Lissa had tired to be there for Adrian as much as she could, she forced him to feed and try and take care of himself, now that the teams were coming home she decided to find him and check on him again. She didn’t like the mental places that he could go given everything.
Heading to his house she passed Steve Harrington on the way who turned around to let her into Heart 2. Lissa didn’t waste time heading to Adrian’s room and knocking.
“I know you are in there.” She called out as she knocked again.
Other than keeping an eye on Mia, Adrian had mostly been spending time alone in his room doing… well, nothing. He’d been so keyed up right after the restoration and making sure Mia was being taken care of that when the emotional and physical crash came at him, it came hard. Really hard. He’d probably let himself indulge in more alcohol than he should have, but it was easier than dealing with the hard crash that he knew was coming or the voice of his dead aunt in his mind.
He’d been forced to stay sober throughout the entire Strigoi hunt to make sure he had access to his abilities, so it probably wasn’t that surprising that he’d slipped after using so much spirit at one time. Today, though, he knew that Jill and Rose would probably be heading back to Atlantis, so he’d been very sparing with any drinks and the last one he’d had was more than two hours earlier. The knock on his bedroom door made him groan as he opened his eyes and felt Lissa’s presence on the other side of the door.
After the second knock, he rolled himself out of bed and opened the door, flashing her a sleepy smile. “Well, hey there, cousin.”
Lissa's arms were crossed as she waited for Adrian to open the door. It was lucky he opened the door when he did because she was considering breaking the door down to check on him.
"Well, hey there?" She repeated with a sigh uncrossing her arms.
"Adrian..." She let his name trail off. "I'd ask you if you are okay, but you don't look okay, so, instead, let's get you some water."
Woops, cousin didn’t seem happy. Or, well, she seemed worried. Adrian knew that he wasn’t always the best at helping keep the worry at bay when it came to his friends worrying over him, but he figured he at least had a pass this time around. Maybe.
“Oh, this?” He circled his face with his finger in the air. “This is just because I haven’t gotten all of my beauty sleep.” He shrugged. “I fed last night if you’re wondering,” he said, following her into the kitchen. “And you wouldn’t happen to be using code, would you? I have it on good authority that ‘vodka’ is the new ‘water’ these days.” He used air quotes around each of the words and leaned against the counter. “And I’m fine.”
"If by beauty sleep, you mean sleep without a hangover, you're right," Lissa said with a small frown that she pushed away quickly as she poured a glass of actual water and pulled out her phone to order some sports drinks.
"Adrian," she said handing him the glass of water. "Pretend it is vodka," the double worry of Adrian and Jill sometimes made it hard to figure out how to approach him, she knew better than anyone the side effects of a bond and how saving someone took something.
"I want to talk about what happened."
Staring at the glass of water, Adrian made a face before taking a sip. Once he did, he sighed. “I don’t think my imagination is that strong.” No, water really didn’t cut it when what he really wanted was another drink to take the edge back off of the spirit he felt inching its way back into his head. The drinks he’d had earlier were really starting to wear off now, so it was only a matter of time before Aunt Tatiana made her grand appearance again. He’d never told anyone about hearing her voice in his mind. Not even Jill. He wasn’t sure if Jill knew about it from the bond, but if she did, she hadn’t mentioned it so far.
“A lot happened,” Adrian said and flopped down on the couch, leaning back on one of the pillows. He figured that they’d be having this conversation sooner or later. “Any part in particular?”
Sighing, Lissa followed him to the couch and took a seat turning so she could look at him, he didn’t look good and she didn’t like. She took a peek at his aura and wasn’t exactly pleased with what she saw either. Frowning she waited a moment before answering his question.
“I know how much restoring someone can take, especially someone you know about and care about,” Lissa was sure anyone would be a challenge but she felt there was more when it was personal. “And I’m worried about you Adrian,” her eyes not masking any of the worry she felt when looking at him.
"I just need some time to get my head on straight," he said with a sigh but eventually looked over to where she was sitting next to him. "I didn't expect it to be her, and then people were acting like they needed to pat themselves on the back and take a fucking victory lap after it was all over, so I know it hit me harder than it might would have if it had been some random Moroi."
It hadn't been spirit flaring up in him then, but his mood was already on edge and that had only made it worse. "But I know I need to get it together, alright? Jill and Rose are coming home today, and I haven't touched the bottle next to my nightstand since earlier this morning. And see?" He held up his glass of water and took a sip. "I'm making healthy choices."
How long it would last was anybody's guess, but he knew seeing Jill again would help. He'd already been worried about her leaving even before the shit with the Strigoi started.
Listening, she nodded, it was so different for her when she'd saved Dimitri, there wasn't a lot of victory, more suspicion and confusion. She was glad that Mia was somewhere that she could be safe and wouldn't be locked away.
"Have you spent time with Mia?" She asked looking up at him with a small smile at his healthy choices comment. "I know you are doing what you can, and you can hate me for saying it, but have you thought of seeing someone? I did at school, and it wasn't perfect but it did help." She offered softly, keeping her voice calm without judgement. Lissa would never judge anyone for getting help. Even if it was just getting help for a short time and learning techniques, she wanted Adrian to be okay.
“Some,” he replied. “When she was in medical and a little after. None in the last day or so.” Most of that time he’d spent here at the house dealing with his own downward spiral after coming down from using so much spirit and the adrenaline rush that he’d felt for at least a day from being so keyed up afterwards. At her suggestion, though, Adrian gave Lissa a look. “I don’t need to see anyone, Liss. I’ll be fine in a couple days.”
”Will you be?” The voice spoke to him in his mind. There she was. Adrian knew it was only a matter of time before Aunt Tatiana showed up again. ”Yes,” he thought in reply, but she didn’t seem convinced.
“Talking to someone who doesn’t understand what this really is, isn’t going to do any good,” Adrian said back to Lissa. And he sure as hell wasn’t going on any medication. “You know how this works. The first few days after a big use are hard, but I’m dealing with it. And, plus, Jill will be back today. I’ll be fine.”
Lissa did know, she knew more than anyone what it was like and she hated seeing Adrian go through it, she also knew he wouldn’t just be fine.
“What about Jill?” She asked after pausing for a few moments. “She might tell you she’s fine, but it’s never that simple.” Lissa knew all too well what her darkness had done to Rose and while she wanted Adrian to be okay she also wanted to protect her sister. It was a tricky balance.
“If you won't talk to someone for yourself, would you do it for her?”
Adrian just gave Lissa a look. Really? She was going to try to guilt him into talking to a shrink by using Jill? He knew his moods and his drinking affected Jill probably more than his bondmate ever would admit, but until recently he’d mostly had it under control. Mostly.
Sighing, he leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes for a moment, doing his best to ignore the argument he was having in his head with his dead aunt. Unfortunately, she agreed with Queen Vasilisa Dragomir which was enough to probably alert him that what she was saying had a point because when did that ever happen.
“Fine,” he said after a moment, looking back at her. “I’ll go see the shrink, but I’m not promising that I’ll keep going indefinitely. And I’m not taking anything.” He remembered when Lissa had gone on meds and what it had done to her and her spirit. He wasn’t doing that because what would happen if he needed it and couldn’t reach it?
Lissa would not call it guilting, she’d call it being honest with Adrian and what she was worried, really worried.
She was patient giving Adrian the time he needed to think about it. She knew pushing too much wouldn’t be a good idea, but she also had to repress a smile when he told her he’d go.
“Okay,” she nodded. “You don’t have to take anything you don’t want to.” She secretly hoped that he’d change his mind and try something even if it was just for a little while. “I didn’t keep going after a while, sometimes you don’t need to keep going,” she knew just learning about how to handle things and talking to someone was really helpful.
That was Adrian’s plan, though, he wasn’t going to voice that just yet. No matter how much he probably needed to go, something he’d never admit to himself, he didn’t want to be the guy that needed to see a shrink full-time because he couldn’t keep his spirit in check. He just needed to come down from the last several days. Not only did he have his aunt talking to him in his head, but he could practically hear his father berating him about how he was wasting his life away and needed to get his shit together.
“I guess I should eat something before they get back home. Any requests?” He should probably take a shower to wash away and wake him up from the last couple of days. He could order the food and shower while they waited for it to show up at his door.
Lissa wasn’t exactly hungry but she was going to support Adrian and be there no matter what. She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Just a salad would be good,” she wasn’t going to picky about it though.
“How about you go get a shower and I’ll take care of ordering,” she was also going to clean up a little bit because she wasn’t good at just sitting around.
Adrian scoffed lightly. Of course she’d want nothing but a salad. Normally, he’d be repulsed by a big meal after a hangover, but this wasn’t exactly that kind of hangover. Not completely, anyway. Half and half. Or maybe sixty-forty.
“Alright, have at it. The menus are in the drawer next to the fridge. Order me whatever - well, mostly whatever. Not a salad.” Because god knows he wasn’t the kind of guy that was going to do a lot of cooking. If not for take-out and a microwave (though, he could make a mean batch of spaghetti), Adrian would be up a creek.
It took him a few moments to finally will himself to get off the couch. When he did, he went straight to the bathroom, turned on the shower to its hottest setting, and stripped out of his clothes. Once the bathroom mirror was properly fogged up and the room filled with steam, he stepped in and let out a sigh as the hot water beat against his skin and wash away the last two days of alcohol and spirit hangover.