Perks of the secret friend [Iruka and Itachi]

[uchihasavior]

Who: [The I team-- Itachi and Iruka]
When: February 9th
Where: Starting at the Uchiha Compound, moving to Iruka's place


The attention Itachi gets when he finally falls ill can be overwhelming. It seems to be traveling around Konoha, so no doubt with his weak immune system and his extended stay in his home village, Itachi came down with the flu. Mother found him nearly keeling over in the process of making himself tea and demanded he lay back down in bed.

He hadn't gotten any real rest since. The household was busy. Between Mother, Sasuke, and Shisui popping in, he was always being asked if he was alright, if he needed anything, or presented with something else to try to swallow.

Dusk was only marginally better, with everyone else prepping for bed. And now the footsteps down the hall started again...

Comments

[uchihasavior]

"Mm." comes the defeated answer, but he goes limp again. He isn't going to try. He simply turns inward to press his face into his shoulder.

[senseiofthesea]

He seemed satisfied with that, cuddling him absently as he headed off down the hall, using his foot to push his covers out of the way before setting Itachi down on the bed. He moved to get Itachi's pillows and preferred blanket to wrap him in before flipping his covers overtop him, smoothing it down over the top of the other blanket.

"Any requests?"

[uchihasavior]

He doesn't mind at all, knowing from experience that Iruka won't smother him. It makes the contact that much more enjoyable, a small positive in the light of his illness. His head felt swollen, his nasal passages blocked, and every swallow was somewhat painful to his throat raw from the occasional coughing fit.

There's a somewhat comfortable silence as Iruka prepares him for bed, and he doesn't move at all once Iruka is finished. He's all settled.

"Throat burns." he manages, after a few moments. A little raspy. Something to soothe it might help him sleep a little easier.

[senseiofthesea]

He brushed Itachi's hair out of his face, examining him for a moment, then moved off to the other room, getting a glass of water, a cup of juice, and some lozenges. He set the two cups beside him and the bag of throat drops, unwrapping one and offering it to him.

"Understandable. I'll make sure to draw the curtains before I leave the room so the light doesn't bother you."

[uchihasavior]

Iruka receives an appreciative hum for clearing his line of sight. His hair would tickle sometimes, and he wasn't exactly in the position to keep raising his arms and move it.

He's left to calmly listen to the sounds of Iruka leaving, eyes opening only when he returned.

He quickly comes to the conclusion of a short mental debate, slightly sitting up so he can take the offered lozenge.

There's a nod at Iruka's final statement. The darkness will definitely help him sleep.

[senseiofthesea]

He made sure the pillows were situated so Itachi could comfortably roll over if he felt the need, then gave him a smile. "You settle down then. Orange juice, since it keeps, and water are by your bedside. If the water makes you too queasy, do the juice. If you need me, I'll be in the other room." He gave the covers one last smooth over, then padded over to draw the curtains.

[uchihasavior]

After that, and half of the glass of water, Itachi is actually able to doze off to sleep for a few hours. It's a blissful rest, not interrupted by mother's voice, or Sasuke's faint apologies, for bringing his contagious self into the house.

(Itachi didn't blame him, however. Things just happened.)

It's only interrupted when his throat is mad at him, abruptly sitting up in the middle of the night to cough as if he's going to vomit a lung.

[senseiofthesea]

Iruka had ended up rolling out the futon and settling to sleep on the floor, and the coughing brought him alert, leaving him to push up on an elbow and blink at the other man. "Need more water?"

He was alert, but his voice was still thick from sleep.

[uchihasavior]

He motions to his own, which is still half full, currently unable to speak as he fears setting off another coughing fit. His breathing is labored, and forcefully controlled. What a horrible feeling, it was as if he was choking on the very air he was trying to breathe.

It has set off the head pressure again, tears rolling from his left eye strictly, nose leaking. Sometimes, it switched eyes. Either way, his head felt like a balloon and he couldn't really breathe.

[senseiofthesea]

"Sip the juice a little, it should help clear your throat." He didn't get up, instead burrowing into the pillow again. "M'here if you need me."

[uchihasavior]

A weak nod follows, and he steels himself into some form of control, eventually able to down the entire glass of orange juice.

He still felt terrible, but at least he was able to get interrupted sleep. The reflex to cough dies down in a few moments, breathing settling into something manageable.

[senseiofthesea]

He listened intently for a long moment, only able to doze back off once he was fully certain that Itachi was going to be fine going back to sleep. Much better than hassling the poor man.

[uchihasavior]

He has to start sweating the fever out. Which unfortunately results in tossing every few hours. Getting rid of his blankets. And then wrapping himself up in them so he forms a coccoon.

[senseiofthesea]

Iruka made sure that everything Itachi needed, including a bucket to be sick into if it came to that, was within reach come morning, brushed his hair back, then set out to go teach class for the day after a thorough shower. He came back at lunch to peek in on him, but otherwise didn't return until that evening to come in and see how he was doing properly, reaching to touch his face and see what he'd done to the stuff around him.

[uchihasavior]

He's only (almost) been sick, once. The only thing he's had in his stomach is the water and orange juice, both glasses long since emptied, one unfortunately knocked down, but intact. His coordination failed him and he simply didn't have the strength nor the will to pick it up.

The only thing he has to collect his will for is to relieve his bladder, done a few hours prior to Iruka's return that night. His hair sticks to his face, brow furrowing at the contact, relaxing once he realizes it's just Iruka.

His eyes open, but he can't quite focus, just vaguely keeps them trained on Iruka. His pants are riding down, and his shirt, up, a product of repeated tosses and turns. One leg under the blankets, one under. He's found he liked that balance.

...He realizes he probably stinks.

[senseiofthesea]

He examined him carefully, then set about cleaning up Itachi's mess first, leaving him be and replacing both glasses to wash the old ones once he was done, setting them and the unaffected throat drops back on the nightstand. That finished, he gently untangled Itachi and picked him up. "I need to change that bedding. It's damp to the touch and that won't help you."

[uchihasavior]

Iruka leaves him for a bit, and he takes that as his cue to try to get more sleep.

Unfortunately, it's interrupted, but Iruka would have a reason to, and his agreement comes in the form of a hoarse hum, leaning into Iruka's chest. He'll be wherever he sets him down.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he vaguely worries he's just going to get him sick, too.

[senseiofthesea]

He set him on his own futon so he could change out his own bedding, then frowned at Itachi and looked to the bedding. Hrm.

He moved to get him fresh sleepwear and knelt down, putting his hand on Itachi's shoulder. "You need to change before you go back to sleep. Need me to help?"

[uchihasavior]

He understands, yet it takes him a bit to answer. Everything is foggy, such is the case with the sinus pressure. But he manages a shaky nod. He does need the help, he can feel how sweaty he is, and stewing in it would do him no good.

Sitting up is shaky, but he's confident Iruka will provide him the support he needs, removing his shirt slowly.

[senseiofthesea]

He eyed Itachi's frame, then decided he'd see about washing him down later, instead moving his hands to make sure he didn't fall over as the other man started to strip out of his shirt. He was dubious if he could manage something similar with his bottom half given the trouble he was having.

[uchihasavior]

He manages to wriggle them mid-way down his thighs. Anything else is too much energy to exert, and he just ends up looking up at Iruka, half naked.

He needs help.

[senseiofthesea]

He's honestly impressed he even managed to get that far, and reached down to untangle the other man from his clothes, dropping them in a pile to the side before moving to start getting him dressed again, starting with bottoms and sleep pants.

[uchihasavior]

He can help a little bit, at least. Raise his hips to allow Iruka to get past his butt, and lift his arms somewhat to get the shirt on after that. And after that is over, he waits patiently to be picked up again.

Or Iruka can leave him on the futon. Either is fine with him, and he wouldn't even be offended Iruka would like to keep his own bed dry.

[senseiofthesea]

Iruka clearly was having none of that though, picking him up to settle him back in the bed, nestling the fresh covers around him and brushing the cloth down. "Go ahead and go back to sleep, I'll wake you when I have the broth all heated up for you."

[uchihasavior]

Mmm, Iruka was the best. He finds himself humming faintly-- as much as he can with his hoarse throat, right up until he's situated on the bed again.

"Thank you, Iruka." he rasps, gently, giving him a weary smile.