InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hit it til it breaks!"

Seamus Finnigan (openbottle) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-05-05 14:30:00

Entry tags:

character: dean thomas, character: dominic chambers, character: seamus finnigan

Assistance arrives
Who: Seamus, Dean, Dominic
What: Seamus is not feeling well...
Where: Finnigan's, Seamus's flat
When: Tuesday 5th May, Lunchtimeish?
Rating: SFW for now

For the first hour after he'd opened, Seamus had managed a sort of grim gritted-teeth smile as he greeted the few regulars who came in this early, usually looking for early lunch or late breakfast. As more and more painful minutes had dragged on, though, even that had become impossible and Seamus now looked as miserable as he felt. Pain flared and stabbed at his abdomen so badly that his gaze kept being drawn back to the floo fire, wondering whether he should just shut down and go to St Mungo's. Maybe he had appendicitis or some other massive internal injury. He stayed put, telling himself it wasn't likely, that the lack of sleep of the last few nights was making it impossible to think clearly.

"Are you alright, lad?" one of his customers asked. Seamus jumped. He hadn't seen the man coming, but he quickly strived to put the smile back on his face.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Bit of a headache." He didn't even have the energy left to make some joke about drinking his own wares. Though the customer protested, Seamus insisted on refilling his glass - free of charge - and then sent him back to his chess board.

Seamus had known he would crash. He always did after his almost-manic attempts to keep everything together through Victis Honor day. Usually, he came down with a nasty cold immediately afterwards, too stressed and tired for his immune system to fight it. Other years, he'd just wanted to sleep for days. He'd really though it would hold off until after his chess match against Ron on Thursday, but apparently he'd been way off the mark.

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openbottle
2015-06-15 10:43 am UTC (link)

"Oh," Seamus said, his face still crumpled in confusion about the whole topic. "I've never heard of it." Not that this was exactly surprising. Most of Seamus's experience with films came via either Dean, Justin or Susan so his knowledge wasn't exactly extensive. He shrugged. "It doesn't sound like you're missing much." Though he liked the action films he had seen, his instinct was to immediately look down on anything Dean couldn't watch.

As Dean continued to talk about the meeting, Seamus made his way over from the counter to wrap his arms around Dean, his chin propped on Dean's shoulder. He didn't say anything for a moment, just savoured the fact that Dean was still around to be hugged, still there to look after Seamus when he was poorly. As badly as Dean's year on the run had affected him - it could have gone much worse. "That's what meetings are for," he said. "So our emotions don't spill out all willy-nilly in front of people who don't get it." Well, that was part of the reason, anyway.

He pulled back, eyes a bit misty, and forced a smile. He was still feeling a bit... all over the place. Whether it was tiredness or pain or just residual feelings from Victis Honor that he hadn't deal with properly. "I'll come up with something," he agreed. He didn't expect Dean to plan his birthday, just to show up and have a good time. "Back to Spain for a weekend away from everything?" It wasn't a serious suggestion, but the idea did appeal. Much as Seamus loved to be the centre of attention on his birthday, right now it was more tempting to isolate. He knew the feeling would pass before long.

On Dean's instructions, he moved back to the sofa, arranging himself in a position he could actually eat in without risking tipping soup over either himself, Dean or the couch. "I think noodles are enough."

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artistdean
2015-06-15 09:36 pm UTC (link)

"Eh, I hadn't either," he said with a shrug. He still didn't understand the appeal either. "Not like I'm going to risk it," he said. If Jess had already warned him off he wasn't going to bother. She was a little less dedicated to ensuring his comfort than his friends were, at least by way of films and television.

When Seamus came up and wrapped arms around him a slight tightness in his frame relaxed. It had been brought about by talking about the meeting. He hung onto Seamus and breathed deeply, relaxing into it. And this was why he couldn't risk their friendship on his feelings. He never felt quite like this with anyone else, not this relaxed, not this comfortable. "Doesn't always make it easy," he mumbled. As they drew apart a little, not yet letting go Dean smiled faintly. "No matter how much therapy I have the whole big breakdown thing is never really easy in the aftermath." He was still being quiet, it wasn't all that far past after all.

The idea of going to Spain again hit Dean sort of like a brick wall. As much as he wanted exactly that sort of thing with Seamus he also knew how they'd ended up sharing a bed all week. Apart from that little incident of him sleeping in a strange bed upsetting his sleeping pattern it was honestly one of the most relaxing times he'd had in a good while. "Not the worst idea," he said, voice catching slightly. He sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. "But I think something with everyone is a better plan. You've got plenty of time to think of something though."

Dean nodded in acknowledgement that Seamus couldn't see and brought the bowls over, sliding into the space next to Seamus after handing over one of the bowls. "This shouldn't irritate your stomach even if you're feeling a bit off."

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openbottle
2015-06-17 05:18 pm UTC (link)

"It'll get better," Seamus said - more hopeful than certain. It was what he personally clung to when it all got to be too much for him. The war was over, and though they were still suffering the after-effects at least they weren't adding more trauma on top of it anymore. Mostly. "In a few years it'll all be a decade ago. Then two, then three. And one day we'll be old and grey and wrinkly and we'll have been safe for longer than we were in danger." And that had to fix it, right? Seamus wouldn't still be having nightmares when he was in his 70s. Or maybe he'd have new nightmares where Dean died of old age and left Seamus to carry on alone... It didn't bear thinking about and Seamus tugged his shirt down and draped his arm across his stomach.

Dean brought the bowls over and Seamus took his with his free hand, cradling it against his chest while he fumbled with the spoon. "You're too good to me," he said, smiling at Dean as he squeezed himself into the space beside Seamus. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite pin down the reference. "What's that science-y thing about..." But the words wouldn't come and the soup smelled pretty good. Seamus dipped his spoon into it, blowing carefully across the surface before bringing it to his lips and sipping. The warmth was good, even before he could really taste anything. "I was going to say something incredibly intelligent about you being like... my shadow or negative space or something," he informed Dean before taking another spoonful. "But I can't think. Maybe it's not even science. Maybe it's art and I picked it up from some poncey artist that I know." He nudged his toes against Dean's calf to hammer home who this statement was referring to.

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artistdean
2015-06-18 12:13 am UTC (link)

"It already has," Dean said firmly. It was true too, the first year after the war had been pretty horrific all around. Between Seamus spending weeks in hospital while Dean held himself together by sheer stubbornness, and the fallout when Seamus got out and Dean's control broke. Those early months had been a total mess of not-yet-fully-working treatments and being triggered far too often. They had all come a long way since then. "Yeah, it will," he said, ignoring the clench in his heart at the thought of him and Seamus friends in their old age. Friends and nothing more. He could make it enough.

Trying and failing to scoop up a piece of noodle Dean smiled down into his dish at the compliment. He looked up at Seamus' sentence trailed off, looking expectant. By the time Seamus was done with his half-baked explanations Dean had basically no clue about what he was getting at, but he was amused. "I will admit I am very poncey, but I have shit all idea what you're going on about," he said, shuffling his calf slightly further from the poking toes. "I think it's a compliment though, so I'll take it!" He grinned ridiculously at Seamus and applied himself to his soup.

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