Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Mmmmmph,” William mumbled into Vyncent’s shoulder, snaking his arm around the elf’s waist. William was never this direct with his affection like this, except for the fact that he had a nasty cold and was absolutely delirious.

Vyncent, for one reason or another, somehow couldn’t catch certain human illnesses. Dr. Cross had been fascinated by it and ran all sorts of tests on him but for some reason, cross-species contamination wasn’t possible with coronaviruses between humans and elves. This had (unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it) left Vyncent as the only one able to stay with William while he was sick. Ashe and Dakota knocked on the door and frequently checked up on the two but it was crucial they didn’t get sick as they had hero work to do.

Vyncent ignored the hands on his waist despite his own blushing and continued to grab comfier clothes from William’s drawers for him. The ghost boy literally refused to physically detach himself from his boyfriend and continued to mumble nonsensical things into his shoulder.

He turned around and guided Will to his bed, he wished he could’ve had him stay in it but he was restless and uncharacteristically needy for affection right now. He gently pulled William’s tank top over his arms and shoulders and helped him into the softest hoodie he could find in his closet. He tugged on the semi-specter’s pants and as a joint effort they both managed to help him shimmy them off, weakly pulling on sweatpants before a sneeze hit Will and he groaned in pain.

Vyncent took over and pulled them up the rest of the way, he figured that the testosterone patch on his thigh could be left for an extra night just this once. William weakly grabbed at the fabric of Vyn’s shirt and pulled him down rapidly, earning a yelp from Vyncent as he didn’t expect his weight to be shifted.

Will buried his head into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck and Vyncent tried to ignore the fact that his face was absolutely on fire. William was technically the uncharacteristically warm one in this situation but Vyn was very unused to him being this direct. Everyone in their relationship showed different levels of affection and that was very normal to all of them.

Dakota was the most affectionate and frequently careened into the others with his entire body weight, tackling them in hugs or slinging his shoulders around them whenever he felt like it and with reckless abandon. Vyncent was second less in the sense of typical affection like hugging and kissing but he frequently found himself wrapping his tail around the others instinctively or headbutting them with varying levels of gentleness as his primary and most frequent form of affection. Ashe came third, she wasn’t very big on PDA but she frequently kissed their foreheads and reserved lip kisses for more special occasions. William very much enjoyed the affection he got, he just didn’t know how to reciprocate it.

It ended up coming out more in the form of silent actions like carrying Ashe down the stairs for small things so she didn’t have to take longer on the stairlift to get her midnight snacks or letting his hands be used as chew toys for Dakota’s biting habit. His touches were ironically ghost-like but nonetheless very comforting to those who seeked it.

One could now understand why Vyncent was so flustered at the fact that William seemed to be trying to press up against him as close as physically possible. His arms wrapped around his chest loosely and his legs tangled with Vyncent’s lanky ones, squeezing him. “Need anything else, darling?”

He wasn't typically someone who used petnames, but it just seemed to slip out of him as he looked down thinking of a way to reassure him that he wouldn’t leave. “Nose hurts. Head hurts. Throat hurts. Ribs hurt.”

The purple-haired boy frowned at his slightly slurred words, he didn’t understand human sickness but he wished that he could experience it in the place of William, physical pain he was no stranger to. He placed a kiss on the crown of Will’s head and rubbed his back, whispering soft coos in his native language to try and comfort him.

Words tried to form from Will’s mouth but they came out sluggish and half-coherent. His fists tightened around a handful of Vyncent’s shirt and he attempted to pull him closer despite the fact that they were practically flush against each other. “You’re so warm….love warmth….Pr’tty elf…..pr’tty eyes ‘n sharp teeth ‘n good cuddler….”

Vyncent was so glad William was a little too delirious to register what he was saying because he didn’t think he could handle William complimenting him that much. Or anyone complimenting him that much, for that matter.

“Hotttt,” he whined. Hearing William whine was almost unsettling as Vyncent realized he had never once heard Will use that voice for anything, ever.

“You’re hot?” It worried him that he could potentially be getting more feverish, he put one hand to William’s forehead and then one to his lower back and felt no significant heat or cold difference.

“No, silly, you’re hot,”

“I’m the same temperature as I have been? Do you want me to move the blanke-oh.”

He didn’t think it was possible for him to be more flustered then he already had been but he brought the elbow that wasn’t holding William up to his face to cover it in embarrassment.

“You shouldn’t be such a smooth talker for someone who’s apparently dying of the plague!” Will giggled at that, shifting his position so that he could lean up and do his….best attempt at planting a kiss on Vyncent’s lips.

William’s lips were uncharacteristically warm and he ended up kissing more of the corner of Vyn’s mouth then his actual mouth but he adjusted the space and gave a chaste kiss before pulling back. “Stop wasting your energy, lie down and actually try and get some rest.” His tone was stern but nothing about his body language mirrored that, his tail flicking back and forth casually around their tangled legs (definitely not in the place of running around and eating the walls over receiving a little more affection then usual.)

“Whateverrrrr,” William drew out the ‘r’, sniffling and staying buried where he felt the warmest and the safest. “Jus’ gimme your bodyyy,”

“dear god, do not phrase it like that!” He sputtered, but by the time he was done making his noises of shock he looked down and William seemed to be fast asleep.

Vyncent sighed, laying his head back and running his hand through Will’s hair and smiling a tiny bit. Sick William might just be the death of him.

----------------------

“I’m still kind of in disbelief that Vyncent apparently has 7 livers and 2 vestibular systems but I’m glad he’s able to take care of Will,” Ashe joked, rolling down the hallway in her wheelchair with Tide and Dakota walking next to her.

“Personally, of all the mildly disturbing things I’ve heard about or seen Vyncent do, having weird extra sets of organs that make him immune to human colds seems fairly average.” Dakota piped in, taking off his hero mask as he skipped towards the door of William’s room where the both of them were quarantining.

Tide chuckled at Dakota and lightly knocked on the door. A second passed and then there was a soft but distinct “you can open it” from inside. The older hero turned the knob and as quietly as possible pushed the door open. For safety, they all stayed close to the doorway but all three of them broke out in smiles when they saw the sight before them.

Vyncent was leaned up against the headboard of the bed and William was splayed completely on top of him. The ghost boy’s head rested nestled in the crook of Vyncent’s collarbone and his shoulder and he had his arms and legs loosely wrapped around his torso. Vyncent’s distinct rat-like tail with the purple tuft at the end was laid protectively over Will’s lower back, ever-so-gently pulling him close. (Probably subconsciously.)

The elf’s voice was sleepy and a bit raspy when he spoke. “General update: he’s doin' okay. It looks like the colds moved to his face but his breathing is fine and I’ve been trying to make sure he takes small sips of water I—what are you guys laughing at?”

Ashe stifled her laughter, covering it with her elbow. “Nothing, nothing…William is just…..so he’s cuddly when he’s sick?”

“Very, very cuddly.” The boy under William deadpanned back.

Dakota held back a bark of laughter and Tide grabbed his phone from his pocket, very discreetly raising his phone and taking a picture of the adorable moment.

“Hey! No! Stop that! I swear on The Greats I’ll wake him up!”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Dakota smiled teasingly.

William made a small groan from his place and shifted a tiny bit, muttering small incoherent things into Vyncent’s neck.

“Yeah….you’re right, I wouldn’t dare.”