Story: Basil has a small cold.
~~~
Basil coughed into the crook of his arm, groaning slightly afterwards. His nose was red and sore, his eyes were puffy, and he was halfway through his second box of tissues. Yep, he had a bit of a cold, and he wasn't the happiest about it. Unlike normal, he was having a fair amount of trouble hiding his frustration. There was nothing he hated more than being cooped up indoors with a cold.
"Hey, honey," you said as you wandered inside, a gentle smile on your face, holding a warm soup bowl in your hands. "How are you?"
"Tired... I want to go outside..."
"You know you can't, it's freezing."
"But the plants," he whined slowly. "They're going to die if I'm not there."
"I've been taking good care of them," you replied, sitting at the end of the bed. "It's lucky that Polly's letting me borrow the spare bedroom to stay over."
"I appreciate it-" He was cut off by a loud sneeze. Grabbing a tissue, he blew his nose before continuing. "I'm sorry that you're seeing me like this. All sick and stuff."
"Doesn't matter. I'm your partner, I'm gonna love you no matter what."
"...Love you too." He looked away, burying his face in his hands. "A-ah, I'm still so embarrassed when I say it..."
You chuckled a little before speaking up again. "You feeling any better? How's your temperature?"
Leaning over, you placed your hand on his forehead. He was burning up still, but he was better than how he was the day before. He placed his hand on yours, pulling it off of him and holding it gently. He used his thumb to draw circles, and he looked into your eyes gently. The bags beneath them were evident.
"If I wasn't sick... I really, really, really want to kiss you right now."
"You get a lot bolder when you get sick."
"It turns off my filter... I'm tired, you know," he sighed, giving your hand a squeeze.
"I can tell. Well, if you weren't sick, I'd kiss you too." You then gestured to the bowl in your spare hand. "I bought you lunch."
"Oh, thank you."
You placed the bowl in his lap, and he spooned the (now lukewarm) soup into his mouth with his free hand, holding onto yours tightly still as if it was the last opportunity he'd have to. He yawned a little after he had a mouthful. "Good soup."
"Made by both Polly and yours truly." After he had finished, you smiled, leaning over to poke his red nose gently. "Anyway, you should get some rest."
"I'm fine just staying up and talking to you."
"No, you're not. You said it yourself, you're tired."
"Well, maybe a little..." he muttered. "But it'd be rude for me to sleep when you're here."
"It's not like I'm gonna die and be gone when you wake up," you told him, taking his empty bowl and ruffling his blonde hair gently. "I'll read a book, draw, listen to music or something in the other room until you're up. You need to rest so you can feel better."
"Fine," he groaned lightly, coughing into the crook of his arm after. "But I'm only doing this so I can kiss you sooner, because I really want to."
"Someone's grumpy."
"I'll be less 'grumpy' when I can cuddle with you again."
"Bold and delirious," you chuckled, finding yourself blushing. "Alright, I'll let you be."
Leaning over to place a small kiss to his forehead, you got up and pulled his bedroom door open. He smiled softly, closing his eyes. "I love you."
"Love you too, Basil."
(you may or may not have just given yourself a cold, but you didn't really care that much.)
happy new year, dudes, dudettes and dudon'ts! first post of the year is a basil thing, because an irl of mine keeps requesting him 🙄 (jkjk i love basil)
also! new years has sparked more cases of our 'best friend', good ol' covid, around the world. so, stay safe, kiddos! check in, wear masks, wash your hands, isolate if you need to, and vax if you can! if we work together, we can stop (or at least slow down) the spread!
thanks for 212k reads! love you!
that's all for now! catch ya on the flip side, trash gremlins!
- trashbag