Chapter Text
The debater woke up to a cool sensation on his forehead. As his eyes fluttered open, he could vaguely make out the surroundings of his room, even if it was blurry. He blinked a few times, trying to focus his vision.
“Ugh…” he groaned, finally managing to get a clearer view of his environment.
Damon realized he was lying down on his bed. His blazer was removed, leaving him in just his brown vest. The sensation on his forehead was actually a cold, damp cloth, and he saw Eva standing beside him, looking down at his face with what he assumed to be worry in her eyes.
“You’re awake,” she stated, removing the cloth, dipping it in a bowl of water next to her, and placing it back on his forehead.
“...what happened…?” he muttered weakly.
“You passed out as we were leaving the penthouse. I carried you back to your room and figured out the cause of your collapse was overheating from a fever. Luckily, your bathroom had water and a towel I could use to cool you down.”
“You…carried me? You were able to do something like that?”
She huffed. “It wasn’t that difficult.”
Her slightly labored breathing and the lingering beads of sweat on her face said otherwise.
“Anyway…where’d you get that bowl from?”
“One of your lampshades.”
“My lamp?! Isn’t that destroying school property…?”
“No. I didn’t destroy anything. I just used part of the lamp for a different purpose than intended,” she responded.
“Okay. I guess that’s fair…” he said, staring up at the ceiling. “Ugh, my head is killing me…”
“Yes. That’s a common symptom of a fever.”
“I know. But I’ve never passed out from a fever before. And how did I even get sick in the first place?”
She pushed up her glasses. “If I had to guess, it was probably from being in the air-conditioned penthouse after getting out of the pool. Your body temperature must have plummeted.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And whose fault is that?” he snarked, with a noticeable bite to his voice.
He realized his tone must have come out a lot harsher than intended when Eva’s expression morphed from worried to guilty.
She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. “I’m…really sorry. I didn’t know dragging you into the pool would lead to this. I just…”
“N-no, it’s fine. I didn’t mean to blame you. If you hadn’t pulled me into the pool, we never would’ve found that key. Besides, the pharmacy probably has something to make this fever go away.”
“I can’t go to the pharmacy,” she replied.
“Eh? Why not?”
“You’re not in the best condition. I can’t just…leave you alone like this.”
Before Damon could respond, there was a knock on his door, causing the pair to turn their heads towards the source of the sound.
The debater cleared his throat, trying to make his voice seem less congested-sounding.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s just me, lad,” Jean’s voice responded from the other side. “May I come in?”
“No!” Eva said quickly. “Don’t come in!”
“Ah…” the captain remarked, “are you two in the middle of…?”
“W-what?! No, we’re not! You can come in if you don’t believe us!” Damon fretted.
“No!” the mathlete yelled in response, “don’t come in here!”
“Eva, what the hell?! Why not?!”
The room fell into silence, before Jean spoke up again.
“Listen, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Humans have their needs, whether that be on land, at sea, or in a killing game.”
Damon groaned. “Jean, it’s not like that! I’m serious! You can come in!”
“Don’t,” she said again.
“I don’t want to go against the lass’ wishes. I assure you, I won’t tell anyone you were-”
“Jean. Just ignore her and come in. I really don’t need you believing something that’s blatantly false.”
“...alright.”
The door slowly creaked open, as Jean poked his head in, before swinging open fully once he saw the state Damon was in.
“Great gods, lad! You look terrible!” the sailor exclaimed, quickly making his way over to the other side of the bed. Eva closed the door behind them, and glared at Jean.
“It’s nothing to worry about. Damon’s fine,” she insisted.
“I’m not sure about that, lass. I haven’t seen a fever this bad in ages, and I’ve witnessed a lot of different sicknesses in my lifetime.”
She gritted her teeth. “Don’t you dare say a word about this.”
“Eva, what’s got you so pressed?” the debater mumbled.
“She probably wanted to keep your condition a secret. Can’t say I blame her, mate. If someone you cared for was in a vulnerable position, would you go around and admit that in a killing game? No…you would try to protect that person by saying nothing at all.”
He hummed in realization.
“So she was just trying to protect me? That’s…fair, I guess.”
Eva looked away, refusing to respond to Jean’s comment.
“In any case, I’ll keep this a secret from the others, if you wish. However, I would like to assist in your recovery. Have you checked the pharmacy for any fever medication?"
“No,” Damon replied, “Eva didn’t want to leave me here alone, so she didn’t go.”
Jean let out a hearty laugh. “You’re one lucky lad! She’s definitely a loyal one.”
Damon’s face would normally heat up at a comment like that, but his fever already did the job for him.
“A-anyway.” the debater said, “I remember Ulysses mentioning the pharmacy had ibuprofen. That could probably help with my headache…”
“Right. Want me to fetch some for ya?” the sailor asked.
“No,” Eva hastily interjected. “I’ll do it. You stay here and keep an eye on him. And don’t try anything.”
“I won’t let any harm come your boyfriend’s way,” he promised, “I swear it on my honor as a ship captain.”
She grumbled, before finally letting out a sigh. “Very well then.”
With that, she left the room, leaving the two men alone. For the first two minutes, neither of them spoke a word.
Then, Jean suddenly broke the silence. “You know, you two would make fine additions to my crew. Especially Eva. Much as I love my mates, too much testosterone can be a problem…”
Damon could barely process what the pirate was saying. His mind was foggy and his vision was fading in and out once again, so he just grunted in response.
“Ah. I probably shouldn’t bother ya while you’re in this state. Just focus on staying conscious for now.”
“Mhm…” he mumbled in agreement, staring up at the ceiling.
Eva came back half a minute later, a bottle of ibuprofen in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The debater craned his neck upwards to look at her, but he was surprised to see a less-than-relaxed expression on her face.
“Lass? Something the matter?”
“I- uh…I’m just…worried about my boyfriend! That’s all! You can go now, thanks for watching him.” she replied frantically, taking two tablets of medicine from the bottle and handing it to Damon.
The ship captain raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question her any further. He gave the pair a brief wave before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him.
The debater swallowed the tablets with a sip of water, before sitting up with a slight groan.
“Ugh…what’s wrong, Eva…?”
“I-...” she sat down on the bed next to him and lowered her voice to a whisper, “someone stole some drugs from the pharmacy.”
“W-what?!”
“Yeah. As I swiped the ibuprofen, I took a glance at the more dangerous drugs, and some of them were missing. It wasn’t like that when I went to the pharmacy yesterday.”
He gulped. “That’s…not good.”
“Obviously. But what do we do about it?”
He put a finger to his chin. “Well, we could secretly investigate everyone’s room to see if the culprit is keeping it in there. Or we could take the nuclear option and bring it up with all the other students.”
Eva pulled at one of her bangs. “If we get caught sneaking into someone’s room, that would be bad news. Plus, you’re in no state to do any investigating right now, and I’m not too keen on doing it alone.”
He nodded. “Fair. But if we tell the group, then we’ll have to tell them why you were in the pharmacy. And we don’t want anybody else knowing I’m sick.”
“So then what should we do?”
“Well, Jean already knows I’m sick. Maybe we can ask him to investigate the rooms for us? Or at the very least keep an eye on everybody.”
“No,” she huffed, “it’s entirely possible he’s the one that stole the drugs.”
“Then…it doesn’t look like we have a choice.”
The mathlete let out a grumble, but reluctantly relented. “Fine, we’ll tell the others. But first, you need to at least get a little better. The painkillers should take effect in less than half an hour.”
“Right.”
“Take rest for now. I’ll be watching you the entire time.”
He scoffed. “That doesn’t sound creepy at all.”
In response, she clicked her tongue and smacked his arm playfully. “Shut up, Damon. Just get some rest.”
The debater almost chuckled at her gesture, but decided to shrug his shoulders instead. “Alright. Wake me up in half an hour.”
“Got it.”
He took one last look at her, before shuffling under the covers and lying back down again. Not even a minute later, his eyelids fluttered shut, and he fell fast asleep.