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After weeks of nonstop cold and rain, it didn't surprise anyone when first years started going down with various colds all over Basgiath. I'm careful to make sure I'm not one of them. I can hardly afford to be any more weakened. Rhiannon and I have managed to avoid it for the most part, but i have a bad feeling my luck is about to run out when Liam comes out of his room with a pink nose looking more tired than anyone had ever seen from him. I can't even bring myself to be upset.
"Does Xaden know you're sick?" I ask, arching an eyebrow. I can't believe Xaden would still be making Liam play guard dog when he looks like he's about to fall over. Liam sniffs and scrubs at his nose with a fist, looking a little stunned that I'm asking.
"Ndo, why would he need to. It's nothing serious," he says, looking, shy at the attention Violet is leveling on him.
"I don't think so. Come on, we're going to find Riorson," i say, taking his hand and pulling him along. Liam follows like a confused puppy. I follow the black clouds in my head toward where i know I'll find Xaden. I'm not too surprised to see him flanked by Bodhi and Garrick. Raising my chin defiantly, I march right up to them and presents Liam in all his pitiful glory. I can feel a wash of worry coming from Xaden, but not much else. He has himself on a tight lockdown. I look around the classroom to try and determine why, but as far as I can tell, there's nothing going on that would cause Xaden to be on such high security.
"Please tell Liam he has the day off from babysitting me so he can go back to bed," i demand, crossing my arms and staring the older boys down. Liam shivers beside me.
"Liam, go back to bed, you look fucking terrible," Xaden says, giving the younger man a quick once over. Liam starts to protest, but Xaden isn't going to hear anything of it.
"You can't keep her safe if you're falling asleep every few minutes. I'll watch her today," he says. I glare at him.
"Or we could remember that Violet is a full-grown woman capable of looking after herself," I snipe. Four sets of eyes turn on me, and none of them look impressed. I huff. Liam Frowns, but nods his agreement and starts to shuffle back toward the dorms. I put a hand on his shoulder and offers him a smile.
"I'll check on you later," I promise. Liam gives me a tired smile in return, his dimple showing.
For the rest of the day, Xaden does as he promised and shadows me closely. A couple of times, I tried to make biting remarks into his mind, but his shields are up too tight for that. I frown. That's unusual. It isn't until late that night when it's just the two of us in the sparring ring that his control slips. One moment he and I are rounding on each other like normal. I think I have the prefect plan for getting on of his daggers from him when an alien sensation invades my face. My nose wrinkles and I can't help but bring a hand up to rub at it even though I know the sensation isn't coming from me. I cast a quick thought toward Tarin and Andarna to make sure neither of them put their snouts where they shouldn't have (especially Andarna. He curiosity often got her into trouble). They both seem fine, if a little curious about the sensation. My eyes lock on Xaden after that. His mouth is tight, and his eyebrows are furrowing in the center. It doesn't look like he's paying attention to her at all. We stay frozen in that moment until Xaden's face slips into a snarl, and he's crushing his face into his forearm. His shoulders heave forward once, twice... there's a pause where his back expands as he gasps in a breath before a final convusion is strong enough to have him stumbling forward a step. Closer to me. I'm frozen in shock. I had never seen Xaden lose control at all, let alone in such a complete way. Heat licks through my core as I watch him, mouth agape.
"What was that?" I ask after a moment. He glares at me.
"Nothing, forget it," he says, getting back in position like I'm just going to continue on like nothing happened.
"That wasn't nothing. Are you sick, too?" I accuse, fully prepared to rip him a new one if he's been exhausting himself with me all day instead of resting when he's ill.
"No. I don't get sick, I'm a wingleader," Xaden growls. I roll my eyes and step closer to him. I have to look up now to keep looking him in the face.
"Germs don't care about your rank, Riorson," I say, close enough to feel heat coming off him.
"Don't call me that, Violence," he says, voice deepening into a raspy growl I've never heard from him before. I put a hand on his chest. Another overwhelming itching sensation overcomes me, so I know to be prepared when the snarl comes back to his mouth and he's crushing more sneezes into his forearm. When he comes up for air, his eyes are blurry and watery, and I have one of his daggers twirling between my fingers.
"Ready to admit defeat?" I ask. Xaden doesn't look amused.
"To you, Violence, never," he says. I click my tongue against my teeth. Now that I know what to listen for, I can hear some congestion in his voice.
"Not to me, to your cold," I correct. He sniffs without meaning to. I blink up at him innocently, channeling my best Andarna expression. He groans.
"Damn Violence, you never listen, do you?" He asks. His voice is starting to sound strained.
"You sent Liam straight back to bed this morning, and now, you're sounding worse than he is," I point out. Xaden pinches the bridge of his nose, and I know I'm winning.
"Come one, let me take you bed, wingleader," I tease, reaching out for his hand. He seems hesitant to let me take his.
"I uh..don't want to get you sick," he rasps, not looking at me and rubbing the back of his neck. I bite back on a smile. He can be so sweet when the mood strikes him.
"You've been with me all day, I don't think I have a chance," I point out, taking his hand anyway.
"And you're not going to make any late night escapades knowing I'm down for the count?" Xaden asks from outside my door. His energy has been waning more and more obviously since I called him out for being sick.
"Promise. Now go to bed before I drag you in here and make you use mine," I threaten. He gives me a smirk that tells me he wouldn't be getting any rest if I did that. I shove him toward the stairs to the third years quarters.