Afraid of the Dark

Chapter 21: Let Loose

"I'm trying to convince Reela to loosen up and get laid," Corb states and Reela laughs dryly.

"It's not going to—"

Jules throws up her arms. "Ah hell yeah! About time!" she hops off the counter to stand behind Reela's stool and grab her by her shoulders. "You've clearly been raised by my brother because you are so uptight it's a crime to call you my niece."

Reela tries shrugging her hands off but Jules doesn't budge, so down goes another shot. "I was also raised by Cree, remember. Who taught me to not get in bed with strangers," she states.

Jules laughs and rolls her eyes. "Oh come on, that's only 'cause he slept with Sarabeth Blackwell one time, and never heard the end of it!" she snorts. "But luckily, she's ten years dead and you, dear, are young and alive! So go live!"

Reela takes a fuming deep breath and just keeps drinking in silence. Maybe enough drinks will make all of this either finally make sense, or make so little sense that she simply gives up on trying to understand. It's not like she likes to be 'uptight.' She wants to let loose. She's finally an adult yet she doesn't let herself do all the things she was excited to do.

She reaches for the next shot, but she stops herself when she notices her hand slightly shaking. She grabs the glass and tries to lift it, but she has to take another deep breath and close her eyes.

"I can't," she says with some mix of frustration and grief.

Jules is too drunk to have noticed, but Corb is far from a lightweight. He saw Reela swallow back a lump in her throat and start blinking faster. He has seen her get like this while talking to Todo sometimes, so maybe he should try thinking like his brother.

Corb sighs and leans on the counter next to her and grabs her hand which gets her to look at him and see his smile. "Of course you can. I've seen you do some of the dumbest fucking shit imaginable! This," he motions around the club, "is nothing! People do this every day! Jules does!"

Jules snatches another empty shot glass and throws her arm up. "Fuck yeah I do!" she exclaims before throwing the glass at the tower of shot glasses she made, sending them all crashing down over the counter. Corb laughs and nods his enthusiasm, holding out his hand to high-five Jules, and she cheers.

Reela grits her teeth and forces down the last shot. It's like she has two devils on her shoulders, but one's drunk and the other's an idiot. Her head definitely feels all fuzzy and she knows that the moment she stands up is when it's all going to hit her like a fucking brick, which she literally knows the feeling of. She usually never drinks more than an occasional glass of wine or a brandy with Cree back home. This is so much stronger than a single glass or bottle.

She slowly turns her head to look over her shoulder at the club. At the band on the stage playing lively music that's got people dancing and laughing, gambling. People are having fun. They're being people. She sees now that in the crowd are not only almost every race from Aramora and the five minor continents, but looking closer, she can also see signs of SRL and Hexes.

Regan, Cree and their friends did this. And she's just brooding at the bar.

Maybe it is time to let loose a little.

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Todo tries to keep his heart and his mind both calm. If even one of them loses its temper, he might be forced to act, which he doesn't want to risk with people around. He doesn't want to give humans and Adaliaens more reason to mistrust centaurs. His kind are endangered enough as it is after Aramora.