"Ugh..." Aurum grumbled, as he put a hand to his face. He rubbed his eyes, and got to his feet. One walk to the bathroom and face-washing later, he turned his attention to thoughts of food. With a hangover like this, food was probably a good idea. Maybe a strong cup of coffee, some omelet, sausage? Did Kealey have sausage. This wasn't his kitchen. He didn't really know what she had, and what she was saving. Aurum cracked open the refrigerator, and pulled out a carton of eggs. If she wanted him to replace them later, he could. For now, he'd fry up an omelet... she'd be thankful for it, he was sure.

Aurum set the pan on the burner, and turned on the heat. He added a little oil, agitated the eggs till they were bubbly and ready, and put the omelet on.

What had he done the night before, and why was Kealey in his bed... wait. This was his bed, wasn't it? Shin looked around. No. This wasn't his room. It didn't have enough comic books. Then, that meant... Oh. He was in Kealey's bed. He'd been in Kealey's bed with Kealey. That.

Bits and pieces of the circumstances came back to him, slowly. They'd been drinking. They'd eaten brownies. And he'd hugged something... warm. The rest was foggy for the moment. But Kealey and Aurum and Shin had gotten drunk. That much, he knew. And Shin really shouldn't have stolen her blanket.

He rolled his attention back to Kealey, and stared at her blankly. Yes, it was morning... and his head... He put a hand against the side of his head. "Is this Hell?" It certainly had hell-like features. "How much did we drink...?" Shin scrunched up his face, considering ballpark sums.

They hadn't... had they? Shin got up off the bed, and momentarily pushed the thought from his mind. There was no way he'd contemplate that right now. His head hurt too much for that.

"Wonder what Aurum's up to..." He deftly changed the topic.

Shin was confused, and a little upset, and Kealey looked at him from her vantage point on the floor with brows slightly drawn together. Her head pounded and Kealey swallowed, her throat was so dry….her stomach growled and that wasn’t a good sign either. Shin asked if they were in hell and Kealey’s face scrunched up even more…nothing bad had happened. They were both dressed. ”I don’t think it’s hell…I think it’s my room.”

Her head pounded and she shrugged her shoulders at the question of how much they had drank.
”Lots, I think. Then we ate brownies.” she smiled and her tummy grumbled again. The brownies had been seriously awesome.

Shin rose and questioned after what Aurum was doing, leaving Kealey on the floor he’d helped her end up on. She sat there for a few moments, brain still trying to process everything that had happened as well as the pounding that was really starting to set in.

Up Kealey pushed herself, not bothering to even look at herself in the mirror on her way out of the room. She could tell by the hand she tried to run through her hair that it was a rat’s nest of curls that she was probably never going to manage to untangle. Apparently she was a rough drunk sleeper.

Out into the main area of the apartment Kealey emerged, to Aurum cooking eggs. ”Oh Thanks be to heaven….” she said, and imitated the hug she’d given Aurum the night before. ”I’ll go get the asprain…there should be orange juice in the fridge.”

That said, Kealey went in search of her own medicine cabinet…maybe Shin was right…this could be hell.

Aurum hadn’t been as drunk as the other two. His memory wasn’t as foggy. Some things, he remembered quite clearly. Kealey’s hug was one. He grinned down at her, in his apron, spatula-in-hand, and then he looked to Shin. “Hey… you two. How’s things?” He turned his attention back to omelet-making, and scooped the third one onto a plate as Kealey let him go. “Three delicious southwestern omelets, ready and waiting.”

You… two… How’s things? How’s things? His previous conversation with Kealey about whether this was Heaven or Hell, all the brownies, and the mixed signals faded into the background as Aurum’s two words brought up a connection he didn’t want to make. They’d drunk far too much, they’d done far too much last night, and there was no ‘things’, no ‘you two’ at all. Not in the conversation. Shin shot Aurum a dirty look.

“Everything’s fine. Nothing happened.” Nothing. There was nothing. No way were they even going close to discussing a ‘that’. “I’m not hungry. I should go…”

Shin turned, and took a step towards the door, then stopped. His eyes swung back towards Kealey’s room. Where were his shoes…? One skitter later, he was tugging his sneakers on.

“I’m out, Kealey. Thanks for everything. Don’t remember much of it, but… bye.” Shin really didn’t know. He wasn’t mad at her. He wasn’t mad at either of them, really. There was no that, and there’d never been anything that could possibly have led to a that, so that whole situation? He’d say good bye to it. He was confused, and he had a hangover, and a fearsome headache that deserved respect. He was so out of this.

Shin walked out the door, and vanished into the day.

Kealey rolled her eyes at Aurum, he really was a little jealous…of all that sleeping? At least until she hugged him. Kealey returned from the bathroom and the medicine cabinet with aspirin to find Shin getting ready to leave…and snapping at Aurum.

Shin was so confused, and upset, that Kealey nearly moved forward to say anything. Then he spoke and she stopped, an eyebrow raising. No….nothing had happened….the rest of the night’s events came back through the pounding of Kealey’s head and the slight irritation with Shin’s attitude was replaced by understanding. This would be a lot to take in.

Scratching the back of her head a little bashfully, finding herself embarrassed about something that really hadn’t felt all that wrong until now, Kealey watched Shin scrambling around for his shoes, then waved a silent goodbye as he let himself out the door.

”I hope I did the right thing last night…at the bar, with the emotions.” she said, crossing her arms and frowning slightly as she addressed the comment to Aurum. Kealey turned and set the aspirin down on the counter, then picked up the omelette, taking a bite. Heaven above, Aurum could cook.

”And really. Nothing happened Aurum, so you just set your mind right on that point.” she said, stabbing another piece of egg and savoring it in spite of her throbbing head, ”How on earth do you cook this well? It has to be a gift. Are you sure you’re not a mutant?”

One little friendly comment, and Shin had blown up. Aurum quirked an eyebrow. Nothing happened? Well, okay. It wasn't like he'd suspected anything happening, other than everyone getting drunk and crashing at Kealey's place, anyways.Why was Shin getting so defensive about it?

And then he bolted, making Aurum feel like it was something he'd said. Nice of him. Well, he wouldn't get his omelet. Justice, served.

Aurum let him leave, then then turned his attention back to the stove top. He turned off the heat, and took his own plate.

>>”I hope I did the right thing last night…at the bar, with the emotions.”

"I'm sure you did the right thing..." Aurum replied. "He's just... got a hangover, and freaking... and I'll bet the emotions just came charging back... give him time."

Time was key, here. Shin needed to do what only he could do. Aurum was still a little peeved at Shin for acting how he had, but that much, he understood.

>>”And really. Nothing happened Aurum, so you just set your mind right on that point.”

"I know," Aurum replied with a shake of his head. He walked his omelet to the table, and sat down. "He's Shin." Mostly harmless. He cut into his omelet, and took a bite.

>>”How on earth do you cook this well? It has to be a gift. Are you sure you’re not a mutant?”

Aurum closed his eyes smugly as he chewed. Him, a mutant? No possible way. "Thanks. I do my best."

The morning rolled on. After breakfast, he thanked Kealey and left for work.