“Go ahead,” Xellis said. “I’ll wake you if you need me to. And I’ll make sure you don’t fall off the roof— like I said before.”
Arci waddled over, using his arms to drag himself across a few shingles of the roof. When he was close to Xellis’s shoulder, he cuddled down and began to purr.
"Mmkay…" Scipio shifted a bit to be more comfortable and soon drifted off to sleep in Xellis's lap. He settled down and relaxed further, his cheeks still quite flushed from the alcohol in his system.
Xellis smiled. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Scipio look this peaceful. He could completely see the fragility of a mortal, but there was something about the human that seemed to make him different. He was brave, the god could tell. A lot of mortals lacked that quality.
He closed his eyes as well, his breathing slowing. He felt the warm sun caress his face, and it was then he longed for a human’s ability to sleep. It seemed so enjoyable. Instead, he just rested there, contentedly.
Scipio slept for about an hour before he stirred again and groaned. "Nngh… f-fuck, my head…" He mumbled, bringing one hand up to his head. "Ah… is this the thing you were talking about? Hangover or something?" He asked, wincing a bit at the sharp pain in his head.
Xellis blinked away his almost trance-like state. “Heck dude, maybe? I have no idea. Never experienced one. I would guess so. But.. give or take like, half and hour, and you’ll probably be fine.”
He kept his head rested against the shingles of the roof, the scratchy material not the most comfortable, but good enough for him. He stretched out his arms, letting out a small whimper as he did so.
"Ugh… why am I laying on you?" Scipio asked, confused. "Did I do that while I was drunk?" He moved out of Xellis's lap and stood up. Almost immediately after doing so, he stumbled and fell back down onto the roof.
“Hoooowooah buddy, take a seat,” he said with a smile, sitting up on his knees to help Scipio if he asked. “Just wait a while, alright? ‘N yeah, you did fall asleep on me, but it’s fine, I didn’t mind. You’re all good.”
He let sort of a nervous smile linger on his face, wondering how sober Scipio would react to what drunk Scipio had disclosed.
"Mmmmm…" Scipio held his head with one hand, sighing. "I didn't do anything too stupid that I don't remember, right?" He asked, looking over to Xellis. "Fuck, I think m'gonna be sick…" He mumbled, the color slowly draining out of his face. He got a bit shaky, which he tried to repress.
“Depends on your definition of ‘stupid,’ but I’d say you’re fine,” Xellis replied. He scooted slightly closer, debating whether to put his hand on Scipio’s back or not. He ended up not, to keep himself safe.
“And hey, it’s gonna be okay,” he mumbled comfortingly. “If you need to… upchuck, just do it off the side, alright?”
"Alright, I'll just… hang out over here just in case…" Scipio shuffled over to the edge of the roof and sighed. "I can't die again here, right? Like, how badly can I actually get injured?" He asked, looking over to Xellis questioningly.
“You can’t die, but you can become lost. Basically, if you die, you become one of those hollow-bodies I told you about until I come save your empty soul or whatever. But it’s really difficult.” Xellis leaned over, resting his chin on his hand. “I mean, you can get hurt, but you’re harder to kill, if that makes sense.”
"So I probably wouldn't die if I accidentally fell off the roof?" Scipio asked. Soon after, he coughed, gagged, and vomited over the side of the roof. "F-Fuck… that's unpleasant…" He winced, rubbing at his throat a bit. "How long did you say that lasts?"
“Like… half an hour. But it should lessen up a bit after a moment. You’re probably good,” he said, although his voice was uncertain. “Please don’t take my word for it. I have no clue. And no, you probably won’t die if you fall from the roof. You’d still feel the pain, though. If you’re worried, I could hold on to your arm or something?”
Xellis crawled up beside Scipio, crinkling his nose at the sour air. He held up a hand, cocking his head.
"Mmmm… sure, I don't fucking care…" Scipio curled up on his side, shaking a bit with his eyes closed. He was a bit pale and clammy from throwing up, and he clearly felt like shit, but he'd recover fine. "I've thrown up way too often in my lifetime… I should be used to it by now…" He sighed.
“No one should ever be used to it,” Xellis said, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. “It’s a horrid thing. I think I’ve only done it once before. But… the blunt force trauma was worse than the actual… release…”
He grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes in disgust as he peeked over the side of the roof. He kept his hand in close range in case Scipio needed to reach over to keep himself from falling, or if he just wanted something to squeeze the living daylight out of.
"Mm… I threw up a lot during the army stuff. I like to think I'm pretty strong, but the smell of all the bodies mixed with blood and gunpowder and stuff… that almost always made me queasy." Scipio sighed. "Not because I was disturbed by it, honestly, it was just such a horrible smell."
“Seems… justifiable,” Xellis said, crossing his legs and leaning onto his elbows. “You don’t have to worry about that up here, though. Almost always smells like a spring or summer day. The only thing that’ll make you lose your stomach would be alcohol or getting punched really hard.”
He scratched the back of his head, his red hair slightly messy from laying down. “But, I don’t really see a reason to do so, so besides alcohol I’d say you’re in the clear.”
Scipio nodded and closed his eyes, curling up a bit tighter. "Is there a way to drink alcohol without doing this shit?" He asked weakly. "Because the whole being drunk part was pretty nice, but I'm not a huge fan of this part…"
“Well, if you drink until you’re tipsy, you still have fun without the awful side of the hangover,” Xellis said, repeating something he had learned from Zayanzar’s associate. “Which means just don’t chug them like you did, and just don’t drink as much in a short period of time like you did? I don’t know, dude.”
"Mm… drinking water would theoretically dilute the alcohol, at least according to science or whatever. So it would be a good idea to drink a lot of water…? It sounds right to me, but I've never really done this before… I think one of the soldiers told me that."
“Uh, maybe,” he mumbled, rolling back and grabbing a bottle of water from the cooler. He inched forward, opening up the plastic bottle and holding it out.
“I also heard coffee helps, maybe? Man, I don’t know. Just, take this.”
Scipio nodded and forced himself to sit up so he could drink the water. He sighed shakily and tipped his head back to gulp the water. "Hopefully this'll help…" He mumbled, staying sitting up for the time being.
“Yeah,” he replied, fiddling with the cap in his hands. “Sorry bout this. It won’t last long though, you can hold onto that.”
He paused for a moment, clicking his fingers on the roof. “Maybe— maybe we can go to Audomar to get you fixed. He’s a ways away, but that’s nothing to a god of travel and his associate, eh? Plus, we could get your fatal wound fixed.”
"Audomar…?" Scipio asked weakly, drinking a bit more of the water. "How long would it take to get to him?" He fidgeted nervously as he looked around. "I know you've got the weird portal things or whatever… could you just open one to his house or something?"
“Yeah, I could,” Xellis began, intertwining his hands together. “But he’s kinda iffy about them. I mean, the rules are that we can’t open a portal in someone else’s manor, but I can take us to his doorstep. Maybe? It’s never been said that I can’t.”
He leaned over the side of the roof, twirling one of his hands in a circle and making a portal, the lines of it again a beautiful rosy gold.
“Just drop down. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t give you too much of a head rush.”