Happy Daze (cont.)

[Existentially Odd]

(Continued from \'Happy Daze\')

To say Phinneus skulked into the main room of the tavern wouldn\'t be completely accurate, but he did enter the premises cautiously.  After a brief and furtive glance around, he led Hew to a corner table and sat quickly, thankful that such a position was available, due to it being so early in the evening.

He waited until his companion was sitting before he spoke.  "Are ye interested in a meal, then?" he enquired politely, settling his clothes and himself into his seat a little fussily.  It was his way of turning his head and gauging just who was in the room thus far.

[Trillian]

"Yes, please," Hew replied, wondering what kind of meal an establishment such as this would serve.  He guessed correctly that they wouldn\'t have proper menus for their clientele would likely not be able to read.  He didn\'t miss the ale-stained floorboards (or was it urine that trekked an old yellow path down the wallface onto the floor? Hew was disgusted to note), nor the sweaty smell of the place.  Thankfully the brewing ale covered it, and it was a smell that Hew actually liked.  He\'d smelt it before, though had only been allowed sips of wine.  Ale was reserved for commoners, his advisers would say, but his father had admitted to him on more than one occassion that he\'d liked a good cold glass of it himself.

He was wide-eyed and reached up to play with his hair once more, twisting it into a tail at the back of his head and then letting it go so that it eventually lost its shape and drifted about his shoulders again.

"\'Oo let in that young scruff, then, eh?" came a nasaly waitresses voice as she approached the pair, but dropped Phinn a wink as though sharing a joke with him.  "Want the \'ouse meal?  And a jug?"

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn replied with a wink of his own, giving her the obligatory look-over as if he was very interested in what he saw (even though he wasn\'t).  Compliments were paid differently in these parts of town, though.  "Two," he told her with a handsome smile.  "And two shots with the jug," he added, withdrawing his money up front so that she knew he was good to pay for a small glass of spirits as well as the rest.  He even tipped her a copper, with another appreciative wink.

When she was gone, he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, his forearms crossing one another agilely so that his fingers could entwine, back to back and to the left of his face while he watched Hew with interest.  "Come here much?" he asked conversationally, willing to bet his eye teeth that the boy had never set foot in the place - but wanting to be sure.

[Trillian]

Hew shook his head, cleared his throat and then replied in case Phinn hadn\'t known what the gesture had meant.  "No, sir," he said respectfully, glancing around and amazed by the amount of cleavage he\'d had near his face when the waitress had talked to them.  He was also quite surprised at the ungentlemanly way Phinn had looked at her and had been embarrassed as a result, flushing lightly in the dim light of the tavern, which couldn\'t be much seen.

He was also surprised that Phinn\'s order had been met with relish.  Even though he was a healthy lad, there was no way he was drinking age, though he\'d heard tales of farmboys being served as young as thirteen in the Broken Wheel and always getting carted off home with a threat to the barmen.  This was just nobility gossip at parties however, and he\'d taken it with a grain of salt, for how would nobility know such things, unless the guards talked?  He\'d questioned the Captain about the truth of this gossip and she\'d told him off for listening to rumours before later confirming them.

"Do you?" he asked, his wide eyed stare returning.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn smiled beguilingly at his companion.  "Once or twice a week, I guess.  Depends on how much business I gots to be discussin\'," he answered with a  shrug.  "I don\'t mind the place," he sniffed as his gaze trailed over the room with apparent disinterest (it was a practiced look, that was for certain), "but I don\'t got the money to be here all the time - and that\'s not even takin\' into account what ain\'t stolen," he chuckled.

His speech broke off as their drinks were delivered, along with the announcement that their meals would be along soon.  Phinn lifted the small spirits glass and held it up towards Hew, expecting it to be tapped in a toast.  "Here\'s to new experiences," he said with that same cheeky smile.

[Trillian]

Hew picked up the glass in much the same manner Phinn did, smiling at the waitress as she ambled off and copying Phinn\'s actions.

"To new experiences," Hew repeated with a grin, clinking the shot glass against Phinn\'s own before taking a quick gulp of the contents inside.  His eyes instantly watered and his throat burned with the alcohol.  Hew gripped the edge of the table and held his breath before releasing it through his nose, which made his nose hairs seem to curl within.

"Holy mother Adora," he said, as close to cussing as he could, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes momentarily before blinking through the haze at Phinn.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn laughed uproariously and poured an ale for Hew into the tankard that had come with their jug.  He then pushed the large mug across the table at the young prince, sloshing a little over the side.  "Here, chase it down, boy.  Put the fire out!" he whooped, close to tears himself - but only because he was laughing so hard.  He wanted to try holding it in so as not to draw unwanted attention to the two of them, but it was very difficult when watching the virgin reactions across from him.

[Trillian]

A chagrined smile before Hew did as was told, doubtful that the alcohol of one drink would sedate the alcohol of another, but it appeared to be true as his throat cooled and his eyes stopped watering.  He could still taste it on his breath and he was already feeling light-headed from it.

"You\'re laughing at me," he said and tried to pout but couldn\'t because a smile kept sneaking onto his face.  He sipped constantly at the beer before him until it was gone in a fast minute.  He liked ale, he decided, and was secretly pleased that he shared this liking with his father.

[Existentially Odd]

"Yessir, I am," Phinn agreed merrily, finding the spirits had rekindled his fading buzz - as had his quick slug of ale.  He re-filled their mugs as he continued to chat.  "Can\'t help it," he announced, "y\'re a pretty drunk," he laughed, not missing that pouty lip, even if it didn\'t behave as it should.

"So tell me," he continued blithely, wanting to see how quickly and effectively the alcohol would work on the teenager.  "What\'s your fondest past experience?  Want to know what I\'m up against, I do," he grinned, seeing entertaining the prince as a challenge he could very easily meet.

[Trillian]

"I felt like I was flying once," he said carefully after a moment.  He knew that the charade of being a merchant\'s son had to stay protected, so he sluffed the lie a little.  "A family friend visited, had a horse in the stables.  He took me out to see it and ride it.  We went so fast... it was like flying.  Wind in my hair," he closed his eyes and thought about every time he\'d ever gone riding, with his horse at full gallop.  "There was dew on the ground and moisture in the air, like drinking water through my skin."

It was a very odd description, rather poetic, but this was his favourite experience - horse riding.

[Existentially Odd]

The pretty words subdued Phinn in a way the man hadn\'t anticipated, for he could envision exactly what Hew had experienced and wondered if that was what it would be like for him.  He would like to know, really, though horses scared him.

"I\'ain\'t never been on a horse," he admitted, head cocked as he looked honestly at the boy.  "The way you say it... makes me want t\'," he laughed deprecatingly, glancing almost shyly into his ale before taking another swallow.

"Don\'t reckon I can top that," he declared in a far more confident tone once he\'s placed his mug back on the table, "but I\'ll try and see what I can show the likes of you, what don\'t see the darker side o\'the city much," he grinned.

[Trillian]

Hew\'s eyes opened and he watched Phinn for a long time, thinking over his words with a slow calculation.  It felt like his wits were numbing, but there was a nice buzz settling over him.  He was surprised at how quickly it had developed and thought it was possibly one of two things (if not both); that the shot of liquor at the start had been what had tripped him so quickly without food in his stomach as yet, and the fact he\'d never drunk anything alcoholic beyond a quarter glass of wine.

"I like what you\'re showing me," Hew told him eventually.  "You\'re full of wisdom.  Street intelligent," the Prince finally said, and because he had academic intelligence, he held street intelligence in higher esteem.  "I like that a lot.  Makes me come back," he said, then gulped half a glass of ale.

[Existentially Odd]

The blonde smirked.  "Ain\'t showed ya\' naught but t\'inside o\'the bar yet," he remarked wryly, finding the comment funny enough to laugh at once more.  He always found himself pretty damn clever, but was firmly of the belief that alcohol increased his wit with teh wetting of his tongue.

"We\'ll get t\'the street part soon enough," he announced dismissively, his eyes lighting up as their meals arrived and a trencher of gristly meat, crumbly vegetables and rivers of gravy were placed in front of them.  Phinn tucked in with delight, making no attempt to use the cutlery provided and licking his grubby fingers clear of gravy after every mouthful.

[Trillian]

Hew, on the other hand, took one look at the meal before him and attempted to eat the vegetables but only managed one.  Pushing it to one side, he sipped at his second glass of ale instead, getting a really nice droning sensation in his head and smiling pleasantly at Phinn while he ate.

"My eyelids are like the curtains in the Banquet Room," he said after a moment.  "Long and heavy," he said, then rethought himself.  "But not blue."  Then he grinned lazily and cast a sleepy-eyed look at Phinn.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinneus opened his mouth to point out that not everyone knew what the inside of the palace\'s Banquet Room looked like (he certainly didn\'t, but he knew the place existed because all the toffs went there for their royal meals) but he hesitated, realising he shouldn\'t make such a big deal of it.

Instead, he smiled warmly at his young friend, a genuine thing that lit up his eyes in an almost loving manner.  He could\'ve kissed him, having finally let slip the truth -and all it took was getting him drunk.  He looked the prince over affectionately, knowing he should prompt the lad to eat some food so that the alcohol in his belly didn\'t make him sick, but not caring enough about preventing the chatty effects of no food to do something about that.

"Well, if that be yer way of tellin\' me y\'be wantin\' to go home t\'bed, child, I s\'pose I could accommodate that," he said slyly, wiping what felt to be a dollop of gravy off his chin with his sleeve.

[Trillian]

"No, I\'m not tired," Hew declared, fighting off the effect of the alcohol as best he could.  He rubbed his eyes and then blinked at Phinn before deciding to tell him a memory that had come to him quite randomly, though it did seem to have a point.  "When I was little I would pretend to sleep and then wander the... uh..."  Palace was the wrong word, what was the word for the buildings merchants lived in?  He couldn\'t remember.  "Home," he substituted lamely.  "I\'d found this little nook just off one of the... uh... the sitting room, and would crawl into that space and pretend things.  Can\'t remember what but I would play all sorts of pretend games just because I was in that little three wall corner."  He giggled prettily then looked at Phinn after a moment, feeling like it was his turn to say something.

[Existentially Odd]

"Like tight spaces then, do ye\'?" Phinn inquired with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk that knew no bounds.  He found himself staring at Hew\'s lips thoughtfully, marvelling at how perfect that refined little laugh of his was and wondering if it was breeding or training that could make even a laugh sound royal.

He supposed he brayed noise when he was genuinely amused, he simply wasn\'t controlled in any sense of the word.  The more time he spent with an inebriated prince, the less the need for control impacted upon him, too (or maybe it was the effect of the ale, after all).  It was a dangerous line to tread and a modicum of responsibility did reside in his soul, for he wante dthe boy to come back.  He would be of no use to him if their first night together was a blow-out and he got no further visits.

He waved his lewd suggestion aside almost as soon as he\'d said it, deciding that the prince wouldn\'t understand anyway.  "And none o\'the servants ever found ye and sent ye back t\'bed?" he asked slyly, seeing that Hew was confessing a history of sneaking about to him and liking that secretive information.  It made Phinn feel special - and, let\'s face it, no other common man in the castle grounds could boast this sort of position with royalty.  Hew liked the way Phinn showed him things and Phinn liked how he could influence the heir to the throne so easily.

They were a pairing meant to be.  He just had to make sure he didn\'t tempt fate too much straight away.

[Trillian]

Phinn guessed correctly, the innuendo went straight over his head, though it might not have if the youth wasn\'t addled.  He might\'ve been a virgin, but that didn\'t make him innocent to the workings of sex.  At the question of servants finding him, Hew shook his head and raised his hand to his lips, rubbing them and looking at his plate, thinking how the food looked a lot more appealing now, suddenly.

He reached for a bouquet of broccoli and picked it up daintily with his fingers, shaking off a little of the gravy before popping it into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully.  He went for some more after swallowing it.

"I\'m fairly good at sneaking around," he said, then smiled at his own secret joke, that was a secret between the both of them and not just himself, which he believed incorrectly.

[Existentially Odd]

"Sounds like you\'ve had plenty of practice," Phinn told the boy rosily, wishing for him to expand on his escapades, so he spoke in a manner of admiration.  The more he knew about the young prince, the better his position was, he believed.

"And your mam and da never knew either?  You\'ve never run into any trouble in all yer sneakin\' about?" he asked guilelessly.

[Trillian]

"I\'ve never given them cause for concern," he said, for he\'d been a good little Prince, and a smart one at that.  He\'d always folllowed their instruction, never shirked his chores (and both parents admitted that he had some boring tasks to attend to, and congratulated him for not making anywhere near as much noise as his complaining sisters), and always spoke the truth.  Until, of course, he\'d started climbing over the wall to experience his world from a different perspective - and so far he hadn\'t been caught, nor questioned.  It was during his private study time that he went, and he was well ahead of his studies for they came easily to him, that he had time to spare.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn paused as he attempted to extract a bit of gristle from between his two front teeth, watching the boy thoughtfully.  He really was a golden child, had everyone fooled that he was always doing the right thing.  It set the criminal\'s mind to wondering...

"Except for now," he amended on Hew\'s behalf, sucking at the bit of meat since he had to remove his grubby stump of a nail from his mouth.  It did him no good anyway, it wasn\'t long enough for picking anything out of teeth.  "Where exactly do they think you are right now, then?" he asked slyly, eyebrows raising.

[Trillian]

"I\'ll tell them I went for a walk in the maze," he said, then realised that the maze was inside the Palace ground, "maze of markets and shop streets," he amended "and on my way home I lost track of time," he said.  It was something Hew had done before, but on Palace grounds with guards patrolling, it wasn\'t exactly something that anybody would worry too much about.

He popped another piece of cauliflower into his mouth and chewed on it with a pensive quality that only the drunk could afford.  "Everything\'s hazy," he said, then looked at Phinn.  "Cept you.  You\'re sharp.  Very sharp."  He tapped his nose, liking Phinn because of their banter, and trying to recreate it, though a little less subtly than usual for his finesse was a little degraded.

[Existentially Odd]

"One of us needs to be sharp," Phinn grinned toothily, chuckling at the same time.  His meal had rather settled his drunkenness, so he was of the mind to order them another shot of spirits to keep the onversation

flowing and informative

light, but he was aware that Hew likely wouldn\'t be able to handle that.

"If you keep eating your vegetables like a good lad, I\'ll buy you another drink, though," he offered with a saucy wink, his tongue snaking forward to worry at the spot where the gristle wouldn\'t be dislodged from his teeth - giving him a decidedly more lecherous look than intended (for once).  "That\'ll make things dance in the hazy bits," he promised.  "So long as I\'m sharp though, we gots nothin\' t\'worry about."

[Trillian]

Hew grinned at the proposal and picked at the vegetables easily now, making sure to hunt them down through the ocean of gravy and eat them all - thereby declaring his desire to Phinn that he wanted another drink.  There was a nice warm buzzing in him and he wanted to explore it further.

He trusted Phinn, even though he knew the man had some rather sly ways about him and wasn\'t someone who Hew would consider generally trustworthy, he couldn\'t help the fact that he was eager to follow Phinn wherever the man would lead.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinneus laughed yet again and signalled the waitress that he required some service.  The night had set in over the keep now, though, and the bar was filling up, so she was a little slow arriving at their table to take their order (not too slow, though, for she remembered well those who tipped her consistently).  Once that was taken, however, two more shots of spirit and a fresh jug of ale appeared very quickly on their table.

She took the remains of Phinn\'s licked-clean trencher (via a persistent finger swiping up gravy and licking the liquid off) away and allowed him the room he desired to raise his little shot glass again. "To staying sharp!" he crowed, waiting for his container to be clinked before he knocked it back and chased it down with a whole mugful of ale.

He realised quickly that he wasn\'t as sharp as he\'d anticipated, though, once that was all down, and he began contemplating what sort of experiences he could subject the prince to without his full complement of wits.

[Trillian]

The prince, after chasing down the spirit with a half-mug of ale, made a not-so-princely belch afterward, then clapped his hands over his mouth, staring wide-eyed at Phinn before erupting into gales of laughter behind his hands.  So much laughter that it hurt his sides and he eventually began to cough.  Once this was under control, he wiped his eyes which were teary, and sat back in his chair, enjoying the growing numb warmth and smiling contentedly at Phinn.

[Existentially Odd]

"You\'re very drunk," Phinn observed, watching the teenager through squinted eyes that gave him quite a seductive look (though it was only because the alcohol was getting to him and it was easier to focus if the borders of his vision were narrower).  His chin was resting in his left hand, his right lifting off the table long enough to point waveringly at Hew before dropping again, elegantly sprawled across the worn wood.

"Are you gon\' be able t\'walk home?" he enquired, pondering the same thing of himself.  He\'d already taken a good amount of the next jug of ale into him and he was still weighing up those options.  He\'d been planning to take Hew to a dice game after their meal but there would be too big a crowd to attempt such a thing in their current state; they\'d likely be robbed blind and stabbed within five minutes of arriving.  The cock fights would be much the same.

The safest place to take Hew for new experiences was therefore his mother\'s brothel - at least the girls were better quality than what could be found willing to kneel and suck in the alleyways on the way back to his place - but he wasn\'t entirely sold on the notion right now.  It seemed a better idea to take the boy back to his loft so he could sleep the alcohol\'s effects off, then stumble home.

The longer he was away from the palace, of course, the more the chance of the prince being discovered missing arose; Phinn couldn\'t decide whether that would be a good or a bad thing, in the long run.  In his current state, it seemed bad, but time would tell.  Besides, he\'d paid his dues as a brothel worker and would likely do a far better job on the prince than any strumpet could.  The thought caused him to giggle to himself.

[Trillian]

"Yesh," Hew declared with the confidence of a being who\'d lost his better judgement.  Hew was absolutely positive that he could manage everything he set his mind to.  The night was still young however, he didn\'t wish to head home just yet.  "But I dun want to go yet," he informed Phinneus with seriousness.  "You got something else... for me?" he asked, hiccuping in the middle of his sentence and then giggling over it before stifling a yawn behind his hand and then staring blearily at Phinn with concentration.  "There\'s a fire in my belly," he informed Phinn, the intention innocent but coupled with the man\'s thoughts and Hew\'s innocent remark that there was something else for him, it was easy to think Hew was moving along the same wavelength.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn\'s smile grew lazily within the cradle of his hand and he chuckled huskily as he looked the prince over and gave in to his most extravagant ponderings, trying to decide whether pursuing any of his visions would be a good thing or not.

He didn\'t want to scare the boy, just warm him up a little and have him curious enough to keep coming back - that little tinge of hero worship was rather nice, too, he had to admit.  He needed to move fairly slowly anyway, so anything he did do would need to be relatively modest.  This time.

"I can put that out," he vowed, "or... I can stoke it," he considered mildly, raising his eyebrows at the teenager.  There was heat and promise in his gaze now, for he let it show through deliberately, wondering if the young regent was above temptation or whether he\'d simply declared himself afire due to the spirits he\'d imbibed.

"It\'s completely up to you," Phinn murmured, glittering blue eyes looking Hew over openly.  He might\'ve been promising a heated game of chess for all that was said and he still half expected that that\'s how the boy would choose to interpret it, in order to err on the sid eof caution.  The pup might surprise the old dog yet, though, best to play it safe.

[Trillian]

That look.

It pierced through Hew\'s cloud enough for him to be a little intimidated by that gaze and know that it was different to how most people looked at him.  He\'d not come into contact with such a look before, not so obviously and not directed toward him.  He\'d seen people give others that look and had been amused and curious by it, but with it directed at him he realised now how powerful such a stare was.

Instinct guided him as to its meaning though it was something completely new for him to deal with.  He respected Phinn, liked him a lot, hadn\'t expected to be on the receiving end of that look, and he was drunk.  It made him feel socially blind and uncertain, fumbling for the most diplomatic response but unable to think of something.

"Is that why you got me drunk?" he asked suddenly, then was unable to stop his smile from creeping over his face, his cheeks rosy and his eyes sparkling from the heat of the drinks roaring in his belly, keeping him warm and happy.

[Existentially Odd]

The blonde chuckled warmly, not moving too overtly.  He wanted to ask Hew what he thought of the offer, what he envisioned might come of it and whether he\'d decided he did want to go home now, after all.

All of it was fine with Phinn, who had plenty of entertainment around him, should he wish it and was content with insinuations that might make the teenager before him wonder.  They\'d bring him back as certainly as anything done would, he was sure.  The curiosity of teenagers was always to be relied upon in his experience, no matter where they came from or whose important legs they\'d slid out from between.

"Coming here for a few drinks was just the first experience I felt like having with you tonight," he replied enigmatically, still smiling at the prince.  "\'S\'not my faultyou can\'t hold yer liquor," he giggled, his eyes dancing at Hew.

[Trillian]

Hew\'s smile broadened at the slight and lowered his gaze as he considered Phinn\'s offer before looking back up the man he idolized and risked getting caught for.  A long time ago he\'d switched from sneaking out to play with the common boys to sneaking out to spend time with Phinn.  The man had a viewpoint that would\'ve given his advisors ulcers, strong opinions and a different perspective, arguments that would make Hew\'s head spin, charismatic enough for the Prince to want to please him, to get to know him better, and curious enough to know what things Phinn wanted to do with him.  It had been a clever thing, for Phinn to rely on the latter, because it was burning brightly in Hew\'s mind.

"So how are you going to stoke the fire?" he said, trying to sound mature and playing a game which was way over his head, but pretending that it wasn\'t.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn gave a breathy laugh and lifted his chin off his hand in favour of crossing his arms before him and leaning on his elbows on the table instead.  The change of position was also a good opportunity to dart a few glances around the room to see if they were being looked at any differently to normal.  Of course, in his state, \'glances\' were rather slower than what he achieved and he was weighted with the knowledge that he wasn\'t exactly at the top of his game right now.  They weren\'t particularly safe out on the streets and the urge to get them somewhere private was growing (mainly due to the paranoia of knowing who he had with him).

"C\'n try a coupl\'a things," he told Hew haughtily, raising his eyebrows in a superior manner that suggested he wasn\'t going to give away any details just yet - but the pretence lasted for all of about five seconds, for he gave up the details immediately.  "C\'n take ya\' t\'me mam\'s place and set ye up with the new experience o\'your choice," he explained with a little slur now beginning to be noticeable in his words, "or take ya\' back t\'my place an\'... stoke ya there," he finished with a giggle, as if he was shy about saying such things.

[Trillian]

A brothel didn\'t appeal at all so the decision was made quickly.

"Your place," he said, then shyly took a sip from the last half glass of ale he had.  The blush on his cheeks might\'ve been given to him from alcohol, but it would\'ve reached his face anyway.  He felt charmed and alive, breathless and bouyant with the expectation of something... well, he wasn\'t really sure what, but he knew it would be intimate.

Phinn was a leader, and Hew was turning into his follower, heavily influenced regardless of the alcohol in his system, but the latter made for less care in his decisions.  It gave Hew the ability not to weigh up the consequences, to simply do as he wanted without worrying about what it might look like, to who and when.  He liked not having status, he liked not having to care about what others thought - except, of course, about what Phinn thought.  He cared much about that.

[Existentially Odd]

Phinn smiled and stood up abruptly, knowing he was sliding further into drunkenness with every moment he sat there letting the ale he\'d imbibed settle into him.  He needed to ride the wave of what sobriety he had left in order to get home, and that meant leaving now.

The fact that Hew would need to get to the palace even after that was a niggle in the back of his mind but didn\'t worry him too much just then (although the visions of guards busting down his door and throwing him into the dungeons for taking advantage of Prince Mayhew were persistent and worrisome enough to keep the niggle in place).  His first priority was getting back to his lovely townehouse.

"Right, then," he announced, gesturing for his companion to get to his feet, "we shall away, then."  He laughed when Hew stood up and promptly sat back down, having absolutely no drunk-legs whatsoever, and circled the table to wind an arm beneath his and haul him up.  Phinn was surprised at how much bulk there was to the boy, having never touched him before.  "Let\'s get you home safe then, me lovely," he said with grim determination, and made a beeline for the exit.

(Continued in \'Happy Daze\')