Jem ran his bow over the violin strings, his fingers quivering with concentration. Shutting his eyes, he tried to remember where his fingertips were supposed to press. He crossed his legs on the trunk at the end of his bed, grimacing when he hit the wrong note.

Will groaned in annoyance, opening his eyes groggily. "People are trying to sleep here."

"You are in my room." Jem pointed out, repositioning the violin at his throat. He moved the bow, emitting a much more pleasant and lyrical song from his violin. Will just sighed, rubbing his eyes and moving his still-damp hair from his face. Looking at his wrist, Will looked at it in confusion.

"I don't remember drawing an iratze."

"I drew it. You fell asleep in my chair and your cheek was bleeding on my sheet and your arm had a scratch that was getting grime on my wall, not to mention your...tattoo."

"Oh, so everything is just yours now? Should I leave so I stop breathing in your air and annoying your violin?"

"Be my guest." Jem smiled, a friendly and infectious smile that Will couldn't help but look at and smile back. Pushing himself up reluctantly, Will grabbed his black cutaway jacket from the back of the chair and studied the torn cusp of his sleeve. He pawed at it, his eyebrows immediately furrowing in annoyance.

"Damn it." Will swore tiredly, his blue eyes covered in a shade of dark lashes.

Jem sighed, setting his violin down. "It tore."

"Good work, Sherlock." Will said sarcastically, ignoring the fact that Jem had absolutely no idea of what he was talking about. "I suppose that the servant girl can sew it back up. Speaking of that servant, has she set out breakfast? I'm starved."

"I'm sure she has. Normally she sets it out at about this time." Pulling a waistcoat over his white button up, Jem gestured for Will to come on out. The smell of toast and eggs immediately wafted into their room, making them realize how hungry they were. Then again, Will was always hungry and would eat anything that was set in front of him, unless it was duck. Of course, the only time Will had seen duck served on a platter was when Jem insisted taking them to the only Asian restaurant in town, which Jem deemed as almost inedible.

Pulling out a chair, Jem sat in front of Will, away from Jessamine who was eating her toast lazily with a fork. She nibbled at the edges, keeping her toast suspended in the air at the end of her fork as she chewed. Charlotte and Henry were no where to be see, probably working on legal documents and more pointless inventions that only served to set things on fire.

The pile of toast looked mouth-wateringly appetizing, but Jem reached for a cup of tea instead. On the other hand, Will grabbed a strawberry from a platter, tossing it into the air and catching it in his mouth.

"Repulsive." Jessamine said under her breath, licking butter from her lips.

"Says the worthless upstart who wears a pound of makeup caked onto her face." Will made a face at Jessamine before reaching for another strawberry.

"Excuse me sir, I am a lady."

"Sir? As in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? You mean the man who created Sherlock? Jessamine! You have brains!"

"What in God's name are you blathering about?"

Jem took another sip of his tea, looking placidly at Will. "He's currently in a-"

"Delusional state." Will said cheerfully. "I can say my own sentences, Jem. I haven't gotten old and senile...yet. I'm not mute!"

"Thank Raziel you're not mute or you'd be making obscene gestures to illustrate all of your points."

"Touché, James. Touché." Pulling out a newspaper from the bottom of a platter, Will looked at it with scorn. "The only headlines in here are about new clothes and things of the oddest sorts. What in the world is a crinoline? Look what it says here: Kohl Shop, Magic Sleep Remedies."

"Then you should probably read it." Jessamine said casually, setting down her toast. "Especially you, James. Dear me, you look as if you could die any second from the looks of you. Oh tosh, the dark circles underneath your eyes aren't the only thing that make you look that deathly."

Jem froze, his hand gripping the thin china teacup, his silver eyes wide, but flat. With a quick motion of his hand, he pushed his teacup forward, sloshing tea onto the lacy tablecloth. Jem then stood up and slunk from the room, his teeth biting into his lip. Will bristled, narrowing his eyes at Jessamine.

"Why did you do that?" Will seethed with anger, wanting nothing more than to walk over to Jessamine and slap the haughty expression on her face. Unfortunately, it was against even Will's values to strike a girl.

"I mean, he doesn't look that bad. Maybe a trifle tired and-"

"I wasn't talking about how he looks. You know he despises it when people talk about...it."

"He talks about it."

"If he wants to talk about his illness, then so he shall. But you, you know nothing about anything he goes through and have absolutely no right to say that!" Will jumped to his feet, his blue eyes blazing with fury. "You stay away from him, Jessamine." Will spat the last word out with disgust, then spun on his heel and after Jem. Pausing at Jem's door, he contemplated just walking in to see if he was alright, but something told him that he should knock instead.

When there was no answer to his knocking and anxious calls, Will sank to the floor, leaning his back against the wall next to Jem's door. He doubted Jem was angry; it seemed like too forthright an emotion for such a calm person as he was. But there was something fragile about him, like a china cup where one blow could shatter it. However, despite Jem's delicate nature, he had always been able to suppress his feelings with a nod and a smile.

It was odd, though, that Jem wasn't answering Will's knock on his door. He wasn't normally this standoffish, especially not with his parabatai. Deep in his chest, Will could feel that something was utterly wrong.

Author's Note: To Miss-98: Hi. I read your review saying how the word 'okay' was not used and might have not been created yet. Actually, the word was first documented in American Speech in 1863 by the author Allen Walker Read. He talked about the origins of 'okay' and how that word came to be. Despite this, I'm happy to see people are paying attention to the technical side of things in the story. I hope this clarifies things a bit.