"You look like dog shit." I opened my eyes to see my dad standing over me. I was equal parts annoyed and disgusted. "Thanks." I said, rolling over onto an empty bottle of something. "You know (y/n) will be back in a few days." I was well aware. "You told her to clear her head, have some fun...and it looks like you've been doing none of that. Hypocrite much?" I bit my tongue to keep myself from snapping at him. "Look...I'm doing what I can to move past this." "No you're not. You're bottling shit up. I should know, I do the same thing. It doesn't work well." I felt his weight on the edge of the bed. "She can't wait to see you. She really misses you." I was quiet. "Look, you can stay here looking like shit or you can get your shit together. I just figured you might want a sounding board." I did, but I wasn't about to admit that. "Come on, pull yourself together. If she comes over here and sees you like this, you'll have to start the process all over again. You don't want that." He had a point. I sat up and the room spun a bit. I began wondering just how much I'd been drinking. I looked at the bottles scattered around. Looks like a lot. No wonder I feel like shit. I swallowed my nausea. "You okay, kiddo?" "No." I replied. "If what I look like is anything close to what I feel like, I am NOT in good shape." My dad eyed me. "Well...you could use a shower among other things. You look like a trainwreck." I rubbed my face and tried to get with it. Ugh, I need to shave, too. I have never looked right with a full on beard. I dragged myself into the shower and did what I could. I saw my dad messing around with one of the bottles. "Alcohol? I've heard about this stuff. I doubt it's good to be drinking mass quantities." I shrugged. "Not like it's gonna kill me." I said. "Alright, I'm cleaned up and changed. What now?" I asked, taking a seat. "Quit being such a little bitch." I was surprised. "What?" I asked. "You've been laying in bed for over a week. You are way tougher than that. Don't be a little bitch anymore." I saw his point and calmed down. "Alright, dad. What else?" "I don't know what you do for fun up here, but do it." I don't have any real habits. What's fun Tuesday could be boring as fuck Wednesday. I sighed. "Or we could talk." Seeing as how my state of being wasn't...entirely sober, that sounded like a good plan. "Fine. What the hell has (y/n) said to you?" I asked, softly. "She says she misses you immensely and can't wait to see you again." I processed that. "Interesting." I replied. "Sounds like she's in a good mood. Was she wasted?" "No." he replied. "Shocker. Sober (y/n) being sober." "You're mad at her." he said, flatly. "N-no...I was just making a joke." I replied. He gave me a knowing look. "No, you weren't. You are mad at her. It's okay to admit it." I said nothing. "Come on, admit it." I bit my lip a bit. "Fine, I'm irritated with her. Not pissed, not mad, irritated." I said. "You're also...hurt." "Fuck off." I replied, hastily. He laughed. "It's alright to admit it. Who am I gonna tell?" "My mom?" I asked. "I would never tell your mom someone hurt you. She'd kill them with her bare hands." She is vicious as hell, that much is true. "Look, I won't tell anyone anything. This conversation stays between us." "Alright. You're right. About everything. She killed me a bit inside and I'm both hurt and mad about it. Happy now?" I asked. He rolled his eyes. "No. Why would I be? I'm just glad you admitted it." Honestly, it felt pretty good to admit it."So...could you face her now?" I looked behind him and he laughed. "Don't worry, she's not with me. I'm just asking." "Honestly, I'm dying to see her. It's been hell not having her around me." "That's a good thing. You've got a few days before you can see her per your agreement. Keep yourself out of bed. Obviously, you flop down here and just...have issues." An array of tissues, pictures of (y/n), and empty bottles littered my bed and room. "Okay, right now, yes, but this isn't normal." He looked skeptical. "Okay, it's not." I said. "Whatever man, you do you. Apparently, a lot." Ah, a nod to all of the tissues. Classy. I scowled hard. "Look, it's not that big of a deal...you just need to get out and do something. (Y/N) has been." "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, feeling that he'd just said something suggestive. "It means that she's getting better and you're arguably getting worse Arioch." I bit my lip. "Alright, you're right." I admitted. "I'll go out and do something..." "How about something with me?" He asked. "I mean...I missed out on so much of your life, we have some serious ground to cover." I hesitated, unsure of what we could do together while my brain is...unwell. "I guess if you're free." "I'm on my own time. I took a hiatus from work." he replied. "Fine then, but don't be shocked if you find out I'm fucking boring." "You're not boring, just...apparently some weird kind of clinically depressed." he replied. "Okay, not encouraging, but...whatever." Asmoday shrugged. "Get laid or something." he said. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't the least bit interested in sex. "Okay, maybe it's the alcohol, but...I don't feel like it." "You really are torn up, aren't you?" he asked. "Yeah, I am. This is what happens when I try things like that. Should've known." "You tried, and she considers that a huge compliment. She knows you wouldn't have given anyone but her a chance." I hadn't thought of it that way. "Alright. What if I introduce you to my homie alcohol?" He looked skeptical, wearing a hint of a smirk. "What does it do?" I laughed. "I have no idea why we don't have it in the demon realm. It's awesome. Let me pay my human a visit and we can hit a bar."
