Stranger on the Cliff (ONC 2021)

Awake, I Dream

It took him more than a single moment to work out that the strange moaning noise was coming from his own throat. His head pounded brutally as he tried to work out just what he'd been drinking last night.

After several minutes of rolling and groaning he felt brave enough to pry one sticky eyelid open, slamming it shut immediately at the unforgiving brightness of the morning light.

It had to be Sam. They seemed to make it a personal mission to make Tav drink every disgusting, sickly concoction of spirits their twisted mind could come up with. Mainly because he'd made the mistake of admitting he wasn't technically allowed to drink when he'd first met them, three years earlier. Now he was legally allowed to drink in every country he could think of, but it didn't stop Sam.

Tav would have his revenge. He'd just have to think of something. And not now. Now was for extra-strength Tylenol and maybe another little nap. And a bacon sandwich.

Well, he could only do one of those things without having to move, so he closed his eyes again and let blessed sleep suck him under.

Too soon, he awoke again, with a desperate need for water and to pee. Probably not in that order. The light was even sharper as he sat up, though thankfully his headache had eased. It took a moment for his pupils to get used to the vicious light. Which was why, when they finally cleared, he was extremely unready for there to be a girl in his room. He screamed in a humiliatingly high tone, immediately chasing it with a hot blush.

"Wha-," is all he managed, as the girl averted her eyes and backed out of the room.

"Oh, Sir, I'm so sorry."

He couldn't help but notice she didn't actually sound sorry, and had rather a smug grin on her face, and he pulled the sheets up with a yelp when he realized he was shirtless.

Was he in a hotel? The girl had been wearing a chambermaid outfit. One of those big white apron-things. Her dress was a bit weird though. Why would he be in a hotel? And a fancy one, now that he was finally able to focus enough to look around the room. If it was Sam, they were taking their pranks to a whole new level.

He was in an actual four-poster bed, and the rest of the room was no less impressive, if extremely old-fashioned. There were more chairs, of various extravagant styles and fabrics, than any one person could be reasonably expected to sit on in a single hotel stay. The walls seemed to be covered in a heavily patterned paper, or maybe it was even fabric, that was doing his newly recovered eyes no good at all. The floor was thankfully simple wood, even if the huge rug was also patterned insanely, and differently to the walls. The windows were large, hence all the light, though they were covered in lots of small panes, like a lot of the buildings around the university. Maybe he was in one of them.

He stood, legs a little shaky, and tottered over to the window, letting out a confused whimper when he saw the view of the rolling countryside. Not the university. Had Sam got him blackout drunk and abandoned him in the middle of nowhere?

There was a brief knock on the door and the maid was back, pretending to avert her eyes, though he could tell she was copping a good look at his boxer-clad form. He was beyond caring about that now, though. He needed to find out where he was and get back to the city.