[PLOT] I Swear, I'll Never Drink Again

[Teigra]

The Fae sighed, leaning heavily on his staff. Why he had ever let his daughter drag him out to this crazy party in the woods, he'd never know. Who was he kidding? It was Eudora. She'd always manage to get him out doing crazy things, despite what he wanted. For now, he was resigned to linger at the edges of the party, pretending to 'have fun.' Well, at least until she took him by the hand and dragged him over to the refreshments.



Zinerva sighed as she looked down at her drink, kicking her feet under the table. She was a fish out of water here, in both senses. It was her brother who took her out to try to calm her down just a bit but even the drink she had been sipping on wasn't doing too much. She had been doing her best to stay out of everyone's sights at the palace. What if someone found out about Aquos? How much trouble would she be in? Would she be kicked out? The Naiad sighed once again as her head hit the table with a loud thump.

Cabel had just been pouring himself a glass of punch when he was startled by the loud thump that shook the table. Eyes widening, he fixed his gaze on the young woman, her head down on the table. "Miss?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. "Are you alright?"

Zinerva almost didn't hear the voice, lost in her own thoughts. "Huh?" She lifted her had and looked over to the sunset fairy. "Oh...Yes I'm fine...Thank you sir..."

Perhaps it was the festive atmosphere, but Cabel's mood seemed lighter than it had been as of late. "You sure? No brain damage? Those tables can sure be solid, I've found," he quipped lightly, glancing at her near-empty cup and taking the opportunity to refill it from the bowl. Something was obviously bothering her; she seemed less in tune with this party atmosphere than he did. And that was saying something. He took a sip of the drink, noting it was sweet, but there was a subtle note of...something that gave him pause. Something like a bad memory that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Zinerva couldn't help but smile at his lame joke before taking a big swig of her drink. "My brother says I have a hard head so I'm sure I'll be alright." Her blue eyes drifted up to look at him. "What brings you here stranger? I'm sure there are a lot of other people you could be having fun with besides me."

Raising an eyebrow, Cabel chuckled and took another drink absent-mindedly. "My daughter actually. She said I'm being a 'stick in the mud' to use her words. Something about too much time alone and fussing with old books. Not sure a party like this is really my sort of thing anymore. Wild and crazy isn't really my version of 'fun' anymore," he chuckled. Then he paused, re-thinking what he'd just said. Hopefully she wasn't offended by any thing he'd accidentally said. "Err, not implying anything of course. I'm sure I can enjoy myself just enough over here where it's quieter, that's all."

She smiled once again, running her finger around the rim of her drink. "Your daughter would like my brother. He calls me a worry wart all the time...But he's not in my position..." The female bit her lip,saying too much already. She shook her head before speaking. "I've never been one to party really. I just stay with my brother...Not that I depend on him...It's just he's the only family I can remember..."

Her words made Cabel painfully aware of how long it had been since he'd seen his own family. "I...haven't seen my own family for a long time now. I mean, aside from my daughter, of course. My mom, dad, adopted siblings...yeah, haven't been home in a long time..." he trailed off, staring into his cup. And the other woman in his life...? He cleared his throat harshly. "Hey, enough gloomy talk. This is a party right? We're supposed to be having a good time. So, here's to happier thoughts and brighter days," he offered, lifting his cup in the air.

She rubbed the back of her head. "I'm sorry if I upset you but yes..." She lifted up her glass to his. "To happier thoughts and brighter days." She smiled to him softly.

"No worries," he said good-naturedly. She couldn't know what memories she'd stirred up with her simple question. He touched his glass to hers before taking a drink, then noted he needed a refill. While doing so, he nodded to her politely, "So, name's Cabel. Pleasure to meet you."

She gulped down the rest of her glass and smiled to him. "Zinerva. Nice to meet you Cabel." She looked around for a refill.

Cabel obliged, filling her glass after his own. He was starting to relax a bit more, his smiles coming a bit easier than they had in a long while. "To new friends as well," he chuckled, raising his glass again before taking a drink. Maybe this party had been a good idea after all!

Zinerva laughed and clanked her glass against his in the air, taking a another drink. Her cheeks flushed slightly as the booze was getting to her. She didn't really drink so she was a bit of a light weight. "Wooo didn't think these were that strong when I ordered them.

"Strong?" Cabel wasn't following at the moment. He was feeling a little hazy, but pretty good otherwise. "Doesn't taste strong. Tastes sweet." His speech was getting a little lazier, but not quite slurring yet.

She laughed and tapped the sides of her glass. "I don't get these that often. Not use to the taste really." She kept looking down to hide her flush before taking another drink from her glass.

Cabel's thoughts were wandering from the topic at hand. Pointedly, towards her lack of wings. The only Pae he'd met without wings were Faun and... "Are you by chance a Naiad?" He'd heard they gained legs on land, but he couldn't remember ever witnessing it. Not that he had a lot of experience with Naiads. Though he did have an early memory of one coming to his aid as a child. He smiled, thinking he understood and nodding, "Used to just water, eh?"

Zinerva nodded and kicked her feet. "Yes...I am." She looked to him with a smile. "But I'm pretty new around here...I was lost for a long time...My brother found me and brought me back. He figures I got lost during that hurricane...I just..Don't remember..." She ran her fingers through her hair and looked down with a small sigh.

Cabel wore a sober expression, leaning over the table. Poor thing...she looked so sad, he wanted to make her feel better somehow. "I think...we all end up lost somewhere along the way. The good thing to remember is that there's someone there to find us when we are." He offered her a smile again, entertaining a wayward thought. He'd been saved by a Naiad once before...would it happen again?

She smiled to him. "Yes. I have my brother now after all..It's a bit complicated...I can't really explain. But we do have each other now so that's good." She smiled awkward. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to listen to my petty problems..How about I buy you another drink?" Because booze is always the answer..ALWAYS!

Of course, Cabel had his daughter, Eudora, as well, but he understood. It just wasn't the same. With a nod and a chuckle, he pushed on, trying to keep the tone light. "Sure. I think 'free' is a price we could both afford," he joked, gesturing towards the sweet punch bowl, not realizing he'd swayed a bit in the process.

Zinerva laughed and got up on a staggered step, holding out her hand and canting he head with a smile. "Perhaps you would like to join me? It would save some time getting up after all."

The Fae quickly stepped to her side, offering her an arm. "Of course. Together, we venture forth, my lady!" he chuckled, noting how pretty she was when she was laughing rather than focusing on troubling issues. Her blue eyes sparkled like the sea, the sea that Cabel had grown so entranced with since... The thought slipped away, replaced with thoughts of how entrancing she was instead. Slurring a bit, the Fae continued, "Firs', drinks, then provisions, then wha'ever adventures may await in the future!"

Zinerva smiled brightly and wrapped her arm through his, stumbling into him with a laugh. "Lead the way..I will have to get some water soon though so...My skin doesn't dry out....I'm a fish out of water after all." She laughed, finding it much funnier that it really was.  

[Teigra]

Cabel laughed in reply, catching her with a slight wobble of his own. "Alright, we'll take the nex' two drinks t' go, then. I know this spot down on the beach." He enjoyed spending time at the beach. He was sure she saw it enough anyway, being a Naiad, but some things were just better when shared with another. He couldn't remember when he last felt this carelessly happy. His eyes shined in the waning light, focused on the lovely lady on his arm.

The tipsy female leaned against the fairy as she was having a hard time supporting her own weight. The booze in her drinks was starting to make the world slightly fuzzy. At least Cabel was brightly colored and not that hard to spot. She hadn't noticed him looking to her for a while until by chance she looked up to him with a soft smile.

Cabel returned the smile warmly, patting her hand on his arm. They reached the table, and he grabbed a couple more drinks, handing one to Zinerva before they set off together again, side by side. "Moon's pretty tonight," he commented casually, only half the time actually looking at the moon, the other half, staring at the beautiful blue and white Naiad on his arm, complemented by the moonlight.

Zinerva smiled and looked up, sipping on her last drink and watching the moon. "Yes it'd beautiful! And all glowy!" She giggled as she looked up, her own white skin seemed to glow from the reflection of the moonlight.

The Fae felt as if he was glowing, as warm and happy as he felt. Without thinking, he immediately responded, "Yeah, but you're more beautiful." He flushed a bit at his own daring, but some part of him decided to say heck with it. Quickly, he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Zinerva blinked and blushed hard as he said that. No one had ever said that to her. "You're quiet handsome yourself Cabel." She poked her fingers together and leans into him a bit more.

Having not been rejected, Cabel beamed all the more at her compliment. He pulled her gently against his side as they walked, relishing her company and her beauty. There was nothing more than the here and now, nothing outside the small sphere that contained them both. Except maybe the scenery before them. The beach spread out before them, and the Fae lead the Naiad out onto the sparkling sands beneath the moonlight.

She clearly got excited as they reached the beach, taking a bit more of a lead and tugging him with her to the waters edge, kicking the waves lightly with her feet for a moment before taking a few steps in, looking over to Cabel and seeing if he was going to join her for a swim.

Cabel let her take the lead, laughing and stumbling along behind her. It was totally the sand tripping him up. Yep. That's what he blamed as he stumbled again, this time falling to his knees in the surf. "Woah!" He started laughing, water splashing up into his face, then he grinned mischievously and started splashing water towards Zinerva instead.

Zinvera laughed as he splashed her and walked backwards, smiling to him before driving backwards and seemingly disappeared under the waves.

Blinking, the Fae puzzled over this for a moment. Oh, right...Naiad. So no, she probably wasn't in the danger of drowning. How would a Naiad drown? It seemed silly. Grinning like a loon, Cabel fell back on his bum in the water and propped his arms up on his knees, not a care in the world.

She watched him for a moment before coming up beside him and splashing him with her tail playfully.

"Ack! 'Ey, no fair!" Cabel held up his arms, ineffectually trying to shield his face. He ended up drenched anyway. "No fair, 'ttacking with water. How'm I suppos'd to fight back?" He grinned at the Naiad a moment before lunging at her, closing the short distance between them.

"Oh? And how are you going to catch me now?" She giggled and and waved her tail in front of him, sorta putting up an invisible barrier before willing swimming towards him.

His first attempt ended in utter failure, with Cabel splashing face first into the water and coming up sputtering, long hair covering his eyes. He made another blind leap, unable to see where she was, only luck allowing him to even get close enough to try and wrap his arms around her waist.

She willingly let herself be caught by him, a child like curiousity spread through her as she wondered what the fairy's next move would be. "Oh dear...I've beesh caugh'...What will you do to littl' me?"

"I caught a fishy!" the Faery giggled, wrapping his arms around her. He took a moment to nuzzle at her neck, then flipped his hair back out of his eyes. Or tried. Most of it just ended up plastered wetly to his face. "Wha' 'm I gonna' do? Um..." He seemed to think about this for a moment. "This," he finally answered after a minute, leaning up to kiss her.

She giggled back at the wet fairy and wiggled her hips lightly, watching him try to flip his hair, gently moving a hand to his face and moving the hair so she could look into his eyes, smiling before leaning up and joining him for that kiss, draping her arms around his neck.

Even in the chill of the night air and the water, Cabel felt warm and happy, no thoughts except for the Naiad in his arms. He eventually pulled back, his vision swimming a bit as his eyes traced her form. "Yer so pretty," he murmured before going in for another long kiss. He could think of nothing better he wanted to do.  

[Teigra]

The next morning...

Warm sun on his back, gritty sand between his cheek and hand, the Fae stirred slightly as water lapped at his ankles. The surf was cool, but not overly chilling; still, it was enough to wake the groggy Fae, or at least start the process. He was still rather bleary, and his head ached horribly. There was no hope for thinking straight, or even coherently, just yet. He settled for trying to figure out where he was and why there was sand everywhere. He wouldn't mind knowing why his head hurt so much as well.

Groaning, Cabel lifted his hand to his face, eyes squinted against the bright sun's light. It was like a knife to his very brain, and he soon gave up on sitting up and looking around, let alone moving. Arms over his face, he remained on his stomach in the sands. Okay, sand...so, a beach, right? Why was he sleeping on the beach? It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, even if he liked to visit. If he'd been that tired, he could have still made for home, or at least somewhere close to spend the night.

At least the sun's warmth soaking into his stiff back muscles felt nice.  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

The movement beside her stirred her out of her slumber, letting out a weak groan. The Naiad was equally confused of why there was sand everywhere and more importantly, why was she out of water? She buried her head into her arms more, not wanting to open her eyes just yet. The sound of the waves against the land was soothing, no matter how hard her head was pounding. Too much booze. Never again...Maybe Aquos was right, maybe she shouldn't worry about everything so much.

As much as she didn't want to she knew she had to get up and back into the water, the sun beating down on her like this for who knows how long couldn't be healthy for her. She should be moving. Yup...Five more minutes.  

[Teigra]

Hearing a soft sound nearby, Cabel stiffened, realizing he wasn't alone. Wait...why was he on the beach and why was he not alone? What had happened last night? He remembered Eudora talking, more like badgering, him into going to some sort of party. He had a few drinks, some snacks, talked to a nice...Naiad...lady...

Dreading what he was going to see, other than the pain-granting light he already expected, he tried once more to raise his head and look around. To one side, nothing...to the other...his eyes lighted on a shock of blue-green hair, fanned out over the sands. His stomach clenched, and it took a couple tries before his voice would work properly. "...Zi...Zinerva?" He pulled the name from the haze of the previous night. "Are you...alright?"  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

"Huh?" She blinked before sitting up, rubbing her eyes and trying to get her bearings. That voice...She remembered it from last night. "Cabel?" The name just came to her as well as some fuzzy details from last night, though not why they were here. "Umm...Ya..A little dry...Are you...ok? Ummm...Good morning?" Her eyes tried to focus on the fairy beside her, saying what they were both thinking. "What happened?"  

[Teigra]

Cabel felt eager to sidestep the whole 'what happened' issue for the time being, choosing to focus instead on the Naiad's current state. "Uh, good morning," he returned automatically, squinting in the sunlight to note the water lapping at his ankles. "Um...the water is nearby, if you need to...uh..." he trailed off, shrugging. Go? Leave? He didn't want to say it, any more than he wanted to face the possibility of what might have happened here last night.

He could have sworn that they would have gone their separate ways, headed home after the party...what else could have happened?

And why did this splitting headache feel so familiar? Like a long forgotten memory...  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

She looked over to the water and flopped into the shallows, showing no since of swimming off. She rolled around in the shallows to cool off of her skin before swimming around for a few minutes before sitting on the shore before him nursing her head. "Man how strong was the booze in those drinks last night?" She curled her tail up tightly while rubbing her eyes.  

[Teigra]

Cabel had taken the time to try and get his own head to stop trying to split open, giving up on the long lost memory. He settled for trying to make himself feel a bit better physically. Kneeling by the water, he scooped some in his hands and splashed his face, washing out his eyes, shaking out his hair, and rinsing out his mouth. By the time Zinerva returned, his headache had receded to a dull throb. Much better. At her question though, the Fae frowned. "Booze? What...what are you talking about?"

The Fae was a bit sheltered. If she had said 'beer', however, he would have understood immediately why he was feeling as horrible as he was. As it stood, though, he had no experience or knowledge of any type of alcohol other than beer, so he was still a bit slow to catch on. To be fair, his brain wasn't exactly functioning at full capacity at the moment.  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

She looked up to him a bit started. Oh dear...This got a little more complicated by the by the moment. "Yes...There was alcohol in those drinks last night...Did..You not feel yourself getting drunk last night?" She rubbed the back of her head. "I was stressed so I was having a drink to calm down...Though I suppose the bar keep may have been excited as it was Halloween...."  

[Teigra]

Alcohol? Like...? ...oh. ...Oh!

...well, this explained a lot.

Cabel groaned, reaching up once more to rub his head. "That explains my head," he muttered to himself. Then, it was if his mind started kicking into gear at last. "Err...if I said anything last night that uh, I should be sorry for, then I am. I apologize." He stared at his feet, unable to look her in the eyes. Was it only what he might have said that he should be worried about? The uneasy feeling in his gut said no.

Events were slowly trickling back to his aching head, but he was starting to worry that maybe he didn't want to know everything that had happened last night. There was a feeling a dread in the back of his mind, warning him that some things might be best left alone and forgotten. Maybe so, but that was never how things went, was it?

He still couldn't look her in the eyes, but he did try to look up at the Naiad, his eyes drifting slightly to the side. "I'm sorry. I don't normally do this sort of thing. I mean, getting drunk and all. I did once as a teenager and thought I'd learned my lesson, at least regarding beer. I think it goes for all alcohol at this point. I'm really sorry though. I mean, we just met, and I'm sure I made an a** of myself last night." He still had no idea why he'd woken up out here on the beach of all places. Maybe he'd tried to take her home, like any gentleman should? Oh, he could only hope.  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

She smiled lightly and laughed. "Oh no, it's fine...From what I remember you were very sweet. We were talking...I think you listened to my petty problems so I should thank you for that. " She rubbed the back of her head. "I remember..." She closed her eyes, trying to remember. "You taking me for a walk...Oh my skin must have been drying out...Is that why We're here?" She was confused. It made sense but was there more? She felted like there was more...Urrrg stupid hangover why couldn't she remember!  

[Teigra]

Well, that was a relief at least. Apparently he'd behaved himself, at least well enough that she wasn't ready to slap him or anything this morning. "I'm not exactly sure," he admitted, catching on that they had the same line of thinking. "I would assume so. I figured maybe you lived near here and I was bringing you home, or maybe just to the nearest water source..."

He trailed off, staring at the sand. Yes, something about wanting to show her the beach. And that there was water for her to swim in, as she was drying out. They'd looked at the sky, she'd gone for a swim...apparently Cabel had decided to join her. Not the brightest decision in hindsight for a drunken land Pae'il, but that was in the past. Then they'd ended up sitting in the surf together. He'd lunged for her, laughing...she'd allowed herself to be caught...

...oh, Guardians.

The dismay showed clearly on the Fae's face as his breath caught in his lungs.  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

Zinerva sighed and crossed her arms, still trying to remember. She thought...Did he kiss her at one point? Yes...Yes she vaguely remember her kissing her...But there was more...Something...Really important...Something that just trying to remember made her stomach knot up.

She looked up to see the male just to see his face turn pale. Oh dear...It seems...Like he remembered...She was almost afraid to ask. "Cabel...What...Happened..." Her fins fell, still not remembering but just the look on his face made her feel horrible. What did she do this time?  

[Teigra]

Cabel's stomach was churning and he feared that anything he might have eaten at the party the night before was about to come say hello. He forced himself to start breathing again, that alone was an effort. What had he done? What had he done?!?

Oh, Guardians... Despite how his ideology may have changed over the past seasons, the old curse came along as naturally as breathing. Which wasn't exactly easy at this point, so perhaps not the best comparison. He hadn't considered her feelings on the matter, yet, only the implications of his own actions on his own conscience. All this time, and yet...he still felt as if he had betrayed her in the worst possible way.

Looking horrified, he turned to Zinerva and reached for her arm, murmuring, "I am so sorry. I am so, so, very sorry." It was all he could find the words to say, but every ounce of regret and sincerity was poured into those simple words in a desperate hope that she would remember without him having to say it...and that she would forgive him.