Chapter Text
Jay-Den stared at the line without reading. Darem had been…off lately and Jay-Den could not stop turning it over. What worried him most was that Darem had fallen asleep in class this morning.
That was not like him.
Jay-Den shifted on the bench beneath him. The scent of the Attriun's cherry blossom trees cloyed around him. He could hear other cadets chatting as they walked by. He faced towards the stairs with the giant window facing San Francisco.
He read the same line again and it finally stuck.
Jay-Den's PADD buzzed and he looked down.
It was another message from Darem.
I need you…
Jay-Den sighed and leaned back against the bench.
Maybe I should check up on him….
But I have homework due tomorrow…
But Darem fell asleep during class…
Jay-Den growled in annoyance at his indecision.
His PADD buzzed again. Another message from Darem popped up, replacing the last.
Please… It begged.
Jay-Den sighed. He could not help but wonder why Darem wanted him so bad. There was part of him that wondered if he had gotten hurt or some other such ill had befallen him. He squashed that line of thinking as he stood. The bench cushions creaked under his weight.
He tapped the message and typed out I will be there shortly and sent it. He then tapped the PADD's power button to sleep mode and set off.
A few cadets nearby stared as the Klingon stood. Jay-Den was used to that by now. Even if he disliked it. You did not come from a warrior race as well known as his and join Starfleet and not expect to get looks. Still, Jay-Den hated it and it made his skin crawl. He picked up the pace.
Besides, Darem was waiting for him. He could not afford to dawdle.
He crossed the Atrium in easy strides. He tried to look like the glances and stares did not bother him, but it was hard.
Darem would not have noticed. Or if he had, he would have lifted his chin and let them look. Jay-Den had never quite figured out how he did that. Darem performed it so completely that the performance became the thing itself.It almost made Jay-Den envy him.
Almost.
He climbed the stairs up to the dorms. He thought back to earlier that day in Xenobiology. Darem's head had dipped not once, but three separate times before he fell asleep. Jay-Den knew Darem worked out early but he somehow did not think that was a factor today. The teacher had chosen then to walk by and nudged the table hard enough to shake it. Darem shot upright with a, "I wasn't sleeping!" Which earned a snicker from Caleb a row behind him. Darem had promptly flipped him off.
The rest of the way went fast enough. Since it was after their evening meal other cadets were few and far in between. The few he did pass barely paid him any attention. That in and of itself was a relief after the Atrium.
Jay-Den spotted Darem's dorm down the hall. Almost there. A few more steps then he came to a stop outside the automatic range. He tilted his head as he listened. Nothing. Nothing smelled off either. If anything any of the scents he did pick up on were stale. As if Darem had not left since he got back and neither Caleb nor Ocam had come back yet.
It could mean nothing or it could mean everything.
But Darem messaged me…if he were incapacitated he would not have done that.
He's okay.
Darem is okay.
Jay-Den took a breath and stepped forward, bracing himself as the door hissed open.
The dorm was thankfully normal.
Jay-Den puffed out a sigh of relief. But on the next inhale he winced. It wasn't a particularly strong stench, but it was enough to make him wrinkle his nose. The smell of rotting food somewhere greeted him and underneath it all was something bitter and sour.
"Caleb's been hoarding food again." A voice croaked sympathetically from his left. "But you came." Darem sounded relieved, his head popping out of his blanket. "Took you long enough." He patted the edge of his bed. "Come here, I need you to—" whatever he needed was cut off by a bout of coughing.
Jay-Den raised an eyebrow but walked over anyway. Darem reached out his hand in his direction and then retracted it. The move surprised Jay-Den, but he did not say anything about it. Darem scooted over as Jay-Den sat at the edge of the bed. Jay-Den leaned down and grabbed the bottle of still-cold water on the shelves beneath.
"Drink. Hydration is important." He said. Darem reluctantly took the bottle, opened it and sipped from it. Jay-Den frowned. Even from here he could feel Darem's heat.
Darem shuffled closer to him. Jay-Den noticed, but did not say anything. Jay-Den leaned over and tucked the blanket in on the far side as Darem drank. Darem was right up against his hip now.
Darem finished drinking and screwed the cap on. He handed the bottle over to Jay-Den who leaned down and set it back in his spot. Only now did he notice Darem's PADD by his head in the blank spot between his pillow and the edge of his bed.
Darem's fever-hot hand reached out and grabbed his thigh. "Stay. Please." Jay-Den wondered if he meant it to come out that desperate. Probably not. He looked over and covered Darem's hand with his.
"All you had to do was ask."
Darem's glassy eyes lit up and he nodded. Feeling the heat radiating off Darem’s hand had Jay-Den worried. He reached over and pressed his hand to Darem’s forehead.
"Darem, are you ill?" Jay-Den asked.
The coughing, the falling asleep in class. The croak when he came in. The glassy eyes lit. Jay-Den was almost certain that Darem had come down with something or another.
Darem looked at him innocently. "Nooo…"