To Drink or not to Drink? [ATTN: La Vie]

[Guest Estel]

So. They had ordered him off drinking? Honestly, who did they think they were? They didn’t understand; couldn’t understand and he couldn’t tell them. Damnit, even when she wasn’t talking to him, his mother complicated his life. Damn her for ever giving birth to him in the first place! But that was it wasn’t it. He wasn’t supposed to have happened. Light, he was, as she put it, her “greatest mistake”. Well, wasn’t that just a self-esteem booster?

 

His pain called for alcohol to comfort his aching heart. His mind called for alcohol to ease his throbbing head. The rest of him... well, the rest of him needed the ale, wine, rum and other spirits that had become as much a part of him as the sword at his belt. Without it he simply could not function. With every movement, his pounding in his head reached a new level. Every muffled noise from the training yard out his window made him wince. His mind refused to focus on any one thing except the insane amount of pain he was in. Needed... a... drink...

 

Lying on his bed, with nothing to do but reflect on his pounding headache and desperate cravings for drink, he was not-so-slowly reaching a new level of insanity. Despite the amount of pain moving around caused, it was better than doing absolutely nothing.

 

So, with much moaning, groaning and whimpering in pain he dragged himself off the bed. He threw on a shirt and buckled his sword belt around his waist before heading out the door to wherever his feet took him.

 

Which, unsurprisingly, was the city. The Yards and especially the Tower’s constant shadow had come to symbolize Faerthines’ hell. The Tower held his mother and all her cold, unfeeling, much smarter Sisters. The Yards held those who judged his worth and criticized his method of dealing with his pain. Burn them, who were they to judge? What authority did they hold over his personal life? None!

 

He walked the streets, wondering why he tempted himself by walking straight past all his favourite haunts. After nearly an hour, he had past a few dozen bars and ignored three questions concerning when he would join them. He died a little every time he was forced to ignore the call of alcohol. Light, Yrean wouldn’t notice if he just had one would he?

[Lavinya]

Lavinya needed a drink. The raging of her thoughts refused to be silenced, and she longed for peace, for escape. It had been some years since she had indulged in strong drink, indeedone of the last occasions had resulted in a tryst in the Ogier grove with the man who would be Estel Sedai's warder. So much had changed since then, so much had changed within Lavinya. She was not the same woman she had been, yet at the same time she was the same woman she always was, always would be. Corin had unlocked feelings and emotions she had long thought buried, had awaken her mind with imaginings, had driven home her desperate lonliness. Now she was lost at sea, unsure of herself and hating it terribly. Alcohol seemed the only way to give her some freedom from the tumult that was now her mind.

 

It was that need that brought her to the tavern, a small, smoky interior some distance from the more popular haunts of Tar Valon. Somewhere that offered some mystery, as though one could enter it's depths and leave behind their true self. Just what she sought. The dark hood of Lavinya's cloak hid the fiery red curls that instantly made her recognisable to those who knew her, along with casting a deep shadow across her ageless face. Tonight Lavinya did not seek to proudly display her status as an Aes Sedai, but preferred the anonymity of the shadowy corner where she sat.

 

Delicate fingers circled the pewter goblet, embracing the warmth of the spiced wine within. It was not the first she had drunk that evening; nor would it be her last. The subtle flash of coin kept the liquor flowing minus any questions, though no doubt the wench that served her was brimming with them. This was not the sort of place that Aes Sedai usually frequented, especially those cloistered in a dark cloak and drinking fast enough to rival any red-blooded man. If only she could silence the thoughts, mute the pain, but even with enough drink in her to leave her buzzing, they were but a muted roar in a crowded mind.

 

A young man entering the tavern caught Lavinya's eye. He was not anything out of the ordinary, still but a youth in her eyes, his features plain but not unappealing. Her gaze would normally have slid by after only a cursory of glances, but this one held her attention. Something in his face tugged at Lavinya's memory. She was sure she had not met him before, yet there was a familiarity about him. He seated himself at the bar, and Lavinya recognised the emotions playing over his face. He was a kindred spirit for that moment; a man in need of escape as much as she, a man who battled a silent war with himself. Lavinya was suddenly interested in company.

 

Lifting one smooth skinned hand, Lavinya caught the attention of the young lass who had been serving her, she had not taken the time to learn her name, nor did she care to. The girl made haste over to the Aes Sedai, nodding at the instruction given her and deftly pocketing the flash of silver coin. Likely tonight she had been better paid than any other.

 

"This is for you sir." Lavinya heard the girl's voice as she watched him place a drink in front of the young man. Perhaps he would prove to be the distraction she needed from her own troubles.

 

 

Lavinya Morganen

Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah

[Guest Estel]

He couldn’t help but enter one of his favourite taverns along the way. Perhaps if he just sat at the bar, drinking water he could trick his alcohol-deprived mind into quieting. Light, but his head felt as if it would fall from his shoulders and damn the Creator for not giving him such a blessing!

 

But the moment he walked in the door, Faerthines knew he was a fool for believing it would help his lust for the bottom of a mug. The ache in his head multiplied tenfold with each step he took closer to the bar. The intelligent thing would have been to simply turn around and just head straight out the way he had come but his pitiful self-control was far weaker than his all-consuming need for some way to dull the pain.

 

“The usual?” asked the barkeep as Faerthines took his regular seat at the bar.

 

“Water.” croaked the boy, shaking his head- which he regretted when throbbing pain forced a sharp intake of breath through his teeth.

 

Sitting in his misery, he was in no way ready for the woman who sat down beside him, offering him a tankard of spiced wine. The smell assaulted his nostrils and momentarily eased his craving before it returned a hundred times stronger. Blood and ashes! What could one sip do?

 

But Yrean and Ginae… Blast them! Who did this woman think she was trying to tempt him? Had his mentor paid her off to check his self-control? Or was Ginae watching from one of the tables, ready to toss him out of the Yards should he crumble? Damnit, he’d show them self control!

 

“Who are you and why are you offering me a drink?” he asked gruffly as his water arrived. “I don’t need alcohol, my self-contr…” It was at this point that he caught sight of the Great Serpent Ring on her finger. She was a bloody Aes Sedai! Embarrassment and horror flowed through him simultaneously. Sure, he had never gotten along that well with the Sister because of his mother, but to actually speak to one of them like that…

 

“My apologies, Aes Sedai. I didn’t recognize you under the hood. What was it you wanted?” His smile almost pleaded for forgiveness.

[Lavinya]

The sharp reply drew a frown from Lavinya, her pride demanding she reprimand the lad for his disrespect. Before she could say a word however, he quickly changed his tune. Mortification ebbed from him, and Lavinya once more smoothed her features as he smiled at her. After all, going on a self-righteous rampage because someone did not recognise her immediately as Aes Sedai would hardly bring anonymity.

 

"That is the reason for the hood." Lavinya replied softly, sliding gracefully onto the seat beside the boy. "What I want is some company while I enjoy a drink."A subtle gesture soon had another drink placed in front of Lavinya, graceful fingers extending and wrapping around the smooth surface of the goblet. The boy had yet to lift his drink to his lips, instead toying with the tankard idly, as though waging a battle within himself.

 

Lavinya sipped at the potent liquid, letting the rich flavour of the wine rest on her palate a moment before swallowing. It was not the finest wine she had ever tasted, but it did the trick, heating her from the inside, slowly blurring the never ending buzz that was her mind of late. "Drink." The words were soft but the command would be plain to all but the densest of fools. "Sometimes the only way to find inner peace is to see the bottom of a tankard...or several, in some cases." Lavinya spoke as though thinking out loud, lifting her drink again to take a large pull.

 

Peace. That seemed such a distant hope these days. The only way Lavinya knew to find peace was in a manner that seemed impossible; Corin was out of her reach, along with the possibility of returning to the ignorant bliss that had been her life before meeting him. Well truth be told her life had been far from bliss, but at least she hadn't known what it was she missed wrapped up in her own selfishness. Alcohol would be the substitute for the warmth that Corin gave, the drink warming her belly now as his kiss and kind words had warmed her heart.

 

"Tell me," Lavinya spoke conversationally, eyes alight with amusement as she watched the lad lift the cup, only to take the tiniest of sips before setting it down, as though it were a viper that may bite him. "What kind of man enters a tavern such as this and orders water?" One brow rose in question, as she reached out slightly to push the tankard back towards the youth. "It will not bite you, boy, but it will wipe that hunger from your eyes." Lavinya's voice was wry, recognising the lust for drink in his gaze, the slipping control as he sought to deny himself. Perhaps drink was a problem for him; problem or not, it was irrelevant to Lavinya.

 

"I think you do need alcohol, at least this night. As do I." Putting action to the words, Lavinya finished the wine and ordered another. She would drink until she felt warm again. Until her mind stopped screaming her inadequacies. "You may call me Lavinya." She gave him a magnanimous smile. "And while you are explaining your strange custom of ordering water in a bar, you can tell me just who you are, and why you look like I may have met you before." Lavinya nodded, waiting for him to speak.

 

Lavinya

[Guest Estel]

Faerthines eyed the mug, trying to decide if it was a pardon handed to him on a silver platter or pit of vipers, hissing and snapping at the hand that reflexively went to lift it to his lips. His brain threw itself against his thick skull, attempting to break free of his constraining guilt and surrender itself to alcohol’s healing embrace. But if he was caught, Ginae would... The boy internalized a frustrated growl before returning his attention to the cloaked Aes Sedai.

 

He ignored her commands to drink the ale and instead set about answering her questions in hopes that she would forget the untouched mug in front of him. “Lavinya,” he repeated her, taking note of her silent request for informality “a beautiful name.” He was treading thin ice here- attempting to flirt with a Sister? But the thrill of this risk was compensating for his sobriety.

 

“I am Faerthines Talcontar, a humble Tower Trainee who is honoured to seem familiar to a woman such as yourself.” Perhaps he was being a bit bold but when the dozens of terrible pick-up lines floating around his brain were taken into perspective, he was playing it fairly safe. After all, despite dropping the title, she was Aes Sedai.

 

“To the question of my strange custom... it is not really a custom. After a few run-ins with the Mistress of Trainees and my mentor, this poor wretch before you has been warned against the abuse of the lifeblood that is alcohol.” He smiled mischievously, attempting to belittle exactly how strong his addiction was. When he tried to play the martyr and cast a pained look at the full mug in front of him, his hunger for it rose again and he was only a hairs breadth away from crumbling before its intensity.

 

“And now, I believe it’s my turn for a question. Not to intrude, but why is such a beautiful woman as yourself spending the night with the likes of me when she could be hanging on the arm of some Tower Guard or Warder?”