Dry and High

What if the sprinklers didn’t go off at the end of Sweet Revenge and the boys got to enjoy their evening?

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“Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second.” Hutch said as he tried to sit himself up in Starsky’s hospital bed. “Let me get something straight here before we start. Huggy?”

“Yeah, sure”

“What was that that you hung that lantern from up there?”

They all looked up at the lantern hanging from what looked like a valve.

Starsky cocked his head. “I don’t know…”

“Looks like…” Dobey began.

“One of them…” Huggy continued.

“Fire-sensitive sprinklers,” Hutch finished.

“Well, take it down!” Dobey bellowed, loud enough to make Huggy jump, but hopefully not loud enough to draw attention. “Do you want to set them off and drench the food?”

Huggy quickly jumped back on his chair and took the lantern down.

“Nicely spotted Blondie,” Starsky said, taking another bite of veal. “I can tolerate a bed bath, but not in the mood for a bed shower.”

They both laughed at Starsky’s comment, but Hutch instantly stopped when he saw Starsky raise the wine bottle up to his lips. Something clicked in his tipsy mind and he put his hand between the lip of the bottle and Starsky’s mouth.

“How many painkillers did you say you’d taken?” Hutch asked.

“What?” Starsky lowered the bottle and looked at it. “Oh come on, just one sip, we’re celebrating.”

“I know, but I’ve seen you throw up enough lately.”

“It’ll be worth it,” Starsky moaned. “I’ve been dreaming about having a beer for weeks.”

Hutch gave Starsky a disapproving look. “Hug, did you bring anything non alcoholic?”

“You’re in luck.” Huggy produced a bottle of cola from his bag. “The Bear comes prepared for all occasions.” He offered it to Starsky who reluctantly exchanged the wine for the soda.

“Spoil sports,” he muttered before opening the bottle and taking a swig.

“No spoiling the fun tonight,” Huggy said as he dug into the food. “In fact, I’m invoking a rule. No Gunther talk, police talk, or hospital talk. You dig?”

“Those are the last things I want to talk about, believe me,” Starsky saluted with his bottle.

“So what does that leave us with?” Dobey asked around a mouthful of food.

“Well, I do I have some good news for you all. I’m expanding The Pits.”

“In which direction?” Hutch asked, his giddiness coming back after another couple of sips from his glass.

“Sideways. I’ve bought the space next door and I’m going to turn it into a dance hall. Add a little funk to the old place.”

“Great idea, Hug,” Starsky said. “When’s it opening?”

“Not for a few months, so plenty of time for you to get yourself dancing fit.”

“Sounds like my kind of physical therapy.” Starsky took a small bite of the veal, but was put off taking another. His eyes were sadly too big for his stomach these days. “Do you have any news cap?”

“Only that Edith is making plans for our wedding anniversary already,” Dobey said after swallowing. “25 years next month.”

“Congratulations,” Hutch slurred. “What’s she planning?”

“She wants to take a trip, just the two of us. Cal will be home from Collage for the summer so he can look after Rosie. The only problem is deciding where to go.”

“What are the options?” Starsky asked.

“I want to go to San Francisco, while Edith wants to go somewhere further afield. Maybe Canada or Mexico.”

“For 25 years, you need to go somewhere really nice,” Hutch piped in. “Why not France or Italy. Both are very romantic and the food is amazing.”

“Don’t they eat snails over there?” Starsky said wrinkling his nose.

Hutch rolled his eyes. “Not as an every day thing, they’re a delicacy. You’ll find a burger just as easily as over here.”

“Maybe we should go,” Starsky said “You promised me we’d go somewhere nice after all this.”

“I did?” Hutch looked puzzled.

“You thought I was asleep when you said it.”

“Then maybe you were dreaming.” Hutch giggled, taking another sip of wine.

“I’m serious, we could both do with a holiday far away. A nice place with no voodoo priests or Satan worshippers.”

“Technically the voodoo island wasn’t a holiday,” Hutch pointed out. “But you seriously want to go to Paris?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s meant to be the most ro…” He cut himself off when he remembered the company they were in. “Uh, beautiful cities in the world.”

Dobey was too busy eating to notice Starsky’s correction and Huggy was too focused on filling his glass.

“The same could be said for Florence or Rome,” Hutch added.

“Or London,” Starsky suggested. “They drive on the wrong side of the road, but I’d love to see Big Ben.”

“What about Venice? The canals are amazing, a work of art.”

“How about Spain? They’ve got to have some nice beaches.”

“We could just go on a European holiday,” Hutch suggested. “See as much as we can.”

“As long as there’s no hiking in the alps, I’m down with that.” Starsky raised his glass and the two toasted their future adventure.

The celebrations continued through the rest of the evening, somehow without being interrupted. Either the nurses were busy elsewhere or they’d been bribed. Regardless, the foursome were able to finish their food and drink in peace. Apart from the argument Huggy and Dobey got into over a number of parking tickets Huggy needed sorting. It ended abruptly when they noticed both detectives were asleep: Starsky’s head was rested against Hutch’s chest. With four painkillers in his system it was amazing he’d stayed awake as long as he did. For Hutch it was the alcohol.

Gathering up the empty dishes, Dobey and Huggy quietly made their way over to the door. Their getaway was stopped by a nurse entering the room, who didn’t appear to be surprised by their presence. She’d been the nurse who had purposely not seen Hutch earlier, badly hidden under the covers. While she knew it was against the rules, she figured her patient deserved some fun and as long as it was over before her shift ended, she was happy to look the other way.

“Are you all done now?” she asked, keeping her voice low. “It’s way past visiting hours.”

“We were just leaving,” Dobey said, trying to hide the silver dish behind his back.

“You better take him with you.” The Nurse indicated Hutch.

“Oh, do you mind if he says a little longer?” Huggy pleaded. “Just a shame to disturb them.”

The nurse was about to repeat her line about visiting hours, when she was distracted by how content her patient was sleeping. There was a hint of a smile on his face.

“I’m off duty in 15 minutes,” she stated. “That’s when Nurse Evans starts. If she spots him, she’ll give him the bums rush. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” Huggy said with a grateful smile. Both men squeezed past her as they left.

When the room was empty Hutch opened an eye to check for sure that they were finally alone. He sighed and pulled Starsky closer to him. This night was meant to be just the two of them. A lovely little late night meal to celebrate Starsky’s returning health after surviving another infection. However, when Huggy caught wind of Hutch’s plans, he insisted on making it a group celebration and it didn’t seem to matter how many hints Hutch dropped that it was meant to be a private affair, the bartender didn’t catch on.

Now he had been given only 15 minutes to spend alone with his lover, who was happily snoring away in a drug induced stupor. At least Hutch’s slightly over exaggerated drunken act had given him an excuse to climb into bed with Starsky. A pretext no one had seen through.

He needed this. As much as they’d both needed a night of laughter, what Hutch had craved more was to hold his lover in his arms, feel the rhythm of his beating heart through his own chest and know for certain through the warmth of his skin that he was alive.

Hutch kissed Starsky’s forehead and snuggled down a little further in the bed.

He was so thankfully nothing had happened to ruin this night.