Abe wasn’t feeling too hot by the time he got to dinner on Tuesday. But he had a collection of homework needing to be worked on. So he decided the best course of action would be to get a quick meal and then hole himself in his room for the night. The only downside to that plan was he wouldn't have any more water for some tea than he could bring from the cafeteria. Why had he overlooked something as simple as an electric kettle for such situations as this? It would have been quite helpful…

Maybe the college store would have something at least similar or even just a thermos he could use. He resolved to check after eating before he headed to his dorm. 

He arrived at the dining hall and strategically picked out foods to hopefully help him feel better and energized enough to do his work. He focused on warm dishes with close to raw vegetables that didn't have much added to them. It might have not been a particularly flavorful meal but taste wasn't as important to him at the moment.

After he finished, he headed straight to the store down the hall from the dining room. He wasn't entirely sure, but if felt like he might have been swaying slightly as he walked. Which is why he didn't think much of it when it felt like he bumped into something. 

“Hey! Watch it!” Abe was jostled out of his thoughts by the shrill voice. It gave him a slight headache. He looked at the sound to see two girls frowning at him. Well, that was normal enough and they didn't look hurt. He decided to just keep going before he lost total focus or got any worse, so he muttered a soft apology and kept walking.

“Did that pipsqueak just ignore us, Dawn?”

“Couldn't be… Probably just shy, Dusk...” The dark haired girl with aquamarine streaks moved to step in Abe's path. He just took a step to the side to walk around her.

“Excuse me… I need to get to the store right now…” What was she doing? He was just trying to do some shopping before going back to his room…

“How about you come join us instead, Cutie?” She said in a tone he assumed was supposed to be flirty. Obviously, she was messing with him and he really didn't have the energy to deal with such a prank while like this.

“No thanks.” It seemed his words stunned them enough that they didn't continue following him.

Finally making it to the college store, Abe tried his best to look around it for something acceptable for his purpose. Mugs with the college logo? No… water bottles? Also not what he wanted. He eventually found a thermos, though it would only hold two cups worth at most. A part of him still held out hope they might sell kettles and he'd find it if he looked just a little more. Suddenly, he felt a light hand on his shoulder which made him jump just from how unexpected it was.

“Hey, Abe. You okay?” He looked over to see Artemis.

“Yeah… Just wanted to make some tea to drink while I work on stuff. Seeing if they have electric kettles.” She seemed to be looking at him closely with a touch of worry.

“You sure? You look flushed and seem a bit out of it right now…”

“I'm fine…” Contrary to his words he had a wave of dizziness that caused him to lean against the nearby shelf. “Just been a long day and I'm ready to curl up with a cup of tea and work on homework for a while…” She didn't seem to entirely believe him.

“They don't sell electric kettles. But I can escort you to your dorm to make sure you don't pass out on the way and then you can borrow mine. I brought one from home since I knew I was gonna want late night hot cocoa once the weather got colder.”

It seemed whatever was causing Abe to feel under the weather had muddled his brain a bit as well. As he followed her out and towards the freshman dorms, he suddenly blurted out “Has anyone ever told you you're a goddess before?” 

She smiles fondly. “I mean, I was named after a Greek goddess. So technically, yes…” 

His brain must have realized how stupid it had been as he could only think to respond with a simple “good” before falling silent.

***

Artemis noticed Abe shiver slightly and moved to be walking between him and the lake. It probably made no difference but a part of her felt like it was shielding him from any slight cold breeze that might come from the body of water. Honestly, she was worried about him. He was showing signs of being worse than he'd admit. Would he have even made it back to his room if she hadn't let him know not to waste his time looking for a kettle? He looked ready to fall over at any moment.

Thankfully, they made it to his door without incident. She hoped his roommate would be able to keep an eye on him at least a little in passing. If only to suggest he go to bed at a reasonable time. So imagine her worry when she noticed half the room was bare.

“Oh… you got a room to yourself?”

“Yeah.”He plopped down onto his desk chair wearily. “Was gonna have a roommate, but they dropped out before even moving in. Least it's quiet…”

“Maybe I should come hide here to work on my homework sometimes, then. My roommate has guests over sometimes and I have to head to the library at weird hours just to get anything done.”

Abe looked at her thoughtfully. “... I'll rent you the unused space in exchange for letting me keep the kettle here. I've just got three conditions… I can't give you a key so only when I'm here. We'll have to end the arrangement if I get a roommate since the half of the room will be in use then…”

He didn't continue for a bit so she spoke up. “That's only two.”

“...I know what it looks like, inviting a girl to come to my room all the time. I want to make it clear I'm just offering for the hot drinks and because you seem at least mostly serious about keeping up on your studies. I'm not interested in fooling around or anything.” He seemed to think for a moment. “Oh, and a fourth thing. No touching my stuff without permission.”

Arty smiled. She could definitely abide by those conditions. “You have a deal.” She offered her hand out for him to shake on it. When he did, she noticed his fingers were surprisingly calloused. “Well then, I'll go get the kettle now and be right back. Don't get too caught up in your work before I get back, okay?” With confirmation from Abe, she walked to her dorm room at the other side of the building. 

Her roommate had a guy over and the two were being the sort of touchy where it wasn't flirty yet but was likely to become so soon. So Arty was quick to pack up her kettle and anything she figured she'd need for most of her homework for the night. She gave a quick passing greeting to let her roommate know she'd have the room to herself for a few hours, before heading right back out.

She managed to knock on Abe's door with her arms a touch on the full side. “I hope you don't mind me taking you up on offer of the quiet work space right away… Pretty sure I was less than twenty minutes away from finding my door had a sock on it, if you know what I mean.” He opened the door wider to let her in.

“No, it's fine… I get what it's like having to share space with others and just wanting somewhere quiet to work.” Abe was at least looking better than when she'd ran into him at the store. “My older brother, Nicky, failed out of college because he was more focused on his social life than keeping up his grades. I want to say I was surprised when it happened but he'd been like that since we were young… We shared a clubhouse but he always had people over to it so I was forced to not use it when I wanted to just read in peace.” 

She nodded in understanding as she set down her item on the empty desk. “I'm gonna go get some water from the bathroom for the kettle if you want to set it up while I do… I forgot to grab some on the way over since my hands were full.” 

“Alright.” He was already starting to set it up by the time she reached the door to leave. And by the time she came back, it was all prepared and just needed water added to it. She pouring in the water and turned it on before taking out a textbook she needed to do some reading from.