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Something made Piers stir awake in the dead of night, and for a moment he was too disoriented to even pinpoint what it was. He shifted from where he was lying on his stomach in the middle of the bed, squinting at the room. Chris’ arm was warm and heavy wrapped around his waist, and by the sounds of it Chris was fast asleep. That made Piers smile to himself, as he knew how much trouble sleeping Chris had had lately. It was good he caught up on some of it.
There was no sign of Leon, and for a moment Piers waited as he figured Leon might’ve gotten up to use the toilet or get a glass of water or something. The minutes ticked by, though, and Leon still was nowhere to be seen, so Piers decided to go investigate. As carefully as he could he extracted himself from the embrace, trying his best to not wake Chris up if he could avoid it. Thankfully all Chris did was shift and bury his face into the pillow, his breaths slow and even, and Piers let out a sigh of relief.
Yawning Piers padded out of the bedroom, and the first thing he noticed was that there were lights on in the bathroom. So he headed that way, stopping in the doorway as he found who he’d been looking for. “You okay?”
Leon was sitting on the floor, practically hugging the toilet bowl. Either he hadn’t thrown up yet or he’d flushed it in between, there was no telling, but he seemed exhausted. He was unnaturally pale, his hair sticking onto his sweaty forehead, but he still attempted a grin. “Don’t worry about it,” he waved aside. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be right there.”
“Bullshit,” Piers huffed, moving closer. He placed his palm onto Leon’s forehead, and although his skin felt clammy to the touch he was still clearly burning up. “Have you been throwing up? Or just waiting for it?” he asked, brushing a few strands of hair off Leon’s forehead before straightening and stepping past him to the medicine cabinet. They didn’t have much he could give Leon for nausea, really, but he could at least find the thermometer and see if he had a fever.
“I’m fine, I—” Leon started, but he didn’t get any further before he was leveled with a look, and he gave in with a sigh. “Yeah I threw up. Multiple times. I don’t think there’s anything left to throw up, anymore.” His shoulders slumped and he pressed his forehead against the cool porcelain. “I was trying not to wake you.”
“Uh-huh.” Piers moved back close, arching an eyebrow at Leon. “Think we can take your temperature? Or do you need to…” He nodded towards the toilet.
“I don’t need to, it’s—”
“Leon.”
“Fine.” Grumpily Leon opened his mouth, although for all intents and purposes he looked like he really wanted to bite the thermometer in half. He let his eyes fall shut, obviously not feeling very great, and in an attempt to make him feel a little better Piers crouched down next to him on the floor and gently rubbed his back in slow circles.
That was when footsteps approached, and a squinty-eyed Chris appeared in the doorway. He yawned widely and ran his fingers through his hair, before trying to take stock of what was happening. “What’s going on?” he asked, voice coarse from sleep, but then he already connected the dots in his mind. “Food poisoning or a stomach bug?”
“We all ate the same thing yesterday,” Piers pointed out. “So probably the latter.”
Leon only made a whiny, annoyed sound from next to him. Suddenly he scrambled to grab the thermometer out of his mouth and blindly handed it over to Piers, before doubling over the toilet bowl and throwing up once again. There wasn’t much to come up anymore, mostly it was bile and dry heaving, but it lasted for a while and Piers kept on stroking his back throughout it.
Worried, Chris moved closer, and as Piers handed him the thermometer he took a look at it. “A bit high. Not too bad,” he said, obviously trying to come up with the best course of action. They probably had nothing they could offer Leon to eat once he felt like trying to keep something down, and other than that they needed to wait until morning before calling in sick on his behalf. “We only have leftovers,” he said, “best go get something that’s easier to keep down.”
Leon had stopped heaving over the toilet by then, slumping back against Piers heavily. Piers held him with an arm around him, and reached out to flush the toilet. “I can go,” he offered, “I’m actually properly awake,” he flashed Chris a teasing grin, and Chris rubbed his sleepy eyes with one hand while flipping him off with the other.
Piers turned his head to press a soft kiss onto Leon’s temple. “You feel like you could try to get some sleep?”
At first Leon seemed torn about it, but then Chris hurried to cut in. “We can grab a bucket and put it by the bed in case of emergencies.”
Slowly Leon nodded, and Chris stepped closer, and together they helped Leon upright. Once in the bedroom, Piers set the red bucket down next to the bed, while Chris settled in bed and pulled Leon close against his chest. Obviously exhausted, Leon slumped against him, eyes closed although he wasn’t yet asleep. “I’ll just say sorry in advance,” he mumbled, “in case I puke on you.”
“Well,” Chris chuckled, obviously not minding. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Fuck you,” Leon said, but he hid his grin in Chris’ shirt.
“Try to behave,” Piers griped, good-naturedly rolling his eyes at them. “At least until I get back.” He gave Chris a small wave, while Leon seemed halfway on his way asleep already, before heading out to grab his keys and his wallet. It was an immense relief that he didn’t need to leave Leon alone while he was obviously feeling like shit, and he knew Chris would take care of him, but nevertheless, he tried to be as efficient as he could.
Later, when Piers got back from the store, he found Chris and Leon both fast asleep. Carefully he climbed in bed, curving against Leon’s back, and wrapped an arm loosely around his waist.