Cold All the Way Through, But Warming

Old Friends

I awoke with a splitting headache in the morning, and yet I couldn't be mad at myself for last night. Another bottle of whiskey had been gotten and Will had hardly let me get a bit of sleep before he had gone at me again. Although, I hadn't exactly been chaste either. Still, the morning light was far more than I was willing to deal with and threw the blanket over my head. I rolled over, greeted by Will's smiling face. "You couldn't stand the sun either?"

He snorted, "I've been under here for thirty minutes. It was that or go be sick in the bathroom."

"Will, don't even bring that up." My stomach roiled at the thought of vomiting, and I ran my tongue over my mouth. "Ugh, I need some water."

"Does that mean I have to get out of bed?" Will groaned, but threw back the blankets and stumbled his way to the bathroom, returning with a couple of glasses of water. "Here, I imagine we'll need more of these."

I greedily slurped it up, although it meant I had to be back in the sun. "Thank you, oh God, are hangovers always this bad?"

"Unfortunately." He sighed, "I suppose we could try and get some aspirin."

I leaned back on the pillows, closing my eyes. "But that would mean getting out of bed."

"And getting dressed." Will chuckled, standing briefly to hand me a dressing gown. "I'll track down a steward, just give me a moment." He had barely gotten into his shirt and trousers, the former not even buttoned, when an urgent knocking sounded on the sitting room door. "Ah, there's one now." I staggered upright for a moment to pull the dressing gown on so the steward wouldn't see me like I was.

"Ask for orange juice." I muttered, pulling my gown tight around me and throwing the blanket back up over my head.

I could hear Will move to the sitting room, the door opened and a set of footsteps rushed inside, a slower set following. I peeked over the edge of the blanket, seeing Charles barreling towards me with a grin on his face. I gave a peep, pulling the blanket back up. I could hear Will from the sitting room, "I'm killing him."

Sylvie, having trailed in her husband's wake, laughed. "Now William, we simply wanted to come and see how you were doing with everything. We were both so upset when we heard what happened and Bertie here was just so worked up that he had to take the pilot boat out."

"And my lovely wife was more than happy to accompany me." Charles had parked himself on the edge of the bed and began to pluck at the blanket. "Now, Anastasia, really, why are you still in bed?"

I tugged the blanket tighter, "Because I just woke up."

"It's almost noon." He glanced around the disheveled room, "Ah, I see. Stayed up late last night, did you?" He stalked over and lifted one of the empty bottles, taking a sniff. "Whew, if Will was drinking whiskey last night I can see why you'd still be in bed. I'll bet he hardly let you get a wink of sleep."

I could feel myself blushing. "I was having whiskey too."

"Ah, so did you let him sleep at all?" Lights was laughing loud enough to draw the attention of Will and Sylvie in the sitting room, and I ducked further under the blankets. Sylvie had a smirk on her face, while Will looked furious.

He grabbed Charles by the arm, tugging on him. "Lights, I'd thank you to let my wife get dressed."

"Well, I know you didn't let her wear anything to bed." He chuckled, allowing Will to pull him to the sitting room. It was only after the door was closed that I got quickly out of bed, then immediately sat back down when it felt like someone was driving a nail between my eyes. It took a few deep breaths for it to fade, and I moved more slowly as I collected some clothes and dressed. I was still pressing my fingers to my temples when I stepped out into the sitting room to find everyone sat around the table and two large pots of coffee. Lights stood, pulling out a chair for me next to Will. "Well, it's nice to see you at least decided to dress before disembarking."