Back in their corner, Gretch and Avi were sitting in complete silence, quietly observing the goings-on in relative peace.
Emboldened by her meeting, and the delicious port, Gilly stumbled her way over and plopped down heavily on Avi's side, spilling a little of her drink in the process. He took a deep sip of his own, starring straight ahead while she leaned over and gazed intently at the side of his face.
"You confush me." She said. Reluctantly, he turned to face her, though seemingly unfazed at how close she was. "Don't you think I'm pretty?"
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
She shook her head, eyes glassy. "Are you.. do you like weird girlsh? Is that it? Am I TOO pretty?"
"I don't under—." She began to tear, and he felt really lightheaded. Everything was blurry. Was he also tearing? What planet is this?
"I've never met anybody who didn't think I was pretty,...hic." He stared at her, his face showing the first semblance of emotion she ever saw. Sure, it was obviously bewilderment, but it was something.
The sound of three empty pint glasses slamming onto the table startled the group. They looked up to see none other than Dear Guild Leader looming over them, looking like he rolled out of a tree and hit every branch on the way down. His hair was undone, he was totally topless, his face was an off shade of purple. Were those three empty glasses his?
"Has anybody…." He was practically growling, unstable on his feet. "...even tried to talk to any.. about joining. The guild. OUR guild." None of them answered. "What is wrong with all of you?."
Gilly shot up, almost toppling over.
"Shut up about the STUPID GUILD, Rheaven! You're the worst! This sucks! And YOU," She pointed dramatically at Avi. ".. don't even think I'm PRETTY! What is wrong with YOU?"
"VAAAAAT?"
Rheaven cringed at the sharp sound from behind him. Amán appeared suddenly as if she came through the walls, her eyes ablaze in righteous fury. "Gilly! Don't leesten to dees stupid man! You VERY pretty... very bad mouth, but still pretty lady." Gilly, overtaken with appreciation, cheeks streaked with tears and flushed with drunken passion, flung herself into the arms of her friend. She planted a very sloppy kiss on Amán's face as they both fell over to the ground. The priestess laughed heartily as Gilly, in her intoxicated stupor, kept kissing her over and over again.
Rheaven stared in astonishment while Avi shook his head. He took another sip of his brew, turning his attention to Gretch.
"I'm no good at girls," the knight confessed to his silent companion. The forsaken gave him a tender, bony pat on the back, lifting his own pint to towards the women on the ground. Avi nodded. "You're right, might as well enjoy the show." The pair started throwing copper, pebbles, and whatever else was in their pockets as the girls held each other sobbing incoherent affirmations. A few other randoms in the area joined in, some cheering them on. Among them was non-other than the troll Shaman from earlier.
At this point, Rheaven had taken a seat on the table, his head in one hand in utter dejection and a bottle of whatever in his other. Avi and Gretch stared blankly as Amán and Gilly continued rolling around. Shani raised an eyebrow, watching for a minute or two before concern set in and she waded through the crowd to find Kaeli.
The Sindorei was disheveled after losing her fight. Her eyepatch was gone, her hair loose, and there was a nasty cut above her eyebrow that was still oozing blood down her face and onto her white tank top. But she seemed unbothered by her state, hollering enthusiastically at the new combatants.
"'Ellie," Shani shouted above the roaring mob. "Ya need ta check in on ya Ally friends." Kaeli paused to face her old companion.
"Why?"
The shaman shook her head. "Don' ask me what, but they be lookin' rough." She gestured her head towards the corner where the Alliance guild was.
It was hard to see through the crowd - at this point the Underbelly was packed, body to body, everybody swaying either to the music or from being inebriated. The air was smoky and thick, but her Elven eyes managed to land on the group looking like a proper disaster. Her mouth dropped open for a moment, catching the eye of the Troll.
"I'll grab water from de bar." With a nod, the pair split, and Kaeli made her way back to the small nook where Night's Fury was completely unraveling. Gilly and Amán were locked in some sort of passionate wrestling of their own on top of a pile of coins and debris. Rheaven was uncharacteristically chugging a full bottle of something. Behind him on the couch, Avi had fallen asleep, again, and Gretch was casually reading a book. Trixx was nowhere to be found. Kaeli wasn't sure whether to be worried or entertained. Maybe both would make the most sense right now.
As she approached, she caught Rheaven's attention. He stared for a split moment at her, as if it took a moment to recognize her. She paused, suddenly on edge.
"YOU!" He dropped the bottle and stood up, unsteadily, on the table. "This was all YOU." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Huh?"
"This was… all YOUR PLAN." He jumped down, stumbling towards her so she had to catch and hold him up. Despite being short for a Night Elf, he was still a full head and then some taller than Kaeli. When he noticed their proximity, he swiftly broke away, trying to take on an intimidating stance. But the roar of the crowded chaos made him unsteady. Unsure of how to react, Kaeli bristled and stared right back up at him.
"Come again, blueberry?"
"You're trying to... to sabotage me...my guild." He leaned over so that his face was barely a few inches from hers. She had to put her hands up against his chest to keep him from toppling over, but she held her ground.
"Don't be a moron, why would I — what are you doing?!" He had suddenly touched the side of her face, and he was staring intently at her right eye. She slapped his hand away, flustered.
"You have two eyes?"
"Of COURSE I have two eyes, what — how much did you have to drink?" His face suddenly softened, though still unfocused and very unsteady.
"You're hurt." She took a few steps back, baffled and a touch embarrassed at his switch between antagonism and concern. She had seen him drunk before, once when Gilly had tricked him into a drinking contest that lead to an alcohol ban at their official guild meetings. This was unusual for even drunk Rheaven.
He stared at her intently, increasing her uneasiness. Then his eyes widened suddenly.
"I'm floating?" He looked at his hands. "But no feathers. Oh no..."
Reluctantly, Kaeli approached him again. "Let me look at your eyes." She grabbed his chin with her hands and pulled his face close to hers, in as non-intimate a fashion as she could manage but his intent stare unsettled her nonetheless. Unfortunately, the magical glow of all elven eyes made it impossible to really see what was going on. For a moment she thought he might have been leaning closer so she back away, letting go of his face and grabbing his upper arm to drag him back to the rest of the group, muttering under her breath.
She commanded him to help her separate Gilly and Amán, who had managed to get tear each other's shirts off, though thankfully no further. Kaeli sat Gilly up against a seat and leaned her head back, looking to see that Rheaven had barely managed to roll Amán over on her stomach before collapsing himself into a seated position against the wall. Kaeli sighed and turned her attention to the mage.
"Heeeyyy," Gilly sputtered sloppily. "I'll kissh you too.. you think I'm pretty, right?" Kaeli grunted disapprovingly.
"Yes, you're very pretty, Gilly. Let me see your eyes," she snapped. Gilly giggled, her gaze landing on the savage on Kaeli's face.
"You know, YOU'RE pretty hot even when you're beat up. It'sh not fair. Shilly, sexy elves. Isn't she seeeexy?" Gilly's head lopped to the side to direct the question to Rheaven. He muttered something inaudible, looking away from them. Gilly lifted her head close to Kaeli's, widening her eyes in a sad attempt at a whisper. "He thinks you're sexy, don't worry."
Kaeli flustered again, doing her best to dismiss the comment and rising temperature on her own face. "Gilly, please just look at me." With that rogue was able to discern what she needed - as expected the mage's eyes were bloodshot and her pupils dilated, giant black discs almost completely blocking out the blue irises.
"Oi, not good." As if answering an unspoken prayer, Shani appeared with a few vials of water in hand.
"Ya alright?"
"I'm fine." She stood up, taking two of the vials and popping one open. "Here, drink this. Can you drink this?" She handed it to Gilly who giggled appreciatively and managed to take a few hearty gulps. Shani was trying to get Amán off the floor, leaving Kaeli to cautiously approach Rheaven with some water. He silently took a vial and downed it in one go, avoiding eye contact.
"Did you take anything from anyone?" she asked.
"I don't steal," he answered shortly, staring unfocused into the crowd. "Unlike …some people..." Her eye twitched.
"Not steal, you—" she paused, giving herself a moment. "I mean, did someone give you something to eat or drink… or did you smoke anything?" He scowled.
"No. Of course not." She crossed her arms.
"I figured, you're too much of a prude for that." He finally looked at her, eyes narrowed.
"Ugh...Why….do you have to be …so…sooooo" He stopped suddenly, a strange look crossing his face.
She pushed down the unexpected need for him to finish to face Shani, who had an almost-topless passed-out priestess in her lap.
"Welp. There's no mistaking this, then. I think they were drugged."
