Duncan shook his head. "I don't know why you love me..." he whispered. "You can't even do anything with me. I can barely even tolerate kissing a lot..."

Axel just shook his head at Duncan's comments, frowning slightly. "I don't care," he noted. "I love you because of you, not because you're a good kisser or fun to sleep with," he added with a snort. "We dont have to do anything like that in order to love each other."

Duncan gazed up at him with wide eyes, almost surprised. "Really? You wouldn't care if it stayed like this? Even in the long run?" he asked softly. Duncan didn't really know how much he was comfortable or even liked yet, but he hoped he had options.

Axel nodded in response to Duncan's comment, offering him a soft smile. "Really," he promised. "I'm just glad to be with you," he added gently. He didn't need all that other stuff to love Duncan... They hadnt started with any of it, so why would they need it going forward?

Duncan smiled, getting teary eyed. He thought he would have to push himself far out of his comfort zone to keep Axel interested, but here he was, loving him no matter what. Duncan leaned up, kissing him.

Axel just smiled when Duncan seemed to accept it, kissing him back when he leaned into him with a soft hum. He just nestled in again after that, letting out a soft breath of content air. "This sort of thing is what I like most," he admitted. "Just ....relaxing together. Cuddling. Talking a little bit." He shrugged slightly. He just liked being with Duncan, that was all.

Duncan smiled, cuddling in. Two weeks later, Duncan had another coughing attack where he couldn't breathe and ended up in the med wing again.

Axel had stayed with Duncan the entire time, not really ever leaving his side. Luckily, Kai was alright with him doing that, since Duncan mostly stayed in his room anyway. Of course, when he needed to go down to the bed bay, Axel was right there next to him. That's exactly where he was now, on a chair next to Duncan bed, watching him worriedly.

Duncan had his lungs drained again and now he was laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines until his breathing would get more normal. His nurse came in, a tall blonde guy named Aaron. "Hey you," Aaron smiled. "I've got your meds," he chuckled, sitting down beside him and gently taking Duncans arm and injecting the medication via IV. "Thank you" Duncan whispered hoarsely with a small smile. Aaron finished up, "Of course. Anything else you need?" he asked, gently sweeping Duncans hair out of his face and feeling his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever. Duncan shook his head. "No, I'm okay, but thank you," he smiled. Aaron nodded, standing, "Okay, well, I'll see you in 4 hours for your next dose," Aaron smiled and left. "He's nice," Duncan mumbled to Axel, the meds making him sleepy.

Axel had watched Aaron with a careful eye as he worked on Duncan. He knew he was a nurse for the royal family and was very good at his job ...but he was worried about Duncan and didn't want anything to go wrong or get messed up or .. anything. So, he kept a careful eye on everything Aaron was doing, just to be sure. It wasn't like he didn't like the guy or anything. He did try to be friendly enough...but still. When Duncan spoke though, he hummed with a soft nod. "Yeah," he agreed gently, not wanting to keep him up.