Title: Cold
Author: cwgirlup75
Rating: G (it does imply a relationship between men, so if that squicks you - run away)
Fandom: Paranormal State/PRS
Pairing: Ryan/Sergey
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure it's been illegal to own real people for well over 100 years. I own nothing and no one.
Summary: Just a little TLC. Fluff between cute boys.
Author's note: Very short. Popped into my head and onto my computer in under 20 minutes.
Cold. As Ryan drifts out of sleep, the first thing he’s aware of is how cold he feels. He pulls the paper-thin hospital blanket further up over his shoulders and peers at the clock on the wall. 11:30 pm. He’s been in the hospital for two days, being treated for severe dehydration with fluids and anti-nausea meds, and his doctor has told him that he should be able to go home tomorrow.
He shivers a little in the darkness of the room and briefly contemplates calling the nurse for another blanket. He decides that it wouldn’t really help anyway since the hospital blankets feel like they are made from tissue paper and hope. He turns his head to look at Sergey, sleeping curled up on the sofa with his own blanket pulled to his chin. Sergey has been by his side since his admission to the hospital, regardless of how many times Ryan has told him to go home and rest. Deep down, where he would never admit it to anyone but himself, he’s glad that Sergey ignored him and stayed. Something about being in the hospital brings Ryan back to that terrified little boy, cowering in his bed while he prayed for the things in his closet to stay away.
Ryan bites his lip as he looks at Sergey. He wants Sergey to crawl into bed with him (even though they were scolded by a nurse last night for that), but he can’t shake the part of him that thinks that makes him sound pathetically needy. Actually, what he really wants is to be at home, sleeping with Sergey in their king-size bed with Xander sprawled out across the end of the bed while Serg puts his cold feet on Ryan’s leg and Xander snores and runs in his sleep. Since he can’t have that, he gives in to his desire for the next best thing.
“Serg? Hey, Serg, are you asleep?”
“Not anymore I’m not.” Sergey pushes himself into a sitting position and yawns. “What’s wrong? Are you ok? Do you need me to get a nurse or something?”
Ryan hears the trace of fear creeping into Sergey’s voice and curses himself for putting it there. He should have known that waking Sergey from a sound sleep would lead to him thinking there was a problem. “No, nothing’s wrong. I mean, I’m ok - I’m just….cold, and I thought maybe you were too.”
“You’re cold? Well, that’s easy enough to fix.” Sergey knows Ryan well enough to know that he would rather cut his tongue out than ask for comfort, so he just gathers up his own blanket and crosses to Ryan’s bed.
Ryan smiles into the dark as he rolls onto his left side and waits for Sergey. He feels the other blanket being spread over him and the mattress dip as Sergey crawls in behind him. The bed is a tight fit for the two of them, but they make it work. Sergey presses himself against Ryan’s back, folding his left hand under his head and draping his right arm over Ryan’s chest. He spreads his hand over Ryan’s heart, letting the familiar thump-thump-thump pull him back towards sleep.
Ryan lifts Sergey’s hand and kisses it before placing it back on his chest and letting his own hand cover it. The warmth from Sergey’s body seeps into Ryan and relaxes him. He takes a deep breath and smells the vague remnants of Sergey’s cologne mixed with a bit of sweat. He feels Sergey place a gentle kiss on the back of his neck before his breathing evens out and deepens. As Ryan drifts off, a last conscious thought crosses his sleep-fogged mind. At this particular moment, he couldn’t be happier.