am kinda predictable then, huh?”
“Just a little bit.” He took a satisfied breath.
The door opened, and Sword gracefully stood up to go accept his mug of tea.
“Out cold?” Zuka smiled, peeking in.
“Surprisingly, no.” Sword looked back. “Just lying down on the floor.”
“Why’d I even waste money on a bed?” He rolled his eyes. “Hope ya like the tea. Tell the rug I’ll make some for him too if he wants some.”
“Got it. Thank you, Mr.!”
“Course.“
Sword walked back over to Rocket, running his fingers through his hair, watching as his eyes fluttered closed in content. “You hear that? Free tea if you’d like some too.”
“Gimme a sip of yours.” He leaned into his touch, voice all lovey-dovey and soft.
“Sure. But you’re not gonna like it.”
He took a small sip of his earl grey tea, squinting at the taste. “Not even a little bit of sugar?”
“Hehe. I told you!”
“You literally have eaten four scoops of ice cream on a cone before it could melt. But you don’t even like sugar in your tea??”
“I had a rough upbringing.” He over-dramatically leaned backwards, the curve of their backs meeting. “Deities aren’t fond of sugar nor cream..”
“Yeesh.” He cringed. “You win the worst childhood award.”
“Really? That was what took the cake?”
Rocket smiled. “You’re such a doofus.”
Sword laughed, rolling back beside him, stealing a bit of his blanket, watching the dumb show he was.
The two sat basking in their own comfortable silences for quite a while, only the sounds of their breathing syncing filling the room. By the time Sword attempted to click to the next episode, he realized Rocket was in fact dead asleep.
He shook his head as he smiled, picking him up to tuck him in bed. He then lied down next to him, deciding to just take the sign to rest a little himself.
Rocket woke up to his boyfriend snoring right in front of his face, and despite how he wanted to push himself up, he couldn’t find the strength to do so.
Gods. This whole week he’d felt so exhausted. So weak.
“Sword?” He whispered, slowly dragging his hand up his body till it rested on his cheek, slowly feeling himself calm down as his thumb traced the familiar structure of his cheekbones to his jawline.
Sword’s mouth softly opened, taking a breath, a low hum coming from his throat. His eyes fluttered open, a smile resting on his face as he saw Rocket in front of him.
“You okay?” His own hand went to Rocket’s hip, rubbing the skin there and up. His fingertips dragged along the soft fabric layered around his skin, watching as his face melted into something even more at ease thanks to the touch.
“Tired.” His eyes drifted off to the side, eyes glossing over.
“Funny boy, you are.” He sighed, kissing him between his eyebrows, letting his lips linger there for much longer than the kiss initially did. “Sleepy even after you rest..”
“Yeah.” He took a deep inhale. “Come on. Why don’t we get something sweet?”
“Hehe.” Sword had a toothy grin, kissing him once more on his forehead before he pushed his body up from its lied down position.
He took a long while to stretch, shaking out his messy hair, pulling his arms and legs back until he stood up. Rocket was looking up at him, rather mesmerized, though completely still.
“C’mon. You getting up anytime soon?”
Rocket ignored the fatigue he felt, stretching out akin to his partner. “Go grab my prosthetics.”
“Where’d ya hide them?” He turned around, looking around for the two familiar limbs, finding them leaned up against a dresser.
He sat down beside him, watching as he lazily covered his residual limbs with a liner, before clicking on his two artificial attachments.
“Something’s bothering you, firefly.” Sword scooted up to him till he was right in front of him, both hands holding his face. “C’mon.”
“I’m just tired, feathers.” He groaned, letting his head fall onto his shoulder.
“No pain? Nothing like that?”
“The pain I get from you being a pain in my ass, yeah.” He smirked, a smugness Sword could smell the farthest of distances away.
Sword rolled his eyes, though he inevitably smiled. “You promise? Nothing?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He smiled back at him. “Let’s go get a brownie-blast-bazooka-sundae or something.”
Sword didn’t seem entirely convinced, though the two of them waved goodbye to Zuka and ventured out into Crossroads together, with held hands that fit together like two puzzle pieces.
They wound up in Thieves’ Rest, a place owned by a phighter alike. The pair always liked to bicker about how the cafe’s owner advertised his own place on his jacket, memorable because was constantly shoved in their faces, so they decided to give it a try. And, the place had a brownie sundae, so, score!
Together they sat at a comfy little table, both basking in the wonderful smell of baked breads and fresh coffee beans wafting through the air. The dessert that came out was no short from comical, a big glass cup filled with ice cream scoops and a warm brownie on top.
Together they split the brownie, before eating up all the rest, both happy and full when the only remains of the ice cream was the glass shining in the lights above. They hauled themselves out of the restaurant before they both faced the effects of so much sugar, lugging themselves home in the heat.
“Pop Rocks, you’re kinda limping.” Sword stopped him, wiping the sweat from his own forehead. “C’mon. Talk to me.”
“Sword, if I say I’m fine, I’m fine. Okay?” He felt the heat he felt from the sun sizzling up into his throat, brain feeling a little too fried to not check his tone.
“Okay.” Sword didn’t want to argue, especially considering the way his boyfriend was already beginning to boil under the heat. He didn’t want to make him explode. Till every step came with hesitation, the two of them barely making a few steps a minute.
“Alright. I’m just gonna carry you—“
“I don’t need to be carried.” He growled. “Save your goddamn pity.”
“Rocket, why are you acting like this?!” Sword looked at him in disbelief, the sweating mess he was looking to be, body unable to carry itself. “Either tell me what’s wrong or just let me help you—“
Rocket’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, before he abruptly hit the concrete below.
Sword panicked, unable to help himself from pausing in shock for much more than a few seconds, eventually sobering up to see Rocket already slowly opening his eyes, drowsily blinking at the one above him.
Once Sword truly realized what had just happened, he panicked and dropped to his knees, very unsure of the right way to handle the situation.
And all of a sudden, he really wished he’d paid more attention to the lectures Medkit gave him about people fainting. He hit the heel of his hand into his head a couple of times, and he saw Rocket’s face contort at that sight.
At least he was back awake in only a few seconds.. but Sword didn’t even know if that was a good thing!
“..Eh..?” Rocket mumbled out, trying to sit up.
“Nonono.. Just stay down, okay?!” He panicked-ly looked around, noticing a few people staring, hands wrapping around his own horns before pulling down in complete anxiety. “I don’t know what to do!”
“..Sword?” He ignored his words, pushing himself up anyway, eyes half-lidded.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s me.” He planted his hands on his shoulders, looking into his eyes, panicked still- but a little less so. At least he was.. conscious?
Sword tucked his arms under his, helping him up from the ground, trying to support him as they walked for a little bit, till Sword just picked him up and ran back to his house.
Rocket didn’t say much, though by the time they got home, he was back to being very dizzy due to Sword literally sprinting with him in his arms.
Sword quickly dropped him onto the couch, kneeling down right beside him, chin resting on his arm. “Are you with me?”
Rocket’s eyes flickered open, brow furrowed, nodding his head.
Before his eyes went right back to closed.
“Rocket, you’re scaring me.” Sword admitted, a sharpness in his voice stemming from so much worry. He couldn’t recall a single reference of how to handle a situation like this, being honest. Was he supposed to let him sleep? Keep him awake??
“..You’re being so loud..” Rocket angrily whispered, digging the side of his head into the couch. “‘nd ‘m fine..”
“Am I? And, are you?” He said, much quieter than his shrill voice before. He brushed some hair out of Rocket’s face, feeling no heat from his forehead. So what was the issue?
Rocket’s breath was coming in and out from his nose unnaturally, seeming more like a manual struggle than something that was regulating itself automatically. Sword kept stroking his face, letting his eyes close as he called Medkit.
“Who’s callin’ the doctor?” A voice rang out, not Medkit’s.
“His brother. And it’s important.” His voice was hushed, though Rocket’s face still contorted by the sudden noise.
“Gimme a moment..” They mumbled, whoever it was, before yelling Medkit’s name out.
After more unbearable waiting, worry sinking deeper and deeper into his bones, Medkit’s voice rang out. “Sword? You said something’s wrong?”
“Mhm.” He took a breath, eyes teary due to all the panic piling onto his back, overwhelming thoughts and emotions running like a hamster on a wheel in his brain. “Rocket randomly passed out, and he’s in and out now, but he’s all disoriented and— I don’t know what to do..”
“Okay.” Medkit took a deep breath, thinking. “Wanna walk me through what happened?”
“..I came over to his house, had a quick nap, and then we went out to get ice cream.” He nervously bit at his fingers. “He was acting a little weird,, like even after sleeping he still felt tired, but then we had a big thing of ice cream and everything was fine until we walked into the sun. He started getting a little irritated and then just fell forward.. Now we’re back home, I guess.”
“Hm.” Medkit paused. “Do you suppose he’s had anything other than that ice cream to eat today? Even had any water?”
“..Actually, maybe not..”
“I don’t think that’d be a good mix. Whatever dessert you guys got was probably full of so much sugar. Usually that doesn’t sit super well on an empty stomach,” Medkit hummed. “Plus. Maybe he was pretty exhausted. Try and just ask him a couple of questions, alright? You can let him sleep once you can tell his only issue is just exhaustion.”
“Okay.” He looked sadly at Rocket, whose eyes were desperately trying to stay open. “Thanks. I’ll call you if he gets any worse.. or, um, something like that.”
“Rocket’s strong. I’m sure it’s nothing more serious than exhaustion by now. Get him some water and maybe a snack, then let him rest. Okay?”
“Yeah. Bye Meds.” He hung up the phone, shoving it into his pocket, full attention going back to his partner.
“Try and stay awake for just a little longer.” Sword mumbled.
“..’m trying.” He mumbled, voice coated with irritation just as much as exhaustion. Sword sighed.
He quickly ran to his kitchen to fill a glass up with water, wasting no time to kneel back beside him.
“Can you sit up super quick?” Sword put the cup on the coffee table behind him, ready to help Rocket if he needed it.
He lowly groaned, supporting himself with the arm of his couch as he pushed himself up. Sword sighed in a little bit of relief, before sitting in the little spot Rocket wasn’t taking up beside his legs, cup in hand.
Sword held the cup up to his lips, waiting a bit for any response to it, before he took a slow sip. The weight on Sword’s shoulders just seemed to lessen and lessen, and by then he finally felt like he could take a full breath in.
“You wanna try and eat something?” Sword asked, hope in his tone that everything was completely fine by now—
“..no.” He looked unimpressed.
“Ah.” Sword watched as he slumped back down, closing his eyes. “Okay- okay, last thing.”
Rocket angrily shoved a breath through his teeth, eyes back to somewhat opened, impatiently waiting for Sword to spit it out.
“Do you know where we are right now?”
“Home.” He mumbled, that irritation even more evident in his tone.
“..And, you know who I am? Right?”
“Annoying.” He closed his eyes fully. Sword couldn’t help the little smile that filled his face.
He was okay.
He sat beside him for a while, gently stroking his face. Rocket seemed to slowly melt, body nowhere near as tense as it was.
“Sorry.” Was what Rocket finally mustered out, leaning into Sword’s hand.
“Hey, I’m finally letting you sleep.” Sword smiled to himself. “Now you don’t want to?”
“..I’m so tired.” He whimpered. “..Keep being mean ‘cuz of it..”
“Really, I don’t care. And I’ve been nagging at you.” Sword shook his head. “Let me go grab you a pillow and a blanket. Anything else you need?”
He hummed out a no, nestling into the couch.
By the time Sword came back, which was no time at all, he was out. Sword smiled at the absurdity- he must’ve been wallowing in the thought of apologizing so much it kept him up.
He placed his pillow carefully under his head, before placing a blanket on top of him and tucking him in. He sat at his feet, enough space for him to sit. He pulled out his phone, legs stretching so that they tucked under his, leaning into the opposite arm of the couch.
After a while of relaxing, Zuka came in, and Sword waved him hello like he always did, unsure if the right thing to do was to immediately shout out the entire predicament. He waited until Zuka walked past the couch, eyes falling onto his son dead asleep when a guest was over.
“Y’know, you can wake him up.” Zuka smiled at his chivalry. “He sleeps enough already.”
“..Um, he..” He cringed, thinking of his next words. “He.. passed out.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry!” He cried out, goodness, he was unable to keep a secret. “We were out getting ice cream and he just fell to the ground and everything is okay now- but I promise I took good care of him but hewasjustreallytiredsoIjustlethimsleep-“
He began nervously rambling by the end of it, hands wringing together, before he just stopped himself: feeling like a complete idiot.
“..So he’s okay?” He looked worried. Which just made him feel all the worse.
“..Yeah.” He squeaked out, unable to look anywhere near him.
Zuka ruffled his hair. “Thanks kiddo. Ya always keep my boy alive.”
Sword watched as he walked away, taking a deep breath. Phew.
Sword stayed beside him; he finally began stirring awake after somewhere around an hour. Sword was aware of his consciousness once there was someone scooted up right beside him, watching what he was. Neither said much at first, both just soaking in each other’s presence.
“Feeling any better?” Sword mumbled towards him, pulling the blanket he was under over the both of them.
“Mm.” He mumbled. “More here.”
“So.. do you know what that was about..?”
“I dunno.” He shook his head. “I’m fine now. So who cares.”
“Me.” He nudged him. “You were acting weird as soon as you got up from your nap. There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Rocket took a deep breath, taking a while to think. “I’ve just felt shitty this whole week. And I still felt exhausted after that nap.. and that ice cream was really good ‘n all, but it made me feel so dizzy. Then I don’t really remember what happened until we got home.”
“Have you eaten anything today? Even drank any water?”
“..You know it slips my mind..”
“I probably would’ve passed out too if I had a buncha sugar after having nothing at all. So do you think that’s why?”
“..Sure. Sounds right.” He sighed, leaning into his arm.
“..Just, y’know.. you can tell me things. Cuz you’re like, my favorite person in the whole inphinity, ‘n all?“
“You’re my favorite person too. But that’s why I don’t like saying much about the bad things.” He softly said, like if it were any louder it’d hurt.
“I love you for you.” He exhaled. “And if you tell me you’re feeling all crappy, I wanna make you feel better.. so that you feel better. And don’t have to not be your best self.”
“You’re so sappy.” He grumbled, no true malice in his words.
“I can’t help it..”
“But also, this means that you tell me all the bad things, too.” He said proudly, even though his voice was still quiet.
“Sounds good to me.” He took a satiated breath, both of them sitting in peaceful silence, till Rocket’s stomach loudly grumbled.
Sword laughed out loud. “You wanna eat?”
“I hate you so much.” Rocket dug his head into his knees, hiding the deep shade of red his face had bloomed into from embarrassment.
“Maybe I can go pick something up for us. My treat.. you did pay for that huge sundae.”
Rocket didn’t dwell on his embarrassment long, a little smile on his face. “Deal.”