27th of Saun, Arc 720
Cierne had invited Diaval over for the night (much to Meinz’s displeasure). She had sneered at Cierne the moment she had mentioned his name.
It was like a curse around the tent these days. As to why, Cierne wasn’t sure. Everytime she asked why Meinz hated him so much the spirit had shrugged her shoulders and dissipated into the air leaving Cierne with a furtive expression of guilt and the feeling that she had done something terribly wrong. But it wasn’t her fault.
Since when had Cierne’s friend choices been any of Meinz’s business anyhow?
She tried to shake off the lingering assault on her relationship decisions as soon as Meinz had fled but they continued to waft around her like a rank fart.
Fortunately, upon Diaval’s arrival, the rankness had subsided, in turn replacing Cierne’s scowl with a look of pleasant joyfullness. He was wearing one of his nicer shirts today which made Cierne genuinely smile. Even if they were just friends, there was something she loved about a guy who dressed up just to hang out.
“Did you find the place okay?” The Naer joked as he slipped in through the tent flap.
He faked a laugh but his eyes shone with genuine amusement. He padded across the canvas flooring to a spot in front of his friend before brandishing a tall bottle from seemingly out of nowhere. Cierne could only guess the contents held liquor of some sort.
“Oh, you’re sly,” she remarked as he made himself comfortable. “Which cellar did you smuggle that out of?” She was referring to Diaval’s parents and how they had seemed to have an entire room full of nice wines and ales. She had only been to his parents’ place once but that room had stayed in her mind since.
“Har har,” he mocked. “If I didn’t know you any better I’d say you were a bit of an alcoholic. Are you only happy to see me because I bring alcoholic gifts?” He scoffed with a timid smile. He knew not to push Cierne too roughly when it came to liquor and her... fascination with it.
Cierne playfully punched him before stealing the bottle and pouring herself a tall glass.
“How dare you assume I don’t treasure your genuine friendship!” She feigned a look of hurt, throwing her hand up to her heart to boot.
After a few moments Cierne widened her eyes, continuing the ruse of being oblivious. “Oh, did you want some too?” She asked with a mischievous grin.
Diaval cocked his head to the side, a wave of sandy blond hair covering his ever changing eyes. “If you don’t mind,” he said, playing along.
Cierne grabbed another glass from her terribly small set of cutlery and poured him a small amount.
“Dare you treat me like a child!” He scorned, stealing the bottle back and adding more drink to his glass.
“I just want to make sure you aren’t too drunk before we get to the fun stuff.”
Diaval pushed the cork back into the bottle’s opening and laid it to the side. He took a generous sip of his wine. “And what fun stuff have you planned for us, my dear?”
Cierne’s eyes twinkled in delight, though she really didn’t have any plans. She had only thought so far as to having her friend come over. The rest had been a “go with the flow” kind of deal. She hadn’t premeditated anything, nor did she usually. That’s just the kind of person she was.
“It’s a surprise,” she lied, attempting to keep her face as stoic as possible. But Diaval, being her best friend, could not be fooled by Cierne’s facade.
“Bullshit,” he deadpanned. “You have no idea what to do tonight.” He took another sip of his drink, and watched as Cierne copied him.
The taste of the wine was heavenly. It was fruity with notes of floral, but had a dry after taste as it coated her throat going down.
“What’s it called?” She asked referring to the bottle of wine that now lay beside her friend.
Diaval shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Assuming he was taking a jab at her love for alcohol regardless of what it was, Cierne smirked.
“How about we play truth or dare?” She suddenly announced, taking several large drinks from her glass.
Diaval chuckled, his eyes changing to a vivid purple. “That’s a child’s game!” He cried, moving towards her knapsack which sat beside her.
Before Cierne realized what he was doing, he was rifling through her belongings. She couldn’t recall whether she had anything to hide or not, but was not about to take any chances. Practically spilling her wine on herself, she hastily made to rip the knapsack free of her friend’s nosy grasp.
“Secretive are we?” He said, his eyes flashing a dull grey.
“Not secretive,” she lied. “I just want to save you the trouble of looking for interesting things when there are none.”
Though he knew she was lying, Diaval went along with it. “No cards or dice or… dare I say… juicy tidbits from a girl’s diary?”
Cierne pushed the bag so that it was out of both of their reach before replying. “If there was something juicy in there, I'm sure Meinz would have found it by now.”
All too quickly the air between them grew thick with tension.
“Meinz,” Diaval muttered, emptying his glass of the remaining wine.
Cierne couldn’t help but notice the darkness in his voice when he said her name.
“Yes?” She said, leaving her response open ended so as to persuade her friend to continue. When he didn’t, the Naer sighed and went to fill up both her and Diaval's glasses.
“What’s with you two?”
Diaval snorted. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Just as he was good at reading Cierne when she was lying, he too was an open book.
“It’s like you two can’t wait to be in a room alone together so you both can rip each others’ throats out.”
Diaval reached for his glass after Cierne had finished replenishing it with fresh wine.
“That’s a little harsh,” he said, but continued to avoid answering her implied question.
She downed a large gulp before refilling her glass for the second time. “What I meant to say was,” she hiccuped, beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol take hold of her mind. “Why do you guys hate each other so much?”
Diaval sighed, but refrained from dodging the question. Like when she had asked him about his complicated relationship with his brother, Cierne knew she had him in a position where he couldn’t escape giving her a straight answer.
“It’s not that I hate her, it’s just that she hates me which makes me hate her.”
Cierne had to take a moment to mull over his response. It didn’t make sense, did it?
She inquired for more clarification. “So like, you’re chill with her, but since you know she hates you, you can’t help but feel like you don’t like her too?”
Diaval nodded. “It’s like when you get invited to be apart of this friend group, right?-”
No, Cierne had no idea. She tried her hardest to keep away from friend groups. There was too much of a chance of being the third wheel or being excluded altogether. Plus, people were terrible in that they used you to make themselves feel better only to leave you empty handed. But instead of spilling all this information onto him like she had almost spilled her wine moments prior, she simply nodded her head in understanding and encouraged him to continue.
“You’re with this group of friends and suddenly someone tells you that whatshername doesn’t like you very much. Well, at first you didn’t really have an opinion of anyone, but now this rumor whether it’s true or not has made you see whatshername in a negative way. So, since Meinz doesn’t like me very much, I’m instantly inclined to not view her very well because I know she doesn’t like me.”
While words of any language were a difficult way of expressing ones thoughts and true emotions, it was because they were friends that Cierne could understand what Diaval was trying to get at. She didn’t think she would like someone very much either if she knew they hated her guts.
Throwing back another mouthful of wine, Cierne offered Diaval the bottle.
“So why don’t you guys just, I don’t know, work it out?” She asked, feeling the beginnings of a buzzing sensation creep up the back of her neck.
Diaval shrugged. He seemed to be doing that a lot as of late. “Why should I have to fix something I didn’t break?”
Perhaps it was because Cierne was now inebriated, but those words hit deep. They struck a chord in a cavernous part of her heart that sent a shockwave of emotion rattling through her bones.
She knew why he should fix something he didn’t break. Her experiences with relationships of any sort screamed at her the reason. Because if he didn’t, then no one would. That’s just how people were. No one was in the wrong. No one liked to admit they were at fault. And it was because of this ill-conceived ego that so many issues went unresolved.
She wondered then if that was how wars started and refused to be solved. Both sides were so blinded by their own prideful perceptions of themselves that they didn’t see an issue in their own flaws. They only saw issues in those that opposed them.
“Do you think you’d guys ever get into a fight? Like a physical one?” Cierne asked randomly, applying her hypothesis on wars to the situation between Diaval and Meinz.
“What?” Diaval sputtered, nearly losing the wine he was about to swallow. “No! I mean, I wouldn’t. I can’t speak for your friend.”
Your friend. His words made her heart sink just a little. She wished Meinz was his friend as well. In fact, she wished that everyone could all be friends. But instead, she felt like she was the toy tied into the rope that was being pulled by both ends, Diaval on one end and Meinz on the other.
Suddenly, as though she had heard her name being spoken aloud, Meinz appeared sitting crossed legged on the other side of the tent.
“Oh, are we having a party?” She said, being her usual snide self.
Cierne watched as Diaval rolled his eyes and Meinz stole the half empty bottle of wine from him.
“Hand me a glass would you?” She said, though she wasn’t asking.
Cierne adored Meinz. Usually. But just then she couldn’t help but feel a little understanding as to why Diaval didn’t.
x
