In Dire Straits

And there goes #4...

Sitting alone at the edge of one of Oukoku-Kai's riverbanks, Alistair smoothly and quickly tilted his head back, swallowing a strong-smelling, clear liquid before it had the chance to make a real impact on his taste-buds. As he set his leaf-turned-cup down, he grimaced for the briefest of seconds at the sharpness of the flavor, all while reveling in the warmth it spread through his chest. The first three hadn't done much for him, he was a pretty big guy, but he could start to feel the world around him slowing.. the edges of his mind blurring. Okay. That was it. Last one of the night. He was right where he wanted to be.

It was the point where he wished he had a group of people  to bump elbows and chat with, the point where the  anger in his eyes and shoulders were replaced with something a little closer to contentment, and the point where his father and his mother and his brothers weren't the first things to come to his mind.

Alistair had had 4 drinks a night since he had gotten back to the Valley. He didn't have a problem though. He always stopped at four. He just... needed to take the edge off sometimes.

His first drink--well, his first 12 drinks, actually--was the night of the Great Party. His mother had told him to go out and have fun, but to not to touch any of the mushrooms or drinks being served. Adolescent rebellion had quickly won the war against obedience to a parental unit, and it wasn't long before he was knocking back liquor with some of the other yearlings. A lot of the others had done the mushrooms too, but he didn't dare go for any of those. Life was hard enough with what was already in it, the last thing he wanted was to add hallucinations to the mix. He sure liked how the juice made him feel that night though... even if it had led to him getting hauled back to the family den by a very grumpy Sphinx.

Alistair knew better now. He had found his sweet spot. Here, at four, he could still speak, think, and walk a fairly straight line. Here, at four, he was much better company. The rigidity in his shoulders, furrow in his brows, and the hard-set of his clenched jaw was all erased and replaced by a smile so genuine it almost rivaled the Warden's. Here, at four, he was the best parts of himself... and the world was a much, much better place.

If only he didn't smell like a brewery.

Her breathing was slow and even as she moved through the trees of the pack. Bright blue eyes shining like diamonds in the moonlight. Soft footsteps moved with precission, making the female as quiet as a mouse. A charaistic she picked up for her livelihood. Although even the quiestest of creatures have their faults, Felony's? Idiots that got in her way when she wanted something.
"Ew, what's that smell?" She questioned as she exited the brush as she walked into the clearing. Then, she stopped in her tracks as her answer was presented to her on a silver platter. Instinctively a scowl appeared on her lips as she looked at the tall figure that was in front of her. "Ever hear of a bath?" She questioned the fellow that was in her way of fresh water.

The Jin snorted as her eyes glided to an empty cup. Her head shaking in disgust. It wasn't her place to make assumptions on others. It was the Rosa's, she was to just listen.
With a long heavy sigh, Felony tried to ignore the drunken fellow and walked to the waters edge. She dipped her head down and started to take some gulps, wanting to finish her task as fast as she could so that she could leave this smelly male alone. Unfortunatly in her haste though, she swallowed some water down the wrong pipe and started to cough uncontrollably as she tried to clear her lungs.

"Ew, what's that smell?"

Al's ears perked at the sound of another voice, and the young man craned his head around to see Felony emerge from the brush. He would've been impressed with her stealth--he was pretty aware of his surroundings, even when buzzed--but she had to go and ruin it with her big mouth. He watched as she scowled, and the Ashigaru couldn't help himself, his smile grew bigger... more amused. He had been hoping for some friendly conversation for the night, but this might be more fun.

"Ever hear of a bath?"

"Wow, good one." He replied sarcastically, amused smiled never fading, followed a few seconds later by a hearty laugh. She was not going to ruin his night or his buzz with some snarky quips... or her judgmental attitude. He watched her eyes slide to his cup, watched her head shake in disgust, and he laughed again. Wow, she was really going for it. The faux mysterious, "I hate anything fun" attitude might have been cool and deep to him when he had been a rebellious adolescent, but now it was just played out. Transparent.

And slightly sacrilegious in this context.

Partying hard and enjoying life's gifts was one of the very cores of the religion, he knew it well through his priestess of a mother and Seour of a father. She couldn't make him feel bad for doing something that wasn't wrong. Their own goddesses made sure to live their best lives; they did mushrooms, drank cactus juice... had harems for heaven's sake. And they were the holy, chosen wolves of those exact Rosa; the blessings of the world belonged to the them, and one day... through Ragnarok, they would take them all.  

He felt the anger building as he justified his own actions. How dare she try to place herself in a holier position than him and their Rosas. He should've stood up and put her in her place, made her eat the disparaging words that had dared leave her mouth. So much for not letting her ruin his night. The yellow knight stood, letting out a grumpy huff as he flexed, the toned muscles bunching under his pelt as he tried to decide whether or not she was worth the fight.

The Rosas took matters into their own hands however, and made her choke on her own words--at least, that's what he decided happened. Feeling righteous and avenged, Alistair sat back down by the water and took his own sip--careful to not repeat her mistake--before raising his head to look at her.

"The name's Alistair by the way, Ashigaru... false-bond to the Yellow Seour and warrior of Foetida's house." He said it casually, amused smile growing as he did. "You know... just so you can at least know the wolf you're judging."