Rumour had it that there were much more interesting sorts of pubs in the old town, places where they DID indeed serve much stronger liquers than could be found anywhere in the Terran Zone. It had to be strong because otherwise she'd never be able to make herself drink enough of it to see if her theory was valid or not.
And, Kay had to admit to herself, she was also feeling homesick a bit -- for music and dancing like there was at home, near a crackling fire. Those sorts of things weren't to be found anywhere in the Terran Zone either. But maybe they _could_ be found elsewhere, if she looked far enough. If she was extrememly fortunate, such a place might also carry what she sought.
But she wasn't completely daft. Becoming a crime statistic would be a bad idea, as would be getting arrested and sent back to the base in disgrace. As usual her best defense (as usual) lay in avoiding the notice of predators. So a disguise had come to mind. Kay looked down at the scruffiest, most androgynous clothing she'd been able to find in her wardrobe. Rubbing dirt into her pants had been a nice touch. It made them fit in with her black wool cloak and the very baggy black tunic. Ideally, nobody would look twice at her now. Any casual eye would see only a scrawny and poorly-dressed adolescent boy. The only possible things that could give her away, were her voice and her fey talents. But as long as she kept them hidden as much as possible, neither should be any kind of problem.
Lacking any definite direction, Kay wandered around, listening to the sounds coming out of various places. At first none seemed quite right. But then something had caught her attention. It sounded like some kind of harp and had a distinct Celtic air to it. She entered quitely and seated herself on the tavern floor (near the warmth of the fireplace), then noticed that the ONLY identifiable females here were obviously NOT customers. Speaking might reveal her to be a woman, she suddenly realized. Now how was she suppossed to get what she was seeking ?
Silently thinking a filthy string of cusswords, Kay shyly shook her head in negation when a server asked if she wanted anything, then shrugged. Under the current circumstances, 'twas far better to be thought a lad who lacked the courage to speak up yet. But, as sleazy as the surroundings were, the music was good. And maybe she could try gesturing at someone else's cup if she smelled something strong enough to suit her purposes.
Kay had been drawn to this particular pub by the music anyways, and there was plenty of it. Some of the many instruments were familiar, but many others were foreign and odd-looking. In her own opinion, the best had been the piece that had first attracted her to come here. It had been played by a man whose instrument was called a rhyll. Perhaps she could find one of her own, and someone willing to teach her to play.
The man had noticed her sitting empty-handed and wide-eyed with wonder among a bunch of young lads. Icy blue eyes had fixed upon Kay's own with a captivating stare. In a break between two songs) he had addressed her. "Poor lad", the unknown man had said kindly, holding out his flask. "You're the only one with not a drop to drink. if you can't get any of your own, then do have some of my own homebrew".
A couple of the nearby boys had smirked and snickered, commenting about how the pretty-little-ri'chiyu should go back home to his mother instead. It had angered Kay to hear herself called such a thing. So, in defiance, she'd acted as she thought many boys would have done under the same circumstances -- and gulped a small mouthful. The contents had seemed unlikely to be tainted -- in between his songs, the musician been occassionally sipping from it himself all evening long. Plus the fact that Kay had no sense of danger from him. And anyways, she'd come into town looking to get drunk enough to dim what Melissa had called laran. Even if this wasn't what she'd been seeking, maybe it would be a good start.
Her expectation had been ale or perhaps wine. But it was flowers and sunlight that sparked on her tongue. The taste was something like one of the exotic cocktails she'd once regretted trying at a university party many years ago (a mix of cheap scotch, soda water and some kind of herbal liqueur). Whatever it was, it had a kick stronger than anything she'd ever known, bringing a painfully-fierce burning sensation to the back of her throat.
Tears filled her eyes as she'd fought for breath. And a brief wave of dizziness flowed through Kay's body, leaving behind a prickly itching sensation all over. She froze in shock as she felt her barriers falling. And they wouldn't go back up, no matter how hard she tried.
No exit cue could have been any more obvious --- once you'd made a fool of yourself, it was always wise to depart before you got yourself into anything worse. She had to leave NOW. With that in mind, Kay got up and headed towards the door, with mocking comments filling her ears, and a distinct feeling of being watched by too-interested eyes until the door had closed behind her.
It still amazed her that she had dared to take a taste from the flask of a stranger. Now look where such behaviour had gotten her. It was just as well that there was nobody around to see what a fool she'd made of herself. And doubly lucky that there hadn't been any of the feyfolk present to spot her. Now if she could just get back into the base with as little notice as she'd gotten when she'd left, everything would be fine. Though if Louis WAS still waiting in her room, she couldn't dare go near him. Instead of making things better, she'd just made things worse. Kay certainly wasn't going to brag about how bold she'd been (or confess how foolish). This would stay her very own secret misadventure. Mum and Da would surely dissapprove, and she doubted that any of her friends would react any differently.