“Hi.” He took in an unsteady breath and squeezed Reno closer to him. “Two more days.”
“I know.” Reno sounded so fragile. “I will be patient for your answers.”
“Thanks.” The path Luka saw, the future with Reno spanning out before him, still felt like it had a breaking point. He wasn’t sure if it was a sick curiosity that made him want to blurt outright then and there that he’d stay—that he’d run with Reno right on up to that edge willingly—or if somewhere in him, he hoped the moment it all fell apart would never come.
Luka knew something was wrong when he woke up. He rolled over in bed and cringed at the sweat-soaked spot he’d left behind. Everything ached, and he wasn’t sure if he’d just overdone it the night before or if he was sick. Sometimes, it was impossible to tell.
“Reno.” Luka shook Reno’s shoulder, then corrected himself. “Hikaru.”
“Hm?” Reno rolled over, sleep-soft and hazy until he fully opened his eyes. “Whoa.”
“Do you have work today?”
“You’re so pale.” Reno sat up in bed and put the back of his hand to Luka’s forehead. “Like a ghost. Um, you’re very warm. Hold on.”
Reno peeled out of bed and left the room, returning quickly with a glass of water.
“I do work later. Are you going to be okay?”
Luka shrugged and took the water. “Do you have a thermometer? I don’t know if I’m sick or burnt out.”
“Does this happen often?” Reno asked as he left for the bathroom in search of a thermometer. By the time he came back with one in hand, Luka had drained his water cup, and he handed it back to Reno.
“Yes," Luka admitted. “Sort of, it’s usually not too bad. Most of the time I just need a bit of extra sleep then I’m okay.” He stuck the thermometer in his mouth while Reno left to refill hisglass. It beeped a minute later and he called out, “Thirty-seven point five. I don’t know what that is.”
“Americans.” Reno came back in the room with the glass refilled and set it on the table. “No fever, you are okay.”
Luka didn’t feel okay. “Sure. That’s good. What in Celsius is a fever?”
“Thirty-eight or higher.” Reno ran a hand through Luka’s hair; at some point through the night, it had come undone from its braid. “If it reaches that, let me know. I’ll come back home.”
Luka’s alarm went off and Reno reached over to silence it.
“Promise me you’ll tell me?”
“Okay,” Luka said, not enjoying the fact Reno would skip work to take care of him. “Only if it gets over thirty-eight. Otherwise, you are not to think of me all day.”
“Impossible.” Reno bent over to kiss his cheek. “I think of you all day. Can I make you breakfast?”
“I don’t think I can eat yet.”
“Can I play music for you?”
Luka asked, “When do you leave for work?”
“Not for a few hours; you wake me upso early. Let me make us breakfast anyway, then I can play some of the songs I have been writing.”
“Fine," Luka relented, letting himself be pampered. “I’m taking a shower though. You might have to change the sheets again. I sweated so much in my sleep.”
“O-kay, it can be laundry tonight. The ladies miss me anyway.”
“Wait, um.” Luka’s brain refused to come online that morning. “Your neighbors, right?”
“Yes, I haven’t seen them since last Tuesday. Maryanne owns the laundromat so I catch up with her when I am there. She likes to gossip.”
“You like to gossip.”
“Now, why does everyone think that?” Reno tilted his head and Luka’s stomach decided to grumble. “Sure you can’t eat?”
