Ouroboros Fever
"Starkey!" Jorjie breathed, grinning wildly as the boy returned from the cellar. They had finally defeated the Ouroboros and returned it to infinity.
"Oh, well done Starkey."
"Starkey did it."
"I thought you were a gonner." The professor, K-9 and Darius shared their own relief at their friend's return.
The five of them continued to celebrate for a few hours before Jorjie had to return home.
"Well, I, for one, am going to bed. I recommend you do the same." Professor Gryffen said before heading to his room.
"I'm gonna turn in for the night." Darius turned to leave the room.
Thump.
"Starkey!" K-9 flew down to scan him.
Darius ran back over. "What's wrong with him?"
"Analysis shows body temperature is 38.74 degrees. In other words, Starkey has a fever."
Darius sighed. "Come to think of it, since all this time snake business started he has been looking a bit peaky."
"The Ouroboros is not a time snake. It is a-"
"Is this really necessary right this second? C'mon. Let's get alien-boy here to his bed." Darius hoisted one of Starkey's arms over his shoulders and carefully lifted him.
After putting Starkey to bed, Darius was debating whether to stay or go back to Mariah to sleep when the decision was made for him. He felt a weak grip on his arm and looked down into fever-bright blue eyes.
"Darius…"
"Go back to sleep."
"Don't… don't leave me. I don't want to be alone."
Normally, Darius would protest but he could feel Starkey's hand trembling and the boy looked so helpless and vulnerable that he couldn't just leave him there.
"Alright, alright. I'll stay so go back to sleep."
The brunette did just that, still loosely clinging onto Darius's wrist.
/brbr\
The next morning, Darius awoke with a crick in his neck and a very hot wrist. He stood up from his seat beside his friend's bed and very carefully removed himself from Starkey's grip, gently placing his arm back under the covers.
"Morning, Darius. Tea?" Gryffen gestured to the teapot beside him.
"Not right now, prof. Do you have anything for fevers?"
"Why? You're not sick, are you Darius?"
"Not me. Snake-boy-genius." Darius didn't even look at the professor as he searched the drawers and cupboards for medicine.
"Starkey? It must be the antibodies. He got too close to the Ouroboros yesterday, didn't he?" He sighed in exasperation. "That boy just doesn't know when to stop. The fever reducers are in the far left drawer. Get some frozen peas or something from the freezer as well."
"Thanks, prof." Darius grabbed the supplies and left the room, coming back moments later to take the teapot and two mugs.
Gryffen chuckled at this behaviour before returning to his breakfast.
/brbr\
Darius snuck into the room as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake his sick friend. Unfortunately, it was a little late for that as Starkey was hugging his knees in the corner of his bed looking no better than before, if anything he looked worse. He was pale and sweating with dark circles under glazed eyes.
"Starkey? Mate?" Darius broached, cautiously.
Starkey seemingly looked straight through him and Darius could see he was shaking.
"Woah. You don't look so good."
"D-Darius? You left. Why did you leave? I-I don't want to be alone anymore."
"Sorry, Starkey. I just went to grab some stuff. Look, I brought tea and meds and frozen peas." Darius unloaded his haul onto the bedside table and was suddenly tackled into a hug from behind.
"Woah! Easy, man. Easy. Calm down, okay? I'm not going anywhere."
Starkey hadn't stopped shaking and Darius could feel heat seeping through his shirt.
"Umm, K-9?" He called and the robot dog came through the door.
"Yes, Darius?"
"How's his condition?"
"Analysing… Starkey's fever has increased by 0.14 degrees. Body temperature is now 38.88 degrees celsius; an increase of 1.12 degrees or more would require more drastic measures however currently there is no threat to Starkey's life. Now if you'll excuse me, the professor is calling." And with that, K-9 left the two boys alone.
"Well then, I guess it's just us then." Darius tried to dislodge Starkey's arms from around his waist only proving to make his grip tighter. "Okay, Starkey. I know I'm irresistibly attractive but I can't get your meds if I can't move."
Starkey didn't let go.
"Starkey." Darius reprimanded. "I have to-"
"Don't go."
"I've already said, I'm not going to leave. Geez, what's gotten into you? One little fever and you're clinging to me like a baby. What would Jorjie say?"
Starkey held fast.
"Shouldn't you be used to being alone? You can cope with not touching me for a couple minutes, can't you?"
"I hate it. I can't anymore. It's lonely and terrifying. I used to be fine with it, since it's been just me on my own for most of my life but now I have you and everyone and I can't bear to be alone anymore. Please! Don't leave me… I'm scared… Darius…"
Darius melted a little inside. Okay, the guy could be annoying and loopy at times, but who could be heartless enough to resist that? Even Drake couldn't… well, maybe Drake could but he didn't count.
"Alright, how about this. You get to hold my hand while I get your medicine. Deal?"
He felt Starkey's grip finally loosen and he stepped away. Looking at the guy his heart leapt to his throat. He was paler than before and there were tears running down his cheeks. His eyes were wide and fearful and he still hadn't stopped shaking. His hair was matted to his forehead with sweat and to top it all off his flushed cheeks were positively radiating heat which the older boy could still feel on his back.
Starkey was clutching Darius's hand for dear life as Darius located the medicine and poured some tea to help it down.
Once Starkey had taken the medicine and finished his tea his grip gradually loosened until he fell asleep. Darius didn't even think to take back his hand as he tended to his friend's fever.
(I thought about ending it here but it seemed a little short so I continued. Sorry for the a/n in the middle of the story.)
/brbr\
"Boys?" Gryffen called from the lab. When he received no answer he headed towards Starkey's room. Darius had gone there with medicine and tea earlier, if he remembered correctly, and he hadn't heard much since.
"Boys?" He called again as he approached the room. He could hear a low, soothing voice coming from inside the room which sounded very familiar.
"…see? You're fine. I've got you, I'm not going anywhere. Just go back to sleep, alright? Shhh. Good boy, Starkey."
"Darius?" He asked as he entered the room.
"Shh! He just went back to sleep. He must be exhausted, poor guy." Darius replied in a hushed tone.
Starkey was sleeping in the bed, looking far worse than when the professor saw him last night before he went to bed, but apparently better than that morning. He was hugging Darius's arm to his chest and Darius was sitting on the bed beside him, disregarding the chair he had slept in the night before.
When Starkey moaned in his sleep and began to get restless, Darius gently maneuvered the younger boy into his arms and stroked his hair until he calmed down. The professor watched the development, baffled.
"What are you smirking at?" Darius glared at Gryffen, although the effect was dulled by the fact that he was still stroking Starkey's hair gently.
"Oh, nothing. I've just never seen you look so caring before, Darius."
"You didn't see him earlier. I couldn't help it. Anyway, prof, what did you want us for? I hope it wasn't important because I'm not moving." Darius clutched Starkey's prone form protectively.
"Oh, it was nothing. Jorjie called. She wanted to know where you were."
"Oh. I turned off our communicators so that they wouldn't disturb him. I'll call her."
"Have fun." Gryffen called as he exited the room.
As soon as Darius pressed the call button, Jorjie's scowling face appeared on the screen.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU PICK UP?! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU TWO! I THOUGHT THE JIXEN OR SOMETHING HAD-"
"Shhh! Shhhhhh!" Darius attempted to quiet her down.
"NO, I WILL NOT BE QUIET! DON'T YOU DARE 'SHHH' ME, DARIUS PIKE! AND WHERE'S STARKEY? HE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS AS WELL!"
"Please, lower your voice. You'll wake him up."
"HE'S ASLEEP?! I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU BOTH NON-STOP ALL DAY AND STARKEY'S BEEN ASLEEP?"
"No! Jorjie, listen to me. Calm down, okay? Starkey's-"
A soft groan followed by pained whimpers interrupted Darius's spiel.
"Heeeey. Heeeeey, Starkey. Calm down, you're okay. Shhhhhh. Shhhh, you're fine. You're okay. You're with me. It's aaaaaall gonna be alright. Shhhh. Just calm down." Darius muted Jorjie for a minute to calm Starkey's fever-dream and change the damp cloth on his forehead. He'd been using a cloth since the peas thawed a couple of hours ago.
He unmuted a worried-looking Jorjie.
"…'s wrong? Darius? Darius? Hellooooo?"
"Sorry 'bout that, Jorjie."
"What's going on over there?" Jorjie frowned, evidently concerned.
"Well, you know how Starkey was getting ill because of the time-snake business?"
"You mean the inoculation against the Ouroboros?"
"Yeah, that. Well, he got pretty close to that snake last night in the cellar and now he's got a fever. He collapsed last night and he's been in bed all day. I turned off our coms so he could sleep, sorry for not answering."
"It's fine, Darius. Can I see him?"
"Sure, but he won't respond, just saying." Darius choked down his pride and held the communicator out so that Jorjie could see Starkey.
Jorjie looked concerned when he first came on camera and she took in his appearance, but her worry quickly changed to another emotion when she noticed the position he and Darius were in. Darius was sitting up against the headboard of Starkey's bed with his legs under the covers. He had one arm curled around the younger boy in both a supportive and a protective gesture. Starkey, on the other hand, had his head on Darius's chest, clutching his shirt in one hand and his hand in the other. Their legs were tangled together lower down the bed where Jorjie couldn't see but she could see how Darius was stroking Starkey's hand with his thumb.
Jorjie giggled. "Well then."
"Stop looking so smug, Jorjie."
"I'm not. I'm just… happy to see that you're such close friends." She grinned.
"You'd better not be recording this or I swear I will... urgh. I don't even care anymore. He's sick and you'd do exactly the same."
Jorjie giggled again. "Awww. You look so cute together. This is most definitely coming back to haunt you. Both of you, I might add."
Darius scowled, "Yeah, well, don't give him too much heat for it, okay? He's really… really out of it, alright? So just…"
"Okay, I get it. I'll just leave you two lovebirds to your nest then."
"Hey! Jorjie!"
She hung up.
"Guess it's just you and me now, Starkey." He sighed and settled in for a long day.
/brbr\
Two days later Starkey woke up lucid. He felt almost unpleasantly warm but there was a comfortable weight on his chest and a soothing sensation on his hand and a solid presence at his back. He felt peaceful and contented.
"Hey. Look who's finally alive."
Starkey looked up at the source of the voice and saw cheerful blue eyes and blonde hair.
"Darius?" He mumbled sleepily, then it clicked. He shot upright. "Darius?!" He spluttered, wincing as pain shot through his head and he sank back down.
He felt hands gently guiding him back into a lying position. "Easy! Easy. You've been out for about 52 hours. Your fever broke a few hours ago, so don't try to get up yet."
"Argh, my head."
"Oh, right. Here."
Starkey felt something small and round being pressed against his lips and instinctively opened his mouth and swallowed the pill.
"It's a painkiller, should help with the headache." Darius explained. "Do you need anything else? Water? Tea?"
"Water would be great." Starkey mumbled hoarsely. He immediately felt tender, guiding hands helping him upright and a glass held to his lips.
When he'd finished the glass, Darius helped him to lie back down and he opened his eyes again.
"What happened?"
"You got too close to the time-snake and your weird alien blood acted up is the simple explanation. Jorjie called a few times and came over twice. The prof also came in occasionally to check up on you. K-9's been in and out, and I've been here pretty much the whole time. How much do you remember?"
"Umm… we sent the Ouroboros back and we celebrated then… there's a gap… and then I remember…" Starkey blushed bright pink right the way to his ears. "I didn't… did I?"
"Sorry, mate. The gap is probably when you fainted like a girl. And yes, you did cling onto me… a lot. Pretty much for the entire time you were out, actually."
"Sorry. I-I didn't mean to… What did I say? I told you… something…"
"Never mind that now. Rest, before the she-devil comes back. Seriously, you do not want to be on the receiving end of nurse Jorjie while you're conscious. Believe me." He shuddered for emphasis.
"'Though she be but little, she is fierce.'"
Darius looked confused so he elaborated.
"William Shakespeare."
The blonde just shook his head.
He got up to leave, "Get some sleep."
Starkey automatically reached out and grabbed Darius's shirt, quickly letting go and flushing with embarrassment.
"S-Sorry."
Darius, however, turned around and got back into the bed, once again stroking the younger boy's hair.
"Don't sweat it. I know I'm irresistible." Darius braced for a pillow to the head, but none came. Instead, Starkey snuggled closer to him and hummed his agreement as he drifted off to sleep, leaving a dumbfounded 15 year old to contemplate.
/brbr\
A few hours later, Darius woke up with his airways blocked by a tangled brown mess. It took a few seconds for him to calm down enough to realise that no, this wasn't an alien invasion, it was Starkey's hair. Starkey, who was currently asleep in his arms and half on top of him.
Oh gosh. Darius realised, to his dismay, that he was blushing. Had he really done all of that? He was acting like a girl and a mother hen and… he didn't care. He didn't care because one of his best bros had been in trouble and he had helped him. If that meant there would be more hugging in the future then so be it.
He had discovered over the past few days that Starkey, the orphaned dissident who he used to find annoying, was actually really rather cuddly. He could not let anyone know he ever had that thought.
"Mmmn… D'rius?" Starkey mumbled into his chest and he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face.
"Yes, Starkey?"
"M'rnin'."
"Same to you."
"Actually, Starkey, Darius, it is 3:24 pm. You both slept through the morning." K-9 corrected as he entered the room.
The two boys shared a look and the robot dog was pelted with a flurry of pillows.
(I also considered ending it here. Sorry again for interrupting.)
"That was entirely unnecessary." K-9 reprimanded but they boys were too busy laughing to care.
Starkey's laugh turned into a coughing fit and Darius rubbed his back until he recovered.
"Ready to get up? Jorjie and the prof have been worried about you, so we should go and at least let them know you're getting better."
"Right. Okay, I guess."
Neither of them made any move to get out or untangle their limbs.
"Were you not supposed to be getting up?" Asked K-9.
"I don't wanna move." They both said in near-perfect sync.
"Professor Gryffen is waiting."
The doorbell sounded.
"Apparently so is Jorjie." Starkey smiled.
"Talk about perfect timing." Sighed Darius.
After another minute or so, the pair reluctantly moved out of the bed.
Starkey flushed brightly as he realised he was wearing different clothes to the ones he'd been in the other day. He flushed even brighter when he realised that Darius wasn't wearing a shirt at all.
"Did you…"
Darius looked confused for a moment before he realised what Starkey was talking about.
"You were sweating a lot. You would have gotten even worse if you'd stayed in the same clothes so I had to change you a couple of times."
"You did it more than once?"
"Hey, it was either me or Jorije. Who would you have preferred?"
"…"
"Exactly."
Starkey realised he'd been staring at Darius's bare chest and quickly looked away. He knew the blonde worked out but… wow.
Darius had apparently forgotten about his lack of a shirt until now.
"It was hot." He said by way of explanation, flushing red and quickly putting his shirt back on.
"I-it's okay. Thanks for everything. Really-MMPH!" Starkey was interrupted when Darius kissed him.
He completely froze and for a second Darius thought he would be pushed away but when he calmed down, Starkey melted into the kiss.
They only stopped because of the necessity of oxygen.
"Woah." Starkey breathed.
"Woah." Darius agreed. "Does this mean…"
"If you want, then…"
"Do you want it to?"
"Yeah, I mean, if you want."
"I want it to."
"So do I."
"That settles it, then."
"Woah."
"Yeah."
They grinned at one another.
"Shall I leave you two alone?"
They both jumped.
"K-9! I thought you had left already!" Starkey flushed beet red again and Darius laughed.
"Humans can be such unobservant creatures." K-9 left the room, undoubtedly to go tell Jorjie and the good professor. For a robot dog, K-9 was quite the gossip.
Darius casually slung an arm around Starkey's shoulders, which the brunette was greatly thankful for as he didn't think his legs would hold out much longer.
"Shall we, milady?" Darius joked as he held his other hand out to Starkey, who took it with a bright blush.
"Shut up."
They walked to the lab together where Jorije and Gryffen were drinking tea as K-9 sat on the bench.
"What's got you so happy?" Jorjie asked Darius, who still had a massive grin plastered across his face.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing that concerns you, anyway." He continued to grin.
"How are you feeling, Starkey?" Professor Gryffen addressed the boy who seemed to be half crushed under his companion's arm.
"Better, thanks. I hear it's Darius I have to thank for that." He looked at him. "Really, thank you."
"Don't mention it. I profited from it as well so no biggie."
"I really hate you sometimes."
"No you don't. Not really." Darius grabbed him in a bear-hug and ruffled his hair.
"Not really." He agreed.