Everything around her was blurred. The people, the lights, the walls, and her own thoughts were hazy and intangible. there were kids around her smiling at her; she could see the white of their teeth. Sometimes someone pushed something else into her hand and shed put it to her lips and swallow. Sometimes it was liquid, sometimes it wasn't but thats all her mind could distinguish. Somewhere deep down there were little red flags waving, but she quieted them down, slurring and smiling her way through the crowd.
She felt a forceful grip on her arm and realized she was being pulled. She was tripping on her feet along the way but whoever was guiding her didn't seem to notice. It was a sudden stop when the pressure when away. She wasn't sure what was going on. Her head was spinning. Without the person who was dragging her, she had no balance. She sagged down, but something much gentler picked her back up.
***
Chide slung one of Raze's limp arms over his shoulders and began pulling her up. People jeered at him to let her stay but he didn't listen.
"C'mon Raze, please just put one foot in front of the other. How did you even get like this?" It was like talking to a water fall. Her only responses were little gurgle noises that may or may not have been words. "Shit." Chide mumbled to himself. Raze was obviously no longer capable of functioning on her on. Whatever had been in that last bottle had been the last straw for her body to process. His own buzz was wearing off quickly, faced with the reality of the situation. Raze could easily die and if he left her there, there was a good chance nobody else would even notice.
He crouched down and heaved her dead weight up, waiting a second before rebalancing himself. "Let's get you're ass outta here, Harlow. Why am i always the one getting your ass out of trouble? I don't even like you!" It was an awkward shuffle from crowded room to crowded room but eventually they made it outside. The cool breeze was like a smack of clarity for chide and any high he'd still felt was quickly lost. Tonight was supposed to be his fun night, too... He tried to think of what to do next, but he really and no idea. He hardly knew the Harlow sisters, but he figured taking her back to Gail in this condition would be bad for both of them.
Even if he and gail were technically supposed to be partners now, he could tell she was looking for any excuse to call him out on something. She wanted a fight and she needed a reason and this would be the perfect excuse. Argos was out of the question as well. He would just get pissed at chide for even being at a party in the first place, let alone what he would say about Raze - his goddamn partner - getting fucking trashed.
"Ok, Raze, please stay conscious, ok?" He was basically talking to himself. Chide started walking in a direction he picked simply because it wasn't the way back to school. Raze's warm but shallow breaths tickled his neck and reassured him that she was at least still breathing. "Please don't puke on me," he mumbled.
Soon, he saw a familiar swing set, the same one Raze had been sitting on when he'd found her last semester after the first partner WeapTech class. He hurried over there and sat her beside the swing support, leaning her against the pole.
"Raze!" He called into her ear. "Open your eyes dammit!"
The girl blinked sluggishly. Chide tapped her cheek with his fingers, trying to clear her head. Jesus christ, she looked awful. He had no idea what she'd drank or took or even smoked, there were pretty much limitless possibilities especially if she'd gone there with Jenn. He wasn't calling an ambulance either, that would ruing both their chances at continuing at the DWMA. They had strict substance abuse policies. Even if Chide felt clear headed, they'd probably still get readings on the stupid joint he'd taken from Jack and the beer, even if it hadn't been much.
"I really can't believe I'm doing this." He wrapped a hand around Raze's waist and leaned her over. With his free hand he jammed a finger down the girl's throat, doing his best not be be gentle at all. Dumb bitch. He pulled it out as soon as he felt her body jerk, and pushed her over to the grass, trying to keep her hair out of her face and not look at her as she vomited up who knows what.
Her eyes were open now and she looked dully self aware. When she was don't throwing up, she clumsily pulled her hair away from chide's fist. It looked to Chide like she was going to say something to him when her shoulders lurched forward again and he quickly jerked her over to the grass again, trying to keep her steady and still keeping her hair out of her face. Raze groaned and leaned back on the swing set pole, with a bit of Chide's help. her eyes stayed closed for a while. Chide didn't feel right leaving her, so he waited. In the meantime, he grabbed one of the hair ties from her wrist, praising girls for always keeping them there, and tried his best to pull all the strands out of the path of any future upchucks. It was a really really hideous hairdo, but he didn't care.
It was a long wait, but Chide stayed right there, watching her like a hawk and waiting for any sign of consciousness. He checked his watch noting that hours were slowly dragging by. He hoped Argos wouldn't come looking for him, or worse, Gail. The dead weight leaning on his shoulder was beginning to become uncomfortable.
"Gail?"
The voice was tiny and gruff, scraping out of her throat and escaping in a whipser but it still made Chide jump in surprise. Raze's eyes were open, barely. They were tiny cracks in her pale skin; Chide wan't even sure if she could see him.
"No, Raze, its Chide." He tried to speak clearly but quietly. Raze's face scrunched up as she swiped a hand across her mouth.
"I feel like shit."
He snorted. "You look pretty bad too."
"Gee," She grumbled with a hint of a laugh, "Thanks." The girl pulled her knees into her chest and lay her head on her knees.
"Raze," Chide said, "You ok?" Her shoulders twitched in what he took for a shrug. "What were you doing there anyway? You don't know those people, do you?" She shook her head. "Did Jenn take you there?" A nod. Chide exhaled and slumped against the swing set. "Look, I know she's your quadmate and all, but I don't think you should be hanging out with her. She's nice but... She's into that scene and it'll only get you into situations like this."
"I'm not looking for a lecture, Chide. Please let's just forget it." Her tone was firm, but Chide pressed.
"Raze I'm serious. Some guy was taking you somewhere, did you even know him?" She shrugged. Chide was getting frustrated. "You could have been hurt. If you didn't end up in some back alley, you would have gotten expelled. I can't keep sticking my neck out for you if you won't listen, man. I can't keep up with you."
"Chide?"
He sighed, ready for the fangs and forked tongue to come out. "Yeah?"
"I don't give you enough credit, do i?"
His jaw dropped. "Uh..."
She laughed a bit but ended up coughing. "I'm serious. You do a lot for me and my sister. Thanks."
"You're...welcome?"
"This is the part where I'm supposed to get up and walk away, right?" She said, heaving her still unsteady self up. Immediately Chide moved to help her but she held up a hand for him to stay back. She turned away, walked a few steps and Chide expected her to just keep going. Instead, she plunked down in one of the swings and stayed there. "I'm sick of always walking away. God, it's so stupid."
Chide's eyebrows were wrenched into a deep furrow. He was confused, but he wasn't unhappy about the sudden change. "Why the change of heart?"
"Thats the thing," She said, gently pushing the swing with her feet but still gripping the chains for all she was worth. She was for from self sufficient at the moment and Chide was poised to catch her if she took a nosedive off the swing. "It's not a change of heart really."
"I don't get it."
"I don't expect someone like you, no offense, seriously, to get it." She looked down at the ground and added, "Christ do you have an aspirin, my head is on fire." Her words, he realized, were still a bit slurred.
"You don't need anymore drugs, kiddo."
"I'm older than you."
Chide grinned. "Yeah, so?"
She stuck her tongue out. "Ok, who would be more pissed, Argos or Gail?"
"Gail. Definitely Gail."
Raze smirked. "Yeah, definitely Gail."
"Do you want me to call her or anything?"
Raze looked terrified for a split second and then furious. "No."
Chide raised his hands in defense. He'd almost forgotten who he was dealing with. "Ok, Ok don't worry I won't. Bottom line is, you need somewhere to stay for a bit. You need water and sleep."
"I don't want to go back to Gail. She'd kill me and I can't have that, can I? We haven't fought in a while either, I don't want to start something."
"Maybe she'd understand if you told her you're ok? Or maybe try to blame Jenn, hey i don't care how low you gotta stoop. No one's judging."
"And what then, tell her I don't even remember where I was? Tell her you had to pull me out because I wasn't even self aware? Tell her I almost got..." Her eyes crinkled in disgust. "No. Even if she wasn't mad, she'd be really really upset. It'd freak her out, trust me."
"It's a pretty good trek back, though. Are you gonna be Ok walking?"
"I just told you I don't want to go back."
"I'm not leaving you here. Then I'd have two crazy weirdos fighting over who got to decapitate me."
"Well then what do you want me to do?"
"I'll call Argos. If you can still transform, he can carry you back. Stay with us for a few hours. Then go back to Gail and tell her you lost Jenn and got lost on the way back."
She thought it over. He was amazed she was considering it. "Don't call Argos. I can walk if you give me a couple more minutes." Chide sat down in the swing next to hers.
"You sure?" She gave him a thumbs up. "Ok, just... If you need to puke again or something, I won't judge." Raze laughed and nudged his swing with a half-assed kick.
"I'm fine, now." After a bit she added, "Thanks to you."
It was Chide's turn to give a thumbs up. He found himself laughing and smiling as they made dumb small talk. She told him a few stories about how she and Gail got into trouble as kids and he told her about the couple times that he and Argos had tried to be sneaky, much to their older brother's annoyance. He tried not to look at this night past the surface. Tomorrow Raze Harlow would be the same cold-hearted selfish girl his brother just happened to be partners with. She wouldn't say hi in the hall because they wouldn't be friends. She wouldn't talk to him in WeapTech aside from robotic words spat out before and after sparing. She might eat with him and his brother here and there after a partner class, but then she'd leave with gail after she was finished and that would be that. This was a fluke, he thought. The only time she'd ever talk to him and it made sense because her mind was so muddled. She wasn't herself, he reminded his brain as they both scoffed at the stupid idiosyncrasies of Argos. She was going to be back to normal tomorrow, he thought as he helped her off the swing and stayed close as they started back for the dorm building, sticking to the streets with lit street lights and avoiding anybody who may have been coming from the same place.
Sooner than he expected, the reached the dorm. But it must have been tough on Raze because by then she'd been leaning on his shoulder and stumbling. He helped her up the step and gave a glance up a few floors, expecting to see Gail's watchful eyes. His meister was not in sight and he heaved a sigh of relief, ushering Raze into his room.
The lights were already on and Argos was sitting on his bed mindlessly playing Halo. "Hey Chide." He sounded like a recording.
"Raze is here."
Argos's head whipped around so fast Chide thought he might have given himself whiplash.
"Hey," She mumbled, obviously embarrassed. "Chide maybe I should just go."
Chide shrugged and told her she could if she wanted, but Argos was already firing questions.
"What's going on, where were you, why does she look like shit, why do you look like shit, do you know what time it is, you could get us all expelled are you fucking crazy?" The questions were one big run on sentence.
Chide started to answer but raze slapped at his face. "I got it, I got it," she muttered, "Stupid ass. Let a girl speak for herself."
"Sor-ry, Go ahead then!"
Argos was about to remind them that he had just asked twenty thousand questions and none of them were answered when Raze looked him in the eye and asked him for a water bottle. He shut his mouth, shuffled over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle. He cracked it open and handed it to Raze who took a huge gulp and blinked a few times, trying to wake her mind up a bit.
"So...?" Argos urged, getting antsy.
"Your brother saved my ass from a lot of bad shit. End of story."
Argos looked to his brother for elaboration but chide shook his head. If Raze didn't want to give details, he wasn't gonna spill the beans, at least not in front of her. Argos's voice was getting louder and louder every time he spoke. "Bull shit. I want an explanation."
"You aren't my dad, Argos. I don't owe you any alibi." Raze was back to her old self, Chide lamented in his head.
"I'm your meister. The shit you get into affects my records too, now."
"Lay off, Argos. Let her sleep." Chide just wanted to do the same.
"How can I lay off when you two come back looking like you clawed your way out of the fucking grave? You don't think I deserve to know why I should't kick your asses out and tell you to come back clean?"
"Like you said, bro, if you did that you'd be fucking up your own agenda."
"I'll just go," Raze huffed.
"No," Argos said, grabbing her arm. "Your sister would have a fit."
"No different than you."
"A lot different than me."
Raze let that sink in.
Argos let her arm go and she pulled it back, close to herself. "Look, all I want is an explanation. That's all. Im not gonna give you a lecture after, just tell me what happened."
Raze gave him a look that could kill. "I said end of story."
"This," Argos jabbed, "Is why nobody wants to deal with you, Raze."
"Argos!" Chide's voice was a warning. Argos shook his head and turned away, back to his game and away from his fuck up of a brother and bitch of a weapon.
"She sleeps on your bed or on the floor." He threw the remark over his shoulder, doing his best to act like he wasn't upset.
Chide pulled the foam cover off his mattress and kicked things off the floor. "Here," He said to Raze. "Sorry, it kind of sucks but-"
"It's fine. Thanks." There was a hint of the girl from the swing set left in her freezing voice.
"No prob. If you need water, theres more in the fridge. If you need the bathroom, wake me up. This floors all guys so i'll stand outside." She nodded, already curling up on the makeshift bed and beginning to doze.
"Thanks Chide." She breathed, just loud enough for him to hear. He knocked her on the head once, lightly.
"Anytime."
