[FIN] Music to My Ears

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran was definitely awake now, clearly out of it but awake and, er, well sort of focusing and sort of was a good start! Taavi closed his folder and put it on the floor under his chair out of the way. Should he say something? Maybe, but maybe not yet.

Hospital. That word made sense but the rest of the fast flow of English washed over him without meaning. Hospital. Why? What had happened? He wasn't sure what his last memory was, memories were a jumbled blur. He blinked again, tried again to focus on the face... Two faces, two people were here.

Zevran swallowed, ran his tongue over his lips again and hazarded; "Abel?" His voice was hoarse, weak, and he sounded far from certain of what he had just said. Just in case it hadn't made sense he squeezed the hand holding his.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The more he studied his boyfriend's face the more convinced he was that it had been a good idea not to say anymore right away. He seemed to be struggling to process even the little he'd said. Struggling and uncertain and confused and... Abel's heart swelled fit to burst and ached at the same time; the smile he gave Zev, the squeeze he returned, and the words he spoke were all gentle, gentle as the hand that lifted to stroke his hair again once or twice. "Yes, I'm here." He paused a couple moments to give him time to process this before adding slowly, "Taavi too."  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi smiled and waved. "Hey." Zevran definitely seemed confused but he knew Abel, that was a relief.

He liked the way Abel stroked his hair these days. The thought existed in a bubble with him, everything outside of the bubble was hazy and unreal but the thought was clear. Zevran turned his head a little to lean into the touch and allowed his heavy-feeling eyes to close. Abel had said something more but he hadn't picked out anything other than Taavi's name, he should reply but words kept slipping away from him and what was he replying to? And was he even really here? Maybe not. Then again maybe yes. Or...? Something was starting to pluck at his mind, a seed of worry, but he didn't know why.

Zevran managed to open his eyes again; Abel was here, or still here? "Te amo." Yes, that sounded right.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Not for the first time his breath caught in his throat... or maybe it was the tight knot that formed there at hearing the words he'd worried he'd never heard again. Either way his smile brightened and he gave Zev's hand another squeeze. When he could breathe again he bent down to press a soft kiss to the skin on his shoulder, his other hand stilling in his hair since his boyfriend seemed to want it to stay where it was, and he murmured softly, "I love you too."  

[TawnyAngel]

Feeling a little bit like an invader, but mostly glad he was here, Taavi folded his hands tightly in his lap and grinned.

...Well, Abel had definitely used words. The words had not made sense. The pressure on his hand made sense, and so did the kiss. Two out of three wasn't so bad?

Zevran gave Abel a puzzled half smile and mumbled something indistinct in Spanish, from the inflection it had possibly been a question.

Amigo, who had just woken up, gave an excited trill and fluttered over to land on the rail of the bed where Zevran could see him; Zevran turned his confused smile onto the Butterfree for a few moments but his gaze soon drifted back to Abel. Something was still bothering him; an itch in his mind but sharp, hot, raw. Quiet, small, but there.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel hummed a little in the back of his throat while his thumb traced soft circles over Zev's temple. Spanish there, Spanish before... His name before but that had been it, and before that he'd seemed.. mostly confused. Yep, this reminded him of when he'd been drugged; he'd only been speaking Spanish at first and this seemed like more of the same. With that thought in mind - it passed through his mind quite quickly compared to Zevran's own still muddled, sluggish thoughts as he obviously tried to drag himself back from his sedation - Abel aimed another gentle, fond smile at him and tried again. He couldn't answer his question - if he'd even asked a question, he wasn't sure if it was or not since he still didn't know Spanish - but he could at least tell him something nice that he seemed to love hearing. "Te amo."  

[TawnyAngel]

That he understood; Zevran's smiled warmed a little and he squeezed Abel's hand again. Something wasn't right - in hospital but that wasn't the thing prickling his mind - but Abel didn't seem worried and that was enough to reassure him for now.

"It's good to see you awake Zev," Taavi said warmly. It seemed like he wasn't really understanding them just at the moment - which he guessed was why Abel had switched to Spanish to be sweet - but tone of voice worked right? "Hey, I wonder if any of the nurses speak Spanish?" That could be worth a go, right?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

What would he have done if Zevran hadn't made it -- if he never got to hold his hand again, to see that sweet smile of his or hear those words spoken lovingly again? He really didn't know, and that was an unsettling thought in a number of ways... like how he'd fallen so hard so fast for someone.

Not for the first time he was infinitely glad that he had though, and wouldn't change a thing even if he could do so. The blond returned both the hand squeeze and the warm smile, his other hand moving down a tad to cup Zevran's cheek. "So good to see you awake," Abel agreed without hesitation, his gaze never leaving his boyfriend's face. "Mmh, I dunno if any of them do or not, we could always ask someone. I dunno how long he'll be in Spanish mode for." Hopefully not too terribly long, but even if he was, that was just fine. At least he was awake and alert, even if they couldn't really understand many of each others' words.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Heh, yeah, hopefully not long." Taavi scratched his jaw, which made him realise that it had been a couple of days since he'd shaved. Woops! Oh well, he had an excuse for being scraggly looking. "He doesn't seem too worried by not understanding us? Maybe better just leave him to wake up a bit more."

As Abel and Taavi spoke Zevran shifted slightly, frowned, and looked down at himself. Something was sticking out of his chest. Tube, thingie. He raised his free hand to poke at it, and his hand had a tube too. There was something clipped to his finger. He frowned a little more. "¿Qué mierda?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, hopefully not, but I agree; he's still coming to so it's probably best to let him keep waking up." Which felt odd to say since he was awake, he just... wasn't speaking English, and... he... "I think that's a curse," he mused aloud, at Zevran's query. The latter was a word he remembered Zev saying several times the last day or two before he'd been shot, and it had sounded like a swear those times. Right now it almost sounded kind of like 'what the hell' but he really couldn't be sure. He gave Zevran's hand another squeeze, this time to get his attention. "You shouldn't poke at those, sweetheart, you need those."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yep, they're important," Taavi agreed. "If you mess with them you'll only be stuck here longer probably."

Zevran frowned almost petulantly at Abel and poked the tube in his chest, but only the once. He would poke what he wanted to poke, thank you. When had he got here though? What had-

What had happened to Abel? Zevran's frown became one of concern; he gestured to Abel's injured ear and said something else in Spanish that sounded question-like.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel resisted the urge to laugh or snort at his childish response - it was very difficult to do so - and nearly commented on it when Zev's demeanor changed. The blond's expression and voice were tinged with an apology to match his words. "I don't understand what you're asking sweetheart, you know I don't speak Spanish. If you're worried about me then don't, I'm just fine. Better than fine, now that you're awake," he added with a soft smile.  

[TawnyAngel]

He almost felt as though he understood what Abel was saying, snatches of it, some words made sense while others did not. "No hablo ingles," he replied with a wry, tired smile; he didn't at the moment anyway, he knew he knew it but it was... Yes, it was outside the bubble. It was a bigger bubble now though, more things made sense. Abel was telling him that he was okay though, he was pretty sure of that. "Ah... bueno."

"He said he doesn't speak English," Taavi said with a frown as he grappled with his memory of highschool Spanish, he'd been alright at it before he'd dropped out. "And good? That's good. We'll all be on the same language page soon I'm sure! Or I could try to speak Finnish, that'd be fun. Heh, I'd butcher it though." He hadn't spoken more than a word of two since before he'd left home and he'd never exactly been properly fluent, much to his Mom's annoyance.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"No? Well that's just fine," he said, the same gentle smile on his face as he gave Zevran's hand another fond squeeze, his other hand smoothing itself over his cheek. "Just rest for now."

And then he aimed a small grin over his shoulder at Taavi. "That sounds like a terrible idea, you'll just make him more confused. Maybe later though, I'd love to hear some of it even if you butcher it." Perhaps even because he'd butcher it. Why not both?  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi laughed and shrugged amicably. "Sure, if you like! It's about the least useful second language ever but uh, still kind of fun I guess? My accent is really bad too but I guess that's not too important." Zev's English was accented and nobody seemed to mind that - he certainly didn't - so it probably wasn't a big deal.

"Mmmh." Zevran closed his eyes again and leaned his cheek towards Abel's hand, a soft smile curving his lips once more. As his expression changed he felt the movement of more tubes, against his face this time, but he supposed he wasn't supposed to poke those either. How long had he been here? Why so many tubes? What had happened?