Work Text:
Pavitr wasn't doing well.
He'd always prided himself on being the most bubbly, carefree Spider-Man around, but his physical health had been rapidly declining for a while, he was just too oblivious to notice.
Most damningly was his acid reflux, which for the longest time he didn't even realize wasn't normal.
He genuinely thought that everyone regularly threw up stomach acid and that it was just an annoying fact of life. So, he ignored the stinging pain in the back of his throat whenever it got especially bad and he certainly never felt it was worth mentioning to anyone.
On one particularly rough day, he found himself regurgitating stomach acid every couple of minutes, sometimes even only seconds apart. It was beginning to really wear down on his throat but he just powered through it like always.
He was Spider-Man. He was fine.
By lunch time, his throat burned so hard he wasn't sure he could eat without agitating it more.
"You alrigh', love?" Hobie asked the other boy, gesturing towards his untouched meal. Pavitr looked up at him and chuckled.
"Yeah, sorry, my throat just hurts a little bit"
"You ill?"
"Oh, no, it's just stomach acid" Pavitr dismissed. To his surprise, Hobie raised an eyebrow and stared at him like the words he just said didn't make an ounce of sense. "Why are you staring at me like I have three heads?"
"Wha' d'you mean by 'jus' stomach acid'?"
"Y'know" Pavitr gestured vaguely. "Like how you sometimes just throw up stomach acid, like in your mouth. It's just been worse today"
"Pav, tha's not normal"
"It's not?" Pavitr asked with a frown. Was it not common to have that occur constantly?
"No, it's really not" Hobie confirmed. "Sounds like you've got aci' reflux"
"...Huh?"
"When ya cons'n'ly frowin' up bile, tha's called aci' reflux" Hobie elaborated. "Has this been a problem fo' a while?"
"Since as long as I can remember"
"Yeah, tha's really not good"
"Oh"
"Ya said it's 'specially bad righ' now?" Hobie asked. Pavitr nodded. "'M sorry love. How 'bou' we take the res' o' the day off, huh? May help if you don' strain yaself too much"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to be a bother"
"Ya not bovering me, love" Hobie chuckled. "Since when've I ever been eager ta work, huh? Be serious" he playfully punched the other boy in the arm. Pavitr went still for a second as the motion caused some bile to come up. "Sorry" Hobie said awkwardly, noticing the boy's sudden stillness. "Your universe or mine?"
"Yours" Pavitr said after a moment of consideration. "I like your room"
"Righ'"
When they got back to Hobie's universe, Pavitr already felt pretty rough. The rapid motion of going through the watch portals always made his reflux worse, especially if he was already having a bad day with it.
By the time the pair made it to Hobie's apartment, Pavitr's reflux was so bad that he immediately ripped off his mask to spit a decent amount of bile out onto the pavement.
"Holy shi', Pav" Hobie muttered sympathetically as he rubbed his boyfriend's shaking back. Pavitr whimpered in pain.
By far the worst part of his reflux wasn't the bad taste or the disruption to his focus or even the burning in his throat, even though that could get pretty rough. No, the worst part was the chest pain that followed.
"Can I lie down?" he asked, voice coming out as little more than a whimper.
"'M pretty sure tha's actually s'pposed ta make it worse" Hobie muttered, though he did help the other boy inside his apartment. "Bu' we can get ya sittin' up on the mattress agains' the wall"
"Please"
"Of course, love" Hobie said, giving the other boy a kiss on the cheek before helping him settle on the mattress. "Ya wan' water?"
"Yes, please"
"On it" Hobie replied, quickly going to grab the boy a bottle of water, which Pavitr began to slowly sip once it was in his possession. "I never realized it was this bad" he said after a moment. "I never knew ya deal' wiff this a' all, ta be hones'"
"I never thought it was worth mentioning"
"In the future, if you're havin' a bad day wiff this, please do tell me, kay? I wanna be able to help ou' when I can"
"Okay, Hobie" Pavitr nodded in agreement. "I'll do that. Also, thank you for... This" he gestured vaguely. "I don't think I realized how much I needed a rest"
"There's no need ta thank me, love" Hobie replied. "If I can ge' my tellie ta work, ya wanna watch somefin'?"
"Okay!"