It’s time for the Silicon Valley Winter Exchange 2k17! I got @asimiento so I wrote a Jarrich fic. Happy Holidays!
It started with a loud sneeze.
The Pied Piper gang was in their new offices when they heard a particularly loud sneeze coming from their tiny break room. It was so startling that Dinesh and Richard jumped in the air.
“What the fuck was that?” Dinesh asked.
“Your last remaining piece of dignity trying to escape your body,” Gilfoyle deadpanned, not looking up from his screen.
Dinesh tried to argue that that didn’t make any sense when Jared came into the room, blowing his nose on an honest-to-god handkerchief and carrying a mug of tea.
“Jared, was that you just a minute ago?” Richard asked pointing in the direction of the break room.
“Yeah, sorry,” Jared said, “I think my allergies are just making themselves known with the change in the weather. I want to stop by the drugstore on the way home, if that’s all right with you Richard.”
“Sure, that’s fine,” Richard answered his boyfriend. He looked over Jared again, “Are you sure you aren’t getting sick?”
“Oh, I’m sure. I’ll be fine once I start taking Claritin again,” Jared waved him off, heading towards his own station.
“I thought we said no relationship shit in the workplace,” Gilfoyle said once again from his computer.
“I don’t think checking on someone’s health is ‘relationship shit’,” Richard tried to argue, “I listen to you and Dinesh flirt all day and you don’t see me complaining. So there.”
“We aren’t flirting,” Dinesh and Gilfoyle said simultaneously, then looked suspiciously at one another.
“Whatever. Just get back to work. We need to get this piece of coding done this week,” Richard said, turning back towards his own computer.
Within a few days, it became clear that Jared’s issues weren’t allergies. The Claritin barely helped. The sneezing became worse and then coughing started. Jared began shaking like a nervous greyhound in the middle of a snowstorm. His teeth chattered as he tried to bundle himself up. Jared still insisted he was fine though; work needed to be done.
The final straw came for Richard when he accidently brushed his hand on Jared’s forehead one morning in bed. It was scalding hot.
“Jesus, Jared. You’re burning up,” Richard said, “I’m taking you to the doctor.”
“I’m fine,” Jared tried to argue, but it came out weakly.
“Quit being a martyr. It’s been three days and you’re clearly not fine. You’re clearly sick.”
“But work-“
“Jared, we’ll be fine without you. Well, probably. You aren’t a coder and we can do without our head of business development for a few days. Besides, the sooner we get you to a doctor, the faster we can make you healthy again.”
Jared relented and let Richard take him to the doctor. Richard told Dinesh and Gilfoyle that he would be a little late to work, but to keep working without him.
At the doctor, it was revealed Jared had the flu. While Richard was hesitant to leave Jared alone, he knew he had to go into work. If they didn’t finish this section of code, by the end of the week, they would get severely behind and time was money in the Valley. He decided to call Jared’s friend Gloria to take care of him. Gloria gladly came to their condo with a homemade blanket, a large container of chicken soup, and a DVD set of classic MGM movie-musicals. She reassured Richard that she had plenty of experience taking care of sick people and finally pushed him out the door. She was surprisingly strong for a woman in her seventies.
Richard spent most of the day worried about Jared. Why did Jared have to be so self-sacrificing? Flu was a serious business and it helped no one if Jared worked while he was sick. He loved Jared, but he seriously questioned Jared’s judgment. What if everyone else got the flu? Dinesh and Gilfoyle would use it as an excuse to take as much time off as possible- or at least be very annoying about it. However, Richard knew he wasn’t being fair. He knew he’d also be difficult and try to push through the sickness until Jared made him stop. He didn’t even think to get a flu shot. They lived in California, after all.
Eventually Dinesh and Gilfoyle’s mockery got him to focus. They insinuated Jared and Richard had begun melding into one person once they started dating because Richard was acting like Jared. Monica just rolled her eyes at them all and told them to act like adults for once. Time went by quickly after that, with small breaks to obsessively check his phone for updates. He did get a few blurry Snapchats from Gloria that said things like “Feeling A-OK!” with a nonsensical collection of emojis.
By the time Richard got to his and Jared’s condo, it was well into dinner. Richard brought egg drop soup for Jared from his favorite Chinese restaurant. He had gotten himself chicken fried rice and a couple of spring rolls. Gloria smiled when she saw him, updated him on Jared’s condition, and left after promising to send over more soup.
Jared was bundled up on the sofa. He definitely looked better, but still looked pretty rough. His eyes were watery, his nose seemed a little red, and his usually well put-together appearance was rumpled with messy hair and kind of threadbare pajamas.
“Hey,” Richard said.
“Hello,” Jared sniffed.
“I brought you some egg drop soup,” Richard said holding up the bag. Jared smiled and thanked him. While Richard grabbed some mismatched plates, bowls, and silverware out of the kitchen, he called out, “Did Gloria treat you well? Or did she torture you with stories of her grandchildren?”
“I love stories of her grandchildren,” Jared said as he watched Richard awkwardly plate the food. Some of the soup spilled onto the coffee table, which he mopped up with some paper towels, muttering that he should have plated in the kitchen. “But I actually slept a lot. She did take good care of me though.”
“That’s good,” Richard said. He handed Jared his soup and sat himself on the sofa next to his boyfriend. He spoke again after a moment of silence, “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay here with you.”
“It’s all right, Richard,” Jared said, “Your work is important.”
“I just feel bad about it.”
Jared steered him to talk about what happened at Pied Piper that day, which got Richard going. He complained about Dinesh and Gilfoyle being assholes and how he was worried they would get done by their deadline, although they did get quite a bit done today. As they finished off their food and found a lull in their conversation, Richard could feel Jared leaning on his shoulder.
“Is this a tired thing or an affection thing?” he asked.
“Can’t it be both?” Jared asked, looking at him with red-rimmed eyes that made the blue really stand out.
Richard smiled to make Jared feel better and offered his arm so Jared could snuggle in more, “Yeah, it can.”
They had a nice evening watching whatever mindless thing they could find on TV. Jared kept dozing on Richard’s shoulder, but would sometimes awaken and say something about what was happening. He enjoyed listening to Richard’s commentary.
Eventually it was time to go to bed. As Richard led Jared to their bedroom, he let out a huge sneeze. He looked to Jared in distress.
“Why didn’t I get a flu shot?”
