Slowly, Stefan wandered over to the bed and he took a seat near Arik, though he left a bit of space between them, not wanting to intrude. His head turned towards the man's face and he watched with green eyes, expression edged with worry. "You can't do your job properly without sleep," he reminded as though he was chastising a child instead of a vampire in his nineties. "Tell your patients you'll get to them when you can. And I'm going to remind you that even Claudia said you needed a day off."
He smiled, though his lips went straight again at Arik's question. He assumed it was meant to be teasing, but it didn't completely come out that way. The thought made Stefan swallow and without much more of a thought, he gently pushed Arik back down onto the mattress and leaned over him. He stared into the younger vampire's eyes and lightly rested his hand over his shoulder and collarbone. "You shouldn't say things like that," he almost whispered in reply, body a bit tense.