Hangover cure

MRRAAAH

MRAAAANG

My eyes opened at the feeling of a pair of fangs slightly penetrating on my forearm's skin. I shook it off, hoping the feeling would go away, but after a few seconds, it returned.

MRRAAAAH

MRRWWAA

I brought my arm to my chest and then pressed it with the other. 

MMRRGGWAAAAA

MGGAAAAA

I patted the cub's head, telling him to go back to sleep as I hugged him and turned to the side to try and fall asleep again. He squirmed under my arms and tried to break free by biting my hand. I simply endured it and petted him again, forcing him to close his eyes.

While my mind got into a deep sleep, a memory from a few days ago hit my mind once again. It wasn't the first time that it attacked me, but that didn't mean that it wasn't as upsetting as always.

For some reason, the memory always started in the exact same moment, and it went the same way every single fucking time.

The beginning, as I said before, was the same each time: Lyra and I were in her bed, really close to each other as we took in the scent of the other. That part wasn't upsetting at all, what really troubled me was what always came afterwards.

Just like it happened that day, Lyra took off her clothes and put her hands on my belt. As she undid it, the face of someone I thought I had forgotten appeared in front of me, and due to that, I had to run away from Lyra's room while feeling completely like shit.

I had no problem with recalling my encounter with Daniel's sister, what really bothered me was when that memory (just like the real event) was intruded by the memory of Metis.

"Glasgow, dear, are you alright?"

I woke up shaking, my head resting on the legs of a woman. As I started to regain my composure and my focus, I realized whose voice talked to me just a few seconds ago.

"Are you alright? I can't know it if you don't answer my question, you know?" Jodie said in a low voice while caressing my hair. Her lips formed a gentle smile as she looked at me with the same amount of love that a mother used when she looked at her child.

"Yeah… Sorry for waking you up…"

"Don't worry" she cooed before stopping her caresses on my head.

I took a deep breath and allowed myself to melt in her touch. A few minutes went by, and the only things that we did was stay completely still and silent in the darkness.

MRRRRANNNG

We both were about to fall asleep, but in the exact moment when our eyes were closing, the growl of the lynx cub woke us up. Just like he did before, he started biting my hand, wanting me to play with him instead of sleeping.

"Glasgow, sweetie, uhmm… There's a bit of-"

"Blood? I know" I interrupted her as I caressed the head of the lynx.

She looked at me with eyes of concern, asking herself what was going on. In the end, after thinking about it for a couple of minutes, she took the cub out of my hands and hugged it before getting closer to my face.

"I don't want to be rude or anything, but I didn't come here to watch you bleed out because of a kitten" she told me as the cub started nibbling on her clothes.

"Don't worry, it takes more than his little teeth to make me bleed out. Plus, no one's forcing you to stay here" I grunted before turning my head to the side, avoiding her eyes.

Once again, the silence surrounded us, and the air around us felt heavier. None of us knew what to say, but none of us was brave enough to move either, so we had to stay like that for a few minutes more.

MMWWAAAGGR

The lynx growled in the direction of Jodie's back, and before we could react, a pair of hands swiped him out of her hands. The lynx kept growling in the mysterious person's hands, but after they touched his snout a couple times with their index finger, the cub fell immediately asleep.

The stranger (who we couldn't identify because they were using their hair to cover their face), then giggled and crouched by my side, placing the lynx on my chest. As soon as he was back to me, I surrounded him with my arms, feeling his purring on my body.

"So you make my sister cry, you treat my mother like shit and you can't even put a baby to sleep? Damn… You're pathetic…" the mysterious figure claimed while looking down on me. I wasn't able to see their eyes, but something deep inside me tells me that they were looking at me with contempt under their hair. 

At the sound of his words, Jodie let go of my head and placed it gently on the mattress. Before standing up, she kissed my forehead and whispered "be back in a bit".

She walked up to the ominous figure with a frown on her face, and when they turned around to face her, she quickly pulled their ear and gave them a smack in the head.

"Can you not be a douchebag right now?!" she shouted out before realizing how loud she was, lowering her tone as she progressed, "I know you care for her, but treating him badly won't make Lyra happy."

"Ouch! Mom!" the ominous person whispered in pain before Jodie cleared their hair out of their face, revealing their identity.

I watched in complete silence as Jodie scolded her son, pulling his ear harder every time he talked back to her. Scared that the cub would wake up because of their noise, I stood up with him in my arms and got between them to break their argument.

"Can we not be so loud? Not only this little fucker, but the whole circus is trying to sleep right now."

They both sighed after listening to me, but a few seconds later calmed down and agreed with me. Daniel, whose face was visible now, quickly snatched the lynx out of my hands and threw himself on my bed. Both his mom and I looked at him weirdly, but quickly shook off the feeling after saying that it was better to have him like that instead of arguing.

"So… You guys in my room…"

"You have no room, dumbass. This shit is just a goofy ass mattress in a secluded spot of the tent" he scoffed as he tickled the cub's ears. "Oh, by the way, what's his name?"

"None. Neither he or your uncle's kitten have a name yet. I haven't had the time to give them one."

"Tsk, no wonder why… After all, you spend your time messing with my sister."

My head turned to the side after hearing his accusation. I couldn't deny that Lyra was acting like that because of me, but I wasn't able to explain what happened either.

The twins' mother looked at my face and touched her son's knee. With a subtle gesture, she pointed at me and moved her lips so Daniel could read them. 

"Apologize?" he whispered while looking at his mother's mouth. He moved his head from side to side, moving his lips in the same way as Jodie did so she could read them now.

The woman watched his mouth attentively, trying to make out what he was saying. Once they were done, she took a deep breath and stepped on her son's foot. 

"Do you really have to act like that? I know you're worried about your sister, but bullying Glasgow isn't the answer to that problem."

Daniel groaned as his eyes locked on to me. I didn't say a word or move an inch as they spoke, so he thought that I was either sleeping or I just didn't care about Lyra's wellbeing. Due to the uncertainty about what I was thinking, Jodie's son stood up quickly from his bed and, after giving the cub to his mother, he grabbed me by my collar.

"Why aren't you saying anything?! Both my mom and I took the time to come here and talk to you and you have the fucking nerve to stay completely still?"

Even if his words reached me, I was not able to react. He raised his hand in front of me, attempting to make me do something, but once again, the result was the same.

He sighed in annoyance and let go of me, walking around my bed and taking something that was beside it. My eyes opened widely as I saw Dom in his hands, and a weird sound came out of my mouth.

He laughed at my reaction, and in an attempt to make me give him another response, he raised my axe and threatened to attack me. I looked at his hands in disgust, cursing his mere existence for holding my travel companion in such a filthy way, so when he feinted a swing with Dom, I kicked his stomach twice.

My axe fell to the floor, and the metallic noise woke the whole circus up. I picked up Dom and placed him back in his spot, leaving him next to Axie.

"Leave. Please." I told Daniel as I helped him back up. He gave me a spiteful stare and pushed me back, claiming that he was able to walk with his own two feet before walking away.

I moved my head up, looking at Jodie in the same awkward way as earlier. I tried to come up with something appropriate to say (or do), but nothing came to my mind. 

"I know I should be mad at you for hurting my son, but he did deserve that" the woman told me after watching me struggle. "Look, I don't know what happened between you and Lyra. I don't know if you meant to hurt her or if all of this is just a big misunderstanding. Shit, I don't even know why I'm here talking to you instead of consoling my daughter. What I do know, though, is that unless you talk to her, both of you will deprese yourselves to death."

Jodie looked at me with the same gentle stare that she gave me when I woke up from that nightmare, and then kneeled to hug me. With a low, soft and loving tone, she got close to my ear and whispered "Everything will work out, don't worry".

I gulped after hearing her words, staying completely still as she comforted my motionless body. I don't know if it was what she said or if it was the motherly treatment that she was giving me, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything, not even reciprocate the hug.

A couple minutes passed, and after wiping off some tears that appeared in my face, Jodie stood up and told me that it was time for her to leave. Before she started to walk away, she turned around to see me and smiled gently at me again. 

"Remember what you asked me before? Well, I lied when I told you I didn't know why I came here to help you. To be honest, you remind me a lot of my son. I'm not talking about Daniel here, I'm talking about the one who passed away before I adopted the twins."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked in a low tone as I tried to get back on my feet.

"Heh, I don't know" she scoffed as she quickly moved beside me and messed my hair up. "Maybe I do it so you don't feel so uncomfortable when I hug you, or maybe I do it to emotionally manipulate you so you go and work things out with my daughter… Anyways, whatever the reason, please take care of yourself. And speak to Lyra, okay?"

At the sound of her words, I quickly crawled to her and held her arm before she left. With tears in my eyes, I pressed my head against the back of her hand and whispered a soft "thank you".

A tiny laugh escaped her mouth after looking at my gesture, and as a tear started to go down her face, she leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"No problem, kiddo" she cooed before taking my hands off of her arm and walking away. "Oh! And before I forget! My brother said that you have to finish all of his requests today if you don't want to be kicked out, so good luck!"

I watched in awe as she walked away after giving me those hard news. The only reason why I wanted to stay at the circus was so I could get everything that Johnny promised me, but now, I also wanted to stay so I wouldn't live in regret for what I did to Lyra…