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Note to self - never let Sol drink this much again.
By the time Jin finally manages to drag him away from the tavern, he can barely even stand on his own two feet. He's half asleep and still laughing at something one of the other patrons said, even as they lose sight of the place altogether.
"A-and then his... his MOTHER walked in, and-"
Sol stumbles as he dissolves into yet another fit of giggles, trying and failing to tell Jin the same story he seems to be unaware he's already told him three times now. Jin rolls his eyes at him as he helps Sol stabilize himself again, pulling his arm farther over his shoulder, though it's a meaningless gesture since he can barely seem to perceive even his own hands.
Truthfully, he never should have let Sol drink in the first place. It was already late at night when they'd spotted the tavern, and the plan had been to leave town by morning. Technically, they could leave whether Sol was hungover or not, but with a hangover he'd slow them down and Jin wouldn't have had the patience to deal with it. He should've just said no - he knows that if he had said no Sol would've listened without complaint. For some reason, though - and Jin will never understand why - he'd taken one look at the excited expression on Sol's face and said "Fine."
He was paying the price now, though. Not only because he now had to babysit a drunk-off-his-ass Sol, but also because he now had to help him walk, and that means getting close.
Jin does not like people in his personal space. He doesn't particularly like people existing in the same plane of existence as him in general, but he ESPECIALLY does not like people getting close to him - or, Ta'yo forbid, touching him. Yet here they are; Sol's arm around his shoulder, Jin's arm wrapped around his waist. It's just to keep him stable enough to make it back to the inn, but Jin's face burns in annoyance nonetheless. The worst part is that Sol keeps leaning his head against his shoulder, and everytime Jin tells him to quit it, he seems to forget 5 seconds later.
"-pretty…"
Jin glances to the side, brow furrowed. He'd started tuning out Sol's (4th? 5th?) retelling of the, frankly, not very funny story he'd been told, but he doesn't remember the word "pretty" being anywhere in it.
"What did you say?"
He's not even sure why he asked - he doesn't care. It's just more drunken ramblings.
"I saiddd… I said you're- you're really pretty."
Jin stops.
"Or- sorry, do you not- should I use a, a different word? It- it is true, though-"
Misunderstanding why Jin had been shaken by his words, Sol lists off a couple different masculine synonyms that Jin is surprised he can even conjur up in this state - though he's pretty sure about half of them are made up or pronounced wrong.
"No- Soleil, stop. It's fine."
It's not fine, though Jin can't understand why it isn't - it's just drunk ramblings from a man who won't even remember any of this come morning, but the words keep echoing in his mind.
You're really pretty.
Nonetheless, he has to get Sol to stop talking, and the assurance works well enough. Sol trails off at the words and stops listing (now definitely made up) synonyms. He does not, in fact, stop talking entirely however.
"Really, though- I mean, your, your hair, your eyes-" He sets himself into a fit of giggles once more. "I could. I could look at your eyes allll day. They're, they're gold, and pretty, and-"
"Soleil." Jin's face burns.
"Did- did you know gold is my favourite colour?"
"Sol."
Now it's Sol's turn to stop, glancing at him with wide eyes and a shocked look. Then a grin spreads across his face, and Jin sighs.
"You called me- called me my nickname! You haven't called me that in yearssssss…"
Shaking his head slightly, Jin decides it's not worth it to point out they haven't spoken in years, and instead just nudges Sol to start walking again. Sol also chooses to take this as a sign to keep talking.
"I like it- when you say it. I mean, I mean everyone calls me it 'cuz it's shorter but I like hearing youuuu say it, it's nice-"
For his own good, Jin shuts out the rest of whatever Sol was saying.
It's all- It's all just drunk ramblings, anyway. It's not like Sol means any of it, he probably barely even knows who he is right now. He doesn't mean any of it, and he won't even remember it by morning, might not even remember it in 10 minutes. So why, Jin asks himself, does he keep thinking about it now?
You're really pretty.
Gold is my favourite colour.
I like when you say it.
It's not as though he's never been complimented or anything, he's the crown prince. He's gotten so many compliments from so many people he could probably fill a book or three with them. It's not even like Sol's are unique in any way; he'd probably need 20 hands to count all the times he's heard those exact words.
They've always been fake, though, is the thing. Nobody has ever meant any of them, just like Sol doesn't mean any of them, but for some reason in the back of his mind they sound so much more real coming from Sol. Like they're not just empty phrases meant to win favour.
They are, though, he has to tell himself before the words echo again. Maybe not to win favour, Sol's not that type of person, but they are just empty phrases. Sol doesn't know what he's talking about.
This is almost confirmed when Jin hesitantly tunes back in to what he's saying, and Sol is now apparently very amused by Jin's name sounding the same as "gin" even though it doesn't and Sol knows it - the I in Jin's name is more of an 'ee', and he's even still pronouncing it right.
There he has it. Drunken ramblings. He's probably already forgotten what he was saying earlier.
Unbidden, Jin's mind supplies him with Gold is my favourite colour, and Jin knows it's going to be a long night.
The next morning, Sol is practically bedridden with a hangover. Jin, in his infinite kindness and mercy, has brought him some water and herbs from the innkeeper downstairs, and has elected to keep him company for no other reason than to make sure he doesn't fall out of bed and die or something - it would be very inconvenient.
"Did I, uh… say anything weird, last night? Or anything?" He asks, and Jin looks up from his book. He looks genuinely curious and mildly anxious, though Jin doesn't know what he'd have to hide to look that worried.
"Yes."
Sol's face instantly turns a shade red, and he laughs nervously.
"And, uh. What was it?"
"…"
"…
"…You kept going on about how my name sounds like 'gin'."
The red dissipates. Sol tilts his head in confusion, squinting.
"…No it doesn't."
"I know."