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"When can I actually drink again? Something that isn't water, I mean. And has alcohol in it," Fenris asked.
"When you're not on Vicodin anymore," Anders said.
That morning had been... eventful. Fenris had been put under general anesthetic and gotten all four of his wisdom teeth pulled, and what followed was a mini-adventure which involved Anders half-carrying a very groggy Fenris to the car, driving him to the pharmacy, picking up his medication, and then finally taking him back home. Fenris had then crashed for a couple hours, but now he was finally lucid again. Well, sort of. The anesthetic may have been wearing off but the Vicodin was starting to take its toll.
Fenris was refusing to lie in his own bed, opting instead to lie on the couch in nothing but a tank top and shorts. Anders was next to him, on his laptop, checking on him at every opportunity. Originally Fenris hadn't wanted to admit that he needed any sort of help, but he was sort of getting used to the idea of Anders being his own personal servant. He handed his empty glass of water over to Anders, who took it and set it aside on the coffee table. "So! Anders," said Fenris. "You're the guy who went to medical school..."
"Pre-med," Anders corrected him.
Fenris waved a hand around. His hair was every which way and he looked groggy. "Whatever," he said. "What's with those... shapes and things you see when they... wake you up. You know. When you've been under."
"That's just a side effect," said Anders. "Why? Did you see anything interesting?"
"...lava, I think," said Fenris. He focused his eyes on some point on the wall and his stare was so intense that Anders actually turned and followed his gaze to... absolutely nothing. "Definitely lava. A lot of it." He looked back at Anders. "Are you sure I can't have any alcohol yet?"
"Yes, I'm sure," said Anders. "You're on like three different medications right now. Adding alcohol would be very bad for your liver."
Fenris grumbled something. Then he said, "How come my mouth felt so... puffy? When I woke up? Like I had something in it."
"You did. You had gauze in your mouth."
"What happened to it?"
Anders looked over at him. "You puked it out into the toilet when we were at the pharmacy, I think," he said matter-of-factly. "At least, that's what you told me."
"Ohhhh, right," said Fenris, as though remembering that detail was some sort of monumental discovery. Then he was quiet for a few minutes before saying, "When did you say I could drink again?"
"I'll tell you when you can drink again," said Anders.
"Hmm," said Fenris. He was quiet for a brief moment before saying, "You know... you're a really good friend. Have I ever told you that?"
Anders glanced at him, a bit surprised, and then reached for his phone. "No, you haven't," he said. "But please continue," he added, after fiddling with his phone a bit.
"Well," said Fenris, "I just. You know. I didn't really like you at first. You talked too much and you were really self-righteous. Actually you still are both of those things." He grinned lopsidedly. "But you're a good person, really. You just want to help everyone out. Garrett was right about you."
Anders held up his phone. "Keep going," he said.
Fenris narrowed his eyes. "Are you recording me?"
"Maybe," said Anders.
Fenris sat up and tried to make a lunge for the phone, but Anders pulled away and Fenris ended up on top of him. At that point he decided that he didn't want to move, so instead he cuddled into Anders, his head on his shoulder. "You're soft," he said.
"And if you drool blood onto my shirt, we're going to have to have a talk," said Anders.
Fenris punched Anders in the side.
And then they were quiet, together, for a moment, before Fenris asked, "Wait. When did you say I could drink again?"