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No...

[Sounding very, very meek.]

Just your shoulder...

[Her nose crinkles again when she gets a whiff of the alcohol on him... Maybe she should draw him a bath when they get back, too—she doesn't want this smell lingering in her home after he' gone.

On their way, Ilsa picks up the bag of boxes that she had grabbed on her search for him from one of the outdoor tables, and she rustles it to grab his attention.]

Valo and I found these when we were looking for you. I didn't know you liked cream puffs.

[So much that he ordered two dozen of them.]

[Now he's hit the drowsy, clingy stage of drukenhood, leaning close against her. Ah...she smells so sweet...but it's also soothing...

But at her words, he looks up...and there's a spark of light in his eyes.]

Ah... I got those for you.

[She'll allow it... this one time, and only because she's helping him stay upright so that he doesn't trip on a stone.

But as she looks down at the bag, and then back at him, she blinks wide in surprise.]

For me? You thought that I wanted two dozen cream puffs?

[A dry laugh.]

And then you left them behind at the café.

Well I know you like them... And I wanted to give you something as apology... With dinner and flowers....

[He doesn't realize how that sounds especially since the order of everything was the opposite.

But ughh....]

Maybe there is something wrong with me...

[Ahh... Damn it.

Sighing, she clutches the bag a little tighter, guilt wrapping around her heart.]

No, there's nothing wrong with you. Not really. ... Thank you for the cream puffs.

Ugh... Ilsa... I feel strange...

[He's wobbling.]

[It's fine... she's got him... mostly!?]

What do you mean? Is it that stupid fae magic?

[SHE'S GOING TO KILL THEM]

No... It's... —heup!

[Yeah he's definitely still nauseous and will probably puke soon.]

[Ah...

Twenty plus drinks will surely do that to a person, won't it?]

Do you need to stop somewhere?

[Please do not hurl all over your shoes, Eustace... or worse, hers...]

Any...

[Oh primals this is why he never drinks so much—not that he's remembering that right now. Honestly amazing he's managed to still walk, a testament to his strong constitution, but he's still only human. Especially now that all the buzz and good feelings have disappeared and all he's left is feeling like a wretch.

And feeling like he needs to retch—

Bye Ilsa he's suddenly letting go to stumble and dash off to the side of the road. Insert the rainbow censor.]

Eus—!

[She yells it as he stumbles away from her and hurls (rainbows) on the side of the road. She closes her eyes, wincing, while Valo stands aside and whines.

And this is just another reason why Ilsa thinks those games are stupid. Sure, the fae are to blame for part of this with whatever sort of enchantment they put on him, but they didn't make him drink. It was the game... and it's knocked Eustace down to... this...

She's just going to walk up and... gently pat his back while he does so.]

This is why you shouldn't play those games.

[While she won't yell at him, she can't let the scolding go.]

[Sorry just more rainbows. Give him a second. Well, several seconds before he groans.]

Ugh... My head...

[On the plus side it's all on the ground and not on himself???]

[She can't believe she's about to ask this, more seriously this time—]

Are you sure you don't need me to carry you?

[She can give him a piggy-back or something???]

N-No...!

[It's less about his pride and more about him not wanting to burden Ilsa, so he just quickly waves his hands and head—which was a mistake as he now holds it for a moment.]

I...can make it...!

[...

.....

Nope. She's not buying it.

While Ilsa thinks this is a matter of his pride and had respected it, she can no longer stand by and watch him suffer like this. So, before he can say another word, and before he can hurl up (rainbows) again, she lowers herself into a bit of a crouch, stretches her arms behind herself so that she can hook them behind his legs and hoist him onto her back—]

Edited 2023-05-12 02:34 (UTC)

[He's still very much not there so she easily lifts him up—

Which only gives him extreme vertigo and dizziness so he's going to hastily and tightly wrap his arms around her.]

Waugh—Ilsa!!!

[And because of how long his arms are...

....

His hands may have, in their frantic haste, grabbed her chest.]

Don't—

[She's about to remind him not to throw up all over her, and to just close his eyes until they get back to her cottage, but the words die right in her throat when she feels his hands...

...

Grabbing...

Her...

Ilsa freezes, and while this isn't the first time that he's... touched her there... this has a very different mood than that time.

She gives him about two seconds to remove them before she finally finds her voice again, but it's cracked with urgency and embarrassment as she feels her entire face heat up with colour.]

WELL? Are you going to move your hands or do I have to chew them off!?!?!

Move...huh...oh.

[He had been hanging on for dear life, and his grip actually tightens for a second when he realizes it...

...

And then sanity will at least shine through as he immediately releases his hands, his arms sticking out and then up awkwardly. With the rough and fast space, that's also making him sway his upper body around in a dangerous way. Hope Ilsa can hang onto him. Or just drop him, honestly he wouldn't blame her later—]

[If only there were an apt way to describe the sound that Ilsa makes when he squeezes her. Alas, the only way to describe it is a mix between a squeak and a scream and maybe even an angry curse laced into it somewhere.

It's a good thing that he does move his hands then, because she really had considered tossing him head-first to the ground and leaving him there, but Valo's whines beside them force her to remember that this man is not in his right mind. Still, there was no need to......

She clears her throat. Several times... and just continues to walk on.]

You can wrap your arms around my shoulders.

[Ilsa does remind him of that, because he's definitely swaying and making her knees buckle under her. If he doesn't hold on, then it won't be just Eustace tumbling to the ground.

But before he does anything—]

Just my shoulders.

[He just makes a small sound as his hands nervously grip her shoulders.

And at first things go okay... But his eyes start to drift and she'll his forehead hit the top back of her head, his fingers tightening just a little as if to keep himself from falling either forward or backward.]

...Sorry...

[Another mumbled apology, dejection and sadness clear in his voice.]

[Her eyes widen a touch when she feels his forehead bump against hers... and she pauses for a moment before readjusting her hold on his legs.]

Enough with the apologies.

[It's kind of pitiful!!!]

Just keep your eyes closed and your hands where they are, and you will be okay.

[That much she can at least promise him. She knows that she's been a little hard on Eustace today, but would he blame her for it after? She very much doubts it when he looks back on this and remembers it all with a clear head. And she does hope that he will.]

But...

[He starts before he closes his mouth and is quiet for a bit before he mutters something else.]

...I like you...

[Another stop, her feet freezing on the spot, and another confused whine from Valo while Ilsa's own eyes go wide.]

You...?

[For a moment, she's sure she feels her heart thump in her chest, and a violent flutter surge through her stomach that sends a flush right into her cheeks.

Did she hear him right, or is he just slurring his words? No, surely he must mean something else...? That he likes her as a colleague. That he likes that she's doing this for him. Surely he wouldn't mean it that way, and that the first time a man ever said that to her wasn't when he was literally drunk off his ass.

Yeah, no. It's definitely the alcohol talking.

... Again.

With a more firm hold, Ilsa adjusts him again and keeps walking.]

Tch. We are going to keep you off the alcohol for a while.

[He just continues to mumble, his voice fading and sounding more sleepy than anything else... And sure enough, he'll have dozed off.

...

But he's still sleeptalking right near her ear.]

...Like... Small... Soft... Large... Round....

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