"Changes" (Eothan & Ledgic)

“Changes”

Booty bay had an odd ability to stay somewhat lively no matter what the time, Eothan had always hated the cluttered feel to the entire place and the tavern he sat in was no different. He lifted his gaze from the table as he sluggishly brought a mug to his lips, taking a gulp of grog. He wasn’t a fan of grog but he found the rest of the goblin’s selection to be rather lacking as well.

He peered to his left as a small bar fight broke out and managed to crack a small smirk at the sight of a tauren punching a troll, before they were both beaten senseless by goblins. He turned his head again and looked down into his mug and sighed quietly.

He had been waiting for Ledgic to return from Nagrand, he had quite the predicament to explain and perhaps seek advice about, and for once in his life he felt compelled for another to help him. He closed his eyes and thought of the events that led him to being sat in the dank tavern, that fateful Thursday that would unfortunately demolish the constant stability of a man with feelings removed, the very idea he would laugh at. Yet he couldn’t anymore, he had felt something building within him for weeks, these slight hints towards considering Valerias to be more desirable than the occasional shag.

He lifted a hand to his eyes and rubbed it across them lazily, not only had he felt those feelings, he had felt guilt and jealousy. He let the hand slam against the table and laughed quietly to himself. Guilt and jealousy, he had felt those emotions out of nowhere, they had completely crept up on him. Yet when they did, he found himself in a position he couldn’t simply talk his way out of, nor could he continue to act for the sake of Valerias or for the sake of their current arrangement.

He had admitted his feelings and made it as clear as he could, after the amount of alcohol he had consumed, that he had no guarantees of how he might react to certain things, that he didn’t understand what he was feeling, he simply knew it was there. He had slept with Vale that night, despite all the madness that had come before it, he had felt her touch once again, a touch he had grown used to and rather fond of. Except this time, there would be no afternoon arrangements to deal with hangovers, he had simply gotten up the next morning, left some water for her and ran. He wasn’t even sure where he was going; it only occurred to him that Ledgic might be able to help him out as he charged through Elwynn on horseback.

He lifted the mug to his lips again and tipped his head back, draining it dry of the remaining grog. He dropped the mug against the table before standing up, paying no attention to the sound of the mug hitting the wooden floor afterwards. He slowly made his way from the tavern, stumbling a little as he walked. Was this really Eothan Dawn? Was he still the man he had been since living the family home? Surely he couldn’t be, something must have happened, he’d gotten soft. He clenched his fists as he walked up one of the ramps towards Ledgic’s house, towards the home of a man he had mocked in the past for the same thing that was happening to him. Yet for all of Ledgic’s faults, he always seemed to manage to come out happy on the other side.

Eothan slumped against Ledgic’s house and slammed a fist against the door heavily, letting out a groan due to the pain of the blow. He lifted his head at the sound of someone walking down the stairs; he took a step back as the door opened. Ledgic yawned and rubbed his right eye with a hand before peering at Eothan.

“Feckin’ time d’ye call this? I’m in me’ pants, fella” he said as he opened the door a little more.

“Ledgic… I need your help, it’s important. I would have waited until the morning but frankly I’m drunk and couldn’t give two shits if you’re in your pants” said Eothan as he swayed a little on the spot.

Ledgic stared at Eothan in an obvious state of confusion before nodding and closing the door again. Eothan looked up as if trying to see what Ledgic was doing, before falling on his backside and sighing, boy was he pissed.

Ledgic sat down on his and Annie’s bed carefully and slipped on his boots, he wouldn’t usually walk out at this time of night and he was pretty exhausted from the journey back from Nagrand but he had a feeling Eothan wasn’t just being a drunken idiot. As he stood up and turned, he cracked a small smile, it wasn’t often that he got to see Annie like this, wrapped up and seeming as though she didn’t have a care in the world. He leant down and kissed her forehead lightly before turning on his heels and quietly walking down the stairs.

Eothan looked up at Ledgic and groaned again, mumbling incoherently to himself before half growling as Ledgic helped him off the floor.

“Wha’ever it is tha’s got t’ye must be pretty bad, don’ think I’ve ever seen ye this drunk” he said as he began walking Eothan away from his home and towards the tavern again.

“I did it, I’m this fucking drunk because of myself” growled Eothan as he clenched a fist again. “I cracked, Ledgic. I’ve never let anyone get close enough, I never let them into my life enough to experience this”

Ledgic stopped in his tracks and set Eothan down near the edge of the dock, before sitting down beside him. He looked at Eothan with another confused expression, reading drunk people was never easy but frankly this was nuts.

“I’ve got feelings for Vale. Real feelings, I can’t even shag some random woman because I’ll feel like I’m betraying her” muttered Eothan as Ledgic steadily leant back in surprise.

“Wait… wha’? Ye? Y’fell fer Vale? Tell me yer pullin’ some sorta daft feckin’ joke” he said.

Eothan looked at Ledgic and shook his head, before pulling his gaze back to the sea. “I’m not joking, I have feelings for your cousin and I was stupid enough to inform her of them. Now I’ve managed to not only ruin my chances of anything ever happening on it’s own, but I’ve probably ruined my time with her entirely”
Eothan turned his head sharply back to Ledgic as he heard a thud and the sound of frantic laughter. He narrowed his eyes as Ledgic laughed loudly and rolled around a bit on the dock, moving his hands to his stomach.

“Oh, it ‘urts” he said between laughs.

“I’ll take that as some form of revenge. Needless to say, I didn’t come here to be laughed at” said Eothan defiantly. Ledgic let out a few deep breaths and sat up again, moving a hand to pat Eothan’s shoulder.

“Righ’, righ’. But really mate, th’feck d’ye expect me’ t’say? It ain’ like I know wha’ Vale’s thinkin’ or feelin’, I don’ know whether she’ll ever wanna change wha’ she does. Fact is mate, all y’can do is talk t’er, whether it puts an’ end t’wha’ y’wan’ or na’” said Ledgic.

“Either way, I’m going to end up a drunken mess. If she walks, I’ll have lost her, while remaining stupidly jealous of her actions without even knowing what they are or who with. If she stays, she’ll carry on doing what she’s been doing since I first met her and I’ll have to bottle all of that up. I really haven’t got a clue how I’ve ended up in this situation, but it’s shit, it’s really fucking shit, Ledgic”

“Yeh, soun’s it, but I reckon yer getting a lil’ ahead o’ yerself righ’ now, y’know? Sa’ y’told ‘er, sa’ y’felt some jealousy, so wha’? Every time someone tha’s touched Annie in th’slightest is near ‘er I get a lil’ jealous, s’jes abou’ realisin’ when it’s worth sayin’ somethin’, an’ when y’need t’slap yerself fer bein’ daft”

“No… this’ll be entirely different, she fucks people to make “contacts” so whenever she’s working I’m just going to be irritable and moronic. I need a solid direction to go in, I can’t live in uncertainty, it messes with my life too much” said Eothan.

“So, y’got a choice an’ ye know it. Y’tell ‘er y’can’t ‘andle seein’ ‘er if she ain’ gonna settle down or even consider bein’ wit’ ye, or, y’tell ‘er yer gonna do yer best t’sort yer feelin’s ou’ an’ jes bottle it” said Ledgic.

Eothan looked up as Ledgic dragged himself from the dock. “Isn’t there anything you can do to help?” he said as he grimaced at the sound of how pathetic he is.

“As much of a mate as ye are, fella, na’. I can’t stroll up t’Vale n’ tell ‘er she needs t’be wit’ ye, ‘cause a’ th’end o’ th’day, whether I agree wit’ wha’ she gets up ta’ or not, I’d wan’ ‘er t’be ‘appy. Jes know tha’ th’idea o’ ‘er settlin’ an’ ye lot endin’ up like a family? Don’ soun’ bad t’me, but I ain’ gonna go preachin’ abou’ it.

Jes get some sleep, mate. Y’look like ye could use it” said Ledgic before patting Eothan again and walking away slowly.

Eothan looked into the sea and slowly weaved his fingers together, letting out a long sigh. This was not a healthy situation for him, all he could do was explain his feelings to her and hope something sorted itself out. He stood up and paid one final thought to the potential outcome of never seeing her again, before stomping his foot on the ground.

Love between thugs? Haha, I love it! I especially liked how you portrayed both Ledgic and Eothan. Oh and poor Eothan :p, that silly, sweet oaf broke my heart.

Shaelyssa wrote:Love between thugs? Haha, I love it! I especially liked how you portrayed both Ledgic and Eothan. Oh and poor Eothan :p, that silly, sweet oaf broke my heart.

Eothan's a jerkface, most of the time. However in this situation, I actually agree with you on the sympathy >>