💬 My best friend and I end every serious talk with "drink some water"

My friend Imran and I end every serious talk with the same 3 words. Drink some water. It started in 2009 on the Tank Bund. I was crying over a result, a stupid exam. Imran didn't say anything wise or kind. He just handed me his water bottle and said, drink some water. I drank it. Then we ate roasted corn from a cart nearby and never talked about it again. Now it's a code. Last year I told him from Houston that work was getting to me. We talked for 1 hour and 20 minutes, on a Sunday night his time. Hard stuff. At the end he didn't say bye. He said, drink some water. I said, okay. Then I hung up and drank a glass of water. 17 years, still works. My wife heard it once on speaker and asked why he keeps telling me to hydrate. I tried to explain it to her. Her face said it sounds like nothing, which is the point. Another friend said it to me once by mistake and it felt wrong, like a stranger in my shirt. I told him never to say it again. He thought I was joking. Imran moved to Pune 6 years ago, so now it's all phone calls. It still works. The last time he said it was 3 weeks ago, after his father's birthday dinner went badly. I said it back to him and he laughed for a full minute. Then he said bye. Do you and your closest friend have something like this, a line that means nothing to anyone else?

Mine survived my friend moving to Bangalore, but only because we switched to voice notes. He sends 40 seconds of silence and then says the phrase. I reply with the same. Distance made it better for us, strange as that sounds.

We had one for 6 years, a stupid line about a bus conductor in Secunderabad.

Mine's a sound, not a phrase. My friend and I both say, hmm okay, in the same flat tone. It started in college when a professor said it after a very long answer in class. I wouldn't use it with my brother or anyone else. It'd feel like wearing someone's shoes. Your drink some water line is better than ours, though. At least it's useful.