Chapter 30: Xavier

As I went back out to grab some more coffee, I ended up finding Dex up by his office. He was able to cover my classes for the next three days, but had to leave this weekend to go to one of the central camps, in exchange for me doing his paperwork for him. That I didn't mind, though, it's not like I would be doing much else for the time being. Making my way over to his office, I took the file of paperwork off his desk before heading back down to the dining hall. 

Arthur wasn't standing there this time, but he had left a tray with a steaming mug of coffee, a cup of water, and two of the pastries he had made earlier this morning, with a note saying to make sure I shared. I just shook my head at the old man's antics, but still couldn't help but grin a little as I made my way back up to my room. 

Opening the door, I still couldn't help but to pause for just a moment, looking her over as those big blue eyes tracked my every move. She must have at least run her fingers through her long auburn hair, considering it wasn't sticking up in every direction like it had been when she got up this morning.

She cocked an eyebrow at me as I shut the door behind me and walked over, setting the tray down on my desk. "You went back out just for more coffee and sweets?" She asked, sitting up as I handed her the glass of water. "I didn't even know they made pastries." 

"They do, if you know the right people." I went back over to my desk and took up my mug of coffee, taking a sip of it before pointing the mug at Bane. "You can blame him, he's the one who says it makes me more tolerable of a day." Bane promptly bared his teeth at me, but I ignored him as I leaned back against my desk, crossing my ankles as I watched her for a moment. She was definitely still a little out of it, but she's still far better than last night. "Plus, I have an extra one, so if you're good, I'll share." I teased, raising an eyebrow in challenge, but this time she didn't take the bait. Those bright eyes seemed far too curious for me to get a rise out of her right now. 

"Honestly, I've never actually had pastries before. My village had a bakery, but they were always way too expensive for us to get." She said, looking back up at me as I openly gawked at her.

"You've never had a cinnamon roll?" I asked in pure shock as she just shook her head at me. "Yeah, we're changing that, right now, and I'm sorry for the addiction that will follow." I took one of them off the plate before handing her the plate with the other one still on it. 

"What's the stuff on top?" She asked as she tentatively picked it up and looked it over. 

"Fucking incredible is what it is, just trust me and take a bite." She looked up at me, still questioning it slightly, so I just shrugged before very happily taking a bite of mine. It was still warm, and the icing on top was slowly melting as it started to run down the sides. She just watched for a moment as I made quick work of mine before returning to my coffee as I leaned back against my desk once more. 

Tentatively, she took a small bite, and her eyes went wide as she let out a soft little moan around the pastry that had me pausing with my coffee halfway to my lips. I couldn't help the reaction my entire body had to that little sound. I don't even think she realized that she had done it, but it instantly had my mind wandering to all the other ways I could get her to make it again, preferably several times over as I... 

'Could you at least block me out before you go there? That is the last thing I want your vivid imagery of.' Bane cut into my thoughts, making me grin as I took a sip of my coffee. 

'You know, that goes both ways. It's just as easy for you to block yourself off from me if you don't want to hear things. Maybe you shouldn't be such a nosey ass.' I shot back, and he grumbled at me, but Nova leaned into him, rubbing her cheek against his, and he settled down once more as Ari finished off her cinnamon roll. 

She took a moment, licking the icing from her fingers, and I made sure that I vividly pictured everything else that I would prefer for that tongue to be licking just to see if he actually took the hint. Although judging by the way he grumbled and moved to the other side of Ari away from me, the second time definitely worked. At least now I had an easy way to get him to stop being such a nosey bastard. 

Ari ended up falling back asleep as I worked on my paperwork until around lunch time, where I left once more to go get some more food and turn in my paperwork. This time, though, when I got back, Ari was still out, and I debated waking her up for a moment, but waited until after I had everything set up for her. I stirred the rest of the herb mixture into another cup of hot water. It seemed to be the one thing that helped her the most. 

Setting it over onto the nightstand along with her food, I handed both Bane and Nova a chicken leg apiece before gently waking her up. From the moment she opened her eyes, she seemed completely dazed and disoriented, and I knew it was getting worse. 

Slowly, I eased down beside her, having to practically lift her upright to get her to sit up enough to drink. The pain that shot down my arm barely registered as fear set in. I pulled her in against my side, taking her slight weight as I wrapped an arm around her waist just to keep her upright, but she was so weak that she couldn't do anything other than just lean in against my shoulder. Her head lolled forward like she didn't even have the strength to hold it up anymore. 

"Come on, princess, you have to drink. It'll help." I whispered to her as I took the mug off the nightstand, and those blue eyes found mine for just a moment, but I would take it. 

Slowly, I held the cup to her lips, helping her take just a small sip, but that seemed to be enough for her to want to take more. I mainly held the cup, considering that when she finally had the strength to bring her hands up to the mug, they shook so badly that there was no way she would actually be able to hold it. After a few good drinks, she seemed to be a bit better, and I offered her a spoonful of the stew they had given out for lunch, but she refused it, just asking for the tea.  

I stayed there with her, helping her as she finished the tea, and finally ate a few bites of the stew before she all but passed out in my arms. As much as I wanted to hold her, to try to comfort her, I was far too restless and didn't want to disturb her. So I very gently laid her back down and carefully tucked the blanket up around her before moving back over to my desk once more, but I knew I wouldn't be able to actually focus on anything, not after that.

I started trying to work on Dex's paperwork, but my mind couldn't stop wandering back over to my mate slowly dying in the bed behind me. I reread one of the reports I was trying to work on for probably the hundredth time, but my mind still wouldn't make sense of the words on the page.

That was when I felt a slight weight climb up from the back of the chair, up onto my good shoulder, before a scaled cheek gently rubbed over mine. I was rather surprised, though, that Bane didn't have something to say about Nova rubbing up on me, considering he tended to be territorial to say the least. 

'You're not her type.' He answered with a frustrated huff, making me grin. 'Plus, she's only being nice to you because she's fond of her human, and you've been stressing over her for the last hour.'

'You know, I think I like Nova better. She's not nearly as much of an ass.' I shot back, and he just huffed once more. 

'I'm sorry, I just realized that I never actually got to thank you for taking care of her.' Nova's soft, sweet voice drifted through my mind, and I smiled, holding a hand up to her where she rubbed her cheek against it before stretching her neck out for me to scratch under her chin. 

'You don't need to thank me for that. It's not like I could've just left her there, not when she came to me like that.' She let out a low rumble of content as I had apparently found a good spot. 

'I know, Bane wouldn't have chosen you if you would willingly leave an innocent girl to die. That's never been his type.' She answered, and I grinned as I heard the distinct sound of nails clicking across the hardwood floor before looking down at where Bane was now sitting at my feet, those sharp golden eyes glaring up at me. 

'Oh, so now you get jealous?' I asked, and he just grumbled at me before jumping up into my lap and laying his chin on the hand that was scratching under Nova's chin. Really? I questioned, but he just looked at me as I chuckled at him. Nova, however, surprised me and snapped at him with a little growl, causing him to back off, grumbling as he lay across my thighs, propping his head up on my other hand as he rubbed his chin against it just so I would scratch him too. 

'I don't want to hear it.' Bane warned as I just sat back, chuckling at the pair of them.

'What? That she has you absolutely whipped, or that, for as much of a grumpy ass as you are, you still get jealous when anyone else's familiar touches me. Even your own mate.' I shot down our bond, and he snapped his teeth at me, but didn't move from where I was rubbing the scales under his chin.  

Both of them ended up staying with me as I was finally able to finish reading over the reports and filing my own. By the time I finished all of Dex's work, it was almost dinner time, and I had two dragons sleeping on me. Nova had stayed up on my good shoulder, curling her neck over the back of mine as her tail trailed down my chest, and Bane, being him, was as belly up as he could get in my lap without stabbing me with the spines along his back while I absently rubbed at his chest scales.