96: Stinky cheese and soggy birthday cake

One drink turned into five and five turned into fifteen and by the end of the day I was so shit-faced that I could barely register anything around me. I sang at the top of my lungs, a bottle of extremely potent rum in hand, and wobbled on the counter as I stumbled around. The entire bar had joined in my eardrum-shattering singing, Sebastian included. He was just as far-gone as I was and if I thought I was rowdy on booze he was an absolute riot. He had ripped his shirt off of his body sometime during our stay in the bar and his trousers were unbuckled and just about to completely leave his legs. Demetri, however, seemed to be the calmest out of us all. He sat in his chair and watched as the madness unfolded before him, laughing himself silly.
“… You trip on your socks get food in your locks, it’s stinky cheese and soggy birthday cake!” I yelled the chorus of the song we were singing while Sebastian who had been a line late the entire song through, sang it after me.
Somewhere in our horrid singing I eventually lost my footing on the countertop and came crashing onto the floor. Suddenly the entire room fell silent as everyone stared at me in shock. Even I stood outside of my body and stared at myself half in shock, half in embarrassment. My drunk self, however, suddenly burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter with the entire bar following. Soon people began to tug at my limbs and then launched me into the air. Hands grabbed at my arms, my legs and some even reinforced my back as I surfed the crowd on my back. It was then that I had a rather sober moment as I thought about how well I had been treated here. Then again, this bar was filled only with half-blooded and turned vampires and the few nobles who had decided to drink here were of the few that didn’t have sticks shoved far up their asses. But still, I was not used to the smiling faces, the drunken cheers and the friendly laughter and I was definitely not used to having vampires happy to be in my company- Sebastian, Liam, Xavier and my few noble friends excluded. The feeling was almost overwhelming, and I came to the conclusion that if it was the freedom of these humble and hospitable vampires I was fighting for in the games, then it was all worth it.
Another few yells of “Stinky cheese and soggy birthday cake!” sounded before I was finally placed on my feet. I stumbled on them for a moment longer before wobbling forward. But luckily for me, someone grabbed me and held me tightly against their chest before my face could even meet the ground. To my surprise, the someone was Xavier who now seemed just about steady on his feet enough to be considered sober.
“Woah there, steady. Who in the hell got the idea that giving you booze was a good idea?” I drunkenly pointed towards Demetri and then towards Sebastian who now had a bottle of blood red vodka balancing on his head. It didn’t take long for it to fall off and shatter on the ground and immediately when it did, the bar once again erupted in a series of cheers and laughter.
“Fuck, even Sebastian’s shit-faced!” He yelled.
“Demetri, how the hell could you let this happen?” Xavier yelled.
“Don’t yell at the man. For fuck sake Xavier let them have fun.” Liam said. He too seemed to be sober enough, but I doubted he would stay that way for long. In his hand he held a very large jug of a dark purple liquid which he began chugging down.
Xavier sighed. “It’s your fault that I got drunk you asshole!”
Liam chuckled and pecked at Xavier’s lips, silencing him on the matter. “Come on Xavier!”
But he shook his head no, and gently let me go. “Someone needs to be sober enough to remind you all of what complete an utter embarrassments you all are.”
But I saw right through his attempt at an insult. He just wanted to make sure that we were all okay. That and I had the feeling that the whole drinking thing wasn’t his scene. It was a wonder how Liam managed to get him drunk earlier.
I tried to take a step forward but ended up stumbling again. Xavier’s hand immediately gripped around my waist.
“Honestly Phoenix. You’re hopeless.” He whispered before lifting me up and carrying me in his arms. He was cool to the touch and despite the subtle scent of alcohol which lingered in the air, he smelled nice, like body wash and cologne and for a moment all of my drunkenness turned into desire. I lifted my face towards his and pecked at his lips with mine. He pulled away immediately and shook his head, saying, “You’re drunk Phoenix.”
I pouted but didn’t argue further with him- even if I had tried to, I’m not sure I would have been able to get a coherent sentence out.
At some point in time, I’d entered my final stage of drunkenness- exhaustion which was accompanied by a case of brutal nausea and vomiting. And someone must have managed to carry me back to my room between my vomiting, slurs, stumbling and passing out because the next thing I knew, I was waking up in my bed back in the hotel. Only now I was in a different set of clothing than the set I wore earlier on in the night. It was still dark out, so I imagined that I hadn’t been asleep for that long. Thankfully, that was how my body usually reacted to alcohol. The effects were potent but never long-lasting.
Slowly the images of what had happened earlier on in the night began to flood my mind and soon a single phrase rung tauntingly through my head. “Stinky cheese and soggy birthday cake…”
I cringed as the memories of me singing flashed through my head and then buried my head in my hands. That was when I realised that I was not alone. Xavier sat on the bed next to mine, book in hand but a wide smirk on his face as he glanced at me.
“Trust me, it’s way worse than what you think. You were a disaster tonight, Phoenix.” He said with a chuckle.
“At least I wasn’t passed out in the corner of the bar for most of the day.” I said pointedly.
“Tease me as much as you like. It still doesn’t change the fact that everyone who was at the bar tonight will probably never forget the way you acted.”
“Where are the rest?” I asked as I rubbed at my head.
“Still out drinking. Unfortunately, they move through the various stages of ‘drunk’ a little slower than you do.” He said, placing his eyes back onto the pages in his book.
“So what, you decided to bring me back home and spend the night reading?”
He hummed in response. “I’d rather spend the night here with you than drowning my stomach with booze. Besides, you needed someone to make sure you were okay. You threw up so much I thought you were about to bring up your organs.”
“Funny.” I retorted before stretching slightly.
“How are you feeling by the way? Not physically, but emotionally. I can’t believe you’d be at peace knowing what is to come next.” He set the book down and turned his head towards me. His beautiful eyes were fixed on mine leaving no place for me to hide my feelings from him.
“I… I’m not at peace. I mean…” I sighed and then got up from my bed and walked towards the one he sat on. “You love Liam too… so you must know how hard it is for me to think of ever hurting him, let alone killing him.”
Xavier placed a hand on my knee and gently rubbed his thumb against my skin. The feeling was electrifying and yet gentle and reassuring at the same time. “I know. But you must.”
When he said this the tears, I’d been avoiding most of the day began falling from my eyes, staining my cheeks in the process. And it was then that I realised something I hadn’t before. It was another fear of mine, one I hadn’t been aware of until this very moment.
“Won’t you hate me? Won’t you absolutely despise me for killing the man you love?” I asked as I began choking on my tears.
That was when Xavier’s face made the softest expression, I’d ever seen him make. His hands gently cupped my face, and his thumbs began to rub at my cheeks as he hushed me.
“Why would I ever hate you Phoenix? It is Liam’s decision to put himself in this position. We all know that only you can make it through, and I know that you’d never do anything to hurt Liam if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. And…” he bit at his lip, gave a deep sigh and said nervously, “I love you. Okay, there I said it. I fucking love you! So, there’s nothing you could ever do to make me hate you!”
And maybe it was because not all of the booze had left my system yet, or maybe it was because Xavier had finally begun to really open up to me, but I couldn’t stop myself from what I was about to do next.
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Did I just name a chapter after some awful made-up lyrics for a drunken song? Yes, yes I did. On another note... anyone order something spicy?😏🌶️🥵
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!