Don't Drunk-Dial Batman (Kieron)

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam didn’t often have a reason to come back to Hammel now he was a college student. But today, he needed to.

Mostly because he owned a certain someone an apology.

A big apology.

It had all started with an innocent night out with his new friends from class. Celebrating surviving another week gone by, they’d gathered in one of the smaller bars and had a few drinks. And then a few more. By the time they were done, everyone was a little wobbly and giggly. Sam could hold his liquor like a champ, but even he was a little... off kilter.

So much so, on his way back to his brother’s apartment he’d gotten turned around. A few blocks later, he’d arrived close to a playground. The logical thing in his mind had not been to call his brother for assistance, but rather...

Batman. Also known as Kieron.

After some muddled, not-so-helpful directions, punctuated with childish giggles as Sam scampered around the playground, he’d finally been found and rescued by a less than impressed winged nurse. Sam had been scolded, and brought back to his brother’s apartment with a promise to behave.

The apologetic texts he’d sent the next day had been met with relatively cold responses, so Sam had done the next best thing. Trekked to a place he’d discovered that sold all kinds of really weird things, including the chocolate and candy insects that Kieron seemed to like so much, bought an unhealthy amount of them, and had taken them all to Hammel.

Said bag was now set to burst as he lugged it through the halls. He hadn’t even texted Kieron to let him know he was coming. Only lame people did that. Besides, Kieron would probably just tell him to go away. This way, he had to accept his apology.

He’d even made him a card during class, complete with a lopsided Bat Symbol on the front.

Slinking into the infirmary for the first time in a long time for a reason other than faking sick, he promptly deposited his offerings on the front desk. “I’m sorry Batman! I’ll never ever drink again and I’m sorry I called you and I brought you presents!”

There. He had to forgive him now.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron had long ago lost track of just how much coffee he'd consumed today.

The nurse was exhausted. Tired beyond belief and grumpy even more so than he usually was in work, which was saying something. If they hadn't have been short of staff in the infirmary today he'd probably have been sent home to get some sleep, but as it was he was powering through and just counting down the hours until he could go home and get his head down for a while.

He hated getting woken in the middle of the night at the best of times, but then having to go out and literally fly around the town trying to find a drunken idiot, when he had a six am start at work in the morning, had taken the metaphorical biscuit. Normally Kieron was very patient with Sam and put up with his random nonsense, but last night he had crossed the line.

Nudging his shades up his nose to rub at his tired eyes, Kieron headed back out into the little reception area to see if anyone had popped in yet. Thankfully today had been very quiet, barring the seemingly constant stream of near-apologies on his phone from Sam, and Kieron had been able to get on with routine tasks that didn't require full brain function.

Sometimes Kieron regretting giving Sam his number. But then again, he did worry just what kind of a mess the kid would get into if he wasn't there to try to pick up the pieces.

Kieron was running a stock take of the stationary in the cupboard near the main desk when he heard that oh-so familiar voice barking another apology, and he sighed softly before turning around to face Sam. The shades masked the dark rings around his eyes well enough, as well as hid the slight glare that crossed Kieron's features as he looked over the far too perky seeming boy before address Nik, who was stood nearby and giving Kieron a slightly confused look. “I am going to take my break now, if that's okay?” Once she okay'd it Kieron indicated for Sam to follow and headed into one of the empty exam rooms, perching on the table.

“Don't make promises you know you can't keep, Sam.” He glanced at the clock in the room and frowned. He could have sworn it felt like an hour had passed since he'd last checked the time, but in reality it had only been ten minutes. “I'm glad you called rather than just sleeping out there or something, but did it really have to be at one in the morning on a weekday?”

Kieron slipped his shades off and rested them on top of his head. He had to squint hard against the light in the room, but he had to rub his face to try to wake himself up a bit. “I thought it's us Irish that are supposed to be the drinkers, anyway. When did Americans start drinking like that? You lot drink like you don't want to live.”

[Samuel Rixon]

When Sam had woken up that morning, he’d been convinced he’d been dying of a hangover. Understandably, his brother had had little to no sympathy for him. His first classes had been more or less slept through as he recovered, and by lunchtime Sam had been bouncing around again, more or less back to normal. Sometimes his metabolism was a blessed thing.

His reasoning for calling Kieron had been simple. His brother would have likely killed him for being out in the middle of the night while inebriated. But it could have been worse. He could have tried to drive. There had been a reason he’d left his car at the apartment that morning and taken the bus to school. But it was more than that. He trusted Kieron, and he’d honestly stopped viewing the older man as just the school nurse, and had started seeing him as more of a friend. Okay, yes, a friend he would text various burns and wounds to and ask if things needed stitches or amputations, but still. A friend. He trusted Kieron in an almost brotherly way.

And honestly, he liked him better than his brother. After all, he’d come to rescue him in the middle of the night, while Sam had had no idea where he way beyond ‘there’s SWINGS!’. He’d been sure Kevin wouldn’t have done it, even if he’d asked. So, Kieron had been his go-to.

He’d understood to some degree that he’d screwed up somewhere when the nurse had started to lecture him, though not much of it had really sunk in for Sam. At least the part about ‘don’t do this again’ had kind-of-sort-of made it through. Next time, call Kevin, and deal with his wrath.

It was because Kieron had lectured him that he was at Hammel now, brandishing his massive bags brimming with gross buggy candy and treats. He hadn’t paid much attention to what he was getting. As long as it was buggy, he’d assumed Kieron would like it. It seemed as though he’d guessed right, too, when Kieron waved him back. The pyro trotted merrily after him, bags in tow, and he promptly held them out to the nurse.

“I said I was sorry!” Because apologies fixed everything. At least they had when he was younger. Say sorry for trying to sell your brother to the neighbour’s kids, say sorry for cutting the hair off your sister’s Barbies, say sorry for setting your mother’s drapes on fire. But the look on Kieron’s face made him start to think that sorry wasn’t quite enough this time around. How did one atone for such a thing? “I didn’t know what time it was and I got lost and I kinda freaked out and I knew you’d rescue me.”

At the squint, Sam scurried to the wall and flipped off the lights. He’d spent enough time around Kieron to know he had an aversion to light, and he figured it was a good thing to do when you were in someone’s bad books. “We were celebratin’,” he explained. “’Cause some exams were over and stuff.” One foot scuffed at the floor lightly, and he tried holding out the bags again. “But I’m really, really sorry, an’ I promise next time to only call if I’m dying or something. Here. I brought you those buggy things.” It really was an odd assortment of chocolate covered bugs, flavored bugs, and anything else that seemed to fit into that category. “An’ I dunno when we started drinking like the Irish. Like... around Saint Patrick’s Day?” His head cocked at an angle as he tried to figure it out himself, looking rather like a confused puppy in the process.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron could remember a time when he had been the same. When going to bed at two and waking up at seven had been easy, and weekends were filled with regular all-nighters. In truth, it really hadn’t been long ago at all. There were only a few years between him and Sam (physically anyway, mentally they were decades apart), and yet sometimes it felt like he was closer to being his babysitter than his friend. What the hell had happened the past few years to make Kieron feel so very old, when in reality he hadn’t even hit thirty yet? This was far too young for a midlife crisis, surely.

It was easy to blame it on work. The constant pressure and stresses of having to do a job he disliked were weighing on him and he knew it wasn’t placing him in a healthy mindset. Social pressures leading to stress leading to side-effects such as acute tiredness and antagonistic behaviour. At least he had Maebelle. She was a flower in his life, and a truly remarkable reason to keep pushing through the garbage and aim for a happier future. Maybe he would stop off at the florist and get her a new plant on the way home…

For now though he had to deal with Sam, who seemed far perkier than anyone should be allowed to be after a night like that. The sad truth was that he actually quite liked the kid; he could be entertaining when he wasn’t being a brat, and they had managed to come to a decent understanding while Sam had still been a student trying to get out of gym class every week.

Kieron settled on the edge of the table, ignoring the bags for the moment. He had to talk to Sam before even looking at them, as to do that would be a complete acceptance of his apology. “I know you said you’re sorry. I heard you.” Kieron wasn’t the sort to hold a grudge over something like this, as irritating as it had been at the time, and he would forgive him quickly enough. It wouldn’t hurt to let Sam stew for a while, though. “You need to start being a bit more careful. I will always come and rescue you, always, but it’d be nice if you used a bit of sense and tried not to get into these situations to start with.” Slightly hypocritical coming from the one with a scar on his head from flying into a bridge while drunk, but Sam didn’t need to know that right now.

The nurse’s squinting stopped as the light was turned off and his vision could return to normal. There was still light in there but nowhere near as much, and it helped remarkably. “Thank you for that.” Kieron listened patiently as Sam tried to explain, in his usual thoughts-randomly-strung-together way, and he gave a small nod. “Look… If you’re lost or hurt or anything like that, I’d rather you called me than didn’t. Just try and use a bit more sense in future, yeah?” He tried to think of a way to phrase it that might actually have more impact with the man-child. “Imagine…” Kieron sighed and his voice dropped slightly; he really could do without his work colleagues overhearing this. “If it’s something worth stopping sex over, it’s worth calling me. You’d stop if you were really lost or getting mugged or thought you’d broken something, but not if you’d scraped knee or someone spilled your drink.”

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam’s usual circle of friends consisted of people who were rather like-minded. Still loved video games and things like Jackass and South Park. Toilet humor, pranks, and just about anything they all should have at least started to grow out of by now. Unfortunately at the community college, he’d just found more like-minded people to hang around with. This was especially unfortunate for both Kevin and Kieron. Kevin, because he had to live with his little brother’s antics, and Kieron because he had to hear about them. Eventually, growing up was likely in Sam’s future, but for now? Antics ahoy.

Sam continued to bounce slightly on the balls of his feet, twisting his hands together in less of an anxious way, and more of a squirrelly ‘I’m standing still and don’t want to be’ kind of way. At least he was looking at Kieron, and paying attention in a way that he didn’t often do with other people. It was a wonder he wasn’t ADD, because his attention did tend to wander. But this was Kieron, and he liked the older man. He wasn’t going to screw up any more than he already had, and that meant paying attention when he was being spoken to. “It’s not my fault. Stuff happens!” Of course, he could have stopped drinking earlier, or actually eaten something at the bar, or heaven forbid had a few glasses of water to wash down the alcohol. Okay, there was lots he could have done to avoid wandering like a useless thing at un ungodly hour.

The pyro’s head tipped slightly to the side, much like a dog trying so hard to understand what was being said to him. “Soooo... ‘cause I was lost, it was okay?” So perhaps that meant he wasn’t in as much trouble as he’d thought he was. That also meant that he wasn’t supposed to send any more pictures of flesh wounds and ask about stitches, but he could handle that. ... For a week or so, until he forgot about it. “I can do that! I promise! Now open your present!” Not that it was difficult to tell what it was, what with the small packages almost set to burst from the bags they were in. Maybe Sam had taken the lecture to heart, and maybe he would just go back to his old habits in a week or two. At least he was fairly certain he was kind-of-sort-of-forgiven.

[Kieron Sharpe]

Kieron’s own circle of friends was actually fairly tragically non-existent. There was Maebelle obviously, but beyond her there wasn’t really anyone he could call a true friend. He had work colleagues and acquaintances and people he knew, but… friends? Not so much. It was a worrying thought that the squirrelly, frustrating, occasionally dumb-as-a-brick student currently stood in front of him was probably the closest he had to an actual friend. Wow, he needed to get out more.

“I know stuff happens and I know that sometimes you can’t help these things. I’m just asking you to use your brain and sometimes stop and think things through before you do them. If you’re in an area you don’t know, maybe have one or two less drinks so you can actually get home again.” Kieron did often find himself wondering why Sam called him instead of Kevin. From what he had been able to pick up the relationship between the brothers was not a bad one. Perhaps it was simply that he yelled less than Kevin did.

Kieron rubbed at his temples as Sam still failed to grasp what was being said to him, but bless, the kid was at least trying, even if he did look rather ‘special’ with his head tilted like a confused Labrador. “Yes, because you were lost it’s okay, but next time try not to get lost in the first place.” As Sam once more pleaded at him to open the presents, Kieron finally relented. “Okay, fine. Thank you.” Kieron carefully pulled some of the little boxes out of one of the bags. “Wow… These are actually really good. Thank you.”

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam seemed to attract friends like fire attracted moths. He was generally a likeable guy, albeit a little dim. But he loved people, and it tended to help in the friend department. He’d got into college not dreading it, or being scared. He’d gone in on his first day and tried to befriend more or less every person he came across that was friendly. No, he hadn’t learned much, but he’d ended the day with a ton of new buddies.

“Mmnnn...” Sam squinted slightly as he tried to picture what Kieron was talking about. How was that right in the world, not drinking as much if you were somewhere you didn’t know? It sounded dumb, but if it would keep Batman happy, he’d live with it. At least until he forgot about it and drunk dialed him again. Then it would be right back to where they were now. He still preferred this to Kevin, though. Kevin lectured like an old lady. Probably because he had no life. (In Sam’s eyes, anyway.)

“Okay! No more getting lost! I swear!” And he meant it. Well. As long as Sam was ever capable of meaning something before forgetting about it. But he was going to try. Because having Batman mad at him wasn’t any fun at all. At least he finally opened his present, though. Sam beamed and started bouncing on his heels again, clearly pleased. “I tried to get all the kinds they had!” He may have run up the credit card his parents helped him with, but it was worth it to have Kieron happy again.