Best Before Date:Rohypnol [ell,lyrt,amu] noncanon

[Mali]

It was burning on her mind recently and she needed to find an answer. However, she couldn’t ask Ace and Baldur wasn’t around to give her the answer either. She wanted to know when Ace’s birthday was. Even though she was a werecat and such things shouldn’t matter to her, this did. She had been raised by humans and assumed that all humans took their birthday as an important day.

Since she couldn’t get an answer, she decided that today was going to be his birthday. She could be off by oh so many days to be exact; it didn’t matter. Therefore, the only thing she could do for him was . . . uh oh. She didn’t have anything she could do for him! She had run around her room trying to think of something that she could make or give to him. But everything she thought of was mediocre and frugal to what she wanted to do for him.

The only thing she could do was bake. Then she thought about baking a cake for him. However, she didn’t know how to bake a cake; she couldn’t even read the instructions to do one. The only thing she knew how to make was brownies.

Mali had entered Josk’s garden, hoping to find something that she could use to help make her brownies special. Upon finding what appeared and smelled to be mint that was strangely surrounded by rope with a sign on it. Picking up the sign, she couldn’t read what it said but assumed it was a label and would probably say mint on it; Mali took a couple handfuls and put them into her pocket.

Later that night, after they had finished their dinner, Mali presented the brownies to Ace. “Happy birthday Ace!” He had said that it wasn’t his birthday and Mali’s ears flattened down. It was then that Josk told Ace to eat the brownies since she had gone to the effort of making them.

~~~

Mali woke up with a pounding in her head. Her feline eyes opened slowly, noting that it was early morning by the light coming in the windows. She currently sat in something cold and hard. Trying to sit up but was held back for some reason. Opening her eyes wide and feeling a tugging sensation against her back, Mali noted how in her feline form, she was tuck to, a bathtub?

The cold and hard porcelain was attached to her fur as she tried to stretch her legs and stand up. Giving one painful pull, Mali was free from the porcelain but felt a cold chill in the down her right side. Glancing back at the tub, she noticed how half her fur was stuck to the side of the tub. What had happened last night?

Wobbling out of the bathtub and falling to the floor in a graceless heap, Mali meowed in pain. Shifting forms, she wiped at her eyes. Why did her head still hurt?

Standing up, she looked in the mirror in the bathroom and saw that she was balding on the right side of her head. Was that where her fur had gone? Panicked, Mali left the bathroom, shocked to see the scene in front of her. She walked around Josk and Yren, not even about to ask why Josk was butt naked and Yren was under him.

Trying to find out where they were, she searched through the room, trying to figure out what happened. Nudging Josk’s leg, not wanting to get any closer to the naked man, she said his name lightly. He was always up at this time of day. The last thing she remembered was eating her brownies. Maybe they would remember more.

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[Elloria]

Josk twitched slightly in his sleep. He was having a rather remarkable dream concerning Rensu, one of the sinkholes behind the estate and strawberry jam. They were trying to feed the fishes that used the sinkholes as portals to the skyfish kingdom. He was about to be swallowed up by one of the fishes – Rensu laughing his musical laugh the entire time – when a strange and distant meow reached Josk’s ears. He huffed and snuggled closer to the warm body underneath him. Why was there such an awful draft in his room? He was cold, damn it!

He felt something nudging at his leg, heard his name, and grumbled. “’S an ungodly hour of the morning. Ge’ the hell ‘way from meh.” Oh, his head hurt. It hurt abominably. His head shouldn’t hurt this damn bad. All they did was eat some brownies for Ace’s “birthday” so what the hell? Damn, he was awake now and his head was pounding terribly. He cracked an eye open – to see Yren of all people lying underneath him. And Josk was snuggled up really cozy to the kid, too. A moment later, he realized something even worse. He was completely naked. With an indignant shout, he scrambled away from Yren – only to knock Mali over in his mad escape attempt. He looked around wildly for something, anything to cover himself with. He settled for a pillow that was on the floor beside him. Setting it firmly over his groin, he took stock of where they were before he glared at Mali and Yren. Rubbing his temples in a desperate attempt to alleviate the pressure that was threatening to explode his brains, he said, “This…isn' Danta Manor. Where the hell are we? And why does m'head feel ready to 'splode?” And why was he slurring his words!?

[Lyrt]

Yren let out a soft whine being dragged from his dream about...floating. Just floating along in the current staring up at the passing treetops as he napped. Even though the water was cold most of the time somehow this time is was warm and even somehow comforting to be there just floating along like a leaf.

A loud shout of surprise ejected him from the quiet bliss that he had been enjoying, aqua pools flickering open dazed. His head hurt, like someone was repeatedly striking it like a gong the vibrations making his brain throb beyond anything he could remember ever feeling. Above his pain he was strangely chilly for being in a bed, usually he curled up into a tiny cocoon and had trouble untangling himself in the morning. His throat hurt an awful lot too, like he has swallowed a mouthful of sand and maybe a few globs of clay while he was at it.

Slowly he sat up rubbing hard at his gritty eyes and blinking furiously trying to get them into focus trying to see what the scuffling sound was about. Josk stood in the center of the room a glare plastered on his face and a pillow over his...things... The tone of his voice was the one that Josk always took with the young elf when frustrated...or was it furious. They both sounded so similar to him His pronunciation which was always so eloquent and precise was horribly slurred like he had a swollen lip or the like.

He felt as if he had fallen from the top branch of a tree on his head, everything was so surreal and out of focus."Where? Where is..." he asked confused voice shaking slightly as he stared around as he tried and subsequently failed to stand. "M-mali?" he asked sounding unsure as he stared down at her, well half of her looked like herself the other...looked slightly balding.

A draft ran through his legs once again and his eyes dove down staring in silent horror. A skirt swirled around his knees the breeze making him uncomfortably aware of what lay underneath. He let out a loud squeak assuming as similar stance to Josk with the blanket. "W-what?" the boy's cheeks flared up an angry red as he stared at Josk "what did you...how..." His face grew to deeper shades almost as if he was overheating as his brain tried to process the situation.

Last he could was sitting beside the were staring curiously at the odd treats that she had set out. The color had unnerved him but...the taste was...almost as good as his jam but not quite. Yet after that it was...so foggy his stomach lurching as he tried to remember. Somehow after that he ended up in a dress under...who? The boy stated from Mali to Josk, it was a body without a doubt that had made such a nice blanket and the lack of fur led him to think it was...

He let out a loud noise between a scream and a squeak his hair standing on end as he stared down at the floor.

[Mali]

Mali had to admit, she was a little scared. Josk wasn’t cranky in the mornings per say, but he was scary in general. The fact that she had to wake him up wasn’t reassuring to her well-being. Being told to get away from him, Mali did exactly that and backed up a few steps. She wanted to know if he remembered what happened after the brownies. And all too soon, she watched as Josk scrambled up, knocking poor Mali over and rushing for something to cover himself with. It was a good thing he was covering himself, Mali averted her eyes away from him but couldn’t help the crimson blush that came to her pale cheeks.

Not being able to ignore the glare that created tension in the room, Mali couldn’t help to control her eye roll. Well of course this wasn’t Danta Manor. That’s why she was waking him up afterall, to see if he knew where they were. But obviously he didn’t as he seemed to be just as confused as she was.

Rubbing her now sore behind, Mali sat up on a couch nearby and picked up a hand held mirror which conveniently was sitting on the table in the destroyed room. Actually, now was the first time she had gotten a good look at the room. Furniture was turned over with spilled substances over them that smelled like alcohol, the carpet was nailed into the wall at an angle, and there was much more as well.

Her attention was brought back to the mirror in her hand as she touched the right side of her head. There was still some hair there but it was in patches and dispersed along her head that she seriously looked like she was balding.

“I don’t know either. I thought you’d remember where we are,” Frowning into the mirror, Mali placed it down, trying to flatten out her hair and look a little normal. As Yren started to wake up, Mali watched, as he seemed to be just as confused as they were. It wasn’t until he screamed that Mali had to cover her ears. Why did he have to make so much noise when their heads were pounding?

“Why did you scream? My head hurts even more now,” Mali stood up, walking over to the door in the room, wondering if she would figure out where they were by opening it. Of course, when she opened the door she still had no idea where they were. Like she was going to be of much help to them.

Walking back into the room, shutting the door after her, Mali noticed that there was a set of clothes in the room, that Josk hadn’t been wearing the night before. However, seeing as he might be grateful for anything to wear, Mali picked up the large garments and walked over toward Josk.

With her eyes averted, she handed him the pair of pants and the vest in the room. Of course, the vest would fit him fine, however, the pants were sized for a human to wear so they would look like capris or floods on Josk. “It’s the only thing I can find Josk,” Mali looked away the entire time she held the clothes out for him. She didn’t want to even look in his direction until he was clothed in something.

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[Elloria]

Josk clapped his hands over his ears and scrunched his eyes shut as Yren let out a loud shriek. “Yren, shut up!” he hissed. “No one wants to hear your outraged shrieking this damn early in the day! Or any time of day!”

Damn them all to the Abyss! The mage was naked, he had a throbbing headache and his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and gravel. What the hell had happened last night? There had been dinner and then Mali’s dessert…for Ace’s birthday…and after that, everything was hazy or there was nothing at all. So there had to have been something in the brownies…right? But they had just tasted like mint brownies! He had mint growing in the manor’s kitchen garden!

But more importantly…where was Ace?

“It’s the only thing I can find Josk.”

Josk looked up to see a vest and a small pair of pants being held out towards him. This reminded him, once again, that he was still very naked underneath the pillow he was using to preserve his modesty. He looked up at Mali, wondering vaguely why she looked like she was balding. He…should probably try to help her with that. But that would have to come later. Getting dressed was of greater importance right now. He snatched the clothes from Mali’s grasp and tossed the vest aside. He wouldn't be seen in that hideous thing, no matter how desperate. He then proceeded to miraculously shimmy into the skin-hugging pants without moving the pillow from in front of his groin until he was safely tucked into the pants. They were embarrassingly tight and left very little to the imagination – he would certainly not have chosen anything that showed off his ass and…assets like this if he had any other choice – but they were better than walking around buck naked.

Once he was sufficiently clothed, he staggered to his feet – spirits, but these pants were restricting; how did anyone manage to walk around in them? – and looked around the room again. To call it a disaster area would have been putting it lightly. Clearly some sort of wild partying had occurred here, but Josk could not for the life of him imagine why he was in such a location! Even with all the destruction, it looked vaguely familiar but his addled brain simply could not place any of it. And worse, Ace was nowhere to be found. There were just two doors leading out of the room – one to the bathroom, where Mali had come from, and the other to what was presumably the hallway beyond. So if Ace wasn’t in here and he wasn’t in the bathroom…things were not looking good. He sighed heavily as his gaze drifted over Yren…and then was immediately drawn back to stare at the younger elf. Yren was in a dress. Why was Yren in a dress? The boy looked effeminate enough without browbeating the point home.

Josk shook his head, then wandered over to the couch which was one of the few upright pieces of furniture left in the room. He rubbed his temples as his eyes drifted closed again in an attempt to ease the throbbing in his head. He needed to think. He needed to try and remember what had happened and where they were. But he was having a hard time focusing around this headache. He briefly wondered if there was a spell he could use to make this…hangover go away. He supposed it was worth a shot, so he tried reaching for the little nub of magic that was perpetually present in his mind – except it wasn’t there anymore. His face scrunched into a frown as he forced himself to concentrate on that little nub that he knew was there. But he could not find it. His eyes snapped open. No…it couldn’t possibly be what he thought it was. There was no way that she was foolish enough to just…was she? He turned to Mali and pointed a finger at her, the question on the tip of his tongue when he felt a familiar probing of his mental defenses. He glanced down at the mirror beside him on the couch, startled to see Baldur’s face in its reflective surface. Shit! “Uhm…hi, Baldur?”

[Lyrt]

Yren kept his eyes glued to the floor trying to make sense of what was unfolding around him. He squatted down rubbing his temples in gentle circles with his palms trying to quell the horrid feeling growing in his forehead. An uncharacteristic grimace masked his face as he groaned softly stomach lurching. Everything was spinning and fading in and out. It had been a long while since he had ever felt so nauseous. Was he sick? It had been a long time since he last was, a good ten or so years at the very least. He was simply unable to tell not being used to such a woozy feeling.

He flinched as Josk scolded him almost seeming to recoil as if slapped by the elf. A moment later he broke into a beaming smile straightening up and brushing at the skirts. The other two seemed just as confused and dazed as he was. Some of Mali's hair was gone, and Josk seemed to be baffled his speech having been slurred only moments before. If he gave them something else to focus on maybe they would relax and everything would start to clear up.

"I was just making sure you were alert for the next surprise" he chuckled with a goofy grin moving forward towards Mali and inspecting her bald patches delicately. They looked sore in his opinion, he had something for irritated skin that could help. If only he remembered what he had done with it...

The young elf squatted down to Mali's height and gently ran his fingers back through her hair keeping his back turned to Josk while he dressed. "Lets see what we can do temporarily to fix this" he said warmly his goofy grin fading to a kind smile as he tilted his head this way and that getting a few good looks at the damage. "I am sure Josk can help with this if you desire, after all you did make such wonderful treats before."

He glanced over his shoulder at Josk hoping to catch a slight nod in recognition at the very least. Slowly the large blue pools widened as his eyes seemed to pop out for a moment from shock. The clothes, well pants did not suit him in the slightest and neither did it look comfortable on the older Elf.

Quickly he turned back to Mali combings his fingers gently through her hair and over to one side covering up the patches. From what he remembered from Ilirea most of the females there went to great lengths to take care of their hair. If any of them had hair pulled out painfully they would have not left their rooms until the unsightly spots had disappeared and blended back in. Hopefully Mali would be more reasonable, he had no idea what to do if she cried. Luckily Ace was not about, wherever he was.

He sang in a soft whisper playing with her hair trying to keep the hair in place with small braids. There was nothing that he could use to pin it in place yet he did the best he could for the moment patting her lightly on the head.

"Josk~" he sang taking care not to look back at him "If the pants are too uncomfortable you can have the dress." The grin slipped back into place the boy trying to pry Josk's mind away from the pants. It was impossible to imagine that the elder elf was very happy in his situation. "Or maybe not, they are rather comfortable, I don't think that I could fork it over~."

The boy spun for a moment for dramatic effect ready to jump out of the way if Josk threw anything at him. In the high chance he did at least his mood had a chance of improving afterwards.

[Amur]

Baldur sat in the chair positioned in the corner of the room he was staying in, in silence, simply looking down at the Stalker’s Eye he held in his hand –a souvenir from his time among The Hunters- he had spent the night in this position, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong... He knew when to trust his gut with these kinds of feelings and had at once attempted to scry his brother, Ace. However, his attempt ended in failure which had left Baldur tense. He knew of some of the secrets surrounding the forest of the Elves, but, never before had attempts to simply check-in on Ace failed before.

Admittedly, most of the time his worry was completely unwarranted, but this time... Baldur was concerned and he could admit that, in fact, the only reason he had not left the area that the natives called The Aroughs immediately was down to the fact that he still had a job to do. Already he had located and confirmed the required information with the contacts he had been given. He had originally intended to rest there for the night, but then, he had, had this “feeling” which had subsequently caused his night to be anything but restful.

He gently turned the object of his focus over in his hand several times. His concern still steadily climbing, he allowed himself several moments of continued silence before abandoning his attempts to scry Ace and instead changed his focus. If he couldn’t contact his brother he would instead contact Josk, the man could easily make sure that Ace was alright.

He fixed a clear image of the Elf in his mind and worked his spell, fixing his eyes on the water within The Stalker’s Eye. He held his breath involuntarily for a brief moment as The Stalker’s Eye went black for several seconds. And then....

Baldur immediately didn’t like what he saw, Josk was... Less than decent, and judging from the position Baldur was looking at The Elf from, he had no idea that Baldur was attempting to contact him. However, he kept a straight face, perhaps there was something here that Baldur was missing. He reached out to Josk, and once more, disliked the look he got.

The startled look –no matter how brief- had not gone unnoticed.

“Uhm... Hi, Baldur?”
The stammered and uncertain greeting did NOT help ease Baldur’s growing unease. He narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to make sense of what he was seeing, things could not have been anywhere near as bad as they seemed; Josk had more sense than that.

“... I’m... Beginning to think that I’ve either caught you at a bad time... Or that I should be very concerned about something. Because, Josk. From where I’m sat I seem to be missing quite the party... I certainly hope you’re not intending to tutor my brother dressed like that. I’m already quite scarred by what I’m seeing.”
Baldur said in a calm and very measured tone. A tone which Baldur had used enough with both Ace and Josk to get across that he knew that something was wrong, but not what... Josk should have been familiar enough with Baldur by now to know where he was leading this conversation.

[Mali]

Mali still had no idea where they were. She wanted to know so badly that she walked over to the door and opened it again, peering down the hallway. At least Josk was clothed now so there shouldn’t be any complaints about her looking outside.

Stepping into the hallway, she looked at the paintings hanging on the walls and then the regal decor on the hall tables. Were they in a rich person’s house? Or was this part of Josk’s house that she hadn’t been in yet? His house was huge and there was much that she had yet to explore. However, Josk seemed to be as lost and confused as the rest of them so her idea about this being part of Josk’s house were probably wrong.

She walked back into the room, feeling the need to ask what the pair remembered of the night. “Do you guys know where we are?” her head wasn’t spinning as much as it had been when she first woke up but there was still a constant throbbing at the back of her mind.

As Yren moved over to her, gently touching the bald spots on her head, she wondered what he was going to do. There wasn’t anything he could do to fix what the glue had pulled out, but was there a way to make it look better than it did, she wondered. Nodding her head to his calm and soothing words, she let him play with her hair, trying to fix the mess that had been created.

At the mention of Josk helping her and her treats, she looked over to Josk, about to ask for his help when he pointed an accusing finger at her. It looked like he was about to say something when he looked down and said something about Baldur. Baldur wasn’t here, so why was he talking about him? Or maybe he was talking to Baldur. But then again, he wasn’t here so how could he be talking to Baldur?

She felt her hair being played with more, parted over to one side and then braided. She wondered what Yren was doing with her hair and why he was braiding it. She was about to ask when he patted her head and addressed Josk. What he said next made her giggle. As Yren span about in a circle, Mali couldn’t help as she giggled more.

Assuming that Yren was done doing his best to help with her hair, she walked over to the couch that Josk was sitting on, still talking to something. She sat down next to him and looked at the mirror to see Baldur. He was talking through a mirror? Their magic never ceased to entertain her. Pawing at the mirror once, to see if she was able to touch him, like a three-d image, she sat back, knowing that she would upset Josk if she interrupted their conversation.

At the mention of being scarred, Mali looked Josk over and dismissed the thought. It was either he wear the only pants they had or he go naked. Which would scar Baldur more?

“Hi Baldur. I’m not sure where Ace is right now, but once we find him, we’ll be sure to,” she trailed off, getting the feeling like something cold and chilly was around her throat, telling her to shut up. Maybe it was the look that Josk was giving her, but either way, she moved off the couch as soon as she could. That was scary.

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