Pick Your Poison

Chapter 8

It was fear that stopped you from succumbing to your exhaustion. You were afraid that if you fell asleep, something worse would happen to the half-naked man you had on your lounge. Somehow, barely, you had managed to bring the Heavenly King back to your home, and while you had wanted to make him comfortable on your bed, you could no longer muster the strength to carry him. Apologising again and again, you settled him on multiple layers of blankets and towels over your lounge; anything that you could grab within arms' reach.

Your apologies fell on deaf ears though, as he hadn't fully regained consciousness yet. His skin still discharged that intense heat and his skin still rippled with purples, so you stripped his upper half of his neat clothing. After seeing him wear his bodysuit for so long, you were surprised to see that he had on only a muscle shirt under his collared one, but ultimately decided to remove all his top layers to try and prevent him from burning up as much. You were careful not to damage his clothes and hung them neatly over the end of your dining chair and you looked him over with both awe and sadness. You had also taken his turban off to help his scalp breathe, tousling his soft, raven locks out of his face.

His body was like carved marble; pectorals and biceps shaped by years of training and cut abs that created deep valleys into his stomach. Somehow, his coverings had made him appear a lot lither than he actually was. A lot of you felt awkward, like you were spying on him, but your concern for him overrode that feeling. Even though you expected it to happen, but his poison made waves over his torso and abdominal area as well, you concluded that the same was happening behind his trousers as well, but you weren't about to go there. You soaked a face washer in cool water and applied it to his forehead, flinching at him stirring from its touch. Coco's breathing was still ragged, but there wasn't much more you could do until he woke up. You changed into an oversized hoodie and soft pyjama pants, bundled yourself into a blanket next to the lounge and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Time dragged by as the sound of ticking from your clock broke the silence between the laboured breaths next to you. You periodically reapplied the washer to his forehead with cool water and watched for any signs of change. It was three in the morning before you noticed that the severity of his poison had diminished; his cream skin making breaks between clouds of purple. He had also started to stir a lot more; every twitch snapping your attention before you succumbed to dozing off.

Dawn broke over the horizon before Coco's poisoning had relented. The sun snaked its way across your hardwood floors under the hem of your curtains, bringing with it the unfiltered morning clatters of Gourmet Town. You had finally surrendered to sleep, lightly napping with your head laying a hair's breadth away from Coco's chest. He stirred, his eyes breaking open with a sheer force that the soft golden lighting caused him to blink. He stretched his fingers tentatively before moving to offset the tension in his back; succeeding in almost crushing you under his ribs. You jolted upright when the sound of movement had filtered into your subconscious; both alert and worried.

'You're awake!" You breathed in relief, abandoning your wrappings and checking on him. You instinctively cupped his face as you checked his face over for any traces of poison; oblivious of the fact that you would be touching it if there was any.

"Where am I?" Coco asked as his eyes darted around the room. Nothing about this place was familiar; especially not the large number of bras and lingerie hanging over the indoor clothesline. That was enough to make his cheeks flush red before he averted his gaze. Seeing the flush on his face made your panic rise again.

"Oh no, you're burning up again!" you exclaimed, hoisting yourself up to cool the face washer again.

"(Y/n), wait!" Coco said, instinctively reaching out for your hand before you went off in a tizzy.