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 Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:10 pm
"I'm glad you're off those drugs," Hayes grinned, and hit the 'popcorn' button his microwave. "Last week must've been pretty interesting."
Aulus grinned back, leaning against the counter more casually now than out of a need for support; while he was quite a way from 'better' he was at least independently vertical without issues. "Interesting. You could say that. I have no idea what I was doing or saying most of the time, 'specially in the first couple of days. I'm mostly just glad they've bloody well let me go, I was pretty close to expiring from boredom when they started ramping down the dosages." He was also glad to have been released because he didn't enjoy being forced to sleep in a public space with people walking up and down all the time.
"Oh, that explains the moldy cheese comment." The blond opened the fridge; he'd been cleaning it out between periods of catching up on reports from the tech department. A quick rummage produced an old bag of shredded cheddar. "Speaking of." He dropped it in the garbage.
Aulus wrinkled his nose; "Ew.... And moldy cheese? Do I want to know?" What they hell could he have been talking about cheese for? "Those painkillers must have been some really good s**t...." There was a reason he'd come uo here tonight, well besides wanting to spend time with his partner which was a given especially since they'd got back. He was probably too clingy but.... Don't think about that for now, had other problems to worry about, and had to work out how to bring them up without shoving his foot in his mouth. This could prove to be a challenge.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:10 pm
"Think it was something about my face." The microwave dinged; a slinky shape slipped off the bed and came trotting over, followed by more hesitantly by Therac. Hayes aimed a light shoulder punch that didn't actually connect at his friend's arm as he passed. "I didn't know you cared." A week of rest had done both of them good, but the events of the last month still hovered between the two, unspoken. Hayes seemed content to leave them that way, and judging by the papers scattered across his desk had thrown himself back into life at HQ without looking back. "What'd they say about returning to active duty?"
Aulus scowled. "They laughed at me," he replied, "and told me to ask again in a couple of weeks." It was probably sensible - he was still in quite a lot of pain despite the milder painkillers he was on now - but that didn't make him any less frustrated with having nothing much to do....
Humm.
"You've brought a lot of work up here," Aulus observed carefully after a few moments, "Trying to get caught up on everything you missed...?
Ouch, that was hot. Hayes ended up juggling the popcorn bag for a few seconds before he got a grip on the end and pulled. "So.. extra co-op and Claire then? " The scent of buttered starch wafted out into the room. Switch, who had magical powers of teleportation in the presence of foodstuffs, appeared by the blond's foot and made a shooing motion at Binary, who was already there. The young Umbreon tilted her ears back and made a warning noise. "Breeee." "Pika pika." Hayes' shiny Espeon watched politely from the edge of the carpet.
"Oh, yeah-" The elite was distracted by the disagreement at his feet. "Just brought it all up from the office- hey, guys, cut it out."
Normally he would have been distracted, and amused, by the antics of the pokemon but he had more pressing matters on his mind. "Can't say I've ever played video gmes with Claire," he said distractidly, now frowing at the pile of papers. After a few moments he turned back to Alex and pushed his fingers through his hair as he tried to work out what to say.
"So what's up? I can tell something's bothering you... something that wasn't bothering you when we first got back, or at least I don't think it was, I was pretty out of it but...." He was sure something had changed between the first time he blearily remembered seeing Alex - oh yea, mouldy cheese beard - and the next time he'd seen him. It was only little things, things not quite in place, but knowing Alex as he did and being as paranoid about his wellbeing as he was he'd noticed all the same. Something was wrong, and he wasn't going to let Alex keep avoiding talking about it.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:13 pm
Hayes wedged a socked foot between the dark and electric type, who were getting in each others' faces; Switch had his paws in a 'you want a piece of me?' gesture and Binary was curling her lip. "It's popcorn, guys, not battle royale- hey Therac, c'mere." The shiny psychic started at the sound of his name and skirted around the edge of the tile; two heads swiveled and growls died when Hayes tossed him the first piece.
"He was behaving." The blond shrugged at the aghast expressions, then stilled. It was subtle, but there - a tiny hitch in the flow of conversation.
"I talked to Faleen." He scooped a handful of popcorn for himself.
...Oooooh. Aulus moved slowly across the room and eased himself carefully down to a seat on the sofa. This was about Faleen. That explained everything. He needed to be careful and tactful, and all the stuff he was no good at. Eventually he managed; "So... so what happened?"
"She brought the episodes of Prime I missed." Hayes flicked his Pokemon a piece of popcorn each, then shuffled the rest in his hand without eating it. "We watched one." A line tightened in his jaw; so did his voice. "She hugged me."
So far all of this was sounding good, but Alex didn't look or sound good, not in the least. Aulus watched his friend intently and asked; "And then what happened?" If she had done something to hurt Alex he would-!... He didn't know what he would do, other than hate her.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:14 pm
Another pause. He'd wanted this popcorn when he'd made it; it looked like cardboard now. Hayes let his handful fall to the floor and shrugged. Binary and Switch put on a spirited reproduction of Hungry Hungry Hippowdon. "What you'd expect. ..I didn't. For a minute I thought-" Something caught in his throat. He looked away; Aulus would have a look of concern and he didn't have a good response. "We should take a weekend once you're healed up," he said, gazing at the desert beyond the window. "Go camping or something."
s**t.
He was no good at this, had no idea what to say that could help in the slightest. Should he try to get more information out of him?... No; Alex was already evading eye contact, he'd pushed enough for now. Probably. He didn't know. s**t.
Pushing himself slowly back to his feet Aulus moved to his partner's side and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Thin. They were all thin, they'd been through far too much already and then that woman had to go and make things worse for Alex. She didn't deserve him. Alex didn't deserve to hurt over her. He had no idea what to do.
"I... I'd like that. It's good to be out of the infermary but it's still.... I'd like to be able to get out into the open air." This wasn't good enough, he wasn't good enough. He wished he could protect Alex from things like this as easily as he could protect him from fireballs, it killed him to see his partner in pain. "You... you want to talk about it more or...?" He wanted to much to make it better but he couldn't. Faleen. How dare she?
"No, s'alright. S'my own fault for acting like an idiot." And a comforting touch. Great. Kurt was the best, really he was, but he wasn't being much help on the 'help Alex keep his composure' front right now. The blond closed his eyes and exhaled. A near-whisper followed: "She had her fingers in my hair."
The popcorn bag was shoved in Aulus' direction; Hayes pushed off the counter and milled aimlessly across the tile. "Here; it's getting cold."
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:15 pm
Aulus took the popcorn, looked at it, and then put the bag down on the floor; wasn't enough there to do the pokemon any harm even if they gobbled the lot.
She'd had her fingers in his hair... and then something had gone wrong. Why had she had her fingers in his hair to start with though? That seemed a bit intimate, really quite intimate actually. Had she been playing around with him or something? If she had been toying with Alex's feelings then he was going to make his feelings on the matter very clear next time he saw her.
After some moments of uncertain deliberation Aulus moved closer to Alex but paused before he got to him. Should he hug him or let him have space or...? Why was he so bad at this? "It's not your fault," he said eventually, "not instantly hugging somebody back isn't exactly a crime."
There was an exact second of perfect silence, and then Binary and Switch collided in a crash of kernels.
Hayes paused; there could have been a garage band rehearsal in the kitchen and he wouldn't have noticed. "What?"
Had he said something wrong? He'd said something wrong, hadn't he. "Well... whatever happened, that is," he said eventually, "I mean... can't have been." He was no good at this, he was just going to make things worse, he could see it!
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:16 pm
"Yeah. Well." Hayes didn't sound very convinced. "She didn't ask me to want things." There was a piece of popcorn stuck to his sock; he pulled it off and flicked it back with the other rapidly disappearing ones. "M'just not gonna think about it. How long 'til they let you off base again?"
Just not thinking about it was not going to help. Aulus didn't say that though, it didn't seem like the right time. For a few moments he didn't say anything at all, he just stood still watching Alex with worry etched deep into his scarred face. "I'm not sure," he said eventually, "probably not soon enough for my tastes.... I'm pretty sure I'd be fine now but try telling that to them." He wasn't actually, but if Alex suggested they sneak off right now then he'd go regardless; he wanted to get away from enclosed spaces, and Alex had even more than that to leave behind within the base's walls.
"Don't go anywhere until you're off all those pills at least. Call it a few weeks." Hayes' eyes had strayed toward the window again. "It'll be good," he said quietly. "Sandalwood's nice in summer."
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