nothing at all (Marco!)

[Deleted]

Ben was a generally healthy guy. He ate right...sometimes, he worked out...annually. And despite his less than stellar habits, he rarely got sick. He probably was only truly bed-ridden about twice a year. But when he did, it was bad for everyone in the house. He whined, he cried, and he made slaves out of all of his kids. So when he woke up for work and wound up in the bathroom, hurling his dinner from last night into the toilet, Ben turned into a five year old kid. He was helped in his robe and back to bed. And as his husband prepared to go to work, Ben started whining at his husband. He moaned at him that he needed soup, and once he got that, he needed juice, and a hot compress for his head, and aspirin for his head, and everything else that he could think of. Finally, when his answer to Marco's question if there was anything else was a sad, pouty no, and Marco went back to getting dressed, Ben decided that his husband was needed at home. He also decided that in order to get better, he needed, not rest, but video games. So, while Marco was in the bathroom, he snuck downstairs, grabbed the man's keys, and tossed them into Aidan's room, knowing no matter where they landed, they would not be found anytime soon.

Once that was done, he went downstairs, carrying his juice and soup and an armful of other things that Marco had gotten for him. He set up a crash pad on the couch before turning on the wii in the living room. He picked up the controller, turning on Mario Party 8. He chose a party board and set the controller for Marco to pick up beside him before sitting back and sipping on his soup. He wasn't going to play it without Marco. And he figured the two had time. After all, they would be playing it all day long. It was for the best, really. What if he suddenly got worse and needed to be rushed to the emergency room? He would have been all alone. No, he definitely needed Marco home, beside him, playing video games, in case of emergencies.

[Marco Del Rossi]

Marco had checked all of the likely places: his desk, the kitchen counter, the rack where he usually hung his keys—everywhere. So, then it was a matter of the unlikely places. And he’d checked those too. He checked in the bathroom, under his bed, in the laundry hamper—wherever he might have dropped the keys without noticing. But, so far, he was having no luck and there weren’t any kids around to adopt into his cause. In the last ten minutes, Marco had gone up and down the stairs at least three times. And with Ben sick, he didn’t want to bother him about it. There wasn’t any reason for him to know anyway. He needed to rest up, anyway, rather than help him search the house for his keys. After all, he’d already set him up with everything he could possibly need. How could he have lost them? He didn’t think he’d been that disorganized. In fact, he remembered almost vividly setting them down downstairs.

When he still couldn’t locate them, however, he trudged into the living room and looked at Ben. “You haven’t seen my keys around, have you?” He asked. And already, he expected him to say no. This was his last resort. Maybe he’d spied them. At the very least, maybe he’d be able to read his mind about it. They knew each other well enough. It wasn’t far out of the realm of possibility that he’d know where he might have left his keys. Despite Ben’s set up, Marco thought little of it. He was too distracted with finding his keys so he could get to work that he didn’t bother to notice the remote that was sitting beside him. And even if he did, he probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it. Marco needed to get to work. He didn’t have time to think about anything except for finding his keys. Even if the fact that he had misplaced them this bad made him feel more than a little bit spacy.

[Deleted]

Ben looked up at him as he was slipping the last spoonfull of soup in his mouth, nodding and holding up his finger. "I have. I hid them. Sit down. I'm taking Yoshi. Who do you want? We're gonna start in the haunted mansion. I like that one." He wasn't going to jump the gun. Pulling out some kleenex, he blew his nose before holding up his empty glass. "But before you sit down, I need more juice. You're not going to work. I need Doctor Marco today so I don't end up dead." Because, he felt like he was dying. He wasn't going to let that keep him from playing video games, though. God, it had been forever since he had done this. And if anyone tried taking the game away, he'd snap at them. He wasn't sharing with anyone other than Marco. He'd ground any kid who tried.

"Come onnn, Marco," he whined, giving him a pout. "You promised. In sickness and in health. It's in our sacred vows. You're the boss, they can't fire you. You're not going and that's final. Don't make me ground you. If you were sick, I'd ditch work, too. Besides, I don't wanna go up against all computers. That's no fun." Because, he needed fun. He really should have been in bed, trying to get rest. But he didn't think he would get better resting, Video games...that was what he needed."

[Kai Santino]

Marco expected to hear that he hadn’t seen them. He figured he’d ask him if he’d checked one of the dozen places he already did and he’d be no closer to finding them than he had been to begin with. What he didn’t imagine was that Ben was going to admit openly to having hid them. If he hadn’t been paying close enough attention, he might not have noticed it at all. “I have to get to work, Ben. I don’t have time for video games.” He took the glass, however, without thinking much about it. He might have been at the head of his company, but he should have been there. He couldn’t just decide never to show up. Not that he was ever at risk of being accused of that. “You’re not gonna die.” He insisted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to play games with Ben. He did. And honestly, he would have done it in an instant if he didn’t have to get to work. As sick as he was, he didn’t think that it would be too bad if he left. He’d be fine until he got back. And then, he just had to add the pout to it. Marco shook his head at him, even though the amusement was clear in his eyes. “You’re worse than your kids.”

If it were him, he didn’t think he would have asked, period. He didn’t like being waited on when he was sick. Although, there had been times he needed it, he liked to be able to take care of himself. He didn’t turn into a baby when he was sick. Though, in Ben’s case, he couldn’t help but be more amused with it than anything else. “You can’t ground me.” He scoffed. “Besides, you should be resting, not playing games.” He reminded him. But, Ben did have a point. He couldn’t be fired for staying home. And if it was to take care of his sick husband than no one would question that in the least. Still, he wasn’t going to give in that easy and instead of offering a final answer, he walked to the kitchen to refill the glass.

[Marco Del Rossi]

Marco expected to hear that he hadn’t seen them. He figured he’d ask him if he’d checked one of the dozen places he already did and he’d be no closer to finding them than he had been to begin with. What he didn’t imagine was that Ben was going to admit openly to having hid them. If he hadn’t been paying close enough attention, he might not have noticed it at all. “I have to get to work, Ben. I don’t have time for video games.” He took the glass, however, without thinking much about it. He might have been at the head of his company, but he should have been there. He couldn’t just decide never to show up. Not that he was ever at risk of being accused of that. “You’re not gonna die.” He insisted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to play games with Ben. He did. And honestly, he would have done it in an instant if he didn’t have to get to work. As sick as he was, he didn’t think that it would be too bad if he left. He’d be fine until he got back. And then, he just had to add the pout to it. Marco shook his head at him, even though the amusement was clear in his eyes. “You’re worse than your kids.”

If it were him, he didn’t think he would have asked, period. He didn’t like being waited on when he was sick. Although, there had been times he needed it, he liked to be able to take care of himself. He didn’t turn into a baby when he was sick. Though, in Ben’s case, he couldn’t help but be more amused with it than anything else. “You can’t ground me.” He scoffed. “Besides, you should be resting, not playing games.” He reminded him. But, Ben did have a point. He couldn’t be fired for staying home. And if it was to take care of his sick husband than no one would question that in the least. Still, he wasn’t going to give in that easy and instead of offering a final answer, he walked to the kitchen to refill the glass.

[Deleted]

"You have tiiiime. You can call them. They can handle things. How hard can it be? It's fashion." He gave him his look, the same one he gave him when he picked him up to coax him out of being mad at him. Damn it, he wanted him to sit his ass down and play a game! Then he argued that he wouldn't die and Ben threw himself on his side, his arm hanging off the couch. "You never know. People die of really high fevers. And sure, my fever isn't that high now, but I'm all alone and you neeever know when that will happen and you'll come home and I'll be laying there, lifeless." He thought it sounded convincing. Ben was weak when he was sick, and he hated it. He didn't want to be there miserable all by himself. He wanted Marco there to make make the misery better. "But if you're here, you can prevent that from happening. Please? You know I love youuu." His kids? Ben looked at him and whined once more before answering it. "Your name is on the adoption papers too, you know."

Ben decided not to argue whether or not he could ground his husband. Instead, when he mentioned resting, he scoffed in return. "Then you should stay home and make sure I do. Now come on. Your controller is right over here. And--" and then he was walking back in the kitchen. Ben groaned and whined. "Where you going? Maaarrrccooooo!" He half expected him to say polo, although he knew he always hated that. Still, what was he going to do? Walk to work? Not likely. He could take the bus, but Ben was sure he would wind up lost if he tried doing that. No car keys, no work. Simple as that. "You won't find them in there!" he called once more, just in case that was what Marco was doing