dennis whitaker had always been a man plagued with painful periods. he had never had the money for one of those heating pads, either when he was still living in broken bow, or when he'd moved to pittsburgh, so when he was dealing with his time of the month, he simply steeled himself to rely on over the counter painkillers, a warm drink, and wrapping himself in blankets feeling sorry for himself until the nausea and cramping passed on.
it wasn't pleasant for him, not at all, the pain coupling with the dysphoria it brought him, and all in all making that week or so absolute hell on earth. every time he felt his stomach start to ache and lurch, all he could think of was how he wasn't right, how this never should've been happening to him, how he was a pathetic mess of a man. it went without saying that dennis, who didn't even have the money for things to try and relieve his pain, certainly didn't have the money to be able to access testosterone.
when he got together with robby, he still hadn't been able to start it, or even begin the process of trying to understand if his position at the PTMC allowed him any employee benefits at all when it came to healthcare, so it was only a matter of time until robby experienced first hand the pain that his new boyfriend would go through every month.
robby knew dennis was transgender, and that he wasn't on hrt, but dennis had never mentioned the level of misery he would experience during his period. robby was scared shitless when he walked downstairs one morning, expecting to see his boyfriend wandering round the kitchen making breakfast or drinking coffee, but instead found him on the sofa in the living room, face white as a sheet and gripping a blanket like his life depended on it.
robby was kneeling in front of the sofa in a second, hand resting gently on dennis's leg where he lay on his side. his other hand tested his boyfriend's temperature by resting on his forehead, and he noted worridly that the younger was sweaty and clammy, warmer than he should've been. a fever? stomach illness? something worse?
"hey, sweetheart, what's the problem? you feel really warm denny, are you feeling sick? any pain?"
dennis blinked tired eyes open, and robby could see there was the telltale red hue around them that indicated dennis had likely been crying recently. when he spoke, his voice was quiet and slightly raspy.
"'s fine, robby. don't worry. it's just... it's just that time. j's need to wait it out."
robby racked his brains for a few moments about what "that time" could've meant, before finally landing on the answer. oh. of course. dennis was definitely on his period.
"is there anything i can do for you, baby? have you already taken some medicine?"
dennis grimaced as he shook his head.
"left m'dicine at mine and trin's. not important, w'll be fine without it."
robby frowned. absolutely not.
"dennis. i've got plenty of medicine here, sweetie. i'll go and get you some now, stay where you are. no, don't try and argue or move. i don't care if you'll "be fine" without it, you don't need to go without it. do you have any other stuff, a heating pad, food you want, anything?"
dennis didn't have the strength or will to move or do anything other than just give in. he already felt rotten, both physically and mentally, and he knew he wasn't going to win this fight. he just shook his head at robby's second question.
"d'nt have anything else. 's fine."
robby was deeply unhappy at this. his boyfriend was clearly in a lot of pain and absolutely exhausted, and yet he had no medication, no items that might bring him any respite, and no comfort food to make things slightly more bearable? no, fuck this. absolutely not. he sighed deeply and brushed some of the sweaty hair away from dennis's pale face.
"denny, i don't like this. i know you don't think it's a big deal, but i'm not okay letting you lie here feeling fucking awful because you don't have the things you need. what i'm going to do is go upstairs and bring you medication- you're going to take the medication, and while that gets to work, i'm going out quickly. i won't be long, but i'm going to pick up some things for you that i think will make this a bit better for you, okay?"
robby's voice was so soft and caring as he spoke to dennis, eyes so full of compassion and worry, that dennis felt more tears prickling in his own eyes at the affection there. robby was using a version of his doctor voice, one he employed to try and make worried patients calm and understand what was happening to them, and dennis couldn't help but sniffle. the pain spidered it's way through his stomach and hips and spine again, and two fat tears plopped onto the sofa fabric.
robby's eyes filled with sadness at dennis's pain, and he kissed his boy on the forehead.
"i'm getting the medicine now, denny. you stay put, we'll make this better, okay?"
after coaxing the pills into his boy with a gulp of water that robby had fed him, the older man was on a mission. he made it to the shops he needed in record time, and went on what could only be called some kind of shopping spree. two heating pads, more stock of painkillers, generic comfort foods he knew were popular for people menstruating as well as food he knew his dennis personally liked, a complete stock of the necessary hygiene products considering he didn't know which ones would make dennis the least dysphoric, and a new fluffy blanket grabbed in the spur of the moment (it was blue and so soft that he really didn't have a choice).
when he got back in he immediately zeroed in on dennis, who hadn't moved a muscle since he'd left thirty or so minutes ago.
"how are you, denny? the painkillers doing anything?"
dennis wriggled his shoulders slightly in an approximation of a shrug.
"okay, okay, well that's something at least. i hate to disturb you, baby, but do you want the heating pad? it's all turned on for you and it might make things a bit better."
by way of answer, dennis uncurled himself just slightly, exposing enough of a space where robby could slip the now warming pad up against his abdomen. he couldn't help the slight sigh of relief that he let out when it was pressed against him, allowing him to take the first deep breath in hours as some of his muscles relaxed.
"i'm glad, mouse. you want anything else? food?"
dennis shook his head, he didn't have an appetite.
"you want a cuddle, mouse?"
with that, robby carefully arranged himself on the sofa too, moving slowly so as not to jostle dennis and cause him any more pain. he lay behind dennis, spooning him and using his larger hands to make sure the heating pad didn't fall away from dennis's stomach. he pressed kisses into dennis's hair and whispered comfort to the younger man, who seemed to slowly have regained a little colour from earlier in the morning.
"i love you too, sweetheart. let me know if the pain gets worse again."
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