Redrum, Bad mood[Steele]

Nadia was glancing idly around the bar when she heard Albrecht say he envied that under his breath. She snapped back to look at him then, curious. What a strange response. Wasn't it normally perceived as bad when someone had nobody that would miss them? Maybe she had more in common with this person than either of the them realized. But she wouldn't press the issue at the moment. Instead, she focused on his other question.

"It's fine. I've never had beer before. When I drank last time it was...scotch, I think. That was my father's drink of choice, so I recognized it..." she trailed off, probably saying a bit too much there. "Have you ever had that?" She asked. She didn't really know much about the differences between different types of alcohol, but she knew this was a different kind entirely as she tiped the glass back and polished it off, swaying a bit as she set the glass down. "M-more please?" She asked sweetly.

"I'm a beer guy, you could say. But i have tried it once." Sigismund had a collection of drinks and he sometimes let the battle brothers have some drinks from it. Scotch though? A bit too strong for her who had never drunk before, and she appears to be extremely light weight. He wondered how she got her hands on it. Not from Eryka he guessed, perhaps from an adult. He'd pour her some more, up to half her glass, staring with an impressed look. The bottle was nearly empty after that one. He'd beckon a bartender and order himself a beer before looking at Nadia.

"What will you want? You might want a bucket as well."

A beer guy? She looked at all the empty bottles. It made sense. You could drink much more and spend more time drinking if the effect hit you less with each drink. Strong drinks probably led to short nights. Still, though, she wanted to try it again, but not by the bottle like Albrecht was drinking. "thank you!" She chimed and took a sip of the drink as he passed it back to her.

looking up as he called over the waiter she tapped her chin. "I'd like a glass of scotch! just one though. Don't want to get carried away." She joked with a reckless giggle. "Why would I need a bucket? I don't think I'm allowed to take it home with me." She asked innocently.

"In case you need to throw up. You are drinking fast." He never threw up himself, he had an iron belly apparently, but he had seen other knights knocked out in their own barf after a wild night. Albrecht would usually keep it to the beer while eating something every once in a while, and a glass of water sometimes too. "Bring me some fri-... No, nachos, please." And with that, his order was done. Albrecht wanted to try nachos, Patty seemed to like them.

"These nachos are all mine, no stealing." He spoke to the girl, half joking and half serious. The knight wouldn't mind if she took one or two, but start to take a couple of hands and he'd have issues. He'd take the final sip from the bottle. It took only a short time until their order was delivered, the German guy would stare at his snack with hungry eyes before he started to eat them. "How is the drink?"

Nadia hadn't even thought about the possibility of throwing up. She thought about it, but before she could think to ask for one, however, the knight sitting opposite her order nachos. Nachos. YES. Her forearm came down on the table as if she had just remembered something important. "Me too I want some." She said all at once, as if by this one act, her life would be saved.

"Nachos are delicious. Cecil and I had Nachos at-..." She stopped, eyes wide, as if she'd seen or said something she shouldn't.

Thankfully, it wasn't long until their drinks and snacks arrived, and Nadia sipped her drink, enjoying the freeing rush of heat down her throat, like a wave of numbing medicine to her brain.

His head tilted and his eyes squinted. Was she lying by being a nobody? Why would someone do that? That girl became an oddity the more time he spent around her. He didn't want to ask too much about her but at the same time he couldn't help but poke fun at her just spilling the beams without him even trying.

"Is that your boyfriend's name?" He chuckled for a bit before eating more nachos and 'pushing' them down with beer. Honestly, even if she lied it wasn't none of his business. The cadet had no second intentions with Nadia and if she wanted to play the friendless girl, so be it. "Nachos are good though, a girl i know introduced me to it."

Nadia looked surprised at first, then her eyes softened, and she quietly munched a nacho chip while she thought. Yes, Cecil was her boyfriend...but she had pushed him into that, hadn't she? just like she'd pushed him into everything else. It had already been a couple days since she'd seen him last and decided.

"Yes. but I don't think he would be upset if I disappeared. He probably wouldn't even notice. He might even be relieved that I wasn't pulling him around anymore." She admitted truthfully, and the next drink she took was much to big. She didn't mind though, because for a few moments her head felt like it was underwater, and she couldn't even remember why she was upset. This was a good feeling. She blinked at him, feeling a haze wash over her, and didn't even register what he'd said next.

Its not that she was lying to him, but that she had low self worth. Albrecht recoiled a bit in his seat, quietly and subtly. Though a thought came to his mind, if she felt like that because he neglected her or it was simply all in her head. Albrecht shouldn't really ask but...

"What makes you say that? If he loves you, he'd be worried sick if his girl was gone. If you got doubts, well..." It was an instinctual action, almost. Memories of his older sister telling to be nice to others, to treat girls nicely. And because of her, he just did things without thinking much about it. Additionally, this talk made him think on his own relationships with others.

Nadia looked up, a little surprised by the interest the other was showing in her life. It didn't really happen that much - her life being brought up by people or focused on. Usually it was because she was good at keeping the spotlight on others, but just now she was finding it difficult to be cunning in any capacity.

She pulled out her silent phone and put it on the table. "He is kind of like a Turtle." She explained with a hint of fondness. "Hiding his head when something uncomfortable comes along. I push him to try new things. He always comes running when I call. He almost always messages me back..." She trailed off, spinning the phone a little in front of her. "But I realized he never introduces me as his girlfriend, he never messages me first. He never asks me to go anywhere. It's always me so I think...what if he just can't bring himself to say no? What if the only reason he spends time with me is because I ask him to?"

She stopped spinning the phone and looked back up at Albrecht. "If I ask him he'll just say 'no no no, of course I care' or something, right? So I decided to stop messaging him, and to see how long it takes before he messages me first. if he does at all." She said a little sadly. "It's already been four days."

She took another drink of her scotch, swaying a bit afterward.

Albrecht listened to her in silence. There was a tender affection for this Cecil, it was admittedly adorable how she called him turtle, but also sadness, the dread of being unsure if your loved one loves you back. Was this how Patty felt about him when played dumb and attempted to avoid her? It made him feel guilt but he'd focus on listening to the girl for now, he'd try to sort his own hang ups later. The silence would hang for a little longer even after she had finished, he had to ponder on the situation to give his answer.

"Demand an answer from him. He might be shy or whatever, but he can't be dodgy when you need affection." He finally spoke, it was a bit too harsh but he couldn't sugar coat either. He was not saying he didn't love her, but that she should be more assertive to find it out. "I'll be honest, when you put it like that it sounds like you are pulling all the weight in the relationship. Even if he is that shy, he can't..." The knight almost called him spineless but he immediately realized that would be rude, unfair even. "...just sit around and do nothing for you."

Nadia had not expected such a heartfelt concern for her from this stranger. He seemed to be very passionate about how she was being treated. Did he have someone close to him as well? Someone he was worried about neglecting? or someone maybe he felt neglected by? Still, his words resonated with her, and her swimming eyes looked down at her phone, still silent on the table. She reached for it, reached passed it instead to take another drink of her beverage.

Suddenly she felt consumed by the question, by the answer, looking from her phone to Albrecht. "Dyou think so...? I shouldjust ask him?" her words slurred a little, but she didn't seem like she was quite ready to pass out or anything like that yet. she seemed to notice the problem, and spoke slower the next time she opened her mouth. "okay...I can...but what if he just says it to make me feel good. How do I know if he means it?" she asked.

The man tapped on the table a couple times before grabbing more snacks and again chugging beer. He had noticed how drunk she was, which was slightly worrying. If she passes out on the table she is his responsibility.

"When you see him again, pshyeah sure." Albrecht lightly shrugged, he could still keep his composure. Though for someone who had met him sober they would notice he speaks differently when there's alcohol in his system. Less formal and more swears. He never swears when sober."Doesn't matter what he says, he gotta start acting like he loves you. If he don't then that's how you are going to know, y'know? If it comes to that it might hurt, but its better than living in uncertainty. The line moves on, life moves on." He snickered a bit at his word play. Life moves on. now That bit was something he believed in but didn't follow it himself.

"Also. You should really, really slow down." The drunk cadet managed to be serious for a moment.

Doesn't matter what he says, he gotta start acting like he loves you.

The words stung because it was the same thing her heart had been saying. She knew she had to pay more attention and stop guiding him. She would only find out by watching what he did. life moves on. Easy for him to say. Nadia slid her phone of the table and held it, thinking about sending someone a message. Who would she send a message to, though?

She was going to say something to Albrecht about how life only moves on until you stop breathing, but another drink took her train of thought away. Holding her phone she unlocked it with the button, and started flipping through it idly. Her picture folder was absolutely replete with all the evidence of how fucking strange she was. Pictures of dying plants and animals...old buildings, shadowy alleys. She munched on her chips, seemingly lost in her phone. What if she sent one of these pictures to someone? wouldn't that just be hilarious? She started giggling as she thought about it. Suddenly she selected an image at random. Giggling, she sent it. regretting it almost immediately. Who had she sent it to? She wasn't sure, but her hands were feeling kind of heavy, so she slid her phone back into her pocket. I think I just sent someone a photo of a dead bird. oops. hehe..." She giggled a little bit, leaning over the table.

She squinted at Albrecht. What had they been talking about before? ah! right. "You're right! I just havto wait an' see. I'll wait and wait and wait...until I can't anymore. After that...I dunno. I'll do something that isn't waiting." she shrugged. This was a good feeling...not having to feel the sharpness of her solitude. This was good.

Drunk Text!:

It seems like Nadia listened... or spaced out. Most likely the latter, girl was just gone with that much alcohol she had ingested. He started to think it was a bad idea to give her alcohol, maybe. But not because she was minor, but because she clearly had other issues and couldn't take the buzz. He wouldn't ask about what the hell she was doing with her phone, he didn't care and yet she told him. He stared at her in complete silence with a blank expression for a good ten seconds before saying anything.

"...Why- why you got the picture of a dead bird in your phone at all?" Albrecht would probably regret asking. But he already did, it feels kinda sick but again he was not going to judge just yet. She definitely spaced out after that but the message still seemed to have gotten to her... somewhat. "Do what feels is right, i guess."

Nadia looked up, face flushed in a look of pure contrition. Of course! she couldn't bring something like dead birds up with someone she'd just met! That was asking for trouble like all the other times. But, then...who really cared about that? Nadia looked at him for a minute while chewing before she spoke. "I draw dead stuff because I find them fascinating. I draw living stuff too, but nobody seems to think that is weird!" She finished off the last of her scotch and leaned forward, forehead pressing into the table. Her eyes pinched shut. The good feeling was starting to turn sour, but only just a little. She still felt like she was swimming. If she stayed absolutely still it felt like she was floating in an endless sea of emptiness. Is this what death felt like?

"You're a nice guy Albrech...Albri...Al. You're a nice guy, Al!" Her following giggle was interrupted by a hiccup.