@signofourtimes asked:
His eyes felt like they were full of sand. Alfie groaned softly as they opened. Everything was hot, and heavy, and sore. Fuck, what kind of flu was this ? that this state was "getting better" ? He opened his lips to complain — but was stopped by the sight of Mark sitting next to their bed in a kitchen chair. The other man was folded forward with his head buried in his arms. Alfie reached out. His trembling fingers carded through Mark's hair. ❝Hey, you ... don't be an egg. You've got a baby in there, remember ? Get away from the sick guy.❞ It hurt to talk, but he was sure the sound of his voice would mean something to his lover. Mark had always been sentimental like that ( and his pregnancy had made him even more so ). Alfie managed a smile. He turned onto his side, propped himself up with a grimace, and scratched the back of Mark's neck. ❝Hey, hey ... c'mon.❞
It's not often he slept, not with Alfie so sick, and when he did, it was light. And yet, it was deep enough that he almost missed the gentle touches and words the sick man offered him.
Almost.
With his own groggy eyelids parting, Mark offered a warm smile as he looked at the sick man in their bed. There's an obvious frailness in his lover's movements, but they're adored no less. If anything, Mark finds it a relief that he's able to do such a thing. He toyed with the idea of shifting onto the side of the bed to be closer, but opted not to, more out of concern for any pain it might cause Alfie to move even remotely.
"The baby will be fine, Alf," Mark offers warmly, reaching a hand up to cusp the back of his partner's hand. "You've just got a bad flu. Nothing they can't endure. After all, the kid's got the genes of someone who managed to survive Mars."
With a pause, he adds with a shit-eating grin, "And, you know, whatever you've got to offer."
In a show of sincere love, however, Mark gets up to press a kiss to the other's forehead. Raising a hand, he cups the side of Alfie's face, stroking his cheek adoringly with the pad of his thumb.
"How are you feeling?"