Vulgar Drunk

Life, Relationship change

Fenneck and Natalya get into a fight and Fenneck get's a stern talking to from Jasna and Alexei.

Fenneck finally finished braiding his hair and headed downstairs to see Natalya. He got to her door and took a deep breath before knocking. After a few moments she opened the door in a robe. Her hair was a bit messy and her face seemed a bit flushed. Fenneck couldn't help but feel overjoyed to see her again. "Good morning." He said nervously. "Good morning." Natalya gently smiled at him sending a flurry of butterflies through Fenneck's stomach. They were soon halted by the sudden movement he saw in her bed and he recognized Jasna's fluffy brown hair. Fenneck felt anger start to boil up inside him. He tried to be polite. "I see you have company." He said, becoming embarrassed for even coming down here. He could feel his ears start to burn red. "It's just Jasna." Natalya said, trying to assure him. "She came over last night and we... we had a really good talk." She smiled when she said this and Fenneck realized that she hadn't smiled like that all year. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should leave her be. He looked back down to meet her eyes and she smiled coyly at him, almost flirtingly. "That's.. .wonderful." He said slowly. He took a deep breath and decided to risk it, "I was wondering if you would like to go out tonight... for dinner? Together... Just us." He waited nervously as she pondered this before smiling and nodding, "I'd like that." She said bashfully. Fenneck felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Wonderful, I will come by later then. I'd like to take you to a tavern in the city." He suggested. "That sounds great." Natalya said. He smiled back and nodded to her, "Great." "Great." Natalya said again. He nodded once more and turned on his heel to avoid the awkward interaction from being prolonged. He headed back to his room and proceeded to pace back and forth. "This is a stupid idea." He said. "Oh please Fenneck. She was clearly happy to see you." Evelyn said, cradling the baby in bed. "And what if Jasna slept with her?" He asked her. Evelyn shrugged, "I thought you didn't care?" "I don't!" He countered. "So why are you asking?" She asked him. Fenneck turned and looked at her, "Because. Maybe I don't... love her yet but what if, one day, I do?" He turned angrily to prepare for the night when Erikur chimed in, leaning against the wardrobe, "Oh come on. Everyone has slept with Jasna. I slept with Jasna. It's like a right of passage when you come into Flottenheim. It's honestly weirder that you haven't slept with Jasna." Evelyn laughed in agreeance with Erikur. "Oh come on, Evelyn, she's your sister!" Fenneck scolded her. Evelyn shrugged and looked over at Erikur, "He's just jealous that Jasna has better game than him." Erikur chuckled. At that moment there was a knock on Fenneck's door and Erikur and Evelyn disappeared. Fenneck sighed and walked over to the door and opened it to find Jasna herself smiling excitedly at him. "Hi!" She said excitedly. He scowled at her and scoffed. "What the hell is your problem?" She asked him, offended by his anger. "Did you actually sleep with her? Have you no self respect?" He accused her venomously. She matched his fierce gaze, "Oh don't even try to go there Fenneck." She said fiercely. He shot back, "You did, didn't you? I swear Jasna-" "I didn't sleep with her asshole." Jasna cut him off, "Why the hell do you even care? You gave me your blessing, remember!?" She dug her fists into her hips, "You're actually the worst, Fen. Gods, you don't deserve her." She shook her head at him in disappointment. "Oh please." Fenneck scoffed. "She doesn't even want me!" He said angrily. "Of course she does!" Jasna exclaimed, "Clearly against her better judgement! You have no idea how lucky you are to have her! To have thiramin!" She spat angrily at him, "You treated Erikur like shit because of your glorification of it. You have grown so committed to this one thing to fix all of your horrible problems that you haven't even bothered to grow up and deal with things yourself over the years!" He grabbed the door to close it but she put her hand out and stopped it, surprising Fenneck with her sudden show of strength. "I'm here for Natalya's clothes. You are going to take her out tonight and treat her like a goddamn queen! If you so much as look at her wrong, I'll beat you to a pulp myself. Am I clear?" Jasna's brown eyes flickered silver for a brief moment, sending a cold shiver down Fenneck's spine. He nodded toward the wardrobe in fear and Jasna shoved passed him and collected Natalya's dresses. On top was his mother's gown. "Not that one." He said before grabbing it from her arms. She gave him a dirty look, "Be on your best behavior tonight, Fenneck." She told him threateningly before leaving and stomping down his staircase. Fenneck took a few moments to breath. He had never seen Jasna angry before. Not like that, at least. He went over to his kitchen and pulled out his decanter from the counter and poured himself a glass of whiskey to calm his nerves. He downed the glass and poured himself another. The warm liquid helped sooth his frazzled nerves. He was angry at her for saying such things. She didn't understand what these last few months had been like. She didn't understand their relationship. He downed his second glass and finally felt the drink starting to numb his panicked head. He went to his wardrobe and pulled out one of his silvery tunics and got dressed for his date. When he was finally dressed and had his hair how he wanted it, his decanter caught the corner of his eye again. He walked over to the table and decided one more for his nerves would probably be considerate to Natalya. That's what he told himself, at least. He downed the glass and headed down to find her. He made it to her door without incident and knocked. Natalya opened the door. She was wearing a silvery blue dress and her hair was half-up in an elaborate braid. Fenneck felt his heart start to pound at the sight of her. He also felt the room grow a little blurry from the whiskey. "Good evening." He greeted her formally. "Good evening." She said back, smiling. He held out his arm politely and Natalya took it and leaned against him. Fenneck couldn't help but feel surprised at her sudden excitement for the evening. He led her down into the mountain. As he did, he felt the alcohol start to burn inside him. If she was so happy to see him then why did she hide in her room all week instead of coming to find him? Last year he had always been the one to go and find her throughout the day. She had never once voluntarily come up to his tower to see him. He felt himself growing annoyed by the situation again and by Jasna's insistence that he should treat Natalya so well. Natalya treated him the same way. Why should he have to reach out and put effort into this? She had left him. He decided to go to one of the busier taverns instead of Alexei's like he had originally planned. He didn't want Alexei around to judge him or to make things even more awkward than they already were. He entered the tavern where there was loud music and people dancing everywhere. He enjoyed the stench of alcohol in the air. He picked out a table and led Natalya to it. "Sit here. I'll be right back." He sat her down at a table and walked over to the bar. "What can I do you for, Fenneck?" Asked the bartender. "Can I get a couple bottles of mead and like, six shots of vodka?" He hesitated and looked back at Natalya before turning back to the bartender, "Actually, make that seven." He asked the human whose face was too blurry for him to quite recognize. He fixed the drinks and handed them to Fenneck who downed one of the shots after making sure Natalya couldn't see him and slid the empty glass to the bartender before turning back to their table. He plopped the drinks down and at that moment a waitress came up and asked what they would be eating. "Can we do a cheese and bread platter and two steak dinners?" He asked the waitress as he felt his nearly empty stomach cry out for something to soak up the heavy liquor he was putting into it. Natalya gave him a confused look and he decided he might as well explain himself. "Jasna has informed me that I have been, as she so eloquently put it, a stuck up prick who should loosen up before the sexiest woman in the world walks out on me again because I am a prude, grumpy, plague-sored ballsack." He said passive aggressively. He could see Natalya trying to hide her smile at Jasna's insults and he huffed in annoyance. "So to combat this," He paused and took another shot, "I'd ask that we loosen up tonight and try to have some... fun." He scooted a shot over to Natalya who looked at it skeptically. "Look, I didn't tell her to do this." Natalya said, clearly uncomfortable with Fenneck's sudden desire to get shitfaced. "Oh I know. She doesn't need help when it comes to getting into other people's business." He said angrily, very lightly slurring some of his words. "Please don't be upset." She said quietly, motioning around them, trying to avoid making a scene. "Oh please, nobody can hear us over the music. Why do you think I brought you here?" He said, taking a swig of mead angrily. "So you want to fight?" She asked him bluntly. He looked at her like she was stupid. "No. I want to have fun." He said smiling sarcastically. The music roared as Fenneck felt a headache starting to come on. Natalya stood up. "The hell are you doing?! Sit back down!" Fenneck told her angrily. "You're being insanely rude." She shot back at him, her face starting to blur from Fenneck's state and frustration. "I'm leaving!" She declared, "Come find me when you want to talk like adults." Right then the waitress came over and plopped their food down between them and Natalya walked off toward the entrance. "Hey!" Fenneck shouted at her before standing and stumbling into the table next to him, causing a large stein of beer to cover the poor halfling he bumped into. "Sorry!" He muttered before stumbling to the entrance. He saw Natalya a few yards away and started running toward her. He was fumbling and as he ran up to grab her arm she turned and decked him in the nose. He dropped to the ground in shock as blood gushed down his face. Natalya gasped and dropped down to try and help him. "Fuck off!" He batted her away as she tried to reach out to him. This caused her to jump back. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He shouted at her through the blood gushing past his mouth. She gave him a fierce look, "What the hell is wrong with you?! You've been a complete ass tonight!" She stood up and looked down at him, "I thought we were on good terms when we left the mountains but ever since we've been here you've just grown more and more resentful of me!" She cried out to him. Fenneck felt everything start to spin from the blood, pain and alcohol. "Fuck." He muttered holding his nose. "What the hell did I do wrong?" She begged him angrily. He looked up at her, bewildered by her lack of awareness and stood up, only swaying a little as his anger steadied him. "You did nothing!" He shouted at her. "You have consistently done nothing! You are always here but you have never once reached out to me!" He felt angry as confusing tears start to slide down his face and mix into the blood that now soaked his tunic. "You sit and pout that I don't dote upon you like I did all those months ago but when have you ever doted upon me?" He asked her, realizing his feelings of abandonment. "You never move closer to me at night. You never say an admiring word without me prompting it. You take and take and take and I don't have anything else to give you!" Fenneck said despairingly. She shook her head at him in disbelief. "You said not to be affectionate! You said you didn't want to rush things! You-" He cut her off, "I didn't want to allow ourselves to be overcome by lustful actions! I never told you you couldn't touch me!" He qualified. "Oh, because it's such a sin to want to fuck my soulmate!" She yelled back at him, "Gods, you must feel so high and mighty, huh? You're so pure and pretty and perfect. Fuck you!" She turned on her heels to leave. "I wanted this to be special!" Fenneck cried out to her, fully crying now as his heart broke from their anger and hate for each other. "Gods forbid you can't keep it in your pants for a few years!" He spat venomously at her. She turned back to him, her eyes filled with resentful tears, "You're so mean and judgmental!" She lashed out, "It's no wonder you've been alone for the last one hundred years!" This sent a lighting bolt of anger through Fenneck, "At least I'm not a cold, heartless whore!" He said before intentionally spitting some of his blood out onto the floor at her feet. Natalya turned and ran to the stairs and Fenneck tried to chase her before tripping over his own feet and barely preventing himself from splitting his head open on the cold, stone ground. He slowly looked up to see people watching and saw Alexei walking toward him through the crowd. "There's nothing to see here! Go back to your business!" Alexei dispersed the crowds and helped Fenneck to his feet. After stabilizing him, he led his friend back to his quiet tavern across the way. He dragged Fenneck into his room and closed the door behind them. "Fix your nose." Alexei told him, making his disappointment in Fenneck's behavior apparent as he plopped Fenneck down on a chair. Fenneck obeyed and fixed his nose with some magic, but his face was still covered in blood. "Drink this." Alexei said, handing Fenneck a glass of water before going to find a rag to wash off his face. "This is the worst I've seen you in years, Fenneck. What the hell is going on?" Alexei asked him sternly. Fenneck sighed and took the rag from Alexei and wiped off the worst of the blood. "She's a fucking whore." He said through the cloth. "I hate her. I hate every goddamn thing about her. She has completely ruined my life. She's always here but we don't like each other. Hardly at all. We have merely tolerated each other all year and I'm sick of her." Alexei's eyes stared coldly back at Fenneck as Fenneck spoke. "What?" Fenneck asked him angrily. Alexei looked down and shook his head, "I don't know how to help you, Fen. I have tried and tried over the years to figure it out. We all have. It's gotten to the point where we were begging your thiramin to get here so you wouldn't be such a drag to be around." Fenneck took a long sip of water to combat his thumping head. "You've turned into a reckless, emotionless drunk, Fenneck. You used to be one of the most respected men around here but lately you've been turning into a public embarrassment." Alexei scolded him. "People are noticing, Fenneck. It doesn't exactly reflect well on Baegla and the rest of the palace if her little golden boy is stumbling to his room at night covered in blood." Fenneck finally looked up at him, "It's her fault, Lex. She's done this to me. She's horrid. She-" Alexei cut him off, "Stop being mean!" He said with more sternness than Fenneck had ever heard from him. "It's one thing if you want to vent about her, but throwing around cruel, meaningless insults isn't gonna fly. I get that it's complicated, Fen, but my gods. Have you even tried to get to know her? Have you asked about her past? About what it was like to grow up in the KAV? About how traumatizing it must have been to be the person who killed that monster, Staladin? About how awful it must feel for her to have killed your best friend all those years ago?" Fenneck looked up, confused, "How did you-" "Catherine told me." Alexei said fighting back tears, "You were not the only one close to him, Fenneck." He said desperately. Alexei looked down in frustration, "Do you realize how much it sucked when you both left me here for your fancy tower together?" Fenneck swallowed and felt guilt start to rise up in him. Alexei wiped a tear away from his cheek, "I didn't stay here because I love my job, Fenneck. I stayed here because Erikur... He always liked you more. I hated that over the years I felt things for him that just... weren't reciprocated." Alexei pushed through his tears, "He kept waiting on you, and that's fine. I came to terms with that a long time ago." He said shaking his head, "But what I never understood was why you kept pushing him away. It created this toxic cycle of you getting the boyfriend benefits. The love and affection and nights cuddled up in each other's arms. I was there for sex and a good time only when you weren't available to him." Fenneck's face burned from shame and guilt as Alexei spoke about this. "He's gone, Fen. You missed out on the possibility of a lifetime." He pointed toward the door, "But Natalya is still here. She's everything you've been waiting for. You finally found her, Fenneck." He met Fenneck's eyes, and Fenneck noticed a profound sorrow behind them he'd never seen there before. "Go get her. Save her. Fall in love with her. Apologize and deal with your shit. I heard that encounter out there. You are both grossly miscommunicating. Open up to her about your shit. Deal with the reality that she did kill Erikur and that that sucks. Deal with your guilt over Evelyn and your parents. You want thiramin to swoop in and fix everything but you have to meet it halfway." Fenneck lowered his head into his hands and tried to process everything. He felt Alexei come over and crouch down next to him. "Fenneck?" He begged him softly to look up at him. Fenneck slowly looked up sadly and met Alexei's deep brown eyes. Alexei took the bloody rag from him and wiped the rest of the blood off of his face gently. "I'm so sorry." Fenneck finally said as tears started to stream down his face. Alexei nodded, "I know, Fen. I know. I'm not trying to make you upset." Alexei wiped a tear from Fenneck's face, "I'm just so worried about you." Alexei said, cupping Fenneck's cheek in his hand. Fenneck leaned forward and Alexei kissed him. It was a soft, lingering kiss and Fenneck leaned into it, enjoying the touch of his friend again after so many years. Alexei pulled back, "Fenneck..." Alexei seemed conflicted. "I'm sorry." Fenneck apologized, feeling more guilt and shame build up inside him. "Look, you've been drinking... You should go clean up. Find Natalya." Alexei told him. Fenneck nodded and slowly stood to his feet. "Thank you." He told Alexei, "I'm sorry. I've been an awful friend. I truly don't deserve to have someone as kind and forgiving as you in my life." Fenneck told him woefully. Alexei pulled him into a hug, "Just... try, okay? If not for yourself, then for me?" He teased him, trying to lighten the mood. Fenneck gave him a small smile and left the bar to find Natalya. He finally made it to her room, giving his face one last wipe before taking a deep breath and knocking. He waited in silence for a long moment before he knocked again. He pressed his ear to the door and heard nothing. "Natalya?" He called into the room before knocking one more time. He felt his heart start to panic as he opened the door and looked inside to see that the fire was out and her dress was laying on the ground. Her bed looked made and her things were missing. He closed the door and walked into the room in horror as the realization that she had left set in. He collapsed onto the floor and picked up her dress. Everything started fading to black as he started sobbing uncontrollably into the dress. He wasn't sure how much time passed before he heard the door click and saw Natalya in the doorway with her backpack on and weapons equipped. He started crying harder as he feared his brain was already using her to haunt him like the rest of his ghosts. Natalya dropped her things when she saw him and ran to him. She pulled him into her arms and he limply let her as his world crashed down around him. She felt real, though. He looked up into her eyes and reached out a weak hand to touch her face and make sure she really was there. "I'm so sorry." She cried to him, clutching him desperately to her chest. "I didn't mean what I said." He told her through his tears. "Please don't leave." His body heaved in pain and his voice cracked as he pleaded with her, "I don't want to lose you." He started crying harder and Natalya pulled him into her chest. "I'm not going anywhere." She said, nuzzling his face. "I'm right here." She kissed his forehead and caressed his face. "I promise I'll try and do better." She promised him. Her beautiful, sad eyes looked into his and he saw himself reflected back in her tears. "Me too." He promised, squeezing her hand. Fenneck nuzzled his face against hers and they stayed there in each other's arms for a while before their tears subsided. Natalya gently started caressing Fenneck's face. He looked up at her and smiled weakly, "Some year, huh?" He asked her softly, acknowledging the anniversary of the day they met a year ago. Natalya smiled for a brief moment at the realization and sighed. "I'm sorry it wasn't what you expected it to be." He squeezed her hand. "I'm not." He told her, hoping that maybe there was some glimmer of hope for the two of them. Natalya nuzzled Fenneck's face against her own. He found himself enjoying her touch and as her lips gently kissed his cheeks he decided he wanted her. They stayed with their lips close, tasting each other's breath for what felt like eternity. And eventually she started to pull away. Fenneck grabbed her head to keep it close to his. "You can kiss me if you'd like." He said, finally consenting to the passionate desire they felt for each other. Natalya smiled at him mischievously. "No." She said before leaning into his big pointy ear and gently biting it sensually before whispering, "Not yet." He smiled at her tease and relaxed into her arms for the evening.