{"sf1_id":581704,"sf2_id":null,"title":"A Bit too Much","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":3962,"posted_at":"2013-08-26T18:12:00.000Z","tags":["ninetales","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/581704-a-bit-too-much","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/581704","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=581704\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Eli was pacing about the apartment,\nstaring intently at his phone. It was almost 8:00, and he hadn't\nheard from Soren at all. Why was he this late when he got off early\ntoday? He had sent him a text at 5:30 saying he was about to leave,\nbut now... was he over thinking this? Eli jumped as he felt his phone\nvibrate. He picked it up on reflex before it could begin to play\nMinnie by ESC. He glanced at the number before he put the phone to\nhis ear. It wasn't a number he knew, but it was local. \"Hello?\" \"Eli, it's me,\" said Soren's voice.\nBut Eli was far from calmed by hearing the mellow tones of his\npartner. Soren sounded exhausted, and his speech was ragged and\nslightly dragging, as if each word cost him effort. \"Soren, where are you,\" asked Eli,\nconcern layering his higher, more melodic voice.\"Good Samaritan's. I-\"Eli gasped and began to say, \"Oh, no!\nWhat happened?!\" but Soren layered his speech with placating tones\nas he raised his voice a bit, cutting Eli off before he could get\nworked up. \"I'm all right. It's nothing too\nserious. I got in a wreck on the way home.\" Soren paused to let Eli\nspeak. \"What happened? When did it happen,\"\nasked Eli as he held the phone between his shoulders and ear in order\nto tie up his shoes. \"I got hit pretty bad, but I'm not\ntoo hurt. I got knocked out for a bit though. I'm in room 117 at the\nER right now.\" Eli stopped listening there. He dashed\nout the door, forgetting to lock it behind him. Good Samaritan's\nHospital wasn't far away, and Eli was sprinting full pelt through the\nApril rain. He got to the ER in barely more than ten minutes.\nCompletely ignoring the front desk, he dashed through the hallways to\nroom 117. He crossed the threshold, panting heavily. Eli gave a small gasp. Soren was laying\nupon a hospital bed. His light gray work shirt was in tatters on the\nside of the bed, and it seemed that his whole body was covered in\ncuts, bruises, or bandages. A thick purple bruise ran down the front\nof his chest like a sash and the left side of his face looked\nparticularly bad. The fact that the bruises were even visible through\nthe fur was a bad sign. Eli walked up to Soren and gingerly put a\nhand on his shoulder. \"Oh God... you look terrible.\" Soren slowly grabbed Eli and lowered\nhim into a kiss. It looked like even that simple action caused him a\nlot of pain, but Eli heard Soren give a small sigh of relief as they\nbroke apart. Eli wasn't sure, but he thought he tasted blood in that\nkiss. Soren smiled a bit. \"Thanks, love. It looks much worse than\nit is.\" Eli pulled up room's only chair and sat\ndown. \"What happened? You look so torn up.\"Soren actually smiled. \"I got really\nlucky. That's what. I got rear ended at a red light. I was forced\ninto traffic and got T-boned at thirty five miles an hour. I got hit\nin the back driver's side. If the guy who rear ended me hit me any\nlighter I would've taken the hit myself.\" Eli gripped Soren's right hand, which\nwas mostly unscathed. \"Did you get hit by a lot of glass? You look\nlike you've been shredded.\"Soren nodded. \"my windows shattered.\nMy eyes got spared because I was wearing my sunglasses. Sorry I\ncouldn't call you earlier. My phone got busted up.\" Eli stroked the side of Soren's face\nthat wasn't covered in bandages or cuts. \"How long have you been\nhere?\" \"A good long while,\" said Soren,\nwincing even at the softest of Eli's touches but still growling a\ntiny bit in appreciation. \"I was knocked out until they had\nfinished picking glass out of my face. Probably all for the best.\nThey took some x-rays a while back, too.\" A young and kind looking Ivysaur nurse\nstepped in with a clipboard. She put some paperwork on the table by\nSoren. \"The doctor will be here soon with the x-rays.\" She then\npointed at Eli, slightly imperiously but still smiling. \"I saw you\ndash in here, hon. You're free to stay, but you need to sign in.\" Eli scratched the back of his head and\nwent up to go to the front desk. By the time he returned, an old\nlooking Alakazam was hanging up some x-rays for Soren to see. \"You're\nincredibly lucky, Mr. Saul. There's some heavy bruising and a lot of\nlacerations, but none of them will have lasting effects. You have a\nconcussion, but that won't do any lasting damage either. That big\nbruise on your chest is from your seat belt, and we got all the glass\nout of your cuts. I'd watch your left leg for a while, as putting any\nweight on it will be painful right now. You're likely to be free to\ngo if you stay here a night or two. It looks like the only things\nthat were broken was your car and your phone.\" Soren nodded. \"Good to hear doctor.\nWhen can I be moved out of the ER?\" The doctor was scanning the x-rays one\nlast time, checking to see if there was a detail that he missed. At\nleast to Eli, all the bones looked in perfect condition. He hoped\nthey were. \"About half past soon,\" said the doctor as he checked\nhis watch. \"We want to open this room up and there's an free room\none floor up.\" The doctor walked out. Soren groaned. \"Fuck. Everything is\nsore. Did you eat, Eli?\" Eli shook his head. \"Could you do me a\nfavor and run to the cafeteria? Can you get me something easy? You\nknow, a soup or something?\"Eli kissed Soren on the cheek. \"Sure\nthing. I'll be back soon. Should I just make a b-line for your new\nroom?\" That question was answered as the\nIvysaur nurse returned to the room with a gurney. \"We're going to\ntake you upstairs. We don't want you walking just yet, dear.\" She\nturned to Eli. \"If you want to visit him, he'll be in 226.\"Eli smiled and walked up a flight of\nstairs and towards the cafeteria. He got himself a pre-wrapped\nsandwich and got Soren some jello and a rather mysterious looking\ntomato soup. He walked the tray back to 226, which luckily wasn't too\nfar away. As he walked in, Soren sat up with effort and gratefully\naccepted the terrible food. Eli really wished he could cook now.\n\"Feeling better?\" Soren swallowed a mouthful of bland,\nred liquid. \"A bit. Moving hurts. Hell, sitting here hurts. But I'm\nglad you're here.\" Soren attempted to lean over to kiss Eli, but it\nwas a bit much for him right now. Eli gently pushed him back down. Eli sat down in a moderately\ncomfortable chair and grasped Soren's right hand. \"I wish that bed\nwas a bit bigger. You look like you need a good cuddle.\" Soren shook his head. \"I'm glad it's\nnot. Even lying with you would hurt right now.\" He finished the\nlast of the green jello and nodded his head to the door. \"You don't\nneed to stick around, dear. I'm going to be out cold soon enough.\"Eli took the tray from Soren and\nscooted the chair right next to the bed. Soren laid his uninjured\nright arm on the armrest, giving space for Eli to lay his head on top\nof it. \"I'm staying right here, sweetie.\"\"Thanks,\" said Soren, groggily.\n\"Love you, Eli.\"Eli kissed the fur on Soren's arm. \"Me\ntoo.\" Soren was out cold soon enough. Eli sat there for a while,\nlistening to Soren breathe. He sounded normal, even if he looked like\nhe was just sent through a glass tornado. Eli got up and walked out.\nHe decided to make a quick trip back home for a sketchpad and a book.\nHe also decided to bring some music. It would make for a shitty\nweekend, but Eli wanted Soren to stay at least all of Saturday unless\nthe doctors said otherwise. Saturday was long and uneventful, but\nSoren seemed to be healing fast. The bruises were fading, the cuts\nscabbing over, and Soren was able to put weight on his leg without\nfeeling intense agony. Soren ended up spending much of his time on\nEli's phone with his car insurance agency. As he hung up the for the\nfourth time, he sighed.Eli looked up from his book. \"What's\nthe verdict?\" Soren passed the phone backed to Eli.\n\"Insurance is covering my stay here as well as my phone and car.\nAlso, because I was rear ended, none of the collision is legally my\nfault.\"Eli smiled. \"Well, that's good. In\nfact, I'd say this whole thing turned out great if it weren't for the\nfact that you look like you just got sent through a blender.\"Soren chuckled but shook his head. \"I\nshould've said that by covering my car they are giving me about\n$2000.\" Eli raised an eyebrow. \"Only that\nmuch? That little car was working fine, and it was pretty old too.\"\"That's the point,\" said Soren.\n\"Because it was so old, its resale value was negligible. I guess\nfor now I'll have to save for a better car. I think a bus route\nruns by the lab. Eli booted up the browser on his phone.\n\"I'll check. I can lend you my bus pass.\" Eli spent a few minutes\nflicking through the bus routes. He frowned. \"Damn. It looks like\nyou'll need to leave early. You'll need to take a bus to the train\nstation and then take a different bus to the lab. And the timing is\nawful. You'll be sitting at the station for at least fifteen minutes\nbefore you can get on the bus that will actually take you where you\nneed to go.\"Soren looked at the schedule on the\nscreen and groaned. \"Well, I can deal for a bit.\"Soren ended up being released Sunday\nafternoon, and was able to walk home unaided, despite having a bit of\na limp. He was still looking a little beat up, but most of the cuts\nwere almost healed now, and he was able to take the bandages off the\nside of his face. After packing himself a lunch, Soren and Eli went\nto bed early. Both were tired from the whole ordeal, even though they\nreally only sat around for the whole weekend. Also, Soren was clearly\nnot looking forward to having to wake up so early tomorrow. He'd have\nto be out the door by 6:30. Eli got up with Soren. Despite the\nspeed of his recovery, Soren was still pretty worse for wear. Eli\nhoped that today wouldn't get the better of Soren. For the most part\nhe was alright, and his sluggishness seemed more due to how early it\nwas rather than any lasting effects of the injury. Still, Eli felt\nSoren wince a bit when he hugged him goodbye. Eli quietly poked his\nhead out the door to watch Soren walk to the elevator. Eli frowned as\nSoren's limp became more pronounced now that he thought he wasn't\nlooking.Eli decided to start a new piece. He\nhad an auction coming, but he only had one piece to finish, and right\nnow he had to step away from it anyway. Eli took his ink and pen and\nbegan to create an abrupt and harsh spiderweb pattern in varying\nshades of dark blue. He worked on it for most of the day, pausing\nonly for a haphazardly made sandwich and a thirty minutes of titanite\nfarming in Dark Souls. Soren limped in a few minutes past\neight. Eli frowned as he took Soren's wet jacket and backpack. He\nhadn't seen Soren this tired since the break in, not to mention that\nlimp was much more pronounced this morning, even when Soren wasn't\nhiding it. He was clearly exhausted, but Soren's desire for food was\nstronger than his desire for rest, and he began to chop a quick\nstir-fry. It was ready in fifteen minutes, and Soren flopped into his\nchair and began to eat. Eli chewed his food guiltily. He felt\nterrible that he couldn't get something hot and ready for the table\nso Soren wouldn't have to cook all the time, especially now that\nSoren was coming home so late and leaving so early. But Eli was\nfairly sure that Soren would probably prefer to cook and eat late\nrather than have Eli wreck the kitchen, even if it was a nice\ngesture. Eli looked up from his food. \"Was work any good today?\" Soren actually smiled. \"We tested a\nnew generation of subjects. It appears that the drug doesn't seem to\nhave any correlation to motion tics. The mice in question were just\nsort of spazzes.\"Eli laughed a bit. \"Was the bus ok?\"Soren shook his head. \"On the way\nhome I had to stand, and my leg didn't like that. It's a really long\nride. I'd almost say it would be faster to bike, but there are some\nmajor roads in the way and no good way to get around them.\"Eli nodded with a frown. \"You're not\nin a state to bike anyway. Can I pack you lunch, sweetie?\" \"That'd be nice. I think I might make\nus something we can heat up. Can I trust you to put lemon chicken in\nthe oven without making too big of a mess?\" Eli playfully punched Soren in the\nshoulder, but regretted it immediately as Soren gave a slight yelp.\n\"I'm sorry. I forgot.\" \"It's no big deal. I'm still just a\nlittle sore. That's all.\" said Soren as he automatically prepared\nthe chicken. \"Today wasn't too bad. I can deal with this for a\ncouple weeks.\" The two went to bed not long after.\nSoren was tired and Eli just felt like cuddling anyway. Eli wrapped\nthe sheets around them and gingerly felt for a spot where he could\nhold Soren without aggravating his bruises. Soren was three weeks into this\nridiculous commute now. Work was picking up too, and now he was\narriving closer to 8:30 or even 9:00. Soren would try and make\nsomething they could heat up on the night before, but some days he\nwas just too tired to even attempt to cook. Eli ended up just\nordering take out at least two or three times a week. Normally Soren\nwould have protested, but having hot food on the table when he got\nhome made life so much easier. Soren was still sore from the accident\ntoo. His cuts had healed but the bruises on his chest and leg were\nstill there. His neck was also killing him from the whiplash, and he\nwas getting killer headaches from the aftermath of the concussion.\nEli did his best to massage Soren's back and neck in an attempt to\nmitigate even some of the pain, but it wasn't enough. Eli gave Soren a quick hug goodbye on\nThursday. As Soren walked out the door, Eli just remembered that\ntoday was the first of May. Soren's birthday was the Saturday after\nnext. Eli sat down on the couch and pulled up his computer. He had an\nauction last week and saw three of his paintings go into four way\nbidding wars, and even the paintings that people could buy without\nbidding were going for a good price. The next one wasn't coming for\na long time, and Eli had worked ahead on planning the theme of the\npieces he would release. He even had a few finished already. Eli sat\nand thought about what might make a good present, but nothing came to\nmind. Soren had all the instruments he\nwanted, but he did need new recording equipment. The problem was Eli\nwasn't really educated on what made quality recording gear. He'd have\nto do some research so he wouldn't get Soren useless crap...Eli was hit with a bolt of inspiration.\nOf course. Why not?Eli spent a fairly long amount of time\nbrowsing his options. Soren had loved his little blue car, but both\nof them knew it was one break down away from being scrapyard fodder.\nEli decided on something new, powerful, and fun. Why not? He pasted a\nfew links and sent them to Soren. He even finished before Soren's\nlunch break, so Soren would even be able to check them out before\ngoing back to work. Eli closed his computer and pulled out\nhis sketchpad. He was hit by an idea for a pen and ink piece, so he\nexperimented with pencil to see if the idea would work at all. He\neven forgot about lunch as he worked. At 8:00 Eli ordered Chinese and\nwaited for Soren to get home.The food arrived a few minutes before\nSoren. Eli put his orange chicken in a bowl with rice and did the\nsame for Soren's sesame chicken. He also threw the pot stickers on a\nplate for them to share. Soren came through the door dripping wet as\nEli poured them green tea. Hanging his jacket on the hook, Soren\nflopped into his chair. Eli was thankful he had the foresight to\norder food tonight. Soren looked terrible.Soren drank the first cup of tea in one\ngulp and poured himself a second. \"Thanks for ordering,\" said\nSoren, wiping his wet hair from his eyes. He had a frown on his face\nas he spoke. \"I really didn't feel up to cooking today.\" \"Did your leg or chest give you\ntrouble?\"Soren shook his head. \"Not really,\"\nThe words were spoken in short, clipped tones.Eli didn't give this poor mood a second\nthought. Given the circumstances, it was completely understandable,\nand Soren always lightened up after he got some food in him. \"Did\nwork give you trouble today? Yesterday you said that the subjects\nweren't reacting well to the new drug.\"Soren shook his head. \"There was only\none thing that was bugging me. It's not too big of a deal. Today was\njust long. I hope I can catch a break soon.\"The two finished dinner, Soren putting\nthe remains of his chicken and the pot stickers in a container for\nhis lunch tomorrow. Eli didn't complain. He got the pot stickers for\nSoren anyway. \"You want to play a game of Scrabble?\"\"No thanks,\" said Soren, still a\nlittle curt. Eli checked the clock. It was almost 9:30. Eli hadn't\nrealized how late Soren was at dinner. Soren sat down on the couch, an old\nGame Boy Advanced in his hands. He was playing through old Fire\nEmblem games, mostly just for nostalgia. Eli sat next to him and\nbegan to work on Soren's shoulders. He saw Soren's eyes close in\ncontentment for a few seconds, but they opened again and he continued\nto play. After a few minutes, Eli broke the silence. \"Did you get\nmy email today?\" Soren nodded. There was a silence that lasted long\nenough to begin to feel a little tense. \"Did you like what I sent\nyou?\" There was another tense silence, longer\nthis time. Soren turned off the game and looked up at Eli. \"No. I\ndidn't.\" Eli raised an eyebrow quizzically but paused, hoping that\nSoren would explain a bit more. After a moment. Soren continued. \"All\nof those cars... they were all really flashy. And really expensive. I\ncouldn't afford something like that.\" Eli put his hand on Soren's arm.\n\"You're not supposed to be the one buying it. It's a-\"Soren cut Eli off, his voice slightly\nraised. \"I know that. But it's a huge gift. It's too much. It's an\nimpulse buy. That's what it is. It's way too much.\"\"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you\nmad. It was just an idea,\" said Eli in a calm voice. \"I'm not mad,\" said Soren, his\nvoice controlled but still a little loud. \"I'm just... frustrated.\nThat's all.\" Eli frowned. \"Is it because of the\nbus?\"\"No,\" said Soren. \"The whole\nthing is just irresponsible. Those cars were all overpriced. It's way\ntoo expensive, no matter who is buying it. You're letting your money\nget away from you.\" Eli was a little peeved by this. \"You\nknow I wasn't born rolling in dough. I know how much those cars\ncost.\" Soren shook his head. \"That''s my\npoint. You can't blow money on stuff like this. The cars, none of\nthem were sustainable either. You can't squander your money like\nthis, no matter how successful your art is.\" \"Didn't we wait until I had two more\nshows,\" asked Eli, a little snappishly. \"We both knew that my\nfirst auction could have been a fluke. We only moved here till we\nthought my painting was sustainable and had lots of extra money in\nthe bank. Tell me what's really bugging you.\" Soren shook his head. \"No. It's\njust... just... well...\" Soren paused for a minute, collecting his\nthoughts again. He spoke again, his voice meek now compared to the\nhardness it held a few moments ago. \"You just pay for everything.\nYour paintings bring in so much money. I just buy us groceries. And\nthen you send me this email, and you want to give me this huge gift\ncompletely out of the blue. I can't give you anything like that back.\nI feel like a leech.\" Eli hugged Soren, holding him tight but\navoiding all the bruising that he knew was still there. \"I'm not\nasking for anything in return, dear. I want to give you a gift. There\naren't any strings attached.\"Soren sighed, half in contentment as\nEli wrapped his tails and arms around him, and half in frustration.\n\"You do so much for me. Too much. You pay for our place, and you\npay our bills, and you pay for almost everything else. I just cook\nfor you, really. The car... it's just too much.\" Eli laid his head on Soren's uninjured\nright shoulder. \"Soren I love you. I love you. I can't put a\nprice on that. You do so much more for me than cook. You're half the\nreason I'm such a good painter. \" Soren started to protest, but\nthis time Eli cut him off. \"Who bounces ideas around with me? You\ndo. Who suggests new ideas with an objective perspective? You do. Who\nbreaks me out of my obsessive perfectionism? You do. Who advised me\nto put out highly praised pieces that I thought were terrible? You\ndid. Just being around you makes me paint better. And when you play\nme music...\" Soren shifted on the couch and held Eli\nin return. \"Really? I've done that much?\" \"Yes,\" said Eli. \"You do those\nthings for me every day. You're worth so much to me than a car.\"\nSoren was struck dumb. After a long pause that felt much different\nfrom the previous two, Eli spoke again. \"And before you moved in, I\nreally was a starving artist. I was living off of my microwave. When\nyou moved in I was eating real food again. It made a huge difference.\nCooking was always enough for me.\"Soren held Eli a little tighter.\n\"Thanks... I never realized.\" Eli sighed, slightly in exasperation.\n\"You know now. So, can I please get the car for you.\" There was another pause. After a\nminute, Soren spoke, his voice quiet. \"Maybe not those cars.\nCan we get something less flashy? Something with more milage?\"Eli\nsmiled. \"That's fine. Can we at least get it in a cool color? Red\nor something?\" \"Sure,\" said Soren. The two\nextracted themselves from each other and pulled out Eli's computer\nand began to browse, together."}