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"Please, it is essential that you receive an adequate night's sleep," Anaxa pleaded. Remedy had been in the library for around ten hours by now, writing in his journal.
"I'm sorry, is this our sleep schedule? Stay out of my business, nerd," Remedy said in response, yawning as he did so. Sleep was not his top priority; right now, he was more focused on how to properly care for a chimera. His notebook was messy, with random footnotes, highlights, and addenda everywhere. It was a miracle he could decipher his own handwriting.
"I do not think my request is out of line here, especially since you are in my library," Anaxa replied.
"Jeez, chill out, professor. If you're gonna get all worked up, I'll leave," Remedy said with annoyance, closing his notebook.
"I never told you to leave. I only requested you get some rest."
Remedy stared at Anaxa for a solid five seconds before tilting his head and letting out a rather confused "Huh??"
"What the hell do you want me to do then? Sleep upsidedown hanging from the rafters like a bat? I may be a weirdo, but I'm not 'purposely give myself a brain hemorrhage' weird," Remedy said. "Though there are some things I would allow if you really wanted to see me dangling upside down like an idiot. just as long as I get to see that cute smile on your face, of course," He continued, a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks as he giggled.
Anaxa shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What? No, why would I even– I am not entertaining your nonsense right now. You're clearly overtired and need to get some rest, but you're in no state to return to Ohkema right now."
"I'm a grown adult, I don't need a chaperon."
"I observed you act like you were scrolling on your cellphone for exactly five minutes while you were holding nothing in your hand. After that, you stared at your water for three minutes and thirty-two seconds before shaking your head and reaching for it. I can only assume you are experiencing visual hallucinations due to lack of sleep." Anaxa responded. Be honest with me, when was the last time you slept?" He asked with a gentle tone. The last thing he needed was to further distress Remedy, and knowing how fragile he was, Anaxa knew that freaking him out was a rather easy task.
Remedy sat there quietly, avoiding eye contact, before he sighed. "What day is it again?" He asked softly.
"It's Tuesday."
"Oohh..." Remedy said, hints of embarrassment were noticeable. He then looked at his hands and seemed to be counting on his fingers. After a minute, he spoke back up. "Like uh, sixty hours or so..." He said awkwardly.
"Sixty hours–?!" Anaxa paused, taking a deep breath. "Remedy, I know that you're smarter than you look and act. You know that a common symptom of sleep deprivation after seventy-two hours is psychosis."
"Hey, I tried to sleep! It's not my fault its always bright on this weird planet!" He argued. "Ok, fine, I'm currently in a state equivalent to having a blood alcohol level of zero point ten percent. So what? I don't know what you want me to do since I apparently have to get rest, but I'm also not allowed to leave."
Anaxa sighed. "Perhaps I overestimated your ability to draw conclusions," He said. "You will be staying with me for the night."
Remedy wheezed rather aggressively before choking on his spit and coughing. "Excuse you?"
"It's a logical solution, you are incapable of walking back to your current place of residence safely; however, you are also in dire need of sleep," Anaxa explained.
"Aww, you care about me," Remedy teased as he yawned, attempting to mask the simultaneous panic and excitement he was experiencing. The fact that Anaxa could tell the bandages apart from his usually pasty skin due to his blush was a good indicator that he wasn't doing that good a job.
"I consider you a friend, of course, I concern myself with your well-being." Ouch.
"Whatever, this isn't the first time I've spent the night on someone's couch," Remedy said.
"Shall we be going then?" Anaxa asked.
The walk was... Awkward. Remedy spent the entire duration of it staring at Anaxa, thinking about how pretty he would look in the moonlight.
By the time the two reached their destination, Remedy was drenched in sweat and looked like he was running on pure will alone. He had taken off his shoes, stethoscope, apron, and hat. Remedy sat down, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"You're keeping those bandages on?" Anaxa asked. "Well, usually I just put a sleep mask on, but I didn't exactly pack an overnight bag," Remedy replied.
"I trust you'll learn from this experience?" Anaxa questioned. "Anaxagoras, it took me two weeks to remember your name."
Anaxa knew what Remedy was implying. That was his way of saying "Ha, you wish," without actually saying it. He sighed. He knew that he couldn't just keep letting Remedy deprive himself of sleep like this, and he also knew how horribly stubborn he was. If Anaxa kept insisting on monitoring him, Remedy would eventually get annoyed. He needed a way to ensure that Remedy would make it to Ohkema and fall asleep in a timely manner.
That's when he remembered it, the theory of classical conditioning. If he could get Remedy to associate something with being tired and falling asleep, he wouldn't have to constantly worry about him. Was it morally correct or ethical to condition his dear friend like he was a dog? No it was not. Did Anaxa care? After thinking it over, remembering Remedy's actions that couldn't exactly be considered good, he decided that no, he did not. This would just be a simple experiment meant to mutually benefit both of them.
After making his final decision, Anaxa just needed to figure out what exactly he could make Remedy associate with his tired state. As he watched Remedy brush some of his curls out of his face, he thought to himself for a moment.
"I wanna kiss you," Remedy had said. Anaxa, who was sorting scrolls in the library, stopped what he was doing.
"You are aware those are typically what we call 'inside thoughts', yes?"
"But I want them to be outside thoughts..." Remedy said.
"Is this truly the best course of action?" He wondered. Anaxa thought back to how Remedy mindlessly scrolled the air in his hand and decided that yes, it was infact the best course of action as he suppressed a laugh.
"Remedy?" He said. "Hm? Is there... an issue?" Remedy asked. He was clearly about to fall asleep, barely clinging to consciousness.
Anaxa reached over to him, cupping his face. Remedy looked confused; however, he wasn't complaining. "No," Anaxa replied as he raised one of his hands to brush Remedy's bangs out of the way.
Looking at his bandages, he began to further think about what Remedy's eyes would look like. Remedy had told him time and time again that his eyes were extremely off-putting, but it didn't curb Anaxa's curiosity. He noticed the desire to see Remedy's complete face was stronger than ever, a rather strange emotional response.
"Uh, if it's about how sweaty and gross I am, it's because that walk exhausted me. I'm fine," Remedy said.
He observed Anaxa's physical state and was immediately able to notice something was off. He was blushing and avoiding eye contact while clearly trying to maintain his composure. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Anaxa leaned in and planted a quick, gentle kiss on his forehead.
Remedy froze; his facial expression was now a mix of pure bliss and violent confusion. "Go to sleep," Anaxa said, state even worse than before.
"...Okay...?" Remedy said as he lay down, his tired voice pitched high. The only thing he was clearly thinking was "The hell just happened?"
The elephant in the room was begging to be addressed the next day. Remedy desperately wanted to go up to Anaxa and say, "Hey, why did you kiss me out of the blue last night? Do you finally feel the same way that I do for you? Can you kiss me again?" But he decided against it in the end.
Anaxa wasn't doing much better either. He knew that for this to work, he would have to continue this for weeks. The realization of the irrationality of his last-minute decision to kiss Remedy like that was currently causing him to have an internal crisis. This was out of character for him, an anomaly in his usual behavior.
In his mind, Anaxa had two choices. He could either cancel the experiment and hope that Remedy would be too shy to bring it up, or he could tell Remedy a half-truth. Anaxa could try to come up with a reasonable explanation for his actions while avoiding the whole "I'm attempting to condition you to better your sleep schedule by using positive stimuli" thing.
The second option would have to do. Anaxa had to continue, for science, of course. He decided to take a page out of Remedy's book and weaponize the endocrine system.
"The release of oxytocin reduces your stress while also lowering your blood pressure," Anaxa explained.
"It also—"
"Yeah, yeah, it also makes you feel safe, blah blah blah, I know all about how hormones work. It's kinda how I fight with my hemokinesis, it's literally my thing," Remedy replied.
He was slightly upset about receiving a kiss while still being in the friend zone, but he couldn't be bothered for too long. As he said, he knew about all the different effects certain hormones have on the human body. The effects of giving and receiving kisses just happened to help promote sleep.
Remedy thought his poor heart would be spared this coming night, but for Anaxa, night two of the experiment was about to begin.
It was already Parting Hour, and Remedy still didn't seem like he would be done with his notes any time soon. Anaxa noticed how Remedy's actions became slower, more sluggish. It was time to act again.
"I believe it's time you get going," Anaxa said to Remedy.
"Not this again..." Remedy groaned. "You're not my surrogate caretaker," He said.
"Mother," Anaxa corrected.
"You guys have mothers; I had a surrogate caretaker. Deal with me," Remedy snarked.
"As a matter of fact, I believe I will," Anaxa replied, walking up to the desk where Remedy was currently residing.
"What are you gonna do, drag me ou– Hey!" Remedy cried out as Anaxa lifted him out of the chair by his shoulders. He then proceeded to guide the shocked boy by the shoulders all the way to the door.
"What's your damage?!" Remedy asked. "If you have such a problem with my caring for your well-being, maybe start to take initiative to fix things yourself," Anaxa responded.
Remedy noticed the odd state Anaxa was in again. That same flustered, nervous look from yesterday. "Oh, for the love of all that is holy, is he gonna–" His train of thought immediately crashed as Anaxa grabbed his face and pulled him in, kissing his forehead yet again.
"Go back to Ohkema, you need to get proper sleep," Anaxa said before turning and walking away, leaving Remedy standing there shocked.
"You– You could at least warn me next time!" He shouted. Remedy put a hand over his heart, sighing as his heart palpitated. He rolled up his sleeve and checked his watch, wanting to see how fast his heart was going. "One hundred sixty-five," It read. One of these days, Anaxa would give him a heart attack.
This pattern lasted for about three weeks. Every day Remedy was at the library, Anaxa would ask (force) him to leave at the end of Parting Hour, and every time without fail, he would kiss the vet on the forehead. Remedy couldn't lie, he was beginning to look forward to the affection, even if it was just for quote unquote "benefitting his sleep." However, he wasn't the only one beginning to look forward to the night routine.
With every day that passed during the experiment, Anaxa documented his own behavior as well. He noticed that as the days passed, the initially small, quick kisses he gave Remedy extended in duration. His grip on whatever part of Remedy he decided to grab became tighter, more intense. He knew that there had to be a logical explanation for his strange shift in behavior. Anaxa reasoned that the mix of oxytocin and dopamine was affecting him as well. It meant absolutely nothing. Remedy would be proud of him for differentiating the feelings between simple hormones and genuine... What could he describe it as? Love? Yes, all of the oxytocin and dopamine were just causing infatuation, not love. He was not in love with Remedy, he promised himself.
At the end of the third week, Anaxa decided to see if his experiment had worked. It was the beginning of Parting Hour this time around, and as per usual, Remedy was scribbling in his notebook. Anaxa wondered why he was so nervous about this; everything had to have a reasonable explanation, but how could he possibly explain kissing Remedy this early? He shook his head. He was experiencing an unnecessary emotional reaction; all that mattered was the test and for him to document the results.
"Remedy," Anaxa called out. As Remedy looked up from his notebook, Anaxa noticed that instead of taking notes, he was doodling. It appeared to be a silly drawing comprised of three cats who clearly reciprocated affection for one another. Remedy looked slightly flustered from being caught, but quickly turned the pages of his journal.
"Uhm... Yeah?" He asked.
Anaxa sighed as he reached out for the boy in front of him, cupping his face gently. For Remedy, the touch felt warm, it felt safe, and it also made him feel like he was going to explode. Anaxa hesitated for a moment before finally kissing Remedy. Anaxa felt his heart beat quickly, he was red in the face, and he was pretty sure he was sweating. "You've been working so hard, I'm proud of you," He said quickly.
He turned around and sped walked away; it was like the logical part of his brain was short-circuiting. Anaxa knew that he would have to observe and document Remedy's behavior, but he decided to do it from a distance.
He documented how after he walked away, Remedy began smiling and giggling like an idiot. After a couple of minutes, he watched as Remedy yawned and rubbed where his eyes were located under his bandages. Finally, after ten long minutes, he shut his journal and stood up.
"I'm... gonna go back early tonight..." Remedy said as he yawned.
"You are? That's quite unusual," Anaxa commented.
"What can I say? The stuff for my night routine is in the city, and I didn't pack an overnight bag," Replied the vet.
"Well then, goodnight, Doctor," Anaxa said, not bothering to take his eyes off the notes he was taking on the new developments.
"Night, prof," Remedy said, finally leaving the library.
Anaxa smiled to himself. "The classical Conditioning for Sleep Experiment has been deemed a success," He wrote. His smile dropped slightly as he flipped the page and began to write once more. "Research is to be continued on my own odd behavior. Current Hypothesis: Natural Infatuation caused by the release of dopamine and oxytocin."
"Good job, Krenabis!" Remedy praised, clicking the device in his hand as he gave the chimera a treat. The little pink chimera cooed with delight, happily accepting the reward.
Remedy was currently on the ground. Hyacine had asked him to help train Krenabis, and who was he to deny her request?
"You're making some extraordinary progress, doctor," Anaxa said from above, gently patting the top of Remedy's head.
"Krenabis is a very good chimera, isn't she? Oh yes, she is! Yes, she is!" He replied in an exaggerated baby voice, petting Krenabis. She happily accepted the affection and began licking his hand. "Wanna try?" Remedy asked, motioning for Anaxa to sit beside him.
"I suppose I could give it a go," Anaxa said in response, kneeling beside Remedy. He handed Anaxa the clicker device and the treats he was using.
"Right now we're working on the retrieve command," Remedy explained, motioning to the numerous items on the ground. Some were medical equipment, while the others were simple everyday objects.
"She just learned what a pulse oximeter is, so now we're gonna work on teaching her to grab that stethoscope over there," He continued. "Just say 'Krenabis, retrieve the stethoscope,' and if she brings you the correct object, you click the clicker and give her a treat!"
"Sounds quite simple," Anaxa said. "Krenabis, retrieve the stethoscope."
The little pink chimera ran off to the scattered objects. She looked around for a minute before deciding on what she was looking for. She picked it up with her mouth and brought it back over, placing it on the ground. The object was not in fact a stethoscope, instead it was a stapler.
"Still seems quite simple?" Remedy laughed as he smiled like a super villain.
Anaxa rolled his eye. "Well, I am not as well-versed as you are with chimeras," he said.
"Nice to know I'm smarter than you when it comes to something," The vet replied, pushing Anaxa lightly.
"Do you even understand how obnoxious you are?" Anaxa asked with an annoyed tone before grabbing him by the collar of his sweater and kissing him on the forehead. "Not that there is anything wrong with that..." He continued, whispering.
Remedy laughed and took back the clicker and the bag of treats, planning to resume the training session. After a couple of minutes, Remedy yawned.
"Jeez, when did I get so tired..." He asked, attempting to rub the sudden exhaustion from his eyes.
Anaxa's eye widened slightly. "Apologies, I forgot I had done that."
Remedy tilted his head in confusion. "Did what?" he questioned as he thought to himself. As he remembered all that time he spent in the library and how he was always sent home in a tired state with a kiss, he began to look more annoyed.
"You bastard, did you seriously condition me like I'm some kind of animal?!" Remedy asked, raising his voice.
Anaxa couldn't help but laugh at his outrage. "My sincerest apologies, doctor, but don't you agree it did benefit your sleep schedule?"
Remedy stared at him with his arms crossed. Anaxa felt the glare Remedy was giving him despite his eyes being covered.
"Krenabis, charge."
"What?"
Within an instant, Krenabis had launched her small body at Anaxa. Remedy laughed evilly as he yawned again, perhaps now was a good time for a nap.