drinkuntilidie | 20 [Zandali + Translated Text]

20 [Zandali + Translated Text]

You know, as shitty as places like this and the boat are, I have really got to hand it to them.

[He pauses as he downs his eighth bottle in a row.]

They definitely know their liquor around here. Seriously, I don't even recognize half these brands. Guess I had better spend some more time getting well acquainted with everything in here.

[Not that he hasn't been doing that. The tavern is pretty much his second home at this point and he's plenty happy to waste his day away trying every last bottle until he finally falls over. Sometimes a mon just needs a drink, and in this case he needs all of them.]

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[She remembers. Those were the days she would have intervened sooner.]

I wonder if Talia agrees.

[Hey now don't go dragging the wife into this.]

Haven't heard any complaints from her about it.

[Nel is willing to wager that Talia couldn't be dragged anywhere.]

I also wonder if you ever thought to ask.

If she had a problem with it I think she would have told me by now.

[Talia's voice is soft, and thought not angry in the slightest, it does sound a bit resigned.]

I cannot say that I have ever particularly had a problem with your drinking, my love. You are not violent when you drink, or else this would be a non-issue. [She would have personally nipped that shit in the bud a LONG time ago if this were the case. One alcoholic in her family had been more than enough to deal with and had left her terrified as a child.]

However, I am afraid that I must side with Nel on this. You did not want to become sober on the Shore, and I doubt any did, truly, but there was no choice. However, had you had the chance to fully recover from your withdrawals before we came here I think you might have been better for it.

I do not think you should have to rely on alcohol to see yourself through the day... That you think it a necessity should speak enough that it is time that we consider breaking the habit.

I...wait what?

[This has absolutely floored the troll.]

I been drinkin' since I was a little mon. [Sadly this is no exaggeration. His father introduced him to alcohol very early on in his life. In fact, he doesn't even seem to be aware that giving children alcohol might be considered a bad idea.]

It ain't evah been a problem in da past.

[Kevas isn't sure how to handle this situation. For as long as he's known either of them, they haven't said a thing about his drinking. They've seen him go through withdrawal. How could they possibly want him to go through that again?]

[Nel has voiced the occasional comment, but she knows she can't nanny him 24/7 and expect him to thank her for it. As for going through withdrawal-- it's sure as fuck cliche, but no pain, no gain is apt as it ever was.]

Yes, it has. I worry. I can tell your wife is worried, though I do not know her well.

Saying this may be out of line, but I don't care; your father should have known better. Children should not be fed liquor, and he was wrong to give it to you when you were so young. You cannot function without it.

[Talia nods to herself, feeling badly about teaming up on Kevas in this way, but knowing that enough is enough.]

Kevas, I love you and that will never change, but I do not think it was in your own best interest that your father was thinking when he began bottle feeding you alcohol. It started a dependency that you don't even consider a bad thing, and that is one of the worst things about this entire issue.

No, your withdrawals were not enjoyable to you, but I could say the same. But even helping you through a second round of withdrawals would be better then watching you drink yourself to death.

[Hey, hey Kevas... If Talia goes through your withdrawals, what do you think she deals with every time you get drunk? :|a]

[Suddenly he feels like he's being backed into a corner, and by two of the people he cares about most. Needless to say that he doesn't like this one bit, nor does he like any shots taken at his father.]

I won't evah say dat my faddah be a puhfect mon but he raised me, cared fuh me, and kept me from bein' an orphan wid no family. Do not disrespect dat mon.

[Even after everything that his father put him through, Kevas still loves and defends the dwarf. Brainwashed much? But that's a problem for a different time.]

Talia joo said it joorself, I ain't be gettin' violent and I don't hurt anymon. So what be da problem? As long as I be havin' sometin' to drink I be fucntionin' just fine.

[Well Kevas imagines she'd feel as awesome as he did. :|]

[She spares a thought to recall the lesson learned aboard the MS Elegante, that good intentions did not justify manipulating the people close to her. The part of her that values such advice, given by a man (a friend and almost more) who didn't exist, is almost completely deadened. The twinge of shame is gone before it registers.]

There will be a day you no longer have access to this vice. You will be made to survive without it, and perhaps you'll be put into a situation where the lives of others depend on your ability to stand tall and think clearly.

And you won't be able to.

You endanger yourself by clinging to this addiction, and you endanger the people who care about you.

[She goes in for the kill.] Kevas, I've never had a conversation with you where you hadn't had a drink or were in the stages of withdrawal. I have no way to tell if I've ever known you at all.

[Talia doesn't have to be with Kevas to feel him balking at the sudden attention to his drinking, but she is picking up on it loud and clear. She had not planned this with Nel, but now that it was started she knew that it was best seen through. She couldn't waver now or one day she might find he did drink himself to death.

Although Nel's response is sharp and a brutal slap in the face, she pushes onward and supports the others' decision to do this now.]

Kevas... beloved... I saw my brother fall to alcohol in my early years, before I was even Chosen. I will not see you fall to the drink as he did. I have seen you sober and completely away from the thrall of alcohol. You were healthy and did not find the need to drink the moment you woke.

You told me once that you drank to forget, and I have heard that argument for years while on Circuit. Beloved... you must stop drinking to remember. You said the time to heal had come... do you not think it better to heal even from this? To finally step away from the control it has over you and move one more step closer to being everything you want for yourself.

[She does not sway him with her own emotions, keeping them firmly to herself. This would be his decision in the end and she'd not have it said that she coerced him into quitting, or have him later question how much was his own choice; no, his thoughts were his own right now. She'd never given him reason to doubt her before and didn't wish to do so now.]

[That...hurt. A lot. Had anyone else said that he wouldn't have thought a thing about it, but this was Nel. She was the first real best friend he had in his entire life and it was like she struck him across the face with a plated glove. For a moment he was speechless, then something began to bubble up. It wasn't sorrow, or regret. It was anger.]

Dis be me. Dis has always been me. Neiddah of joo can say joo don't know me when I done notin' but love and serve da both of joo. Now, aftah all dis time, joo decide dat I be havin' a problem?

I drink cuz I be likin' to drink. Dere ain't notin' dat be controllin' me. I choose to drink cuz I wanna.

Dere ain't be a time when I didn't know what I be doin'. How 'bout a little a trust?

[Sometimes friends need to slap.]

I do trust you.

I trust you to be stubborn as an ass, in addition to being loyal and a pleasure to talk to on any day nobody questions your addiction. Before this became a confrontation, you said in no uncertain terms that the liquor is as vital for you as water.

By allowing this or any hard substance to become a necessity, you hobble yourself for reasons I have already stated and will not repeat.

Don't you dare cover your ears, Kevas. You are a damned good man, and whether you like it or not, you have my undivided attention. If you stopped quibbling over our late dissent, you might hear us. Yes, we should have spoken sooner. We are telling you now. You're no child to be coddled and nursed.

Edited 2011-10-21 08:33 (UTC)

[Talia straightens and with a single adjustement her feed changes from simply audi to video. She is standing tall and the is a set to her stance and jaw that Kevas should know well enough. She's also got her shields pretty firmly into place so she doesn't lash out at him in that manner.]

I trust you more than I have trusted anyone else in my life, Kevas. In my life. [He might not understand her past relationship with Rolan, but he knew how much it had meant to her and what she went through when she lost him. Placing him above the Companion in her eyes was a big deal.] I have trusted you to act as my companion and lover, my champion and my adviser. My husband and my closest friend. I trust you to watch my back in battle and be the first to put yourself at my side if ever I should need it.

I ask you to trust me the same. I have never lead you astray, nor have I ever asked anything of you that I didn't think you acheive. I'm asking you to trust both of us and I'm trusting you to see that we only want the best for you and that this isn't a petty or a small quibble.

[You're getting wife, Kevas, but you're also getting the Herald.]

We're asking this of you and trusting that you will make the right choice for not just us, but for yourself.

Edited 2011-10-21 14:58 (UTC)

I nevah asked to be coddled or nursed! I bust my ass takin' care of my family and half dis fuckin' keep. Fuhgive me if I be wantin' to take a damn break!

[Then Talia speak and he grits his teeth. No he doesn't understand Talia's full relationship with Rolan but he knows that putting himself above her companion is a pretty big deal for her.

He's never seen either of them fight so hard against him about something. Sure he's had disagreements with Talia and he can't even count the times Nel has twisted his ears, but at least their arguments made sense to him. Here, he doesn't get it at all. Even with his drinking he's always been able to make clear headed decisions and fight to the best of his ability.]

Just what do joo be wantin' me to do? Quit cold turkey?

[That he still can't understand her arguments center around the day he won't have the drink to use as a crutch speaks louder than words.]

You won't be alone.

[Talia might not be able to see you, kevas, but she knows you damn well enough to hear the change in your voice when you get upset. She knows you're grinding your teeth right now, mister.

They've argued before, although there's never been anything like this between them. Even so, Talia knows it's for the best. He believes himself perfectly clearheaded when drinking, but the fact of the matter was that there wasn't any downtime that he was NOT doing so. If he was not with Talia herself, or another of the Keep, he was in the tavern or stable, drinking.

Kevas, she loves you, but you would be much better for this in the end.]

Never alone, beloved.

[It goes unspoken, but Kevas knows as well as Nel and Talia that stretching this process out isn't going to help him in the slightest. Cold turkey really is the only option.

God help everybody.]

[They're really asking him to do this aren't they? Just give up years of drinking and quit. Does it matter at all that he likes drinking? He's starting to think that he's the only one that doesn't have a problem with his drinking. It's been so long since he could just drink for the sake of drinking again. For years he was mostly doing it to forget. Now he has to stop completely?

No, he's not putting up with this. After everything he's been through and done he deserves something dammit!]

E'chuta!

[And he slams his book shut. If they want him to agree to this it may not be willingly.]

You are better than a child stomping his feet. Act like it.

In light of his tantrum, I think we need to talk.

[Talia's jaw tightens as Kevas apparently disengages by slamming his journal shut. She inhales and exhales out in a soft sigh, nodding.]

I should think this would be best. He is not going to agree with us, no matter what argument we try or sense we offer.

Indeed.

I have too much time on my hands to say I'll be busy this week with any certainty. Come by my room in the barracks any day. Number 1120. If I'm not there, look by the lake.

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20 [Zandali + Translated Text]

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[Audio] /jacks

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[Audio] daaaaaaamn, Nel!! Bedtime for me, darlings! xoxo

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