Code Flu (Sterek, Stiles)

[Voodoo huntress]

I don't even remember the last time I posted on this forum. Hello, I return from the dead. 

This is a small something that can maybe continue? I dunno. This is obviously some vague AU where Derek is a deputy, Stiles is a grad student and they're married and nothing hurts.

******

Stiles tiredly kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his messenger bag after he closed the front door. He walked slowly into his and Derek's house, body aching with his impending flu. Derek was in the living room and greeted him warmly, but frowned when all he got was a faint smile from his husband.

"Stiles? You okay?" Derek asked, sitting up straight on the couch. Stiles nodded and sniffled.

"I'm just really tired. I'm gonna go take a bath, okay?" Stiles said quietly, not wanting to further agitate his aching throat. Derek eyed him, concerned, but nodded anyway. Stiles continued to shuffle down the hall, slowly undressing as he went. Derek kept an ear trained on his husband and only relaxed (marginally) when he heard the water start in the bathroom. He returned back to his task of organizing files and important notes for his job at the BHPD.

Meanwhile, Stiles was slowly starting to regret filling the tub up with hit water. Sure, it eased his congestion slightly, but his slight dizziness was increasing at an alarming rate. Stiles splashed his face with some water, but kept his hands hovered over his face.

"Hapt'kssch! Hpt'tssch! Mn..." Stiles moaned, his head spinning. He wiped at the mess under his nose, coughs spilling out. The steam from the water added with his cloudy, stuffed head was making is slightly difficult to get air, and Stiles knew from his vision slightly fading at the edges, he should probably not stand up, at least not without assistance. Mustering up some energy, he called his husband.

*****
Derek's head jerked up at a soft sound. It was quiet, but he was sure he heard somethin-

"Der...Der'k..." Derek quickly stood and followed the weak voice and clothing trail to their master bathroom. Reaching the closed door, he knocked.

"Stiles? Baby? You okay?" Derek asked, eyebrows creased with worry.

"Need some help..." Stiles said quietly. Derek opened the bathroom door to find his husband draped over the lip of the tub, breathing a little too quickly. He rushed to kneel beside the bath. He lifted Stiles' chin gently, a silent question in his eyes.

Stiles struggled to focus his eyes when he felt Derek lift his face. The light from the bathroom made him squint and inhale shakily. He angled his face away, in a poor attempt to not spray his husband.

"Hih-tishh! Hept'ksshh!" Stiles sniffled and groaned again when his head spun. He relaxed his head in Derek's palm. "'M feelin' kinda woozy. Wanna get out. Help me?" Stiles asked, eyes closing. Derek hummed his answer and reached behind him to get the towel off of the rack on the wall.

"Can you stand?" Derek asked, keeping a hand on Stiles' arm. He used his other hand to reach under the water to pull the drain.

"I think so. Just didn't wanna trip." Stiles said, clearing his throat painfully. He coughed and sniffled. "I don't feel so good." Stiles said pitifully. Derek, who was gently helping him stand up, snorted quietly.

"I kind of gathered that. Just a cold or Code Flu?" Derek asked, waiting for Stiles to wrap a towel around his waist and slowly helped him step out of the tub.

"Mm...feels like flu...was going around campus." Stiles answered, and covered his mouth with his towel to shield his coughs. "God, I hope this stays away from my stomach."

Me too, Derek thought quietly. He followed his shivering husband to their bedroom, retrieving Stiles' clothes from the floor as he went.

"Hah! Hapt'ksschuu! Hih'ksch!" Stiles sniffled and whined.

"Bless you. You want some pajamas?" Derek asked, rubbing his fingers through Stiles' hair. Stiles nodded wearily.

"Jus' some sweatpants will do..." Stiles croaked before yawning. He used his towel to do a half-assed job of drying himself when Derek came back with fresh underwear and lounge clothes. "Mm, thanks, babe." Stiles hummed happily when Derek pressed a kiss to his warm forehead.

"You have a fever. I'm going to text your dad to let him know I won't be in. You need to email your professors and tell them you can't come to class." Derek said, his voice holding no arguments. Stiles felt way too shitty to even try to argue. He just wanted to sleep and not wake up until this bug went away.

Stiles slowly got dressed, and when he was done, a sudden chill shot through him. Stiles' teeth started chattering as he shivered.

"M-Man, f-fuck this." Stiles complained and latched on to his heat source of a husband. Derek humored him , letting Stiles try to burrow in his chest for a spell before he gently urged his sick husband into their bed.

"Come on, lay down so I can get a number on that fever. You need medicine too." Derek said and walked back to their bathroom. Stiles grumbled, but climbed into bed. He muffled his coughs into his pillow and slowly relaxed his sore body. He didn't even realize he dozed off until he felt a hand shaking him awake.

"Sorry, baby, I know you're exhausted. Just stay awake for a little bit." Derek said and pressed the button on the thermometer before pushing it under Stiles' tongue. He measured out a dose of cold and flu syrup and sat it on the nightstand before pulling out his phone to send the Sheriff a quick text about the situation. He heard a small beep and turned his attention back to his husband.

"Its not the worse." Stiles said quietly, trading the thermometer for the meds. Derek 'hmphed' at the 101.5 reading.

"It could still be lower. What else do I need to get you? Tissues, for sure." Derek teased when Stiles lowered the empty medicine cup to quickly lift his arm to catch a quick set of sneezes in his elbow. Stiles sniffled and rolled his eyes.

"Just wanna sleep for now, Der. Thanks though." Stiles said, rubbing his eyes. Derek left the room again to get a box of tissues and a water bottle from the other room and Stiles was laid back down, snoring congestedly. Derek huffed fondly and went to find his husband's laptop to email the professors.

(TBC, possibly)

*****

So yeah. I may continue this but I have no idea when. I want to try and write more so hopefully my lazy ass will do something.

Tell me what you think!

[Owlinatree]

I haven't been active in forever, so somehow I missed this! As always, your writing is great; it always feels so . . . lived-in, if that makes sense? Like, everyone in your stories feels real and like they are operating in the real world. It's all very accessible in the best way. Loved the routine they have set up for whenever Stiles inevitably becomes a sniffly mess 

[RemedyBane]

this is so cute!!!  I love Sterek and haven't read them in a while. NIce way to get back into the fandom  hope there will be a next part

[Voodoo huntress]

Thanks you two! I read your comments and I was like "i never wrote a sterek two-parter" (at least i don't think) so you can be my guinea pigs!

******

Derek jerked awake for the 5th time that night to Stiles coughing roughly next to him. He sighed and sat up on an elbow to reach over to the lamp on his nightstand and turned it on. He then fully sat up in the bed and rubbed at his face to wake himself up more.

"I'm...I'm so s-sorry, D-Der..." Stiles stuttered around the wrist doing a futile attempt of muffling his hacking. Derek grunted and brushed the sweaty hair back from his husband's warm forehead. Getting an idea, he pushed the covers off and swung his legs off of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Stiles asked hoarsely, his throat burning.

"Hush, I know your throat is killing you. We're gonna try something different." Derek said, rummaging around in their closet.

"No, Derek, you need to sleep. I'll just sleep on the couch tonight; no sense in both of us being awake." Stiles said, pushing himself up on shaky arms. Derek gave him a warning glare and a low growl that made Stiles lay back down.

"Don't be an idiot, Idiot. Why the hell would I want you-"

"Hapt'kssch! Hpt'tssch!" Stiles sniffled and coughed thickly.

"...Right. So you just stay right there. Glad we're on the same page, babe." Derek shook his head and dug around in the closet some more before triumphantly pulling out a box.

Stiles glanced guiltily at the humidifier his husband was holding, knowing that he was keeping them awake. "You don't have to do all that, I'm okay..." he trailed off. Well, his voice might have given out too.

Derek ignored him and set the box on the bed before setting up the humidifier on the floor right next to Stiles' side of the bed before plugging it in. He straightened back up and fixed the blankets around Stiles.

"I'm going to the kitchen to grab the water and oil, you need anything?" Derek asked. Stiles bit his lip. He really wanted something to drink but Derek was already going through so much trouble, that he really didn't want to ask for anything else-

"Some tea. Got it. Probably more tissues too." Derek said and dropped a kiss on Stiles' forehead before walking out of the bedroom. Stiles could only stare after him, falling in love even more.

*******

Derek yawned as he poured the hot water from the kettle into a mug with a honey ginger tea bag in it. He had checked the time on the microwave and saw that it was a little after 3 in the morning. Derek knew that Stiles was feeling guilty for keeping them awake (stupidly feeling, he might add) so he did his best to look at least somewhat energized as he carried his load back to their bedroom.

"Hih-tishh! Hept'ksshh! Hih'knnxt!...Ow..." Stiles croaked, and blew his nose.

"Don't stifle them, babe. You know it makes your head hurt more." Derek chastised, and went to sit on the edge of the bed and set the bottle of water, tea, and tissues down on Stiles' nightstand.

"I know, but I'm just so tired of...kff!-coughing-" Stiles choked out before falling into another coughing spell. Derek bent over to pour the water into the humidifier, along with some drops of eucalyptus oil, before shutting the lid and pressed the 'On' button.

A fine mist started to rise from the humming machine, filling their room with the sharp tang of the scented oil. Stiles was still coughing heavily, so Derek climbed into the other side of the bed and situated them so that Derek was propped up against the headboard and his husband against his chest.

"Try and take some deep breaths, babe. Let the oil help." Derek crooned, rubbing Stiles' chest. Stiles took in some thick, congested breaths through his mouth, his chest rumbling. There were some deep coughs every once in awhile, but Stiles' lungs eventually gave him a break. He sighed and relaxed against Derek.

Derek kissed the top of his head before reaching over and grabbed the now lukewarm tea.

"Here. It's not hot, but it should help your throat some." He said. Stiles gave him a grateful look and sipped at the sweet drink. Derek helped him hold the mug until it was empty and set it down. He felt Stiles' take in hitching breaths and grabbed the tissues.

"H'KSHH! Hh-TISHH! Whoa-hh'TSSHH! Yikes, okay, oil is working, fuck. Hh-KSSHUU!" Stiles blew his nose into several wads of tissues before he felt it was safe to relax against Derek's warm chest again.

"Bless you. Think you're up for some more sleep?" Derek asked. He chuckled when Stiles yawned and rubbed at his eyes.

"Yeah...thanks, babe." Stiles mumbled and curled into Derek's chest some more, sniffling. It didn't take long for his snoring to start up again, and Derek reached over to turn his lamp off. He could feel the start of a cramp at the base of his back from his uncomfortable position against the headboard, but Stiles was breathing a lot easier, so he endured it until he eventually followed his sick husband into sleep.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Voodoo huntress

[Owlinatree]

DOMESTICITY IS THE BEST

i swear i don't even usually like illness but you are converting me