Reivyn tilted the mug back and downed the contents. His throat chugged several times as he drank the brew. The loud sounds of his friends cheering him on, encouraging him to drink as much as possible, drowned out the other sounds of the tavern.
Reivyn slammed his mug down to the approval of the soldiers-returned-Adventurers around him. Jek, Derik, Furok, Grent, Laris, Jekle, and even Morrin, the lieutenant from the company next to Reivyn's that had teamed up with him after the first battle, were all in attendance. Kefira and Serilla were present, too, but they took a more demure stance this evening, as they understood Reivyn's former officers wanted to give him a good send-off.
She wasn't excluded, nor felt left out, from the evening's activities, because even though she had been a bit separated from them in the action, she and Serilla, too, had participated in the life-or-death struggles alongside them.
Reivyn's vision swam just a bit, seeming to perpetually tilt to one side, but never quite tipping over. He knew that he was beyond tipsy, but he didn't mind too much. The drinks that he was continuing to add to the debt would hit him soon, but he wasn't going to spoil everyone's fun by bowing out.
He was the youngest one present that was drinking heavily, but he had an advantage in Vitality over everyone else. Their Skill with Alcohol Tolerance, something they told him he wouldn't unlock until he regained his sobriety the next morning, though, allowed them to match him drink for drink. It also wasn't fair that they took turns toasting him instead of everyone drinking at once.
Everyone's face had a blush to it as the alcohol and the environment got their blood running, and Reivyn could practically feel the alcohol seep into his blood and rush to his brain as his heart pumped. As Adventurers, they didn't go to a tavern that catered to the Lifestyle Classers. Everyone in the tavern had higher Vitality than the average citizen, so the drinks likewise had an added punch to them.
Reivyn vaguely recalled his father talking about having to drink literal Mana poison in order to get tipsy or drunk with his high Vitality Stat, and he wondered if the drinks here contained a little bit of something similar. The taste of alcohol wasn't overpowering, in fact, it was a bit subtle. The flavor of the drinks was a trap to get people to spend more money as their inhibitions lowered faster than they expected.
The price of the drinks was never considered, though, as Kefira had immediately declared that the night was on her, and for everyone to just let loose and have fun. She only sipped on a couple of drinks, though, and Serilla only had one at the insistence of her charge.
"Sho, Captain, you're going to be leaving uss for the wider world, huh?" Jek said, throwing his arm and holding his mug over Reivyn's shoulder. Some of the liquid in the mug sloshed out over the brim, but nobody paid it any mind.
"Well, yeah," Reivyn replied. "I wash with Kef, Kef, Kefira before I ever shigned up for the army."
Kefira hid a giggle behind her hand, and Reivyn peered at her in confusion at what was so amusing. He and Jek were having a perfectly articulate, reasonable conversation about the future, and it involved her. What was so funny about that?
"What I wouldn't give to go with you," Jek got a far-off look in his eye.
"Why dont'cha?" Reivyn asked back.
"C'mon!" Jek removed his arm from around Reivyn's shoulder and gestured wildly with it, sloshing even more drink onto the table. "You're all hooked up with the Imperial Army. No place fer a Jek like me."
"Then come after."
"Hey! That'sh a great idea," Jek perked up like the thought had never crossed his mind. He turned to face another person a couple of seats over. "Yo! Jeky, Jeky, Jekle-boy, how'sh about I join yer crew and we get our buttsh on up to Wishpan."
Jekle had been in the middle of taking a drink when Jek called out to him. He calmly lowered his mug and gave Jek a serious look. He was obviously not nearly as intoxicated as the others around the table.
"My guys and I have seriously been considering it, but we didn't know if we had what it takes just yet," Jekle said, perfectly clearly. "If you join up with us, and especially if we can get a couple of Casters, too, we can form a larger group to make a company. If you're really serious about it, let's talk when you're sober."
"Fer real?" Jek swayed a bit from side to side. "Yeah, jusht remind me in the morn'."
"I can recommend a few Casters to you," Kefira said to Jekle. "There were a few that I think had the same idea as you guys, but I don't know if they have their own Party or not. I can ask them before we leave in a couple of days."
"I'd appreciate that," Jekle nodded.
"Yeah! And if they shay no, I'll give 'em a good 'ole zap with me lightning," Reivyn chimed in. "I'll shay, 'Whatthehellsthematterwithyou! Thish ish the opportunity of a lifetime! A lifetime!"
"Of course you will," Kefira patted him on the shoulder.
Reivyn glanced at his shoulder where Kefira had patted him for a couple of seconds before grabbing a fresh mug set in front of him to continue with the celebration. He lowered the mug, already half-drained, and wiped his mouth. When he looked up, he saw two familiar faces standing nearby.
"Sten! Dowell! How ya been?!" Reivyn called out to them with a smile.
He had initially joined up with the army at their request in order to help free their families from captivity, but he hadn't seen them since the day they had all signed up. He looked around for a moment before turning back to the duo.
"Where's Cinna?" He asked.
Sten and Dowell's faces lost a bit of their cheer, and they lowered their heads in silence. Because of the drink, it took Reivyn's mind a couple of seconds to figure out what their silence meant, but he eventually made the connection. He set his mug down, stood up, and grabbed Sten into a bear hug.
"I'm sorry," he said, patting the other man on the back.
Sten stood in place for a second, hesitant about how to react, but he gave into his emotions and hugged Reivyn back. Reivyn stepped back and repeated the process with Dowell. As far as he knew, Dowell had been closer to Cinna, but they all three had been a team for many years. A single tear escaped Dowell's eye and fell down his face.
"What about your families?" Reivyn asked in a subdued voice.
"All good," Sten said, wiping at his eyes. "And Cinna's family, too. We lost him on that first day, so he never got to hear the news, but I'm sure he would have been happy to know."
"That he would. That he would," Reivyn nodded.
"We just wanted to drop by and say thank you for all that you did," Sten continued. "We heard about the things you and your platoons did in stopping the teleportation circle as well as figuring out the runes. I know we didn't end up stopping them from doing what they came here for, but we accomplished the goal we set out to do."
"We might not have fought side by side, but we fought together nonethlesh," Reivyn tried to keep his voice from slurring, but he could only do so much. "That makes us brothers. You don't have to mention anything like thanksh to me. Here, have a drink in honor of our other brother."
Sten and Dowell were handed a mug, and Reivyn grabbed his from the table and raised it up.
"To our fallen brothers. Lost, but never forgotten."
"Lost, but never forgotten," everyone in attendance echoed.
They all took a hearty swig from their drinks, and the others continued what they had been doing before. Reivyn hadn't realized the others had paid attention to his conversation with Sten and Dowell, but, based on their reaction, they felt a similar way even though they had never actually met the two, or Cinna, before this evening.
Sten and Dowell didn't stick around for too long, but they did converse with several others before departing. The rest of the evening faded to darkness, and Reivyn didn't recall anything else.
----------------------------------------
Kefira sighed as she watched the sleeping form of Reivyn. It was nearly noon, and Reivyn still hadn't woken up from his drunken stupor. She wasn't worried or anything, though, as she watched his chest rise and fall with his breath. Despite the state he had gotten himself into the previous night, he looked content and at peace while asleep.
They hadn't gone back to the camp outside the city walls, and everyone had booked a room upstairs in the establishment before they had started drinking. Kefira hadn't slept in the same room with Reivyn, and Serilla was having none of that no matter how dead to the world Reivyn was, but they had gone back over to his room after they had gotten up and had breakfast.
"What am I going to do with you?" Kefira whispered to herself.
Once Reivyn had gotten past a certain point in his inebriation, it was like he turned into a different person. No more was the calm, collected individual with tact. He turned into just about the cockiest person she had ever met.
At one point he had challenged some others to a dance-off of sorts, and they had climbed up onto the table to do so. It took a bit of persuasion, and a little bit of force, to help the tavern staff get them down. Reivyn had actually been surprisingly good at it, though, and he had given more than a few winks and moves in her direction.
Kefira's face blushed at the memory, and she slapped either side of her face.
She had apologized profusely to the staff, and she had somehow convinced them not to kick them out of the establishment, but that was the end of the alcoholic drinks. The drunk Adventurers didn't seem to notice, though, and Reivyn even exclaimed at one point that his tolerance had gotten so high that the drinks tasted like water.
Kefira and Serilla had shared a laugh at that, as Reivyn's mug had been filled from a pitcher of water right in front of his face. They had gotten a lot of water into them after that point, and some of the more experienced Adventurers like Jek and Jekle seemed to know what was going on, but they just went with it like it was perfectly normal.
Apparently, it was common practice to switch out the alcoholic beverages with water after a certain point as a courtesy to help alleviate the symptoms of the next day's hangover. Kefira had never known that, but she had also never frequented such establishments before.
Reivyn stirred in his sleep, and Kefira perked up. After a moment of moving around, his eyes slowly opened. He remained still as he stared at the ceiling, apparently trying to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there.
"Good morning," Kefira said.
Reivyn didn't even flinch, and she wondered about his reaction. He hadn't looked at her, so she didn't know how he knew that she was there.
"That was incredibly strange," Reivyn said, groaning as he rolled over to sit up.
"What was?" Kefira tilted her head and asked with a sweet smile.
"Hold on," Reivyn held his hand up, palm out to her. "I know what you're going to say, and before I go into what I was talking about, I have no idea who Ashleigh is."
"Why, whatever do you mean?" Kefira kept the smile on her face.
"I really, truly have never met a woman, or girl, named Ashleigh before. I have no idea who she is or why I would call you that. Unless..." Reivyn trailed off in thought.
Kefira gave him a minute to continue, but he just sat there for several moments
"Unless... What?"
Reivyn seemed startled at the question and looked up at Kefira.
"Have I ever told you about my Dreams?" He answered with a question.
"I don't believe you have," Kefira said, the sweet smile replaced with a serious expression.
"Well, all my life, I've had these Dreams - memories, even - and in them, I'm a different person. I was Marc, and I had a wife named Ashleigh. The only thing I can think of is that those Dream memories were interfering with my mind when I was drunk, and I referred to you as Marc's wife."
"Hmm... That makes me feel a little better," Kefira said. "But you better hope I never find out that you're lying, or you and this Ashleigh character are going to have some explaining to do."
"Of course, of course," Reivyn hastily nodded. "I would never lie about something as important as this."
"So what was the strange thing you mentioned?"
"Oh, that. I got a new Skill a while back that helps me perceive the world in a unique way. I'm assuming it had something to do with the alcohol or the Mana poison that spikes it, but I was able to perceive the world simultaneously completely sober and intoxicated.
"That being said, I couldn't act on my sober perception, nor think clearly. It even worked while I was passed out, which is why I wasn't surprised that you were already here this morning. I knew you were here before I even woke up.
"It was the strangest experience, and now that I'm sober and can remember most of the night, the overlap in my memory is crazy. I also remember dancing on the table and drinking the water, but there's no overlap with my inebriated memory. That's just a blank."
"Figures. You did get pretty wasted last night," Kefira flipped her hair over her shoulder as she crossed her legs. "I mean, you would have had to have been completely gone to refer to me by some other woman's name."
Reivyn stared at her for a second before scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" He asked.
"Nope," Kefira grinned. "Hopefully I won't let something about it slip in front of my mother. Who knows what kind of reaction she would have."
"Pft. From all the hints you've been dropping, I would guess she would seek out this imaginary Ashleigh and try to pawn me off to her to keep me away from you."
"That, or she could create a new one. Or maybe she'll kill you, saying she's just sending you back to your past life's wife."
Reivyn sat in silence for a moment.
"Past life, huh? Do you think that's what it could be? I've always been a bit suspicious, but never willing to commit because of the ramifications."
"Oh, I was joking," Kefira said, sitting up straight. "But if that's really the case, let's hope Ashleigh didn't get reincarnated, too, because I'm not giving you back."
"Really? That's a pretty bold statement, coming from you."
"I know what I want, and we've been together long enough and been through enough that we can be totally honest with each other and our relationship."
"I agree," Reivyn said, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze. "With both being honest and with what we want."
"Good," Kefira smiled.
She leaned forward and gave Reivyn a kiss, but before it could get any deeper than much more than a peck, an annoying cough interrupted them. She pulled back to glare over her shoulder at Serilla sitting in the corner of the room. In defiance, she turned back and gave Reivyn a deeper kiss before pulling away. Serilla just rolled her eyes.
"How do you feel? Hungover?" Kefira asked. Reivyn shook his head. "Then are you up for getting some lunch?"
"Sure," Reivyn said. "Just let me get changed."
He was still in the same clothes he had worn the night before. Kefira was going to remove them so he could sleep more comfortably - honest - but Serilla had shut that down.
Reivyn stood up and grabbed his pack that he had deposited in the room before the celebration and pulled out a change of clothes. Serilla stood up to follow Kefira out the door, but Kefira remained in her seat, watching Reivyn.
Serilla coughed once more, and Kefira looked up to see her standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot.
"What?" Kefira asked innocently. "It's not like he's going to get naked, and it's nothing I haven't seen before."
Serilla just lowered her head and managed to somehow intensify her look of disapproval. Kefira rolled her eyes and huffed as she stood up.
"Fi~ne!" She pouted.
Kefira tromped across the room and exited behind Serilla. It didn't take Reivyn long to change his clothes, and she could tell that he had even taken the time to use the water basin to clean up a bit before coming out. He didn't smell of alcohol or act like he had gotten completely drunk the night before, and he didn't seem to have any lasting negative effects.
The three of them went down to the common room where the other participants of the evening's celebration were already seated at a table. They had a relaxing lunch where they bid their companions farewell.