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It was Nick who noticed it first. The way Lynn staggered as he made his way up the stairs, the way his wings kept knocking over ceramics, the way he fell asleep at the stove. It had only been a few months since they started dating, but Nick knew Lynn well enough to know that this was out of the ordinary.
“Lynn,” Nick said as Lynn sat at the kitchen table, agonizing over a piece of origami, “Bed. Now.”
The angel huffed, “Nick, I really don’t have time for–”
“Lynn, I’m serious. You need to lie down and rest. I mean it.” Nick pressed his palm against the angel’s forehead. It was burning, running dangerously hot, “Holy hell, Lynn, you’re on fire. Put that down and go rest.”
“I’m fine, Nick. Angels don’t get sick.”
“Angels don’t get sick, my ass,” Nick glared, “Bed, now.”
“Nick.”
“Lynn.”
They stared at each other, locked in a battle of wills. Now that he could get a closer look, Nick could spot the flush on Lynn’s cheek, the bags under his eyes, the way his features seemed to sag. The angel’s eyes were red rimmed, his lips chapped. Lynn looked like shit. Nick was not going to let his boyfriend’s stubbornness make whatever this was worse.
Lynn was good at withering glares, but Nick could hold his ground. Eventually, the other man’s exhaustion must have gotten the better of him. Lynn looked down, sighing, and pushed himself out of the chair.
Nick only had a second to bask in his victory before Lynn keeled over. The demon reached out, supporting Lynn under his arms. Shit, he was so hot, too hot, body heat seeping through his clothes.
“I got you, Lynn, let’s go.”
“Sorry, Nick…” Lynn muttered.
“You ain’t got nothing to be sorry for!” Nick exclaimed, “I gotta take care of you, you know? Responsibility and all that.”
Somehow, Lynn managed to scoff, “Really Nick? You? Responsible.”
“Fuck you, Lynn.”
“You wish.”
“I’m going to drop you. C’mon, let’s go.”
They managed to slog to Lynn’s room without much hassle. Nick deposited Lynn in the bed, peeling off the angel’s socks and tucking him in. Lynn sighed contentedly. Nick sat himself by the bed, one hand making broad strokes through his boyfriend’s sweat soaked hair.
“Any idea what this is?” Nick asked.
“I don’t know. Just woke up and felt like this.”
Nick ignored the pit in his stomach and grinned, “Maybe you just need some sleep.”
Lynn nodded, “Yeah, maybe.”
“I’ll be back with a cold compress, okay? You get some shuteye.”
Nick leaned down and planted a light kiss on Lynn’s forehead. The angel sighed, mumbling, “Aren’t you scared to catch whatever this is?”
Nick gave the angel his most shit eating grin, “Demons don’t get sick, Lynn.”
“It’s so hot…” Damao panted.
“Nick, why did you call this meeting?” Ira groaned from his spot by the kitchen fan, “Isn’t that like, Lynn’s thing?”
“Lynn’s sick,” Nick said.
A chorus of disbelief exploded from the inhabitants of 1031. Nick sighed, letting the others get the racket out of their system. It was really fucking hot, he desperately wanted to do anything but wrangle these fools, but Lynn needed his help and he was a good boyfriend, damnit.
“Are you sure, Nick?” Lily piped up, “Angels can’t get sick.”
“He’s running thirty nine degrees, his forehead’s all clammy, and he can barely eat soup. I’m pretty sure he’s sick, Lily.”
“You sure it’s not because of your bad cooking, Nick?” Neil asked, all wide eyed and fake innocence.
Nick growled, “You can go check on him yourself if you want. C’mon. I need ideas for what’s wrong.”
Everyone looked at him with blank eyes. Damao shrugged. Neil idly swatted his tail at some flies.
“You think he’s, you know, falling or whatever?” Ira asked, “Since he’s engaging in relations with a demon or something?”
“That’s ridiculous,” Nick grumbled, looking to Lily for confirmation.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “That’s just an old myth. Heaven doesn’t really care about angels and romances. I’m pretty sure Hell doesn’t care much either.”
Nick noticed how Neil’s eyes lit up at that comment, his tail wagging a little bit faster. He’ll have to use that against his little brother soon. Right now, though, he had to worry about Lynn.
“That’s it? Any more ideas?”
There was a collective shake of heads. Abu made a strange woo woo sound that Nick could not be arsed to interpret. Nick groaned, stomping over to the sink to grab a glass of water. He could hear snippets of idle conversation drifting over from the other occupants of the room. Nick hoped they were brainstorming ideas on how to get Lynn better.
Just his luck, the apartment decided to have a power outage at that moment.
“Fuck,” Nick muttered, gulping down his water, already feeling the sweat beading on his neck.
“No! Why?”
“It’s so hot!”
“Where’s Lynn’s halo?”
“No,” Nick barked, “He’s sick, you guys are not gonna use his halo as a generator!”
The others turned their attention to Lily, a malicious glint in their eyes. However, where Lily once sat, there was only an indent in her chair and empty air. Smart angel. The inhabitants of 1031 fell back into their seats, making various inhuman sounds of discomfort. The room was already starting to feel stuffy. Nick was done wasting his time here.
“I’m gonna go to the store and get some painkillers for Lynn,” Nick said, “You guys have literally been no help.”
“Can we come with you?” they all asked simultaneously.
“No.”
“Hey, Lynn,” Nick said, popping the door open, “You doing okay?”
A groan. Nick set the cup of water down the bedside table, opening the pill bottle and shaking out two little blue gels. He gently propped Lynn up on the bed.
“Here, this is just some Advil, but it should help,” Nick muttered.
Lynn nodded weakly. Nick tilted the angel’s head back, letting him swallow the pills with a copious amount of water. Lynn mumbled something. Nick shook his head.
“Don’t push yourself, angel,” Nick said gently, “It’s hot, you needa get out of those sheets, bring your temp down.”
“‘S cold…” Lynn mumbled. Nick shook his head around.
“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s for your own good,” Nick muttered. He peeled back the sweat soaked covers. Lynn curled up to himself, shivering.
“Here, I got you,” Nick mumbled, letting himself on the bed. He cuddled in closer to the angel, pulling him close. Nick nuzzled Lynn’s hair, pressing soft kisses to Lynn’s burning forehead. He was warm, much too warm, radiating with heat in Nick’s arms. Yet he was shivering fiercely, like he was trying to hang on to whatever warmth he could. Nick let his tail sneak around Lynn’s leg. Dread pooled deep in his gut, igniting a possessiveness he didn’t know he had.
“Get well soon, Lynn. Please,” Nick whispered. Lynn was already fitfully asleep in his arms.
“What’s wrong with him?” Nick asked anxiously.
“Sir, again, please give me some time,” the doctor said firmly, “This is the fifth time you’ve asked.”
“Sorry, I’m ju–”
“Worried, yes, I know,” the doctor sighed. She went back to whatever she was doing, poking and prodding at Lynn with her medical sticks and rods.
Nick had gotten worried when Lynn’s condition did not improve after a few days. He called the hospital in a panic, initially laughed off because “angels don’t get sick.” So Nick called again and again until the hospital sent a doctor to the apartment complex to check on Lynn more out of annoyance rather than obligation.
“Alright, I think I know what’s happening here,” the doctor finally said, “It’s his halo. Something’s been sapping him of his energy reserves.”
Nick felt his face go red. Of course, it made sense. Whenever there was a blackout, 1031 would steal Lynn’s halo to power their electronics. There has been an abnormally high amount of power outages lately, Lynn must have reached his limit. A little bubble of guilt settled in Nick’s gut. He had participated in the energy leeching as well, Lynn’s sickness just a little bit his fault.
“H–How do you fix it?” Nick ventured.
“Do you know another angel?” the doctor asked. Nick nodded rapidly. “Ah, good. Just ask if your friend could borrow some power.”
“His sister can help. Thank you so much, doctor. You had no idea how worried I was.”
“Oh,” the doctor muttered, “I think I had a pretty good idea.”
Nick bid her farewell, then he was by Lynn’s side, a hand stroking the angel’s forehead. Lynn looked up at him through half-lidded eyes. Nick smiled. Thank Satan this was something reversible.
“You ok?” Lynn mumbled, barely audible.
“Hush, don’t waste your energy talking,” Nick scolded, “And, uh. I’m sorry. This was partly my fault, you know?”
“Everyone’s...fault.”
“Yeah, that too,” Nick growled, “Don’t worry, I’m gonna make them all pay.”
An amused smile crept over Lynn’s lips. Nick pressed a kiss to the angel’s forehead before leaving, ready to commit mass murder.
“Are you feeling better, Mister Lynn?” Neil asked.
“Much,” Lynn answered, hovering over the teapot. Nick stood next to him with a possessive arm over his shoulder. Ever since the angel’s recovery, Nick has been clingier than usual, always finding an excuse to be invading Lynn’s personal space.
“All thanks to me,” Nick boasted.
Neil scoffed, “You sure? All you did was make a phone call.”
“He also took care of me the whole time,” Lynn said, taking the whistling kettle off the stove, “It was nice.”
Nick chuckled, “It was, wasn’t it?” He held out the teacups for Lynn to fill.
Suddenly, a pop and a crackle left the apartment in darkness. The air conditioning and fans shut off, and a panicked yell can be heard a few rooms over. Ira must have been playing one of his video games. Lynn’s halo flickered on, providing them with a little bit of light to see.
“We’ll have to move the stuff in the fridge to the icebox again. What is it with this summer and blackouts?” Lynn sighed.
Nick nodded, rolling up his sleeve in preparation for the work. He was seriously going to invest in a backup generator for the apartment. Nick looked over at Neil, trying to surreptitiously make sure he was okay, and caught a dangerous glint in his brother’s eye.
“Mister Lynn, can we use your ha-”
“No!” Nick shouted.
He really had to get that generator now.