How Are You Feeling? [Heracles Karpusi & Toris Laurinaitis]

Heracles moved Toris in his arms so the Grecian could hold him with one arm and unlock the door to his apartment with the other. The doctor was actually surpringly light, which was good as carrying him up the stairs would have been a lot harder had he been heavier. He opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside, smiling at his cats as he shut the door behind him. "Hello loves, wait just one moment..." He walked to his room and set Toris down on his bed, pulling the covers over him.

Going back into the kitchen, he fed his cats and sat down at the kitchen table. Heracles sighed, resting his head on his arms and closing his eyes. Toris thought he was sexy...which, normally, would have just been met with a thank you and maybe a kiss on the cheek. But then he brought up the fact that Heracles was now single...or, as Toris said, 'available'. That, followed by the question of why should Toris care, was confusing to him. What the hell did Toris mean?

.....
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......?!
Toris slowly regained conscious, and regretted it soon afterwards. The back of his head felt like someone had hit it with a baseball bat- wait, his whole head felt like that. Toris groaned, he supposed that this was the fated hangover after his attempt at drinking, which Hera convinced him to do. Looking back over the memories, Toris realized that his memory went downhill with the start of the second drink. He knew he drank more, and there was some bits of Lithuanian mixed in with the fuzzy memories, but that was all that was really clear to him. And now he felt like he had been hit with a hammer a few times.

Now that Toris had his consciousness in check, he finally noticed where he was. In a bed. 

....

'So it had happened.' Was Toris's grim initial thought. Hera must have lost track of Toris and now he had lost his virginity! This is terrib- wait.

 Moving around, Toris noticed that he was indeed fully clothed. Opening his eyes graced him with what appeared as Heracles's bedroom, causing his scrambled mind to jump to yet another rash conclusion.

He had- No, wait, he had his clothes on, remember?
But Toris had already jolted upright in shock, a stupid thing to do with a hangover, as his head and vision spun and blurred, and Toris fell back to his original position. Dievas, he was never going to drink again.

Heracles blinked as he heard something from the bedroom, and he winced as the sound of a pained groan filled his apartment. He stood up and grabbed a glass of water, stopping by his bathroom to pick up some aspirin before looking into his bedroom. He eyed Toris, walking over and setting the glass down on his bedside table.

He brushed Toris' hair out of his face, smiling at the younger man. "How does it feel?" He wondered, helping the other sit up before handing him the water and aspirin. He sat on the edge of the bed, laughing slightly as one of his cats jumped up on it to curl in his lap, another jumping up to curl in Toris'.

"Thank you" Toris murmured as Hera helped him sit up, and gave him the aspirin and water, which he immedietly consumed, giving the empty glass back to Heracles "God, I feel like I was murdered with a baseball bat except I'm not dead..." He groaned again, but quieter. "I assume you took me here, thank you." Toris smiled as he petted the cat that had settled on his lap, stroking the silky fur.

"So..." Toris looked at Hera "I hope nothing particularly bad happened, because I can barely remember anything after the second drink." He sighed "I am definitely not drinking ever again..."

Heracles hummed, taking the glass and putting it on the bedside table again. "Yes, I did bring you here. It was no problem." He moved so that he was sitting crossed legged on the bed, holding his cat close to his chest and petting the top of his head lighlty. He winced at Tori's statement, shrugging. "I'll make coffee later." He promised, knowing that, while it wouldn't help Tori's headache, it might make him feel a bit better.

"Hm..no, nothing bad happened. You scared an entire bar full of people by passing out the way you did, and you managed to thoroughly confuse the bartender by asking him something in Lithuanian. And, ah..." He trailed off, not sure how to bring up what Toris had said to him. Or even if he should; it had probably been drunken rambling after all, not important. "Well, at least you experienced what it was like. And a small drink every once in a while doesn't normally produce the effect your three drinks have created."

Toris nodded "I see. Thank you, once again" He smiled as he watched Hera hold one of his cats like that, petting it. The cat's slightly perturbed expression was amusing, as was Heracles's neutral expression. Hearing the offer of coffee, Toris immedietely brightened up "Really? That would be wonderful~" Yes, a cup of coffee would definitely relax him and bring his spirits up.

"Damn it" Toris facepalmed, he knew nothing good would happen when he got drunk "And..?" Toris questioned when Hera trailed off, but he thought nothing of it when the nurse didn't continue. "I...yeah, probably" Toris shrugged, petting the cat on his lap.

He nodded, watching Toris perk up at the thought of coffee. The Grecian only hoped that he didn't mess up when he made it; Toris probably wouldn't be happy about that.

Heracles laughed slightly as Toris facepalmed, smiling at his reaction. The smile faded when Toris questioned his trail off, and he looked down at the cat. "And...you went into a rant about Lovino and how he didn't deserve me." He bite his lip and swallowed roughly. "You also mentioned something about me being available now." Bringing up the part about Toris calling him sexy would just seem arrogant he decided, keeping silent about that.

"Ah..." Toris looked down "Well, I suppose, in a pure opinion, I don't think he deserves you....I guess I was drunk enough to spew that bit of trivia out there." He laughed slightly "Though it certainly does not deserve a whole rant about it" Occasionally, Toris would be jealous of all the other lovers at the hospital, himself being single, and therefore painfully lonely at times...but he couldn't say his friends didn't help with the sting of having an awkward social life.

"And you are available now" Toris stated, slightly confused "That is fact, no? Or else I wouldn't have been drunk and I'd be at my apartment doing paperwork" 

...pure opinion? What on earth did that mean? Heracles frowned, biting his lip and gently picking the cat up, holding her close as he stood up. "I'll...go make the coffee." He said, running a hand through his hair. What he wanted to do was figure out why Toris thought Lovino didn't deserve him...but it was too early for that kind of conversation.

He also wanted to know if that was what Toris had meant last night when calling him available...But he just shook his head and walked out of the room, leaving the door open.

"Okay..." Toris frowned. Had he said something wrong? It kind of felt like it, seeing the confused expression on Heracles's face. He didn't understand that well, so he let himself lie back down, close his eyes, relax his breathing, and wait for the warm aroma of coffee to wander throughout the apartment. And who knows, maybe he'd understand the situation better after some moments of quiet relaxation. Hopefully, he wouldn't fall asleep.

Heracles felt like an ass as soon as he started making the coffee. Oh yes, confusing the guy with the hangover was a smart idea; great going Hera. He rolled his eyes, pinching himself slightly and smiling gently as one of his kittens rubbed against his legs in hopes of something. OF course, he had nothing to give her but it was adorable nonetheless. He reached down and ran his hand over the length of her body, the scent of coffee filling the apartment.

While that was going, he started making some light foods that would make Toris feel at least somewhat better than he was now, glancing down toward his bedroom every so often. He hoped Toris didn't get sick and puke on anything; Heracles cleaned up enough of that at work that he didn't want to deal with it in his apartment too....though he still had to deal with cat puke at home....which is why he didn't want to deal with Toris' puke too....maybe he should get the doctor a bucket.

Toris smelled that delicious aroma that beckoned him to move, to go towards it, drink something not literally intoxicating...yes... He sat up, and slowly got out of bed, pulling the covers back up before he left the room, and leaving the room to find the source of the coffee scent. His legs felt like lead weights, and he leaned against the wall of the hallway, sighing, watching Heracles make the coffee. Tired eyes looked Heracles over...he couldn't see him make the coffee very well from his position "Are you almost done?" Toris asked, hoping to have a reason to move forward.

Heracles tensed and looked over his shoulder at Toris, surprised to see him out of bed. He looked like crap, which wasn't shocking in the least, but he was also walking and talking without complaining about his hangover; that was pretty impressive. He looked over at coffee, nodding. "Yeah, I'm almost done. You can take a seat Toris." He said, gesturing over at his kitchen table.

He finished making the food, pulling a plate from the cabinet and putting some of the food on there, putting the plate on the table with a fork. "Eat. It'll make you feel better." Somewhat. Kinda. Maybe just a little bit...It would work in some ways so long as his body didn't reject the food.

"Yes..." Toris said, obviously relieved "Thank you..." He trudged over to the table, sitting down. Food would surely be good for him, no doubt. He had ingested enough liquid...how much? His head was fuzzy, so he couldn't really remember the specifics, but he knew eating something would help. Surely...

Breaking out of his thoughts, Toris realized he had been staring at his food for a few minutes, spacing out. He murmured a quiet apology to no one in particular, and started eating.

The food was good. It felt good to be eating something, it made him realize how hungry he was. Speaking of which...what time was it? He didn't know, not in the slightest, and he didn't want to hurt his head even more. So, he swallowed what he had in his mouth, and asked Heracles. Hopefully he didn't look like a fool asking this.

Heracles watched him to make sure he was going to actually eat instead of just staring at his food before getting back to the coffee, finishing it as quickly as he could without sacrificing...whatever taste black coffee can have. He personally found coffee disgusting and only had the coffee machines for nights when he couldn't get to sleep. He poured a cup and set it in front of Toris.

He sat across from him and watched him eat, blinking in surprise at his question. "Ah...it's about quarter to ten in the morning. Why?"

"I...shouldn't I be at work? I'll have to call in sick...Nngh..." His head throbbed painfully again "Too late to even try and go..." He muttered and took a sip of the coffee, thanking Heracles before he did so. The coffee was good. Started to give him a bit more energy, as did the slowly disappearing food. As he ate, one hand seemed to keep returning to his hair, combing through the tangles before twisting the lock of hair around his finger. Toris was thinking about whether doing some excess work if he got better was a good idea. Throb. Toris decided to stop thinking.

Heracles tilted his head to the side, nodding slowly. "You probably should be...that's why most people schedule bar outings on nights when they don't have work the next day." Which was sort of what Heracles did. Sort of, as in Heracles had just offered the day as a possibility and Toris had almost immediately agreed with it. "I'm sure everything will work out fine...there's a phone in the living room if you want to use that to call work." He offered, nodding in the direction of said living room. Not that he thought Toris needed help finding the living room, but just because it gave him something to do other than watch the doctor eat.

He looked over to the said place, "Thanks...I'll be sure to do that". He continued eating until the plate was empty, and took the plates to the sink, the ache in his head now noticeably cleared up. Looking back at Heracles, he remembered his situation. "Would you mind if I did the dishes, in return for the food?" Toris wasn't one to be rude, in any situation. Especially now, where he was definitely indebted to the Grecian.

He frowned in response to Toris' question, looking over the plate and utensils in the other's hands. It would be mean off him to make Toris do it, especially after convincing him to drink last night. It would also be incredibly rude of him to do that. But if this was how Toris wanted to repay him..."If you want to, go for it." He said, deciding that was the best course of action. That way Toris could say no if he didn't want to and Heracles wouldn't end up feeling guilty for forcing him to do the dishes.

"Then I will." Toris decided as he turned on the faucet and began to clean the plates and utensils. It reminded him of the dishes he had leftover at home. Toris liked housework, but he didn't like all of it. Washing the dishes wasn't very high on his favorite chores list, to say the least. But he didnt mind right now. Toris continued to do the rest of the dishes in the sink- he was there so, might as well do them.

Shaking his head, Heracles went out into the living room and grabbed the phone to bring it back to Toris. In doing so he came across a picture he had taken of Lovino, with out the other man knowing. In it the Italian was smiling -not brightly, but a smile was there nontheless. Swallowing harshly, Heracles stared at it before turning it over and turning away from the picture, going back into the kitchen and putting the phone on the counter near Toris.

"Here." He muttered, looking over at the younger man. And noticing exactly what he was doing. "Toris, you don't have to do all of the dishes." Now he felt like he was taking advantage of Toris' kindness. Especially since the other man probably still had his hangover from last night.

"Ah, thank you..." Toros dried his hands on a dry washcloth and took the phone. "I really don't mind, Heracles" His fingers tapped away at the buttons on the cordless phone "It isn't trouble at all..." He stated before putting the phone to his ear, waiting for someone to pick up. He ended up waiting for a few minutes, the ringing eventually turning to the 'please hold' elevator music. This was not good. A guilt started settling in his stomach as soon as the music was heard. When he got the chance to tell the office lady that he had gotten sick, a sigh could be faintly heard. "Please come back as soon as you are better" And she hung up, leaving Toris with a disturbed frown on his face.

Heracles watched him briefly before shaking his head and grabbing a dry wash clothe and drying off the plates and utensils, putting them away in their respective places when he was done drying them. He paid little attention to Toris while doing this, figuring that Toris wouldn't appreciated being watched like a small child using the phone for the first time. Heracles was tempted to just leave the room but he didn't want to leave all of this work to Toris and besides, it was his apartment. He could be wherever he wanted to be in it.

He finally looked over at Toris when the faint sound of the woman on the other end of the line disappeared, raising an eyebrow at the look on Toris' face. "Something wrong?" He wondered, tilting his head ever so slightly while he gathered the utensils together and put them into the drawer they belonged in. Heracles was vaguely amazed that he still remembered where that was; he normally just used plastic plates and utensils to avoid having to clean the dishes.