[FIN] Music to My Ears

[BlackFireKitsune]

Perhaps as expected, Abel arrived in the ICU promptly when visiting hours began with tired bags under his eyes from not sleeping nearly as much as he should've, Isaac at his heels and Amigo fluttering after him. Almost definitely unexpected were the plastic bag fit full to bursting hanging from one arm nor the large bouquet of bright, colorful and aromatic flowers complete with vase and a pink silk ribbon tied in a bow around its neck that he held with both hands to avoid dropping it. Once he reached the desk, the blond carefully placed the latter atop it before depositing the former beside the vase. "Morning!" He said brightly to the attending; the tiredness in his face couldn't diminish the hope and mildly suppressed excitement in his eyes. When he'd left Zevran was doing well, and he hadn't received any calls during the night nor before he'd come in, so he had no reason to think his condition had suddenly worsened overnight. "I brought these in for you guys; Dith gave me the idea, so you can thank him if you want." So saying he pushed the plastic bag down with one hand a bit to reveal one of several clear plastic containers of a variety of sweets. "How's Zev doing this morning?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Unlike Abel Chakwas looked quite bright and alert, given the time she was possibly about half way through her shift and she seemed to be going strong. "Ah, good morning Abel," she greeted warmly as she looked up from her computer screen, and as she looked up she spotted the flowers and the sweets. "Goodness, lovely flowers and sugar as well? You're too kind. I can't spare any time from this I'm afraid but everything was well last I was in and I would have heard if that had changed. Summer started her shift at five, she's in keeping an eye on everything. Thank you for the gifts, I'll make sure everyone knows who to thank."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Even if he had no reason to think anything had changed or worsened, it was still a relief to hear it confirmed that he was indeed doing well still. "Awesome, thank you. I won't keep you then if you've that much to do. Oh, and you're welcome," he added, smiling warmly before turning and heading towards Zevran's room, while Isaac circled around the desk to curl up beneath it, out of the way of any chairs or feet.

Once he reached the door he knocked on it a couple times, waited a polite amount of time and then opened the door with one hand, the other pulling the CD out of his pocket. "Morning Summer!" He greeted cheerfully, wondering if she or someone else had already brought the radio he'd requested or if no one had yet. Not that he needed it right away, of course, but eventually. "There's some sweets out on the desk if you want any."  

[TawnyAngel]

When Abel entered Summer looked up from the tiny table she was working at, it was some kind of fold up affair that clipped onto the chair. "Oh, morning honey!" she smiled as warmly as her namesake. "No sweets for me without a meal but I'll definitely grab something with my lunch, thank you! Sleeping Beauty here is doing well, I think we'll have him off the ventilator by lunchtime. Dr. Chakwas thinks a nasal cannula will be fine to follow up, but if he seems a bit shaky we'll go with a mask that gives a bit of pressure instead. How're y'all doing, sleep okay last night?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

It was funny how quickly one could adjust to certain things; while Zevran's still, silent form had seemed so foreign and alien before, along with the machines surrounding him, Abel found that he'd started to grow used to the whole ordeal. That didn't mean he liked or enjoyed it, of course, but it meant it no longer felt so completely strange or startlingly different. ...until he thought about it too much, of course.

He beamed at Summer as he stepped further into the room, holding the door open enough for Amigo to flutter in too, before heading over and sinking down into the other chair. "No problem," he replied easily; if she didn't want anything yet that was just fine, though he hoped she'd have some before all of them were eaten. Out of all the staff he'd met so far, she was probably his favorite, so he definitely hoped she got at least one or two of the sweets he'd brought. The blond chuckled a bit, his colorful gaze drifting over to Zevran's sleeping form. "Sleeping Beauty, eh? Well I'm not gonna deny that, and that's great to hear." Not for the first time that morning he couldn't help but feel a swell of relief wash over him. Zevran was doing well and would be off the ventilator by lunchtime, and hopefully would wake up soon after that. "So once he's off the ventilator and has one of the two's when you'll stop giving him the sedatives, yeah?"

Oh, wait, she'd asked him a question. One he should probably answer first. Whoops. "Ah, I'm good, though I think Amigo got more sleep than I did," he mused aloud, aiming a fond smile over at the Butterfree. He'd at least had a nap at Gary's, unlike Abel who had spent quite a while singing and playing his guitar. His fingers and throat were still a little sore and while he'd had plenty of water for the latter, there wasn't much he could do for the former except to give them a rest for a bit. It'd been worth it though. As he thought of it he held up the CD case he'd pulled out of his pocket, "I was up for a while making this last night."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Fweeee!" Amigo agreed, and gave a slightly more energetic flutter of his wings than he'd managed for a few days.

"Aww, you made your not-mix-tape," Summer grinned. "That's great, I've got the player for you just over on the side there." The nurse gestured to a small surface bolted to one wall that did indeed have a CD player type thing sitting on it. "And yeah that's right, so you might have a slightly weird conversation with him by mid afternoon if we stay on track. When he's up I'm going to tell him how jealous I am of his hair, and his tattoos." Summer sighed wistfully. "Wish I'd been brave enough to get some when I was your age, it seems a bit mid-life crisis-ish to get any now."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Amigo's brighter demeanor was infectious, and Abel found himself smiling more in response. The poor Butterfree had been worried sick this whole time, it was good to see him feeling better. "I did!" The blond beamed back over at Summer as he settled the case on his knee for now. "I hope he likes it. I might put it on a little later maybe; not yet." Though he did take note of where the player was for when he did want to play it. Now that he was here and knew Zev was doing well, he was starting to feel that lack of sleep even with the coffee he'd had before coming.

"Ohh, weird conversations; that sounds fun," he noted with a brief chuckle. What would Zev say? Would it even be in English? Probably not. Either way that'd be just fine, mostly because he'd be awake to have said weird conversations. That's what mattered more than anything else. The thought of tattoos and midlife crises gave him pause, and he gave the subject due consideration. "I don't think it'd be really, honestly. Tattoos aren't reserved for younger people, I don't think; I say if you want to get one, you should. Not that I'm one to talk since I don't have any, but," and there he shrugged rather than finish his sentence properly.  

[TawnyAngel]

Summer smiled and shook her head slightly, as if reacting to something quite obvious. "Of course he will, you made it for him. Tattoos though, I don't know, I'd feel silly getting a first one now...." But when Summer trailed off she did look a little thoughtful. "You ever thought of getting one?" she continued, focusing in on Abel again. "Zevran sure has a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if he was planning more!" Summer's eyes skipped briefly to Zevran's arm, where the marker was now slightly worn off.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel's bright smile turned just the slightest bit shy at her words, ones he tactfully avoided commenting on for now. "I don't think it'd be that silly to get one now, honestly... Ah, no, I've never really thought of getting one seriously, maybe only once or twice in passing." He didn't miss the way her eyes shifted to his arm - specifically the one he'd doctored with the marker - and his smile broadened a bit. "He was, actually, if you couldn't tell. Sort of, anyway. He wanted to change that one, at least, but I'm pretty sure given time he'll want more somewhere or other." Not that she needed to know where or why, of course, though he still had no idea if Zevran would even want tattoos over any of what had poked holes in him over the past couple days, bullets or scalpels.  

[TawnyAngel]

Summer smiled wryly and nodded. "Well I hope he remembers what he wanted to tweak that one to, the marker there will be long gone by the time he's up to tattooing. Maybe you should take a picture for him if you don't have another backup.... And maybe I will. I've always had a few ideas floating around, and I feel younger now than I have in a while! Braver than when I was young though."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mmh, I hope so too," the blond agreed as he scooted his chair forward a bit, the better to cross his arms and lean them on the edge of Zevran's bed. As his eyes drifted over the altered tattoo once more he hummed thoughtfully. "I probably should take a picture of it for him, but not right now.. I only have my phone to use as a camera." And that was off and stowed away in his pocket, where it would remain until he left the ICU later. "Maybe later," he said easily, then stifled a yawn before his gaze shifted back to her. "Both of those sound good -- what kinds of designs were you thinking of, if you don't mind my asking?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Summer smiled and shook her head. "Oh, I don't mind, it's no big secret. I want something with roses, Rose was my Nana's name and she brought me up so I've always wanted some kind of a tribute to her. I'd like to get my daughter's date of birth too, and I really like the way ankle tattoos look so something there but I'm not sure what. Maybe just a pretty design like Zevran has, they're real striking."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The design she had in mind sounded quite nice; he could almost picture it in his head. "That sounds lovely. I'm sure you could incorporate the two somehow... or just get two different ones, or... I'm not much help, sorry," he added with a sheepish smile. No, definitely not much help; with how much sleepiness was creeping up on him, he was even less help than he'd usually be. "Mmh, but yeah, his are very striking I think. ...but then again I am biased, so." The blond shrugged easily as the sheepish smile on his face morphed to a fond pleased one instead. He didn't mind being biased, not one bit. Zevran had never minded him being biased either.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ahh, it's good to be biased," Summer chuckled, "having somebody or sombodies to be biased over makes life worth living!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ahh, so true," Abel replied with a pleased smile. He was perfectly happy being biased over Zev.


Eventually he'd slipped the CD into the radio before resting his head in his arms on the side of Zev's bed, one hand curled around his, and dozed off now and again. A few hours later he awoke when one of the doctors came in and politely kicked him out so they could replace the tube in Zevran's throat and start waking him up. Abel had never been so happy while leaving Zev's room before. After trying and failing to suppress his excitement - Zev was okay, and the likelihood that anything would go wrong at this point was pitifully small - the blond let whoever was at the desk know he was stepping out so he could use his phone for a bit before moving to act on his words.

A brief walk later with much more spring in his step than he'd had in what felt like ages led him outside the ICU, and the moment he was he pulled his phone from his pocket, turned it on, and navigated to Taavi's name in his contacts. There he paused, chewed his lip a bit as he debated whether to text him or not, then decided '******** it' and called him instead. He was grinning brightly by the time he lifted his phone to his uninjured ear.