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divineluce · 4 years

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What Good Can Drinking Do? || Nicole & Luce

Timing: August 26th

Location: Around the Bend

Tagging: @nicsalazar & @divineluce

Description: Nicole and Luce bump into each other after a long night of drinking and unwittingly become knights of the drunken table.

“C’mon, Luce, you’ve had enough. Time to call it quits.” Jake said as he gestured for one of the guys doing security with his hand. Scowling, Luce stood up from the bar, the room spinning a bit as she did so. “Fuck off, Jake. I know when I’ve had enough. I’m just,” Her words slurred together slightly as she headed towards the door, “Leaving because I want to.” She insisted before stepping out into the warm air of summer. Letting out a sigh, she ran a hand through her hair before heading down the street towards Ink Inc. She could crash on the couch there for the night. Sleep it off. Sleep off the bourbon she’d drank to forget how her mother had abandoned the three of them. Sleep off the whiskeys she’d consumed because of the weirdness with Remmy. Sleep off the scotch she’d drunk because of her fucked up situation with Nadia. Sleep it all of and just be left with a hangover in the morning. As she headed down the street, she blinked blearily as she realized she wasn’t the only one stumbling around The Bend late at night. As the other person neared, a drunken smile slid across her face. “Oh. Sup Nicole.”

Nicole couldn’t remember that last time she had been drunk in the streets of White Crest. Probably two or three years ago. She was supposed to be past those days. Or so she thought at least. She wasn’t sure what had triggered her to drink more than she could handle. Maybe it hadn’t been the best week, maybe she had only miscalculated, either way it was too late to ponder on it. What mattered was that she made it home safe. When she left the bar, she let out a breath, willing her brain to focus. She took a few slow steps, hands reaching all over in search of her phone. Where had she put the damn thing? Uber was probably the way to go, if only she could manage to get one. Frustrated, she continued walking, slightly aware that there was someone approaching. As the figure came closer, she realized it was a familiar face. Relieved, she stopped fumbling for her phone, forgetting why she even needed it for. Her lips pressed together into a thin smile, and she tilted her head up in acknowledgement. “Luce...” she could tell she also had some drinks on her too. “Where you going...all good?”

Running a hand through her hair, Luce did her best to focus on Nicole’s face, though it wasn’t easy in her current state of inebriation. Phew. She’d had more than she’d thought, fuck. Waving a hand, she grinned slightly as she saw that Nicole was also in a similar situation. “Ah, I was just headed back to Ink. Bartender at Soul figured I’d had enough so I’m… making my way downtown.” She laughed, shaking her head at the stupid song that had popped in her head. “Well, down-Bend. Howsabout you?” She asked, the words slurring together slightly as she spoke. “And yeah. Yeah.” Luce paused, her mind drifting back to Remmy’s face, the way she’d held them in the hallway of Morgan’s home, back to the messages from Nadia, desperately trying to hold on. “I’m super good.” She gave two thumbs up and a drunken grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

"Gotcha, you do--you do look like..." nodding, she trailed off, weakly gesturing an invisible bottle. Eyebrows knitted together, and she hummed for a moment as her brain searched for words to answer the question. Why did she make it all the way from The Outskirts to the Bend just to drink? She vaguely remembered. It probably made a lot of sense when she was sober. "Getting an Uber" at that, she reached the inside of her jacket, finally finding her phone. She paused though, when she looked up after a few attempts at unlocking her phone and noticed Luce's face. She wasn't exactly great at reading people, but even she could tell Luce was bullshitting her. Had she been sober, Nicole wouldn't have pushed, she respected everyone's decision to lie or keep stuff to themselves. "Tell that to your face, dude" she nodded, lifting her arm and poking Luce in the forehead. Leaning against the wall, she grinned lazily. "We punching anyone?"

“That obvious, huh?” Luce said, letting out a puff of air in amusement. As Nicole pulled out her phone and leaned against the wall of one of the buildings near them, she stared out idly into the darkness of the Bend. Maybe it was just the slight ringing in her head, the pleasant buzz of alcohol making her senses nice and dull, but it seemed quiet. Quieter than normal. Most nights, she wouldn’t be the only one stumbling back home drunk-- there were all sorts who wandered around this side of town, good and bad. Nicole’s sudden poke to her forehead caught her off guard and she raised a hand to lightly swat her away. “Yeah, yeah--” She said, about to rattle off some insult to take the pressure off her when she heard a scream pierce through the night. Standing bolt upright, Luce looked at Nicole in alarm. “We might be. Fuck. Did you hear where that came from?”

“Yeah, yeah” Nicole nodded absentmindedly, struggling for a second to recall what Luce was replying to. Glancing down at her old phone, she grew annoyed as she waited for the app to load. Maybe it was time to finally invest in a something newer. The scream took her by surprise, which was unusual for Nicole. Just then, as she managed to look at Luce, Nicole felt herself sober up slightly. She pushed herself off the wall, looking back to the street she came from. If only her senses weren’t so numb, it would’ve been a lot easier to figure things out. Her and Luce’s breathing seemed to be overpowering any sound her ears could pick up. She huffed, willing herself to focus. A beat, two beats, and then she heard it. “Couple of streets down… turning the corner” she wasn’t as sure of her accuracy as she would be sober, but it had to count for something. “C’mon, that can’t be good” smacking Luce in the arm, she took off —or rather stumbled—in the direction of the scream.

Nicole’s slap to the arm sent Luce staggering forward, but that was just what she needed to get her stubborn feet moving. She followed behind Nicole, doing her best to keep the other woman in her field of vision as she ran after her. The streetlights were shifting slightly, the world spinning as the two of them made their way towards whoever had screamed. If she had been more sober, Luce might have questioned how Nicole had been able to figure out where the cry had come from. But right now? With alcohol, adrenaline, and no shortage of rage coursing through her system? She didn’t really care. As they rounded the corner, Luce was startled to see that a woman was standing there, alone. But, she looked visibly shaken, the strap of her handbag shredded. “Are you okay?” Luce asked, slightly out of breath and slurring.

In hindsight, attempting to sprint to the location she believed the commotion was, had been a poor idea. It didn’t take long for Nicole to figure that out. Still, powered by the adrenaline and the booze clouding her judgement, she continued on, almost face planting the ground at least once. Still, she retained some gracefulness, if anything thanks to her ancestors,recovering before she hurt herself. She was the first to turn the corner, spotting a woman clearly rattled trying to gather herself. She reached out, trying to hold the woman's shoulder but miscalculated the distance. She ended up grasping nothing but air instead. “...Kay?” breathing out, she managed to get half her sentence. Luce seemed to arrive just after her, and did a better job at getting words out. She looked around in the meantime, eyebrows furrowed. If the attacker had attempted to steal the woman’s purse it made no sense for them to run before succeeding. “Where is--” wondering out loud, she turned the opposite direction. Apart from them, it was unusually empty. Yet still, something in her could tell they weren’t alone. “Got a look on your attacker?”

“I-- I don’t-- it was like, someone came out of nowhere--” The woman said, trembling with fear. Luce did her best to maintain some amount of composure, but the alcohol in her system was making it hard for her to stand completely still. Her head bobbled as she swayed, her feet stumbling as the world tilted beneath her. Ohhhh, running had been a bad fucking idea. Leaning against the nearby lamp post, she nodded at the woman emphatically. “Yeah, what she said. D’you get a good look at who attacked you?” Luce asked. The shaken woman shook her head, clutching onto her ruined handbag with a tight hand. Letting out a puff of air that blew her bangs from her forehead, Luce nodded and tilted her head. “Your car nearby? Or house or whatever?” She asked, “You oughta get home. The Bend’s not a super safe place.” Luce said. If she’d been a little more observant, if she’d been a little less drunk, if she’d just listened… maybe she might have noticed the shadowy thing lurking behind the post office box.

Nicole’s eyes darted from Luce to the woman, slowly taking in the words they were saying. Her chest was still heaving after running a few streets. For a brief second she frowned, unable to remember why she and Luce had decided it would be a good idea to run while drunk, but as her eyes landed on the distraught woman once again, all the things spinning around her slowed down. “Yeah, yeah...only idiots walk alone ‘round these places”. Despite looking the worse of the two, Luce seemed to be handling the situation decently, so Nicole’s attention drifted once again to her surroundings. At the distance she could hear the loud, pounding music of the many dance clubs in the neighborhood, but focusing on everything close to her was difficult. Her body turned instinctively, stepping away from the pair as she eyed the dumpsters and the trash bags spilling some feet away. The sensation they were being watched was hard to shake. Maybe it wasn’t her annoying gift warning her this time, but just drunken paranoia. However, Nicole was certain she had seen part of a tail behind the post office box. Strange, as all she could see were shadows. There was some sort of animal scent in the air, but in her state Nicole couldn’t be sure of what type. It wasn’t common. Turning back to Luce and the woman, she caught her explaining how she lived a few blocks away and was taking a shortcut home. “Vural. Gotta get her somewhere safe. Her place isn’t that far, right?” she interrupted, eyes still trained anxiously on the box.

Rolling her eyes at the other woman’s words, Luce offered her most winning smile at the frightened woman. “She didn’t mean to call you an idiot. She’s just drunk. Well, so’m I, but I’m not calling people names.” She said as she did her best to stand upright on her own without the assistance of the lamppost. Squinting at the other woman, she let out a loud puff of air, trying to sober up a little. Christ. She’d really gone hard. Fuck. The woman shifted from foot to foot anxiously, more distressed than she had when they’d first arrived, but that went right over Luce’s head. “My apartment is only a few blocks away and my car’s in the shop. I didn’t think anything would happen if I just took a shortcut home.” The woman mumbled. Luce nodded, though she wasn’t paying much attention. She was too busy fumbling around in the pocket of her shorts, cursing quietly in Turkish at her silver knuckle dusters. They’d gotten stuck and eventually, Luce gave up. Whatever. At Nicole’s words, Luce snapped her fingers and shot a pair of finger guns in her direction. “Yeah-- we should definitely do that. How’d you feel about an escort home? Not one of those escorts. I’m not that easy.” She snorted before patting Nicole on the shoulder. “How’s about it, Nicky?” Luce said, not seeing how the other woman was staring intently at the letter box.

“Yeah I did” shooting a glance at Luce, Nicole didn’t understand the problem in her words. She scoffed, wanting to explain herself. “We’re all idiots here” to her, ignoring the dangers of walking at night in the worst neighborhood was pretty high in terms of idiocy. The kind of reckless decision only drunks would make. She stopped herself though, when she noticed the woman next to them bouncing anxiously. Guilt turned her stomach. What was the point in being an asshole? Bringing both hands to her face she rubbed her eyes vigorously, wishing it would magically sober her up. She hated being wasted and interacting with people, it usually went even worse than her sober interactions. She let out a groan, shaking her head. “Sorry, it’s...” she looked at the woman, offering an apologetic smile. “You've been through enough in one night, ignore me”. The escort joke went over her head, and she gave Luce a confused look. What was she on about? “How about…?” she trailed off, struggling to follow the conversation. She focused on the box again, still sensing something behind it. It appeared that if she and Luce stayed with the stranger, whatever was waiting on to pounce wouldn’t dare. Why did that make any sense? Nicole didn’t have the mental capacity to ponder on it. “Yes. Yeah, we’ll get you home. She really knows her way around the bend, don’t you Vural?”. Placing a hand on the woman's back, she let her lead the way, careful to keep her from the letter box.

“Yeah, sure do,” Luce snorted, shaking her head vigorously at the joke before looking at the woman who was still eyeing them with a nervous expression on her face. “We just wanna help, honest.” She said. As Nicole reached out a guided the woman away, Luce watched as some of the tension faded from her body. “Okay. Okay, thank you. I’d really appreciate the company.” She said with a relieved smile. Luce nodded, her head bobbling more than she’d intended. “For sure, for sure. Let’s get you home, okay?” She said before glancing at Nicole. The other woman seemed distracted, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. Lowering her voice to what she thought was a whisper, Luce nudged the woman with her elbow. “If somethings bugging you, let’s get her home first, cool?”

Nicole didn’t say much for the remaining of the walk. Her focus split between her efforts to keep one foot in front of the other, and shielding the woman from the mysterious attacker behind the letter box. As they walked past it, her head turned to check once again for any signs of whatever had hurt the woman. She believed she had seen a dark shadow move behind the box again, but no visible body. Was it all in her brain? Or maybe...it was a ghost? Nicole scoffed shortly after the idea came to her. No. That was even more stupid. They wouldn’t have shadows, which she definitely saw, right? Thank god she didn’t say that out loud, not even drunkenness would’ve justified that. Her thoughts were luckily interrupted by an elbow to her arm. “Weird shit, man. Weird shit going on” she retorted, lips barely moving. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the night could’ve ended much differently for the woman she was guiding home. Nicole could still hear her erratic heartbeat and she was certain it wouldn't change until she was safely home. “I’m crashing wherever you do, by the way. Can’t take my ass home tonight”. Her last words floated between the three for a while, as they silently made it to the woman’s place. There would be time for regrets in the morning --the hangover would definitely punish her-- but even if she had promised not to get wasted again, part of her was glad she and Luce had been at the right place and the right time to give someone a hand.

#p: wgcdd #chatzy #wickedswriting #p: nicole salazar

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