Fable - Ask Drunken Mess

[Zael Castomir]

Vel'Yuna. The Yuna Lager Tavern. Before noon, but definitely far past sunrise.

Zael awoke on the floor, and he felt like absolute shit. Ugggh...where did his shirt go? And his breastplate? And the rest of his armor, what the hell? He was in just his pants, not even boots. And he had dried puke on his stomach. Goddamn it.

In slow trickles the details come back to him.

He and a few other Dreadlord initiates. A mission. Here. Yeah. Vel'Yuna. The townsfolk, pro-Republic, with the help of the initiates said piss off to the anti-Revolutionaries holding the town. Zael couldn't give a shit about the Republic, but he wouldn't pass up a fight and high marks. The Yunarians threw a celebration once it was done, invited the initiates, and somehow...they got swept into it.

So here they were. Scattered about the tavern with random townsfolk, also passed out. The whole Yuna Lager was a drunken mess.

Zael pressed a palm to his forehead. A sloppy grin followed. "I regret...nothing..."

Little did any of them know, another mission would soon find them. A drunk, missing noble, to be recovered.

Spoiler: Short Post Challenge!

For this thread, try to keep your posts under 200 words. Nope, not going to be checking. Just on the honor system.

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney woke up with her head on Zael’s bare chest and she groaned. She was pretty sure that the dried vomit was hers and she immediately wanted to puke again. She had never drank that much before and she kind of wanted to die now.

The Initiate lifted her head to sit up and room spun. Nope. She laid her head back down on her surprisingly comfortable pillow. She had just used him as a pillow…right…? Ughhhh.

“Regret is for the weak,” she replied to Zael. The weak…where was Kristen?! “Fuck, where’s Kristen?” Delaney pushed herself up and fought the spinning room to find her little bird. She had drug her on the mission because she knew that 1) it would be easy and 2) Delaney could protect her from a worse mission.

As much as Delaney wanted to find the noble, she just groaned again and laid back down. This time she was next to Zael instead of on him. “The Proctors would kill us if they saw this,” she laughed out.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen mumbled some groggy nonsense on the other side of the bar counter. She'd fallen asleep sitting against the back wall, long legs splayed up haphazardly to fit in the gap between the wall and the counter. Her head was lulled to one side. She had to wipe some cold saliva off of her cheek and chin. And it was then that she noticed her sleeve was different. Because her whole outfit was different. She was wearing the barmaid's dress, and the barmaid (collapsed across the room) was half-naked wearing someone else's ill-fitting shirt.

Yesterday night, Kristen's speech had been incredibly slurred in her drunken haze. Often she would forget where Delaney was, poke Zael, ask him, "Where'z...Delanyahnyah?" or some other sloppy butchery of her name. Then she'd get pointed to Delaney. She'd turn to face her friend, see her, smile, say, "OhhelloDel," "Ohhelloodle," "Ohhellaney," or something of the like. And then all of the random hugging and indiscriminate insults would resume.

Her speech was still, this morning, a touch slurred.

"Ugghhh...why...why does my head hurt?"

She had yet to make an effort to get up.

Delaney Lennox

 

[Zael Castomir]

One of the slumbering Yunarians belched in his sleep somewhere in the corner of the tavern. Zael ignored it.

Delaney tried to brave the stormy seas of the hangover, but she came to lay back down on the hardwood floor. Solid idea. Even Zael wasn't in a mindset to try anything. Not right now. Fuck it, they earned it. Routed the anti-Revolutionaries piss easy yesterday.

"They gotta find us first," Zael said, his voice gravelly with the combined weight of the early morning and repercussions of last night's festive indulgences. A single laugh made his chest and head jerk. "They're all old cripples. We could...heh...we could take 'em."

Never too early to talk shit.

Then he heard Kristen. Thought he heard Kristen. You know, most other initiates hated going on missions with her, but she was so useless that it was great for Zael: left more foes for him.

Zael vaguely pointed behind himself, his finger poking the front of the bar counter. "I think she's...over there...somewhere."

Delaney Lennox

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair stumbled into the room followed by a short belch. He was holding his head with one hand as he looked around the room and spotted Delaney, Zael, and Kristen. The night before had not been kind to Alistair. At first, he had been vehemently against while drinking on a mission...Then some asshole had decided to talk shit about his house and challenged him to a drinking contest. He did not think he had one, although he did briefly remember knocking the large man out with a wild punch.

His clothes were a mess as his shirt was missing, and one boot was sitting atop the bar counter. Although miraculously, his hair was still in pristine condition. "Excuse my manners...but this was a horrible idea."

Alistair was a difficult person to be around on his best days, and the ringing headache he currently had was not going to help anyone.

"I believe your head hurts Kristen, because you drank Zael's body weight in alcohol and that is with the armor added on."

 

[Delaney Lennox]

"Kristen, come here," Delaney held her arms up towards the roof as if waiting for Kristen to come hug her. They were really heavy though and she dropped them rather quickly. "I think I died and came back because I feel like death right now. Fuck," she tried to lift her head. Nope.

"I think we all drank Sable's body weight in alcohol," Delaney said in response to Alistair's answer to why Kristen's head hurt. The Shadow Queen was going through her mental catalogue of who was here with them. Her, Zael, Kristen, Alistair...she counted her fingers silently and couldn't for the life of her remember who else was with them.

"I have heard that drinking more helps with the hangover..."

 

[Liza Newcastle]

Liza lay curled up on a bench that sat against the wall, her head resting in another's lap. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to the sight of the face of another young woman peacefully sleeping above her.

She studied the woman's face as she vainly grasped at hazy bits of memories of the previous night that floated through her mind. There had been some kind of... Battle? Then a celebration... The rest of the night was a foggy mess. Liza couldn't help but notice a small dark mark on the woman's neck, and another poking out from under her collar and wondered what had happened to her.

The one thing she did remember clearly was that she hadn't initially wanted to drink. But everyone else looked like they were having fun so she decided she might as well join in. It all started with a small mug of ale that her classmates convinced her to try, and before Liza knew it, she had downed that and a whole bottle of strong wine.

The voices of the other initiates pulled Liza from her thoughts and she groggily sat up resisting the sudden urge to vomit. Her head felt like there was a small army of tiny dwarves mining her brain for precious jewels and her clothes were a rumpled mess. "...Do you all need to be so loud?" she yawned.

 

[Gaage Eberwhit]

It had been Gaage's first time away from the Academy since recovering from his near-death injury. Months. Months of begging the Proctors to let him go out for a mission, eager to get a little dirty again. Why the fuck was he hanging around doing nothing while all of the others got shit done? It was absolute bollocks. When they'd finally agreed, he almost didn't want to strangle them all.

Of course, now Eberwhit didn't remember any of it.

He'd woken up curled up on a table, wearing nothing but the thin shorts that went under his trousers... Where the fucking devil were his trousers? Or his shirt for that matter? Gods, he felt like an ogre had taken a club to his temples, and he'd nearly collapsed as he rolled off of the table at last, steadying himself on his feet. "Fucking damn it all, son of a bitch whore..." he mumbled as he took a cursory look around.

Well, at least he wasn't the only one undressed, though it looked like a good deal of them had found... partners last night. Gaage didn't think he'd shacked up with a nice broad, although the thought wasn't entirely too unappealing. Something to take the edge off even now would have been welcome and... god damn it, his head!

"Where the fuck are we?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen glanced up vaguely in Alistair's direction. Her left eye, for whatever reason, seemed adamant on staying shut. So with a single eye made hazy with exhaustion and the terrible churning waves of a hangover did she spot the initiate of the minor House Krixus.

"Did I...?" she said, voice still halfway between the realm of the wakeful and the realm of sleeping her ass off. "It feels like I was struck repeatedly with his armor...ow..."

From the other side of the counter she heard her name. "Delaney! I'm here...I'm coming around..."

Kristen removed her feet from their awkward position being stuck in the shelves of the counter. Twin thumps as the backs of her legs smacked lightly on the floor. She tried to stand. Immediately gave it up when she felt as though she and Arethil were horrifically out of alignment. "Oh no. No, no, no."

She settled back down. Looked plaintively over toward Alistair. Stretched out beleaguered arms and said, "Can you help me..." she hiccupped, "...stand?"

She'd yet to notice the faint marks of dark, dark red lipstick on her lips.

Delaney Lennox Alistair Krixus Liza Newcastle Gaage Eberwhit

 

[Zael Castomir]

Zael replied to Liza without missing a beat, "I'm always loud. Everybody needs to know how great I am." And he gave a facetious laugh to his own remark.

Liza. Kinda like Kristen to Zael, just a touch less useless. He wasn't like Noel. Zael loved carrying dead weight. Got him stronger, and, if his dead weight was lucky, maybe they got a little something out of it too. Good. Would make their next sparring matches a little more engaging. Alistair was a noble, but at least he could fight. And then came the man of the hour, Gaage. Zael fucking loved Gaage. He loved fighting Gaage, and he loved fighting with Gaage. Pretty much just like it was with Vance. If the Proctors ever sent all three of them out on a mission together, Vel Anir would own all of Liadain. Make a wager on it.

"Vel'Yuna," Zael said, arm draped over his forehead. "We kicked their fuckin ass."

Then he looked down to the dried puke on his stomach and glanced over to Delaney.

"Were you aiming for my belly button? Good job, you nailed it." He grinned and chuckled.

Delaney Lennox Alistair Krixus Liza Newcastle Gaage Eberwhit

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair looked over the room at each of his fellow classmates, and then let out a long sigh. He walked over to the bar counter where he quickly began putting on his other boot so that he could feel just slightly more balanced. He could not decide if it was the smell of the room or the drinking from last night that was making him more nauseous.

As soon he put on the boot he saw Kristen call out to him. For just a small moment, he wanted to ignore her and find a place to smash his brain into pieces so the headache would stop. Thankfully for himself and Kristen, his uptight demeanor was beginning to regain control over his hangover.

Alistair moved over to Kristen and offered his hand with a smirk. "The drinks they gave us put us on the ground quicker than any of their fighters could. Maybe they were aiming for poisoning."

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney heard Gaage speak and turned her head towards his voice. Now she remembered why she was sleeping on Zael's chest. Gaage had been a fucking asshole and then Kristen had been Kristen. She covered her face with her hands and growled. She liked the night better before the memories had come in...although once Kristen remembered...oh that would be gold.

She turned her head back to Zael and snickered. "I wish I would tell you what I was aiming for but I don't remember."

Delaney slowly sat up and took even longer to get to her feet. She slouched against a nearby table and looked towards the bar where Alistair was helping Kristen to her feet. She saw the nobles lips and smirked evilly. Should she tell her...nah.

The Shadow Queen walked very slowly towards Gaage's table. She plucked up his pants and his shirt before throwing them at him with a little too much force. They would have a talk later.

 

[Gaage Eberwhit]

Gaage had stumbled his way behind the bar and procured himself a glass of water, guzzling it like he'd just crossed the Aberresai Savannah on foot. Why the hell did drinking cheap booze make your mouth feel so dry? Fucking nonsense. Whoever had decided this was a good idea was due a swift kick to the stones and his nose rubbed in the dirt.

Probably Zael. He was good in a fight and one of the few that seemed to like Eberwhit for some strange reason, but the oaf had a head full of rocks.

Setting his empty glass down with a soft gasp of satisfaction, Gaage saw Delaney slowly making her way over to him. Why did she have his clothes? He was sure the two of them had agreed not to do that on his very first mission back. Then again, drunken hands...

His own outfit hit his chest with a surprisingly solid impact, causing him to stumble back a bit. "What the fuck is your issue, Laney?" She'd made it very clear to him that he wasn't to use that name in public, but play fucked up games and win fucked up prizes.

 

[Liza Newcastle]

Liza leaned against the young woman next to her, futilely trying to use her magic to filter the alcohol out of her blood. It was no use. The more she tried to focus on it, the more the world spun around her. She slowly, cautiously rose, idly rubbing a sore spot on the side of her neck.

She stumbled over to the bar and hoisted herself up to sit on it. Food... Maybe eating something would help her recover. Liza fished around on the back side of the bar, only finding a small hunk of cheese and a piece of stale bread. Well... It was better than nothing... and she quickly began stuffing her face.

A drunken giggle escaped from between her lips as she watched Alistair help Kristen up. "H-hey Kris- *hic*... There's s-someth-" But before Liza could finish her sentence, the contents of her stomach decided to force themselves up her throat, and she released it on the backside of the bar, narrowly missing the people behind it by a mere hair's breadth. "Nev-Nevermind..." she mumbled, laying down and splaying out on the bar top.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Okay. There. Very good. Alistair was one of the few currently among them able to walk, and with his help Kristen was able to find her feet. Once upright, she was...relatively comfortable with it. A touch wobbly, but nothing so different from a groggy fatigue one might feel if suddenly interrupted from a deep sleep and made similarly to stand.

Kristen gasped at the sudden confrontation between Delaney and Gaage, just as bewildered (but with less uncouth language) as Gaage himself as to why it was happening.

And then a brief distraction. Liza (she was so little, it was adorable!) sitting on the bar counter caught her attention. Started to point something out. And then vomited.

"Oh my!"

And when that shock subsided, Kristen, brow furrowing in wary fashion, dabbed at her face with the tips of her fingers. Nothing felt off.

To Alistair she said, "Is there...something on my face?"

There was indeed some faint traces of lipstick on and around her lips.

Delaney Lennox Gaage Eberwhit Liza Newcastle Alistair Krixus

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Oh hell yes, hold on," Zael said, mustering the motivation to rise up from his resting place on the floor once Delaney confronted Gaage. Keeping Gaage on his toes, nice Delaney, nice. Every single one of them was spent from last night's festivities, but they were still all badass weapons of war. They'd best not be caught lacking. So this was good training for the both of them.

And good entertainment for the rest.

Zael leaned on the bar counter. He heard Liza retch, saw her laying out on the countertop. Shit, she was gonna miss it.

He grabbed Liza's cheeks with one hand and tried to orient her head so she could better see. "Hey, Liza, look, they're goin at it. Don't miss out."

Realizing that he could possibly be in the trajectory of another volley of vomit from the hungover girl, Zael added, "If you gotta puke again, aim for my belly button."

It was the best he could come up with on short notice.

Delaney Lennox Gaage Eberwhit Liza Newcastle Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair was slightly distracted as he kept switching from looking at Delaney and Gaage's confrontation and then looking to the still passed-out barmaid with his shirt on. His brown furrowed in thought for a moment, before being brought back to the situation by Kristen.

"What?" He turned to look at her face. "No bruising, scars, or visible wounds." He was about to leave it at that when he looked back and for only a second slightly blushed. "Yeah, you got a little something." He motioned to his own lips. "Do you wear lipstick?" He was already positive that wasn't Kristen's, but that was the most tactful way he could put it.

He glanced back over to Delaney and Gaage. His mind was running several calculations in his head trying to figure out who would win. He could always try to stop the fight, but Zael probably would not like that, and their was a high chance he would get injured in the attempt.

There was also checking on Liza, but honestly sleeping it off might just be the best option for her.

Kristen Pirian Zael Castomir Delaney Lennox Gaage Eberwhit Liza Newcastle

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Everyone else in the bar fell away as soon as Gaage called her Laney. She was going to have a nice civilized chat with him later but now...oh now he was definitely in trouble. She told him what would happen if he called her that in public. It involved strangling him and not in the fun way.

Without warning, her shadows started to snake up her legs and she growled at Gaage. She may not be able to move quickly but that's what her darkness was for. She just needed the tiniest shadow to call forth her power.

"Of course you don't remember, you fucking asshole," she sneered at him. Sure, they had never defined what they were but it had been spoken that they would have enough respect to not fuck around with other people when the other was around.

And this asshole had decided to make out with a local. Which then led her to make out with Kristen until the noble came to her senses which led her to throw up and pass out on Zael. So really, it was all Gaage's fault.

Her tendril had traveled to up her arm and now it flew at Gaage's throat. It wrapped around it as Delaney stepped forward with anger on her face. "You decided to make out with a fucking local broad, Gaage."

Her voice was low and venom laced her words as she let the tendrils tighten just a little more. It wasn't enough to truly hurt him though. It was just mildly uncomfortable.

 

[Gaage Eberwhit]

Where the hell did this bitch get off acting all petty and angsty this early? He'd just woken up. She'd just woken up. What was so upsetting that it was still eating away at her? Gaage didn't care if she threatened her; they both knew the other was well-matched, and every time they'd sparred it resulted in a stalemate.

Her grand reveal of his terrible sin would have hit a lot harder if she'd waited until after it was over before the dark tendrils of shadow started assaulting him, he noted. The ones wrapped around his legs held him in place well enough, but the half-assed stranglehold of the shadow around his throat made him snicker. She didn't want to hurt him, she was just pissed.

"Oh no, I kissed a whore? Pray tell that made you jealous enough to start snogging Pirian? At least I had the decency to kiss somebody who didn't have a chance anyways." In actuality, he had absolutely no memory of kissing anybody last night, and he made a mental note to wash his mouth out at the earliest opportunity.

The grip on his throat tightened a bit, and Gaage smiled wider. He could have broken out, but he was still off-balance and didn't want to risk seriously hurting Delaney if his powers got out of control. "You... sure you want to do this with me right now? Everybody is watching, you know..."

 

[Liza Newcastle]

Liza had closed her eyes and was doing everything in her power to block out the deafening sound of voices around her. She felt hands take hold of her cheeks and turn her head to the side.

Opening one eye, she saw that it was Zael, and he was blabbering on about something to do with Gaage and Delaney in that obnoxiously loud voice of his. With a sigh, she slowly sat up and gingerly swung her legs over the side of the bar, fighting the urge to vomit for a second time.

What was going on? It seemed that Gaage had kissed somebody and to say that Delaney was upset would be an understatement. But why was she so upset? It appeared as though everybody had found somebody to fool around with over the course of the night, so what made him doing it any different than anybody else? Maybe they had been secretly seeing each other?

Whatever their reasoning was, Liza hated seeing conflict between her classmates. Though they had been raised as weapons of war and were constantly trying to best each other, she still wished to see everybody getting along outside of classes and sparring.

Wait...Was the floor getting closer? How odd... By the time Liza realized what was happening, her forehead had nearly collided with her knees. She scrambled at the air, her hands finally finding purchase on Zael's upper arm, which she then hugged tightly. Slowly bringing herself back up to an upright position, her grip on Zael's arm remained tight while she watched the rest of the events unfold.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Lipstick?" Kristen blinked, her confusion immediate and palpable. She again investigated her lips and her cheeks with a few dainty dabs, squinting at the tips of her fingers to see if there was any manner of peculiar coloration. She was about to ask Alistair for a second opinion--maybe some queer trick of the light had made him see something that wasn't there.

Then Gaage loudly proclaimed that Delaney had been 'snogging' Pirian. 'Snogging' her! That was one of those vernacular words mother so fervently disliked. But, more to the point, that was a most scandalous accusation! And then he followed it up with a further implication!

Well it was time to put her foot down. Not literally, heavens no, she'd fall in the process.

Delaney had him occupied at the moment, so he could listen well enough.

"Gaage!" Kristen tried her best to sound forceful, but her typically gentle demeanor didn't allow for much improvement in that respect. "You mustn't make such a claim with such wanton disregard! In truthful fact, I believe your words to be an utter fabrication!"

Kristen crossed her arms. Lifted her chin. Made a defiant face (with evidence smeared upon it).

Liza Newcastle Delaney Lennox Alistair Krixus Gaage Eberwhit

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Easy there. Easy."

Zael had been so wrapped up (not quite like Gaage was, heh) with the confrontation that he didn't notice Liza until her flailing hands took hold of his bicep for stabilization. He glanced over at the small girl, temporarily distracted, and let out a long breathy laugh of amusement. Of all the people to get falling-over drunk. Her and Kristen, sure, but where the hell did Liza store it all? He wished some of the details from yesterday night weren't so hazy, because he wanted to remember what she was like drunk. Damn, he hoped she was a mean drunk. Imagine it, those little fists swinging at everybody. Perfect height for devastating knees to the groin too.

Zael hunched over some, coming down to Liza's height. Then he looked back to the confrontation. Said to Liza with a devilish grin and low, mischievous tone, "Do you know what I would give right now if you had a bit of your blood in one of them two, and you gave 'em a little nudge?"

Nothing like instigating some fun.

Liza Newcastle Delaney Lennox Alistair Krixus Gaage Eberwhit

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair leaned back a bit as he watched all of this go down. He didn't remember much of last night, but he was glad that he had not made any poor decisions like the rest of them...His eyes trailed over to the passed-out barmaid with his shirt on...or had he?

"Maybe everyone should just calm down a little. I don't think any of us remember what happened last night."

As he said this, he took a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to Kristen. The quicker she wiped off the 'evidence' the better this situation would probably get. Of course, he still wasn't willing to walk closer to Delaney and Gaage, because he really did not want to be the one getting choked out by shadow girl.

Kristen Pirian Zael Castomir Delaney Lennox Gaage Eberwhit Liza Newcastle

 

[Delaney Lennox]

An evil smirk formed on Delaney's face as her hand came up to touch Gaage's cheek. Her tendril shot over to said hand and coiled around her arm. She leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "I can think of what I want to do with you if you say you are sorry and only call me Laney when we are alone..."

She placed a kiss on his cheek as she pulled away with the smirk still on her face. She couldn't stay mad at him and she had made out with Kristen as revenge. They had both been a tad drunk.

Kristen's words hit Delaney's ear and she slowly turned away from Gaage to look at the Pirian girl. Her lips were pressed together and she tried so hard to not laugh at how Kristen tried so hard to be forceful. My sweet little bird, Delaney thought.

"Well...Kristen...he isn't lying..." Her words trailed off. Her and Kristen had gotten close and Delaney liked the girl a lot. She considered her a friend and now she realized that she shouldn't have kissed her. She could've picked anyone in the bar and she had purposely picked Kristen because Gaage knew that Delaney had once had a huge crush on her. She looked over her shoulder at Gaage as she finally realized that she had done a bad thing.

"Sorry, Gaage," she said quietly. He was the only one who ever got apologies from her and she had a sneaky suspicion that she would be granting one to Kristen shortly. Shit.

 

[Gaage Eberwhit]

Gaage would pull against the grip of her shadows, tilting his head against her hand with a growing smirk. Delaney knew damned well that Gaage wasn't afraid of her, and it was always cute when she tried to intimidate him like he was some whimpering child fresh out of his first year. Those words she whispered huskily into his ear though... those weren't the words of somebody who was angry.

"Mmm. I guess we'll see about that, won't we? I don't know if you have it in you, Laney..." He muttered back quietly. This is how it always was with the two of them, a game of one-upsmanship. Gaage didn't remember kissing anybody, and he certainly didn't care. Honestly, it didn't irk him that she'd done anything with Pirian either. As it stood, the relationship between he and Lennox was undefined, and Gaage had enough to worry about without getting possessive on top of that.

Delaney's grip finally released him and he took a deep breath of stale, tavern air. Delicious. Not even listening to Kristen and Delaney, he busied himself with getting his clothes back on. Lennox could handle the goody goody noble kid. By the time he looked somewhat presentable, Delaney was apologizing to him for the whole thing.

"Bah." He wiped at the side of his mouth and stretched his back out a bit. "I stopped caring about it five minutes ago."