The morning after ( IDÉS AND FALLON )

Idés apartment building was old. The kind of old where the floorboards creaked under you when you walked, and there was a constant draft from the old windows with the chipped paint. It had been built around the same time as the university itself and had once upon a time been used as student housing. These days, it was mostly renters and normal residents. His apartment consisted of a bedroom, a living room, a tiny kitchen and an even smaller bathroom. As a member of staff, he could live here for relatively cheap and the location couldn’t be more perfect. On the first floor, just above the small café the students would use to study in and a stone's throw away from the lecture grounds. If you were quiet, you could faintly hear the sounds of the coffee grinder downstairs.

The apartment itself was always in some state of disarray – Idés thrived in clutter, after all. Every wall seemed stacked with bookshelves, or cupboards filled with various Zeals and other trinkets. There were always at least a few dishes in the sink in the kitchen and the living room was somewhat closer to a storage area at times. But most of all, it was homey, smelling like something warm and cozy. A mix of Idés’ cologne and the aromatics of the coffee being brewed downstairs.

It was around nine in the morning, the clothes from last night were scattered across the hardwood floor. There was a faint sound of rain tapping against the window above his bed. The light of day shone through the thin curtains, engulfing the bedroom in dim light. Idés had woken up first. He slowly blinked his eyes open as he yawned, the hangover hitting him almost like a brick wall. He tried to turn to his other side to go back to sleep, but quickly discovered that he was now too awake. He sat up on the bed and stretched out his body, practically desperate for a cup of coffee. He then looked at Fallon’s sleeping frame. It wasn’t unusual for him to sleep over, considering the abysmal state of his own living quarters. It didn’t bother Idés much, he could stay as long as he wished. He had often considered just giving the man the spare-key, but then just as quickly forgotten all about it.

Idés stood up to get some underwear from a nearby drawer. “You awake?” He asked, his voice groggy from sleep. “Want coffee?”

Idés got dressed. Or, as dressed as you could really call underwear and a t-shirt. It didn’t matter much, this was his apartment, afterall. Then Fallon said he was headed for the showers, right when Idés had been sure he had fallen right back asleep. He shook his head fondly and went into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. It was an old-school drip machine that honestly looked like it belonged in a previous century. But it still worked – thanks to the new Zeal he had upgraded it with. He poured in the grounds and clicked the button, sitting down by the small dining table as he waited for the coffee to finish brewing. He rested his chin in his hand and closed his eyes, trying to fight the mix of queasiness and exhaustion that came from a night of heavy drinking. The sound of the showerhead running and the drip of the coffee machine had almost lulled him to sleep, when the machine beeped to indicate it was done. Damn.

He got up and poured himself a cup, taking a big swig almost instantly, just to burn his tongue. He winced and sat back down, waiting for the coffee to cool. He still sat like that when Fallon entered the kitchen.

“Yeah, there’s plenty in the pot,” he spoke through a yawn. “It’s still hot, so be careful.”

“Yeah,” Idés agreed with a small smile. Although he had a feeling Fallon did not remember most of it. He was, after all, one of the few people that could manage to outdrink Idés. He rested his hands once again as he started getting his bearings on what they had been doing last night. They had started out at a bar, then continued to the Vibes Club, then what? He vaguely remembered something about a casino near a stripclub. “I think we went gambling last night.”

He drank his coffee in almost one swig, as it was a drinkable temperature now. Then he looked over at Fallon, who really was quite a beautiful man, even with a hangover. He probably was a bit too charming for his own good as well. He had a way of getting Idés to agree with most things he probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. He was certainly never boring company. Besides, it was company that he enjoyed. While Fallon could get feisty at times, he really did appreciate their friendship. Or whatever they were. He must admit, he usually didn’t have such physically intimate relations with his friends.
“Although, I must admit I don’t remember most of it. I have a hunch we were winning, though.”

“I’m pretty sure we had the stripping part covered ourselves,” he chuckled, as he took the last swig off his coffee. Judging by the way their clothes had been scattered everywhere, it seemed they had been in a hurry when they finally got home.

Then he shook his head when he asked him if he had any plans today. “Not really, no. I might head down to the lab later to check up on the EZPEC, but the batch probably won't be done till tomorrow anyways.” He rubbed his temple a little, trying to ease his headache. “Otherwise I’m free for the day. Unless Dom and Gwyn decide to get in a fist fight or something,” he spoke, glancing over at his phone. He hadn’t received any new messages, which probably meant they were fine. Hopefully. It did seem they were getting along just a little bit better than they had at the meeting. But both of them were notoriously stubborn.

He looked out at the rain that was pattering against the kitchen window. He really didn’t want to go out into weather like this and his best guess was that Fallon didn’t either. “What about you?”

He supposed he had gotten pretty close to Gwyn. But it seemed he only really truly came to realize that once she had gotten in trouble. And especially now that she was in hiding, and thus no longer a part of his everyday routine. Before she had only been his lab-assistant and while her energy had always  been an appreciated breath of fresh air in his workday, he hadn’t thought that deeply about it. But he had come to care about her along the way. After all, he wouldn’t risk what he had for just any student. “Yeah,” he said. It then occurred to him that it was odd she had taken the position to begin with. It didn’t strike him as though she had the biggest interest in the topic of Zeals in general. Not that she was stupid or bad at it, she just got that look in her eyes that people tended to get when he was explaining something complex about the topic that they weren’t fully invested in. In a rare moment of human insight, he realized something about her.

“She’s had a hard time at the IUC. I suppose she’s been in need of a friend. And then when she got in trouble, well…” he thought a bit, trying to find the right words to describe why he had acted as he did. “I suppose I would’ve done the same if it had been a sibling, really.” He got up to get another cup of coffee. “You should try and talk to her,” he suggested. “She's a sweet girl. I think you’d get along.”

He looked out at the pouring rain and nodded in agreement. “We should stay in. Order some pizzas and watch some movies?”

“Well, uh, it’s only the same movies there’s always been,” he said, leaning on the doorway and gesturing with his head towards the shelves where he kept the DVD’s and old VHS. He didn’t see much use in paying for either cable or streaming, when he could have a physical copy of everything he liked to watch. It was unlike him to sit around all day and watch TV anyways. But that did also mean that most of the movies and series on his shelves were made at least ten years ago. There were also a bunch of random foreign films, like one Yidsian classic called ‘Fish Without Duty’ that Idés was sure Cadmus had recommended to him once. He had never seen it. It was a four hour long introspective film about fishermen and honestly sounded dreadfully boring. “We could also just watch Mamma Mia again.”

His focus was on his phone, where he was currently ordering pizza for them both through a delivery app. He wasn’t keen on going out in the rain and picking one up himself, although that would certainly be cheaper. He paused before adding fries to the bag as well, taking a swig off his coffee and moving over to sit on the couch. “What are you in the mood for?”

He hit order on the checkout for their food. “It’ll probably be a while before they’re here anyways. Let’s just start it, we’ve watched it before anyways,” he said as he splayed out comfortably along the couch, his long legs stretched out over Fallon on the short couch. It was made so that two people could sit comfortably, if they sat upright. So it was inevitable that the two men would have to share what little space there were. He took a sip off his coffee and suppressed a yawn. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to stay awake for the whole movie.  

His phone lit up as the pizzeria confirmed his order. “It will be here in 30 minutes, if one is to trust this thing.” It wasn’t often Idés ordered delivery and part of him was a bit skeptical about whether he had just wasted his money on pizza that was going to be cold by the time it showed up.

He let out a hum as Fallon insisted that they would be on time. He supposed he did have to trust that, so after a few minutes of keeping an eye on the phone, he finally shut it down and put it away. He rested his head against one of the pillows on the armrest as he watched the movie. Something about Fallon’s singing, the faint raindrops in the background, and the sounds of the old tv speakers was extremely relaxing. Even with the remains of a blinding hangover and Fallon’s constant shifting, he was starting to feel rather warm and drowsy. By the time Money, Money, Money came on Idés was fast asleep, a soft and quiet snore escaping his lips, and his mind playing pictures of him in a casino with Meryl Streep. The games went rather badly. He was going to lose half his cattle if he didn't turn it around soon.

About thirty minutes later he was startled awake by the buzzing of the door telephone and Idés shot up in confusion. Where was he? Who was at the door! “Oh shit, the food,” he exclaimed before getting to his feet and hurrying to let the poor delivery person in. It was only when he had buzzed him in that he remembered he was still only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Charming.

Still he opened the door for the delivery guy, thanking him as he took the food. He then closed the door, after handing the poor guy a generous tip – he was dripping wet, so Idés forgot all about how the delivery had been expensive to begin with. He then returned to the living room, yawning and rubbing sleep out of his eye.

He rolled his eyes fondly and ruffled Fallon’s hair at the teasing. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He then took his seat on the couch as Fallon started clearing some space for the food. “It’s not that bad right now,” he argued, although it really was quite bad. Just not by Idés’ standard. The stuff that took up space right now would probably only take around 20 minutes to clean, which to him didn’t actually count as a real mess.

He started unpacking the food once the space on the table was clear. “Margherita, fries, and some mayo,” he said, returning his smile. It struck him that it was a wonder how Fallon could look so good, even after a night like last night. It wouldn’t surprise him if he was ready to go out again tonight. The tousled and slightly messy look suited him somewhat. Meanwhile, Idés had no doubt in his mind that he probably looked just as tired and disheveled as he felt right now.

He downed the rest of his cold coffee and put the cup aside. Then he grabbed a slice of pizza and got comfortable on the couch, his attention moving to the movie that was still playing on the TV. “Pierce Brosnan is quite a bad singer,” he noticed, which he probably had every time they saw this movie. But it really did surprise him everytime that they watched, so he still felt the need to comment on it.

Idés looked around at the mess. Perhaps the place could stand a small cleaning up. And perhaps he should clean up the random junk that was littered all around his apartment. Most of it he couldn’t even remember where he had gotten and it was starting to border on hoarding, he supposed. He quickly brushed away the thought and took a bite of his pizza slice, seeing the smile vanish from Fallon’s face for a brief moment as the other man seemed to get lost in his head for a moment. He raised a brow quizzically, a sort of non-verbal what’s up?
Then as quickly as the smile had disappeared it was back on his face. Idés nodded at his question. “Yeah. At Luigi’s.”

“Stellan Skarsgård, I think.” He took another bite of his pizza slice as he leaned further back into the couch, half-watching the movie on the screen and half-zoned out. Then, a yawn escaped his lips. “Damn, we really should have gone easier on the tequila last night. I feel like an old man.” Although Idés was still only 26, he swore that hangovers were getting worse for each time he went out. Back in his teens, he could easily go out partying every school night with Sammie and the gang, and somehow still be the best student at school. Now, he could hardly muster the energy to put on a pair of pants after a night of heavy drinking.

Idés looked at Fallon with a fond smile as he started humming along to the song again. He wasn’t even sure if it was something the man was even aware he was doing, but it was incredibly cute. He took another bite off his slice of pizza.

“That depends. What are you planning?” Even if Idés was currently feeling like garbage, he hadn’t actually outgrown the feeling that he might be missing out on something. And he knew that while he didn’t feel great now, that would change after the first couple of drinks, should he set his mind to it. Plus, he enjoyed the unpredictability that came with a night out with Fallon. It had never once been boring, which honestly made him wonder what the man got up to when Idés wasn’t around.

“Maybe,” he said, returning the smirk before stretching out the tiredness in his body. It all depended on how he was feeling later. Maybe a shower and another nap would help. And if it was still raining by tonight. He also needed to actually get some work done tomorrow, as this had been a surprisingly unproductive week. But part of him knew that it wasn’t likely that he stayed in for the night, Fallon tended to be quite persuasive without even trying. Idés was weak in that way, his will really wasn’t that strong when it came down to it. “I have a bottle of white in the fridge. So let’s see later.”

He leaned back as watched Meryl Streep’s character walk her daughter up the cliff to the wedding that wouldn’t actually be taking place, if one knew the movie. Then Meryl Streep would marry Pierce Brosnan’’s character, who still couldn’t sing.

“I met someone this week, from the gang back on Baker Street,” he said, for no apparent reason other than the fact he felt like saying it out loud. He didn’t really know what was prompting his thoughts to drift back to Edita, while he was sitting here watching movies with Fallon. Maybe it was the fact that it felt like a ghost had just reentered his life and he still needed to process the memories that came with that. “She’s a student now, apparently.”

“No, what? No, nothing like that,” he said with a chuckle, a bit surprised at how quickly Fallon could come up with something so dramatic. “No, she’s a literature student, so not in my department. She came by for an interview on the controversy of that Zeal paper that got out of hand.” He had shown Fallon a lot of the backlash that came from that paper. Mainly the incomprehensible things people had been saying online. Some of it had been pretty funny, honestly, even if people didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“I don’t know, it’s just always weird, I suppose,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Meeting someone from so long ago. Haven’t seen any of them since I was a teenager.” With good reason too, since most of them weren't even alive anymore.