Spirits of the Earth

Aznimal tapped a finger on Sanguinarius' bar between drinks. Or... rather tapped his finger on the bar because he didn't have anything to drink. That screwdriver hadn't lasted long, soon after ordering it he drained it in one long gulp. The last few drinks went by just as quickly.

For a moment the Risen Demon considered whether it was healthy to put so many drinks away so quickly. He shrugged, fuck it, he wasn't here to think about the hows and whys of alcohol. He had every intention of drinking himself into a coma, that would halt all the commotion in his head. Thoughts of Kure, of Elial's return, of Arkarian and Lotha.

For a moment he wondered if the Archangel even realized he'd been gone so long. He shrugged again and nudged the empty glass away from him. "Hey Alison," he called, half surprised that his voice wasn't slurred. A lock of red streaked black hair fell into one brilliant green eye and he raked it back over his forehead. It stayed up there for a few seconds before a few locks draped back into his face.

Æana walked shyly into the bar. Her general brightness and happiness contrasted with the other people at the bar. Her baby blue hair bounced slightly as she walked up to the bar. You heard about this kind of thing all the time, people buy girls a free drink because they sit at the bar and look cute, so it was worth a shot. She quietly sat down on the stool next to Aznimal and made a, what she judged to be seductive look, but it looked like a cute pout more than anything at no one in particular.

Where had that bartender run off too... Aznimal thought about calling for her again when someone sat down next to him. He glanced at the newcomer.

A young woman, had to be, this was a bar. Then again, it was also a bar in the Dark Mage village. He was almost certain that parents here didn't order their children to stay away from alcohol... or at least did it for reasons other than concern over their health. And speaking of health, the newcomer looked like she went through a bit of rough time recently. She was also pouting and was probably on her own.

Aznimal had a soft spot for misery which alcohol only widened. The girl partially reminded him of Amatrix... which widened the spot into a gaping hole.

He turned to look directly at her, light glimmering dully on the pointed steel earring in his left ear. "Hi," he said, now a bit relieved that he wasn't slurring yet. Trying to talk to someone at a bar usually went better if you were sober enough to talk legibly.

Æana jumped slightly when the man spoke to her.

Æana: H-hi. Who are you?

Alison walked up to Aznimal.

Alison: How many more drinks are you gonna have? I'm gonna need to cut you off soon.

Aznimal smiled slightly. Her reaction was rather cute.

...

So that's where all the booze went. God, he could already hear the the response Dark would give him had the sword been present. It was still locked away in his closet, and had been there for quite some time.

Talking couldn't hurt though. It was natural to talk to other people at bars, hell in a bar people were less likely to worry when a random stranger started up a conversation. And speaking of conversations:

"Name's Aznimal, you?" As he was talking he caught a whiff of alcohol on his breath. It wasn't that strong, yet.

Enter the bartender.

"Actually," he said, looking at Alison and smiling a little wider. "I was going to buy her a drink," he unfolded one hand, letting the tips point in the girl's direction.

Alison turned to Æana.

Alison: So, what can I get for you?

Æana looked slightly dumbstruck. Sure, she had intended to have someone buy her a drink, but she hadn't expected it to really happen. She thought for a moment.

Æana: I'll just have a soda, please.

She turned to Aznimal.

Æana: My name's Æana.

"Æana," he parroted, lingering over the syllables a bit like her name was a type of wine and he was picking out the various hints in it. "Nice to meet you."

The scratch on her face was starting to pick at his brain. It didn't look quite like a normal unconscious scratch. Though, just bluntly asking what caused it wouldn't be a good option. He interlocked his fingers, rested his hands on the counter and tilted his head to the side a bit. "What brings you here?"

Æana smiled, being on familiar ground now, conversation-wise, anyways.

Æana: Well, I'm looking for my dad. Well, he's not really my dad, he's my adoptive dad. Okay, he's not legally my adoptive dad, but he's close enough. You see, he's really twice my age, but he looks too young to have kids my age, in fact, he only looks slightly older than me, so we get weird looks sometimes. Oh, you didn't ask for all this, I'm sorry, I always seem to just talk people's ears off.

Æana looked away, slightly embarassed. okay, so familiar ground wasn't really helping her.

Alison *thinking*: Jeez this girl is uptight. She needs a bit more than soda.

Alison grabbed a bottle of something strong and poured it into Æana's soda, along with some syrup. She handed the glass to Æana.

Alison: Here you go.

"That's alright," Aznimal tapped his hands against the bar a few times. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear what you had to say."

Enter Alison. Aznimal fished around in his pocket, grabbed a gold and set it on the counter. He looked back to the collection of empty glasses at his side and set a few silver on the counter with the gold. "Get me a Bloody Mary please, Alison," he said, adding a few more coins to those already on the table.

Æana: Yeah, sorry.

Alison looked at her with pity before taking the gold coin. She called to the other bartender.

Alison: Jamie, go fix a Bloody Mary for the man. I'll cover your customers.

Jamie nodded and went into the back room to fix the drink. Æana took a sip of her soda. She decided that she liked that sip, so she followed it with a gulp. After find the gulp equally enjoyable, she downed the whole glass.

Æana: That soda was better than the sodas I got at the tavern in my old town.

She really wanted another soda, but wasn't going to say anything, not wanting to spend much more of this stranger's money, though she was feeling a bit more comfortable. A small hiccup escaped from her throat.

Æana: Oops, excuse me.

Alison smiled at her. She wished for a moment that she believed in charity because she wanted to give her another drink now, but she refrained.

Aznimal watched the other bartender go to the back to prepare the drink. That seemed to happen quite often tonight, Sanguinarius must not have gotten many fancy drink orders. Or they didn't want their patrons to figure out what they put in the drinks. He shrugged and looked back at the girl.

Æana certainly was thirsty, her glass was already empty. He wondered if she gave herself enough time to register what the drink tasted like. Though, a second later he remembered that earlier on he was putting away drinks so quickly that he'd finish a Pina Coloda and taste a Screwdriver.

Then she hiccuped. Aznimal raised an eyebrow. She must not have been used to drinking so fast. Now she needed to hold her breath, or take a slow drink.

Well, the more drinks he bought for her meant less torment for his liver in the morning. What harm could come to it? If she was thirsty enough to drink herself into hiccups she must have been parched.

"Want another drink?" he offered, setting more coins on the counter. "It should stop those hiccups if you don't inhale it." One end of his lips curved upward teasingly.

Alison snorted when Æana hiccupped. Æana looked at Aznimal shyly.

Æana: Well, I don't want to spend your money...

Alison chuckled. This girl was cute. Alison leaned over to whisper in Æana's ear.

Alison: Do you have any clue how much money this guy has spent on himself? I'll give you a hint: a fucking lot. Look, he obviously thinks your cute, so just go with it. Modesty gets you nowhere.

Æana thought about this for a second.

Æana: Sure, I'll have another drink.

Alison: What do you want?

Æana: I'll have another so-

Alison gave Æana a look.

Alison *mouthing*: Don't get another damn soda.

Æana thought for another second. Beer isn't strong, she remembered Titanol saying that. One beer should be safe.

Æana: Okay, I'll have a beer.

Alison smirked before filling up a mug from one of the three taps on the back counter and handed the mug to her.

Alison: Drink up.

Æana eyed the mug suspiciously.

Aznimal raised a hand and would have waved away the doubt Æana had about getting a drink, when the barkeep leaned over and began whispering to her. He put the hand back on the table and looked towards the backroom, thus missing the silent communication that went on during the drink's ordering.

After Æana got her beer Aznimal looked at the barkeep and perked an eyebrow. "Your assistant isn't back there growing the tomatoes is she?"

Alison chuckled.

Alison: Jamie, get the hell out here. You don't need to put everything back exactly where you got it.

Suddenly, the sound of a few bottles clinking together was heard and Jamie returned.

Jamie: Sorry.

Alion *to Aznimal*: She's new. She thinks she works someplace that believes in organization.

Jamie set the Bloody Mary in front of Aznimal. She seemed kind of shaky.

Jamie: S-sorry...

Æana thought she was acting a little strangely, but she was new to the area, so she didn't say anything. She went back to eyeing her beer, before picking it up and taking a sip. She cringed the second it touched her tongue, but drank it anyways. She did, however, drink this in sips instead of inhaling it. She felt a little more open to conversation now.

Æana: So, why are you here?

Aznimal watched the door to the backroom after the barkeep yelled back at her assistant. His impatience melting when the girl came out with a distinctly red drink in one hand. Any remaining irritation was swept away when the barkeep explained that she was new. He couldn't get mad at a new employee, it was tasteless. Even long time employees didn't deserve to be yelled at, they were fair game for teasing though.

Aznimal smiled at the girl when she put down the drink. "Don't worry about it," he winked, picked up the glass and took a sip.

It'd been so long since he had a good Bloody Mary. This one was like a liquid orgasm. He had to beat down the desire to suck it down. If he inhaled it, he'd be a hypocrite... Hells he just 'advised' Æana not to do it. Besides, if he took it slow he could savor it's lovely tomato-vodka goodness longer.

Mmmmm tomato-vodka goodness...

Æana's question gave him more time to delay the drink's eventual consumption. He set the glass down and looked back at Æana. "I needed a nice stiff drink," he glanced over at the collection of glasses. "Several... actually. I've had it a little rough lately."

Alison chuckled.

Alison: Considerin' how much money I've made off you tonight, I hope you're in need of several stiff drinks and in the area a little more often.

Jamie chuckled for a second, but quietly quickly.

Alison *to Jamie*: Will you chill out?

Alison leaned over and whispered into Jamie's ear.

Alison: Quit worrying about it.

Æana raised an eyebrow, not liking being excluded, so she decided to talk to Aznimal some more.

Æana: So, uhh, do you have any friends, or family, or such around here?

"I'll drink to that," Aznimal picked up his glass, tilted it in Alison's direction and took a sip. As soon as the liquid hit his tongue it began begging to be reunited with the molecules still in the glass. Plee-ase, it begged, let us all be one in the acids of your stomach!!

Aznimal put the glass down and looked at it suspiciously before turning back to Æana. Family? The last time he honestly thought about his family was back when Elial died and before that he tried not to think about them. That wasn't helping him answer the question though. "Not really. I haven't seen my family in ages, and most of my friends are busy three hundred and sixty-four days a year," he took another sip of his drink, ignoring its pleas. "Does your father come by these parts often?"

Æana: Well, Daddy hasn't really left our hometown in a while, so he doesn't really frequent anywhere. I just came to the nearest town and am going from here. I met up with this boy Kinshou and he was letting me stay at his house, but I wasn't really comfortable being alone with him in a strange place.

Alison listened to her story, before blinking at her.

Alison: So you came to a bar...?

Æana: Well, it's the best place to go for information and it's also the most public place. Besides, I can determine what I drink, so I'm not worried.

Æana finished off the beer, and decided that she would never drink one ever again.

Æana: And I've recently discovered that beer is nasty, so I don't have to worry about that.

Aznimal nodded and took another sip. All that remained of the Bloody Mary was a little pool on the bottom of the glass. It would have to suffer a bit, he wasn't going to throw the glass back to try coaxing out the last few drips of the drink.

Yet.

A few seconds seemed like a good enough wait before going after the rest of the drink. It looked so lonely just sitting at the bottom of the glass. So lonely and-

No, he didn't want to look like a boozehound. A minute or two would be a nice reasonable, sane wait.

Nice, reasonable, sane and mind bendingly long...

drink me aznimal, drink me, let me be one with the bloody mary in your stomach. plz? plzplzplzplzplz? puppy face, yummy tomato-vodka yumminess puppy face. you can feel me lingering on your tongue aznimal, you know you want the rest of me running down your tongue.

c'mon.

c'-mon.

Half a minute was as good as a full minute. It was twenty-eight seconds longer than his initial two second wait. Thirty seconds was every bit as cultured and mild mannered as a full minute was, especially compared to two seconds. Thirty > two, thirty = a-ok fine goodness. Aznimal tilted the glass back and let the little pool run down the side and into his mouth. It was just as divine as the first sip.

No more drink worship, he was trying to have a conversation. Come to think of it, he probably spent the last half minute looking warily at the dregs of the Bloody Mary. Ugh, that wasn't good. Aznimal decided to jump back into the conversation, shouldn't be too hard, he was listening to Æana and Alison. They were talking about something and Æana just said she didn't like the way beer tasted.

"Beer is disgusting. It's the only kind of alcohol that makes you feel like it can kill you before you get a hangover," he laughed a little. God, his breath smelled like Bloody Mary. If only he could lick his words, ah that would be wonderful. "Mixed drinks are better, they're stronger but they're palatable. Speaking of drinks," he fished around in his pocket and put some more silver coins on the bar. "I'll have another Bloody Mary, you want another drink Æana?"

Æana smiled at what Aznimal said about beer, She felt like less of a wimp now. Alison looked over at Jamie.

Alison: I'll get this one. You stay out here and converse.

Jamie was about to protest when Alison walked off, leaving her there.

Æana: Don't worry, I won't bite. Promise.

She smiled warmly at Jamie, causing Jamie to smile, too.

Jamie: I hate beer, too. I'm a wuss when it comes to alcohol actually; I only like wine coolers. They have very little alcohol, but are so damn good. Alison doesn't keep any here, though. She says no one ever orders any.

Æana: Aww, I was just about to ask to try one.

Jamie thought for a second.

Jamie: Hey, you wanna try a raspberry daquiri? They're really fruity, and I know how to make 'em really well.

Æana: Sure.

Alison returned from the back with the drink while Jamie turned to make the daquiri. Alison set the drink in front of Aznimal and took the coins off the counter.

Aznimal smiled back at Æana, and cheered on the inside when Alison announced she was going to make the drink. She wasn't going to cut him off soon - yay!

"I only bite on request," he said soon after Æana's assurance that she wouldn't, grinning widely.

Wait a second... I only bite on request? Where the hell did that come from? It was probably being in a bar, it was normal to act differently in a bar. Perfectly fine and not out of the ordinary. It wasn't the alcohol, nope-nope, he would have given up drinking if it made him lecherous. If anything it was just a normal part of conversation, nothing to fret so much over.

Aznimal raised an eyebrow when Jamie mentioned liking wine coolers. He knew someone that liked them too... Lord, their name was on the tip of his tongue. He propped his chin on his knuckles and thought, tapping his foot and glancing up at the ceiling.

It wasn't an angel, most angels he knew weren't fond of alcohol. They'd drink it if they had to, but wouldn't have anything to do with them otherwise.

A mortal maybe? Gilda didn't take to alcohol well, and the others. He could barely remember their faces, much less what type of drink they preferred. Ugh, that was horrible. He crossed his eyes a bit and shuddered.

He took a break from thinking when Alison came back with the Bloody Mary, nodding at her and drinking a sip. Damn, this place made good Bloody Marys...

There. Goddammit, as soon as he stopped searching for that name it bounced out of its hiding place. He didn't know about bringing it up either, the bit about wine coolers evolved into Æana ordering a raspberry daquiri. Daquiris... sweet fruit goodness. It'd been awhile since he had a decent daquiri, he couldn't make them to save his life.

Æana quirked an eyebrow at Aznimal's comment.

Æana: What?

Jamie's eyes grew a little wide and she turned to the back counter. She pulled out a fresh pitcher for the blender and Alison grabbed a basket of raspberries and a bottle of rum. Jamie grabbed a bottle of Triple Sec. Æana watched them intently, trying not to look curious about Aznimal's comment.

Æana *thinking*: Ugh, I'd never be thinking like this normally. Can I really be this buzzed off that one beer? *out loud* Hey, don't put too much alcohol in that.

Jamie: Sure thing!

Jamie put a handful and a half of raspberries in the blender, followed by a scant shot of Triple Sec, a glassful of ice, and the minimum amount of rum she needed. She started up the blender and went back to talking to Æana. Alison, meanwhile, grabbed the bottle of rum and poured a significant amount more into the blender, before putting the bottles away nonchalantly.

"Eh?" Aznimal glanced at Æana after her question and perked an eyebrow. Did she just say something?

Of course you twit, she was talking to Jamie.

Ok.

Wait a second... Aznimal took a sip of the Bloody Mary. Did he just hear something inside his head?

No.

Aznimal shrugged and watched the bartenders set up the drink. He never could make a half decent daquiri, maybe he could pick some pointers by watching them. Though, he could have sworn Æana asked something... He shrugged and took another sip, eyeing the ingredients. Raspberries (obviously), a bottle of what looked like rum, and another bottle that looked like one of the ingredients in a BFD. What was it called again...

Triple Sec.

Yeah, that was it. Triple Sec, maybe that's where he went wrong, using all his Triple Sec to make BFDs. But...BFDs were so freaking good. He'd have to watch Æana's reaction after she got it.

Maybe Æana had a point when she asked them not to put too much alcohol in the drink. The alcohol would kill the fruit flavor, and that was the goal when making a daquiri.

Or, maybe not. Alison was pouring some more of the maybe-rum bottle into it. Did the rum enhance the flavor of the fruit? He'd have to try one of those suckers. Aznimal polished off the rest of his Bloody Mary and fished around his pockets for more coins. Yay, he still had money.

Aznimal plunked a few silver coins on the counter and nudged the Bloody Mary's empty glass away. "Let me get one of those too," he said grinning.

Jamie took the coins and and poured the daquiri into two glasses. She set them down in front of Æana and Aznimal.

Jamie: Tell me if it's good. I pride myself on my daquiris, so they had better be good.

Æana took a sip and her taste buds were simultaneously attacked by raspberries and rum. The two flavours momentarily raged a war with each other, before reaching a truce and combining their goodness. Æana blinked at the rush and swallowed slowly. The alcohol she had previously drank was starting to take its effects, and the rum was already working. She blinked again before taking another few sips. She giggled to herself.

Æana: This is good.

Aznimal took a sip of the daquiri after it was set in front of him and his eyes widened a bit. The taste of the rum almost seemed to overpower the drink, for a few seconds at least, then it mellowed out. God that was a good daquiri, he sighed blissfully and took a long sip.

Until he remembered that drinking the entire glass in one gulp wouldn't allow him to savor its yummy fruitness. He set the drink down, and immediately missed drinking it, so he raised it back up to his lips and took a small sip. He didn't put it back down after that sip, he didn't want too much air between himself and the daquiri.

"It's divine," he took another little sip, almost draining the glass. "Is there any way I can bribe you into sharing the recipe?" Aznimal smiled appeasingly and folded his free hand in front of him.

Jamie smiled. She had to admit, she felt comfortable at the moment. That was wierd, especially around a man. She was glad Alison had saved her, but she still didn't trust people, not even Alison completely.

Jamie: I don't know. Depends what you'll offer me.

Æana took a few more sips. She felt really giggly and quite social. A man approached the bar and looked around for a seat, but there weren't any unoccupied. Æana, in a bit of tipsy randomness, got up from her seat.

Æana: Hey, this one's open!

Æana then took a seat on Aznimal's lap.

Æana *to Aznimal*: Hi.

Aznimal took another tiny sip, so tiny that his mouth considered suing his hand for custody of the drink.

Jamie's question brought up an important point. If he was going to bribe the bartender he had to know what she wanted. Seeing that he just met her three drinks ago he had no clue whatsoever might tickle her fancy enough to make her consider letting him know the recipe. Well, there was an age-old solution to that little problem.

"What d'ya want?"

Then Æana moved into his lap. His eyebrow raised a bit, but he didn't complain. Her breath had a hint of raspberry daquiri in it, and it was pleasing his currently-daquiri-deprived brain muchly. "Comfy?" he asked, grinning. Oh yes, his breath kind of smelled like a daquiri too.

Æana giggled some more.

Æana: Hey, your breath smells good.

She leaned over to his face and smiled broadly. She sipped her daquiri, but she did so sloppily, with a few drops travelling in runnels down her chin, and landing on her chest.

Æana: Oops. Heh, I think I might be drinking a little much.

Jamie raised an eyebrow.

Jamie: There shouldn't be much alcohol in that.

Alison: Oh, my hand slipped when I was pouring the rum. It tasted alright to me, though, so I just let it be.

Jamie: Oh. Well, I wouldn't drink more than that glass Æana.

Alison: Oh, she can drink whatever she wants.

"Nothing's better for the breath than a good drink," Aznimal took another sip. The daquiri itself was a diamond to his breath's crystal quartz. But, when wanting a clear gem a quartz would do if nothing else was available.

That was an interesting analogy... he'd have to write that one down when he got home. He was sure someone up in Province would see the... charm in it.

Aznimal tilted his head to the side and frowned a little when Æana spilled some of her drink. The reddish color looked good with her hair and skin, but it was daquiri goodness! It needed to be safely tucked away in someone's stomach, not splashed across them, and it surely didn't deserve to be wiped away!

"Let me get that for you," he tilted his head some and lapped up the droplets on her chin. His tongue quick and light against her skin.

Æana giggled. She bit his lip playfully as he pulled away.

Æana: Hey, you missed some.

She pointed to the daquiri on her chest. Jamie's eyes widened and she pulled Alison off to the side.

Jamie *whispering*: This is getting out of hand, Alison. You and I both see where this is leading. She's a teenager!

Alison: She ordered the drinks, and it's her own fault for coming into a bar in the first place. Not everyone is as puritanical as you are.

Jamie: I'm not puritanical, it's just, she's like fifteen!

Alison: I was sixteen when I came to the Dark Mage Village and met Raziel.

Jamie: She's not you.

Alison: I was exactly like that when I came here. Young and innocent. What better place to face reality than here?

Jamie: Whatever. I'm gonna go wait tables.

Jamie left to go to the tables.

Aznimal didn't need to be asked twice. The daquiri was not to be wasted and if it was left there it would get sticky.

And the daquiri couldn't be wasted. It would be a sin, at least it should be a sin. Waste not, want not. Wait a sec, that didn't make sense. The waste part was good though. Waste not the daquiri.

Aznimal was just as quick lapping up the beads of daquiri-goodness on her chest as he was on her chin. One bead, however, was a dastard and started rolling away while he was licking up another, leaving a trail behind it.

Waste not the daquiri.

Aznimal chased the errant drop, sucking it up once he caught it.

Æana giggled profusely. Wait... profusely is too a big a word to be used when drunk. She giggled a lot. Yeah that's better.

Æana: That tickles!

She grabbed a straw and dipped it in the daquiri, capping the end off with her fingertip.

Æana: Want some more?

She giggled again before she brought the straw over her chest and let more daquiri drip down.

Alison noticed a few people watching Æana and Aznimal. She leaned over to whisper to Aznimal. She beckoned at a back door to the inn.

Alison: If you're gonna do many more body shots, there's an inn through that door. Get a goddamn room.

Tickles? Aznimal glanced up at Æana, giving her a dull look.

At least until it registered that some people were indeed ticklish, some to a point where simply breathing on them would send them into fits of laughter. But, he hadn't just breathed on her. He was just getting that daquiri off her so it wouldn't be wasted on a cloth.

And she was just sitting on his lap so the other gentleman could have a place to sit.

Aznimal downed the rest of his daquiri in one gulp, his mouth rejoicing for all of a quarter second before it realized that the drink was no more. Then it wanted to pout, but Aznimal wouldn't let it. Damn spoiled mouth.

In the end Æana took care of his mouth's desire to pout. The offering of more daquiri made it a little upset that it didn't have any control over his leg. In fact the bastard thing almost spoke for him. It grinned-

And was cut off by Alison. He looked in the direction she was beckoning, over to her, then in the opposite direction, trying to scope out just who was finding them so entertaining. Goddamn voyeurs.

The look on Aznimal's face when he looked towards the supposed peepers could best be described as subtle doom. Of the crossed eyebrows, slightly narrowed eyes, mouth equals line 'just wait until your father gets home' doom. He looked from one end of the bar to the other and then back at Alison (dropping the doom face, and getting a good look at Æana's daquiri covered goodness in the process).

"Could I get a bottle of that daquiri?"

Alison smiled and beckoned Jamie over again.

Jamie *whispering*: What?

Alison: Make another batch of raspberry daquiri.

Jamie: Why, so she can get more drunk?

Alison: Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll check up on her at the inn tomorrow morning. The man ordered a drink; give it to him.

Jamie looked at Alison icily, but knew that she couldn't do anything, and Alison had nothing but good points about the situation. She made the drink quickly, not putting much rum in it, but knowing it would taste the same. She poured it all in a bottle and set it in front of Aznimal.

Æana: Bottle? Are we going somewhere?

Æana looked up at Aznimal cutely, and uncharacteristically stupidly.

"Yeah," Aznimal fished around in his pocket for coins to pay for the bottle of daquiri. "We're distracting people so much that they can't focus on their own drinks. We need to go find a room so they can -hic-" Aznimal scowled, damn, he must have drunk that last bit of daquiri too fast. "Keep drinking and fatten Alison's purse."

After two trips to his pocket Aznimal managed to fish up enough gold to pay for the daquiri. He stacked the gold neatly on the counter and rested a hand over the top of the wine bottle.

Then a completely random, completely logical thought bubbled up from the sea of alcohol surrounding his brain. "You need a room at an inn don't you?" He asked Æana.

Æana: Yeah, ya get rooms at inns.

Alison took the money up and smirked at Aznimal. OKay, maybe she realley didn't care what happened to Æana. Alison had already learned to look out for herself first. She might bring Æana to Raziel, though. He might like her. Alison took away all the empty mugs and glasses.

Alison: Have fun you two.

Æana: *giggle* Whatcha mean?

Alison: Nothing.

Aznimal's eyes widened a bit after Æana's enlightening comment about getting rooms at an inn.

Which, although it stated in big bright letters that it was to be taken orally Aznimal took for a suppository. At least until one of the remaining sober moderators in his brain gave the comprehension cell a good throttling before succombing to the invading alcohol molecules. He blinked and shook his head a little, wondering what he was just thinking of. It was something horrifing by the afterglow. Maybe it was good that he forgot it.

Now to get to that inn!

There was a little problem though...

Æana was sitting in his lap, he couldn't move anywhere with her on his lap. Unless of course, he wanted her to tumble off his lap and go splat on the floor, which would have been rude. It was an easily solved problem though.

"Hold thish," Aznimal set the bottle of daquiri on Æana's chest, slid a hand under her legs, put his other arm around her back and stood up. His legs promptly buckled and he fell back in his seat, almost tipping it over backwards. "Let's try thish again." Trying again resulted in a remarkably similar manner. Aznimal scowled, spaced his feet out a little and stood up again.

One of the bar's patrons began having a coughing fit due to an alcoholic substance going down his windpipe. That'll teach the smartass bastard...

Convinced now that he wasn't going to fall Aznimal grinned at Æana, and started to put her down when his knees wobbled. He stopped that action, convinced that somehow she was acting as a balance. Aznimal grinned a little wider and left the bar, going through the door Alison pointed out and heading for the inn.

Æana 'eep'ed when the bottle was placed on her chest.

Æana: Aah! Cold!

She grabbed the bottle and held it in her hand, which was substantially less uncomfortable. She giggled as Aznimal attempted to picked her up, and clapped for him when he actually managed it.

Æana: I have no problem with you carrying me, but I can walk if you need me to.

"You're fine." And I'll probably fall back on my ass if I put you down.

And all was indeed fine until Aznimal came to the door of the Inn. Both of his hands were occupied and the door, sensing his inability to open it began to taunt him mercilessly.

I am DOOR, conquerer of YOU. Bow before me little peon, you know you'll never be good enough to open me without dropping the girl and spilling the booze you alcoholic. Who's your daddy you little bitch? Eh? Let's hear it? No! Spell it for meh! D-O-O-Dammit!! Waaaaaaaaagghhh!!

The door was whining because someone chose that moment to open it and walk out. That person happened to have a half decent character, or at the very least he sympathized with Aznimal's dilemma. Whatever the reason, he held the door open for them and the door cried like a two year old.

Aznimal walked rather quickly through the door and up to the reception desk, where the clerk was slumped, a glazed half dead look in her eyes. Aznimal stared, wondering if the woman was alive...

Æana was quiet as they headed to the door. A random person held the door open for them.

Æana *slurred*: Tha~ank youuuuu!

She giggled at the slurring of her voice. Aznimal carried her over to the reception desk where a dead-looking lady was.

Æana: Hi lady! C'n we get a rooooom?

Æana giggled at nothing in particular.

Æana's giggling was contagious, Aznimal giggled under his breath.

The woman's eyes focused and she stared up at them a moment. Then she blinked, stood up a bit and began rummaging under the counter.

It was then that Aznimal noticed the stairs lurking off in the corner. "Can we get a room on the first floor pleassh?"

"If I c'n fin' it," she dissapeared under the counter and little movement noises could be heard. Then a key went flying up in the air, it flew up, fell down and there was a jingly noise followed by a noise that may have been a curse word. A few more curse-like words followed and the woman stood back up and slumped back against the counter. She pushed a little silver key with a leather handle towards them.

Aznimal glanced at the key, down at Æana and then at the woman, who seemed to have gone back into her stupor. "Hello?"

No response.

Aznimal blinked and set Æana down carefully, making sure his feet were securely under him.

Æana stumbled a little when her feet hit the floor, but she stabilized herself enough to stand and lean against the counter. She grabbed the key and started making it shine in the little light in the room. She suddenly stopped playing with the key as though she had been struck rather hard across the brain with a blunt thought. Aznimal had helped her. She ought to thank him. She leaned over to kiss him, and tripped, making her kiss him a little harder than she had wanted to. She broke the kiss quickly.

Æana: Sorry! Tripped.

Æana examined the key again.

Æana: Room... One... twunny... two. We're in room one twunny-two. Let's go.

Ooo pretty light...

Wait.. breathing impaired...

Seriously impaired.

And strangely enough he didn't feel like panicing. Nah, it was too familiar. It seemed right, booze plus person plus not being able to breathe. It was like waking up and stretching, nice and familiar.

Maybe it'd be nice to return the favor and give Æana a hard time breathing. There, now all the remaining awkwardness went bye-bye.

Bye bye.

When Æana pulled away and confessed to tripping Aznimal blushed a bit. She just tripped. Aaaww-

Wait a minute!! What was he thinking??? "It'sh alright," he grinned. "Let'sh find that room." Quite impulsively he grabbed her hand and began walking with her.

Æama blushed when she saw Aznimal blush. Then she giggled because she made him blush.

Æana: Okay, let's find that room.

In a burst of energy, she hopped up the two stairs to the bottom floor and skipped down the hall til she reached room 122. She out the key in the door and unlocked it, darting in and in a bout of immaturity, flopping on the bed to see how bouncy it was.

It was nice and bouncy. Æana sat up and proceeded to happily bounce on the bed while waiting for Aznimal.

Aznimal trotted alongside Æana as she skipped down the hall, all the while wondering why the rooms were numbered in hundreds. The place didn't seem that big, perhaps the owner was just flaunting how much money he had by ordering excess numbers for the doors.

He put the matter aside once they got to the room. Æana took care of opening it, immediately dashed to the bed and began bouncing on it. It was almost ridiculous, but Aznimal was in a ridiculous-appreciating mood at the moment. He grinned and chuckled a little. "I take it the bedsh good."

That immediatly made him wonder if the pillows were just as 'good'. Aznimal walked into the room, sat on the opposite side of the bed and poked one of the pillows.

Oooh fluffy.

He promptly grabbed onto the pillow and whacked Æana in the side of the head with it.

Æana 'oof'ed as the pillow hit her. She fell because she wasn't expecting the blow. She turned at look as Aznimal.

Æana: You're gonna get it now!

She took the pillow from him and tackled him down to the bed. She sat on his lap and hit him a few times with the pillow. She acted angry, but it was easy to see that she was playing around.

Aznimal laughed at Æana's reaction to being whapped.

And was then pushed back and thwapped repeatedly with the pillow. He made a noise that was half yelp and more giggle when he was tackled and laughed more as he was pummelled, raising an arm in mock defense. The other arm snaked back to the headboard to grab the other pillow, which wasn't quite as full and fluffy but was still a pillow.

He clutched it tightly and returned the assault, popping her with the pillow a few times before rolling and pinning her. "I'll get what now?" he teased, hitting her with the pillow again.

Æana laguhed as he pinned her and whapped her again. She didn't fight back, she just lay there in her drunken stupor, trying to take in everything. The alcohol left a light blush over Æana's cheeks and a smile on her face. SHe was on a very comfy bed with a guy that had been really nice to her for the last... well, her time comprehension was off, but for that night. This was okay. She got drinks and a warm bed to sleep in. That was what she was trying to accomplish.

Æana: Hey, why'd we get a room anyways? I forgots...

That was a good question. Aznimal set the pillow down and glanced at the ceiling for a moment.

He thought back a ways, to that bastard door, which wasn't far back enough. Then back to the bar when Æana spilled some of her drink on herself, that seemed too far back. Or was it? He continued to cycle through his recent memories, getting distracted a bit when he reached the ones about the Bloody Mary. Aaah Bloody Mary goodness...

Wait, that was it.

"We left sho we could drink without botherin' Alishon's other customersh." That was it. Almost, it felt like something else was missing. Maybe Æana would figure it out now that she knew that bi-

Wait, that was the second bit.

"And we needed a room anywaysh. You're not from here and I'm not from here."

Æana: Oh, okay. I shee.

Æana realized that she had a clear shot at that kiss now. Nothing she could trip on now, no matter how drunk she was.

Æana: Thanks fer doin' all thish fer me.

She pushed her self upwards just enough for her mouth to lightly connect with Aznimal's

"You're wel-"

It was quite rude to talk when someone was kissing you. Well, unless you wanted to annoy them, and Aznimal didn't want to annoy Æana.

Sitting there like a statue didn't seem to good either. He pressed his lips back against hers.

Æana shrugged her arms out from Aznimal and wrapped them around his neck. She might not be very experienced with men, but she'd kissed a few boys back home; Just never on a bed at an inn in a strange town.

But being drunk, her mind didn't process it that way. Her mind processed it like this: Hey, he's kinda cute and his mouth tastes like raspberries.

Aznimal's mouth was just finding out what Æana's brain was processing.

Her mouth tasted like a daquiri. Like sweet daquiri yumminess. If it had hands and feet and legs and muscles other than the tongue his mouth would have liked to do backflips of glee.

It couldn't do them though. What it could do was try to get closer to the raspberry daquiri yumminess. It sent the tongue out on a quest to get it, to make up for it's inability to do backflips.

Æana's eyes widened at the intrusion, and for a brief moment, a part fo her brain tried to tell her 'Hello! You're making out with a guy you just met! Stop it!' But that part of her brain was bitchslapped by another part which seemed to think 'More daquiri taste NOW dammit!' Æana parted her lips for Aznimal, while trying to suppress her urge to giggle, and actually mostly succeeding.

((The forecast for the next few posts threatens to be a bit risque with a chance for random hilarity. Normalcy shall return once the blood alcohol content in this thread is less than the National Debt.))

Daquiri, daquiri, daquiri, daquiri...

Aznimal's mouth was feeling quite accomplished, and his tongue didn't feel bad about its inability to pull of victory-gymnastics.

Then he remembered something. Mai Tais were fabulously tropical and fruity. Wait... that had nothing to do with present situation. Stupid brain, it wasn't getting a Mai Tai, it had to be happy with what it had.

Almost as if to make up for bringing another drink up, another memory surfaced, more recent. Æana'd spilled a bit of actual daquiri on herself before Alison suggested they go to the Inn. It was close... Aznimal could almost feel it.

Wait, no... he could feel it, one of his hands migrated up to Æana's chest to verify the memory. Aznimal pulled away from her and looked down at the trails of daquiri. "Want me to get thoshe for ya?"

Æana poked out her bottom lip when Aznimal broke the kiss. Then, noticing that he was trying to get to the spilled daquiri, she realized that her shirt was in the way. She decided to remedy that and she pulled off her shirt.

Æana: Sure, go ahead.  

She moved her arms from around his neck to above her head. A hand brushed against the forgotten bottle of daquiri that she set on the bedside table. She uncorked the bottle and took a swig before showing it to Aznimal.

Æana: Hey, lookit what we forgots.

The shirt coming off was the closest thing Aznimal could compare to her actually saying 'yes'. So he set to work chasing down the wriggling trails of purple-red bliss. Some were stubborn, clinging to her skin after he licked them. The poor bastards, the more they clung the more he would lick them.

There was no escape. No other options. Just lick after lick after lick to batter the innocent drink-bits into changing their minds about being so clingy.

'Hey, lookit what we forgots.'

Aznimal administered the final smiting lick on his current trickle and looked up. Maybe it was the something he forgot back at the bar, after Æana mentioning getting rooms in inns. No, it was better. The bottle of daquiri! Aznimal squeaked with delight.

Æana gasped as Aznimal attacked her chest with his tongue. A quiet moan slipped out, too, but was quickly replaced by giggling when Aznimal squeaked. She took his response as meaning that he wanted some more daquiri. She poured a little in her hand.

Æana: You want some more?

She proceeded to slather the daquiri over her chest and stomach.

Æana: Drink up! *giggle*

Aznimal watched the daquiri flowing into Æana's hand like a hawk.

A thirsty, half starved hawk that just saw a fat bunny come waddling out from a lake after taking a refreshing dip. Though, he wasn't quite that thirsty and was far from starving and the daquiri wasn't waddling into Æana's hand. The gist of it was about the same, both Aznimal and the proverbial hawk were staring at the daquiri/proverbial rabbit with look that clearly promised that it wouldn't see the light of day, ever again.

Giving the daquiri that look took up all the space it had for some other tasks, like talking. Actions spoke louder than words anyway.

Aznimal's tongue fell on the gleaming pools of daquiri in much the same way the proverbial hawk would have fallen on the proverbial bunny, only without the claws and the gory death. Besides, Æana had yet to say whether or not he could bite her.

And even if she had, the daquiri was on her skin, not imbedded into it. He would have ignored her if she gave him permission and continued to lick up the pools of daiquiri. Since her chest was closest to him he started there, lapping up the pools and the remainder of the insurgent trickles, before shimmying down to her stomach.

Æana bit back a moan and a few gasps as Aznimal attacked her chest with his tongue. When he moved down to her stomach, she couldn't help but laugh. She was rather ticklish there, but it also felt good, but daquiris tend to make a lot of things feel good. Once he finished cleaning off all the daquiri, she handed him the bottle.

Æana: I gave 'oo shum, now return da favur.

Bottle. The bottle of daquiri godliness was being presented to him.

Because he had to return the favor. Favors were meant to be returned, because that was all right and fair, and fair was fair.

Fair was also nice weather, and fun carnivals. No wonder people always wanted fair-ness. God, it made him want some fair-ness.

A good way to get that fair-ness was to return the favor. Return favor, get fair-ness, yay!

Aznimal ran a hand down the front of his overcoat. There were no buttons, no zippers. That was odd, he could have sworn he got it on today without pulling it over his head. Odd. Where the hell were the coat's fasteners? Maybe they were on the back, that was just crazy enough to be logical. He reached behind him and - lo and behold - there was a zipper. Aznimal unzipped the coat, arching his back a little to shrug it off. After the coat there was nothing, it was a warm coat, more layers would make him boil. Boiling wasn't half as nice as fair-ness.

Now that the coat was out of the way Aznimal rolled over to lay on his back and poured the daquiri in a diagonal line from his chest down to his stomach. It was could, brr.

Æana sat up more to let Aznimal lay down. He poured the daquiri over his chest in a straight line. A straight line? How unimaginative. She took her hand and smeared it over him better, getting it over more of his chest, and smearing it down past his bellybutton.

Æana: That's better!

She then set out to clean up the mess she had just created. But first, her mind had to attempt to process the situation, despite the alchy-hol. She knew very little of the male body. Sure, she knew what they had, but not how everything worked or, more specifically, what felt good to them. She could only go by what felt good to her, and try not to screw it up. She got on her hands and knees on the bed, straddling his legs as she licked up the daquiri. She started at his chest, licking and sucking it up when she needed to. She stopped at a nipple, sucking it a little harder than other daquiri-smothered areas, hoping this felt nice to him.

Æana *thinking*: Gee, hope I'm not doin' shumthin stupid...

Cold, cold daquiri. Smearing. Cold. Cold heavenly daquiri.

Pushshy

What? I can't reflect on the coldness?

There'sh a difference between reflection and whining.

It was reflection. Dammit.

What-ever, pervert, don't think I didn't notice you putting the daquiri in a line sho she could shmear it over you. Shmooth move.

That didn't sound nice... It had to be jealous. Damn jealous voice, couldn't it go off and find another voice to play with. Aznimal decided to ignore anymore of the voice's comments and focus on what was happening now. Because what was happening now was infinitely better than the voice.

Aznimal grinned, enjoying the play of Æana's tongue across his chest. Then she descended on his nipple and Aznimal squeaked, again. At least it was a happy sounding squeak.

Fair-ness was a great thing...

Æana smiled when he squeaked happily. She wasn't doing something stupid. She got a surge or confidence at this, and the her tongue get to work more quickly. She cleaned off the other nipple and licked a sloppy trail down his stomach, trailing her fingers in the daquiri to move more of it to a spot right between his bellybutton and the waist of his pants. She took extra care to suck all of that off, and let her chest rub against a few parts of his anatomy while she was at it. She licked right along the edge of the waistband on his pants before travelling back up to finish off the cleaning of his chest.

Ah fair-ness.

It was getting better and better and better. Like wine. No, better than wine. Wine was pulverized grapes, Æana's tongue on the daquiri was *s-i-g-h*, so much more superior.

And it just got that much more superior. Those were Æana's breasts. Those were Æana's breasts hanging right over him. Those were Æana's breasts leaning into their biggest fan. So to speak.

Hmmm. SInce he took... damn more than one shot of daquiri off Æana he wondered if she would take another off him. Should have poured less, well it was like a tall glass full.

Aznimal moaned softly as Æana cleaned up the daquiri at his waistband.

Æana smiled. Moaning is good. Moaning is very good. That and the reaction she got from a certain part of his anatomy let her know that she wasn't screwing up at all. She continued to lick up the daquiri, but let a hand slide down his already-cleaned stomach to the front of his pants. She hesitated for a moment, still a little uneasy, before her brain cells, by a majority vote of 68.9% said 'what the hell' and she groped him through his pants. She blushed a little, but continued to lick him clean. She was almost finished anyway.

Bye bye Æana's breasts. Make sure to stop by again soon. Very soon.

Hello Æana's hand. Oh, aren't you a friendly little thing. We loves you, oh we loves you very very much.

Aznimal moaned again.

And got the sudden desire to put a hand in Æana's hair. It didn't have to wait too long before it was satisfied. He ran his fingers through her short hair, twirling one finger a little to twist her hair around it.

His hand wasn't satisfied with stroking Æana's hair though. What it really wanted was to free Æana's boobs from their prison. The hair thing was just a test to see how easily it could get something. After finding out that it took no problem at all it went right into the main objective and slid down her back.

The hand doubted bras got any easier to undo in all these years, so it called for reinforcements, hand two. He grabbed each side of the clasp and pushed both ends together, moving the side with the eyelets down and the hooked side up. Ha, success. He felt like patting the back of one hand, but decided to devote that energy to another little pleasure-noise and let go of the clasp.

(OOC: We already warned you once, but it's heating up some more, so if you have a problem with sex, don't read any further.)

Æana leaned into Aznimal's hand when he ran his hand through her hair. She liked it when people played with her hair. She arched her back a little when she felt his hands travel there, not sure what he was doing, but enjoying it anyways. Then she felt her bra come undone. The slightly cool air in the room hit her breasts and made her nipples harden quite a bit. She pulled away from Aznimal long enough to slip the bra off and toss it over to where her shirt lay.

Æana: Well, what're you thinkin' 'bout, huh?

She licked off the last bit of daquiri on his chest, then kissed her way up his chest and to his neck, where she sucked on the skin and nibbled at it lightly.

Thinking?

"Thinking?" Aznimal's mind apparently liked its first cohesive thought so much that it decided to share it with Æana.

As the seconds passed it dawned on him that the thought was quite... dull. There had to have been something better for him to say. When he actually thought about it he hadn't really been thinking the last few minutes, just feeling and reacting for the most part. He had a few thoughts, but they were quick and usually pretty vague and weird. Like the voice thing... where the hell did that come from?

He had to make up for not really answering her question. Actually answering it would be a nice first step. Her mouth on his neck was distracting him, it was a good kind of distraction though. He tilted his head up a bit to give her better access and saw her ear. It was pretty close.

He leaned forward a little and put his teeth loosely around her earlobe. "Gueshh," he kinda sorta answered, his tongue flicking against her earlobe and teeth tightening around it when he said the word.

Æana moaned loudly into his ear when he licked her ear. She rolled over onto her side, so that she was laying beside Aznimal. She tangled a leg around one of Aznimal's legs and bit his neck a little harder. She licked the bite marks a few times before letting her hand travel down to his crotch once again, this time gathering up a bit more courage and slithering underneath his pants. She grabbed his cock and squeezed gently, running her thumb up the shaft and tracing the head. She was running purely on instinct now, because she had absolutely no experience in this department.

Æana: You like dat?

Aznimal let her ear go when she rolled over.

Didn't there use to be a kiddy song about rolling over in bed? How the hell did that sucker go. It had something to with someone constantly complaining to the others to roll over to the selfish bastard could have the bed all to themselves.

When Æana bit his neck he forgot all about the bastard song. Teeth, neck, good. Very good. Aznimal squeaked again and grinned, his eyes unfocusing for a second.

Æana's hand! Welcome back! Yes, come in, come in, we're so delighted to see you!

Aznimal made a throaty purring noise and raised his hips a bit. "Ye-eah." Ding! Suggestion idea! "Ushe your nailsh a little too."

Æana blushed a dark red at Aznimal's reaction. When he suggested she use her nails, she tried to use them, but his pants greatly reduced how much her hand could move. She abandoned his neck, kissing down his chest and stomach again until she was to the waistline of his pants again. She pulled down his pants and boxers, freeing his erection for her to give a bit more attention to.

She grabbed ahold of his dick again, this time slightly digging her nails in before pumping up and down his shaft slowly. Æana watched her hand, and Aznimal's reaction to all this. She briefly thought of doing something with her mouth, but he hadn't asked her to do that. He just asked for nails, and he knew what she should do better than she did.

Aznimal's head began to feel funny. It was like someone put a tube in his ear and started pumping raw cotton in his brain. Fluffy, airy cotton that padded itself any where it could.

It was sporting enough to let him keep his sense of touch though. What a nice brain fuzz.

Aznimal moaned when Æana used her nails on him, the ends of his lips curling up a little further. Her nails were like... like... something. Something he couldn't quite get due to all the cotton in his brain. Well, whatever the something he was trying to find was it was definitely a good something. "Yessh," he slurred. "That'sh nice."

Æana smiled. She was glad that she was doing this right. She liked Aznimal, so she didn't want to mess up. She kept her hand and nails going on his shaft whe  she noticed a bead of liquid at the top of the head. She leaned her face near his cock and looked up at him for approval or disapproval. He didn't seem to be paying as much attention to her as he was just laying back and enjoying it. She took a gamble and let her tongue dart out and lick the bead of liquid off. It was really bitter and salty. Her face scrunched up a little at the taste. She decided to just keep stroking him for now, but if he asked her to, she would use her mouth on him.

She decided to experiment a little while she was there. She figured it wouldn't hurt. She moved her other hand to his crotch to fondle and squeeze his balls, then waited on his response.

Deep within the alcohol-sated and ecstasy-indulging recesses of Aznimal's brain a rational thought managed to surface. It dragged itself to the shore of his consciousness and was almost swept away by the wave of raw enjoyment her tongue brought out. It wouldn't be defeated so easily, and clung tightly to the shore. Once the wave passed, the thought shook itself off and stood.

Aznimal blinked and propped himself up on his elbows. He needed to do something, other than lie back and letting Æana do everything. Maybe not now, but definitely sometime. Definitely, something, sometime, check.

He sighed when she brought her other hand to his balls, closing his eyes and tilting his head back a little.

Æana was pleased with herself for causing Aznimal to produce all these happy sounds. She decided that she would experiment a little, since he wasn't saying much. She let her tongue lick the head of his cock again, but this time keeping it there. She licked all around it before taking the whole head into her mouth, sucking softly while her hands kept doing what they had been doing. Her drunken mind was amazed at how well she was multi-tasking.

Ah, that was nice.

His hand got the itching desire to run its fingers through her hair again, but this time he ignored it. Didn't want to mess up Æana's rythmn or anything. That would be bad, his hand could wait like a good lttle appendage.

Looking at the inside of his eyelids eventually started to bore him, so he opened his eyes and looked at Æana's head. He almost had to fight to keep his eyes open, every little sigh and groan made them want to slide closed again.

At least until a familiar tingle running up his shaft effectively nailed that reflexive twitch. He grinned widely and looked back down at Æana's head.

Æana looked up at him and blushed when she met his eyes. Despite the alcohol, a bit of shyness returned to her and both hand and mouth left what they were doing. She crawled back up the bed to come face-to-face with him. She kissed his cheek a few times and kissed his neck. She kept him distracted like this while she slipped off her pants and let them fall to the floor on the pile of previously discarded clothes.

Æana's distraction worked quite well - even if it hadn't worked Aznimal was far past the point of complaining what she was distracting him from seeing.

And this was just as good a chance as any to satisfy that one sturdy little bit of semi-rational thought. Aznimal ran a hand through Æana's hair and nibbled along her jawbone while she kissed his cheek. As she moved down to his neck he shifted up to her cheek and her eyebrow, slipping in a few kisses between the bites.

Æana froze up when he started nibbling. Her body decided it was going to shut down and enjoy the feeling for a moment. Æana moaned, this time rather loudly. She craned her head back, letting her mouth slip away from him and giving him better access to her. Her body decided to let her move again after a few seconds, and she decided to voice something she had just thought after she removed her pants.

Æana: Aren't you a little over-dressed?

Over-dressed?

Aznimal took his teeth off Æana to consider that for a moment. He was over dressed for something. Take stock of current clothing now.

Boots. What they were still doing on his feet was beyond his capacity for reason.
Socks. Didn't want to chafe his feet into oblivion now. Even though now they were sitting in the same 'eh?' category as his boots.
Pants and all their little odds and ends. Not in 'eh?' category. He was supposed be wearing them right? Maybe not.

He leaned to the right a bit and saw that Æana ditched her pants (and her shoes and all that mess). She had a point, he was overdressed. The boots were the best article to start ditching. Scraping the heel of one boot against another while wiggling that foot effectively got rid of one boot, repeating it banished the other. A similar process with more scraping and dragging got both socks off.

Scraping and wriggling wouldn't do anything for his pants. Aznimal scooted back a bit and sat up, crooked his thumbs under the waist of his pants and eased them off.

Æana wrapped her arms around Aznimal's neck and pulled him down into a kiss. She hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her panties and slowly pulled them down, trying not to break the kiss, and succeeding with it. She twined a leg in between Aznimal's and hooked her thumbs in the waistband of his black boxers, tugging at them slightly as if to ask for permission.

[[We're fading to black here. We would write all this out, but this is taking a long time to write.]]

The morning's first light pooled into the room via a window placed well away from the bed so light wouldn't stream in and annoy anyone trying to sleep.

The light wasn't annoying Aznimal. It was the pinching, throbbing, thirsting, sweating, spinning, tiring, just ran ten miles feeling currently assaulting him. The only sane part of him was his stomach, but it was probably thinking up something devious that involved moving. Ugh, even the thought of moving made his head pound. His stomach pounded the same tempo back at his head, mocking it.

Scratch that bit about sanity, his stomach was revelling in its ability to aggrivate every other thing wrong with him. Damn muscle.

Aznimal groaned softly, the sound rasping against his dry throat, and buried his head further in his pillow. The first person to adapt the concept of drinking their troubles away was a genius. It was hard to focus on your troubles when simply lying around doing nothing made you feel like shit. He had to figure out when he stopped drinking, get an idea of how long he might be hungover.

Nothing.

The last thing he remembered was sitting at the bar and drinking... drinking... C'mon Aznimal that wasn't too hard a topic. He was sitting at the bar Sanguinarius, fully intending to drink himself into a coma (which hadn't worked) and he was drinking a... a... Pina Colada. Yeah that sounded about right. That couldn't be the last drink though, he wouldn't have stopped a drinking session on a Pina Coloda. The rest would come back to him sometime, hopefully.

Now to find out where he was now. He wasn't in an alleyway, which was a slightly comforting thought. He could feel the pillow under his head and sheets over his body and apparently last night or this morning or whenever he went to sleep he decided to do so without his clothes. His eyelids didn't want to open to see the rest of the room, they were happily sealed shut over his eyeballs. He groaned again after his head and stomach played another game of thump-diddy-thump.

Æana was normally a morning person. Normally. This particular morning, however, she felt that waking up had been a mistake. She had never been hung over before and didn't remember the previous night's events anyways. She currently felt like a very angry weasel was inside her skull and trying to get out by means of a sledgehammer. She also had a throbbing pain in her nether regions, though she had yet to contemplate that one. She opened her eyes but quickly shut them again once the sunlight reached them. She felt around her surroundings and upon finding something warm, she snuggled up to it. She didn't stop to wonder what she had snuggled up to, which was probably a good thing, since Aznimal was the warm thing in question.

Thump

Sloosh

Thump

Sloosh

Thump

His head and stomach were playing misery tennis with each other. Lovely, just freaking-

Part of his body warmed up a bit suddenly. Warmed? That didn't seem right, it was the middle of autumn... he shouldn't be warm. Maybe it was the last traces of the alcohol, if he went to sleep without his clothes on he had to have been feeling hot.

That or he drank himself into menopause.

Thump

Sloosh

Was that even possible? Why else would he be getting hot flashes during a realatively cold season? Maybe he was coming down with something. Something he could actually get.

Thump

Sloosh

He couldn't lie around forever though... he needed to open his eyes eventually, see where he was and try to peice together what happened last night. It took a genuine effort on his part to peel his eyelids away from his eyeballs.

The first rays of light creeping into his eyes were too much for his stomach to handle. He leaned over, squinted his eyes a bit and retched hitting the floor. Ugh... he made a mental note to get out on the other side of the bed and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

Then he noticed something. His hand was touching something that wasn't a sheet, wasn't a pillow, something he hoped wasn't a part of himself because he couldn't feel his hand anywhere on his body. But, it felt like another...

Thump

Holy.Shit.

The thing Æana had cuddled up to began to move around. She moaned when it left, and then moaned because her head hurt. She felt Aznimal's hand on her, though she didn't realize it was Aznimal's, or even a hand for that matter. She brought her own hand up to her head and sat up. Or at least attempted to. The second her body weight shifted to her pelvic region, she screamed quite loudly and fell on her back. Her eyes flew open and she was going to say something until she saw Aznimal. She stared at him and tried to remember what he was doing there, and what she was doing there, but she decided that thinking only added on to her turmoil.

A sudden scream, after doing its initial duty of freaking out whoever in the vicinity wasn't emitting the sound, had the effect of drawing the attentions of those it freaked out. If screams were shown like horses or dogs, then this scream would receive marks from all the judges for doing exactly as it was supposed to do.

After being startled, and wincing at the echo that rang through his head, Aznimal looked over his shoulder. There went every fleeting hope that he was too numb to feel his own hand.

He didn't think, he just stared in wide eyed disbelief, listening to the code he'd been trying to follow since his Redemption crashing to splinters.

Æana stared at Aznimal, staring at her. Her eyes drifted and she noticed that he was naked, as was she. She also noticed that in sitting up, she caused the blankets to fall around her waist, and she quickly, or as quickly as she was currently able to, pulled the blanket up to cover her chest. Her brain had begun to allow her to think, even if it was painful, but it was thought none the less.

Æana, being the relatively smart girl that she normally was quickly put two and two together. Naked her + naked boy + bed =...

Æana: Oh shit.

Aznimal continued to stare blankly at Æana, barely noticing her bare chest or her glances. Wait... how did know her name was Æana?

Durr... considering the gravity of this SNAFU he should be glad that he knew her name! God, the weight of this situation was almost drowning out the pinching agony his muscles were going through. How did this happen? This wasn't the first time he went drinking down on earth. Not even the first time he woke up and spent the whole afternoon remembering what happened the night before. This situation almost happened a few times before but he had self control. He had self control, had self control. Where the fuck did it go?

What made this time so fucking different than all the others...

Aznimal blinked and drifted back to reality when Æana cursed. It took him a while to recognize the curse for what it was though, being so wrapped up in the how comes. Thank God he hadn't sunken low enough to pick up a whore.

Waitaminute! Aznimal almost slapped himself upside the head. That wasn't better, that was worse! What if someone he lured her into this? Aznimal gulped and bit his bottom lip, combing through his foggy memories in an effort to find out some more information.

Æana pretty much ignored Aznimal for a second as she started hyperventilating to calm herself down. She couldn't remember anything, but she remembered up to the first few sips of the raspberry daquiri.

Æana *thinking*: Oh great, I remember going into a bar and drinking, and then I wake up naked with this guy. What was his name.... A....As....Az...Azn....Aznimal! That's it. Wait, assuming I had sex with this guy, then...


Æana: God fucking damnit! I lose my goddamn virginity and I don't even fucking remember it! Shit!

She buried her head in her hands and continued to hyperventilate.

Aznimal leaned over and retched after Æana's outburst, afterwards flopping back onto  his pillow bonelessly.

God, she was a virgin. That made it worse, so much worse. Throwing up right after she said that wasn't good either. It paled compared to this situation but still found a free section of his brain to hammer away at.

He didn't want to deal with this right now, he was sore all over and groggy and nauseated and confused. If only he could remember what happened during the night. That would be a big help, it wouldn't be as bad if this was a consensual accident.

Wait... what exactly did she say a second ago? Great, more fucking remembering, at least this was a minute or two ago and didn't have a fuzzy booze barrier blocking it. She was - think Aznimal think, a little headache is nothing - ... angry, because... He sat up and rubbed his right temple. She was angry beacause... because she couldn't remember losing her virginity?

Then, desperate to do something about the situation, Aznimal acted before thinking. "Don't worry, I can't remember losing mine ei-" it was then that he realized just what was coming out of his mouth. "Damn..."

Æana winced when Aznimal threw up. She was feeling pretty sick too and hearing him puke wasn't helping. She decided that he had already seen her naked and that she didn't particularly care at the moment, so she got up from the bed to head for the bathroom. Or at least tried to. Her headache suddenly flared up and she closed her eyes for a moment, hoping for it to go away. She then proceeded to trip over the stack of clothes on the floor, and landed on her ass.

Æana: Oww... Hey, I found my clothes.

She grabbed her clothes and started for the bathroom again, but knocking things over and tripping over things in the process. She got to the bathroom and splashed water on her face a few times. She looked in the mirror and decided that she looked really fucked up. She groaned before pulling on her underwear and shirt and walking back into the room.

Aznimal watched Æana get out of bed, watched her slip on the clothes and fall, forced a 'heh' at her sarcastic (or at least he pegged it as sarcastic) glee.

She seemed so calm, aside from her earlier scream and outburst. Even if it was a front, she could joke again so easily. God what he would do for a sliver of that control.

No, no nononono. He couldn't think like that. Aznimal drew his knees up to his chest and rested his forhead against them, pressing his swollen lips tightly together. Thinking like that made them right, gave meaning to their mocking sneers and distrustful glances. Both wanted him to fail, one more directly, the other watching and waiting for one little mistake. Waiting for that one little imperfection, that one imperfection they didn't want.

There were no excuses, no pardons in the face of long years of trying to be perfect. One mistake was all they needed to be deemed unworthy.

Kure. Now he really needed to find Kure.

But first, he had to do something about this. He couldn't just leave Æana, that was wrong route. Aznimal pulled his head off his knees and looked at Æana, who'd just walked out of the bathroom. His head felt light and she looked like she was slowly up, around, back up and around again. He smiled a little, his lips stinging even through the little gesture.

God, this should have been easier, knowing what not to do during this situation should give him some idea of what to do.

Æana headed over to the bed again, stopping to pick up Aznimal's clothes from the floor, but falling over in the process. She winced when she hit the ground, pain shooting up from her pelvis.

Æana: Son of a bitch...

She grabbed onto the bedside table to help herself up, then made it back to the bed. She tossed Aznimal's clothes at him and flopped on the bed stomach first, seeing as it hurt to sit down.

Æana: You can go ahead and get dressed. Ugh, since you were drinking like a pro last night, I take it you aren't new to this. Is my head ever gonna stop hurting? And if the answer's no, then lie.

Aznimal also winced when Æana fell. That had to hurt... it made his head hurt just watching her take that spill. Knowing that she took it trying to get his clothes off the floor didn't help any... Note to self, at least thank her for getting the clothes.

"Thanks," he said groggily after she dropped his clothing. Soon after talking his nose was hit by a mixture of drunk alcohol breath and typical sour morning breath. Nasty... his breath would probably ignite if he held a lighter up to it.

He pulled the clothes into his lap, leaning back against the headboard when his head began spinning. Damn brain, he closed his eyes until the spinning stopped, listening to Æana's question during that time to get his mind off the twirling. She'd seen him drink, so she definitely remembered more than he did.

"Yes, it'll stop eventually. It depends on how much you had to drink, could be a few hours, could be the whole day. You remember how much you drank?"

Æana ran a hand through her hair, as if that would jog her memory.

Æana: I remember having a beer, and then something else. You were drinking when I came in. I don't know how much I drank though. Ugh, now I see why Daddy doesn't drink.

Æana actually chuckled a little at that. After the recent events, she was still thinking about finding her Dad.

Æana: I'm a bit of a daddy's girl if you couldn't tell.

The weasel with the sledgehammer suddenly snuck up on her and began trying to escape again, so she started groaning and holding her head. She curled up halfway into a ball and tried to get the weasel to leave.

"Nothing wrong with that," Aznimal smiled. Nope, nothing wrong with that, he'd been close to his father before he-

Oh God, Aznimal's eyes widened when she curled up. Shit-dammit, this was why he gave up alcohol before Rising. Why he decided it was safe to take up again after his vow. Dammit- No, no jumping to conclusions. Calm, just ask.

Aznimal rested a hand on her shoulder, his stomach steadily twisting itself into a knot, rocking and slooshing before, during and after every cinch. "Are you alright? Besides the obvious of course," a laugh probably would have been nice at this point. Ah, screw it, he was being serious.

Æana: Yeah, or at least I will be. Y'know, after the small animal inside my head finishes beating its way out of my skull by means of a blunt object. I think I'll be fine then.

Æana uncurled a little bit, but not all the way. She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. Suddenly, her focus went from her head to her stomach. It now decided to rebel against her as well. She got up and ran to the bathroom, getting there with enough time to slide across the floor on her knees to get her mouth above the toilet. She puked a few times, coughing and sputtering at the unexpectedness of her stomach's rebellion.

Æana: Ugh... damn I'm.... glad I don't.... have long..... hair.

Small animal? Blunt object?

Oh wait, those were figures of speech. Thank God... wait that didn't ma- oh hell, any good news was good now, thank God. He hadn't completely fallen back to his old ways, just stumbled. A stumble still wasn't good... but it was better than outright falling. Easier to clean up after. In theory at least.

The ends of his lips pulled back reflexively when she smiled at him, and his eyes widened when she shot off to the bathroom.

What did he expect? She had a hangover, and he needed to get dressed. He had no reason to lie around naked in bed, even if this was home. Home, God Dark was going to have a fucking field day when it learned about this.

If, if Dark learned about this.

Aznimal shook his head rapidly. Dammit, this why Tri-Sept looked down on little errs, they had a way of growing into bigger ones. He would tell Dark, he would tell Arkarian, if he could find him again. But, but first he wanted to find Kure. Just in case, then he would have somewhere to run in case everything else in his life came crashing down. Aznimal groaned and sat up a little more, pulling his boxers from the pile of clothing and slipping them back on.

Once Æana was sure that there was nothing left in her stomach for it to get rid of, she stood back up. She walked over to the sink and washed off her face. She contemplated whether or not to take a shower, but she soon decided that if walking was difficult, showering would be especially so. She sighed and walked back to the bed, stumbling and tripping on the way, but not falling this time. She sat back down on the bed and seeing that Aznimal was redressing, she grabbed her pants and pulled them back on. She then noticed that Aznimal appeared to be in thought. She figured there was no harm in making conversation.

Æana: Whatcha thinkin' about?

Next Aznimal went for his jacket. Out of order, yes, but he didn't care at the moment. As long as his clothes got on the proper parts of his body, dressing was a success. Once he zipped it up he would answer Æana's question.

It isn't lying if you 'forget' to mention some things... Aznimal groaned and let his brother's 'advice' slide across his consciousness. Tempting as it was, he couldn't let the situation snowball.

"I'm surprised I can still think, it feels like my brains about to start pouring out of my ears." Ha-ha very funny, now answer her question. "Truth is, my masters aren't going to be happy once they hear about this. I'm thinking about what I'm going to do now."

Æana: I'm not even sure if I have a brain anymore. Can't see that there's room for it in my head with the angry rodent.

Æana stretched until her back popped, relieving a bit of pain from areas other than her head and pelvis. She grabbed a sock from the floor and pulled it on.

Æana: What, are you not supposed to get drunk?

Irk.

Explaining the real reason for his superiors displeasure wasn't going to be pleasant in the least. Well... if anything the moments after it was explained would be a bit awkward. Regardless of how it turned out he wanted his pants on before he began talking.

As he was reaching for his pants his head throbbed sharply, Aznimal winced and put a hand on his temple leaning back to rest his head on the pillow. God, if he could resist alcohol in any way he'd make a vow at this point not to drink enough to make his body start filing complaints. Those vows never made anything better anyway, they made you feel accomplished for awhile and then worse after you eventually broke them.

Dammit, well that put his once vow of chastity in a box with a bow. Aznimal groaned and sat up, determined to get his pants on even if his head exploded.

It didn't explode, but it threatened to and had its little spirtual finger hovering over the button for a few seconds before it realized that doing so wouldn't allow it to torture Aznimal anymore. Thus Aznimal got his pants back on and plopped back on the pillow.

"Not technically. They don't prefer their agents to make a habit of drinking to excess, but I won't be punished. What they're going to get in a tiff about is this," he said rather cryptically, pointing down at the bed in a rather obvious manner.

Æana blushed when Aznimal said that. Or rather, when he motioned that, but whatever. She felt embarrassed about it all because, well, she was a teenager, and that kind of thing was embarrassing.

Æana: Oh. Heh heh... That.

She went quiet for a second after that, wondering what to say. She got Aznimal in trouble. Great. She felt that this was all her fault, after all, he didn't make her drink anything alcoholic. He was content to buy her sodas. She had to try and be cool by getting smashed.

Æana: I'm really sorry about all this Aznimal. I shouldn'ta got drunk, you were being nice and buying me drinks, but I ordered them, 'n now I got you in trouble. I'm sorry.

Æana's expression as she said that were similar to the look on a puppy's face after he mauled his owners's favorite pair of shoes.

And now the awkward silence. Aznimal used that time to rest his eyes a bit and tried not to think about the war going on between his body and the alcohol within it.

Then Æana began speaking. As much as his body appreciated the rest he didn't want to snub her, so he glanced at her.

The puppy face, sympathy. Sympathy was to be expected after what he just said.

Apologies weren't...

Holy jumping Jesus in Hell...

Try as he might, Aznimal just couldn't remember when he met Æana in the bar. After he got to a certain point his memory faded out and faded back in about... Aznimal squinted his eyes a little. He faintly remembered his head landing on a pillow just seconds before it blanked out again and he woke up. That didn't help...

Aznimal's imagination didn't help either, it immediately began trying to figure out how those drinks were bought. It's little scenario went something like this:

Aznimal, sitting in the bar with a literal mountain of empty glasses seperating his stool from the one on his right was downing drinks in manner that would remind one of an assembly line. Glass was set down, glass was filled, Aznimal drank, Aznimal tossed glass onto mountain, Aznimal paid barkeep, rinse, repeat.

Then Æana came into the bar, shining and happy and innocent and took the seat next to his. She looked a bit lost, confused, out of place one might say.

Aznimal turned to look at her when she sat down, clouds of alcohol vapor drifting out of his nose as he breathed, and his eyes glowed red for no particular reason.

Aznimal: Can I buy you a drink little girl?

Æana: I dunno, I guess you can, if you want to, I dunno...

Aznimal: *big evil feral grin* Excellent.

Æana: I think I'll get a soda, I like Iffybell's Cream-Yum...

Aznimal: Iffybell's Cream Yum? I don't know if you've noticed sweetheart, but you're in a bar.

Æana: That's right... darn... I think I'll get a... gee I dunno anything about drinks I'll get something with alcohol!

Aznimal: *big evil feral grin 2.0 ultimized* Ex-cel-lenté.

Aznimal's eyes were quite wide after that little scenario played through his head. Æana's behavior seemed a bit exagerrated, but it was possible that he'd gotten her to buy something that would get her drunk. Or something equally terrible. "Oh shit, I'm fucked," he squeaked.

Æana heard Aznimal swear, and then she started to get more worried. She bit her lip and her eyes got glassy. She had always hoped her first time would be on a beach, or a big king-size bed with silk sheets and rose petals. Instead, it was at a fairly cheap inn, while drunk, and got her partner in trouble. And it was her fault. This really sucked.

Æana: I'm really really... *sniff*... really really... *sniff*... really sorry! I never should've *sniff* ordered that first beer. I should have*sniff*  just stuck with *sniff* sodas like I started off with, and not *sniff* tried to be c-c-c-cool and *sniff* get something alcoholic! And now you're in trouble for *sniff* it...

Æana wiped her eyes off on her shirt and grabbed a tissue from the bedside table to blow her nose on. Once she was sure she wouldn't be a sniffling mess, she continued to speak.

Æana: You're probably tired of hearing this, but I am sorry. You were just trying to be nice, and I messed it up. If you think it will help, I could talk to your boss or whoever and tell them that it was my fault. There's no reason for you to be punished for it.

Smooth move Aznimal... smooth move. She probably thinks you're upset with her now. He groaned softly, partly because of the communication hurdles between them and equally because his head started throbbing.

Couldn't just lay here. He could only blame his hangover for so much supposedly-detached lounging in pain. Aznimal had to say something, some more substantial than a frew select curses.

Especially now, now that she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

He could barely hear the first bit of what she said, with the speed and the breaks were she would sniff. When she went for the tissue Aznimal considered putting a hand on her shoulder, or something. No, touching probably wasn't the best thing he could do for her at this very moment. Once she blew her nose she began to talk comprehensively. Aside from shaking his head after she said he was tired of hearing her apologize he stayed more or less still while she was talking.

After she was through he sat up, ignoring the implosion-threats from his temples. "I couldn't let you do that for me," he grinned a little. "That makes it seem like you're all to blame. Trust me on this one - in a situation like this, no one is ever wholly at fault or wholly innocent."

Æana listened to what Aznimal had to say and it was a bit comforting. She knew that no one was wholly innocent or wholly at fault, but try as she might, she couldn't think of anything he had done wrong that wasn't the fault of alcohol. Obviously alcohol had happened before, but this hadn't so the alcohol must not have had anything to do with it. She didn't have any conscience issues, so she didn't want to blame herself, she just thought it was her fault. Any tears that might have been trying to resurface dried up, and Æana crossed her legs and pulled them up to her chest.

Æana: But what did you do?

Couldn't his head take a five minute smoke break from this hangover?

He had every right to groan and rub his temple. But, conventional body language painted that as a gesture of annoyance. Annoyance with the alcohol induced meltdown of his body, yes. He didn't want to risk the gesture being interpreted as a gesture of annoyance toward the current conversation. No groaning, no temple rubbing. He had a few hours more of hangover to bitch.

At least this was a simple question.

In theory.

"Attempting to drown my problems in booze. I know by now that drinking helps about as much as running headfirst into a wall for a couple hours. I say that now, when I'm relatively sober, but as soon as I hit rock bottom the first thing I do is pour a drink or light up a cigarette. It's like a reflex, some kind of strange reflex that spits on logic, but that's how its always been for me since I was pretty young."

Æana nodded at Aznimal's explanation, absently rubbing a temple in an attempt to quell a headache. Okay, he had a point. Maybe he did do something wrong.

"Oh, okay. I guess when you put it that way I can see how it's partially your fault. But still, it takes two to... well, you know," Æana said, blushing a little at the last part. Once she realized she was blushing, she tried to stop, because she had always thought that she looked weird when she blushed. "You smoke, too? Hmm, now that you're sober I never would've guess. Of course, now that we're sober I wouldn't peg you for an alcoholic either."

She went quiet for a second then, fearing that what she just said might have come off as mean. She had to make up for it. "Hey, uhm, I know this is gonna seem kinda weird, all things considered, but I just wanted to thank you for being so nice to me. after all this."

Aznimal really wasn't sure how he should take her declarations that he didn't seem like an alcoholic or a smoker, but he had a feeling that if his head were pouding less he wouldn't have been pondering how to feel about it.

In the end he just decided that his head hurt and he would save the so-dubbed non-pondering question for when it could answer it simply.

Silence again. Maybe he should have said something. Then again, it seemed better to go with silence than saying something stupid. Silence could be misinterpreted as a lot of things, there was only one way stupidity was interpreted...

Now she was thanking him, that silence must have been a pause for thought. This was easier to reply to though. "No problem," he gave his temple a brief rub.

Æana smiled at Aznimal. Things were still weird between them, but she was glad she didn't wake up next to an asshole. And at the back of her mind, she was also glad he was good-looking, even if that was one of the least of her concerns. She considered the hangover to be the biggest concern at the moment, at least until there came a knock at the door to their room. Æana walked over to the door at peeked out through the peephole. Her eyes widened and she leaned against the door, facing into the room, and Aznimal.

Æana: Fuck. It's Jamie. Should I open the door?

Now seemed like a good time to lie back down, soothe his poor aching brain. Poor, suffering, pained, agonized - Aznimal lay back down on the pillow. Ah, sweet horizontality. He smiled back at Æana.

And the door thumped.

In Aznimal's years of experience with doors, they usually didn't thump on their own. Someone or, rarely, something had to do something to the door so it would make a sucession of taps. This particular set sounding like it was a someone making the noise. Someone was at the door. God, didn't they have any decency?

When Æana got up to answer the door Aznimal felt a mix of relief and annoyance. Relief because he didn't have to get up and ruin the blissful horizontality, and annoyance because he was laying around like a lazy tramp while she got the door, she had a hangover too. Only... as she said herself, she hadn't been drinking as much as he had. Aznimal dropped the feelings, they were starting to make his head spin.

Jamie? His mind drew a blank on that one, all the clues he had towards her identity was the choice expletive Æana mentioned before telling him who it was. At first he considered shaking his head. That person could think they were gone, if she - apparently he met this person because he kept using she like he was sure of it - heard Æana curse she'd know they were there. In the long run, it'd be best if they just opened the door now...

Aznimal nodded.

Æana checked her appearance over as best she could. She didn't want Jamie to assume anything and get upset with Aznimal or her. She thought she looked okay, so she opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Jamie's eyes narrowed into a glare. She saw Æana at the door and immediately stopped glaring and started to smile, until her eyes came to rest upon Æana's neck, which hapened to be covered in dark purple and red bruises. She gasped and pushed the door open, searching for Aznimal. She glared at him when her eyes found him.

Jamie: You vile, horrible man! You took advantage of her!

Æana's eyes went wide as Jamie immediately began throwing accusations.

Æana: It was not like that! You were there! I drank of my own accord! Don't blame him, or at least not him alone!

Jamie looked sympathetically at her.

Jamie: Oh, you poor thing, it's not your fault. He's an adult and should have known better.

Æana opened her mouth to speak again, but Jamie put a finger to her mouth in a 'shh' motion and shut her up. She quickly grabbed Æana's shoes and then Æana's arm and pulled her from the room and back down to the bar to talk to her.

It all happened so fast.

Æana opening the door. Jamie pushing the door aside. Jamie giving him a glare that all but promised she would kill him on the spot had she the means to do so while she slung the blame for the previous evening at his feet. Æana trying to talk some sense, some something into the woman's head. Jamie not hearing it. Jamie comforting Æana. Jamie telling her it wasn't her fault. Æana trying to speak. Jamie shushing her and dragging her from the room.

The door shutting.

And after that, his head almost split in half due to a sudden, bastard-throb. Aznimal flopped back down on the bed, groaning, putting a hand to his head.

That was not good. Not good at all.

Why in Hell couldn't he have said something? It was an excuse to say that it happened too quickly. Saying something might have made it worse though. He couldn't imagine the kind of retorts she'd have if he tried to tell her what Æana told her.

God, for all he knew she could be right.

Aznimal tried to shake his head. He couldn't think like that. Æana remembered more than he did, and didn't say anything about being conned into this.

Of course, it would have been a mighty sloppy seduction attempt if she realized it the next morning. He didn't want to suspect it being any different, since there was so much alcohol involved. Acohol and grace didn't go well together. Hell, alcohol and cunning thought were practically strangers to each other.

Now what was he going to do? God, if his head felt any better he'd get up and chase after them. At least find some way to keep in contact with her. Just in case...

Another pulsing throb shot through his head. He wasn't sure whether it was from the alcohol or thinking too far about his last thought. What he knew was that he should probably try to find her and establish some kind of contact. It seemed like the right thing to do. He couldn't have taken advantage of her if he was concerned about her, right?

A morbid thought ran through his head just then, almost seeming like an apology for the earthquake rocking its foundation. If he had a few cigarettes he might not have drunken so much. He could almost see the look on Tazianne's face if he told her that cigarettes kept him from binge drinking and having one night stands.

Aznimal groaned again, tilting his head back into the pillow. Damned alcohol.