I Thought Alcohol Was Just For Those Who Had Nothing Else To Do

[buryyoualive]

Who: Lilah Morgan AND You
What: Drunken shenanigans
When: Backdated to New Year's eve/Early New Year's morning
Where: The gardens
Rating: PG-13. Will change if it gets worse

Comments

[_fredless]

Fred's still wearing her smile as protection against the cold, still in especially good spirits from her conversation with Elektra. That it'd been shared on the floor of the castle lobby is really beside the point.

She is on her way to Caritas and cutting through the gardens when the flash of a familiar profile causes her footsteps to slow. She hasn't seen Lilah since they kissed, a memory she allowed to get jumbled and momentarily set aside with their time in Paris.

[buryyoualive]

Lilah stopped in her wandering when she heard the steps of somebody else. It took her a moment to steady herself enough to realize who it was.

It was Fred.

Normally, she would have some catty, witty remark at the ready, but right now she couldn't seem to do better than a half assed smirk and a calling of the other woman's name.

[_fredless]

Well then, that was definitely her name.

Fred let her steps slow and then still until she came to a stop just in front of Lilah. There was a such a thing as manners, after all.

"...Lilah." She tucked her hands deeper in her pockets against the winter chill. "Out enjoying the evening?"

[buryyoualive]

"Yes," She said with a nod of her head. She wasn't glad to see Fred, but the usually maliciousness, the need to tear her down to make herself feel superior, it wasn't quite as strong right now.

She can't remember when she last felt so relaxed.

"It's a nice evening."

[_fredless]

It was on the tip of Fred's tongue to ask about the water -- and if Lilah had been drinking it. And if not the water? Then the coffee or the tea or whatever else it was that Lilah was inclined to drink. Along with a suggestion that it might be best to stop.

But this was Lilah. And drunk or not, Fred suspected the other woman likely did not want to hear what she had to say. The rare exception had been when they met to discuss her death.

But that conversation felt isolated, and meant never to be discussed again.

It occurred to Fred then the silence was stretching.

"It really is, at that. Nice, I mean."

[buryyoualive]

Fred was right. Lilah probably wouldn't listen well. She didn't really want to stop. Everything had felt so tight lately, so wound together, so compressed, it was nice to feel free from it, even if it was only the influence of the alcohol.

"Surprising that the Castle hasn't tried anything though. Other than making everyone drunk." She narrowed her eyes a little, as if trying to focus on something. It was hard to say what.

"Well, almost everyone."

[_fredless]

Fred's chin tilted sightly. There was no denying she was completely and utterly sober.

"Years of practice. All it takes is one year holed up in the library having a rambling conversation with your pet rabbit to think twice about drinking the water next year around."

She finally rugged her hands free from her coat.

"It still manages to sneak up on most people."

[buryyoualive]

"So you've gone the whole day without drinking anything?" She asked, her voice sounding perhaps more incredulous than she had intended to. "That's impressive."

And she didn't even sound that mocking this time. Further proof that she was far gone at this point.

[_fredless]

There's a whole lot of possible when you put your mind to it."

Despite the vague simplicity of the message, there is an unmistakable edge to it. And it's nothing so simple as getting through one day without water. Or food.

"I just had the advantage of know what I was up against."

[buryyoualive]

"It must be helpful, being here as long as you have. It helps you see what's coming, at least some of the time."

Because even in Lilah's short time here she had gathered that there were patterns. Things that seemed to happen every year, no matter what.

[_fredless]

"Helpful," Fred nodded almost absently. "That's always the word I use for it."

There were clearly other thoughts tangled up in that statement. But maybe ones she didn't intend to indulge in that night.

"Next up? Valentines Day..."

[buryyoualive]

"I remember that one," Lilah chuckled a little more loudly than she meant to. "Wes came and told me of all the troubles he got into that day."

[_fredless]

The sound of laughter, loud and unfiltered coming from Lilah? Caught Fred slightly off guard. It only made her that much more aware of her own sobriety.

"I warned him to stay inside. Not that he listened."

Next thing you knew the man was engaged and asking Lorne to officiate. And Fred was being asked to help shop for wedding dresses.

It was also another reminder of just now much Wesley and Lilah shared.

[buryyoualive]

"He was quite upset after," Lilah recalled with another smile. "Came to see me, telling me about everything that happened. He didn't like when I put on that ring though. Something about mocking what it meant or something."

Usually, Lilah didn't talk this open about things with Wesley, not even to make Fred uncomfortable. They were things she usually liked to keep hidden. Private.

[_fredless]

"The ring."

Despite her sobriety, Fred wasn't immediately following Lilah's train of thought. Maybe she did need to get a drink of some kind when she finally made it to Caritas.

"You mean Kaylee's ring? I didn't know he took it back."

[buryyoualive]

Lilah's lips grew into another smirk, a crueler one. There was comfort in knowing that there were still things she knew about Wesley that the other woman didn't. Parts of him that he had exposed only to her.

"It was a replica of his grandmother's."