Love is... wait, what?

Love is... wait, what? - Part 7

When Ingrid finally managed to get downstairs, in the main hall, she realized she was the latest arrival. Everyone was waiting for her. That meant everyone was staring at her. Suddenly, she started walking normally again. Or rather, she was using all of her focus to walk like a normal person. In that moment, she realized that she could have simply used the Warrior Mark so that she could use the 100% of her muscles. But why was she caring that much? Because she's the defender. Who would ever entrust his life to a clumsy one who doesn't even know how to walk properly? Plus, Ingrid's never been someone who would have shown her weaknesses that easily, as I may have already stated. Everyone was being way too silent. Only the sound of Ingrid's steps could be heard in the whole hall. No one was there besides Yark's recruits. Everyone keept on staring at her. Ingrid never suffered from social anxiety, but that scenario did manage to get under her skin. Ingrid took her seat. At that point, she felt forced to say something:

"I'm here, there's no one left. What now?" Everyone kept silent for a second.

"Now we'll dance and drink until we're no longer conscious!" Eleri exclaimed. Every person in that room raised his glass, cheering all together. Everyone but Ingrid. She went pale instead. She wanted to bury herself. Everyone in the hall got up all of a sudden, some people pulled a part of the table cloth with them making some glasses fall from the table in the process. Some went talking to the conductor, others went straight to the bar, ready for another round.

"Shit... what should I do now?" Ingrid asked herself. She had thought about the mark possibility, but in order to activate it, she would have had to injure herself. That was not the problem, though, the table was plenty of knives after all. She didn't know where to draw the symbol with her blood. The latter would have stained her outfit, it would have taken years to wash the blood off afterwards, not to mention it would have been visible. She couldn't draw it on her head, hands or thighs either due to the visibility problem. What if everyone finds out she needs the 100% of her muscles to walk and dance properly? It would have been way too embarrassing. Ingrid had run out of options. It would not have taken much before someone had noticed she was sitting on her own. 

"You know, maybe the fact that I've never been to a party is not that bad." Ingrid's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. She turned around. She had recognized the voice, but she didn't think someone was still at the table. It was Amphion. He was sitting next to her. Ingrid calmed down. She had to. She couldn't lose her cool in that moment.

"Aren't you going to join them?" She asked while watching the crowd having fun, resting her hands on her quadriceps. Amphion turned his gaze towards the crowd as well and made a disgusted face at the sight of someone already puking.

"I don't drink." He answered.

"Then dance."

"I don't do that either."

"I see." Then they went silent.

"Don't you drink?" Amphion asked, breaking the silence.

"Occasionally. I may tonight." She answered. They had begun once again, without even looking at each other.

"What about dancing?"

"Not a good dancer." Ingrid started looking at the knife on her right once again. She thought that maybe she should have used the Mark. Then looked at the crowd again. The members of team 4 were dancing on a table, not showing respect whatsoever to the room's furnitures. Ingrid sighed.

"I don't like parties. Losing consciousness... puking... dancing like an idiot... I don't like it." Ingrid said, furrowing her brows and looking down.

"Then perhaps we should leave." Amphion replied. Ingrid raised her gaze and looked at him. Then, she put her right elbow on the table, leaned down and rested her head on the palm of her right hand.

"How? Eleri notices everything. We should consider ourselves lucky she still hasn't spotted us." She then said. Amphion kept silent for a moment. Then, he stretched his left arm to reach a bottle of red wine. Ingrid followed his movements with her eyes, wondering about what he had in mind. Amphion uncorked the bottle, took Ingrid's glass and started filling it with wine.

"Only you and Haydan know I don't drink. Eirik knew it as well, but I don't think he's ever told Eleri." Amphion said. He started filling his glass as well.

"What's on your mind, Amphion?" Ingrid asked, regaining a correct posture and letting her right hand rest on the table while looking at Amphion puzzled.

"We wait for everyone to get drunk, then we get away. No one will notice us. If someone asks, we're taking a break from dancing and, since we love wine, we're getting drunk. How does that sound?" Ingrid looked at her glass of wine. She grabbed it and took a sip.

"Sounds like a plan which revolves around everyone getting drunk and forgetting everything. Risky, but I find myself unable to come up with something better."