Member
Kaye nodded in agreement. "Yes...yes it is. This is going to work...I just know it."
Jace stayed at the bar for a couple hours more after Kaye and Leith left, working hard on achieving his goal of getting completely snockered. After a few more beers, a couple friendly hands of Caravan, and some complimentary vodka shots offered by his new buddy for winning both hands, it became official. He could barely stand on his on two feet when he stood up to leave.
It wasn't very often when he drank because he was afraid of becoming just like his useless father was. Only in times of high stress did he turn to the bottle, but ever since this mission had started did he turn to it more and more as tensions always ran high when traveling through the dangers of the Deeper South. If finding out about the death of your best friend wasn't good enough reason to drink, though, he didn't know what was. At least he'd managed to forget for awhile. Unlike most of his bar visits, he surprisingly didn't get caught up in a bar brawl but that was mostly because he hadn't been able to stand properly and would have done more damage to himself than the other person. Not that there was a problem with that.
He didn't know what time it was when he finally stumbled out of the bar, but it couldn't have been too late for the lamps lighting the streets were still lit. It was slow progress, but he managed to stumble through the streets in the direction that his friend told him where a small motel was. The closer he got, the more aware that he became that he didn't even know where Basil had gone off to after their departure. For all he knew, he could have been half way to the next town and decided to leave him after all. Perhaps he decided to run off with Leith like he threatened to back at the vault; was that why the ghoul and Kaye left the bar so suddenly? To make sure he was too drunk to follow so they could sneak off in the middle of the night? Even through his drunken stupor, he couldn't bring himself to believe that, but the seed of doubt had already been planted and ate away at his mind.
Just as he made it to the motel, a man was walking out of the building and turning the key in the lock. Seeing him made him speed up a little, though it was a bad idea as he nearly stumbled to the ground to catch up.
"Hey...hey, sir!" He had to grab onto the door frame to steady himself.
"Jesus, son. Are you drunk or something?" The old man shook his head at him. "Sorry, we're closed for the night."
"I need a room for the night. I don't have many caps, but-"
"We are closed. Go sleep it off in an alley or someplace." Just as he started to walk off, Jace grabbed him by the shoulder.
"My friend...he carries the caps and has disappeared on me. If you can jus'...let me stay the night, I-"
"This friend of yours...short, scrawny kid with brown hair? Named after a herb? Parsley, I think it was."
"...Yes?" Jace was unsure where this was heading and couldn't draw a formal conclusion in his muddled brain.
"He said that someone might drop by later asking for him. Told me to let you in if you did, though he said he thought you left him" He looked him up and down for a moment as if contemplating on telling Jace. "Don't go causing any trouble."
"No, would't dream of it."
"Room 24 on the right side, bottom floor. It's the last one."
"Thank you."
He was thankful that he'd give the description of the location because he never would have found it otherwise without knocking on every door through the place. He didn't even knock on the door as he turned the door handle, thankful that it hadn't been locked and stumbled inside. His heart jumped into his throat when he caught sight of Basil, who was sitting on the bed, reading a notebook that he always wrote things in with every vault they visited. The contents of the pages were lost on Jace, but he wasn't there to be the brains of the operation, anyways.
"You're here..." Jace shut the door gently and locked all the locks before turning to look at him, wide eyed. He honestly hadn't thought this over in his mind before coming in here, so he was at a complete loss of words right now. "Thought you might've left by now. You should've." He couldn't help the anger that leaked into his words and didn't even notice it himself.
Jace stayed at the bar for a couple hours more after Kaye and Leith left, working hard on achieving his goal of getting completely snockered. After a few more beers, a couple friendly hands of Caravan, and some complimentary vodka shots offered by his new buddy for winning both hands, it became official. He could barely stand on his on two feet when he stood up to leave.
It wasn't very often when he drank because he was afraid of becoming just like his useless father was. Only in times of high stress did he turn to the bottle, but ever since this mission had started did he turn to it more and more as tensions always ran high when traveling through the dangers of the Deeper South. If finding out about the death of your best friend wasn't good enough reason to drink, though, he didn't know what was. At least he'd managed to forget for awhile. Unlike most of his bar visits, he surprisingly didn't get caught up in a bar brawl but that was mostly because he hadn't been able to stand properly and would have done more damage to himself than the other person. Not that there was a problem with that.
He didn't know what time it was when he finally stumbled out of the bar, but it couldn't have been too late for the lamps lighting the streets were still lit. It was slow progress, but he managed to stumble through the streets in the direction that his friend told him where a small motel was. The closer he got, the more aware that he became that he didn't even know where Basil had gone off to after their departure. For all he knew, he could have been half way to the next town and decided to leave him after all. Perhaps he decided to run off with Leith like he threatened to back at the vault; was that why the ghoul and Kaye left the bar so suddenly? To make sure he was too drunk to follow so they could sneak off in the middle of the night? Even through his drunken stupor, he couldn't bring himself to believe that, but the seed of doubt had already been planted and ate away at his mind.
Just as he made it to the motel, a man was walking out of the building and turning the key in the lock. Seeing him made him speed up a little, though it was a bad idea as he nearly stumbled to the ground to catch up.
"Hey...hey, sir!" He had to grab onto the door frame to steady himself.
"Jesus, son. Are you drunk or something?" The old man shook his head at him. "Sorry, we're closed for the night."
"I need a room for the night. I don't have many caps, but-"
"We are closed. Go sleep it off in an alley or someplace." Just as he started to walk off, Jace grabbed him by the shoulder.
"My friend...he carries the caps and has disappeared on me. If you can jus'...let me stay the night, I-"
"This friend of yours...short, scrawny kid with brown hair? Named after a herb? Parsley, I think it was."
"...Yes?" Jace was unsure where this was heading and couldn't draw a formal conclusion in his muddled brain.
"He said that someone might drop by later asking for him. Told me to let you in if you did, though he said he thought you left him" He looked him up and down for a moment as if contemplating on telling Jace. "Don't go causing any trouble."
"No, would't dream of it."
"Room 24 on the right side, bottom floor. It's the last one."
"Thank you."
He was thankful that he'd give the description of the location because he never would have found it otherwise without knocking on every door through the place. He didn't even knock on the door as he turned the door handle, thankful that it hadn't been locked and stumbled inside. His heart jumped into his throat when he caught sight of Basil, who was sitting on the bed, reading a notebook that he always wrote things in with every vault they visited. The contents of the pages were lost on Jace, but he wasn't there to be the brains of the operation, anyways.
"You're here..." Jace shut the door gently and locked all the locks before turning to look at him, wide eyed. He honestly hadn't thought this over in his mind before coming in here, so he was at a complete loss of words right now. "Thought you might've left by now. You should've." He couldn't help the anger that leaked into his words and didn't even notice it himself.