Best medicine
Love and Deepspace - Zayne & Reader x Sylus
A/N: Based on the poll's results, I believe this is the duo most of you wanted to see again, so here it is as a treat. Also, big thanks for @/vqler for helping me out with the plot behind this one
Oh, and big thanks too to @/ticklygiggles for introducing me to this amazing writing platform that helped me with my productivity and for beta reading the fic for me
Summary: Sylus is complaining about some weird pain, so you ask for Zayne's help to figure it out
Word count: 2247 words
[Also on Ao3]
"You're overreacting," Sylus insisted while you parked the car. With arms crossed before his chest, he looked around Akso's hospital parking lot. Of course, he thought, of all possible places you could've taken him to, this was the one you decided on.
He groaned quietly, but like a spoiled child, when the passenger door opened and forced him to meet your concerned gaze. "Come on, Sylus," you hurried him, your foot tapping the ground, impatient. As there was no sign of him moving, you leaned over and into the car to drag him out of it. "You're not going to tell me you're afraid of doctors, are you?"
"Don't be silly, kitten," he muttered — it was not like it was going to make any difference if he was, anyway. "But this is a clearly waste of time. You know I don't need it."
"You do," you corrected him, taking the lead and pulling his hand to make him keep up with your pace, "you said yourself the pain didn't go away this time."
"Tsk."
This was not how it was supposed to go. Now that he thought about it, Sylus was the one to blame for listening to Luke and Kieran's stupid idea. Why would he, of all people, be in pain when he could simply heal himself? "Trust us, boss, you'll be pampered day and night", the twins would promise and insist as they tried to push Sylus into this idea. And they did, eventually.
All he had to do — according to the brains behind this plan — was to limp a little around you, whine and moan whenever you looked at him and pull up a pitiful facade while talking to you. Those, combined, were supposed to make you care a little more for him and encourage you to spend more time with him than with the others.
But that didn't happen. It did make you worry, but not in the domestic, cuddly way he expected. Instead of spoon-feeding him, you forced him to take the pain pills you had around your place; instead of pampering him rotten, you demanded him to resonate his evol with yours over and over, trying to see if it would help him heal the imaginary pain; and instead of letting him stay over at your place, you were now dragging him to the hospital.
"It will go away on its own," Sylus tried to argue, but it felt like he was throwing words at a wall instead of you. "I will be fine."
You sighed, pulling at his hand while still being careful to not hurt him — wherever the source of the pain was. "It's been days, Sylus, and your evol isn't working. We need to know what's going on with you."
"Aren't you scared they will call the Association on me the moment you give away my identity, kitten?" He suggested, unable to hold back that usual confident smirk from taking place in his face. "Or is this your plan to submit me to your hunters colleagues?"
You stopped walking, letting go of his hand. For a moment, Sylus thought he had draw the right card after all those attempts, but the look on your face said otherwise.
"What do you take me for?" You arched an eyebrow, pressing your finger at his chest while looking up to his stupidly handsome face. "Why do you think I brought you here of all places?"
"Because this is the place covered by your insurance?" He joked, but it didn't seem amused at it.
"Idiot," you rolled your eyes, "Zayne works here. He can get you checked while I keep you out of the jail. You just need to wait while I talk to the staff and then we-"
"Wait," Sylus frowned, holding your hand, "that doctor works here?"
"Yes," you nodded casually, "now hurry up, we need to get to him before the end of his shift," you said and was already dragging him by his hand again, barely giving him time to process how badly that plan was going to end.
If the fact that you were seeking for professional help instead of cuddling with him at home wasn't bad enough, you were going to force him to meet that guy of all people. And worse, ask Zayne to take care of him in your place? If he wasn't feeling sick before, now his stomach was surely turning upside down.
Sylus was already unwilling to comply before, but he still managed to, somehow, make it even more difficult now. Making it past the front door felt as difficult as one of those Hunters' Contest stages and stopping Sylus from running away while you talked to Yvonne proved to be another whole battle of its own.
After what felt like eternity, you were, finally, walking into Zayne's office to meet the man himself. He looked up from a pile of documents, his eyes meeting yours with a soft tenderness. "You arrived early today," Zayne started, elegantly taking off his glasses, "I'll only be out in half an hour from now."
"I know," you sighed, looking over your shoulder and giving Sylus a look through the gap on the half opened door, "but I guess it's a good thing you're still on duty."
"Yvonne told me a thing or two in advance," Zayne nodded and you thanked the greater forces above that he was still as reliable as ever, "she said you needed a favor? Is it related to your health?"
"Not mine, a friend's," you giggled nervously and scratched your cheek, "he's… been having a weird pain and I thought you could check him up? Just so we know what direction we should follow."
"Mhm," Zayne nodded, "a friend of yours is a friend of mine, too. Ask him to come in," he added, pushing himself up and picking a pair of sterilized gloves and the stethoscope. "I hope I can be of help, but we should be able to figure out what kind of pain is… it… at least…"
Zayne's voice faded the moment he turned around, meeting not a friend of yours on the examination table, but rather a… he sighed, not knowing what word would be the fittest to describe Sylus.
"Hello, doctor," Sylus purred, leaning on his hands and tilting his head to the side to look at Zayne, "she said you can fix me."
"Sylus," Zayne nodded, sliding his hand under his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. Stay professional, he repeated inside his head before he looked up to you, who was standing next to the table. "I'm a physician, not a saint to perform miracles, but I will do my best."
You looked back and forth between the two men, wondering if this was a demonstration of friendly bickering or hostile politeness. Still, much to your happiness, Zayne walked towards you and Sylus, snapping the elastic around the wrist of his glove. "So, what seems to be the problem, Mr. Sylus?"
"It-"
"He is in pain, Zayne," you interrupted, already feeling like Sylus would come up with anything but the truth. "Today he woke up complaining about an ache on his thighs. Yesterday, it was his back, and then his shoulders on the day before."
"That, doctor," Sylus sighed, crossing his arms.
"It's natural to feel pain at these parts at an advanced age," Zayne suggested with a small, sly smirk. Sylus frowned. "But they are usually concentrated around the same area. To have them changing from day to day it's a bit unusual."
"Right?!" You gasped, finally someone acknowledging the matter with the proper concern. "A-and there is something else, too!"
"Kitten, pleas-"
"You see, Sylus can use his evol to heal himself, but it's not working this time," you explained while gesticulating, not noticing how Zayne was more amused by your speech than worried about the "patient" you brought to him. "…but it just won't work!"
Zayne shook his head, snapping back into reality. He could hear Sylus scoffing, probably because he noticed what happened, but that man wasn't really the priority for the doctor at that moment. "Well, let me have a proper look, in that case. If anything, I'll send you two to a specialist on the matter."
Sylus rolled his eyes and turned his face away. "I knew this would be a waste of time," he taunted, but peeked through the corner of his eye.
"Don't worry, Mr. Sylus," Zayne chuckled, hooking the stethoscope around his neck as he already discarded any hypothesis that would need the tool. He had a guess, but still needed to confirm it. "It's just a physical exam. Where did you say you were feeling pain today?"
"On my legs, doctor," Sylus grinned, spreading his thighs as he leaned back even more. "It was a torture to come all the way here just to see you, but I was forced to."
"Stop messing around," you smacked him on the shoulder and he chuckled. Zayne kept the straight, serious facade as he looked at both of you.
Without another word, he walked forward, narrowing the distance between him and Sylus — getting close enough to pay back some of the discomfort he felt with Sylus's shameless behavior. He placed one hand over Sylus's right leg, his fingers pressing the skin through the cloth.
"H-hey now, doctor, at least buy me a dinner firs-"
"Does it hurt here?" Zayne interrupted, his eyes fixed on Sylus's face while he rolled his thumb a little, massaging the spot just above the kneecap.
"It dohoesn- caham, it doesn't."
"Right," Zayne smiled calmly and looked at you like a professor doing a demonstration to his students. He slid his hand up Sylus's leg, his fingers slowly reaching to the top of his thigh.
And despite his best efforts, Zayne's hand was barely a palm away from Sylus's knee when the latter kicked up his leg, the reaction strong enough to make him nearly jump out of the examination table. Sylus groaned, "careful, doctor," and whined.
"I might've just struck a nerve, nothing to make a fuss over, Mr. Sylus," he explained, his fingers beginning to squeeze and pinch Sylus's leg again. "You see, I think I might have discovered a thing or two just now."
Great, Sylus thought, this was about to be over. He looked down at Zayne's hand on his leg and then back and forth between you and the doctor. Obviously, it didn't hurt — there was no pain to begin with — but it tickled, awfully so. Sylus felt the urge to coil his leg and kick Zayne away at each circle Zayne's thumb pressed into his thigh. His fingers skittered and caressed the clothed skin in a way that forced a crooked, nervous smile on Sylus's face. It was bad to the point that he knew he had to cover his mouth and fake a cough or two, just so his cover wouldn't be blown. Or so he thought.
"And what is it, Zayne?" You asked, your eyes filled with curiosity as you could swear Sylus was… trembling?
"Well, the good news is that I believe there is nothing wrong with Mr. Sylus. At least, from a medical perspective," he explained, barely putting effort to conceal the mockery.
"Y-yohou are the reheal pain, dohoctor," Sylus retorted, trying to stiff himself and stop any other embarrassing giggle to come out.
"And the bad news?"
"They are not really bad," Zayne chuckled, looking at both you and Sylus, "not for you at least. Well, Mr. Sylus is quite ticklish."
"N-nohonsehense!"
"You're laughing like a kid and I'm barely trying," Zayne insisted, clawing a little harder at the top of Sylus's thigh and, in a matter of seconds, he found his wrist being tightly held by his patient, forcing him to stop. "See?"
"You-"
"Wait, for real?" You muttered. You were still processing the fact that Sylus was most likely faking the whole thing for the past days, but the new information that Zayne just delivered to you on a silver plate felt much, much more appealing. "Ticklish?"
"See it for yourself," Zayne nodded, making room for you before Sylus could even move away, "his legs are quite sensitive and I supposed the rest should be about the same."
"W-wahait, I dihidn't say you cohohould!" Sylus groaned, letting go of Zayne's hand to stop yours while trying to back into the examination table and move away from the couple before him. "Thihis is h-hahAHaharassment, I want to caha- HEhey!"
Sylus turned his head and growled quietly at Zayne, the sound spilling along with some giggles through his gritted teeth. It was far from enough to convince him or you to stop, but at least it made Zayne pull his hand away from his side. "B-bohohoth of you, stohohop it!"
"What? No way," you shook your head, gladly taking Zayne's lead and placing your hands on each of Sylus's thighs, tickling both of them at the same time. "You've been a pain 'til now, this is the best thing that happened today!"
"K-kihihitten, it wahahas hurting, I swehe- AGH, d-dohohoctor, gehehet off thehere!" Sylus gasped, his back arching when Zayne got a hold of his arm and managed to sneak some tickles on his ribs and under his arm.
"In that case, Mr. Sylus, I believe we shouldn't stop just yet," Zayne grinned, "laughter is the best medicine, after all, and I'm sure it will do wonders in your case."
