Chapter 1: Blame the Booze?

'God dammit Aeolus... What've you gotten yourself into this time?' I asked mentally, brushing my hair smooth. Maybe some sense of normality would be reached by doing things as I always had. It'd been crazy enough moving into this house with the three others. Now the unthinkable had happened, and I had wound up sleeping with the only girl here... if one could call Atlas a 'girl'. Female, yes- but only as far as genetics got you. I didn't even remember HOW it had happened. And yet I'd woken up stark naked with her naked next to me in bed! Not to mention with a migraine on top of that. 'Calm down, it's still nothing for sure...' I tried to reassure myself. Maybe once she woke up I could get some answers. I was unsure though whether to be grateful or annoyed that my initial reaction- a loud and near shamefully un-masculine scream- hadn't gotten a stir out of her... or anyone for that matter.

Oh GOD, they probably knew... "I'm never going to live this down..." I muttered, rubbing my throbbing forehead.

There was rustling of the covers on my bed. A yawn- or perhaps groan- followed shortly thereafter. She was awake. I gathered what composure I could muster and looked out of the bathroom.

Atlas was seated on my bed. Thankfully she'd had the decency to cover herself. She looked at me, then down at herself. "... Dammit."

"So I'm taking you didn't plan this?" I asked.

"Not really..." She said, getting off the bed. "Long story short, I won the drinking contest, I think... Just happened to forget that if I have too much booze I sleep like a rock."

"Drinking contest?" I asked. I'd gotten drunk?

"Yeah... Thetis found this fancy bottle- wanted to try it- and you said no because it was 'special' or some jazz like that... I said you probably couldn't even hold down stuff that strong and you got all prissy and challenged me. I accepted and we started drinking shots. And I won, I think. I don't really remember too much after round six... or was it eight?"

I stared. "You remember more than I do... Maybe Thetis can help. Hopefully this is all a very big misunderstanding."

"Meh... Is it really that big a deal if it happened?" she asked. "I mean we're both human and opposite gender, so it's not like we're breaking the 'rules of nature' or some crap like that," she said, making quotes with her fingers.

I knew I had to tread lightly at that point. Atlas was surprisingly clever at times, and I was unsure if this was a trick question. "No offense to you personally, Atlas... but where I'm from something of this nature would be an outrageous scandal. We're not married- we're not even dating, or anywhere close to it!"

"So? We got drunk..."

"That's no excuse!... Ow..." I said, having raised my voice enough for the pain in my head to spike.

Atlas smirked. "...Hangover?"

"God, how drunk WAS I?"

"Enough to start shamelessly flirting with her," Thetis' voice sounded from the other side of my room door.

"Go AWAY, Thetis," I said irritably- changing my mind about him being helpful.

"Sure. Once you two finish up and get dressed there's breakfast waiting for you downstairs. Siarnaq decided to cook for a change," he answered, and his footsteps could be heard as he left.

"Oh great... What has he made, metal shavings au gratin?" I asked sarcastically. For all our time spent together in this house Siarnaq had never eaten with us, let alone been seen eating. I was fairly convinced he didn't eat, or if he did it was only when the rest of us weren't around. "Honestly, what could he possibly know about cooking food?"

Atlas had been searching out her clothes and redressing while I had been preoccupied with the idea. "I dunno... You and I have very different definitions of 'food'."

"Let's just get this over with... Maybe eating something will help the hangover pass," I said, opening the door and heading downstairs to the kitchen. Whether Atlas followed was irrelevant at the moment. I'd just grab a toaster pastry and avoid whatever Siarnaq had made altogether- that was the plan at least.

However as I entered the kitchen area, I had a plate shoved into my hands, and he was staring at me blankly. Honestly that empty look he gave had always unnerved me, even more so after the Dreamspinner incident when that facade had fallen away completely for a brief moment and revealed just what sort of absolute mental MESS he was.

I found myself smiling rather nervously, likely a sort of mix between 'yes?' and 'please don't hurt me?' Rather pathetic on my part, but then again it'd been ME that all of the aforementioned mess had chosen to single out. I had every reason to play submissive, because who knew when that facade of no apparent emotions would fall again?

Siarnaq waited until Atlas entered, before giving her a plate and pointing to the counter. "Food's on the stove. Enjoy."

"Siar, I know you must be thrilled we're actually gonna eat your cooking," Atlas said. "Otherwise you wouldn't have cooked at all. So can you at least, maybe... smile a little? The deadpan stare is getting depressing..."

"Atlas, I don't think he's capable of a genuine smi-" I blurted before I could stop myself. "-I mean... Um..."

Siarnaq glanced between the two of us, before looking at Atlas and curling his mouth into an unnatural and obviously forced smile. I found it rather unsettling, and backed away slightly. Atlas grinned back and went by him to her food. "Nice try, but now you look like a stoner. Stick to the deadpan until you can smile for real I guess... like with your whole face."

Siarnaq dropped the smile immediately and left. I got some of the food- some round flat things. They looked like slightly burnt super thick pita-bread. "He certainly made a lot of it..."

Atlas didn't reply, going to the table and grabbing a bottle of what I assumed to be sauce or gravy that'd been left out and pouring some over her bread. "What'd you mean before?" she asked after a few bites.

"Hm?"

"About being drunk not being an excuse..."

I frowned, swallowing the dry lump in my mouth. "I can't expect you to understand. It's just a cultural thing... I guess." She looked at me questioningly, and I continued. "Romances are Planned where I'm from, and as a noble I have to hold myself to that standard. I'm not blaming you for my misconduct. After all..." I added, recalling our other housemate's statement from before "Thetis said I started the flirting." I took another bite, frowning as the spongy texture seemed to steal water from my mouth.

"...You've never had pancakes before, have you...?" Atlas asked, though it seemed more a statement. She proceeded to tug my plate away.

"I wasn't done," I protested, watching as she poured the sauce over the bread.

"You're supposed to eat them with syrup," she said, sliding it back.

I grumbled and resumed my meal. Admittedly it went down a lot easier. "You do get what I was saying though, right? Before you altered my dish?"

"Yeah, but does that mean you've got a girl planned for you too- or did you start living here to avoid that sort of thing? And what does that mean if we did do it?"

"Yes, yes, and it means we never speak of it again," I said, getting up and starting to rake what was left into the trash- only to have Atlas reach over and snatch the plate.

"We don't waste food," she said flatly, raking the remains onto her plate before handing it back. "And don't worry, I get it..." She said, stuffing a piece in her mouth.

"Are you okay?" I asked before I could stop myself.

She gave a look, which to me said 'you're kidding, right?' "I woke up naked in your bed, with next to no memory of what happened last night after we started drinking..." she said, scraping up the last bite. 'Yeah, I'm just peachy."

So much for never again... "Atlas... Okay, I'll admit I'm trying to figure this out..." I said, taking my plate to the sink and starting to rinse it. "It is an important thing to know."

"Why?" she asked with a short laugh. "You want us to not have done anything, so just go with the idea that nothing happened."

"But then why were we naked?"

"People do stupid stuff when they're drunk."

"And what if we did THAT while we were drunk?"

"Wouldn't be the first time for me..."

"...What?" I asked, looking at her incredulously. "So you aren't even a-?"

"No," she said flatly. "Is that important too?"

"It-... I'm just trying to wrap my head around the idea that you've had sex before."

"Hard to imagine, isn't it?" she asked, getting up with her plate. "It was only once, if that helps at all..."

"Somewhat..." I replied, turning my attention to the other dirty dishes in the sink. It was quiet for a while, so I thought she'd maybe left.

"...So who's the girl you're set up with, Mr. Helios?"

Apparently I was mistaken. "Her name is Rebbeca. She's... Well I've only met her a few times. We've never really sat down and talked. She's the second daughter of one of my father's business partners... Third of six children..."

"Yeah?" she asked. "Is she cute?"

I nearly dropped the glass I was cleaning out. "Cute? I... really don't have too much to compare her to. Why are you even-?" I started, looking back at her.

She just quirked a brow. "Well?"

I sighed, turning back to the sink. "She's a dainty little thing, almost like a doll. Her hair's long, brown, and curly. She wears glasses, and I don't recall ever seeing her without a book in her hand..."

"Sounds like a nerd's fantasy come true..." she said with a smirk. "So why'd you run away?"

"...I just didn't want to be another one of my father's pawns," I replied simply.

"Care to elaborate?"

"No. Sorry..."

That time, I heard her walk out...

...And I had a feeling that this mess wasn't over just yet.