[OTA] Space dementia in your eyes.

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

New Year's Day was the same every year, really. For one night everyone seemed to have forgotten their limits when it came to drinking the night before and the Castle stirred late in the morning, groggy and hung over.

Where the Spades' butler might have busied himself cleaning up after some of last night's drunken debauchery, Iollan ventured out of the confines of the Spades' kitchen to replenish empty jugs of water and bring more alka seltzer to some of the Castle's residents.

He'd no doubt be in the kitchen as well should those hangover-induced pangs of hunger bring some people down there before lunch.

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[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

Zoe was taking New Year's Day off, which in this case was less about the holiday and more about the technicolor cocktails Riley James had been pouring down her. Hearts always partied loud and hard and ultimately painfully. It had been a good temporary balm.

But only temporary, and despite the water Victor had her drink the night before and the advil she'd taken at night and again in the morning, she'd woken with gritty, bloodshot eyes. Her tortoiseshell glasses were making a rare appearance until she could bear her contacts. No matter, she wasn't leaving the room until she felt human. A day with tea and Jane Austen.

The knock at the door was a bit unexpected, and she only opened it a crack, one blue eye peeking out from behind the thick plastic frame of her glasses.

"...Mr. Chives," she said. Unexpected.

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

He lifted the hand holding the jug of water and then the other hand with the alka seltzer. He came in peace, and with peace offerings to show for it.

"Would you prefer I leave them out here, Miss Kattalakis?" He couldn't see much of her but the fact that she was wearing glasses when she had all along worn contact lenses as far as Iollan could remember spoke volumes about her... current condition.

[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

She wore contacts so much that most people didn't even realize she was nearsighted. She'd managed to hide it from Victor for a while, and they started sleeping together quite early. But that was neither here nor there, and she pushed her hair out of her face before shaking her head and opening the door a little wider.

"No," she said. "Please come in."

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

"So please you, m'lady." At least her room was not in a state of Complete Disarray. She'd always struck him as Quite Sensible, despite her current state.

"May I pour you some water?" he asked as he placed the jug down on a table. The alka-seltzer needed something to dissolve in, after all, even if she didn't feel dehydrated.

[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

Her fiance had made certain of that. They were his rooms, after all - she barely used her own for anything - and he'd brought her back the night before and put her to bed. As for today, she'd spent most of it on Victor's hideous but undeniably comfortable couch.

"Please," she said as she sank back down on it, though not sprawling as she had been.

"Is the Castle very badly off today?" In the Hearts, everything would likely be shut down while people recovered.

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

It was a difficult question to answer, because various parts of the Castle were doing better than others. He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her first. The alka-seltzer tablet was offered separately afterwards. Iollan didn't make a habit out of drugging the Spades behind their backs. Difficult to trust a Chives if he tried that.

"Not very badly, Miss. We are coping."

[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

She dropped the tablet in and watched it dissolve, eyeing it with something in between trepidition and disgust. She hated Alka-Seltzer, even when it served it's purpose. Well, in service of being able to eat dinner tonight.

"That's good. I suppose the Spades aren't generally partiers." At least that's the impression she still had. At least Katya hadn't decided to wake them all up this year. That had been...interesting to observe, last year.

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

Oh, he wouldn't know about that. He's been to the darker parts of the Castle on his morning rounds.

"Most have shown some level of self-restraint, m'lady. Not necessarily A Bad Thing, one hopes."

[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

For now, her illusions are intact. No doubt they'll be shattered completely after a few more years in the Spades.

She winced a bit, though, because restraint was the last thing she'd shown the night before. She was fairly sure she remembered kissing Riley James at midnight. "No...restraint is usually positive, I'd think."

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

"Will you be quite alright, m'lady?" He should leave her to finish fetching water and antacids to various other Castle-residing Spades, but she didn't look to be in a state where Iollan felt comfortable simply leaving her.

[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

"It's just my stomach." She picked up the glass, grimaced slightly, and drained it.

"It'll settle in time, I think." She hoped. She definitely wasn't drinking like that again. "But...thank you."

[semper-serviam.livejournal.com]

"It will," he assured her. And perhaps she will learn not to overdo it for next time. It did break a Chives' non-existent heart to see his Spades like this.

"I must see to the others, but Declán will check in on you in an hour," he promised before he took his leave. That was not something she could reassure him that Wasn't Necessary, and even if she did, the Chives would be here regardless.

[headfollowheart.livejournal.com]

She hadn't drunk this much in such a long time, and now she remembered why it was a terrible way to deal with things.

She just nodded. There would be no stopping Chives from bringing tea, and hopefully by then she'd seem a bit more alive. "Yes, Mr. Chives. I'll be perfectly fine until then."