“Where do you keep your alcohol?” Astra demands, slamming the tavern door open.
“What?” Brandy chokes out, clearly startled.
“Where do you store the alcohol you keep in that flask?
I need some.” He reiterates.
“You think I’m just going to give you this stuff for free?” Brandy asks, clutching the flask closer to themselves.
“Oh, for Sea’s sake…” Astra stalks over to the table and throws the book down, already flipped open to the page on the Love Mushroom.
“Read that.” Brandy’s eyes scan the page, widening as they go.
“Oh damn.” They whistle.
“Guess being a drunkard saved me this time.” They cackle.
“I wouldn’t take that as a blessing,” Astra mutters, rolling his eyes.
“Right…well, I have enough for about two to three bottles left, but I make all the alcohol myself.
I actually own this tavern; I used to be the barkeep and everything, made my own alcohol.
Then everyone stopped coming, lost all my business.
Makes sense in retrospect.” They shrug.
“Give me those bottles, and then I need you to make some more, enough for the whole town.” Astra orders.
“You don’t need to be so demanding.
What happened to being polite?” Brandy quips.
“I could literally care less.” Astra deadpans, crossing his arms.
“And I thought your companion was the rude one,” Brandy grumbles.
“He was just in a bad mood.” Astra huffs.
“I can see that now.” Brandy sniffs.
Astra has had enough by this point, and rakes one of his talons across the ground threateningly.
“Alright, alright!
I’m going!” Brandy heads off behind the bar in one quick leap, forcing Astra to wait until they return.
“Here they are…some premium brandy just for you.
Good stuff.” They hand over two bottles.
“…”
Astra grabs the bottles, inspecting them.
Everything looks fine, as far as he can tell at least.
“You like brandy?” He questions absentmindedly.
“Oh yeah, my favorite drink probably.” They reply with a grin.
“Right, right…and you…didn’t happen to name yourself after it, right?” He fixes them with a sharp look.
Sweat drips down their face.
“N-No?
And even if I did, what’s wrong with that?!” They snap.
“Unbelievable.” Astra scoffs.
“Right, I don’t want to hear it.
Out, out, out.
I’ll get to making the alcohol.” Brandy confirms as they push Astra out of the tavern.
With the two bottles in hand, he goes searching for Rubio and Thalia.
He had promised Rubio he would help, so he was first.
And Thalia, though he loathed to admit it, was strong.
If what he’d read was true, then he’d need her help.
When he found Rubio, he was about two seconds away from making out with another guy.
Astra jumped in between them.
“Right, none of that.
I need to borrow my…uhm…friend for a second.” He digs his nails into Rubio’s shoulder, dragging him away before he could protest.
“Why’d you do that?
I can handle myself just fine.” The man rips himself out of Astra’s grip with a glare.
“Mhm, sure, just drink this,” Astra says, opening the bottle and tossing it to him.
Rubio frowns down at it.
“I don’t think I should…”
“Well, that’s too bad then.” Astra reaches out and shoves the bottle into his mouth, covering his nose so he’d be forced to swallow.
He doesn’t stop until the entire bottle is emptied.
Rubio shoves him away, his face going pale as he bends over and violently vomits.
“Ohhh, ohhh Seas.” He groans when he’s finished.
Astra hovers warily, not quite convinced it worked.
Rubio’s eyes meet his, gleaming from where he’s kneeling on the ground.
“You did it!
Oh thank Seas.
That was awful.
It was like, I was still me, but I kept on doing things I know I’d never do.” The man rambles.
“Right, well if you’re all better, let’s go get Thalia,” Astra says, already searching the street.
“Of course.” Rubio agrees.
It doesn’t take very long to find her; the issue is actually dragging her away.
She was ridiculously strong, and nothing they said could convince her to leave the woman she considered her partner.
“If you want me to go somewhere, I don’t see why I can’t bring Jenna along.” She whines.
“Fine, bring Jenna.” Astra eventually agrees, annoyance lacing his words.
Rubio leads them to an area between two houses, a pseudo-alley.
They jump Thalia together, Astra holding back her arms and legs, wrestling her to the ground, while Rubio pours the drink in her mouth.
Jenna screams, but it doesn’t matter as by the time anyone comes by, Thalia is already vomiting on the ground.
“We need to get out of here,” Rubio states, and Astra agrees.
So they carry Thalia off, barely avoiding a splash of vomit as she hurls mid-carry.
When they drop her a good distance away from where the townsfolk gathered, she’s hugging her arms around herself, wearing a disconcerted expression.
“You know, I’d always wondered what all the standard romance stuff felt like.
I think I’m glad I’ve never experienced that now.” She shivers.
“What even happened?” She questions, staring up at them.
“A mushroom,” Astra states plainly.
“It’s actually quite an interesting species; not only that, but this situation is unprecedented.
The chances for this to happen are quite astronomical, especially considering that this isn’t their natural environment.” Rubio rambles.
“Okay, save the admiration for the creepy mushrooms for later.
Are we leaving now or what?
Clearly the whole town’s been infected, so I say we steal some boats and go.” Thalia suggests.
“We can’t leave.
We need to help the town!
It’s the right thing to do.” Rubio argues.
“We didn’t need to help you.” He points out.
“Yeah, and I’m very thankful for that, but it’s an entire town!
How are we supposed to find that much alcohol to help them?” She waves her arms around in frustration.
“Brandy is already working on that,” Astra states.
“See!
Let’s leave it to Brandy, whoever that is, and go!
What can we even help with anyway?” She questions.
“We can cut off the source.” Astra declares.
“What?
Surely you’re not suggesting we help them as well?
I thought you were more sensible than that.” She pouts.
“Look, I helped you because I thought you could help.
But if you don’t want to, you don’t need to.
We’re not friends or anything; we’re not a group.
But your strength would be appreciated.” He explains.
“Argh!
Fine…fine!
I’ll help!” She huffs.
“So…what are we doing anyway?” She asks, sending them a curious glance.
“We’re going mushroom hunting.”