Chapter Text
He stumbled and nearly hit a garbage can; feet feeling clumsy and uncoordinated. A couple walking in his direction stared and moved out his way, mumblingly something under their breath as they passed trying not to get too close. He didn’t have the energy to comment on their behavior or the words they whispered; and he sorta felt like if he opened his mouth he’d be sick.
He should have taken Lilith up on her offer of crashing on her’s and Roland’s couch. But he had waved them off, said he was fine and that he’d be fine making it home. Except he didn’t want to go home, the apartment just didn’t seem right without Bloodwing. It felt empty and made him feel sick to his stomach to go there and not have her there with him. He could go crash at Brick’s ...but he remembered the last time he stumbled in there in the wee hours of the morning the dog’s created a ruckus and Brick got a noise complaint the next day from several of the neighbors.
He groaned, stumbling to lean against the cool clammy brick wall he had been walking by. The slight condensation on the stone feeling good against his heated skin.
The days had been hot and the nights just as much, and the moister in the air did nothing to help his nauseous drunken state. He felt like he was drowning, or maybe it was the drink, he couldn’t tell anymore.
He felt a wave of nausea roll over him and he braced himself against the wall and leaned over as the bile rose in his throat. But nothing came up and he only gagged miserably until the feeling subsided and he released an uncomfortable groan. He pressed his head against cool stone again and looked around blearily.
He squinted, he recognized this part of town, or more specifically this street and he realized that he was only three blocks from Vex’s apartment complex. He gave a tired exhale through his nose and remember the fight they had had after...after Bloodwing had died. He had said somethings he shouldn’t have, things that she didn’t deserve to have said to her, he had blamed and accused. Later he had called and tried to apologize to her but she had refused to pick up and he honestly didn’t blame her.
But now standing standing on the sidewalk at two in the morning miserable and drunk out of his mind he didn’t know what else to do. So he found himself walking towards the woman’s apartment praying that she had maybe forgiven or at least had her vengeance simmer enough to let him in.
The doorman surprisingly recognized him and let him in (he guessed that he and the others had been there enough to become regulars or at least sometime regulars). He muttered a thanks before being his arduous trek up the stairs.
Vex lived in a six story walk up and while, luckily she only lived on the fourth floor it still felt like he was going to die by the time he reached the second story. He had to pause for a moment on the second floor landing to wrestle down his urge to vomit before continuing. When he finally reached the forth floor he praised every god he knew and shuffled out of the stairwell and down the hall.
Vex kept odd hours so with any luck she would still up and he wouldn’t have to alert half of the complex by pounding on her door. Coming to a halt at her apartment he rested his forehead against the oak door, feeling the brass numbers adorning the wood dig into his skin. Shakily he rose his hand and smacked his palm against the door firmly.
He paused and waited for a moment...nothing, he tried again.
Still nothing.
He hit the door a little harder and called out to her.
“Vex.” he said hoarsely.
Speaking was enough to set his already tossing and turning stomach off, and he needed her to open the door right now so he could be sick in her house and not on her doorstep.
_______
Vex grumbled and rubbed at her sore eyes; she had managed to steal some information from the financial department and she wanted to give it a read over before sending it over to Roland. Ever since Jack found Bloodwing flying around the tower things started getting more hush hush. It was harder to come by information and information that she did manage to come by was usually encrypted. So a good deal of the stuff went to Janey first; this grouping of files were the only things that came without upper level clearance.
She glared at her computer screen before leaning back and chugging down the rest of her tea. She had been trying to get herself off of coffee but she felt even the black tea was quiet cutting it, she wondered if adding more sugar would help. She looked at the bottom of her cup for a moment looking at the residual sugar before throwing it back and drinking the sugary sludge.
A knock on her door or so she thought.
She paused and lowered the mug, listening, waiting.
Finally another knock and she leaned out of her chair and stared down the hall at her front door. Slowly she rose up setting he mug down, padding slowly towards the sound.
Another knock this time more desperate and then.
“Vex.”
She froze, why was he here?
“Vex please open the door I’m going to fuckin barf.” came Mordecai’s pained mumble.
God fucking damnit
With that she undid the lock, opened the door and stared at the going to be sick man in front of her.
“Get in.” she commanded.
Mordecai took a step and brought a hand to his mouth, bending slightly at the waist.
“Oh, no no no no!” she sprung forward helping him walk down the hall, not bothering to close the door behind her.
She urged him towards the bathroom attached to her living room, palm pressing gently but firmly against his back, her other hand against his stomach.
Do not puke on my floors her mind repeated over and over.
She kicked open the bathroom door and wrenched the toilet seat up.
Mordecai collapsed onto his knees and empty the contents of his stomach into bowl.
Vex wavered on her feet cringing when he retched again and she briefly wondered if she needed to be worried about alcohol poisoning.
“I’m going to go close the door, I’ll be right back.”
The man could only groan in reply as his body shivered.
Vex hurried out of the bathroom, not wanting to leave him without supervision for too long and quickly closed and locked the door before heading back to the bathroom where she found the falconer heaving into the toilet again.
She flushed the contents down before kneeling down next to him. She had never seen him like this, he looked pathetic and it hurt because he was anything but. She scooted up closer to him, her hand coming up to smooth back his hair and tuck back a few of the locks that had escaped his ponytail.
She felt him tense at the touch for a moment before deflating with a weak sound; he hunched forward and rested his forehead on the lip of the bowl. She continued pet his hair as he shook and she knew right then and there she never wanted to see him like this again.
His body jerked again and Vex held back his hair as he retched, she placed a palm against his forehead and kissed the back of his head. Finally he settled weakly against her, completely drained. She leaned forward and flushed one last time.
She listened to him breath for a time, continuing to smooth back his hair. After a while she decided the worst of it was over and decided it would be best to at least get him something to drink. She shifted and went to stand up when his hand caught her wrist.
“Don’t go...” he rasped.
She paused half standing looking at him in surprise.
“Please...I’m sorry, just, don’t go.” he continued weakly.
“Mordecai, I’ll be right back, I’m not leaving you. You need to drink something.” She gently twisted her wrist in his grasp, freeing herself before grabbing onto his hand and squeezing it. “I promise I’ll be right back.”
She exited the bathroom, walking quickly to the kitchen, pulling out a glass from the cabinet and filling it with ice before turing on the tap.
When she returned to him he was leaning weakly against the tub, eyes red and tired. She kneeled down next him and help out the glass; he took it shakily.
“Slow.” she scolded when he began to guzzle the water down.
He glared at her weakly but obeyed, taking small sips and seeming to relish the cool water on his cracked lips.
Finally he handed her back the glass having drained it’s contents. She took and placed it on the vanity before scooting to sit next to him, slinging an arm around his shoulders; fingers playing with one of his loose dreads.
“You are going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow buddy.” she commented.
He groaned, head lolling slightly.
“Please, don’t remind me...” he muttered pitifully.
“Alright, alright.”
They sat in silence for awhile before Vex noticed Mordecai was starting to nod off.
“Not so fast buddy, You reek of booze and you’re not sharing the bed smelling like that.” and with that she was working at the ties of his boots.
“Vex, Vex leave it just lemme sleep.” he grumbled.
“Clean up first then sleep.” she removed his boots and socks before moving to his belt. “Up.” she smacked at his hips and glared at her but rose his hips up enough for her to pull down his pants and boxers.
He managed to remove his jacket and undershirt by himself and Vex helped him to his feet and into the tub. She had began to strip herself of her clothes when she noticed Mordecai eyeing her suspiciously.
“Relax bir-” she stopped, herself rethinking her words carefully. “Relax, I’m just helping.” she stripped down to her underwear before adjusting the shower head knobs and turning on the spray.
Mordecai hissed and recoiled against the initial coldness but relaxed when the water began to heat up.
Vex climbed in behind him, positioning him to lay against her chest, he moved to pull away but she was stronger in his drunken state and she pressed him back against her as she reached for a bar of soap.
She decided they must have looked ridiculous. Mordecai was all gangly limbs and he didn’t fit in the tub by himself let alone with her. One of his legs dangled over the lip of the tub, allowing for a healthily amount of water to stream out onto the floor. Vex sat behind him, her underwear completely soaked through, hair plastered to her face as she tried to give him a quick wash off.
When they were done there was a fairly large puddle on the floor that Vex quickly threw a towel over before helping the tired falconer out of the tub. She didn’t bother getting either of them a towel, or with the heap of now wet clothes on the floor. She simply walked them through the living room in the all their naked glory towards her bedroom.
Without turning on the light she pulled back the covers and Mordecai sat down on the edge of the bed, slumping in his exhaustion. When Vex moved to exit the room he once again grabbed her wrist but this time said nothing.
“Lay down.” she told him, and he released her wrist and did as he was told.
Vex padded into the living space and turned of all the lights and shutdown her computer before returning to the bedroom. She stripped herself of the rest of her clothes and crawled into bed. Immediately Mordecai was pulled her to him and she allowed him to hold her close, his skin still slightly damp from the shower. She tucked her head under his chin, his facial hair tickling her forehead slightly before she settled.
She smoothed a hand down his chest and kissed his neck softly.
“...I’m sorry.” he said after a few minutes.
“I know, go to sleep.” she replied
She knew he wasn’t asleep, though he hadn’t said anything else.
And after a few more seconds she added “I forgive you”
She felt him relax and release a small exhale of breath, hand coming up to squeeze her shoulder softly before he settled.
Vex sighed against him when she finally heard his soft even breathes. She snuggled closer to him, suddenly feeling very tired.
She hoped none of this would be too strange in the morning.