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Things since the last mission had been challenging. At first, things had been alright. Kallus had been able to be up and around with the crew as they went about their daily tasks. He had been on crutches and unable to use his injured leg, but for the most part, he was in high spirits.
In order to be able to keep an eye on Kallus, Zeb had suggested a change in sleeping arrangements on the Ghost for the time being, much to Ezra’s delight. The crew all agreed that until Kallus was out of the woods, he would bunk with Zeb, and Ezra would move into Kanan’s room for now. Kallus had vehemently disagreed, saying he was completely fine to stay alone in his quarters on base. He was quickly quieted by Hera’s disapproving glance.
Tonight, Zeb was certainly glad that Kallus was sequestered to his bunk. It was sometime during the small hours of the morning that Zeb noticed Kallus tossing and turning in his sleep. The man stilled for a moment, and Zeb waited, almost drifting back off to sleep, until Kallus turned over again.
“You alright down there Kal?” Zeb asked quietly. He hoped that the man would hear him and respond if he was awake, and that his voice wouldn’t be loud enough to wake him if he was somehow still sleeping.
Kallus said nothing, but turned over again somewhat violently. Zeb heard a small pained sound from the bunk below him. He turned over in his bunk, hanging his head over the side to look down at where Kallus had taken up residence in his old bunk.
The man was wrapped tightly in his blanket, seemingly having pulled it up around his shoulders and neck in his sleep. His legs were completely uncovered, and while it wasn’t exactly cold onboard the Ghost, Zeb knew by looking at the furrow of the man’s brow that he was uncomfortable the way he was.
Swinging down from the bunk as quietly as he could, Zeb crouched next to where Kallus lay, shivering under his blanket. As carefully as he could, and without touching Kallus, Zeb found the end of the blanket and pulled it down to the end of the bed to cover Kallus’s legs. Once he was happy with the blanket placement, he shifted his attention to Kallus’s face.
After making sure his shoulders were covered sufficiently, Zeb found himself enraptured by the way Kallus’s hair was ruffled from sleep. It was a tangled mess, and some strands covered the man’s forehead. He couldn’t help it as he reached down, carefully moving one of the strands of hair off the other man’s forehead.
As his hand lingered on the ex-imperial’s forehead, something felt wrong. Zeb had been around humans for a while, and he knew that, generally, humans had a bit of a lower body temperature than lasat. Not enough to usually be notable, but enough to notice that something was really wrong. Because Kallus’s forehead was warm to the touch.
Now that Zeb was awake and really paying attention, he noticed that Kallus was shivering under the blanket. Beads of sweat rolled down the man’s face, causing the stray strands of hair to stick to his forehead. Something was really wrong.
Zeb’s first thought was back to something the medics had asked him to keep an eye out for. They had said to call them right away if Kallus started running a fever. Zeb hadn’t been exactly sure what that was at the time. But now, seeing the symptoms he had researched on the holonet in front of his eyes, he was concerned.
It had to be his leg. As carefully as he could, Zeb rolled the man onto his back. Kallus didn’t wake. Zeb pulled back the blanket covering Kallus’s leg and held his hand over the bandages from his wound. The skin here was even warmer than the skin of his face. Zeb also noticed that the skin around the bandage was an angry shade of red. That was also not normal.
Looking up at the man, Zeb figured he should probably do something. Without waking Kallus, Zeb pulled on a pair of pants and left the room, hearing Kallus roll over once again before the door to the cabin closed behind him. He walked a few steps down the hall to Hera’s cabin, knocking three times.
Within a few minutes, the door slid open, revealing just the man he was looking for. Kanan looked tired, obviously having not appreciated being woken up in the middle of the night. Hera was awake as well, sitting on the side of their bunk, watching with groggy eyes.
“What’s going on?” Kanan asked, still clearly not quite with it. Kanan had never really been a morning person. Then again, Zeb figured no human was a morning person when they were woken up in the middle of their sleep cycle.
Pushing down the worry he was feeling in his stomach, he quietly spoke. “I think Kal has a fever, but I wasn’t sure. I wanted to see if you could tell, since you and Kal are both humans.”
Kanan’s unseeing eyes went wide for a moment. He was clearly awake now. “Call the medics. I’ll go check on him.”
Hera made a move to get out of bed and follow. At the sound, Kanan turned to her, holding out his hand. “Hera, you get some sleep. Zeb and I have this handled.”
“The more hands, the better. Kanan, you know that,” she huffed, once again making a move to follow.
“We will let you know if we need you, okay?” Kanan smiled at her, stepping into the light of the hallway. “There’s only so much Zeb and I can do. We will get the medics, and then I will be back to bed, okay?”
This seemingly calmed Hera. “You call me the minute you even consider you need more hands.”
“Of course,” Kanan nodded. The door closed behind him and he immediately turned toward Zeb and Kallus’s cabin. “When did you notice?”
Zeb was fumbling with his com, trying to switch it to the right channel with shaking hands. “Just a few minutes ago. He woke me up with all his shifting around in bed. I went down to cover his legs with the blanket, and he was burnin’ up.”
Upon entering the room, Kanan knelt beside Kallus, and Zeb sat on the bunk beside him, watching as Kanan gently shook his shoulder.
“Hey Kallus,” Kanan said softly, still shaking the man’s shoulder. Zeb started to get worried for a moment when Kallus didn’t wake up. “Kallus, come on. Wake up.”
Zeb laid a hand on the man’s good leg, jostling it slightly and Kallus began to blink his eyes open. He squinted over at Kanan, and then shifted his gaze over to where Zeb sat on the bunk, confused. “What’s going on?”
Kanan was calm as he spoke. “How are you feeling?”
Kallus pulled the blanket up around his shoulders once again, shivering, before he responded. “Cold. I think I might have a fever.”
Sending a pointed look toward Zeb’s forgotten com, Kanan placed a hand on Kallus’s forehead before nodding. “I think you’re right. You feel pretty warm. How does your leg feel?”
Fumbling with the comlink again, Zeb finally managed to get it set to the right frequency as Kallus tested moving his injured leg. He hissed as his leg fell back to the bed next to Zeb. “Not good,” was all he responded with.
“This is Spectre 4 calling for medbay,” Zeb spoke softly into the com.
After a moment of silence, and surprisingly, Kallus not complaining or protesting his call, the medic responded. “I read you Spectre 4. What’s going on?”
“Kallus woke up tonight with a fever. He’s not doing too well. We were hoping you could come and take a look at him,” Zeb responded.
“I will be there as soon as I can be.” The call was disconnected promptly, leaving the room in stifling silence.
Zeb waited a moment before turning to Kanan, who had sat back onto the floor, still seemingly exhausted. “I got this Kanan. You go ahead and go back to sleep. I’ll wait for the medic with Kal.”
Kanan looked up at Zeb, one eyebrow slightly raised. Zeb hated when the Jedi did that, feeling slightly violated, and like Kanan had just read him like a book. He wondered what Kanan saw through the force when he looked at Zeb, who didn’t mind being alone with Kallus right now, so he could comfort the man and take care of him.
Seemingly finding what he was looking for within the lasat’s mind, Kanan smiled, eyebrow still cocked. “Alright.” He stood up before sending Zeb a more serious look. “But you come get me if you need anything.”
Zeb nodded, “Sure thing.”
Kanan turned to Kallus. “You alright if I leave you with him?” Kanan asked almost jokingly. “I know he can be a bit of a handful.”
Kallus smiled, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment before responding. “I never mind being left alone with Garazeb.”
Zeb felt the fur at the back of his neck stand on edge at the statement. He tried to smooth it down with his hand before Kanan noticed. But as his eyes met the Jedi’s, the knowing smile on his face told him that Kanan had already seen.
“Well then. Goodnight boys. I hope you start feeling better, Kallus.”
Then they were alone in the room. Kallus laid his head back on his pillow, shifting the blanket higher under his chin. Zeb shifted to sit closer to the man’s head. He looked down at Kallus, watching as his eyes slowly blinked back open.
“Thank you for sitting with me.” His voice sounded weak and tired, but the words made Zeb smile anyway,
“Of course.” His reply was simple, but Zeb was having a hard time speaking with the emotion rising up in his throat.
Kallus closed his eyes once again, breathing deep before breaking into another round of shivers. Zeb couldn’t help it as his hand pressed against the side of Kallus’s face. He rubbed his thumb lightly over the man’s cheekbone, feeling the way his facial hair scratched against his palm.
Before he noticed, Kal was nuzzling into his hand, humming under his breath. “Your hand is so cold, Zeb. It feels nice.” Eyes closed, and a look of near ecstasy on his face, Kallus rubbed his cheek over Zeb’s hand.
It was at that moment that Zeb knew. He knew that what he was feeling inside his chest was love. A deep, nonsensical love for the man he had once despised enough to kill. It bubbled up inside of him, leaving a crooked smile on his face, and affection written across his features.
He doubted Kallus really knew what he was doing. And if the man did know what he was going, Zeb doubted that he knew the significance of what he was doing. As Zeb watched Kallus scent his palm, he knew that even if Kallus didn’t want what they now had, once he had recovered, Zeb would honor their new bond until the end of his life.
Against his better judgment, Zeb leaned down and pressed the side of his face against Kallus’s bare cheek. Kallus froze for a moment as Zeb rubbed his face against the other man’s, before melting into his touch, a soft whimper falling from his lips.
When Zeb pulled back, he was greeted with Kallus’s incredulous face staring back at him. The man’s eyes were wide, seemingly aware of what Zeb had just done.
Zeb laughed lightly, once again smoothing down the ruffled hair at the back of his neck before trying to defend himself. “Sorry about that, Kal. I was just kinda worried about…”
He was silenced as Kallus surged up from the bed, leg be damned apparently, grabbed the back of Zeb’s head, pulling him into an aggressive kiss. This time, it was Zeb who melted into the touch. The feel of Kallus’s hands against the back of his head and neck, the feel of his small lips almost uncomfortably warm against Zeb’s. It was all Zeb could ever ask for.
When Kallus pulled back, still holding on to Zeb’s neck, he met his eyes. “You really meant it?”
Zeb was confused for a moment. “Meant… what?”
Kallus laughed self-consciously. “The scenting. I’m not dumb, Garazeb, I know what that means to your people.”
He couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face. “Yeah, Kal. I meant it.”
The enamored smile that enveloped Kallus’s features looked incredible on his flushed face, even if the reason behind the flushed cheeks wasn’t ideal. “And you decided to do this now?”
Zeb pulled back, helping Kallus settle back onto the pillow before responding. “You started it, scenting my hand like that.”
Fixing him with an incredulous stare as he pulled the blanket back up around his ears, Kallus retorted, “And who decided to touch my face in the first place?”
He realized he couldn’t argue with that. He couldn’t help himself from doing it again, placing his hand on Kallus’s face, and feeling the affection and worry that came with the warmth he found there.
“You’re gonna be okay, Kal. I promise.”