WARNING: This chapter contains underage alcohol use! If you're sensitive to such things, well... skim carefully?
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Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Seven: Coins
When Xaphile and Adariel returned to their room, he was expecting for the rest of the night to go pretty quietly, but boy, was he wrong about that. About ten minutes after he'd gotten Adariel settled into bed, all the guys save for Gus and Vordt came into their room.
Bruno smirked when he turned and looked at all of them in confusion.
"Hey, Xaphile!" Bonks squeaked, darting over with a grin. "Since we finally made it to the city we intended to and successfully saved your friend's family, we've all decided to have a celebration amongst ourselves and partake of some rather generous wine that Bruno brought with him!"
He stared at the boy with raised eyebrows, then looked at Bruno, who raised his arms: in them was a case chock full of enormous crystal bottles that he assumed was some form of alcohol.
"Bruno, I'm underage, and so are all of the other guys in here," he said lowly. "Did you talk to Ella, Ninira, and the others about this?"
"I did," the dark elf confirmed, giving him a strange look. "What do yeh take me for? I'm not irresponsible. Ninira and that winged bloke who claims to be yer uncle have both decided to sit out on drinking, but that Gus fellow and even Ella seemed keen on relaxing a little."
"Seriously?" he muttered, finding that a little hard to believe. "So, even Gus agreed to it?"
"I did," the hunter's voice said, making him jump; Gus was standing in the doorway, toweling off his hair with subdued jade green eyes. "Tonight, I think all of us need an outlet for the stress we experienced these past few days. First with the Griffin snatching Ella, then the ambush..."
"Oh," he murmured. "Well, if that's the case, I'll sit this one out. I'm not really hip on drinking."
"Suit yourself," Obi purred, running a hand through his wavy hair. "I, on the other hand, am curious to try this legendary wine our fellow dusk-skinned mortal claims is the best in the world!"
Xaphile rolled his eyes and sat by Adariel's softly snoring form, watching observantly as they sat down right on the floor in the middle of the tiny room. Bruno wasted little time pulling a crystal decanter out and uncorking it with his teeth, but instead of taking a swig, he paused.
"Let's make this a bit more fun than simply passin' the bottle," he said, smiling devilishly. "Do any of yeh lads know what drinking games are?"
Gus's green eyes lit up like Christmas lights and he leaned forward with a rare grin.
"I've got some playin' cards, glasses, coins, and several other things," he said, getting up and trotting out of the room. "Be back in a moment."
When he left, everyone shared a curious glance, but he returned far more quickly than anyone expected, arms full of the things he'd previously mentioned. He set them down on the floor, then leaned forward to look at everything he'd brought.
Xaphile watched, curious despite himself, as the man picked out two coins about the size of American quarters and weighed them on his palms for a second, squinting with his tongue poking from the corner of his bearded mouth.
"These should do for a good game of coins," he declared, and with a grin he passed the coins up to Bruno. "You up for a challenge?!"
"What sort of challenge?" Klynn and Kesh inquired simultaneously, leaning forward at the same time with the same curious expression; the synchronized response got a lot of stares from everyone but their brothers, who rolled their eyes.
"Well," Gus said devilishly, "you're supposed to try to bounce the coins into the glasses."
"Is that even possible?" Obi scoffed. "It seems like it'd be more irritating than entertaining."
"Oh, no, it's quite fun," Gus said, preening with pride. "I'm very good at it, actually."
Obi didn't seem to believe him since his eyebrows were furrowed, mouth pulled down at the corners as he tried to wrap his head around the idea of bouncing coins. His brothers seemed just as skeptical about it, but Bruno merely sighed and held out his hand, palm up.
"Looks like yeh'll need a demonstration," the dark elf said, and then looked at Gus with a smirk. "Wanna go a round and show these whelps how it's done?"
"Aye, sounds like a challenge," Gus chuckled, waggling his eyebrows. "Let's have at it!"
Taking two glasses, they knelt opposite each other in the center of the ring the winged boys had formed. Xaphile lazily lay down on his side and propped his chin on his palm, observing them with raised eyebrows since he was kind of curious about where this was going.
"Coins is a simple game," Gus told them, setting one glass in front of him and the other in front of Bruno, who sat directly across from him. "You take a coin and bounce it into the glass, just like this."
And with a flick of his wrist, the blonde man tossed the coin down onto the wooden surface of the floor. The flat of it struck the ground with a 'ping' and bounced straight up, sailing in a gentle arc that ended in the depths of the glass alongside a loud 'clink' noise.
"Eh?!" Bonks squeaked, leaning forward. "Wow! How did you do that?!"
"Keep the coin parallel to the floor and drop it," Gus said with an amused glance, "but use a little bounce with your wrist to give it some power."
Druthmar's husky blue eyes grew even larger than the coin.
"I am amazed," he said. "You accomplished it on your first try! How did you do that?"
"Survival instinct," Gus chuckled, giving a nonchalant shrug. "Years ago, my elder brother, and a man named Dimitri Von Dolan would oft challenge me to this game and win, so I had to learn how to play or else face total destruction of my liver."
"Wait," Xaphile interrupted, feeling surprised. "Amelia's father was good at coins, too?"
"Not remotely," Gus instantly laughed. "You'd think he would have been since he's so good at using magic and figuring things out, but the lout was far too spastic to aim right. He was just as clumsy and awkward with his hands back then as his daughter is today."
From there, Brino took the coin out of the glass and began explaining the game's actual rules.
"Two glasses start on opposite sides of the floor with two people tryin' to bounce their coins into the shot glass. When one of yeh lands the coin into the cup, put it in front of yer opponent and stack it."
"Stack it?" Obi asked.
"Aye," Gus said, and Bruno nodded in acknowledgement. "Eventually, someone will be slow enough to have both cups in front of them. You get one chance to make the coin into the stacked glasses, but they're also higher and harder to get the coin into. If you don't make it on the first shot, you have to take a drink."
"And now," Bruno said with a smirk, sliding a glass and a coin over to Obi, "you can try."
The faery boy smirked and started bouncing the coin, missing over and over again, but his concentrated face showed no signs of giving up.
"But what if they do make the double-shot?" Bonks asked as the coin clattered on and on.
"Then everybody else drinks." Bruno exclaimed. "Yeh start getting really frantic when it looks like yer about to get both glasses, which makes it even harder to score, so be prepared fer lots of flying elbows."
"Sounds very interesting," Obi said quietly, still focusing on what he was doing. "The mother of the young elflings has decided to watch over her offspring, and the nameless king is going to keep guard over the prisoners who attacked them, so it will just be us, yes?"
"Indeed," Gus said.
"I see," Obi purred, and then he somehow managed to get the coin into the glass. "Oh! I did it!"
He preened, feathers fluffing out and tail bristling with delight, but Kesh looked concerned; he counted off three fingers, mumbling under his breath before turning.
"I am confused," he said slowly, lifting his amber eyes. "How many players are allowed to join?"
"You can play with two people," Gus said, "but four is best. You can even form teams."
"Ah," he appeared crestfallen. "Then we need one more player to have even teams of two."
"Xaphile?" Bonks asked. "Would you play with us?"
"I'm not interested in drinking," he said calmly, frowning. "Sorry."
"Well, if that's the case, I guess I'll play instead."
Everyone turned to look at the door in shock as Ella walked into the room, wet hair damp against her cheeks. She was toweling her tresses off and her cloak had been removed, the all-too-familiar sleeveless black dress clinging to her slender body when she turned.
Her eyes met his, and his heart jumped since those irises very clearly asked if he was all right.
When he nodded, she turned and looked at Gus, who seemed a bit hesitant, before rolling her eyes.
"I'm the same age as all of them," she said sharply. "Don't you dare complain. I'll be the fourth player for one of the groups."
After that, they broke away into two groups. Bruno, Druthmar, Obi, and Bonks sat down on one side of the room while Klynn, Kesh and Gus sat down on the other. When Ella sat down between the nearly identical faery brothers, Kesh greeted her with a smile that she returned and Klynn gave her a mannish slap on the back.
On the other side of the room, Obi tried to make another shot into the glass, but he failed and his face grew dark under the force of a furious scowl.
Xaphile's attention was soon called back to reality when he felt a little hand touch his waist.
"Will she be able to win?" Adariel sleepily mumbled, making him look down just in time to see the kid setting his chin on his hip to watch everyone. "Isn't Gus very good at drinking?"
"He is," Xaphile muttered, shaking his head; then he paused, thinking about how quickly the faeries would pick up on the game and how good Gus and Bruno would be after having years of experience playing it. His lips pursed. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let her play."
The distinct sound of coins hitting the floor made the room come alive with clatter. Obi began to shout excitedly, and Bonks let out a defeated cry, but Xaphile turned just in time to see the poor guy grumpily pouring a dose of Bruno's special liquor into one of the glasses.
He tossed it back without complaint, grimaced in disgust, then set up for another round of the game.
"Too late now," Adariel observed, watching as coins started flying.
Xaphile swallowed when Ella shifted in her seat across from Gus and Kesh, since he could tell just how nervous she really was by the posture of her shoulders. Waves of anxiety crested over him from her side of the bond, making him feel guilty.
Just before they started playing each other, he caved in.
Adariel looked up with startled eyes when he rose and wordlessly walked over, knelt down, and tapped her arm.
"I'll stand in for you," he murmured, not meeting her eyes when she cast him a very surprised glance. "I think I might be a little bit less of a lightweight than you are."
"Oh?" she asked with a frown. "And how would you know that, hmm?"
"My birthday," he explained, shrugging. "It took about seven bottles of potent faery wine to turn me into a drunken idiot, but only one small glass of peach wine literally floored you."
She blinked, then shrugged and rose to her feet.
"Well, if you say so," she said. "I'll spend time with Adariel while you play."
"All right," he said, giving Gus's devilishly smirking face a hesitant look. "You do that."
"Are you ready, Phil?" the blonde man cheekily inquired. "You can always back down."
"No," Xaphile sighed, setting the glass in front of him before reaching for a coin. "I'm warning you, though... I'm scary when I'm determined. You might end up under the table instead of me."
"Why do I feel like you're going to make good on that threat?" Kesh asked, casting him a nervous glance.
"Because I'm awesome," Xaphile said; he cracked his knuckles before picking up his coin, readying it, and then he threw it... only to have it veer off-course and not even graze the glass. He stared at the wayward coin, mouth hanging open in shock as Gus laughed his ass off.
"I-I can do it properly!" he snapped when even Klynn and Kesh let out muffled giggles. He picked it up again and threw it, only to miss a second time. "Shit! I need to practice!"
"You're terrible at this!" Klynn drawled, raising an eyebrow. "Even worse than Obi is!"
"Hey!"
"Be silent, you know it's true."
"Oh, shut up!" Xaphile snapped, bouncing the coins like mad. "I'll get it in eventually. I just need to practice a little and get the hang of it, you'll see."
"I dunno, Phil," Gus said in mock concern, grinning widely behind his tangled beard. "You might just not have good enough aim. I feel like you'll lose if you play me."
Grumbling, he kept tossing, and on about the fifth time he managed to make it into the glass.
"HA!" he cried, triumphantly folding his arms. "See?!"
Gus rolled his eyes and glanced over at Ella.
"You sure you don't wish to play with us?" he asked dubiously. "You could take turns with Phil as a team of one to keep him out of trouble, and if need be we can even halve the drink for you."
"Halve the drink?"
"Yep. Amelia did tell me about what happened with the wine when you first met the Daael family."
"Are you offering because you're scared you'll lose?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that it?"
"Never," Gus chortled, "so, are you in?"
Xaphile twisted to look at her just in time to see her eyes flicking to his face; then, to his immense shock and surprise, she stood back up and chose to sit down next to him instead.
"I'm in," she muttered. "Let's do the turns method with Xaphile and I splitting the shots in half."
"Uh... it's a good way to curb getting drunk individually, I guess," Xaphile reluctantly admitted, "but are you sure about doing this, Ella?"
She gave him a half-glare.
"Would I be sitting practically on your lap if I weren't?" she deadpanned. "Now, how do I play?"
Gus proceeded to explain the rules yet again: bounce a coin into the glass, pass the glass to the next person in the rotation, and if they wound up with two glasses in front of them they'd have only one chance to make the coin into the stacked glasses.
If they missed, the penalty was a shot of alcohol.
She took the rules in silently, then shot Gus a dark look.
"Is that all there is?"
"Actually, no," Gus said, much to everyone's surprise. "If you can make two successive bounces into the glass, you can pass it in the other direction to trap someone."
"What?" Xaphile asked, eyes wide. "Seriously?"
"What happens if you try to make two shots, and miss the second one?" Kesh asked, furrowing his brows. "Are you penalized with a drink?"
"No," Gus said, then smugly added, "but you do have to start over to even out the first-pass shot."
"It would seem that I am already very invested in this mortal game," Klynn said, cracking his knuckles; he looked at Kesh, who was sitting beside Gus. "I'm going to trap you so hard with this two-shots trick."
"Not if Phil and I gang up on you, Klynn," Ella said sweetly, and he gulped as Gus laughed and grabbed a coin. "Be prepared."
Xaphile readied his own coin and swallowed, looking at her nervously.
"Ready?" he asked.
When she nodded, he let the coin fly and the game commenced in a flurry of coinage plinking across the floor.
Xaphile made the shot on the third try and hastily passed the coin and cup to Klynn, who took it with a smirk and attempted to make his shot. He missed, however, and his teeth ground together as he made a second, third, and then fourth failed attempt.
"Don't throw the coin so hard," Gus admonished. "Just bounce it, keep your wrist smooth."
With a final flick, the faery boy made it in.
"Ha!" Klynn squeaked, then looked at Kesh. "If you don't make it on your first try, now, you have to drink, brother!"
"Not quite," Kesh said calmly, and with the best poker face that Xaphile had ever seen on a boy his own age, he made a smooth shot; Klynn paled and Ella snorted as he gently passed the cup Gus's way; he smiled at Klynn's gaping maw. "I won't extend such mercy to you again."
Gus looked back at his own glass without expression and bounced the coin, but when he made it in, his lips split with a grin.
"Heh, if anyone's going to need mercy, it's Ella and Phil," he said, grinning a creepy little grin, and before anyone could blink he made another shot and pushed the glass back to the two of them.
Xaphile's heart sank.
Ella's jaw dropped.
Kesh smirked.
Meanwhile, Klynn let out a whoop when he made another shot and also passed the second cup their way.
"Now you only have one chance to make it!" he cried, triumphantly reaching over and stacking the glasses in front of him. "HA! Go ahead, Xaphile!!"
The unfairness of it all made Ella stutter, to Xaphile's dismay.
"B-but he's never practiced a stacked shot with these coins before!" she protested. "And I haven't practiced at all!"
"True," Kesh said, tilting his head. "It would be fair to show mercy on them."
"No," Gus and Klynn said at the same time, and Xaphile glared at them both.
Kesh shrugged.
"I guess you should make the shot, Phil."
He cast a dismayed glance at Ella, then attempted to make the goal.
Of course, he missed.
Klynn began laughing hysterically when Gus grabbed one of the glasses and began pouring alcohol into it, smirking when Ella pouted at him. Xaphile leaned back and sighed, glancing at her very apologetically.
"Sorry," he muttered. "I tried."
She just shrugged.
"We'll each drink half," she said. "After this, I'll try my hand at tossing the coin."
"Here you two," Gus said, holding the glass, which was full of amber liquid, out to them from across the table. "Drink up."
Xaphile got up on his knees to reach for it, and as he accepted the drink, he looked the man in the eyes. For whatever reason, there was a strange glint behind those pools of jade green, but the instant the alcohol hit his lips he was beyond the point of caring.
He made sure to drink only half of it, and at first, he didn't taste anything at all... but then he did.
He really did.
And it was so bad it triggered his gag reflex.
"Ugh!" he squalled, clutching his mouth and squeezing his jaw, eyes stinging and burning all at once. "Dude, what the fuck is that shit?! Is that really alcohol?!"
"Oh, calm down, it can't be that bad," Ella snorted, watching as he frantically rubbed his tongue with both hands to get it off; she snatched the glass. "Let me try."
"Ella, don't---"
But it was too late.
Tossing it back, she drank the rest and smacked her lips with furrowed brows, looking confused... but just as she turned, her face abruptly went white and her nose pinched, lips drawing drawing in on themselves as if she'd swallowed a lemon.
"Okay," she wheezed, sticking her tongue out in disgust. "You were right. It's purely revolting."
Gus burst into laughter, mouth open wide with hands smacking his knees in glee, green eyes streaming hysterical tears.
"Your faces!" he cackled, drawing the eyes of the other group. "Your faces! Priceless!"
Xaphile flicked his fuzzy tongue in disgust, trying to get rid of the flavor, but it didn't disappear.
He swallowed, trying to ingest enough air to combat the disgusting fireworks on his tongue, but the action of gulping made the flavor of the alcohol surface all over again.
Really, it had a metal aftertaste and an aroma befitting decomposing shellfish. The alcohol made his head grow fuzzy the instant it was down his throat, but besides that little debacle and the repugnant taste, he was mostly all right and even Ella seemed to be relatively fine.
His thoughts collapsed under the vile flavor on his tongue.
"It genuinely tastes like dead lobster mixed with pennies!" he gagged, smacking his lips in an attempt to clear his mouth of the horrible flavor. "It's too gross!"
"What are pennies?" Klynn wanted to know.
"Coins made of copper," he muttered, going back to wiping his tongue with his bare palms. "Ughhhh..."
Bruno, seeing his frantic movements, began rummaging around in the case of bottles he'd brought with him. He would have wondered what the elf was looking for had he not been so concerned with what was happening in his mouth—AKA, Armageddon.
"Why musht thish be sho vile tashting?!" Ella crossly grumped, scrubbing her own tongue off with her fist. "Bruno, why in da name of Ashgrog'sh forge do you make thish shwill?"
"Because its potent and worth its weight in gold despite the unappealing taste," the sylvan father cheerfully told her. "I make good coin off my home-brewed ales."
"Here," Gus said, holding a half-empty skin of something out to her; she snatched it out of his hand and chugged it down, then froze and dropped it in horror.
"Gus! This is wine!" she shrieked, throwing the empty skin at him. "You're horrible!!"
The man caught the bottle and held it upside down, but when nothing came out, he grinned.
"That didn't exactly stop you from drinking the rest of it, now did it?"
"Are you trying to get me drunk?!"
Gus merely chuckled and shrugged innocently.
"Here," Bruno chuckled, trotting over and holding out a shallow container filled with pungent green leaves. "Chew on one of these, both of yeh!"
Caution had no place in a situation so intense.
"This'd better not be marijuana," Xaphile grumbled as he took a leaf and popped it in his mouth.
The instant his teeth crushed down on it, a minty sweetness spilled all over, coating his tongue and teeth with a light layer of peace. He sighed as the taste of the alcohol, and poison, and pure evil quickly faded altogether since the plants left him with a sensation of just having rinsed with gentle and effective mouthwash.
Ella reluctantly did the same, then let out a low moan of relief.
"Mint leaves?" he heard Gus ask; the blonde sounded half amused and half annoyed over the sound of their chewing.
"Aye," Bruno said with pride. "It's the only thing that can actually make the taste go away, so I came prepared. How'd you know?"
"I can smell them."
Ella looked at him dazedly, swallowed the mint, and said, "like a dog?"
Everyone froze and stared at her for a second.
"You know," she said, "since dogs smell everything... and Gus is a hunter? So he's like a dog?"
Xaphile glanced at her in confusion when she leaned back and stared at the ceiling, then gave a horrendously loud fake laugh.
"Dear god, she's drunk already," Gus deadpanned; then he clapped his hands together and grinned. "Perfect! Now she'll really be arse at coins!"
"I'm not drunk yet, Octavius," Ella snapped at him, then she gave a triumphant smile. "In fact, this alcohol isn't actually that bad. It still hasn't hit—"
Suddenly, she froze, face flushing almost purple as beads of sweat visibly formed on her head and ran down her cheeks in rivulets.
Xaphile, concerned, opened his mouth to ask if she was all right just as a wave of intense heat washed over him. He stopped moving and remained still as his mouth and tongue became gummy, body prickling as the room spun.
In all of two seconds the drink hit him, and it hit him hard, putting his mild fuzzy-headedness from earlier to instant shame.
"Oh, dear," Bruno muttered. "Here it comes."
Understatement.
Xaphile swum under a wave of burning dizziness.
The booze curled into his toes with hot little waves, cresting coils of undulating tingles and shuddering pulses that fought to creep into every last inch of his extremities.
His body fought against it by cringing in on itself, a pillbug curling up to avoid being squished, but even as he tried to beat back the hot throbs, the alcohol just shouldered past his willpower like a linebacker straight-arming a quarterback.
Blood rushed into his head as if someone had suddenly swung him upside-down and was letting him stay there, and he could almost hear the drink's nefarious chuckle as his hands grew clammy and his lips started to go numb.
Ella fell over and landed hard on her back, mouth open, breathing hard and Xaphile remained curled up in a ball, shivering even though he was sweating profusely.
"What the fuck is this shit doin' t' me?" he whined, staring at the table like it could tell him the answer. His tongue had gone tingly, making it hard to talk without slurring or running his words all together.
"I call it the creeping drink," Bruno solemnly intoned. "Takes a while to hit, but when it does... look out."
"I'm never touching alcohol again," Xaphile whimpered, forcing his body to roll over; he looked at Ella, who's face was still flushed. "Ella... are you... okay?"
"Noooooo," she moaned in a long, raspy croak, slowly shaking her head. "I don't like thiiiiiiisss."
Kesh, looking spooked, cocked his head to the side like a nervous puppy.
"I don't particularly think," he said slowly, "I want to try that alcohol anymore."
Xaphile looked at him but found it exceptionally difficult to focus his eyes.
"Why?" Gus asked, grinning like a Cheshire. "Are you submitting just because they were floored after half a glass each?"
"They look like they're dying," Klynn deadpanned. "I don't blame Kesh for not wanting to drink it. Xaphile in particular looks like he's fallen unexpectedly and deathly ill thanks to the bags beneath his eyes, and I have to admit such a sight is unseemly, so---"
"You watch your tongue, you winged cat... bird... boy... thing!" Ella drunkenly slurred. "He's never been more alive than he is right now!"
Xaphile frowned at her and opened his mouth to protest her rude comment since he and Klynn were basically the same species, but she dumbly covered his mouth to silence him and patted his lips with a shushing noise.
She smiled at him, and all he could see was the faintest pink peering from between her silver lashes. The hand on his lips was so warm that he felt like all the blood in his body started rushing toward his mouth. His lips were tingling where her skin was touching, hyper aware and sensitive and...
And she was beautiful.
Even with her disheveled face and maroon flush, Ella was beautiful, and for some strange reason, his getting-to-the-point-of-major-drunkenness brain found her little protective streak to be exceptionally cute.
So cute that it made his heart flutter madly.
"No need to be rude to the faeries who saved your hide," Gus eventually said, holding up his hands in a placating manner. "It's true that you do both look very drunk already, but if you really want to get back at them for the jab, we could always play more rounds of Coins."
For some reason, Ella's brain decided that this was a good idea.
She let out a joyed whoop and sat up, pointing at the hunter.
"All right!" she challenged, face flushing with determination; she looked, all of a sudden, as if she could take on the world and win against whatever came her way. "Set us up, Papa!"
Gus jerked and stared at her in blank-eyed confusion.
"Did..." he said slowly, squinting at her in concern, "did... did you just call me Papa?"
"Aye! I did!" Ella slurred, flailing her legs with a girlish giggle. "You're my guardian by my father's will and the man who raised me, after all!"
Gus slowly reached for the glasses, keeping one wary eye trained on her.
Xaphile managed to call his brain back just enough to realize that her drinking was bad, very bad indeed, and the thought sent a wave of uncharacteristically strong protectiveness surging through his body.
Worried, he sat up and touched her arm.
"Let me," he rasped, staring hard at her face. "Let me do it instead."
She turned and looked at him for a good long time, so long that she eventually seemed to have forgotten that he'd said anything; he actually had to repeat the question to get her attention, but even then she just blinked at him until he slowly, carefully, and loudly repeated his command for the third time.
She tilted her head with a smirk and her eyes glimmered beautifully.
"Say please!" she crooned. "I'm waiting."
Xaphile glowered.
"Do iiiiit," she whispered conspiratorially.
Xaphile glowered some more.
Then she gave him a puppy face.
"Please?" she asked softly, making him tingle. "For me?"
His gut clenched.
He sat frozen as she looked at him with the widest eyes he'd ever seen.
"Pleeeease?"
He looked away.
"Please?" he mumbled, lips moving so slightly that they barely even twitched.
"That'll do," Ella said smugly, and lay back down. "Still, why're you doing it? The two of us count as one player, like Gus said, so shouldn't we continue working together?"
"You've had enough to drink," he pointed out, picking up his coin and glaring at it. "Just rest."
"Spoilsport," Ella mumbled, kicking her legs like a five year old.
He ignored her.
He was busy enough trying to keep his thoughts as sober as possible, and carefully looked her up and down to confirm just how drunk she already was.
From the look of things, completely.
"Ready?" Kesh asked.
Xaphile nodded, and they began bouncing their coins at the same moment, each trying as hard as they could to make the shot. Xaphile breathed in relief when he made his on the first try and slid the coin and glass Gus's way.
Kesh was still trying for his; Klynn egged him on with muted shouts.
When it was his turn again, Ella leaned forward with a gasp.
"Oh, oh, let me try it again this time!" she pleaded. "It looks like so much fun!"
Xaphile turned, giving her a dazed stare.
"Okay, but try not to take too long," he said gruffly, but she only gave him a shockingly sunny smile as she lifted the coin, held it steady, and then—
Ching!
"A fluke; you're drunk," Gus said in response to her perfect shot.
Ella rolled her eyes and grabbed the coin again. She held it up, leveled it, and—
Ching!
Xaphile didn't think he'd ever seen Gus's eyes get that wide before. He triumphantly slid the shot glass the hunter's way, watching him watch Ella the way a man watches a snake he thought was harmless bite and kill someone.
"Don't gimme more or you're finished," Ella slurred, then glanced at Xaphile with a grin. "They'd better watch it, huh, honeypop?"
"Honeypop?" Gus repeated, shocked. "Ella!"
"You knooooow what I mean, Gusss.... don't look so surprised!" she drawled, flapping a giddy hand. "I mean, Phil is ssssoooo sweet to everyone! Just like a honeypop!"
"Aieeesh," Obi murmured, wincing. "She's just as bad as Piper!"
"It's BONKS, you big, mean, cornhead!" Bonks shrieked across the room. "I don't name... like... my name! My name is... my... name is... is..."
As the blonde boy spoke, finger in the air, he swayed in place and hiccuped.
"What was it?" Obi asked, giving him a smirk. "What'd you say it was?"
"Huh?" Bonks asked stupidly, staring at him with his mouth open. "What was what? What'd I say?"
Gus and Bruno both chuckled, but Xaphile was beginning to wonder if dong this was a mistake. He decided to try his hardest to win so he could stay as sober as possible, but Ella leaned on his arm with a voracious fit of the giggles.
He gave her a frown.
"Sit up and get out of my way so I can make this," he said; Ella did so and tried to look innocent, blinking at him through widened eyes, but he paid her little mind and instead attempted to bounce the coin into the glass.
He missed.
Gus laughed. Klynn and Kesh chuckled. Even Ella giggled at his frustrated expression, and her laughter only came louder when his ears dragged low.
"Time to drink again," Gus crooned, grabbing a glass and pouring the terrible booze; he passed it to him with a smirk. "Drink up."
Xaphile took the glass with a glare, but he put it to his lips and tossed it back like a man. His throat worked when he swallowed, and his eyes were closed when he slammed the cup onto the table with a crack.
Everyone watched with bated breath as he sat there, absolutely motionless, but then the flavor hit him a second time. His throat squeezed and his breathing came a little quicker, but he tried to hold it since his mouth was going through the ninth level of hell.
The taste of the alcohol was even worse the second time around.
"Mint," he squeaked through clenched teeth. "Mint. Now."
Bruno scrambled for the mint as Xaphile stared at him, face expressionless despite his somewhat ragged inhales. His hand lashed out and grabbed a handful of leaves when the elf proffered them.
Ella watched, utterly fascinated, as he stuffed them into his mouth and viciously chewed, breathing a massively relieved sigh as the flavor soothed his revolted mouth. He swallowed the plants down after the sensation was gone.
"Who in their right fucking mind would ever knowingly drink this?" he wheezed when he could finally speak again. "It's worse than piss!"
"Oho?" Gus asked, eyes widening in a mocking way. "You've drunk piss?"
Fury bubbled up in his gut without warning, violent and hot.
"You son of a—"
"Language, darling," Ella said sweetly, sounding more like a prim housewife than a moody fifteen-year-old girl. He shot her a startled, but still dirty look.
"Do you expect me to just—"
He stopped talking when the drunk feeling came back a second time, nearly knocking him out. He squeezed his eyes shut as his pulse pounded in his head, groaning in revulsion and pain.
"Ooh, look, it hit him," Klynn said, blinking. "That's quicker than last time."
Xaphile demanded another mint leaf, and he wanted to quit, but everyone somehow managed to coerce him into keeping it up. And for whatever reason, he ended up caving in, and he agreed to keep going.
Ella, unfortunately, was apparently feeling rather... well, prank-y, because the next time he tried to toss the coin, she let out a gasp that broke his concentration and it glanced off the side of the glass with a clink.
Gus didn't try to hide his laughter at all, laughter that only grew louder when Xaphile, feeling very much incensed, turned to her.
"That's cheating!" he snapped, fuming blindly. "Stop it! I don't want to get drunk!"
She looked up at him with mock innocence.
"It was just a jape!" she said softly. "Surely you can't be mad at me?"
The firelight dancing in her eyes did something strange to him.
His anger faded into another, far less familiar sensation, one that set his insides on fire. He stared at her through hazed eyes and lowered lashes, wondering at the strange urges he now had.
"He's looking at yeh like he wants to kiss yeh," Bruno, who had begun to grow glassy-eyed, said; he was trying not to spill the shot he was pouring, since he'd apparently been losing to a very rambunctious Druthmar. "That's an expression I'd recognize anywhere. Intense feeling, too."
"Daw, how sweet!" she cooed, smirking widely when Xaphile's face flamed; his pulse pounded hot in his temples, burning his ears with embarrassment. "Do you really want to?"
"No," he awkwardly lied, instantly looking away. "Bruno's imagining things."
"Bah, I won't poke my nose where it's not wanted," the elf chuckled. "Yer feelings are yer own."
Ella's eyes flashed and she sat up, staring at the syl with earnest eyes even as she swayed in place.
"You know, you're amazing, Bruno!" she slurred, patting her chest. "You have a fierce wife, and three beautiful children who are growing into wonderful young halfling men. You should be very proud of yourself! I know I'm proud of you!"
"Oh? That so?"
"Indeed! I've even decided that you're my new friend, Bruno!"
A strange look passed across Gus's face.
"If you can admit that he's your new friend," he said slowly, "don't you think it's time for you to admit to all of us what we are to you, Ella?"
She gave him a confused look.
"I told you earlier... ou're my surrogate father, and my guardian, and my confident when things get tough," she said, then looked at the Sysh brothers and grinned like a fox. "And all of you, you're my new friends, too, since you came to save me. Vrael and Sinmir are like the brothers I always wished I could've had, Amelia is like a doting older sister, and Vordt is..."
She paused, thinking.
"Yes?" Gus urged, intrigued.
"Erm... he's the cranky grandfather nobody really likes but is still loved because he's family and sort of cares about everyone in his own prickly way," she said, shrugging in muted confusion. "Oh, and Xaphile is..."
Xaphile paused when she turned to stare at him.
He wondered what she would say.
Her feelings were already clear... but for whatever reason, he wanted to hear it.
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, visibly thinking hard, but her face clearly showed that she didn't know.
"Huh... I don't really know what you are."
Her almost casual dismissal of him both pissed him off and disappointed him. He turned away from her and sulked, hard, ears dragging downward and tail lashing agitatedly against the floor. Even the feathers on his wings rippled.
"Gee, thanks," he said sourly. "That's flattering."
"Don't be mad," she pleaded, crawling forward and wrapping her arms around his neck with a giggle. "If there's one thing I know you are, its... beautiful... and... and strong, and wild, and... and oh, gods, I'm so happy you're gonna be mine someday, all mine, mine, mine!"
His anger deflated into acceptance when she nuzzled his neck with her cheek.
"I guess can live with that," he mumbled, grabbing another piece of mint to chew on.
Right around that moment, a retch filled the air and he turned to see Bonks violently throwing up all over the floor of the room. Adariel wrinkled his nose and buried his face under the pillow, and Xaphile gawked.
The poor guy looked awful.
His blonde hair was plastered to his bone white cheeks, and when he righted himself, wiping his mouth, he was swaying dizzily back and forth. Then again, the other boys didn't look much better aside from perhaps Druthmar, who's face was had taken on an interesting green-tinted shade of milky white.
Kesh suddenly covered his mouth and jerked. Klynn gawked at him, then his own body heaved and he coughed as well, face taking on a strange expression.
"Ohhh... I feel sick," Ella suddenly moaned into his ear. "My palate is churning."
Xaphile knew what she meant, since he'd been feeling nauseous for a while, too, but he didn't know what else to do aside from force her off him and gently rub her back. Bruno and Gus seemed mystified when Obi and Druthmar stood up and helped Bonks to his feet.
"We're all feeling a bit ill, it would seem," Obi said slowly. "We'll head back to our room."
"I'll return in a moment to clean up Piper's mess," Druthmar said softly, giving them an apologetic glance. "I've never seen him vomit before, so I'm quite worried for him."
"It's Bonks," the blonde boy whined, then dry heaved again, wings snapping out and jerking until he stopped. "Oh... I don't feel good. Big brothers... help."
"We'll be taking our leave, too," Klynn said, carefully rising to his feet. "Come, Kesh."
Gus looked mystified when they all hobbled out of the room.
"What just happened?" he asked, looking around in disappointment. "I thought we were all having a good time."
"The ale must have made them sick," Bruno said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck with a guilty wince. "It's some of th' strongest stuff in this country, after all."
"Nonsense!" Gus snorted, scowling. "I feel perfectly fine! A bit tipsy, of course, but not on the cusp of expelling the contents of my stomach everywhere!"
"They're just kids, though," Bruno countered with a shrug. "They likely don't have the kind of stomach necessary fer hard alcohol yet. Vrael and I drank this to celebrate his eighteenth birthday and it had a very similar effect on him. He couldn't stop vomiting after only a few glasses."
Gus looked shocked.
"You never said the ale could make them ill!"
"I thought you knew since most people can't tolerate this sorta alcohol until they're over thirty years old," Bruno said flatly. "Of course newly budding youngsters such as those would have their bowels ravaged."
"I don't feel good," Ella whined, hiccuping. "Phil... spittoon... please."
He hastened to get up and find something, but the moment he was on his feet, everything spun. His stomach turned inside out and he suddenly found himself trying not to puke; he clutched his mouth, closing his eyes in revulsion.
"Big Brother?" Adariel asked, looking at him in concern. "Don't stand up like that! You're sick, too, just like the others!"
He wanted to open his mouth and tell him his was fine, but he was too afraid of throwing up, and behind him he heard the sound of Ella doing just that.
Gus let out a sigh, setting the glass down.
"I guess we'll just have to wait until you're all older to do this sort of thing," he said, getting up with a disappointed expression. "Wait there, I'll go get a bin for you two, and then I'll take care of the mess. This was my fault, after all."
Xaphile didn't care.
All he wanted was for the guy to bring a bin before he lost it and puked everywhere.
____
Author's note: Due to a request I received in a message about more drunken love, I wrote this chapter in because it fit with what I wanted to have happen. However, on the chapter where Sinmir Celebrated Xaphile's sixteenth birthday by treating him to wine, a reader sent me a message and expressed that it was a very bad thing to drink while being underage, and... well, keep in mind that he's on another world with different laws, and far fewer consequences.
Stuff happens. And people love to party. While underage drinking might not be a good thing, it's kind of a fact of life, so DON'T USE XAPHILE OR ELLA AS ROLE MODELS. Alcohol should be consumed responsibly and by people who are old enough to consume it!
That being said, the drinking game of "Coins" is real and is addicting, dangerous, and not for the faint of heart. The next chapter will be even juicier though, so stay tuned!