"Drink more?" Sarah said skeptically, giving him a baffled look. "Why in God's name would we drink more? I think last night..." She trailed off and shook her head slightly. Last night was an example that did not need to be spelled out. "That option seems like a bad idea to me. Maybe the potion then."
"Drinking more would help us forget last night," Stephen said dryly. "The potion it is." Back to the apothecary cabinet, and back again to the bed. He poured two doses into spare teacups. The mixture appeared and smelled wholly unappealing. Just like the medicines Stephen had made in his career as a Muggle physician, his potions generally had something trivial and noxious added, due to his conviction that patients believed stronger-tasting medicines to be more potent.
"Depends on which parts you'd like to forget," Sarah muttered as he got off the bed. She settled back against the pillows grumpily because while the one lamp did provide some light, it was not nearly enough to enjoy his entire round trip from the bed to the cabinet and back. She did enjoy what of it she could, only distracted when she took the cup from him.
"It's some kind of joke that the alcohol tasted good and this smells godawful," she groused, peering into the cup. "Cosmic punishment for alcohol consumption. Ugh!" Swallowing it had not been any more pleasant and she sat there with the empty cup looking rather like a sullen child made to take awful medicine, except that her 'illness' could only be blamed on herself... and people who made her anxious... and evil clowns.
Her mention of punishment reminded him uneasily of things she had said the night before. Purposely he let it pass. "Think of it as encouraging proper dental hygiene. You'll not want that taste in your mouth longer than strictly necessary." Seeing her sullen face, he took pity. "Poor dear, and even coffee tastes too strong to you. Off to the toothbrushes then, is it?" He held out a hand to help her off the bed.
"I think I'd take the coffee over that right now, and that's saying a lot, so yes, toothbrushes," Sarah agreed with grumpy look over the lingering taste and then took his hand and got off the bed. She made her way to the bathroom and brushed out her mouth completely, taking far longer than normal to do so. When she was done she stepped back and perched on the edge of the tub, her mood improved a bit as she could no longer taste the potion and it was now working as intended.
Amused and only a little penitent, Stephen watched Sarah continue to scrub away at her mouth with her toothbrush long after he had finished with his. Should they not decide to swear off liquor forever, he might make her a batch of the same potion without the needless foul additive -- if he remembered.
He scratched his head, hair disheveled and sticking out in all directions. She had finished and now sat on the edge of the tub. "Are you intending a bath, then? I should like a quick shower but I can wait."
"No, if you want to shower first, that's fine," Sarah said, stretching a bit. A bath did sound good, though she had a better idea, one that drew a grin from her. "Or we could do one of the two together."
"We could compromise: I could shower first, then give you a bath." He eyed her speculatively. The potion or the food or both had revivified her. There was nothing sleepy or shy about her grin. "Unless I miss my guess, that look means you would find your way into the shower anyhow."
"Mmmm... you could be right about that," Sarah said, playing with the edge of her robe as she looked at him and grinned a bit wider. "I suppose I could see how long I could resist staying out of the shower... though I don't really see a reason to resist." Delay might be best in order to let the potion and food work more before behaving too wickedly, but delay was not currently an appealing option with the view she already had. His lack of modesty was indeed a wonderful thing when she could see it.
Stephen laughed outright. "Were we not discussing just last night what a forward creature you are? Do you feel compelled to prove it?" He leaned past her to start the water running, brushing against her as he did so, not quite intentionally.
"I don't think I need to prove it, I know you are convinced," Sarah said, her grin one of what could only be labeled as pride. "Maybe I just, I don't know, secretly like hearing it so much I feel compelled to do whatever is necessary to make you say it?" On the word 'necessary,' she ran her hand down his side, resting it on his hip for a moment.
Her touch stirred him, of course. Almost as welcome was the light tone of their exchange, her willingness to tease and be teased reassuring him that whatever she remembered of their conversation before sleeping, it had not caused irreparable damage. "I am only grateful to be allowed the capacity for speech, since you know so well how to render me utterly incapable of speaking. I will just point out if you insist on sitting there, you will find yourself in rather close proximity to the shower curtain rather than to me."
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"It's some kind of joke that the alcohol tasted good and this smells godawful," she groused, peering into the cup. "Cosmic punishment for alcohol consumption. Ugh!" Swallowing it had not been any more pleasant and she sat there with the empty cup looking rather like a sullen child made to take awful medicine, except that her 'illness' could only be blamed on herself... and people who made her anxious... and evil clowns.
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He scratched his head, hair disheveled and sticking out in all directions. She had finished and now sat on the edge of the tub. "Are you intending a bath, then? I should like a quick shower but I can wait."
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