Valjean opened the door to his room to find his roommate alternately muttering, "Merde!" and calling out, "Justice! Justice!" Even for Javert, an admittedly strange person, this was abnormal behavior.
So as Javert crouched and dipped his head under Valjean's bed, still calling out for justice, Valjean felt compelled to drop to his knees beside him. "Can I help?"
Javert gave a startled gasp and banged his head on the bedframe with a sickening crack. "What - ow! - are you doing here? You know that Dr. Myriel will have your hide if you miss Endocrinology again!"
"I forgot my notes," Valjean said with a wince, as he sprang to his feet. "Here, let me help you up." He reached out a hand to assist, but the other man was already stumbling woozily into a standing position.
"I am in no need -" Valjean never found out which of Javert's long list of things he did not need he was about to mention, as Javert's knees gave out, and Valjean had his hands full maneuvering him to the nearest bed.
"What you are in need of is sitting down and letting me have a look at that." Valjean pressed strong hands on Javert's shoulders and gave him a stern look when he seemed about to protest. Though his severe expression stayed, Javert submitted to the examination in silence.
"Doesn't seem to be bleeding," Valjean muttered, running his hands delicately around his roommate's wound. "Probably just jarred your inner ear a bit. Still, I am going to insist that you stay put for at least thirty minutes while I make sure you don't have a concussion."
"You'll miss Endocrinology," Javert pointed out, though he refrained from the lecture.
"I'll stop by Dr. Myriel's office later and explain the whole thing. Wouldn't want you to pain yourself further having to worry about me." Valjean smiled gently.
"That was a joke, wasn't it?" Only Javert could look so grim when discussing humor.
"Yes, it was a joke. I thought we'd see how it went. Clearly I should have waited until you were in better health." Since Javert continued to look miserable despite his best efforts, Valjean changed tactics. "What were you looking for, anyway, when I came in?"
"Justice!" Javert cried and would have sprung from the bed had Valjean not anticipated the action and forced him back down again.
"Although I applaud your search, I hardly think it's to be found under my bed," Valjean observed.
"Justice, my snake!" Javert explained impatiently. "In my haste to complete my History of Criminal Justice abstract, I must have forgotten to put her back in her enclosure, and she has escaped!"
"I tell you what." Valjean squeezed Javert's shoulder with the hand that was still resting there. "How about you agree to sit here and not make your injury worse while I look for...Justice?"
Javert considered him for a long moment, then nodded. Valjean clapped him gently on the shoulder and commenced a search of the room.
"Now, if I were a snake in graduate housing, where would I be?" He turned in a slow circle, contemplating every avenue, until his attention lit upon the area beneath the window. "Aha! I know exactly! Unless I miss my guess..."
Reaching gingerly into the shadowy space between the window and the radiator, he was rewarded with the scrape of scale against his knuckles. A few seconds of careful maneuvering later, Justice was affectionately twining herself between the fingers of his hands.
"There you go," Valjean announced triumphantly, allowing Justice to begin coiling around Javert's arm. "Justice returns."
"Thank you," Javert muttered, his cheeks a little flushed. "I am...very grateful." The brief moment of vulnerability soon passed, however, and when he spoke next, it was with his customary brusqueness. "You don't need to stay - I am quite capable of monitoring myself."
"Probably true," Valjean ceded agreeably. "But I feel somewhat responsible." He reached up to run a hand through Javert's hair to check on the wound and received another flush for his trouble.
He tilted his head and examined his roommate curiously. All this time he had attributed the deliberate distance Javert kept between them to his natural stiffness and zealous devotion to his work...but what if it was a symptom of a different disease altogether?
Valjean played a hunch and shifted closer on the bed. "Just to be on the safe side, there are a few...folk remedies I could employ. They have been known to ease pain under certain circumstances. Would you permit me to try one?"
Javert met his gaze with apprehension and...something else in his eyes. "Yes, all right, if you must."
Valjean grinned, leaned in, and brushed his lips over Javert's. After a few seconds, he leaned back and inquired, "Better?"
What had been a slight pinking of the cheeks was now a full-scale blush, and on his usually buttoned-up roommate, Valjean found it disproportionately attractive. "I think," Javert stammered, "You were s-supposed to apply that remedy to the affected area."
"Oh, was I?" Valjean shifted his gaze toward Javert's arm. "What do you think, Justice? Did I do it wrong?" He paused, as if waiting for the snake to answer, then continued, "She thinks I was simply too hasty in my application and suggests I try again."
"Well..." Now it was Javert who inched closer. "I suppose we have to...ensure Justice is served."
Valjean grinned widely enough to bring an ache to his cheeks. "A pun! Mon Dieu, I'm afraid you really do have a concuss-." He was interrupted by Javert following the dictates of Justice with his customary zeal. What could Valjean do but comply?