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aimsey whispers to you: hey
you whisper to aimsey: hey. what are you up to?
aimsey whispers to you: ohhh you djknow the casual upen book
you whisper to aimsey: woah, you okay?
aimsey whispers to you: yaaaaa wqyaaa
you whisper to aimsey: are you drunk, aj?
aimsey whispers to you: noooooooo
you whisper to aimsey: sure. you at the pub?
aimsey whispers to you: yeahhhhhh
you whisper to aimsey: stay there, im omw
aimsey whispers to you: noo
The second Drift got that second message, she was walking in the direction of the pub. Call it intuition — a sixth sense, but Drift could often tell if something was wrong with AJ.
Honestly, she was surprised Flick hadn’t found her first. Whenever AJ drank her sorrows away in the pub, Flick would usually hang out with her. Sometimes just hovering around her, following her around, even cuddling once or twice.
But not this time.
It was slightly worrying. But, also, what wasn’t worrying, recently? The girl still hadn’t shrugged off the feeling of being buried alive. It stayed on her back and in her bones — the dirt covering her and consuming her. Damn those bandits.
Not the point.
As Drift walked towards the pub over the bridge, she could barely see three steps ahead. Thank God she whispered me, she’d trip over and pass out in the dark otherwise.
Soon enough, Drift had reached the pub. In all its barely-lit glory.
She pushed the door in and let the warmth take over her body. The pub was always warmer than outside, Drift figured it was a mix of the sweat and drunken anger many regulars had.
Oddly enough, it was weirdly empty. A couple guards sitting in groups, a bartender, and—
She was sat on a chair, facing away from the entrance, with her head slumped over on the table in front of her. About four beer glasses surrounded her, and more shot glasses than Drift could count.
Fuck, she thought, not walking over to AJ quite yet, it’s worse than I thought. AJ never drinks this much.
The Earth Mage was frowning as she came closer.
“AJ?” She called out softly, not wanting to scare the drunken girl. They were only a few steps away now, but there was no reaction from the girl.
She looked so— helpless, like this. AJ wasn’t small by any means. I mean, she’s been losing muscle recently, but she still had quite a bit. She was shorter than Drift, yes, but neither of them noticed much. She always had a larger than life presence.
But like this? In the constant cigarette haze of the pub, surrounded by big tables and chairs, curled in on herself so much that it was concerning? AJ looked small. Tired, even. Sad. Maybe a bit broken.
The idea scared Drift more than she wanted to admit.
“Hey, you awake?” Drift squatted down next to her girlfriend— fake girlfriend’s chair, now eye-level with each other, if AJ turned her head. “AJ?”
There was still no reply.
Something’s wrong. AJ isn’t a sad drunk. Or a tired one. Her tolerance is too high.
With a bite of her lip, Drift put her hand on the small of the girl’s back. Softy, but enough that she should hopefully feel it. “You alright?”
There was a jerk. Drift quickly withdrew her hand.
AJ was awake, and the Earth Mage felt a sudden wave of relief.
“Mm.” The girl groaned, lifting her head up while squinting her eyes at the ceiling. She hadn’t noticed Drift smiling softly at her yet, too out of it to see her.
“AJ?” Drift asked in a slightly teasing tone. “How you feeling, huh?”
The drunk girl looked confused, returning her gaze to the table, before looking around. It took a second for her to register Drift next to her. “Open Book!” AJ slurred out, letting out a happy sob. “You came.”
Drift laughed with a happy smile. “You called. Can’t exactly leave my fake girlfriend out here for everyone to get secrets out of, now can I?”
Suddenly, the happy and tired look on AJ’s face shifted. It was sadder, and the girl blinked. “Yeah.”
Drift noticed the change. Immediately. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah. Fine…” AJ muttered while looking around the room. “Tommy left.”
“Tommy?”
“Drinking… buddy?”
“I see. Well, that probably means it’s time for you to leave too then. Right?” The brunette whispered with a placating voice. “We have school tomorrow.”
There was another groan. “Fuck school. I wanna drink… bartender! Another beer, please.” She held a hand up sloppily, almost falling onto the table, but the bartender ignored her. Thankfully, Drift caught AJ’s face before it smacked the wood.
“Woah, no more drinks!” She scolded, grabbing AJ’s satchel which seemed to have fallen on the floor. “It’s dorm time.”
“Mm. No.”
“Mm. Yes. You called me here, which means I get to boss you around.” Drift bragged, getting vaguely confused as to why AJ whispered to her, but didn’t want to leave.
“That’s not how it works, Open Book.” AJ giggled with a teasing tone.
“Uh, yeah it is. Sober one makes the rules.”
“No…” AJ whined as Drift stood up and put her hands on the girl’s waist, dragging her slumping body upwards. Her pan didn’t work. Instead of standing up, AJ began to fall, not even able to hold up her weight.
“Holy shit, AJ. How much did you drink?” Drift wondered aloud with great concern. This was the furthest AJ had ever gone, and it was for no apparent reason. “You can’t even stand up straight.”
“What? No… I drank a— normal amount.” The Decay Mage replied back, leaning on Drift’s arms to hold her up.
“You definitely didn’t. What’s going on with you? You ignore me all afternoon and then drink yourself half to death?” AJ managed to swing an arm around Drift’s shoulder, letting her hand hang loosely. Slowly, the two stumbled closer to the pub exit.
“I’m not that drunk.” Was the slurred reply, right before AJ almost stumbled forward.
“Fuck! AJ!” Drift cried out as her fake girlfriend fell forwards onto the floor. AJ just started laughing, not even trying to pull herself up.
“This isn’t funny, AJ. You’re drunk. Come on. Get up!” Drift cried out, literally tugging the drunk, laughing mage out of the door, and onto the gravel outside the pub.
Once the door closed, the night took them in again.
“Come on. No games, AJ. We’re getting you to bed.” The drunk was tugged upwards once again, dizzied and shaking as she stood back up.
“Can’t we sit down first…” She whined back, trying to take a step forward, but almost hitting the floor again. Luckily, this time, she was caught by Drift.
“I—“ Drift looked around for a second. “Okay. Fine. God knows you can’t walk back.”
And with that, AJ dropped to the floor again.
“AJ! Over there!” Drift pointed to a bench not too far away, but AJ just kept giggling. “Come on. I’m not leaving you to sit on the ground.” She crossed her arms, looking down at the drunk girl.
“Even if I want to?” She teased, not pushing up from the floor.
“Especially if you want to. For someone so smart, you have horrible instincts.”
AJ kept on giggling as Drift lightly insulted her, but then… her face froze. As if remembering something?
And the giggling stopped. AJ looked away, to the bush next to her. “I think you should leave me… here.” She muttered.
Drift froze, immediately. What the fuck?
Oh, something was so wrong.
“And why would I do that?” She raised an eyebrow, trying to stay the littlest bit playful, but there was no sign of joy on AJ’s face. No laughs. She just stared away from Drift.
“Because I deserve it.” AJ gave the smallest of smiles, but it was only to placate her girlfriend. “You should leave.”
The standing girl let out a shaky breath, before looking around, and sitting on the gravel, next to the girl. “You could never deserve that, AJ. Ever.”
A shake of the head. “But I do.”
Okay.
“Okay. Why, then? Why do you deserve it?” Drift asked softly. It was clear that AJ wasn’t going to let this idea go.
“I can’t tell you.” It was almost slurred, but Drift could still understand,
“That’s ridiculous. We tell each other— almost everything. You can tell me anything, AJ.”
“No.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Not if you hate me.” It was spat out, like a thought AJ wanted out of her head.
“You don’t want me to hate you?” She teased lightly, but AJ, for the first time in her life, didn’t do it back. There was no reply, and Drift realised this was more than silly drunkness. “AJ. Stop it. I could never hate you.”
She sniffed, glancing at Drift’s eyes. “You say that now…”
“I say that for— for a while.” Drift corrected softly.
“I don’t believe you.” She shook her head.
“You don’t trust me? I trust you.”
AJ scoffed immediately. Somehow, even her scoff sounded drunk and sloppy. “You trust me too much, Open Book.” It was a sad statement, as if she had spent forever thinking about it. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
Now it was Drift’s turn to scoff. “You’d never hurt me, AJ. And even if you did,” she shrugged, “so be it.”
“So be it?” The drunk girl repeated in confusion.
“Yes! God, AJ. You told me you were a spy for the rebels, and I didn’t hate you. You told me you poisoned the food supply, and I didn’t hate you. You slept with the fairy, and I didn’t hate you. It can’t get worse than that.” Drift sounded desperate saying that, she knew it. But AJ wouldn’t remember this. She was so far gone. Maybe a beer or two earlier, they’d be teasing each other, but AJ was so out of it that Drift was sure she wouldn’t remember this conversation tomorrow.
“What if it can get worse?” She whispered back in fear. “What if you never look at me the same, or—“ AJ stopped herself and looked away as her eyes watered just a bit. Clearly, she wasn’t horribly out of it.
“Leave?” Drift finished for her, and AJ sighed. “What if I leave you?”
There wasn’s a reply. Drift bit her lip, wondering how to approach the issue.
“AJ, I don’t think I could ever hate you. Even when I’m supposed to… I just— can’t. It’s something inside of me.” She confessed quietly, not being able to look at the person she was confessing to.
AJ smiled weirdly. “You’re so open.” It sounded almost jealous.
“You don’t call me Open Book for nothing.” Drift agreed, staring at the town.
Her fake girlfriend didn’t reply for a moment, and Drift didn’t push anything out of her.
“Drift, I have something to—” AJ started, almost crying it out, like it hurt to keep it inside.
To tell you.
“Tomorrow.”
“I—”
“Tomorrow, AJ. Or the day after. Next week. Next month. You’re not yourself right now.” AJ was staring at her with wet, shaky eyes, looking almost heartbroken. “If you have something to tell me, you tell me when you’re ready. And sober, yeah?”
“But you’ll hate me.”
That made her laugh. “I’ll do that tomorrow, then.”
AJ looked like she was about to say something, but Drift interrupted her. “And for the record, I’ll trust you ‘til I’m six feet under.”
It was supposed to comfort AJ.
It didn’t.