Downfalls (Clement)

[Jesse Adams]

“Ty, c’mere.” Jesse shifted from his sprawled out position on the bed to the floor, holding a hand out to his rabbit. Tyrone had been given free range of his dorm an hour ago. In that time he’d found several old, graded papers he’d proceeded to dig in and scratch up under the bed, and explored nearly every inch of the floor. At the sound of his name, the black bunny turned from investigating the dresser and made his way to the blond boy, snuffling his whiskers against his hand.

“Good boy,” Jesse said idly, picking Ty up and setting him in his lap. Feeling like shit with whatever illness had swept through the school had been made only slightly more tolerable by having Ty around. He was a good companion. Not as drool-y or shed-y as Gambit was, and a heck of a lot quieter. Not that he didn’t miss Gambit, but Ty was a good substitute in the meantime.

Now he was feeling better, having rejoined the general population without feeling like he was going to keel over for over a week, he was up to being semi-social again. Half of his roommates he generally ignored, but one he was okay with. After being a complete dick to him the first night he’d been sick, and more or less pushing him away for the entire duration he’d been ill, he figured it was high time to sort-of-kind-of make it up to him. And the first step to that was going to be a Ty visit.

Tucking the bunny against his chest, Jesse got to his feet and wandered out of his room and into the common area, making his way to Clement’s door. “Hey, Clement?” With his free hand, he knocked before twisting the knob. “I’ve got Ty for you.” In his hand, the bunny squirmed slightly, pushing his back feet against Jesse’s arm. “Oh, relax, you big dork,” he murmured to the rabbit before pushing the door open and depositing the little black creature on Clement’s floor bed. “He missed you.” Which wasn’t code for ‘I missed you too’, nope, not one bit.

[Clement Evans]

For all that they'd known each other for about a year now, a great deal about Jesse Adams confused Clement. Well, confused wasn't always the right word, but 'irritated' or 'made no sense' didn't quite capture the feeling either. Why he didn't like the word 'stupid', often answered things in single words and just kept repeating that word till Clement shut up, or got angry when Clement didn't have the right clothes or things. Or, for another example, why he was such a stubborn sshibalnom* when he needed to see a doctor. Clement didn't like them because he'd never had one available when he'd needed one, but had had them inspecting him top to bottom during all the times he especially wanted to be left alone. He still didn't like them, but getting those tubes put in his ears last fall had been totally worth it. Clement had never spent a winter not plagued by constant pain in his ears.

During the time Jesse was sick and being a fuck, or denying his sickness and being a fuck, or just being a fuck in general, Clement had continued to check on Ty, sneaking in and changing the litter or refilling the bowl or water bottle, but never staying long. Even Jesse's blanket-covered back managed to look angry at him. It was disturbing.

Clement had grown up, as previously mentioned, without anything near regular doctor's visits. The only reason he was fully vaccinated was that he hadn't been put into his father's care till he was three and then because state law required it before he went to school. So when he was sick, he went to school regardless. He wasn't going to stay home with his babysitters any longer than he had to, and suffering the idiots at school while feeling like crap was way better than doing the same thing while trying to watch out for swinging fists. He'd gone to classes today, too. Even though when his nose wasn't running he had to breathe through his mouth, his head ached, and his stomach had felt funny in a way that meant he skipped lunch and dinner.

Schoolbag still unpacked and laying on its side near his door, Clement had fallen into his little nest on the floor and fallen asleep. By the time Jesse barged in, his face was flushed and there was drool on his pillow. He stirred a bit, and opened his eyes to a black fuzzy outline he'd recognize anywhere. Fumbling to his knees, he held his hand out for Ty after rubbing his eyes. Bleary, he looked up at Ty's owner. Who seemed... less fuck-y.

"Hey... Ty," he said groggily, voice rough. His throat felt thick. "Hi Jesse."


*sshibalnom - asshole

[Jesse Adams]

Clement didn’t confuse Jesse, at least not in a conventional way. He confused him in an indirect way. The longer he spent around the kid, the more he seemed to care about him, which confused him in a way he didn’t understand. His protective urges were only getting stronger around him, and he didn’t know if he liked that or not. Part of him blamed simply being a brother. He would get in a scrap even when he was younger to protect Sasha if he thought she was threatened, and... it was getting to that point with Clement. Why Clement, he didn’t know, which only served to escalate his confusion.

While he’d been down with whatever the heck had gone around, he’d been vaguely aware of Clement’s company, but he hadn’t had the energy to send him away or even really open his eyes. What he had known was that Ty was being looked after, which he also hadn’t had the energy to do. Despite being slightly annoyed that the kid hadn’t listened to his warning to stay away while he was sick... he couldn’t help feel at least slight appreciation for what he was doing for the rabbit.

After he set Ty on the ground, Jesse arched his pierced eyebrow at the bundle of kid on the floor. He looked hot. Well, it was warm in the dorms. Stepping around him, he moved to open the window for him. “What’s with the nap? It’s not even close to being late.” The blond sat down on the unused bed and looked down at his friend. “Y’ sound like crap. You okay?” Hopefully it was just from being woken up. Because if Clement was sick, despite wanting to blame the kid for hanging around in the germ-y dorm, he’d really only beat himself up about it. Because yes, it was entirely his fault. Of course it was.

[Clement Evans]

Clement's first thoughts were not to blame Jesse for getting sick. His immune system was crap, and he was used to being congested and sore someplace for whole seasons. So this? Not a big deal. He'd just take it easy, take a few D's on his homework, and even it out when he felt better. Yawning hugely, he lay back down on his side as Ty lifted his chin to accept petting underneath it.

"I w's tired," he said.

Shrugged. Ty hopped onto his chest and nosed around Clement's shirt. "Got some crud, I guess." He snorted. "'Least I'm not barfing all over."

Looking over to where the older boy sat on his bed, he squinted, though in thought and not to see better (it wouldn't help). "How you feeling?"

[Jesse Adams]

As he watched Clement and Ty together, Jesse was quietly analyzing the situation. So he was right. Clement was sick. And hell, it was probably his fault. This wasn't looking so good. ... About as good as Clement did, really. Shit.

At least Ty didn't seem to mind as he nosed around. The rabbit seemed to enjoy Clement's company, probably even more so lately when his own owner was too sick to look after him properly. Even though that was probably the direct cause of why Clement was sick now... sigh. It didn't matter that Clement had probably come into contact with other sick students in the past week. Jesse was still going to shoulder the blame for it.

Looking down at Clement, Jesse shrugged. "Better. No more puking." Not to mention other fun things that went along with being sick. "But I probably got you sick. So... sorry." He was slowly formulating a plan, depending on how bad Clement felt, and how long he'd felt that way. "How long you felt like shit for?"

[Clement Evans]

With what little Clement knew about colds, he figured he hadn't caught whatever Jesse'd had, since he wasn't puking. He didn't know what other symptoms the blond had had, but knew most people either got a headcold with a sore throat/ears/cough or a stomach bug, but rarely both. Clement's stomach felt... weird. Not throw-up weird, but like the wrong thing inside it could make it go that way... or the other. His head felt thick, like it was filled with cement. Dense. Like whatever was inside was pressing on everything from in there, making sound distant and seeing an effort and filling his nose up from behind.

Normally, when Clement didn't feel well, he liked quiet and alone-time, the two things he rarely had, even at Minho's. Ajima would scold him and fuss, urge him to drink teas she'd boil up or take traditional medicine. He knew she was worried, but all he wanted was for her to let him sleep.

But this time, having Jesse and Ty around wasn't bad. Made him feel a little better, actually. Ty had flopped on his stomach, and having the little bunny stretched out on Clement's belly felt good.

He snorted. "Good. It was gross. Don't think you gave me this. I woulda been sick sooner."

...How long had he felt like shit? Seriously?

Bleary eyes turned to Jesse, one eyebrow up. "Since I was five?" He shook his head, disgusted. "I jus' need to sleep."

[Jesse Adams]

It really didn't matter that Clement was denying it. Jesse didn't really know the differences in the virus that had swept the school either, but since he had been the one most recently sick, he was still going to blame himself. Given that Clement already looked so much smaller than he should have been, getting him sick seemed like one of the worst possible things to do to the kid.

"Gross doesn't begin to describe it, kid." Jesse had thrown up before, of course, but never that many times in a row. It made his stomach twist just thinking about it. "And I could've. Who knows how germs really work?" No, Clement, he's not going to stop blaming himself.

The blond leaned down and stroked Ty's side gently, rolling his eyes at the kid's little retort. "I meant now, genius." Still, he was a little worried. Chalk it up to big brother syndrome or whatever, but Clement was smaller than him. Surely being sick took its' sweet toll on the kid than it had with him? Double standards his ass, he was going to worry about him. "You been to the nurse?" The question was posed as casually as possible, but Jesse was fairly sure he knew the answer already.

[Clement Evans]

Clement had seen worse things than what he'd seen that night, but then, he'd lived in South Central L.A. There'd been no blood, so he considered it sort of... medium-gross.

"You should know," he coughed. "You been in school longer."

Clement was smaller than everyone in his grade level and a great deal of the rest of the middle school. He was right on the cusp of breaking five feet, but those last few millimeters weren't coming. Didn't look like he'd break 100 pounds anytime soon, though.

When had he started feeling like crap? Time was a little funny. He knew it'd really hit this morning, but he'd felt the beginnings of it for... a few days before that? Or so?

"No. I was so beat I just came back here t' sleep after school."

In this case, Clement didn't have the same distaste of medical professionals. He'd just never had access unless things were dire, so didn't automatically think 'nurse' when he was sick.

[Jesse Adams]

Jesse just snorted and rolled his eyes, leaning back on his elbows on the unused bed. "Been in school longer, but it hasn't done me any good." He still couldn't answer how germs worked, but perhaps that was less the curriculum, and more him just not wanting to pay attention.

He still hadn't really gotten a good answer out of Clement. Still. He didn't like seeing him like this. It was one thing for him to feel like crap and not want to do anything about it out of a solid mix of fear and stubbornness. But it was another entirely to try to sit idly by when Clement felt sick. It really wasn't working for him.

Sliding down from the bed, Jesse crouched slightly by Clement and swiped the back of his hand against his friend's forehead and neck. He was warmer than normal, that was for sure. And that seemed to settle it for him. "C'mon. We're going downstairs." He scooped up Ty and moved him back to his cage in his own room before returning for Clement. He could be nice about this to start. Leaning down, he offered his hand. If that didn't work, well, Clement wasn't exactly huge. Throwing him over his shoulder would be easy, if he had to.