If Sy had gone back to his room like he'd been told, he wasn't answering his door. After Jim had been not-completely-gently removed from the admiral's office, he had gone straight to Sy's room and started knocking.
No answer.
Jim still did not know which room was Zephyr's, exactly, and he didn't want to draw more attention to the situation than Sy might be comfortable with. So knocking on doors until someone could tell him where Zephyr was did not seem to be the ideal next move. Especially not with Jim still as angry as he was right now.
So instead, Jim went with plan C. Go to dinner and hope Sy showed up to eat with them.
The dinner table was already full by the time Jim sat down. Well, almost full. Two spots remained empty yet. Neither Zephyr nor Sy were seated at table 8-B. Those who were there already were quiet, solemn and not inclined towards conversation. Jim joined them, settling into his seat with his tray with a complete lack of fanfair.
Mellow, their newest addition, was seated beside Matt. Jim was surprised to find he was glad Mellow had joined them again. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he became a regular. Sy would like that. And, Jim discovered, he would like it as well. Mellow actually seemed to be pretty cool, once you looked past his utterly terrifying exterior.
"So…" Braxton glanced around the rest of the table. "What happened after I left the office? Things looked pretty serious."
628 huffed. "Braxton said no celebrating until Jim talked." He stared pointedly at Jim.
Jim sighed heavily and looked down. "Sy and I aren't allowed to date anymore."
"I thought you weren't allowed to date to begin with?" Matt ventured hesitantly. "Didn't Sy say it had to be a secret?"
"You and Sy were dating?" Mellow looked utterly baffled. "Since when?"
"It was a recent development," Jim answered. "We were keeping it quiet. We were trying to, at least. Sy's family found out. They're not happy."
Matt frowned. "How did they found out? We've all been so careful about not letting anyone see you two. He didn't even want to tell Zephyr, and they're best friends."
"Cousins, actually." Jim sighed.
"I'm sorry, what?" Braxton demanded.
Jim shrugged and poked at his dinner. Chipped meat of some sort in a weird cream looking sauce on top of a biscuit. It wasn't particularly appetizing right now. "Sy's grandfather is the admiral."
"You didn't know that?" To the surprise of everyone, Mellow was the one to speak. While the rest of the table stared at him, he shrunk down into his shell. "You..you didn't? The admiral's name is D'nahsy Palaemon de Châteaupers. His mother was Z'handra Etturo, of Earth 918, near the Siram Nebula."
"I've heard of her," Jim ventured.
"Who hasn't!" Matt demanded. "She was my hero growing up! She still is. She was instrumental in helping to create the classification standards that we still use to this day. The way she managed and organized her crew and her recruits, that was the baseline for our regulations. And she was one of the founders of the pre enrolment facility. I wouldn't have ever been able to join up without her schools! She was always so private, though. None of the stories I heard ever mentioned her family by name. Just that she was married and had a son. How'd you know that, Mellow?"
Mellow looked a little as if he was being pranked. "The admiral's biography is in the school library, as well as several of Z'handra's diaries. You guys actually never read them?"
"Her actual diaries!?" Matt shot to his feet. "I'll see you guys later."
Braxton grabbed him by the arm and drug him back into his seat. "Sit. Eat. I'll go with you to read them after dinner."
"We have a library?" 628 looked as if he barely even knew what a library was.
"I think I remember some teachers mentioning it," Jim ventured.
Braxton sighed heavily. "I didn't think to even look for a biography. That was stupid. My fault."
"None of this is anyone's fault," Jim cut that off as fast as he could. "Unless you are Zephyr and decided to tell on us, or you are the admiral and decided to make Sy cry and forbid us from being together, you've done nothing wrong."
"I farted!" 628 offered eagerly. "And I did not 'excuse me'. That is wrong."
"Thank you, 628." Jim sighed. "But that's not helpful right now."
"So, where is Sy now?" Mellow ventured hesitantly.
Jim shook his head. "I don't know. He's not answering any of my messages. I'm going to go check the other cantina. I'll be back soon."
"Need backup?" Braxton asked.
"I'm good, but thank you." Jim stood up and drew in a deep breath. He wasn't exactly looking forward to confronting Zephyr in front of all the senior students, but if that was what it took to get Sy back, he'd do it. No one was going to bully him into letting his boyfriend go. Not even the admiral's grandson. Or even the admiral himself.
"Good luck." Matt offered Jim a smile that he clearly did not feel.
Jim gave him back an equally weak smile. "Thanks." He turned away from the dinner he wasn't going to eat anyway and headed for the door.
Jim had only eaten in the other cantina once or twice in his time at this school. It was usually reserved for the older cadets, being that it was slightly nicer. It also was closer to the housing for the Seamen that had graduated, but were remaining on base for any reason in particular. It was located on the opposite side of the kitchens, and although that meant it was relatively close to his usual mess hall, Jim felt as if the hallway that connected them stretched on for miles.
And then suddenly he was there.
Jim took a deep breath and opened the doors. Absolutely no one cared at all as he walked into the cafeteria. He scanned the room, uncertain where he might locate Sy and Zephyr. And among the sea of unfamiliar cadets, neither stood out.
Jim did, however, spot the ITSS Snitch sitting at a table right at the very front of the room. And so, like a torpedo, he headed directly for that sub.
"Hey. Where does Zephyr sit? I, uh, have an important message. For him. I have a message for him."
ITSS Snitch looked up at Jim and just sighed. "I am going to assume, based on the reputation of your purportedly best friend, that your message will be delivered in the form of your fist to his face."
"No!" Jim sighed. "But now that you mention it, that would be satisfactory. Look, I just need to talk to him."
"He thought you might. So he left you a message of his own. He's not here today, and neither is Sy. You are to leave him, and his cousin, alone and to never contact either of them again for anything."
"That's not fair, though." Jim protested. "I just need to talk to them. Please? Come on man, where are they?"
The young man shrugged and returned to his meal. "I wasn't told. Not that I would inform you if I was. Now, if you will excuse me, my friends and I were having a conversation before you interrupted."
Unfortunately, even Jim recognized he wasn't going to get any more information from this group. He turned away reluctantly and started the trudge back to his friends. Maybe one of them would have ideas on where to find Sy.