Watch Me Spin [Open]

[Elric Vlarintos]

What was there to be done? Had he been wandering? Where had he been? The silence of the library had seemed unbearable. He could not focus enough to play anything in the music room. Cider hardly was cutting it anymore. There wasn't really anyone he could talk to. Everything felt so fragmented and broken. His thoughts were largely disconnected.

There was no cohesion in his thoughts, nor anywhere in his body. If he could have just melted away it would have been ideal. As it was, he felt horrifically depressed. Depression seemed to be spreading like a disease lately. Issues all around and there was nothing to look forward to.

What did normal people do when there was nothing to look forward to? It sounded stupid and it tasted worse, but Elric decided to give it a try. Drinking something so foul that burned his mouth in such a way didn't really make him feel better. It did, however, make him feel worse about himself. Maybe he should leave and assign himself penances until his body felt like breaking under the stress? He hardly felt like he could get up from where he was sitting, let alone come up with a fitting penance.

He had walked here without his coat. It had seemed unbearably tight and far too warm, even if the air had been cold. Now he didn't feel so cold. Still miserable. He couldn't recognize anyone around him. The looks he gave people kept most a fair distance from him. He served himself another drink but didn't touch it. Figuring out how to serve himself had been a matter of observation, though it had still been awkward the first few times. It still felt awkward, but now because his fingers didn't seem to respond the way he wanted them to.

Everything just felt numb.

[Piper Wren]

Piper had been forced out of her dorm by Alex, he claimed that she was pale enough already and needed sunlight. In truth, Piper really didn't care, she just wanted to stay in bed and watch the cracks in the ceiling get bigger. But no...the pyro had insisted that she get back to normal (since when did the word normal appear in Alex's vocabulary? But that was neither here nor there...) The young woman thought that getting the weight of her secret off her shoulders would make her feel better, but in truth it just made her feel worse. Piper just couldn't get the look on Elric's face out of her head, she hadn't been able to face it and had run away like a coward.

What an idiot.

Normally she didn't wander up this far but Piper hadn't really been thinking about where she was going, the pub was nearby but the idea of drinking right now simply repulsed her...although there seemed to be a lot of people leaving in large groups, what was going on? Maybe some boogie turned up? Although that wouldn't be common place, generally they didn't come anywhere near here unless looking for someone. As people left she could hear them chattering about 'Weird drunk introvert', 'Shocked he's not passed out', 'Tall guy, wouldn't want to tangle with him...' Obviously not a boogie then, but then the pieces started to click together in her mind. It couldn't be? He didn't drink...None the less Piper made her way up to the pub and pushed the door opened, it creaked slightly at her entrance and there was only a few people sitting in the corner, well away from the figure at the bar.

So, it seemed Elric did drink after all...and by the looks of the state he was in he didn't hold it very well. Piper's gut was telling her to go, she was still feeling hurt and backstabbed...but then there was her conscience telling her to at least do the right thing. Sighing deeply she made her way up to the bar, the few people still sitting in the corner looking at her like she had a death wish.

"I think you've had enough."

[Elric Vlarintos]

Had people been leaving the bar? Elric hardly noticed, but he shot a few angry glances outward on occasion. No one had tried talking to him, which was for the best. In his mind he was only capable of rambling on about things that did not matter. Sometimes things that could not have ever mattered and some things that just simply did not exist.

He called into question what he had been doing here the last few years. Clearly this was no circle of hell. Maybe it was just a place where the damned and forgotten were left to die. Things hardly seemed clear any more. A foul taste filled his mouth once more, but vanished quickly enough. There was no desire to keep going on with this horrific idea, but every time Elric attempted to stand it just made him feel unwell. Sitting was the best option at this time.

There was a voice, the first time someone had spoken to him in a while. Elric tried to turn his head, but could not really focus on the face that was there. "Yer prob'ly righ', but I'm not goin' 'nywhere. Not 'nytime soon." There wouldn't be anyone who needed to see him anytime soon as it was.

Elric slid the glass away from himself as he turned to just stare at the table. Nothing had helped. There had been nothing he could do to make himself feel better. He wasn't even entirely certain that he hadn't gone mad just a moment ago when the voice told him he had enough. Wasn't the voice of reason supposed to shut up after most people had a few drinks? Or was Elric's voice of reason so thoroughly ingrained that nothing could defeat it?

He leaned an elbow down on the table and rested his head in his hand. There was nothing more to be said. "Y'still there?" he mumbled with a tone filled with annoyance. Person or voice, it was still bothering him. He just wanted to be left alone in his own sorrow at the moment.

[Piper Wren]

"Yer prob'ly righ', but I'm not goin' 'nywhere. Not 'nytime soon....Y'still there?"

Piper sighed, he was completely and utterly wasted...that was something she had never expected to see, at least he pushed the glass away from himself but the damage had already been done. It seemed also that he didn't realise it was her, if Elric were sober he would have recognised Piper's voice probably right away...but it seemed the drink was pressing on that intregral part of the brain. What was she doing here? Why had she thought that this was a good idea...oh yes that's right, her no good conscience wouldn't leave her alone if she just walked away even if she was still feeling angry and backstabbed. After a moment's hesitation, Piper sat on a stool a comfortable distance away from Elric...at least she had plenty of experience dealing with far nastier and more violent drunks than him.

"Yes, I'm still here. Why did you think this was a good idea?"

There was a vague hint of accusation in her voice that Piper couldn't hold back on, she didn't look Elric in the face and rapped her fingernails on the table infront of her more out of tension than impatience for an answer. Piper could see why people had left the bar, with the white hair and irritable expression it was no wonder. All she could hope for now was to get him out of here, that he was not a violent drunk and that he wouldn't remember much of it in the morning.

She knew already that the hangover would be horrendous.

"Well?"

[Elric Vlarintos]

Everything he did seemed to delay for a few seconds. If he tapped his finger against the table he felt a half second behind the movement and when it finally struck against the table it took him a moment to feel it, if he felt it at all. It took a moment to realize that that he had even been asked a question, and a few more moments to come up with an answer.

Why had he thought this was a good idea? He supposed it had never seemed like a good idea. It seemed like a horrible idea, but he had been doing a lot of horrible things lately. It just made sense to follow suit with another horrible thing since there wasn't anything good he could be doing.

"S'not a good idea. S'horrible idea. Bin doin' a lot of horrible things lately. A lot of horrible things." When he repeated himself, he said it slower. As though it was for his own benefit and not the benefit of those around him. What sorts of horrible things had he done? Well, he did not want to talk about it much. Why would a person bother asking him about it?

"If yer here t'toss me out, gimme a bit to settle down." He felt tired, but he also felt unwell any time he stood up. Sitting was the only thing he could do right now.

[Piper Wren]

"S'not a good idea. S'horrible idea. Bin doin' a lot of horrible things lately. A lot of horrible things...If yer here t'toss me out, gimme a bit to settle down."

Piper sighed, Elric was far from in good condition at this point and in the young woman's experience in dealing with drunks...well, it was easy enough to see Elric had consumed enough to sink himself deeper into the black hole he started in. Getting him back to the dorm without him being sick either on himself or on her would be an interesting experience. Piper almost felt like she was in need of a stiff drink herself to even consider doing this. Someone had to be stupid enough to, it might as well be her...that was often the cause regardless about how she felt at the moment. Piper took a deep breath to steady herself and immediately regretted it, getting a lung full of the potent alcohol fumes in the air. Not pleasant in the least.

"No, I'm going to escort you back to your dorm before you pass out."

'Why am I doing this again?

Because you're the only person who isn't worried about losing body parts.

Not a good enough reason.

Alright fine, he's probably done this after what you blurted out-

Shut up, Conscience!

Great...I'm arguing with myself.'

Steeling herself, Piper got up from the stool and flinched slightly as she placed a necessary hand on Elric's right shoulder, she had a horrible feeling that she might have to support him and he wasn't a lightweight like Kristopher or Augusta...

[Elric Vlarintos]

What was he still doing here? Why had he even come here in the first place? Everything was just stupid and he wanted to be left alone in his own depressing thoughts. Sometimes you were in pain and you didn't want people to come up and try and fix it. Sometimes you were content to be left to your own misery. It made sense--why else would people seek to make themselves miserable so often?

Elric was content to be left alone in his own bubble of thoughts, but the voice kept nagging at him. The voice wanted him to leave this place, but Elric would much rather stay. He didn't turn his head or give the voice a response. Maybe if he ignored it, it would go away.

He felt a hand on him suddenly as though its feeble attempts could lift him up so he could leave. This was the first sign that what he heard was more than just a voice. It was a person. Reaching out with his arm he pushed the person away. The motion felt sluggish and like it was at a sloth's pace, but it responded all the same. "Just leave m'be. I'll leave when I kin leave." Right after everything stopped moving so much.

Was he aggravated? Or just tired? He could hardly tell the difference.

[Piper Wren]

"Just leave m'be. I'll leave when I kin leave."

It wasn't the words that flipped a switch inside Piper...it was being shoved away like that. Fine, if it was going to be like that then she would deal with it. Piper took a moment to collect herself after being shoved away like that, trying to remember that she had far worse from other people and that this was nothing. But getting that kind of behaviour from Elric was something she had never expected...that made it all that much harder. Piper went back to Elric's side and grabbed his shoulder again, this time without flinching and the softly softly approach she had adopted previously. She was angry now and it showed.

"I am not going anywhere! If you think you can order me about then you've got another thing coming! You need to get back to your dorm before you pass out in the cold and possibly in your own vomit so you're coming with me, like it or not!"

It didn't seem like Piper was going to let it go easily, she was angry now and it took a lot to raise her temper. Normally she was extremely calm and even, but not tonight. After everything...she had hoped he was drunk enough to just blindly follow her without being difficult. Having a conscience really sucked sometimes and tonight was one of them for sure. The fact she had raised her voice to Elric made the few people left in the pub look at her like she was utterly mad, did she WANT her spinal cord ripped out and kept as a trophy?

[Elric Vlarintos]

There was no silence for the damned as a big ape built his own cage. A more reasonable Elric would have thought about the simple fact that voices belong to people and that people had feelings. A more lucid Elric would understand that he didn't like hurting people's feelings. Wasn't that why he was here in the first place?

Such considerations made his head hurt and he'd rather just withdraw into the dark corners of his mind. Someplace where people and voices wouldn't bother him and feelings wouldn't get in the way of his thoughts. Maybe someplace where he could let the growling beast within roam free for a little while and not worry about hurting anyone.

Then came the shouting. At the very least it felt as though the voice was shouting. Perhaps it was just a raised voice, but Elric felt particularly sensitive to such a notion at the moment. He slammed his hands on the table. The glass he had set aside earlier rocked, but did not spill. With a great deal of effort he managed to push himself to his feet and stand there for a moment. He was swaying. Had there been an audible gasp from the rest of the room when he rose?

"I don' need yer sympathy n I don' need yer help." It was taking so much effort to keep standing. The entire world felt like it rushed past him when he got up and it tossed his stomach for a loop. With the same willpower and effort it took to rise he lifted his left foot and set it down a little in front of him. Then he took his other and did the same. His whole body felt so unstable, but he still chose to raise his hand and try and brush the arm resting on his shoulder aside.

Where was the door? It suddenly seemed a good ways away. Focusing hard on the door he managed to make it stay still, but everything else kept moving. Stopping the world made him feel even worse, so he released it and let the world go on spinning.

[Piper Wren]

"I don' need yer sympathy n I don' need yer help."

Piper somehow still managed to hold on...it seemed that Elric was going to need steering, somewhat like a car or perhaps in this instance a tank might be a more accurate comparison. None the less she was not going anywhere, Elric was going to hear a piece of Piper's mind whether he wanted to or not. She may have heard far worse but it was no wonder he didn't drink, the man was a completely obnoxious drunk! Piper managed to get behind the freakishly tall man and steer him towards the door. Elric had to be seeing in double or perhaps triple by this point because he was heading towards the wall rather than the door.

"I think you do because the door is THAT way!"

'Why else would you be doing it, let us count the ways?

I've heard quite enough of you for one evening...'

The people in the corner looked quite relieved that Elric was being escorted out of the pub. But one of the young men approached Piper, she gathered he wanted to know if she needed help...probably not a good idea at this point. She shook her head.

"I'm fine, he's all bark and no bite. I'll get him out of here and he ISN'T going to complain, are you?"

The last part of the statement was directed at Elric, well...she didn't care if he did complain really, Piper had in the past had to listen to far worse even if Elric was an obnoxious drunk, he didn't even compare to her Godfather.

[Elric Vlarintos]

He was moving now towards where he thought the door was and was only vaguely aware of someone behind him. They were trying to steer him and it was quickly getting annoying. Every few steps he'd try and shrug the person off of his back before moving forward a little bit more. Getting to the fresh air of the outside would be good. It would get him away from the sick and stifling air in the pub.

"M'goin' fer the door," he mumbled out loud as the hands turned him away from the wall. Really, he couldn't tell where he was going, but as he got closer to the wall he would have been able to adjust his path accordingly. There was just no way he could understand why this person insisted on helping him out the door.

"I'll complain if'n the hell I wanna." He hardly felt like being compliant. Trying to toss the person off of his back didn't seem to work, but he didn't feel agile enough to give them the slip and leave them on the floor like he normally would.

Navigating the door seemed problematic at first, but turned out to be more easy than he tought it would be. With one hand resting on the door's frame he used that to support himself as he pushed the door open. The cool wind from outside washed over his face. He felt his knees give just a little bit under the relief before his legs locked into position once more to hold him up.

If he fell down he doubted that there was anyone who was going to be able to pull him back up.

[Piper Wren]

"M'goin' fer the door, I'll complain if'n the hell I wanna."

Piper simply rolled her eyes irritably, unfazed by Elric's attempts to shift her grip off him...sober it would be no trouble but currently she was the more coordinated of them so hanging onto him wasn't really a problem. It was a bit of a struggle but they made it towards the door, for one horrible moment Piper thought that Elric's legs were going to give way. If that happened there was no way she was strong enough to get him back onto his feet again. But thankfully Elric managed to stay upright much to Piper's relief, behind his back she let out a breath she didn't even realise she had been holding.

"Ok, we've made it out of the door...if you're sick anywhere near me, Elric you're seriously going to get a piece of my mind."

Now they had to get back to the Dorm, more doors and steps to be navigating, joy! This was going to be an evening that Piper would probably want to wipe clean from her memory...well, not until tommorrow at the earliest anyway. She was not happy with Elric and damn it he was going to hear about it, hangover or not! Anyway, she wasn't going to be sympathetic, it was self inflicted after all.

'But it takes something to provoke it.'

'I didn't tell him to go and get wasted'

'No, you told him something worse'

At that thought Piper felt a little sick...but tried to push it away as she navigated Elric away from the pub.

[Elric Vlarintos]

It was better to be navigating through the out of doors in the windy fall rather than trudging through the snow and ice of winter. However, it still must not have been much fun. Without his jacket most of Elric's skin was bare against the cold wind. The truth was that he hardly noticed how cool it was, but he was grateful for the fresh air. To him it felt like he had finally left the stench of the pub behind. He'd probably only later realize how thickly it was clinging to his clothes now.

With each step he took he knew he was getting closer to his home and bed. No longer was he considering the person following along and guiding him on the way, though without help he probably would have just found a seat somewhere. Speaking of finding a seat, he felt like he really had to sit down.

"I-Imma just take a seat here," he mumbled as he picked out a rock a little off of the side of the road. Slowly and miraculously he veered toward the rock he had picked out. Perhaps separating himself from the commotion of the pub was one of the better choices that could have been made.

[Piper Wren]

The cold air whipped it's way through Piper's jacket and made her shiver. Although she was currently mad at Elric she couldn't help but worry that it was too cold for him out here without his customary layers...Autumn had settled in over Wonderland quickly and as always they were in for an even colder winter to come. Her thoughts were distracted from that were her charge had stopped loudly complaining, Elric seemed a little too quiet for Piper's liking...she preferred his whining if anything. It meant he was alright.

"I-Imma just take a seat here,"

That didn't sound good...Piper followed Elric over to the rock where he seated himself. Now he was out of the stuffy, alcohol fumed air of the pub he was probably feel a little sick. Well, probably more than a little. Piper didn't know how much he had consumed by the time she had gotten there but by his behaviour and the stink of alcohol that seemed to be radiating off him...it was a lot. Piper hesitated but stood at his side, not infront just incase his stomach turned. There was a silence between them for a while, Piper was trying to let Elric get his head together, the freezing air might even sober him up a tad.

"How are you feeling?"

'Lost the heart to shout at him now?

I'll give him until tommorrow...'

[Elric Vlarintos]

How did he feel? Elric felt like shit in every sense of the word. First time out had been horrific and reaffirmed everything bad he had ever thought about the vile drinks that they served at the pub. At least now he had a good insider's feeling about how it really was.

Whatever he had been drinking before wasn't setting well in his stomach and seemed to want to hop back up his esophagus. There was just a point where the body told you that you had enough, and it wasn't going to listen to your protests otherwise. It was a poison that broke the brain to destroy the body, and the body subconsciously sought to preserve itself. There really was only one way this would be able to end now.

"Think'm'gonna b'sick." The words came with a bitter-tasting bubble of gas rising in his throat, but the predicted retching did not come yet. That was one of the tricks of dealing with someone who was drunk--they were just aware enough of their body to know that they were going to be sick. It really was just a matter of when and where it would happen. Elric had picked out this spot and was just waiting for the when now. The chill was setting into his bones.

"Prob'ly should git away."

And then it came through him like a wave. Elric felt his entire body ungulate and the foul taste and smell filled his mouth and nose as it spilled all over the ground. Elric was only vaguely aware of the desire to miss his shoes and pants. A toilet might have been appreciated at this particular moment, but there were no such chamberpots out and about in the night air.