Robin Hood: The Morning After

Mar 27, 2010 17:16

Title: The Morning After
Author: arliddian
Rating: PG
Fandom: Robin Hood (BBC)
Characters/Pairing: Will/Djaq
Summary: AU. Will drank a little too much the night before, and Djaq comes over in the morning to remind him of his antics.
Word Count: 947. ...Yeah, not really a drabble, eh?
Author's Note: openmoments gave me this prompt last year and now I've finally put this plot bunny to rest. Part of the Nostalgia Drabbles set, a last foray into fandom. Also, I know the title is lame, sorry!
Disclaimer: Don't own it; don't sue me.

Will felt the knock at the door more than he heard it, the three sharp raps jackhammering into his skull. Groaning, he stumbled out of bed, somehow tangling himself up with his sheets and crashing onto the floor with a thud.

The jackhammer started off again. "Will?" Djaq's voice called through his bedroom door. "Are you alright?"

Finally managing to extricate himself from tentacles of fabric and haul himself to his feet, he opened the door.

"Djaq, what are you doing here? How'd you even get in?" he asked, peering blearily at her and wondering why it felt like an entire construction crew was performing renovations in his head.

"You told me where you leave your spare key," she replied evenly. "And I thought I'd check up on you. I figured you'd need a little help getting up this morning." She looked him over, and the amused smile on her face grew wider.

Will glanced down at himself and became suddenly, startlingly aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Or pants. It was just him, in his smiley-face boxer shorts, in front of the woman he was infatuated with.

He scrambled for the t-shirt lying on the floor next to his bed, his cheeks on fire. Djaq laughed, the sound that ordinarily brought a smile to his face seeming unnaturally loud, causing him to pause, groan and rub his temples.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," she remarked breezily, dropping her things on the floor and perching on his desk chair as he pulled on the shirt, which smelled unpleasantly of alcohol and sweat. "Last night, in fact."

Must do laundry he thought absently as he searched the ground for his jeans. Where on earth are my pants? And then his mind processed her comment.

"You... you what?"

"You really remember nothing about what happened last night?" Djaq's smile was downright wicked.

Will sank onto the bed and tried to recall what he had done the previous evening and precisely why he felt like death warmed up.

"Allan's birthday party happened," he remembered. And then he groaned. "Oh no."

"Yes," she said. "You can be too nice for your own good, Will. The next time Allan uses the excuse that it's his birthday to get you to agree to a drinking game, you should really tell him no."

"No wonder I feel sick." Will leaned over and gingerly put his head in his hands. "Please tell me I didn't do anything stupid."

"Well," Djaq began, and Will thought he detected a hint of mischievousness in her voice. "I had a late shift at the hospital, and I only arrived when you were halfway through strip poker. So I can't really say for sure."

Will spluttered, head shooting up (ow, shouldn't have done that) and his wide eyes fixed on Djaq. "Strip poker?"

"It must have been Allan's idea," she explained. "It was him and two other girls - apparently they were ex-nuns, or had been to Catholic school, or something. And you, of course. You were quite drunk."

He groaned, head falling back into his hands.

"Don't worry. I made sure you didn't do anything too ridiculous, and I put you in a taxi as soon as I could."

Will looked back up at her, his features softening from its frozen mask of dismay at the sight of her gentle smile.

The panic returned when she continued with, "It was quite difficult to get you home; you seemed determined to abide by the rules of the game."

"The... what?"

She reached down into a shopping bag at her feet. "I believe these belong to you," she said with a grin. And then she handed him his jeans.

"You... you had my pants?" Will clutched the denim with both hands like it was a life-raft, eyes flicking from the garment to Djaq's amused face.

"You threw them at me when you got out of the taxi." There was an unmistakeable gleam of mirth in her expression.

Will was sure his head was going to explode from the combination of embarrassment, shame, regret, mortification, and downright pain that was stuffed inside of it. "Djaq, I'm so sorry. I must have made a complete fool of myself."

She waved away his apology. "Oh, it wasn't all your fault. Like I said, next time tell Allan to find another drinking buddy. Besides, it wasn't all bad. It was quite entertaining, actually."

There was a long moment of silence, and despite the hangover and fogginess in his head, Will was seized with the sudden impulse to ask her what she meant by 'entertaining'. But as he opened his mouth to speak, she glanced at her watch and announced, "I'd better go. I need to get to the hospital in half an hour."

"Oh - okay." Suddenly feeling slightly deflated and still vaguely embarrassed, Will walked her to the door.

"Well... thanks for bringing these over," he said awkwardly, indicating the jeans which were still in his hands. "And... and thanks for looking after me last night. Sorry I was such a mess."

A soft smile grew on Djaq's face. "It was no problem. I'll always look after you, Will."

Her words made something warm spread inside his chest. He sincerely hoped he wasn't blushing. "Thanks."

She stepped out into the hall, and he had begun to close the door when her voice floated back to him.

"Will?"

He peered out at her. "Yeah?"

She was grinning at him, a grin that was mischievous and wicked and, Will thought, downright sexy. "You look good," she said. "Without your clothes on."

And she left him standing there in his blush and his smiley-face boxer shorts.

Fin

fandom: robin hood, series: nostalgia, char: rh: will, drabbles, char: rh: djaq, pairing: will/djaq

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