Drunk and Disorderly [Leigo]

[Lyam]

Spring 27th, 512 av Lyam was standing on the bar despite the furious gaze of the tavern owner. His last glass of beer had certainly been a bit too much for the young Kelvic. He clapped his hands, gazing at the other customers of the tavern and began to sing – out of tune: ”Drink, drink, wherever we may be, We are the drunk and disorderly, And we will drink wherever we may be, For we are the drunk and disorderly.” Soon many voices joined his in an awful cacophony. ”I was drunk last night I was drunk the night before And I'm gonna get drunk like I've ne'er been drunk before Cos when we're drunk we're as happy as can be, For we are the drunk and disorderly.” No longer aware of what he was doing, Lyam jumped down the bar and felt on the ground without any balance. He tried to remain on his feet with big gests of his arms, but instead hit his nearest neighbour with a slap. While the giant man stood up and threatened Lyam with his enormous fist, the others were still singing: ”I've been drunk on cider, I've been drunk on beer, I started drinking cocktails but they made my stomach queer, So I got drunk on champagne, I'm as happy as can be, For we are the drunk and disorderly.” The first punch hit Lyam on his stomach and it was so strong that he felt on another guy. Suddenly very angry, Lyam began to do something he would never have done without many beers in the belly; he punched back. His fist was strong, but hitting the giant man was as painful as trying to breach a wall barehanded. Lyam heard something cracking and felt a big pain on his wrist. Fortunately, it did not seem broken. But another punch caught him on his back, then on his legs, then everywhere. Even completely drunk, Lyam guessed he had just been the spark to begin a general brawl, and that he was just in the middle of it.

[Leigo]

Leigo was staring down a half empty mug, hoping he wouldn’t make that sight a habit. It was not like he was an alcoholic, yet anyway. His drinking however, did take some unprecedented leaps in recent days. When he wasn’t drunk, he was sleeping or looking for a way to get intoxicated again. It was sorry way to drown one’s sorrow, but it was the best he could ever hope for. His thoughts raced wildly in all directions but the door, until one of those drunken idiots started singing. Boy didn’t care enough to even turn his head around, yet his ears couldn’t ignore the newborn racket so easily. And as if one was not enough, others soon joined. Boy’s half drunken head wobbled over the table tormented by the terrible voices, all joined in fighting his peace. What did a guy have to do in this accursed city to get a good drink, a good night’s sleep and some hope of renewing the process since hope for everything else had long since perished? For one, no one could ever get a decent drink in Zeltiva, but hey, they had Kelp beer. That could cut it, right? Wrong! And judging by the terrible voices, it just wasn’t his night. Answering his own question, Leigo closed his eyes, hoping. He hoped for just once things would go his way and someone would finally shut up all the haunting sounds and let him drink his own weight… or whatever he could before his head could no longer sustain altitude. As a miracle from his great and merciful patrons upstairs he got an answer. Surprisingly enough it was not the head shaking one. People started shutting up and preoccupying themselves with another form of commotion. A brawl perhaps; one couldn’t be sure anymore. Taking hold of his depressing cup filled with dreadful poison, he tried to sip it. Before the liquor could reach his lips, someone had a better idea. Unluckily, that idea involved hitting Leigo on the back with something, causing him to spill his drink. Almost as if he was hit with lightning, boy stood up, ready to be vengeful. One does not simply push an Abranox, one does not simply ruin his drink and with it his already forlorn mood, and finally one does not piss Leigo off without a reason. His back hurt a bit so his entrance to the already present brawl was less than graceful. He could still make out the one who hit him though. It was an older man, a sailor perhaps, still laughing his head off. Normally Leigo was all for a civil solution, but he was far too drunk and offended for any of that to happen. Locking his mug in a better hold, he walked towards the stranger slowly. He would make him pay; he would make them all pay! The man seemed all caught up in a hold with someone else by the time he made it there. This didn’t stop the boy though. Swinging the mug swiftly, he smashed its bottom across the offender’s face hoping it did some permanent damage. The man remained standing however, so Leigo used his fist this time, landing a hit on top of the man’s skull. Even well after the punch connected, boy’s hand was still incredibly sore. Still not satisfied, he made yet another attempt with elbow of the same hand. This time however, someone else landed into his side and the pair barreled across the floor where Leigo figured out he was too tired to try and find the one who pissed him off again. Instead he settled for the next best thing. Turning his gaze to the already well beaten man, he swung mercilessly.

[Lyam]

Lyam punched right and left, never knowing who he was fighting against. In a brawl, it did not really matter. He could already feel many bruises on his whole body and some little cuts, but he didn’t mind. However the wound on his back, recent memory of his last journey on the mountains, had been punched and that ached a lot. Recovering some lucidity through the pain, Lyam kicked his way through the melee and try to quit the tavern. But a big punch hit him on his jaw and knocked him out before he could be out. Lying on the ground, he took a minute of rest, trying not to be trample on at the same time. He finally stood up and hit the first man he found on his way toward the door, a blond haired and blue-eyed half-drunk man. But before the stranger could replicate, the strong grip of the tavern owner took the two men by the shirt and pulled them out through the open door. “And never come back, you bastard!” he shouted. They both felt on the wet ground and the cool air and the silence of the night made a big difference with the brawl of the tavern. Without envisaging standing up, Lyam could help himself from laughing. “Aha, it’s raining.” But at the same time, he made a wry face considering the pain of his scar on his back. He finally gazed at the stranger and said with this well known voice of drunk men: “I know you dude… you were there to fight the fool wizard! Coooool…” And he laughed again…

[Leigo]

The brawl grew ever wider and punches kept bruising the flesh deeper and deeper. Too drunk to duck out immediately, Leigo still saw the cue to leave. So he decided to use the people already tangled in violent interactions as reliance in his reaching the door. And surprisingly enough, the whole thing seemed to be working. People who were stuck beating someone senseless barely even felt slight pressure against their shoulders as he blond passed by, silent as a grave. His luck had been good until a large knuckle busted his front. Falling down, he tried to observe the one who knocked him down. Ever so vengeful, he managed to make an imprint of the perpetrator’s face in his mind. Standing back up, Leigo wanted to swing at the distracted man, but a big, sober hand clasped around one of his shoulders and he stopped in his track, submission obvious. The next thing he knew was the pain of landing outside alongside the man that had hit him with angry shouts, probably the proprietor’s. His back hurt as the two landed in front of the building. All his vengeful spirit dissipating, he held his back to mend some of the pain while the other man laughed. Leigo still wanted to swing at him a bit, but seeing as he was in worse shape than the blond, it wasn’t really a good idea. One thing was for sure though; he was never getting that drunk. The stranger seemed well content and even smiling (if it could be called that) long before the boy could even move properly. Again, he wanted to swing at the man for his stupidity, but even though most of the pain was absorbed by the alcohol, the body remained disobedient. His eyes fluttered around the man for a while upon hearing his voice. They knew each other? Leigo would never guess. Still, the mage hunt this stranger mentioned; he could remember many people being there, but the man was not among them. Strange indeed; Perhaps he was simply too drunk to remember or the idiot made a wrong assumption. Then again, that would have been too much of a coincidence. “The mage hunt? Were you actually there? I don’t remember you…” poking at the man while they were both still conscious, Leigo wondered how long would it take for them to sober up after this. And the wretched rain kept falling.

[Lyam]

Lyam stood up as he could and looked at the other man. The world was swinging around him and it was difficult for him to reach a good balance but he seemed to not notice. “Of course I was!” he claimed out when the man said he did not remember Lyam was there to hunt the mage. “You are the one we left behind! I even barked at you!” Lyam laughed before frowning, trying to remember something the alcohol had turned blurred. “Well, maybe not. But I can still remember that fool mage and his arm on my jaws. Hurk, his blood was really disgusting.” he added with a wry face. “But you were not there! With us I mean. You did not follow.” He felt on his knees, unable to keep standing anymore. He held his head on his hands, suddenly worried. “Gods, it hurts! Do I have drunk that much?” He frowned again and lost his smile; suddenly his whole body seemed to have recovered the ability of feeling pain. Lyam growled a bit and gazed at the other man. “I need to drink.” Then, seeing his astonished face, he added “Water I mean, I’m parched.” He tried to stand up again but it was not that easy. During a second, he wondered what it could do if he shifted right now. But before his body would want to give it a try, he shook his head and made a first step to nowhere. “By the way, I’m Lyam.” he added without any reason.

[Leigo]

The more this drunken idiot spoke, the more Leigo’s fury diminished. He no longer had any desire to hit the stranger, instead he wanted to ask him questions a sober person might not know the answers to. There were a couple in particular that weighed heavy on his mind, but in light with them both being drunk voicing more than one at the time seemed inadequate. The one that got the blond to act particularly curious was the part where Lyam could bark. What was that all about? Normally, people (and Leigo with them) would have written this one off as a fairytale found at the bottom of a mug, or a glass… whatever the poison. But this wasn’t just any circumstance and they were both just gullible enough for anything to sound real. Distantly through mists of memory, Leigo could recall something that could bark being present when they were still assembling to hunt for the mages. A dog perhaps, or a wolf – Leigo couldn’t be sure. Then again a wolf would have probably been killed on sight in those crazy times… so maybe a dog? Also, if Lyam was the one that barked, that would put him at the bottom of Nai’shee’s palm back then. And then Nai’shee would be the little blonde he saw a couple of times since then. Too much questions and assumptions plagued his brain for any of it to coexist peacefully. Eyeing Lyam, Leigo wanted to ask him something, but somehow he wanted to stand up even more. Maybe he could even introduce himself? “I’m Leigo of the reve… ah, never mind that. Just Leigo will do.” His voice trembled as his limbs swayed indifferently in their wake. Getting up seemed like an eternity even when it was barely a chime of effort. Dusting off his old rags, it looked silly he was even bothering to prettify something so unpleasant to the eyes. Reaching out to a road leading away from their location, he added calmly, his head still wobbling as he spoke. “There should be a well of sorts there somewhere. I’m not all that good with locations when I’m… well let’s face it we’re both drunk.” Laughing as he ended the sentence, boy wanted water too. Somehow stating the obvious entertained him to a new extent. And then he remembered just what it was that they were talking about before. Smirking to try and recollect the words fully, Leigo worded his question carefully. When his lips parted, what came out was anything but careful, but his impulse control wasn’t the best while intoxicated. “What do you mean you barked at me? I mean you look like you could do it, but where you seriously drunk back then too?” laughing out loud at the thought, Leigo couldn’t wait for an answer. “Are you a dog?” he added, proud at his quick thinking. Holding onto something he waited for Lyam to react, but somehow it sounded unlikely that the dog boy had even listened to him.

[Lyam]

Lyam half heard that his night companion was called Leigo but did not listen what followed. But for Leigo’s misfortune, Lyam did pay attention to his very last words. In any other occasion, Lyam would have remained pokerfaced and would have denied it, trying to convince the other man that he was no Kelvic, that he should have done a mistake. Or at least trying to persuade him that he was any kind of Kelvic but a wolf. Being a Kelvic was indeed hard enough in normal times but if you added you were a wolf Kelvic… at best you would be expulsed, at worse dead before the next sunrise. Human’s fear for the wolves was a wide world habits. But yet, Lyam was drunk and being called a dog sounded like an insult. He gazed at Leigo with thunders in the eyes and answered on a glacial tone “You’re not only a coward after all, you’re blind too! I’m much, much more dangerous than a stupid little puppy; I’m a wolf, Leigo, a wild, proud and free wolf.” The angriness began to fall little by little: at least telling it would have had a good side. Lyam turned on his heel and went toward the first source of water he knew in the city: the old public washing-place. He rested on everything he could to remain on his feet but soon his stomach began to contract. Lyam tried to walk faster but he failed to reach the water before emptying his stomach from all he alcohol he had drunk. It looked really disgusting and the owner of the little house would have a nice surprise the following morning but Lyam did not think about that; suddenly, he felt a bit better. He finally reached the washing-place and clean his face and throat from all the vomit, before taking care of his feet and pan that had not been saved from that. The water was very fresh and froze his teeth and head but also seemed to make his mind working in a better way. He gazed at Leigo as if he had just noticing his presence and designed the bruises on his face and arms. “Oh gods… Did I hit you?” Lyam shook his head and tried to remember what had just happened, where he was and why. But his memory had been more than blurred. Closing his eyes, he saw some empty streets, a flake of vomit, a band of men fighting each others, the rain, a girl face… The girl’s face. “Oh no,” he suddenly understood “I got drunk… didn’t I?”

[Leigo]

OOCApologies for the wait. Boy’s eyes rolled. This other man, whoever he was, seemed to be discontent with a perfectly normal question. He said he barked, so Leigo asked him if he was a dog. Was there some preexistent social contract blond wasn’t aware of? Probably not, betting on the stranger being psychotic came with much greater ease. And then there it was again, Lyam spouting nonsense. How could he ever be a wolf unless… A Kelvic? How could he disregard such an option? Finding no answer to his own question, he turned back to Lyam who was no racing off into parts unknown. Luckily Leigo could navigate the cities with great ease even when mildly intoxicated… most of the time. So far Leigo had been called a blind coward by a wannabe wolf, if things weren’t looking comical before his cynical nature was about to make them be. Whatever was the nature of their conflict, one of them needed to be insane for it to go on. Leigo wasn’t insane, so the choice was real simple. Lyam puked and the other boy could feel envy. If only he could speed up his recovery like that, but Leigo couldn’t puke to save a life. However after gazing upon what came out of Lyam (if it could even be called vomit), blond changed his mind about wanting to puke. No thank you, just move along! All of a sudden he was reasonable again. This irritated Leigo, but he still felt too weak to provoke Lyam. Holding onto this and that, he followed the man as they made their way for where he knew they’d find an old bath. And then the wolf boy was worried which only irritated Leigo further. “No” he said “at least no more than I hit you.” Might have been wrong, might not, but his icy tone gave clear warning that he wasn’t in the highest of spirits. His eyes rolled back once more at another painstakingly obvious question with an even simpler answer. “No, it was my mother who…” he could have gone on, but feeling unsure for the numbness in his limbs Leigo was actually trying to be polite(r). The fact he actually cared for remained. “Yes” he stopped “so drunk in fact that you kept talking about being a wolf…” his voice snapped in two in thirst’s wake and he went for the water.

[Lyam]

Lyam grew pale. He could barely remember anything but it was obvious he had gone too far for Leigo to forget what he had heard, or at least believe it was a joke. The only silver light on the horizon for Lyam was that Leigo was still there and apparently not decided to kill him. They had fought each other for sure but Lyam guessed it was more because of the alcohol than because of his revelation. “I’m sorry I hit you.” The boy finally said while Leigo was joining him in the water. Then he just held his hand to the man: “Could you forget all of that?” It was risky of course to ask for that but Lyam had really no choice. He could no longer run away just like he used to do: Zeltiva had become his home and he had now roots there. He could not more kill Leigo so that he could not say anything: first he was too weak, and second it was far worse than running away. And he was not a murderer. Lyam waited for the answer of Leigo with some fear. What if he would refuse? OOCSorry, it’s short and I’m late…

[Leigo]

Giving Lyam a head-to-toe glare, Leigo nodded. He cared little for this psycho and his oh so guarded secrets or whatever they were. Instead he simply waved at the wolf boy, adding in a barely noticeable tone. “I’ll think about it” trying to turn away, Leigo stuck his intoxicated mug into a nearby wall. Clearly the water wasn’t enough to make him decently sober. No matter, he was going anyway. Trying to swing away, he kept cursing. He was indeed to drunk for this shyke. Walking… who the petch invented something so primitive, when he gets sober he’ll surely make better Trans… oh look, a stone! Somehow the stone was terribly funny to the boy who was drunker and drunker as time passed. Drinks squeezing his empty stomach dry, Leigo had completely forgotten about the wannabe wolf. If Lyam wanted to do something rash to protect his secret, it was time.