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 Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:13 pm
He felt tired, like just being in such a loud and busy place had left him wanting to rest. He’d done more than he normally would, clubs were not his thing, and it felt like a lot dealing with all the noise and people and keeping an eye on his partner. Offering to drive home, because he’d have to be awake and focused to do so, kept him awake and aware of things.
On the way home he’d dropped by Starbucks, using their drive-thru, the place was one of the super rare twenty-four-hour locations. It allowed them to pick up tea though and the boost of caffeine helped keep him a bit more awake. Though his need to focus, so there wasn’t a car accident, was enough reason for him to be alert and awake. The tea was just to make sure things.
“You did well tonight, I kept an eye on you. I’m proud.” He really was, and he didn’t keep it from seeping into his voice and coloring his words.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:17 pm
It was a relief to get into the car and the moment Aloysius sat down, he loosened his tie and hung his coat from the hanger in the back seat. Itching at his throat for a moment, he still didn’t feel the best. By the end of the night he could taste the liquor in the air from how many people had been drinking.
Liam had gotten him a tea as well and it did help by keeping his hands busy. It also felt nice to drink something that wasn’t water, even if it wasn’t what he wanted. What he wanted he shouldn’t, no, couldn’t have and it was still hard.
“It was a lot, not something I would prefer to do again if possible…” Sighing he leaned his head back and started at the ceiling of his car. “Are you alright though darling? I know that you may have gotten drained from that glow stick before Mel took it from you.” Reaching over he rested his hand over theirs on the center console. They were home now but he still needed a moment before getting out of the car. Looking them over they did look a bit drained but they had been busy keeping tabs on him as well.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:17 pm
“Then we won’t do this again. If you choose to ever return, to gather at the club, I’ll go with you and make sure it’s safe again.” Like he had tonight. He would always do this for his fiance, to keep him safe, and he knew gathering this way was safe for them both as well.
“I’m fine, a little tired but more from all the lights and noise and everything else. To be honest large crowds and such make me tired, they always have.” Shrugging as he spoke honestly. It wasn’t something he dealt with often, no reason for him to, but even when he’d been in high school and they’d had dances…those drained him as well. He was just worn out and needed a rest after such social things.
“If you wanted to go back to the club, to drain energy safely, you could do alcohol free cocktails if you wanted…that might be safe. I wonder if it might help ease things for you…” Drawing close to home, he wasn’t in any rush, the blond took the time to stop and kiss the others cheek at a red light.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:18 pm
“Thank you, I really appreciate it. I can get behind the core goal of the place but it is… very difficult for me there. I know I need to keep from falling back into a bottle, I know I cannot quite avoid the issue either given how many officers or senshi have that habit.” It was a tough spot to be in, but Liam and Desiree had been there for him.
“Being in the crowd makes me a bit tired but when performing I find myself feeling refreshed by the crowd. I guess it may be because there is still that space between them and me, which was absent at the club.” It was a lot to take in a lot to handle, especially with all of the people carrying drinks.
Thinking about their suggestion he shook his head once before leaning into their kiss. “I worry that it may taste too close to the real thing and I would have the same issue as but in a different form. Pulling away to sip at things and just letting it stew even if the new drinks are free of the same substances as before. We can figure it out, it takes time and with how stubborn you were about my smoking I would hazard a guess that stopping that habit has added some extra years of time I may not have had before.” In some ways that habit was easier to kick with how they’d forced it cold turkey. The process of weening on that last crumpled cigarette he’d had kickstarted things, that dread of the coming end of it but with them there with him.
“You may have gotten a bit drained from that glowstick as well. When we get home I hope you have a bit of energy to stay up? Not for too long because you need rest but I think a bit of time to relax is needed for us both.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:19 pm
“I know it is love, and the fact you went and you survived shows a lot of strength.” Even if he had been watching and Desiree had been helping him as well. It still took a lot of strength to face his vice so soon after kicking it. “I know you can’t avoid it entirely, it’s impossible, but the fact you are determined not to fall back to it makes me proud.” The fact he’d confronted it, knowing how people drink and get drunk, and he’d put himself there….Liam was beyond proud, he wasn’t sure he had words for it so he hoped the way he spoke gave more away than just the words.
“That might be it, I’ve never been sure. I just know even when I was in high school the school dances left me drained and tired.” So he’d return home, to the orphanage, and sleep as soon as he could. He’d never liked such large gatherings for that reason. It seemed like he put out a lot of energy to try and socialize, converse, and just do things at such events. All more energy than he liked to put out normally…unless he was at the gym.
“We can look into it, maybe make alcohol free drinks at home and see how you do with them. If you even like the taste, I mean was taste a thing back then? Were there drinks you enjoyed for the taste and not just the alcohol content?” He’d never asked, never thought about it, he’d been so focused on helping the other kick the habits so they could be healthier. It had been a process, both habits had been, but Aloysius had come out on top and gotten past them. “Mmm, I might have.” A quick peck to the others cheek, stopping for a stop sign as they were in the more residential area now.
“But I’ll be fine for a while, the tea did help some. I might grab another cup once we get in, I can make you a cup as well?” Unless Aloysius wanted to make the tea, of course.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:20 pm
There were always good at that, at making him feel better and more confident about things. The fact he was able to do things more than he had before, to get a handle on new projects and find new people to bring in. There were speed bumps here and there like tonight but they were right, he had been fine even if he’d looked longingly at the liquor once or twice. He’d been better about it though, so much better than he had in the beginning.
Reaching over he ruffled their hair slightly. “That is a bit surpising considering you grew up with a lot of other children around. But I guess by high school things were different. I never had that issue, not exactly, but after I joined the Negaverse it was very difficult to balance it all.” It went downhill from there as more and more happened but things were very different now. He might even say he was comfortable with that side of things while he was happy with his civilian life again.
The topic of taste had him sigh sadly. “No I guess not when it came down to it. It started as something for taste and by the time you found me I just drank things straight from the bottle…” It hadn’t been great and he knew that now but at the time he hadn’t cared. He couldn’t admit it was a problem back then.
“We can look into things maybe. I know they make some of the fruit based ones without alcohol pretty commonly and you might enjoy that too. Strawberry daquiris come to mind but there are plenty others.” They hadn’t quite been his choice but he figured they would appeal to his fiance.
“Tea sounds good, I finished mine already but I could go for another cup with milk and sugar maybe. Then we need to decide who carries Desiree in because she is still snoozing back there…” More often than not it ended up being his partner’s job since his mauvian was quite large but he did enjoy seeing her snooze, she really was quite cute even if she was a scheming little old lady.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:23 pm
“A house full of children is different than a school dance. We had to behave and keep it down in the house.” He called it a house but it hadn’t looked anything like a house, but it had served it’s purpose as a home for them all. He also really lacked another name for it…a building could describe so much and it wasn’t an office or anything of the sort. So the orphanage got called home, for lack of a better term.
“We kept it down because there were so many of us, especially when I was really young, that if we all got loud it would cause problems.” No one would get heard, people would start screaming, it would become a mess of noise and nothing would get done. They’d all learned to talk in turn and to keep their voices down. Shouting was kept to a minimum if you needed someone rooms away and couldn’t go to them, and other such reasons, but it had all been well managed. It had to be.
“I think it was all the noise during dances and so much to take in and keep up with…all the energy put out to handle it all and to do things. It was just exhausting…events like that or tonight just take a toll. But I know it and I push through it.” Poking the others cheek he smiled at him. “You should always enjoy what you eat and drink…not just consume what you need for the sake of it. But if you don’t enjoy it…then it becomes boring and a chore rather than an enjoyable part of life.” He enjoyed what he ate, he went for healthy food but it was always things he also would enjoy. He wasn’t going to eat things he disliked and just force himself into it, he also wouldn’t eat boring foods.
Food was something consumed for the body but also to put a smile on your face as they were enjoyed and savored. “If you want, and in time, we can try some flavored drinks like that. I’m willing to try, they looked good tonight.” But he was not about to have a drink, not knowing his fiance's past, he’d keep himself from such things especially with them around. “Perhaps you’ll find something to enjoy. Just don’t become one of those snobby women having drinks in the morning out by the pool or anything.” He teased gently, hoping and assuming Aloysius would understand what he meant.
“I really…you and your tea.” Rolling his eyes as he teased them more. “Have you ever checked your dna to see if you aren’t part British as well? The love for tea is real with you, love.” He really couldn’t help but tease his partner as they pulled up the driveway and towards the manor home. “I’ll carry her inside, we can lay her upstairs on the bed if you want? Or….somewhere else?
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:25 pm
That was something he could understand a bit, keeping quiet and behaving well at home even if their homes had been vastly different. “Good thing neither of us really go out to those types of places then. At least when we go to restaurants we always get a private area.” A perk of his family name and the fact that both of them did have a nice income.
Smiling back after they poked him, he leaned over and kissed the other’s cheek. “I do enjoy things now, not just food or my tea but I would say that is because of you.” It did help when he quit smoking or drinking because things started to taste again, it was odd at first but now he was back to being able to taste things just fine outside of when he got sick.
“We can try in time, I trust you and I doubt I will end up like that. I feel like that may be more up my sister’s alley, inviting her socialite friends over for mimosas and gossip. Really I am surprised it has not occurred here already. I know at some point we should look into the old pool house idea my family had wanted to do, there are blueprints in a box somewhere from when I was young.” Things that didn’t pan out after his grandfather’s health had declined.
“I feel like I would know if I was part British darling, I just know coffee and espresso gives me a headache.” Unbuckling his seatbelt as they pulled in, he took another look back at the stretched out fluffball that was the sleeping Desiree and laughed softly. “We can put her in that side guest room she has been using for an office, I would like to get some use out of our bed tonight maybe?” It would be interesting with them a bit drained since he was usually the one who tired out first. “Time to head inside either way.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 10:26 pm
“A pool house…now that is an idea. I very much like the idea and I’m sure we can find some use for it.” Perhaps Aloysius would host a holiday party for his little team, next year of course, it was the first idea which came to him. The next was the curious wonderings of what other uses they could have for a pool hour. But if not a place to host little gatherings than perhaps a place for his father to live. It would keep the man close, so he and his father could bond more, and he could learn to cook and speak Italian from him.
With those ideas dancing through his head the blonde smiled softly. “Yeah, I think we need to go over those plans…we can start once spring hits? I don’t think building in the winter is typically done.” The ground was too cold and too solid, and if it would be a place for his father perhaps it would pay to speak with the man and see what he might like as well.
With the engine off, and the keys in his pocket, Liam climbed out of the car and went around to Aloysius’ side to open the others door. “We’ll lay Desiree down and then you can show me what you have in mind tonight.”
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