During the next few days, Simmons slept most of the time. He showed up every day at the infirmary with Grif insisting on carrying him there during the first two days since he moved back to his room.
On the next two days following that, Simmons was able to walk there on his own.
Being in the comfort of his own room, together with Grif, made sleeping and relaxing somewhat easier for him than it had ever been when he had been down in the infirmary.
It wasn't really all that surprising then that he was restoring his energy faster than while he had been there as well.
He had just come back from his check-up for the day with Grey announcing that she would stop treating Simmons' wounds with the glandular secretion of the moon dragon and would start beginning to only soften the scar tissue with some kind of weird spell of hers.
He felt so good, much better than he ever had during these last weeks.
Checking the clock, he saw that it was time for lunch.
Simmons spontaneously decided to drop by the cafeteria to get himself and Grif some lunch.
The wolven would wait for the redhead to go to lunch together with him. It had always been like that even before the accident.
They were always going to breakfast, lunch, and dinner together whenever the two of them did not have important work to do.
He was fortunate. Kimball gave him an exception and allowed him to take the plates to his room. This was a rather rare occurrence as Kimball often insisted on everyone sitting together at least for their meals. It was to mingle, to see each other, and, most importantly, it was for Kimball to see how everyone was doing.
Considering the situation at hand, Kimball could understand why it was that Simmons said that he would rather prefer having lunch with Grif in his room alone as he still didn't feel like facing so many people in one room.
He had actually tried it before, but the second he had walked into the dining room there had been people staring and almost everyone began talking to him all at once: asking him how he was doing and if he remembered and what had happened.
It had soon gotten to be too much for him, Simmons feeling rising panic beginning to shrink his field of vision down as his mind replayed one single thought: Get the fuck away from here!
Grif told him later that he had smelled the panic roll off of Simmons in huge waves then, and that it had almost choked the wolven right where he was standing beside the redhead.
He had laid a hand on Simmons' sound shoulder, allowing him to focus on the contact and calm down.
Although Simmons had felt like jumping through the roof when he had first felt the contact, he felt much better afterwards when he was able to relax once he noticed that it had only been Grif's hand resting there. The panic had retreated a bit, making it possible for him to at least breathe again.
Shooing the people away, Grif had led the redhead out of the mess hall and back into his room. When they arrived there, Simmons had felt safer and the panic slowly starting to fade away.
In Simmons' brain there existed a massive, jumbled heap of thoughts. He wasn't able to form a coherent one until Grif had gently pushed him onto the bed and ordered him to follow his lead.
Minutes later, Simmons then felt how the air finally began to stream back into his lungs as his body started to be able to once more calm down both from his erratically beating heart and his head now fighting against the panic.
Grif had left the room a few moments later and returned soon after with a service trolley and two dishes with food.
He told the other man that he had asked Kimball if they could eat their meals together in Simmons' room, as it didn't seem to wise to force Simmons to go to dinner with everyone else currently. He might need a less harsh acclimation to everything than the steadfast 'throw-him-in-the-cold-water-bucket' method given what had happened.
Grif returning to Simmons' room with food made another of their trademark rounds of banter take place.
Simmons pointed out that Grif not only checked with Kimball because of him, but also probably because he didn't want to waste the possible opportunity this provided the wolven to eat in bed. He was a lazy asshole, after all.
Grif responded to that by saying that he had two hobbies: napping and eating. So why wouldn't he not try to connect the two if an opportunity came about for it?
Simmons had rolled his eyes at that, remarking once more to him that he was a lazy fat-ass which caused Grif to grin in return and comment back that he was a lanky nerd. One who would get even lankier because he was just about to eat Simmons' food if he would rather banter than eat it himself.
In the end, Grif had once again gotten Simmons' dessert although the wolven would never eat too much of Simmons' food in actuality as he wanted to make sure that the redhead was well-nourished.
He might be a lazy and gluttonous fat-ass, but he wasn't someone to endanger the life and health of someone he held dear.
Opening the door, Simmons pushed the trolley into the room.
Simmons could see the wolven lying on the bed on his side with his limbs stretched out. He was sleeping soundly.
"Hey fat-ass, time for dinner." He called out, unable to keep himself from smiling slightly at the sight.
Napping and sleeping really were Grif's favorite past-times, which was probably the reason he was still sleeping just then.
Stirring awake, the wolven lifted his head with a bleary expression crossing over his features.
This bleary expression stayed there until the wolven smelled the food. He practically shot up from his lying position.
"Ah-ah!" the redhead stopped the wolven with a waving gesture of his hand just as he was about to throw himself onto the food, "First, you need to change and get decent."
The wolven growled at that in annoyance but complied to the redhead's request all the same.
When Grif walked over to the desk that Simmons had converted to a dinner table moments later, he stretched his limbs. "Man, Simmons! I already could have eaten and been napping again!" he whined.
"So?" Simmons didn't even bother to look up at the wolven while he put the dishes on the table.
"So?" the expression on Grif's face was one of mock disbelief, "I could have used my time much more efficiently!"
Simmons raised an eyebrow at that in mild amusement, "By eating like a slob and then leaving me, the injured person here, to clean up your mess?"
Grif looked over to Simmons with an unreadable expression, but soon dismissed whatever the thought was that had crossed his mind just then to ask another question instead, "Were you the one to get the food?"
Simmons decided to only shrug in response, "Grey had just finished up my examination so I decided to drop by the kitchen on my way back here and get some food. Take it as a little thank you."
For some reason, Simmons was rather relieved just then that he was still currently invisible as his face again began to turn red when he thought about what Grif had told him some days ago in the infirmary. That the biggest way to show affection amongst wolvens was to feed them. Uhm, yeah…
He hadn't done that for that type of reasoning or anything, but he just had to think about that conversation just then!
It was just logical that it was easier for Simmons to get food when he was on his way back to his room instead of returning and then letting Grif walk the same way he had just gone minutes before. Besides that, the fat-ass would have eaten a portion of his food already in the kitchen before taking a second meal together with two desserts back to the room!
Coughing awkwardly, Simmons sat down and began eating his food. Grif was already seated, but he hadn't started eating yet.
"So you really brought me food." He muttered just then, "Wow. I am flattered, Simmons. I don't know what to say."
First the redhead wanted to reply with another snarky comment, but he halted when he noticed the absence of something in Grif's voice with that utterance.
There had been neither bite nor venom to what he had just said, nor was the typical sarcasm Grif was known for in it.
Looking up, he could see Grif's face displaying lots of different emotions.
He looked happy and pretty damn touched.
Actually, Simmons halfway expected the wolven to start crying just then.
But on the other hand, this was definitely fucking uncharacteristic for the wolven.
Anyways, he looked like he was just incredibly happy at the prospect that Simmons had brought him food.
"I…. Uh…" Simmons stuttered, realizing that the wolven really was joyful about what he had done and not teasing him for it, "It's… o—okay."
It wasn't, but he didn't know what he should say otherwise as he had no clue what to do in regards to the chaos suddenly brewing in his mind and heart just then at the image of Grif's happy face.
"But you should start eating now or I really am going to eat it." He remarked instead.
Simmons wouldn't, of course, but it was a nice chance for once that he could jokingly tell Grif that.
The wolven blinked before he started chuckling, "I'd like to see you try. You wouldn't even get close enough to touch it."
The redhead smiled in return, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Remember that whole thing about me being invisible?"
Grif's grin widened a notch, "You're invisible but you still smell. I would track you down before you're able to move a step."
Simmons huffed at that, "It wouldn't be that difficult for me to be able to do the same to you too, you slob." He teased.
"Maybe, but I can do something to counter that. You can't." Grif shrugged, "I can track you down no matter what you try to do to cover up your smell. Your nerdy stench clings to you."
"Uh-huh, then your laziness should be considered an overwhelming stench too." Simmons remarked.
Grif seemed to be enjoying this newfound banter between the two of them, "Well, I have to maintain my reputation around here as a slob."
Simmons rolled his eyes, "I am rather surprised that you are putting effort into anything."
"What was that about how I should start to eat before you ate my food instead?" Grif jokingly recalled, "You better hurry up to make sure that I don't do that myself."
Simmons snorted, but didn't bother replying. Instead, he started to eat since Grif really was almost done with his own food by this point and he was more than likely to beg for food later.
When Simmons noticed that Grif was already finishing off his dessert, he didn't even bother waiting for the wolven to ask for the redhead's own and quietly pushed it over to him.
The receiver of the food hummed in grateful acknowledgement to the action as Simmons had somehow managed to teach him to not talk with food in his mouth at this point by withholding sharing dessert with Grif in the past until the other man was asking for it without food in his mouth.
He took the pudding cup and started to clean it out too while Simmons was still slowly working through his main dish.
When he was finally done with that, Grif was already finished with both his dish and two desserts. He had been waiting patiently at the table for the redhead to finish.
Tidying up, Grif insisted on bringing the stuff back to the cafeteria as Simmons looked as if he was liable to fall asleep again at any moment.
That fucking secretion really was draining him, though Grey had already informed him that it would still take up to two weeks for him to fully recover enough to stop using it to help accelerate his healing process.
Simmons decided to again hit the hay and doze until the wolven reappeared.
In the end, Simmons ended up out like a light before the wolven was even on his way back to Simmons' room.
When Grif returned later, he could see the redhead lying on the bed. He was huddled up in his blanket and sleeping soundly.
With a smile, he leaned down and placed a kiss on Simmons' temple, his hand gently stroking over what would be Simmons' flaming red hair if it were visible again.
Lying down beside the redhead, he felt how the sleeping figure beside him moved slightly when the mattress shifted with the addition of Grif's weight to it. Slipping under the blanket, the wolven let Simmons cuddle up to him before adjusting the blanket and wrapping his arms around the small waist of the lanky figure resting just then in his arms.
He again placed a kiss on the redhead's forehead before the wolven closed his eyes too to take a long nap.
He actually enjoyed the time he was spending here in Simmons' room, even though they were sleeping most of the time.
Firstly, Simmons had to sleep as he was still often feeling drained on account of his body needing most of his energy for his recovery. Both his physical and psychological recovery.
And besides, napping together with Simmons like this was one of the best things he could imagine ever doing, even more so when the redhead was cuddling to him like he was just then and looked as if he was completely at ease with both himself and the world.
Sure, the wolven had noticed the slightly changed behavior of the redhead at some points but he chalked it up to the accident. He heard that lots of people tended to change their behavior and character more or less dramatically after such a traumatic event occurred in their lives.
However, so far Grif hadn't noticed a strong change. The most noticeable change in his behavior was that he was avoiding any kinds of fire and was actively trying not to even mention the word while talking, even when that meant doing some impressive word gymnastics to describe something.
Grif had noticed that, but he didn't comment on it.
It was only natural that Simmons would try to avoid anything having to do with fire, even when not being able to remember what had happened to him exactly. His subconscious seemed to remember and that was enough to cause the redhead to avoid anything concerning fire.
The second big change was in his sudden calmness. Grif couldn't quite pin that on anything yet because Simmons was still often freaking out about almost everything, but there were moments here and there now where Simmons reacted to things a lot more calmly than he would have ever done before.
For example, he had way more trouble getting him flustered during their usual teasing banter. Before the accident, that had always been much easier to do.
Simmons also seemed to be more or less okay with himself now. That he was the way he was and he accepted that.
Before the accident, he had often struggled with the way his body was. He had often complained about his body being too lanky, his hair being too red, his skin being too fair and therefore getting burned easily, and a whole list of other negative commentary about how he looked.
Ever since the accident, he hadn't heard the redhead complain about that at all. He actually had expected for him to be understandably upset about the scars the second that he was coherent enough to be so.
But what happened instead was that he got a Simmons who was more at ease with himself and accepting of his body.
Grif had to admit that he had been pretty fucking relieved when he realized that Simmons had calmed down to such a degree that he could put up with Kai and get past the fooling-around-stage his sister often put up as a defense mechanism of sorts around others until she knew that they accepted her special character.
Due to problems that had occurred during her birth, Kai wasn't exactly like every other girl. She often had to face rejection and even hostility from others who did not know her. Which is why she had developed this whole acting dumb masquerade: it was to shield herself and to test people in the process.
When she was sure that someone would accept the way she was, she would show them piece by piece her real self. She could be pretty smart when it came to all sorts of social matters. She might have some troubles in terms of her scholarly pursuits because she had difficulty at times understanding those subjects, but she had always been able to read people like an open book.
When she was sure that someone truly did accept her the way she was, as Simmons had done during the time since he had woken up after the induced coma he had been put under, she would slowly start to show her real self.
A lot of that had come about between her and Simmons simply because Simmons had gotten as calm as he had and was able to put up with her special personality quirks.
It ended in the wolven accepting him too. She had even started to tell and show him more and more of the world that she kept locked away from others behind her mask.
Grif knew his sister. She wasn't half as dumb as she acted to be. However, that whole act was something they both knew how to play to its full extent.
While Kai was playing the dumb girl, Grif preferred playing the lazy asshole who would drive away everyone around him with his snarky comments and sarcastic-yet-cynical comebacks.
Only people who were willing to put up with his shit and the way he acted would gain his trust and slowly begin to see his real self.
Like Simmons, for instance.
Grif actually was very happy that Simmons got along with his sister so well now. It was a huge step in making his dream of having one pack together with Kai and Simmons even more plausible.
The only problem with that really was that Simmons was a human and not a wolven.
Okay, Grif could turn him but that was something he was definitely struggling against doing. He hated attacking people in general, even less so when his instincts were in charge and not his logical human mind that was capable of at least restricting his wolven self from doing something he would probably regret later.
During the blood moon, he knew wouldn't be able to restrain himself and that made him incredibly uneasy.
He would become a raging, tearing beast that would bite and hurt anything or anyone that attempted getting too close to him. Even if it was his very own mate and he could endanger him to the point of possibly dying.
It was actually even worse if the person close by was his mate because his instincts would be practically screaming at him to bite and turn him into a wolven to form a pack together with him.
To lengthen Simmons' life so that he would be able to live as long as a wolven.
To make his very own mate a fully realized part of the pack and live life in the wolven way.
Grif sighed at the direction his thoughts were spinning in.
All of this fucking thinking only made him get a headache, it didn't solve any of his problems!
Napping always seemed to solve problems better than nights spent lying awake and thinking about shit ever did.
Yawning, he pulled Simmons' sleeping figure closer to his chest and again placed a kiss on his head.
During the whole time that Grif had been thinking, he had begun threading his fingers through Simmons' hair repeatedly. He had noticed before that Simmons seemed to like that motion and it was rather calming for Grif to do so too for some reason.
Now that he was slowly but surely falling asleep finally himself, the threading motion slowly began to lessen and stopped completely once Grif dropped off into slumber as well.