[FIN] Some News

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I won't either, and don't worry," Abel said, waving his best friend away with a smile. "Have fun at work."

And then Taavi was gone; the blond, left to his own devices in the relatively quiet room with his sleeping boyfriend, eventually folded his arms on the side of the bed and rested his head in them to steal a short nap. It wasn't a comfortable nap - not in the slightest - but it left him feeling a little more refreshed and alert than he had been before, which was something at least.

When Summer arrived again Abel aimed a smile her way, and gave Zevran's fingers a soft squeeze. "Awake too," he put in, a little more certain of this fact than his boyfriend. "Moving sounds good! How's that going to work? Is he taking all the tubes and stuff with him, or do some get to come out?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Well," Summer smiled wryly, "you already removed the central line yourself Zev, so you've saved some work there! We'll take out the IV bag that goes to the line in your hand too but you'll get a fresh one down in general, it's just easier for us to keep you hydrated properly and to keep your pain meds steady. The tubes in your nose will stay, but you're nice and stable right now we'll disconnect you from the O2 tank and reconnect down there just to save hassle. We'll leave the cardiac monitors here but they might put a new clip on your finger down there."

"Uh," Zevran frowned with the effort of thought and looked at his hand. "That's the pulse one? But not the heart one." There was some kind of a difference, he had been told, but he didn't know or much care what it was.

Summer's smile turned encouraging and she nodded. "Yeah that's right, good memory for all the drugs you're on! So to sum up all the stuff around the bed is staying here, as is the bed. You get to go for a ride on a gurney! It's kind of weird but fun, I've been on one as a patient when I had my c-section, and my appendectomy... And I've definitely never ridden around on one in quiet times while on shift." Summer smirked and winked.

Zevran smirked back; the expression even creased his eyes at the corners but it didn't quite light them like his real smirks did. "I would never accuse an upstanding citizen such as yourself of- how do you say? Goofing out?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Oh, of course you haven't," he said with a shake of his head, then aimed a warm smile at Zev. "Close! Goofing off, not out. But," his attention turned back to Summer, "that all sounds simple enough. I can follow behind the gurney, yeah?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Of course," Summer nodded, "no problem with that! If you could just step out a minute while we deal with the things we need to disconnect, and get Zev settled on-"

"Must he?" Zevran cut in sharply.

"Uh?" Summer turned to her patient, briefly puzzled but soon understanding. "You'd rather he was here? Some of the arrangements are quite personal."

Zevran rolled his eyes. "Si, yes, thank you, I'm aware of the tube in my 'personal place'; I tried to shift earlier and it tugged. Whatever the ******** you have to do it's not like he has not seen me naked before. I would rather he were here." Being so weak and vulnerable was sickening but Abel's presence was a comfort, and he would not easily give that comfort up.

"Mmmh, well I don't think that'll be a problem if you'd prefer," Summer shrugged and smiled again. "Those tubes will be staying with you, for as long as the tube in your chest I'd guess. I know it must seem weird but we need it to keep an eye on your kidney function."

"Extremely weird, but," Zevran gave another cleverly contrived smirk, "I am sure there are people out there who think it very exciting!"

"Ugh, no, don't want to think about that thanks!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Aaaand there it was, yep. The blond smirked over at his boyfriend and shook his head with a laugh. "You're absolutely terrible. But yeah, I'll stay here the whole time if you want me to, don't worry," he said, his tones still warm and fond despite the smirk as he gave Zevran's hand a reassuring squeeze.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran returned the laugh, fake but convincing to almost anyone. Almost. "Did you ever dream of being an author? Think of this as research. I would rather you were here though yes, I have spent far too much of my life without you so what time we have matters all the more." They could both have died, but they were alive. And Taliesen was dead. He had killed him. And what had happened to those two kids? The boy had looked afraid and the girl must have been too even if she hid it better. They were probably dead, and better them than Abel, but it wasn't fair.

"Can we get on with it then?" The sooner this was over the better.

Eventually it was over, they did all they needed to and Abel said goodbye to Summer as they left the ICU.

In the Violet Ward his bed was opposite a window which was nice, and close to other beds which was not. Well, it was not close - if you spoke quietly you would not be overheard - but it was still too close for his comfort.

As the nurse and young doctor retreated having made sure all of the equipment was in order Zevran smiled weakly at Abel and squeezed his hand. "Ah, so this is my home for the next week or so? I almost miss the warehouse. Nobody in there ever stuck a tube in my chest, or up my verga. I will get good use of your present to me here I think, too many people too close... I definitely miss the warehouse." Though he still smiled as he said this the genuine amusement that had been there for a moment had gone again; his eyes still crinkled but there was just a faintly different quality to the fake smile when set against the ones he usually gave Abel.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel almost believed his laugh. Almost. But then they'd come in to do the various things they needed to do, so the blond busied himself fetching Zevran's bag of gifts as well as the CD he'd made out from the radio so it wouldn't be forgotten or anything, and slipped it into the player he'd bought the night before.

Soon enough they were up in the general wards with Zev settled on - presumably - the bed he'd stay in for another week and some change, and Abel returned the smile and the squeeze to his hand. "At least you have a window," he pointed out, his other hand lifting to cup his boyfriend's cheek, his thumb ghosting around in a few small circles before dipping down to trace the curve of his smile. It was different, he knew it was despite how subtle the signs were, knew it more surely if for no other reason than he'd known what happened and how deeply and profoundly it must be affecting his boyfriend -- his best friend, whose best friend had tried to kill him, and subsequently died himself. No, he couldn't really expect many genuinely happy smiles yet, and that was okay. He aimed a small smile at Zev and squeezed his hand gently again, his voice softening a bit. "You don't have to smile if you're not feeling it, y'know."  

[TawnyAngel]

He toyed with the idea of lying but after what had happened would Abel believe him? He doubted it very much. Nevertheless Zevran smiled again and shrugged. "There are a lot of people around," he said quietly, and he hoped Abel would catch onto what he meant by that. Logically he knew few of them would pay any attention to him but that didn't make him feel any better about their presence. He couldn't pretend to be well but he could pretend to be... well, to not be feeling whatever he was feeling- trying not to feel. It was little defence but it was better than nothing, it made him feel a little less unsafe. Did he really have to stay here for a week? And, when that time was over, how was he going to get out of here without anyone trying to get him to sign things about money. Window? Window. Would they look for him afterwards...? He really didn't have the energy to worry about that yet, first he needed to reach the point of being able to leave and then he would deal with it. Spur of the moment, like always.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"There are, yeah," he agreed softly, taking a moment to glance around... but the privacy curtains drawn around on two sides prevented him from actually seeing anyone else. He could hear them though, breathing and soft voices. "More than in the ICU, that's for sure." Which meant less private. That was fine though, he wasn't too worried about it. Zev, though...

A thoughtful frown stole over his expression for a moment or two before he squeezed his boyfriend's hand again and offered him a smile. "I never finished showing you the things we got for you earlier, I just realized. D'you want me to show them to you?" A distraction might help, perhaps; something to take his mind off the fact he'd be stuck in a room full of strangers for another week.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I had walls in there. I liked the walls," Zevran lamented with an over the top sigh that made him wince slightly. "Well they do want me to breathe deeply," he added with a faint smile to Abel. "Avoid pneumonioni-" he huffed "-pneumonia. Pronunciation is difficult." As was concentrating hard but he was aware that he was much more focused than he had been last night, and given the drugs they were giving him it was no surprise that he wasn't as sharp as he might be.

"Presents!" Zevran brightened a little and nodded. "Thank you, yes. You know I love being spoiled." It meant Abel had been thinking about him and that was far more important than the things themselves no matter how nice they were.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I know you did," the blond replied with a soft breath of a laugh. "I did too. And pronunciation is difficult, especially when you're tired or are on some medications. I'm impressed you're pronouncing things as well as you are," he said as his hand slipped away from Zev's so he could pick up the bag off the floor where he'd set it. As he hummed he carefully set aside the CD player, debated which item to present to his boyfriend first, then settled on the black facemask with an adorable Mareep motif. "Here you go!" He said as he presented it to Zevran with a flourish. "Taavi picked it out for you, he figured it'd help you sleep a bit better during the day, if you end up not sleeping much at night."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, well, I have much experience of having to speak quite well while being a bit ******** up," Zevran replied with a wan smile and a shrug. "Parties and things, you can drink and take less than you seem to but a certain amount of bullshitting is sometimes needed yes? Yes. Though I'm not bullshitting now I must add, just... mmh... just trying to communicate?" Talking to Abel, focusing on him, and on everything he meant to him was important.

The Mareep facemask was important.

Zevran accepted the small gift with a crooked smile and shook his head. "Of course, he would choose something like this. Will he be here later? I will remember to thank him, but if I don't please do." He would never in a thousand years have picked out something so cute for himself but he couldn't imagine Taavi picking anything different.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel settled his elbow on his knee so he could plop his chin into his palm, and wrinkled his nose at his boyfriend as he smiled fondly at him. Zevran had a lot of experience with a lot of things that actually were kind of horrible, but that wasn't something he was going to think about just now. "I know you're not bullshitting sweetheart, don't worry."

And at least Zev liked the gift, it seemed... but then of course he would, it was a present picked just for him by one of his friends. "Right?" He put in, his smile widening to a grin. "There's no way he wouldn't pick something that adorable... though it's not as adorable as you, of course," the blond added with a small shrug because he had to. Couldn't not. "He'll be back later, yeah; he had to head off to work but didn't want to wake you up just to say bye."  

[TawnyAngel]

Adorable.

Zevran curled his fingers around the facemask and looked down. "You still think that?" he asked quietly. "After seeing them? Seeing what I..." He stopped, unable to finish the sentence but not for lack of breath this time. Abel still looked at him as though he were wonderful, smiled like that and with that little wrinkle to his nose. How could he?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zevran always surprised him with sudden moments of uncertainty, sincerity, important conversations where he had to pick his words, his reactions very carefully; Abel suspected this would continue to be the case for a long time to come. That was okay too. He wouldn't have his love any other way, wouldn't want him to be any different.

The wrinkle to his nose smoothed away, and his hand left his chin to gently stroke Zevran's hair instead. "Yes," he replied simply, unwavering certainty in his voice as well as in his expression, "I do."