forum Give me a drink, and I’ll give you my soul. (1-1, Closed)

Started March 31, 2023 by @Serpentess health_and_safety language

tune

Kyliin ignored his glass now, particularly since he was slowly starting to get dizzy. He’d have to retire soon, but he still wanted to talk to Farah.

Her words immediately concerned him and he looked at her.

“Truly?”he asked softly, his voice cracking just slightly.

“Yes. All of the clans are,”he answered. The vagueness of his words was nagging at him. It was steadily giving him a headache, or was that the alcohol?

He looked back at her again, noticing the way she gazed up at him. It was his height making her look at him like she was, but, for some reason, it seemed alluring. But… how? Why? Unfortunately, he already suspected the answer. He just didn’t want to think about it or admit it. So, he settled the blame on the alcohol. It had to be. It was less painful, and much, much more confusing.

“I do not mean to interrupt, yet shall we continue this upstairs? My head be aching, and I fear I may not be able to walk soon,”Kyliin asked. He also wanted to be more direct with his words, instead of vague.

After saying that, he reached into a pocket and pulled out a gold coin to pay for the drink. He then turned to stand, but stopped. A wave of dizziness hit him with the quick movement, but it subsided now that he was still again.

“Oh dear. I… I question my ability to walk now,”he commented warily.

He made a silent vow to never, ever, drink alcohol again, then glanced at Farah. Hopefully, she’d be willing to help. He felt terrible that she’d have to, which was why he hesitated to ask.

Farah was startled by his reaction to her mutter. She could feel the concern rolling off of him in waves, and it confused her. How was he so worried about her? It had been an off-handed comment, and they'd only just met. She could feel his gaze on her, but she didn't oblige him yet by returning it. "Yes," she answered stiffly before draining the rest of her glass.

She pursed her lips in thought but said nothing else. While the fairy normally might have tried to offer a solution, between the past few days she'd had and the alcohol now in her system, she didn't give a damn about trying to be helpful.

When she finally did look over at him, she found that he was much more difficult to read than she'd thought. His emotional spiral wasn't something she could pin down, which meant that Kyliin was still trying to figure it out himself. Oh, well. Let him be confused about whatever he was thinking. Farah was staying out of it. She had enough to do already.

But when he spoke again, it was Farah's turn for confusion to cloud her mind. Continue upstairs? Did he know what kind of invitation that sounded like? Even drunk, Farah chose her words carefully. Obviously, Kyliin didn't.

Farah slipped money out of her pocket as well and placed it soundly beside his. She then watched him try and fail at standing, her eyebrows arched. Her amusement inside was forced down, and she sighed quietly as he glanced at her in a silent ask for help. Reluctantly, Farah rose to her feet and held her arm out for him to take. Her movements were smooth, not hindered at all by the drink. She'd been drinking long enough that she could hold her liquor well.

Her confirmation of how her name had yet to be prophetic bothered him immensely. More than he thought it would, actually. Though, that might be because of the alcohol. But, it was still very, very concerning.

“By the Serpent… I… I am sorry. If… if there be anything I can do to make your life happier, just ask. I am a good listener, and I try to be kind to all those I meet,”he offered.

Kyliin vaguely sensed her confusion at him, but more by smell than by telepathy. Had he said something wrong? Had he somehow upset her? Wait a minute… his invitation. Oh, by the Serpent, what was wrong with him? He was such an idiot!

He didn’t know how to apologize though, and his tongue was only working half of the time now. Damn it, he couldn’t handle alcohol whatsoever.

He noticed her reluctance and his expression clearly reflected how sorry he was for getting her into his mess. He hadn’t meant for that at all.

Though, he was envious of her smooth movements. At least she wasn’t hindered by alcohol. Unfortunately, the implications of why she could handle her liquor so well led him into a spiral of negative ideas that only upset him more.

Kyliin shakily took Farah’s offered arm and tried to stand. He almost fell over, but he quickly grabbed the counter behind him as a balance. Then, he wobbled up to his feet and started moving away. His steps were surprisingly steadier than he’d thought they’d be. And, for some reason, that made his tongue burst to life.

“I apologize. I do not mean to burden you like this. I have never been like this. I am a fool for drinking. A fool for using such foolish words as I had moments ago. A fool for everything. I… I am sorry. I am sorry. I know not what to do. I know not! Why do I not know?”he whimpered.

Farah's confusion deepened as he apologized and offered to help her make her life happier. Well, it wasn't exactly that easy. She needed Luna to stop sending her on thoughtless trips through gateways to worlds Farah hardly recognized. And to erase a few damn things from her mind. Maybe that was her drunken cynicism talking.

"Thank you for the offer," she murmured plainly.

The man beside her was a chaotic whirlwind of emotions. Farah didn't have time to piece them all apart and figure out why he was feeling the way he did. She was still drunk, even if it didn't show in her movements. She could just handle the liquor better, that was all.

She briefly glimpsed back through her memories to the first annual Specialists' party at Alfea. Rosalind had been away on business to the capital, and Saul and Andreas miraculously got three entire kegs on and off campus without her ever finding out.

How they did it would always be a mystery to Farah, but the two men swore up and down that they didn't use magic. She wasn't sure how much she believed that, but it didn't matter because that party was the first time she got truly drunk. And she didn't like what had happened there. Another unhappy memory. But everything before that was fine.

Farah's eyebrows arched as Kyliin staggered his way through standing up and walking with her. And his long-winded apology had Farah trying hard to keep from rolling her eyes. So, he was one of those kinds of drunks. Lovely.

She shook her head. "It's alright," she replied, leading him through the bar and toward the rooms. "You aren't a fool. You're just drunk." And an incredible lightweight, she added in her mind.

"Which room is yours?" she asked him, pausing at the end of the hall.

“I am being serious. Well… as serious as one can be when the world makes no sense…”he said gently.

He could smell her confusion more clearly now, but he barely paid it any attention as his mind continued to spiral. So many things were nagging at him all at once, too many things. He needed to go. He needed to leave public eyes before he became an even greater spectacle, if anyone was even paying attention to him.

He followed Farah’s lead, focusing hard on just keeping his feet straight and moving. Her words caught his attention though, and he wasn’t sure if he believed them.

“Am I not a fool for getting drunk in the first place?”he whimpered. There was a lot more emotion, a lot more stress, in his tone than there needed to be. It was becoming quite clear that Kyliin was headed straight for an emotional breakdown.

“Six. No. Five. I was next to Six,”he answered.

He really hoped Farah didn’t try Door Six. That was where Lucitius was, and Kyliin would never hear the end of it if Lucitius realized just how much of an idiot Kyliin currently was.