you are the body hidden in the trunk {Aiden}

[Costin Dracula]

The idea of being Aiden's friend was about as inviting to Costin as a swimming pool full of rattlesnakes. Even her voice grated on his nerves, the things she said, the tone she used, the way she seemed to be constantly irritated with the entire world for no particular reason at all. Even Costin, who was convinced he did not belong amongst humanity and would only consider them a food source someday, had the decency to be indifferent to the world instead of openly hostile towards it.

Luckily, his undoubtedly ill-fated conversation with his least favorite person was interrupted by the arrival of someone he was considerably more fond of. Or at least...didn't loathe. Mordred was a welcome sight, but...

"My god," he said, in English this time. "What happened to you, my friend? You look like you were half eaten and left for dead." He was perfectly willing to ignore Mordred's trouble in paradise comment, but even more than that, he was shocked by Mordred's appearance enough that his irritation with Aiden and their situation shifted to the back burner. "And why are you drinking that? You have a much better selection down here." Costin was still sporting a slight bruise himself from his tangle at the bar the other night, but it was barely noticeable at this point, so it didn't really feel hypocritical for him to be commenting on Mordred's condition.

He gestured towards the carnations, which lay on the counter now. "I suddenly feel like these are more appropriate than I had imagined. Perhaps I should have included a sorry about your face note with them. It would have served well for this or my original intentions with the flowers."

[Aiden Mumble]

Just as Aiden was beginning to think she was going to have to barely tolerate Costin by herself for the next few minutes, she heard movement on the stairs behind her. "Well, what do ya know. It lives." she said without turning around. She took another long sip and rolled her eyes at his comment. Of course he had something to say about Lorelei's fan fiction. If Mordred thought for even a second that they were really in love then he was truly in for a rude awakening. She didn't revel in the thought of all the stupid quips Mordred had probably tailored for Costin and her both on the matter, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't relived that he was joining the conversation. For one, she didn't want to spend another breath in Costin's presence alone. Secondly, Aiden wasn't sure the last time Mordred had left his room. He needed to leave his room. Even if the following conversation was to be a truly painful round of convincing Mordred that she hated Costin, at least he'd be focusing on something other than wallowing in self pity for a spell.

Aiden turned to look at him the second Costin began to comment on him and blurted out "Oh Mordred, you look like shit" over top of him. Aiden gritted her teeth about the 'half eaten' comment and kept her eyes on Mordred. Helping him was more important than irritating Costin. She stood up and crossed the room to look him over more closely. She reached up to grab his face so she could forcefully turn his injured cheek toward her. She felt like gagging. It looked terrible. This was her fault, she should have cleaned it that night, but in light of everything she just wanted to let him sleep. She'd never have imagined he'd let it get this bad. What was she talking about, she didn't know how to dress a wound like this anyway. He needed to see a doctor. After Costin left, of course.

"Your original intentions with the flowers were fueled by an egotistical delusion." Aiden reminded him, though she was still looking at Mordred. She shot him a meaningful look. This was not ok. He needed to be better to himself. However, she wasn't about to launch into an emotional speech in front of Costin. She hated him, but also Mordred for some inconceivable reason considered Costin a friend. A friend that he may not want to hear about his darkest moments.

[Mordred Le Fey]

He had just opened his mouth to respond with something witty and cutting to Costin, when he found his face being grabbed and his head forcefully turned to the side by Aiden. "Dude..." He muttered as she examined his face, rolling his eyes but letting her look, feeling comforted by her concern. He gave her an innocent look and shrugged, knowing full well what her meaningful look was getting at but choosing to play ignorant.  "You two really know how to make a guy feel good."  He muttered with another eye roll.

He batted her hand away after a minute, taking another swig of the vodka and another drag on his cigarette before turning and walking into the living room, collapsing back onto the sofa.

"To answer your first question, my dear friend Costin; brace yourself, it's a wild ride." Another swig and a deep breath. "I screwed my best friend's sister, so he punched me, and his crazy sister - not the one I slept with, mind - challenged me to a duel and cut my face so I stabbed her." Another swig. The vodka was going down too quickly, although that wasn't anything new for the past few days. "All part of the human experience, my friend." He winked at Costin, avoiding Aiden's eye. He knew he was being blase, he was glossing over things that she knew had truly hurt him, but glossing over them was better than feeling them, like he had been for the past few days.

"And in answer to your second question, it was within easiest reach." He held up the bottle and looked at it for a long time, struggling to focus his eyes. "It's not that bad really, once you've allowed it to burn off your tastebuds."

He grinned at his two friends, patting the sofa on either side of him. "Come, sit, drink with me." He glanced at the flowers. "Those are truly beautiful, I am overwhelmed."  He winked at Costin, wincing slightly when it caused his muscles to contract and pull at his injury.  "Now, come tell me all about your lover's quarrel, and let me fix the bridges that you have burnt down between you."

[Costin Dracula]

Costin wasn't done marveling at Mordred's truly dreadful appearance, but as he watched, he realized Aiden was being much more obnoxious about that than he could hope to be. He certainly wasn't going to go over and manhandle Mordred's face. That story definitely got his interest, though; he narrowly avoided choking on a sip of scotch as he listened. Mordred was drinking straight vodka like it was water, which was thoroughly repulsive to Costin, who was of the opinion that most vodka was wretched to begin with.

He tried to recap that narrative, pulling the pieces together. Best friend. Sister. Punching. Cutting. Stabbing. Costin whistled softly.

"And I thought my family was mental." He shook his head. Costin couldn't think of anybody he would punch anyone or stab anyone for...well, except maybe...no, probably still not then, because he knew it wouldn't end up well for him, so there wasn't even any point. He was also trying not to dwell on the best friend thing, because it wasn't as if Costin needed a best friend, and even if he did, Mordred was much too close to his arch-irritation for that sort of thing.

Nevertheless, he walked over to the couch and sat down as Mordred asked, deciding that he didn't need to put his shoes back on and leave quite yet. "You should probably drink something better," he recommended, "now that you're down here where the better stuff is."

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden looked thoroughly unamused by Mordred's attempt at innocence. He knew full well what she was getting at. Not to mention he appeared to know what went into a duel and that meant he probably knew how to take care to the wounds one might receive. He had likely not taken care of it on purpose which made her prickle. Did he still want to die or was he just too depressed to do anything about it? She should have been more forceful. She should have been demanding that they went to the doctor. And, yet, would it have done any good? Why would he listen to her. She made a mental note to speak to Tristian at some point. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell him, but she thought that maybe if there were two of them trying to make Mordred do something at least they might stand a chance of keeping him around. She tried to shake off this dark thoughts as Mordred batted away her hand and moved to talk to Costin.

She watched him as he retold the events, trying to make it out far lighter than it was. He didn't look at her and she knew why. She knew what these events had lead to. She knew why he really looked the way he did. still, she made no move to correct him. They both knew. If he wanted to tell Costin that was up to him, Aiden wasn't going to take that choice away. At least, she didn't want to have too. Hopefully it didn't some to that. Even if it did, Costin wouldn't be the one she was telling.

Aiden turned and watched him as he sat and he tried to turn the conversation back into one about Costin and her's apparent relationship. She didn't move to sit at first. She watched Mordred take another drink, knowing full well she should let him do that. She didn't want to make a scene in front of Costin. Also it sounded like a lot of work and Aiden liked drinking so much it seemed like a terrible thing to try and take it away from someone else. Still she drew her glass to her lips and mumbled "Yeah like maybe some water" when Costin mentioned drinking something better. He may have not even heard her. After a moment she sigh and moved to fill the empty spot on the couch. She crossed her legs away from Mordred, trying to keep some space between them. She was annoyed, but she had to admit she'd rather they talk about Costin and her's dumb fake romance than the dark and terrible thing that was happening to Mordred at the moment.

[Mordred Le Fey]

"Well I noticed you helped yourself to my good stuff." He commented, looking at Costin's drink with a raised eyebrow. "You're gonna owe me for that."

He swigged more of the vodka, finishing his cigarette as Aiden sat down on his other side. He leaned forward to stub the cigarette out in an ashtray on the coffee table, almost falling sideways into Aiden as he did.

"Oops..." he muttered with a slight laugh, righting himself and collapsing back into the sofa cushions. He heard Aiden's comment about water, choosing to ignore it - who cared if he drank himself to death? It was what, three, four days since the duel, and he hadn't heard from anyone except his sister - whose messages he'd ignored. He'd not left his room in all that time, never mind leaving the house, and no one had come looking for him, no one had messaged him to see if he was ok even Costin had only come to sort out this story stuff with Aiden. No one cared. So why should he?

At the moment, he had drifted away from suicidal thoughts to a simple lack of any sort of care about what happened to him. He hadn't eaten in days, he hadn't showered, he was only drinking to keep that numbness he had had since he had taken those pills. It was the only thing keeping him afloat, and if he stopped, if he sobered up, if he started to feel again, then the bottle of pills he'd been hiding from Aiden under his mattress was going to start looking more and more appealing.

He lifted his arms and put them around Costin and Aiden's necks, forcefully pulling them towards him so their heads were resting on each of his shoulders. He almost had them in choke holds. "Now, you two are like my family, why can't you just get along and love each other?"

[Costin Dracula]

Costin was not in a position to be demanding answers from everyone in this room at the moment, he knew that. Aiden and Mordred lived together, and as much as that made him question Mordred's sanity, it probably meant she was privy to information he wasn't, like knowing when Mordred had been going out and getting himself punched and cut and who knew what else. It was just like Aiden to go lecturing Mordred on drinking when she was standing there sucking down tequila, though, that didn't surprise him in the least. But why was Mordred falling over drunk in the middle of the day? That was a bit concerning.

He stiffened under the weight of Mordred's arm around his neck, unsure of what to do with the physical contact. Why was he being yanked around like this? Also, Mordred smelled like cigarettes and like he'd been showering in hard liquor for a week. Costin wrinkled his nose and attempted to lean back.

"She's not my family," he protested, pushing not at Mordred but at Aiden's shoulder, trying to create as much distance between them as was physically possible. "If she were my family I would have launched myself into at least a dozen of the suns I've passed by. I would rather be family to a slice of stale bread than share one ounce of blood with her."

He flailed out with the one arm that wasn't pinned against Mordred's side, managing to set his glass of scotch down on the end table. "I'm not paying you back for liquor you spill on me with your antics."

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden was bitterly hoping Mordred would have gotten a little angrier at Costin for drinking his scotch. When he had broken it out that night they'd spent drinking together he had made a big deal about it. She'd never admit it, but it hurt a little to think she wasn't as special as she had thought to have gotten a drink. Or, the thought occurred, Mordred just didn't care as much anymore, which made her even more concerned. At least he'd told Costin he would have to pay. That was something.

Aiden raised her arms instinctively to brace him when he nearly fell on her. Jesus, how drunk was he already? Also, when was the last time he had showered? She wrinkled her nose, but narrowed her eyes at him. What a massive mess. He could not continue on like this, she had to do something. Still, Costin was here. Was she using that as an excuse to do nothing? Maybe, but also having Costin around might be a welcome distraction for Mordred. If they really were somehow friends, Mordred could use all the friends he could get right now. Aiden couldn't deny him that despite how annoying she thought the little prick was.

Aiden had already caught a whiff of Mordred when he'd leaned over and she wasn't keen to get that close again. Unfortunately, Mordred had other plans. She too had to flail a bit to set down her drink and nearly spilled it all over both Costin and Mordred in the process. "Shit," she she cursed, struggling under the force of Mordred's arm. She never once desired to be close to Costin and apparently the feeling was mutual. He pushed at her like a child being forced to sit too close to his sibling on a road trip. "Stale bread, really? Aiden said, her force strained under the pressure of both Mordred's arm and Costin's pushing. She was getting more irritated with each passing moment.

"Mordred, knock it off!" she protested "Costin is about as close to being my brother as he is to having sex." she snapped, trying to push Costin's hands away. She didn't think it was a big secret anyway. He'd told her only a few minutes into their conversation that he was a virgin. He was probably proud of it. He probably thought he was better than her.

[Mordred Le Fey]

He couldn't help but find it amusing when they pushed at each other and insulted each other, and he held onto them both for a little longer than was necessary before eventually releasing them. Mainly so he could take another swig of vodka. "Do you know how much that stuff costs?" He asked Costin with a raised eyebrow. "You don't pay me back for it, I'll hunt you down and beat it back out of you." He nudged Aiden with his elbow. "And that might be closer than you think, I'm working on helping out on that front. Or I was when I was leaving the house." He took another swig. "Seriously though, you two are like siblings already. You're worse than the Summer kids."

Well, it was a mistake to think about them. He felt a stab of guilt and pain in the region of his chest, and he took a few quick swigs of vodka to try and push it away, his face darkening again as he failed to rid himself of those thoughts. He wondered how Lorelei was - he assumed she hadn't died since no one had coming banging on his door looking for revenge. He missed Tristian, and he desperately wanted to contact Meredith, but since the brief messages where she told him Lorelei was healing he hadn't heard anything else, and he didn't think it would be a great idea to push it. No matter how drunk he was.

Lost in his alcohol fueled self-pity, he almost forgot Costin and Aiden were there, as he stared darkly into space, drinking steadily and far too quickly. He sank back into the sofa, staring ahead of him, sinking back into the dark depression that had had hold of him for the last few days. His thoughts were drifting again, back to what he'd done, who he'd hurt, and back upstairs to that hidden bottle of pills. He was silent for a few minutes until he realised he wanted to smoke. He searched his pockets, elbowing his friends in the process and remembering they were there. His mind was not at it's sharpest at the moment.

"I need to smoke... who's got cigarettes?"

[Costin Dracula]

Costin was ready to throw his drink in Aiden's face, but Mordred sounded serious about making him pay for it. Which Costin didn't mind; money wasn't really an issue for him, but also, if he was going to pay for alcohol, he certainly wasn't going to use it to wash Aiden's obnoxious face.

"We're not siblings," he insisted. "We're enemies. I'm not discussing this any further." He took another sip of his scotch and leaned away from both Mordred and Aiden onto his end of the couch.

He was very glad, at first, that Mordred apparently chose to gloss right over Aiden's completely needless jab at his virginity. Why would she even bring that up? It wasn't as if he was ashamed of it, really, or like he couldn't go out and change it if he wanted to. But...it was actually pretty odd that Mordred didn't comment on it. He was nearly twenty and had never so much as kissed a girl, and that seemed like the kind of thing a person like Mordred would have given him a hard time about (which was why he hadn't told Mordred in the first place). Was he even paying attention? Costin frowned.

"I don't have cigarettes, sorry," he said. He rarely smoked, only on occasions when he felt like he absolutely couldn't relax otherwise, like the other night when he'd been just shy of murdering a random bar patron over nothing in particular at all. "I do need a refill, though. Anyone else? Not you, Aiden."

[Aiden Mumble]

Once free of his hold, Aiden sigh and picked up her drink. She was glad to be in control of her personal space once more. She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling as Mordred harassed Costin further about the scotch. That was what she was looking for. She masked her enjoyment by taking another sip of her drink. Still, It would seem the effort was pointless because the mention of Mordred helping Costin find someone to sleep with wiped the smile right off her face. That sounded disgusting. Also, impossible. She was really hoping she wasn't going to get roped into this. Then, she had barely had time to lament, when Mordred mentioned not leaving the house, commented on them being siblings again, and then seemed to lose focus.

Costin was furthering his argument that they were not and never would be related, but Aiden was watching Mordred. Her anger for Costin was once again overshadowed by her concern for Mordred. She studied him as he leaned back and his expression faded into something far darker than she would have pleased. Teasing Aiden and Costin wasn't nearly enough to help him forget for a while. What was she thinking, anyhow? If all the drugs, drinking, and sex wasn't enough of a distraction why would a fake love affair between his friends be any help? He kept drinking until he finally asked for another cigarette. This had gone on long enough. He wasn't getting any better on his own and she was tired of watching him crumble into nothingness.

"Sorry, buddy" She said, but it was more than just for the lack of cigarettes. It was also because she was probably going to have to start taking other substances away from him and it wasn't going to be pretty. It was lucky too that Aiden didn't have to lie. She didn't smoke cigarettes. Despite being clearly addicted to alcohol, she was deep in denial about it and feared becoming addicted to nicotine. She liked the idea that she had control of when and where she wanted to get messed up. She didn't need some addiction telling her when she had to smoke. She simply drank often enough that she never felt like she had to when she didn't want to. It was a different sort of addiction.

Aiden was shook from her thoughts and her staring contest with the side of Mordred's face when Costin mentioned getting a refill. He made a point to exclude her in the offer, but she glanced at her glass all the same. There was hardly any left. A thought occurred to her as she stared into her cocktail. She was unlikely to be able to take on Mordred by herself if he decided he didn't like her brand of help. She had very limited people she could turn to. Costin was already here. Damn. She was going to have to ask him for help. It wasn't likely he'd accept, but if he cared about Mordred there was a chance. It was better than continuing to play dumb until he left.

Aiden finished her drink in one swig. "That alright, I'll come with you." She said, rising to head to the kitchen. She was counting on Mordred being too beat down to question it or follow. She was also counting on Costin still feeling up to his refill. She tossed him and odd glance on her way out of the room. Something close to guilt, despite not having asked him anything yet.

[Mordred Le Fey]

"You both suck." Mordred muttered at them, checking his pockets again. Nothing. How could he have come down without his cigarettes - he wasn't sure he had the energy to make it back up the stairs, and if he did, he didn't think he'd make it back down again.

He nodded at Costin's suggestion of a refill - the vodka was almost gone, and he was sick of the cheap stuff. He wanted the good stuff. He went to push himself up off the sofa, but Aiden had already stood and was making her way to the kitchen, so he yelled after her instead. "Bring me the good bottle - the one Vampy boy has been stealing. And give him something cheap."

Maybe there was a pack of cigarettes down the back of the cushion sofas... he pushed Costin off the sofa, pointing at the kitchen, and began to stick his hands down the back, groping around in the hope of finding something. He found three lighters, but no cigarettes. Dropping onto the floor and laying on his stomach, he stuck his arm under the sofa and groped around some more.

"Success!" He called out as he pulled out a half finished packet of cigarettes. He rolled onto his back, still on the floor in front of the sofa, and lit a cigarette, taking a drag and blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling.

"I can't believe I live with a non-smoker."

[Costin Dracula]

There had been positively no smoking allowed in any residence Costin had ever lived in himself; when you were only vulnerable to two or three things in the entire universe, it was impossibly foolhardy to invite one of those things right into your place of living. Even Costin's parents weren't so arrogant as to do that. "Aiden's lack of a smoking habit is far from the most offensive thing about her," he pointed out, standing up with his glass in hand.

He was a little perplexed by Aiden's desire to accompany him to the kitchen. He'd thought that she would have been just as eager to get away from him as he was to get away from her, but here she was, choosing to go along with him when she didn't even need to. Unless...well, the other possibility was that she wanted to get away from Mordred, which Costin unfortunately had to admit made sense.

He walked back to the kitchen and picked up the bottle of scotch again (ignoring Mordred's direction that he drink something else), opening it and pouring as he glanced over at Aiden. "He's in a bit of a state, isn't he?" he remarked, keeping his tone low enough that Mordred wouldn't hear it from the living room. "How long has he been like this? I talked to him only just the other night and he was like a completely different person." He finished pouring his refill, and put the lid back onto the bottle. "Have you got ice?" he asked, moving towards the refrigerator.

[Aiden Mumble]

"Yeah, yeah" Aiden called vaguely back at Mordred. She didn't really hear him. She wasn't planning on returning with more alcohol anyway. She was already neck deep in coming up with what to say if Costin joined her. Mordred was in a terrible state and she worked herself up just thinking about what would happen if he was allowed to keep going on this way. She didn't have a choice, she needed all the help she could get. The problem was, she didn't know if Costin would agree or even believe her. She didn't even know how to begin.

She was leaning against the fridge, empty glass still in hand and her arms crossed. She was staring at the ground in such deep thought that she hardly noticed when Costin entered. When he spoke, she looked up, but her eyes were still far away. "Yeah..." she said at first. He is in more than a state, hes in the middle of a complete and utter break down and if we don't do something soon we might lose him. The words got stuck in her throat. She watched him refill his glass with a furrowed brow, still contemplating how to carefully select her words. The right order wouldn't present itself. She was going to have to just say it and hope for the best.

"Don't put ice in that, you'll just piss him off more." She warned. Then she sigh, moving to set her glass down at last. "Costin..." she began, saying his name for the first time without contempt. She was careful to keep her voice down. "Mordred needs help." She articulated, keeping her eyes down. "I know we're not friends, but I think it's pretty obvious I'm too dysfunctional to help him on my own. You have no reason to trust me on this, but look at me." She raised her head, addressing her unkempt state. "If I'm saying hes taken things too far I know what I'm talking about." She sigh again and waved her hand at him. "Listen, I don't want to drag you into anything, but if someone doesn't do something soon..." She lost her breath and crossed her arms tightly. She looked back towards the door that lead to the living room. Don't you fucking cry in front of Costin.

[Mordred Le Fey]

"Aiden's lack of smoking is the most offensive thing about her." Mordred muttered as Costin left.

He stayed on the floor, smoking his stale cigarettes and swigging the last of his vodka - which ended up mostly over his face. Turned out he hadn't yet perfected the art of drinking while prostrate. He couldn't hear anything from the kitchen, other than a dull murmur of indistinct voices.

"Stop making out and bring me a drink." He called out, before he yelped in pain as hot ash fell onto his cheek