Drinking Troubles

[Kitto]

Kitto had come to a conclusion. None of the drinks in the bar were made up of one ingredient, and none of the ingredients were actually edible. Drinkable? Whatever. The hybrid sat in a fairly uncomfortable chair with his legs drawn up to his chest, bare toes curled over the edge of the seat. There was a drink in front of him he hadn't ordered, apparently sent by someone who thought he looked so pathetic he needed a hand out.

He sighed. He wasn't quite sure while he was still here. After all, he had already done his job, delivering notes to contacts he had never met before and would likely never meet again. Gabriel seemed to rotate contacts on a weekly basis. Kitto didn't like any of them, they were all scruffy, irritable people who seemed to think Kitto should be kissing their feet. Did he really look that bad?

Considering he was currently using his tangled red hair as a curtain, yes, he probably did. So far it was working. No one stared. Then again, it wasn't like it was a big deal. There were plenty of very odd individuals. Still, people made him rather self-conscious. Now and then the loud boom of laughter of the slam of a drink on a table made him jump.

Once, someone knocked over a chair, and Kitto nearly fell out of his. His hands moved from clasped at his knees to holding the sides of the chair, his greenish-grey eyes fixed on the table in front of him. The drink. Had he even touched it? Should he? It smelled funny, he knew that from here.

Nervously, he reached out and wrapped one hand around it, but didn't move it, just staring. Why was it so loud, were taverns always this way? There was some sort of knife-throwing competition at the back wall, and every time a blade thunked in to the wood, a roar went up, of approval, admiration or anger. Kitto winced every time.

His nerves grew progressively more strained. Why didn't he just leave? Kitto raised the glass to his lips but didn't drink, eyes unfocused, peering through strands of hair. He didn't want to go back, not to be interrogated, experimented with, bothered. Cut up. If he stayed too long Gabriel would just get mad, and hurt him anyway.

Maybe he should leave?

[Escke]

Escke wasn't a drinker of alcoholic bevarages, and she certainly wasn't a fan of the burly, large men that took up most of the local taverns, but that didn't mean she didn't like grabbing a drink now and then. She was sat at the bar, demurely sipping her large glass of tea, when something... or rather, someone... no wait, was it something after all? caught her eye. The scales, were they natural, or some sort of illness? It was probably an illness. She'd never heard of any sort of... scaley person, before.

A few more sips later, after studying his behavior for a few more minutes, she found her way over to him, putting a worried hand on top of his head.

"Excuse me... Are you alright?" She looked him over.

[Kitto]

Just as he was taking a sip a hand came down on his head. He promptly choked on the drink and nearly fell out of the chair all over again, putting down the drink with one hand and grabbing the table with the other. Sputtering senselessly, he spun around and looked up, nervously chewing on his lip.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, did I get anything - " No he hadn't, he could see that. He looked away, running his fingers through his hair. Was he okay? No one ever asked that. A touch of color hit his cheeks and he looked back up at her through the strands of hair.

"Err. Fine. I'm fine."

He made an attempt to turn but felt rude, and instead froze with his legs one way and his upper body the other. His thoughts raced, unable to think of a suitable excuse for behaving so oddly. He obviously didn't belong here. Why couldn't he just make himself leave?

Instead he had to go and be stupid, and .. be nice?

"Fine." He coughed quietly in to his hand.

[Escke]

He spluttered, he spun, he spoke. He apologized immediately, obvious signs of domestic abuse. Not to mention his cheeks were flushed, and he hadn't been drinking as far as she'd seen. No way he was drunk. To top it all off, he coughed. This was a very bad sickness indeed. She felt odd. She knew she ought to be afraid of contracting whatever disgusting disease this poor child had, but she knew that under His protection she had nothing to be afraid of. She was doing His work, after all, and her job right now was to make sure this poor, sickly juvenile came out for the better.

"Oh, goodness... You poor thing," She said, reaching down with one hand to stroke the side of his face, then finally pressing the back of her hand against his forehead to check for fever. Was it warm, or was that her imagination? Hard to tell, but she knew it was better to be safe than sorry.

Her hand dropped, landing on his shoulder.

"Will you come with me?" She asked, genuinely pleading. "I can make it all better, I promise." She didn't know what the sickness was, but she knew she could find a cure for it. Even if she had to go deal with the Magic Academy, plead for some kind of antidote. First, of course, they needed to go pray.

[Kitto]

For a few seconds he just stammered wordlessly, not liking the touch, the contact. Unlike some it wasn't something he found comfort in. He wanted, in all sense, to be left alone. But Kitto didn't react for a bit, just staring.

"Um. Err. Were you looking for someone? Because um. I'm fine. I promise. I'm tired, is all?" Why was he questioning that, of course he was tired. His thoughts seemed to have become rather fuzzy in the last couple of seconds - what had been in that drink? Gosh, she sure was worried about him. She could cure him? Of what?

He found himself standing. "Uh, I should be getting back home, my, um, boss - ?" What the hell did she want? " - might be missing me? Deduction on payment, ya know."

Payment, pfft, what was that? He didn't get paid. He got to live another day, wasn't that it? Funny, he could leave at any time, Gabriel had made a point of that. But as long as he lived here, his life was under threat. The whole thing was kind of silly, but he felt grateful! Gabriel had saved his life.

Or something.

"So um, yeah, um - "

What?

[Escke]

Tired. A likely story. Though yes, he did look a little on the weary side, that could easily be a side effect of the sickness. Not to mention his apparent disorientation, as well as ending his sentences with question marks. His boss? Ha, yeah right, he just didn't want to burden her. What a sweet, sweet boy. She had to do something about the illness, quick, before whatever that gross stuff growing on him got worse. Maybe it was some sort of magical fungus? She held in a shiver. She wasn't a fan of mushrooms.

"Please, don't worry about troubling me. It's very sweet of you, but I just have to help you." She held the hand up to her own forehead, to show her worry. "If I didn't, I would just not be able to forgive myself."

She eyed his odd red hair as well. Was that natural, or part of the affliction? She'd have to find out when she got this boy home.

"What's your name, dear?"

[Kitto]

Why was she looking at him like that? Kitto could only stare at her, air clogged somewhere and finding it difficult to route to his brain. Or something. Man, she seemed really worried. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to go along, sooner of later she would realize he wasn't sick.

And if she didn't he could like run away or something. Maybe bite her. Ugh, he hated biting people, even if Gabriel thought it was funny. Gods, he didn't understand why some idiot stumbling around like a drunk could be funny. Gabriel found a lot of things amusing that Kitto just found irritating.

"Uh." He didn't like giving out his name to just everyone. Wasn't there some rumor about a name giving power? "Just call me Kit, I guess." He shrugged slight shoulders, brushing his hair out of his face for the first time.

"I um, where did you want to go? I don't really know what you can do though, I'm not sick." He tried not to frown to hard, feeling a bit nervous. Would she get mad at him? Oh gosh, he didn't want her mad. Kitto chewed his lip and looked nervously down at his feet.

He would just have to see, right? Nah, she didn't seem like the type to get too upset, but still, he felt pretty worried. What if she had like two personalities or something. He supposed he would deal with it as it came around, and for now there wasn't anything he could.

[Escke]

"Kit?" She said, a brow raising. It obviously wasn't the boy's real name, but it would have to do. If he didn't trust her, he didn't trust her, and that was that. She knew she would have to earn his trust, and what better way than to try and cure him? He was obviously worried sick (no pun intended) and pitying himself if he'd come to drown his sorrows at a tavern alone. No, this was best for him. She believed it completely.

"Well, first off, I'd just like to take you home. Then, once I get a better look at you, we'll get some help in the morning. Not so bad, right? I promise I won't hurt you." She smiled, in an attempt to reassure. "It'll all be okay soon. Come on, dear." She held out a hand for him to grab.

[Kitto]

She didn't believe him, he could see it. Kitto stared, more confused than anything. Why did they have to go to her house? Some little voice told him he should be worried, but he wasn't, not really. Maybe a little concerned. She seemed nice, and genuinely worried, but -

"My boss might get mad at me," Kitto grumbled again, going back on his agreement to go with her. Frankly, Kitto hadn't been worried about her hurting him. Well, at least until she had said that. Gabriel never trusted anyone, and he still got banged up now and then. What would happen if Kitto trusted anyone?

"I - I don't know. If I should. I mean, its getting late ... "

Why wouldn't someone help him? Kitto looked desperately around, trying to avoid the hand. What should he do? With a resigned sigh he took it and got up, sort of glumly standing there and waiting.

Kitto wasn't happy at all.

[Escke]

She was glad he took her hand. It canceled out any doubts he may have voiced before hand, and she felt, inside, that he knew that. He was just too prideful to accept her help right out, but somewhere within him was a pleading boy, going 'Please, cure me! Help! Aaaa!', etc. She smiled at him softly to ease his fears.

"It'll be okay," She said simply, and gave him a little wink. "Your 'boss' won't have to know." And with that, she gripped his hand tightly and began to pull him out of the tavern and into the streets.

Outside, it was cold, and she worried it would worsen his condition. Pity she didn't have any extra clothes for him on her, though she did have blankets back home. Her breath rose in a puffy white cloud, and she glanced at him. "It's not that long of a walk, so bear with me, okay?"

[Kitto]

Kitto looked around desperately as he was half-dragged along, making his feet work against his wish. Why couldn't he just grow a backbone and say no, he didn't need her help. He was fine, after all!

Oh gods, would Gabriel get in trouble? Sure, Kitto had some places that were healing, and they were Gabriel's fault, but it hadn't been on purpose! What if she was some kind of abuse lady, would she put him in jail? Kitto held in a whimper and hung his head.

"Where, um, do you live?" He asked, wondering if it were anywhere close to the way out. The cold nipped at his face and brought color to his blood-drained face - shock, maybe, had led to that effect. He sighed, and a puffy cloud of something rose in front of him. Weird. Stuff like that always distracted Kitto, or at least momentarily.

It would be too much to hope for that she lived somewhere he could hide.

The naga-child kept walking, hiding his face from the light of the streets and keeping his eyes down. No sense in attracting more attention than he had already. Gabriel had said something about a creature market one time - the gods forbid! What if thats what she was, some kind of mad slave seller of weird people.

He looked her over.

Nah, that was a silly idea.

[Escke]

"Oh, not too far," She dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. It would be easier to take him to where she lived rather than try and explain. She kept leading him, making her way briskly down the dark streets of Avaren, taking him a little further out of the poor district.

Eventually, they found their way to her home. Nearby, the church towered over the much smaller homes in the area, and she looked at it for a split second with a sort of happiness before she opened her door and led the way in.

"Come in, come in, make yourself at home, please!" She said, ever the hostess. "Are you hungry at all?"

[Kitto]

Kitto finally gave up. Without being downright hateful, there was no way to get out of this. He supposed the least violent solution besides giving up would just be to knock her down and run for it. Somehow it sounded like it would be more difficult in practice. It wasn't like Kitto was a very powerful being, anyway.

He was frankly, rather boring.

He followed her look to the church and froze, shaking a bit. Churches had never really welcomed him, and it was beyond the boy why she was so friendly to him. It bothered him, to be honest. Then they were inside, food, did he want food?

"I, um, uh, no thank you. Miss. Um. I'm fine."

Where was a cabinet he could hide in? He chewed his lip and kept his eyes downcast. It felt wrong, being somewhere without Gabriel knowing.

"Why are we here?"

[Escke]

(ooc: Just to clarify, we are in Escke's house which is near the church. Sorry if I was vague in my last post!)

"Are you sure? I've got some bread if you want it?" She asked, offering him a not-too-crusty roll from a nearby basket. She smiled at his second question, debating on whether she should ignore it or not. She decided it was okay, everyone needed a good explanation every once in a while, right? Some people, especially the youth, could not just believe, at least, not on the first try.

"Well, before we resort to anything drastic, we're going to do something you might not have heard of." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, using his wrist to lead him to her bed. "We are going to pray." She sat him down on her single with the modest brown blanket. "Lay down, and close your eyes tight." Her voice softened. "I promise, I won't hurt you."

[Kitto]

He took the roll, rather hesitantly, but put it down when she took him over to her bed, trying not to fidget. It was hard not to sigh, or get impatient. She made him nervous, and he didn't even know why! Her words made him tense, and he got on his knees.

A memory flash, a brief thing from his time before. It should have made him happy, to have a piece to fill in that blank before he'd woken up half-drowned on the riverside, Gabriel fishing him out. Yes, he knew how to pray. He had heard the words uttered by the damned men in the cages, before they were taken away.

Those men never came back.

The words had been contagious, and when the screams had been too much to bare, Kitto had found himself muttering them under his breath. They hadn't helped the others, but something must have worked ...

Keep me safe -

He was still alive, wasn't he?

The memory stopped there, and Kitto opened his eyes, words cutting off abruptly. He hadn't even realized he had been speaking.

" - all through the ... "

Kitto swallowed hard and looked at her nervously. The words had been quiet, but she was right there. It wasn't like she hadn't heard him.

Wait a minute, she wanted him to lay down on the bed? Bewildered, but glad to have something to distract from what had just happened, he sat down on the bed. He didn't like laying down, he hardly even slept like that.

"Do I have to?"