Lucas didn't even look up as Azura entered, sitting on the couch with a half-empty bottle of whiskey and staring into the fireplace that wasn’t even burning. She observed him for a moment. He looked defeated and slouched on the cushions. It was clearly not just Rose suffering from the recent breakup.

Azura hesitated a bit. She didn't know what to do. Should she go over to him and console him or just leave quietly? Against her own will, she decided to join him.

She slowly walked towards him and stopped on the side of the couch, where he finally noticed and looked her up and down. He didn't make any remark on how dirty she appeared, with her hair being in a big mess yet again, some dried blood still on her hands, and even some smears on her face. Instead, he remained reticent for a time, then grabbed another whiskey glass, filled it, and offered it to her.

"Rough day?"

"Rough day. You?" She replied while accepting the glass.

"Rough evening." He replied

She sat down next to him and they drank in silence. The liquor burned down her throat every time she took a sip. It felt good for now though.

They sat in silence for half an hour, refilling her glass and his own when needed. Even though there’d been no talking, she took some comfort in the fact that he was here. Feeling bad alone was worse than feeling bad with company. Slowly, the alcohol was taking effect in her system, it gave her a nice buzz and made her feel a little lightheaded. Seeing as Lucas had drunk more, he probably felt the effects as well.

Out of nowhere, he spoke up, his voice hoarse and croaked. "What the hell did you do by the way? You look like crap."

Lucas turned to her. while finishing his half-full glass in one go. He definitely wasn't sober anymore. The whites of his eyes had turned partly red. Either from alcohol or tears, Azura guessed it was probably the former.

"Me? You're not exactly a pretty picture yourself right now." He chuckled at her remark. He knew she was right but still... He was not the one slathered in dirt and whatever else she was covered in.

"In all seriousness Azu. What did you do?"

"Seriousness? We both just drank an insane amount of whiskey and you want to be serious?" She had to hide a small laugh as well. This whole situation was just too ridiculous and alcohol always made her giggly no matter how bad she felt.

"Yeah, I do. Alcohol makes people tell the truth. So, third time, what the hell did you do?"

"Fine... Have it your way." She paused, drank the last bit of whiskey, and placed the glass with a hard bang on the table. "I was going stir-crazy from being inside, so went outside for a walk. Enjoyed it, and then it got bad again and I was contemplating suicide, but didn't and then I ended up back here, and I have no recollection of what happened in between."

"Wow, ok..." He just stared at her and grabbed the bottle. "Need some more then?"

She shook her head, took the bottle from his hands, and placed it back on the table. Even though the alcohol was taking more and more effect, she still knew they both had enough. He didn't even resist.

"Your turn. I met Rose outside, what happened between you two?" He snuffed and leaned back into the couch facing straight forward again.

"It just didn't work. There were issues before you came here and after we found you we decided to try again. But alas, here we are. She's an amazing girl but we don't fit. That doesn't mean I don’t miss her. I miss her so fucking much already!" He suddenly jerked up and hit the table with his fist. "Fuck! I mess up everything!"

Azura could swear she could see some waterworks forming in his eyes. He quickly composed himself again and nonchalantly laid back down on the couch as if nothing happened.

They remained silent for several minutes, both lost in their own world for a time. Lucas suddenly glanced at her and chuckled again. She sat with her feet on the edge of the couch, hugging her knees. It didn't look all that comfortable.

He yawned and tugged her arm hard enough to where she toppled over. Azura let out a small yelp as she fell over, arms swaying all over the place before she landed with her head against his shoulder. His arm moved around and he gave her a strange sideways hug. He shifted a bit and placed his feet on the coffee table.

Azura was shocked at first but started to relax. The alcohol in their systems made things a lot different than normal. She poked him and giggled like a high school girl when she noticed he started to fall asleep.

After a while, she pried herself loose from his arm and got up. Azura swayed on her feet before finding steady ground. Stumbling, she managed to find her way to the dresser and steadied herself with a hand on top of it. When the world stopped spinning for a moment, she bent down and grabbed a blanket, and made her way back to Lucas. She had to hold on to several objects as she did, walking straight was a real challenge now.

She gently covered him in the blanket the best that she could. He’d probably done a better job when she’d been sleeping on the couch, but seeing the circumstances, this was the best she could do.

"See you tomorrow." She whispered while she placed a hand on his forehead. He was fast asleep already.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

*

A throbbing headache was the only proof she had of the evening before. Azura groaned as the sun hit her face, she had forgotten to close the curtains again and now she was awake with something way too bright warming her up. She slowly got up and sat on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. After a minute of getting comfortable in this position, she got up and put on her robe. The moment she had it tightened, she grabbed for her stomach as it made a rumbling sound.

Azura's eyes widened as she felt the urge to vomit and she ran out of the room to the bathroom the best she could. Once inside, she threw the door shut and practically fell to her knees in front of the toilet before throwing up. Her stomach kept convulsing even after there was nothing left to expel anymore. Her whole body ached and the headache was only intensifying. She took some deep breaths, still hanging above the bowl, and slowly got up.

"You alright in there?" Lucas knocked on the door. Azura glanced at the door. How on earth could he sound so sober!

"I'm perfectly fine! Just turning my own body inside out." Her sarcastic reply made him laugh. She could hear him through the door and waited until she heard his footsteps leave.

She turned on the hot shower hoping that it would help. It would at least clean her up a bit. Something she badly needed as well.

It had taken another three hours for her to be able to function rather normally. All the while Lucas was trying not to laugh at her. She gave him angry glances once in a while, wondering why he didn't even show the smallest hint of a hangover.

She had to get ready to see Dr. Jensen again, and after what happened yesterday, that was probably a good thing. She had to talk to someone and Lucas wasn't the appropriate person right now. Even though he was acting like nothing was wrong, she knew he was suffering from the break-up.

Azura put her hair up in a ponytail and walked through the house looking for her shoes. Lucas was browsing on his phone the whole time. Before she wanted to leave, he turned to her.

"After your appointment, I want to see you at the climbing hall. The best thing to do after a night of heavy drinking is to sweat it out."

"I already puked it out! Is that not enough?" She barked right back at him.

"No. You still need to sweat it out!" Azura sighed and growled at him.

Snarling she answered him, "So I guess this morning the first thing you did was 'sweat it all out'?

"Nahh... I can simply handle my liquor a bit better than you can." He flashed her a sweet smile and waved her off. "I’ll see you at the climbing hall!"

She stomped out. Mornings were never her strong suit, let alone mornings and afternoons when she had a bad hangover, and he just instinctively knew which buttons to press to get her riled up.

Azura kept her head down during the walk. She tried to ignore all the happy people around her. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood except her. Maybe it was because the weather had turned out to be perfect ski weather? There were even some groups of school children around today, most of them on a one-day skiing trip.

Unfortunately for her, Dr. Jensen's office was right in the middle of the city, adjacent to the most crowded street in town. Azura only now noticed that it was actually quite close to the hostel she had been to on her first night here.

As she entered the building, she saw Vicky sitting behind the big desk. There were, again, no other people in the lobby. Azura approached the woman, unsure of what mood she was in today.

"Hello again. I'm here for my second appointment with Dr. Jensen."

She tried to sound open and polite in the hope the receptionist would respond in the same manner. Vicky looked up from her desk, rummaged through some papers, furiously started typing on the computer, and after what seemed like forever, replied to Azura.

"You know the way. You can proceed immediately."

Azura raised an eyebrow "That's it? No forms to sign or anything?"

"No, he knows what he needs to know. Now please proceed. The doctor is waiting for you."

"Alright then. Thank you." Azura slapped the desk with the flat of her hand. She tried to make it look like it was the most natural thing to do but failed miserably. She grumbled to herself a bit when she walked to the door with the leopard mosaic behind it.

As she entered the hallway, Nicolai Jensen was already standing there waiting for her. He gave her a nod as she entered and waited for Azura to join him.

"Hello, Miss Azura, nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too, Doctor."

They shook hands and Azura already wanted to head into his office but the doctor waved for her to stop and turned to the mosaic.

"You know Azura, this city has a rich history with snow leopards. They are part of our daily lives. You've probably already met a few." Azura's skin turned white as she felt all the blood leave her face. Her mouth opened as she stared at Dr. Nicolai.

"Wha.. what?" It was all she could muster.

He calmly continued speaking as if it was the most normal thing to say.

"You had no idea? Maybe that’s a good thing. Sorry for spoiling it. I'm not going to give you any names though, I think that's safest for now. You'll figure it out sooner or later." He turned to face her and took a deep breath. "I do, however, suggest you keep that ring on at all times. They do not take kindly to other cats here and you are in no state to face them yet."

He gave her a smile and nodded to the door. "Shall we? We have a lot to talk about."

Azura stood frozen. The guy just casually dropped a bomb the size of Hiroshima and now he expected her to just move on just like nothing had happened? Plus he knew about her being one?

The doctor placed his hand on her shoulder and for a moment she thought she could see his eyes lit up for a bit. Straight away she could feel her astonishment and surprise fade away. It was like a warm blanket had just wrapped around her, relaxing every muscle and making her feel at ease. The man nudged her to the door of his office and she calmly followed him.

They sat down and he offered her a glass of water. "This is something we will talk about later Azura, I know you have many questions, but there's time enough for that. For now, I want to keep the focus on you. Please tell me, how have you been?"

He was manipulating her. She knew it but was unable to resist. She wanted to get angry, but the emotions would just slide away. It was frustrating and he would actually leave that emotion hanging in her mind. Azura clenched her fists but started talking, resisting it any longer was useless. She started with her nightmares, the voice in her head, and ended up talking about the events that had happened only the day before.

Doctor Jensen just listened and helped ease the emotions if things got too rough. Now that she had opened up to him, she was amazingly easy to read and tap into.

When Azura was done she stopped and let out a long sigh. Dr. Jensen leaned back in his chair and let all the information sink in. For a short moment, there was not a single word spoken. He then got up and walked to the window.

"Can you take me back in time to when you first met Nora and your other friends?"