drunk. original fic.

[starlightsaoirse]

And this had started as such a good night, Aspasia thought ruefully, moments after she had wobbled on her stiletto heels and whacked her face against the wall of the bathroom stall. She hardly felt it now, sure, but she was sure to in the morning.

After intently studying the toilet seat—-no easy task, with the room insisting on spinning like it was—-and determining it to be sketchy but at the least dry, Aspasia flopped heavily onto it to examine her footwear. Patent leather, red, four-inch spike heels. Sexy as hell. Traitorous beasts, to betray her now when she needed her balance.

She took them off and flexed her stockinged feet against the cool floor.

There. Much better.

She stood slowly, as the room was still intent on spinning. She couldn’t recall when it had started doing that, and hoped that it wouldn’t spread beyond this club. She’d hate to think about trying to sleep while spinning. Sex, though—-now there were some interesting ideas. Where was Sin? She should propose these ideas right away.

Ow. Who had put that corner there? The door had been there a second ago. She absorbed this new information. The room was spinning, and the walls and doors were switching places. She nodded. Good to know.

Finally, she made her way back to the bar, where she found Nix and Shaylee. But no Sin. But where... Oh. Right. He hadn’t come with them tonight, lameface. He’d had a term paper to write, and dancer things to do. She thought about staying, to watch, to distract, but he’d encouraged her to go out and...celebrate? Nix?

She looked at Nix. That’s right! Nix! He had a show in a big important gallery. Yay Nix!
She threw herself at Nix and hugged him.

“More shots!” she said.

Shaylee squealed and called out of the bartender, leaning heavily on the bar.

Shaylee, Pacie decided, examining the other girl with a knowing eye, was very drunk. And entirely unaware of the eyefuls of T and A she was flashing at the moment.

Aspasia tugged the back of the other girl’s skirt down, accidentally getting in a good grope of her ass. Whoops.

It is a nice ass.

Nix gave her a Look. Did she say that out loud? But surely he knew that already.

No matter. Shaylee turned, shots in hand. “Red headed sluts all around!”

Nix rolled his eyes and muttered something about Italian sluts before knocking his back. Something must be getting to him, she thought with a thread of concern; he hadn’t had much to drink all night, because of his tacka...tach...tacky...his heart condition.

Shaylee was grabbing her hand. “S’pasia, let’s dance!”

“One more shot first.” She smiled prettily at the bartender that had been eyeing her for most of the night, flashed just enough cleavage and—-yes.

“Two Washington Apples for the ladies.” He smiled, and winked. “On the house.”

Nix was rolling his eyes again. She really didn’t know why. Free booze was free booze.

Hours later, she was cuddled under Nix’s arm as he guided her toward her dorm. He was very comfy to cuddle. She could see why Shaylee did it so often. Except Shaylee was sleeping in the backseat, and she was cuddling her boy.

“Nix?”

“Yes, Pacie?”

“You smell nice.”

He chuckled. “And you smell like a distillery.”

She sniffed. “I don’t think that’s adulatorio.”

Silence.

“Nix?”

“Hm?”

“Io vado a vomitare.”

“English, Pace.”

“Said ‘m gonna vomit.”

He had her in the bushes immediately. She would have been impressed, but she was vomiting. And vomiting.

Finally she sat back, groaning.

“Here.”

“No more shots,” she whimpered, pushing his hand away.

“It’s ginger ale. Drink it.”

She did, slowly. It helped, a little. The world was less spinny, having vomited, and the ginger ale made her belly less spinny.

“Can you walk, cara?”

“Mm.”

Navigating the stairs was an issue, but they eventually made it to her door without much further ado. Nix handed over her shoes. She frowned at them. She’d not soon forget their treachery. It was the back of the closet for them.

“Drink the rest of that ginger ale before you sleep, okay?”

“’Kay.” She hugged Nix. “G’night.”

She was fumbling for her keys when the door opened. Sin. She blinked, frantically. For some reason, it was very, very bad he see her like this. She knew it. She just didn’t remember.
Nix didn’t, either, clearly. He all but shoved her at him. The world went spinny again, and she sighed.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Nix was saying. “I’ve got my own drunk Italian girl to deal with. This one’s yours, Dough-boy.”

And Nix was gone.

Damn.

She squeaked.

Sin looked at her, amusement and something else dancing in his eyes.

“’m gonna vomit.”



Sin sat outside the bathroom. Aspasia had stopped vomiting a few minutes before, but had yet to emerge or invite him in. He was equal parts amused and concerned. He’d never seen Pacie truly drunk before. Heard stories, sure, but never seen it himself. That in itself was testament to her self-control following her wild child years, but really—-one alcoholic in a relationship was enough, wasn’t it?

He rubbed a hand over his face. It hadn’t been long since their fight over his drinking, brought to an end by his admission of a problem. He sighed deeply. Was that what was on her mind when she looked at him, doe eyes wide?

He retrieved a can of ginger ale from her fridge and a straw from her desk and returned to the bathroom door. He knocked. “Pacie, mé gra?”

She emerged looking sheepish, but only slightly more sober, if at all. She had managed to wash her face and brush her teeth, however, he noticed.

“Shots,” she offered by way of explanation. “Lots of shots.”

He laughed and hugged her there in the hallway. “Silly girl.”

“Mmph.” She buried her nose in his neck. “You’re better to cuddle than Nix. And you smell better.” Her small hand grabbed his behind, and he jumped, surprised. “And you have a better ass than Shaylee.”

He chuckled, nuzzling at her neck. “You have had an interesting night. You smell—“

“—Like a distillery, I know.”

“Come on, a stór. Let’s get you back to your room.”

Pacie had sounded pretty coherent, but he realized quickly she was still very off-balance. More than once Sin saved her from careening into the wall or falling to the floor on the way back to the room. At least she was compliant. He had new appreciation for the times she had taken care of him while he was drunk.

They had barely crossed the threshold of her room when Aspasia started dropping clothes. Heaven help him. First the ruffly strapless top, followed by her very dirty, torn stockings, then her absurdly fluffy, tutu-like skirt. Sin closed his eyes, hand to his forehead. Moments later, she was pressed against him, arms tight around him. “Hi,” she breathed, smelling of liquor and toothpaste.

He rested her forehead against hers, his hands on her hips. She’d stolen another one of his shirts, he noticed. He supposed he was lucky she’d put that on. And kept her underwear on.

“Hi.” He kissed her lightly, but wouldn’t let her deepen it.

She frowned, and it struck him to see how deeply this small rejection had cut her. “Are you mad at me?”

“No, aingeal. But you are very drunk. I will feel better about kissing you when you’re sober enough to know what you’re doing.” His Pacie had had too much done to her when she was too drunk to know the difference. No matter what their relationship, that was something he could not bring himself to do.

“Oh.” She brightened. C’n I have more ginger ale?”

He kissed her forehead. “Yes, my love.”




Aspasia’s groans pulled him from his paper-writing back to the bed the next morning. “I’m never having a red-headed slut again!”

He settled next to her, a smirk twitching his lips. “Ah, the immortal words of regret, spoken by many of my countrymen.” Her elbow caught him below the ribs, but it was a half-hearted motion at best. He pressed a kiss to her hair.

“There’s Excedrin and a glass of ginger ale on your nightstand,” he told her, rubbing her side gently. “Would you rather have water?”

“No, this is perfect.” She sat up slowly to swallow the pills and greedily guzzle the ginger ale before snuggling gratefully back into his arms. “You’re too good to me. Thank you.”

He pet her head softly. “You’re welcome. How are you feeling, other than your head?”

She paused, taking stock. “Tired still. Only a little nauseous. And...hungry.”

“Hungry?”

“Yes,” she said, more decisively. “Hungry.”

He shook his head. “You are a marvel.”

“It’s the best hangover cure,” she argued, snuggling against his chest. “Greasy nasty food. Take me to Steak and Shake?”

He patted her head. “Nap first.”

“’Kay.” She rolled then so she lay on top of him, her head on his chest. He spared half a glance at his laptop and half-written paper, but couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

Especially when she smiled like that and laced her fingers through his. “Thank you, amore mio.”

Then he started. Sin’s finger trailed down her face. “Pacie love, you’ve got a bruise here. Do you remember what happened?”

She snorted. “My shoes threw me into the wall of a bathroom stall. Betraying bitches.”

Okay then. He petted her once more. “Get some more sleep, mé gra. Cheeseburger when you wake up.”

“Yep.” She twined herself closer. “Love you, Sin.”

“I love you, Pacie.”

Comments

[discursive]

i said this already, but i think it bears repetition: i love these two kids. like... so so much. they have always been the ideal cute and in love that i've ever seen. and it's good that we get to see sometimes that the shiny isn't *always* shiny. because there's nothing like a drinking problem to make something go from cool, to a little over the top.... to "you need help". or, yeah. *nods*

anyway. bittersweet. and you can tell their love is a little uneven because it works, but they aren't in total sync about getting past the bad habits into good ones. and. yes. love them. love this. it's very suitable.

[starlightsaoirse]

i am glad you liked it. i was nervous about this, i think -- as hilarious as my girls are drunk, i wondered about sin's reaction, and if it rang true or not.

also, watch this space. there are Things afoot. rather, Things in my head, that will hopefully be written down and appearing here shortly. (hopefully i did not just jinx myself.)

also i need icons for this journal. i should get on that, at some stage.

[discursive]

i've got a TON saved on my hard drive. for needing later, you know? and i still don't have enough.