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[curseshit]

Rough day, eh? Time to head home to your loving spouse or to the inn to meet with your best mates. Anyway, the day is done. It was a long one too so make you sure you have a good night's rest because tomorrow is not going to be any easier. The duke wants the town to look absolutely perfect for the festival.

If you don't feel like sleeping just yet I hear the inn is running a small darts tournament. The food is bad and the rooms are small, but at least the alcohol is good. Apple cider all around!

[ mission: so about that curse! in order to break out of your curse you'll be needing three triggers or one big one. more information & examples here. hold your horses though, you aren't supposed to break free in just one night. ]

Comments

[rhymeswithdesign]

[witches, mostly.]

If you say so. How about the inn?

[starts toward the inn. too bad he can't read sergei's expressions at all. if the man even has any. at least at the inn they'll be less likely to run into craig or janet, and of course they can have this conversation in a public place, proving that they are indeed having it.]

I'll buy the first round. And possibly the second round.

[inenochian]

Sufficient. [ starts walking again whyyyygoddd and tries not to dwell on how he's getting married off to a drunken, lusty loser. ]

[ why did he let nikolai talk him into this. if he wants this familial alliance so badly, why doesn't he marry ernest. ]

You mean, your father is buying.

[rhymeswithdesign]

No, I mean my mother is buying.

[acidly.

you know, the one with the money and the dying and the old widow and the why the hell else would craig have a son four years older than him.]

It's a free ride for you regardless, so buck up.

[that's a lot of entendre.]

[inenochian]

[ seems to have stepped in the stepdaddy issues. ]

[ hasn't any parents to speak of, maybe they're still in the old country? yes, that makes sense. he and nikolai don't talk about them because they've been apart so long it just hurts to think about. ]

[ has a startling thought, not a dozen steps from the inn. there are rentable beds in there and the innkeeper is more than a bit bawdy... ]

You won't be able to ply me with alcohol and then convince me to sleep with you. [ comes right out and says it. ] I'll do my duty as a husband, but not until we're wed. Officially, in the church's eyes.

[rhymeswithdesign]

[stops dead when sergei brings it up, and just kind of stares at him like he doesn't know whether to laugh or defend his honor and desirability, because... well, he doesn't know whether to laugh or whatever. lots of people want all up on this. and what the hell is sergei implying anyway.]

Strewth, man, I'm not trying to date rape my fiance. I thought you wanted to talk about the cake.

[they're not doing a great job of being a couple in love, are they? or maybe ernest's just a terrible person even when he's in love. janet would probably support that theory.

also he feels, like, maybe slightly more than zero desire to sleep with sergei even if sergei didn't look like the prospect was less pleasant than the gallows.]

[inenochian]

[ the king of hell said i have sex appeal. ]

[ narrows his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, looking much more uncomfortable after his little outburst than usual, which is no small feat. ]

You...You have a reputation. For licentiousness. [ defends his stance, but also has the decency to look apologetic about it. ] I've never courted, but I understand that purchasing drinks for a potential mate carries some implication of...physical remuneration.

[rhymeswithdesign]

[yeah me too but guess what i didn't fuck him either.]

[offended expression twists a little, into possibly something not unlike pity, because really? never courted? not even a little? no wonder sergei agreed to marry him. aside from all the green card stuff. or. whatever.]

My reputation's not that bad, is it?

[oops that came out more like a question than he intended it to be, because do people really think he's that bad? that's. pretty bad.]

Mate, I dunno what world you've been living in, but in this case the drinks are the remuneration for pain and suffering caused.

[inenochian]

[ uncrosses his arms, with great effort, and to anyone watching him as he puts them down at his sides it just seems like he's struggling to maintain an open stance. ]

I...shouldn't allow other peoples' gossipping to affect my opinion of you. If we're to be espoused, then I should give you the benefit of a doubt. [ takes the last steps to the door of the inn and opens it for him. close as you're going to get for "sorry i called you a rapist." how about them drinks, man. ]

[rhymeswithdesign]

[just. watches him take those steps. not even in the fun way like he watched janet. goddammit this man is going to be his husband, and that's genuinely what sergei thinks of him. and he's not even entirely sure it's not his own fault.

gets it together and walks through the door and straight to the counter without another word for sergei because he needs a minute and some alcohol to think about this. holds up two fingers and then waits because seriously all they make here is cider. he misses that whisky already.]

[inenochian]

[ has a brief, lovely daydream that maybe if he can just offend ernest enough, he'll call the wedding off and it won't be nikolai's reputation at stake.

maybe he can convince his brother to let him court the merchants' duck-footed daughter instead. she seems both gentle and chaste. he could handle that, at least much better than he can handle the idea of being married to the town's drink and darts champion with a trail of ex-lovers. ]

[ all of that aside, though, something about ernest just straight up gives him the heebs and or the jeebs. ]

[rhymeswithdesign]

[boy howdy do you have some interesting ideas about amber that ernest in no way has any background to disabuse you of nope.

it's more of a feeling. or it would be if he were psychic.

and anyway it's more one psycho ex-lover than a string, per se. comes back toward sergei with a pint of cider in each hand and jerks his chin over at an unoccupied booth.]

C'mon.

[overthewall]

[ side-eyes the couple from across the room, tensing up almost immediately while replacing the screen in a window only a few feet away. holds little screwdriver just a little tighter.

ernest. ]

[inenochian]

[ follows the cider. he hasn't been hungry all day, the thought of eating is just completely without merit, but that. that beautiful liquid right there. ]

[ slides into his side of the booth and sets upon his cider with total concentration. ]

[rhymeswithdesign]

[has a weird prickling feeling at the back of his neck, like someone's trying to kill him with her brain. or his brain. it might be a man's brain. you never know.

sits across from sergei and takes a long drink of cider, which on top of the half a bottle of whisky really helps settle his nerves yes it does.]

So. Cake. What kind of cake d'you want? Can't stomach angel food nor devil's food, so those are out. Red velvet?

[you wanna talk cake let's fucking talk about goddamn cake.]

[overthewall]

[ finishes with the screen and shoves screwdriver back in little tool belt. whips around, catches another glimpse of the two of them and snatches a chair from the nearest table.

drags it
across the floor
all the way to ernest and sergei's booth
and spins it around before plopping down into it. ]

Fancy seeing the both of you here. Mind if I join you?

[inenochian]

...


Yes.

[rhymeswithdesign]

[whips around at the sound of dragging.

has a moment of fear detached from any sense of recognition. like. seriously who the fuck is she. before he remembers that she's his crazy ex-girlfriend. obviously. duh.

but for a moment there it was like he'd never seen the woman before in his life.]

Peg. [warily.]

Not really certain that's for the best.

[overthewall]

[ hey now. jealous does not equal crazy. those are two different descriptive words!.

lights a cigarette and leans over table to drag ashtray closer to her to flick the ashes off. clearly not picking up on social cues, or at least is just ignoring them. ]

Oi, why not? It's certainly been a while. Surely the three of us have a lot of catching up to do. [ flick ]

[inenochian]

[ stares at her cigarette.

stares at it like it is speaking a demonic rite at him. ]

[ waits until she's left it hanging off her lip to reach up and take it, tapping it out in the ashtray before sliding the whole lot out of her reach. ]

We're in the middle of discussions. Regarding the wedding.

[rhymeswithdesign]

And to think it could have been even longer still.

[gazes longingly at her cigarette, and then with growing apprehension as sergei forcefully denies it. oh. maybe it's peg he doesn't like and not cigarettes? this could be a problem because ernest is a very dedicated smoker. in fact—

reaches out and snags the cigarette, pops it between his teeth, smiles at peggy around it, and lays his hand on sergei's wrist.]

That's right. Seryozha and me are going to be married. You remember, right?

[overthewall]

How could I forget?

[ my cigarette. eyes the ashtray where her precious commodity was just placed and then once again stolen by ernest, who is the last person on this planet who deserves something so sacred.

forces a smile but it quickly fades. ]

Hadn't yet received my invitation so I briefly thought it may have been called off. Maybe it just got lost in the mail.

[inenochian]

[ looks back and forth between the two of them, still eyeing the cigarette like it's the serpent of lies in tobacco form, then downs half his cider in one go before getting to his feet. ]

I prefer lemon to red velvet, but you know which of Mister Walsh's recipes will be best. Excuse me.

[ makes a break for the door. ]

[rhymeswithdesign]

No such luck, darling, we're still terribly in love an—

[and then sergei just shoots the rest of his goddamn cider and then makes a break for it, leaving ernest totally alone and defenseless with his crazy ex-girlfriend. stares accusingly at his back until the door swings shut, then glances sidelong at peggy.]

Well. As you can see. we can't keep our fucking hands off each other. So. Yes. The fucking wedding's still fucking on.

[overthewall]

[ snorts so very unattractively and slides into the newly unoccupied booth, sliding the empty glass to the end of the table. NOT CRAZY, JEALOUS. ]

Bit of a nervous one, ain't he? Was it something I said?

[rhymeswithdesign]

He's a lot of a nervous one, mate. Who can fucking tell what's the matter with him?

[taking his pint a lot slower than sergei was, because there's not really a rush. well. he feels like he's forgetting something, but he's been feeling that since janet lef— oh fuck.

downs the rest of his pint.]

Look love, sorry, got to dash...