Wait to start the song!

The snow fell all night. By the time Josh woke up in the morning, he was convinced he was going to freeze to death down here. Tyler was shivering so hard that Josh was surprised it didn't wake the poor guy up. His throat was hidden by the sweater Jenna had brought him last night, but Josh was willing to bet that it was more swollen than the day before.

Careful not to disturb Tyler, Josh forced himself out of the warmth of their makeshift bed. He folded the blankets over so Tyler had twice as much warmth to cover his shivering body. It did little to soothe Tyler's trembling, but at least Josh didn't feel so useless right now. He searched the cellar for more blankets, only finding a few at the very bottom of the trunk. He immediately added them to the other blankets covering Tyler.

Jim trailed along behind Josh as he moved around the cellar. Even the little dog seemed to be shivering slightly when he watched Josh climb into his chair before taking up residency in Josh's lap. Josh hugged his service dog close, burying his face against Jim's fluffy chest. He wished he had the energy to cry, but he was too cold to even think about that.

"I want to go home," He whispered to Jim. "Mom and Dad must be scared out of their minds."

Jim whined quietly in agreement, resting his head against Josh's shoulder. Josh kissed the dog's furry cheek, grateful that at least one member of his family was down here with him. He wouldn't have been able to cope with this as well as he was if he didn't have Jim down here. He definitely would've been dead by now if Tyler wasn't here too.

The creaking of the cellar door opening was what woke Tyler. He didn't move or make a sound apart from opening his eyes, his teeth chattering from the cold surrounding him, and the fever burning within him. It was just Jenna and Solána again. They both had more blankets in their arms as well as a wicker picnic basket of food.

Jenna nearly dropped the blankets in her arms when she saw how poorly Tyler had fared during the night. Sweat shone on his pallid skin despite the cold, and his eyes were hazy from the fever. It was painfully obvious that he was incredibly ill. His girlfriend spread all of the blankets in her arms across him before kneeling down beside him and feeling his throat with tentative fingers. He winced a couple times, making her look extremely concerned.

Blankets were wrapped around Josh and Jim too, but that was Solána's doing. She didn't comment on the fact that Josh was worriedly watching Tyler instead of greeting her. Jim was watching Jenna like he was expecting her to snap Tyler's neck at any second.

"Let me see the inside," Jenna said uncertainly. Her face went pale when Tyler opened his mouth and let her look down his throat. She drew in a shaky breath. "Solána, can you do anything about this?" She asked hopefully.

Solána kissed the top of Josh's head softly before going over to kneel beside Jenna on the floor. She asked Tyler to show them her throat again, and Josh saw the colour leave her cheeks as well when she saw the state of Tyler's throat.

"I can dull the pain a little, but I think he needs an actual doctor, Jen. You should at least bring your mom down," Solána said quietly, looking at Jenna fearfully.

Her expression alone told Josh that whatever was going on with Tyler's throat hadn't happened down here before. This wasn't something they were prepared to handle. It was serious, and it might be putting Tyler in danger.

"It looks like before," Jenna whispered quietly, tears gathering in her eyes. "It looks like when they first cut him open." Her bottom lip trembled as she took Tyler's hand in hers and leant down to kiss his forehead. "Why does it look like that?"

Tyler's eyes watched hers tiredly, and Josh hated that he could see Tyler trying to put on a brave face for Jenna despite how much agony he was in. He hated that Tyler was putting Jenna first right now, that Jenna was allowing him to put her first right now.

"How can you dull the pain?" Josh asked his own girlfriend before Jenna could say anything else.

Solána sighed. "Promise not to get mad?" She asked tentatively.

"Promise it's going to help him?" Josh countered.

"I promise," she agreed.

He nodded. "Then do whatever you have to do."

Solána nodded too before turning Tyler's head to face up instead of toward Jenna. "Open your mouth," she told him quietly. When Tyler complied, she spat into his mouth like she'd done to give Josh dreams about her. "Swallow," she guided, watching Tyler struggle to follow that instruction before hooking a finger in the collar of his sweater and tugging it down. Starting at the base of his throat, she dragged the tip of her tongue all the way up to his chin before sitting back and looking at him hopefully.

Tyler's eyelashes fluttered, and the cellar was silent. Suddenly, his muscles all relaxed, and he was fast asleep. There seemed to be no pain in his body anymore as he slept soundly beneath the mountain of blankets Josh and Jenna had stacked on top of him. He looked peaceful, yet Jim still climbed off of Josh's lap to trot over and curl up protectively beside Tyler, resting his little head on Tyler's stomach. He did that with Josh too, except he slept with his head on Josh's back whenever Josh fell asleep lying on his stomach in order to make sure his owner kept breathing while he slept. Jim was worried Tyler would stop breathing in the night. That was how much pain he'd been sensing from Tyler before Solána had relieved him of it.

The girls left Tyler to sleep then as they sorted through the picnic basket and explained to Josh what was for breakfast and lunch. He hardly listened. He wasn't hungry. He was just worried about Tyler.

"Baby, you need to eat," Solána tried to coax him gently, but Josh wasn't listening.

"I talked to Tyler last night before we went to sleep, and he answered me in the dream place," he said quietly. The girls seemed surprised. "He promised me that he wasn't going to sleep with any of you until he got better."

"We only have a month left," Jenna whispered, wincing at the sound of her own words.

"He might have less than that if you don't get him help," Josh snapped, making her wince again. "None of you are allowed to touch him until he's better. He won't consent to anything until he's healed."

The girls were quiet, silently trying to digest that before Jenna looked at Solána and said, "It has to be you then. You have to get pregnant."

"What? What if I can't?" Solána asked fearfully. She looked to Josh for reassurance, for the promise that he'd make sure she was pregnant before the month was over.

"I promised Tyler I'd take his place down here," Josh continued, hating the words and everything they represented.

Once again, the girls were silent for a moment. "So you're going to sleep with all of us?" Solána asked in a voice that did nothing to hide how much she hated the idea of him sleeping with her friends, whom he didn't even like.

"That was the agreement," Josh replied, looking distractedly at the snow the girls had tracked in with their snow boots.

"Josh, you don't have to-" Solána began carefully, but he didn't allow her to finish that statement.

"Don't I?" He demanded of her. "Tyler can't do it anymore, and if I don't take his place, you'll just drag another guy down here and sleep with him. I'm not letting you guys do this to anyone else. Tyler was right. He and I have to be the last guys Gefjon does this to. This needs to end."

The girls were quiet then, but Josh could tell that they knew he was right. Solána and Jenna looked at each other with tears in their eyes before finally looking to Josh. It was Jenna who spoke.

"Starting tomorrow," she decided, allowing Solána and Josh to relax slightly. "You guys can do whatever you want today, or not do anything, or whatever. Just...starting tomorrow, you can take Tyler's place. As soon as he's better though-"

"Yeah, I get it," Josh replied irritably, unable to stand hearing her be so willing to drop Tyler right back into the line of fire as soon as he healed from this.

Jenna nodded uncertainly, going back over to kiss Tyler's sleeping lips before leaving Josh and Solána alone in the cellar. Apart from Tyler's quiet breathing, the cellar was silent. Josh didn't move toward his girlfriend or ask her for the comfort he needed so desperately. He just watched Tyler breathe in and out as he slept through the pain that he was temporarily blind to.

"How long will he be numb?" Josh asked Solána finally.

"An hour or two," Solána admitted regrettably. "I can't stay home from school to keep numbing him. My dad came home last night. He would kill me."

"So what should I do when he wakes up in pain again?" Josh pressed, sounding just as defeated as he felt.

Solána sighed, climbing into his lap and grabbing his cheeks as she kissed him deeply. The kiss took him off guard, especially when she broke it suddenly to tip his head back and spit into his mouth before reconnecting their lips. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't really into that unless she had a reason for doing it, but his mouth was filling with the taste of vanilla and cinnamon, making it incredibly hard for him to do anything but deepen the kiss. It was becoming intoxicating, numbing his tongue and lips the more Solána licked, nipped, and sucked at them. Just when he was almost certain he was about to pass out, she broke the kiss, taking the taste and the sensation with her.

"You saw how I numbed him before?" Solána asked breathlessly as she wiped spit off of her lips, which Josh couldn't stop staring at with wide eyes.

He nodded lamely. "Yeah," he whispered, his voice cracking on the single syllable as he tried to recover from having the life kissed out of him just moments ago.

She nodded. "You need to do that to him when he wakes up. I don't know how long you'll be able to keep that ability since Gefjon never created a male version, but it should work. If it runs out before I get out of school, I'm sorry. I'll come here as soon as I can though."

"I have to spit in his mouth and lick his neck like that?" Josh asked hesitantly, trying not to let on just how uncomfortable he was with that.

"It's not sexual, Josh. You're helping to ease excruciating pain that's making it hard for him to even swallow. It's just a more hands on way of killing the pain since we don't have medicine for him or anything. Jenna is going to get some from his mom after school, but until then, you're the only thing standing between him and a throat full of blood," Solána reassured him before smiling a bit smugly and saying, "And for the record, I know you've kissed boys before. I can taste it when I kiss you. Girls taste warmer and sweeter, and guys taste earthier and more savoury. You taste like both, so I know you've kissed both."

"No, I'm not weirded out because he's a guy or anything like that. I just.... He isn't really capable of consenting to having his throat licked and shit, and I don't know how he'd feel about that," Josh tried to explain.

"He would feel relieved that he was no longer in excruciating pain," Solána informed him seriously. "Besides, he trusts you. He has no reason not to trust you. You're the only guy friend he's had in months."

Josh nodded, but he wasn't so sure. "Is he at least safe in the dream place? I'm guessing he's in the dream place, and I know Gefjon is there sometimes. Is he safe there?"

Solána nodded easily. "She can't see him. She won't know he's there. She would only know he was there if one of the girls was with him. She can't see underground." A kiss was pressed to Josh's lips. "I'm going to help you fall asleep before I leave though, so you can be in the dream place with him. That way you can know he's safe there."

"Okay," Josh agreed.

His girlfriend climbed out of his lap, allowing him to climb back under the covers with Tyler. Solána's pile of blankets was spread across both of them, allowing them to have equal protection from the cold as well as each other's body heat. Tyler's fever was turning him into a furnace, but Josh wrapped his arms around the sleeping boy anyway. Solána kissed him softly one more time before he was drowning in lavender and chamomile, immediately drifting off to sleep beside Tyler.

---

Start the song. It's Soft Universe by AURORA.

Tyler was sitting in the grass when Josh's eyes opened. Tyler was watching the V formation of the geese flying overhead, smiling slightly. He didn't look at Josh when the other boy sat up beside him.

"Where do you think they're going?" Tyler asked Josh distractedly.

"Who?" Josh asked, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"The geese," Tyler replied, scratching at his unmarred throat as he spoke.

"I don't know. South? Autumn is ending. They're probably trying to get to warmer weather. I don't blame them. It's fucking freezing," Josh replied despite the warm breeze tousling Tyler's hair.

Tyler nodded almost dreamily. He smiled slightly. "I wish I could go with them."

Josh looked at Tyler. Even here, he looked exhausted. There were bags under his eyes, which had a dazed and melancholic appearance on their own. Josh couldn't blame Tyler for being homesick, not when he wanted nothing more than to be at home too.

"Solána says Jenna is going to get medicine from your mom today after school, but until then, I have to spit in your mouth and lick your throat," Josh informed Tyler, mostly to get that out of the way.

The other boy laughed, some of the melancholia slipping out of his eyes. "And you agreed to that?" He asked Josh with an amused grin.

"Hey, man. Whatever helps you. That's all I care about," Josh insisted, making Tyler's smile widen.

"Before you willingly give me your spit to benefit my health, you should know that I threw a stick for Jim about ten minutes ago, and he hasn't come back. I may have lost your dog," Tyler informed Josh in return.

Josh laughed. "He's a puppy still. He gets distracted sometimes, but he always comes back."

"Thank God," Tyler replied breathlessly. He sighed, resting his head on Josh's shoulder. "I wish I could just stay in here. I know the pain is going to come back when I wake up."

"If it does, I'll just douse you in saliva, and everything will be peachy keen," Josh reassured the other boy, making him laugh.

"Gross," Tyler snickered out. "Buy me dinner first."

Josh laughed with him. "Considering we're living in a root cellar, I probably won't be able to buy you dinner until after all of this shit is over."

The words made Tyler blush, which he tried to hide by looking around for Jim. Josh smiled, surprised to find that he was realizing that he actually wouldn't mind taking Tyler out to dinner sometime. Tyler was good company, even under the current conditions, and that was quite a feat.

"Hey, Josh?" Tyler asked quietly, still not looking at him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for trying to help me," he practically whispered. "No one's ever really done that for me except for Jenna, and she's not very good at it."

It seemed like the longer Josh knew Tyler, the more he understood why Jenna was his main need. He needed comfort and connection, yet he wasn't getting any of that from anyone apart from her. He couldn't communicate very easily with others, and he was too afraid to reach out and ask for help when he needed it. He was chronically lonely with no knowledge of how to soothe the burn of it. Jenna was the closest he could get to fulfilling that need.

"You're the first real friend I've made here," Josh told Tyler, making him smile slightly. "You've had my back since we first met, and I have yours too. We're in this together, dude. If that means that I need to spit in your mouth to keep you from being in pain, I'll fucking do it. Anything you need, dude. Just ask."

Tyler finally looked at him, smiling as though he wasn't quite sure whether to believe that or not. "I'd hug you right now, but we're both naked," he told Josh seriously, making Josh laugh.

"Fuck it. I'm gonna be licking your throat in a few hours anyways. I think I can handle a hug," Josh assured Tyler with a smile.

Tyler beamed back at him before shifting to hug him tightly. Josh hugged back easily. He could feel the warm weight of Tyler's cock against his thigh, but there was no arousal or sexual tension there to pollute the innocence of the moment. There was none coming from Josh's end either. They were just comfortable existing within the same space as each other right now, not needing anything more than each other's presence. Josh protested and hugged Tyler tighter when the other boy went to break the hug.

"Hey, not yet," Josh said quickly, pressing his face against the crook of Tyler's neck. "You went two months without being hugged by somebody who wasn't trying to get you into bed. Just...let me be your friend for a minute. Let me take care of you."

Almost like he'd been starving for it, Tyler melted into the hug again. He held on tightly to Josh, sniffling quietly as he relaxed against Josh and allowed himself to be held without the expectation of the affection leading to something else. Every passing second seemed to relax Tyler more until he was nearly asleep against Josh's shoulder.

"If you ever need a hug, just ask. If you ever need anything at all, just let me know. I'll take care of you. I promise," Josh told him gently.

A warm exhale fanned against Josh's neck. "There's no one else like you in the world, Josh," Tyler whispered. "No one else in the world is as loyal as you. Not even Jim."

Josh laughed. "It's a blessing and a curse." He pressed a kiss to Tyler's temple without thinking much about it as he watched his dog come loping cheerfully through the meadow with at least four different sticks in his mouth.

"You look really tough on the outside, but you're definitely a Hufflepuff," Tyler told Josh sleepily, making him grin.

"You've read Harry Potter?" He asked excitedly.

Tyler yawned. "I'm not a barbarian, Josh."

Josh laughed. "What's your house then?"

"Slytherin," Tyler replied sleepily.

"It is not," Josh disagreed.

"It most definitely is," Tyler insisted. "I took the quiz and everything. I'm definitely a Slytherin."

"Bullshit," Josh disagreed again, making Tyler laugh.

"Just you wait and see, badger boy," Tyler mumbled. "I'll tell you all about it after I take a little nap."

"In my lap?" Josh asked amusedly.

"I'm sick and needy. Be nice to me," Tyler grumbled out, his arms tightening around Josh's neck.

Josh laughed. "Okay, Ty. Sweet dreams."

"G'night, Josh. I'll see you in a couple hours when you spit in my mouth," Tyler mumbled, his smile audible.

Once again, Josh laughed as he pressed another kiss to Tyler's temple. "I'll be there," he promised amusedly.

Tyler fell asleep rather quickly, slumbering soundly against Josh's shoulder. His warm breaths brushed tenderly across Josh's skin, making him a bit sleepy too. He shifted them to lie down, allowing Tyler to remain on top of him as he closed his eyes. Jim rested his head down down the ground beside Josh's, still clutching a myriad of sticks between his teeth as he closed his soft brown eyes. Josh smiled as he drifted off, dreaming of home.