Waiting Game

"Get better." The words left Jasper with mixed emotions. He had just kissed Mikki. The girl with whom he'd hated only a day ago. Yet now he cared for her. Every fiber of his being told him so. He just didn't know if she felt the same way he did. She had gone stiff as board when he kissed her, then almost immdiately walked away by just saying, "Get better." I can sulk later he thought to himself as he heard Oliver's footsteps heading toward the room. "So...Up for a drink?” Jasper smiled as best he could at his friend. "Only if you can find the strongest whiskey in either human or downworlder made." Finishing his sentence with a smirk he studied his friend. He saw many things in Oliver's body language. Anger, frustration, but the most prominent and obvious was that he was tired. Mainly Jasper's fault, he hadn't even thought of what Oliver had gone through the passed hours. Jasper knew it was his fault, if he hadn't let anger overtake him none of this would have happened. He hadn't exactly had time to work out an apology so he decided to just wing it. "I'm sorry man. I don't want you to think this is your fault because it's not, it's mine. If I wasn't an idiotic, headstrong moron I wouldn't have rushed into that situation." He didn't exactly know what else to say so he proceeded right on to a different subject, "You did save my life though and for that I'm greatful. Which brings me to my next decision. If you would like to, I was wondering if you'd be my parabati?" The words came out a little low as Jasper could feel the pain from his broken rib, but he managed to fight it out. Now he sat in the stupid infirmary bed, waiting his friends answer.

The question took a long moment to register in Oliver’s exhausted brain, and even longer for him to realize he was supposed to give an answer; to say he was taken off guard would be an understatement. He searched his friends face, looking for any trace of humor or sarcasm but when he saw only sincerity it confused him even further. Parabati? He had never even considered the possibility of having a partner, he who was so good at making friends but here Jasper was, the one foolish enough to want to be close to him. This was either a blessing or a curse, and Oliver didn’t believe in blessings… The image of Jasper laying broken on the ground in front of him, the tight feeling in his chest when he thought he was going to die in his arms all washed over him at once. Maybe this was good, maybe he wasn’t destined to be completely alone like his father swore he would after all… Oliver wished he could come up with something sarcastic to say to cover the fact that he had been sitting there opening and closing his mouth when no words would come. Instead he dropped his gaze to the floor, his voice low and steady.
“I will…” He paused, considering his next words carefully.
“But only if you never pull a stunt like this again. I won’t watch you die. And I sure as hell won’t have it be because you were too damn foolish to let me protect you.” The words came out a little harsher then he had planned, the pain of the people he had seen die weighing them down.
“I know there’s a brain in there somewhere, you better learn to use it or you won’t have to worry about the demons, it will be me you will have to answer to. Got it?” He let his tone lighten up as he lifted his gaze, forcing a smirk to tug at his lips.
“And I must say, your proposal was terrible, shouldn’t I at least get flowers or something?”

Jasper watched as it took his friend a moment to register what he had asked. He realized it wasn't the best of circumstances to ask such a thing, but he figured why not sooner than later. To be honest he hadn't thought Oliver would say yes, especially after the events of the past few hours. Needless to say it was a surprise when Jasper heard his friend say, "I will." He couldn't believe it, but then again, he hadn't had a friend like Oliver in....well ever. “And I must say, your proposal was terrible, shouldn’t I at least get flowers or something?” Jasper simply nodded as Oliver layed out his conditions. It was all fair. If they were going to be parabati Jasper couldn't be so taken over by anger and put his friend in danger. “I know there’s a brain in there somewhere, you better learn to use it or you won’t have to worry about the demons, it will be me you will have to answer to. Got it? A grin fought it's way to Jasper's very cut up face. "Yea there's a brain here. It only took me getting my ass kicked to realize it works better when I'm not in a total rage." He watched as his friend rolled his eyes and said, “And I must say, your proposal was terrible, shouldn’t I at least get flowers or something?” As painful as it was the grin grew a little wider before Jasper answered his friends usual sarcasm with some dark humor, "Well I figured a pint of my blood would be more romantic. I'd like to see Romeo give Juliet his blood, then we'd see who's a real gentleman." He had to admit, he may be stuck bandged, bloody, and bruised in the infirmary bed, but he was pretty happy with recent events. Aside from the fact that Christopher was still alive. However that probem would be solved later.

"Well I figured a pint of my blood would be more romantic. I'd like to see Romeo give Juliet his blood, then we'd see who's a real gentleman." A smile spread across Oliver’s lips for what seemed like the first time that day.
“If only I had a vile to keep it in. I’d wear it around my neck on a necklace.” Despite his friends grin, he could see the exhaustion and pain written across his features and could tell how much effort it was for him to even have a conversation. Getting to his feet, he stretched his sore arms above his head and yawned.
“Well I’m going to let you get your beauty sleep; you’re in desperate need of some.” He shot Jasper a smile as he took a few steps towards the door.
“Though I’m going to have to pass on the goodnight kiss.”

Once out in the hall, he let a sigh escape his lips as he sucked in a breath of air that didn’t reek of antiseptic, pondering if he wanted the path back to his room to include stopping in the kitchen for a bottle or two of wine. Though when he considered the fact that he would have to stay wake to drink said wine, he decided on a more direct route. With a silent prayer that he didn’t run into anyone on his way back, he hurried as fast as he could until he was safe inside his unlit room. He felt like a zombie as he blindly crossed the room before flopping face down onto the still unmade bed without bothering to remove his clothing or shoes. All he had time to wonder is why the hell he ever decided to come to New York before the tendrils of darkness pulled him into an uneasy sleep.