Only Winter Knows

Bottoms Up

A light kick to his shin startles Kata from his thoughts and he glances to his side. That earns him a mad side-eye from his father who is gesturing forward with his head. Kata bows deeper and puts on a smile.

The crowd cheers and throws praises at the royals walking past them. Kata gives polite nods and waves to the cute girls giving him heart eyes. He chuckles when he sees one of them dramatically place her hands on her chest after a wink. Kata's happiness is short lived as he turns to face his father.

"Act your age, prince," he spits out.

I think you have a wrong idea of what someone my age should act like.

Kata decides to just nod instead and focuses back on the crowd. They're having an annual feast with almost every elf from the kingdom present. Sadly being a 'guest of honor' means no fun activities. Due to this Kata's favorite thing during these gatherings is to just dissapear into the crowds and find a more entertaining way to spend his time. And alcohol if he's lucky. God knows he needs something stronger than water after the past few days. As if the long meetings, his fathers constant nagging and the growing responsibilities weren't enough, that fucking excuse of a sorcerer just had to mess with magic he can't handle.

Kata sits next to his father in a room full of the so called important people of their kingdom. He's waiting for the right moment. It comes sooner than expected as someone dressed way too well for such event approaches his father and Kata knows now's the time.

"Hello, king Elric. It's an honor to meet you," the man says with a polite smile.

"I'll go use the restroom and find some food," Kata quickly whispers and stands.

He gets a suspecting glance from Elric but no words so Kata takes that as a 'do whatever you wish' and takes off.

Now the problem is his appearance. His looks don't really blend in with the others, the black hair falling on his face with fancy robes covering his body. A disguise it is then.
Kata slides through an opening between a fence that's a few houses away from the main streets. He finds himself standing on the yard of a small house. A small house with laundry hanging from a rope by the corner or the garden. Nice!

Kata carefully walks to the racks and goes through his options. A simple long, blcak cloak is what he settles on. It can single handedly cover his whole body and the hood hides his hair.

The prince feels only slightly bad stealing from someone he doesn't even know. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Right? Kata convinces himself it's an honor if someone from the royal family steals from you and slips back on the street.

It doesn't take long for the young elf to find the bar he was looking for. There are hundreds of elves on the street, so slipping in without being caught is easier than it should be. Kata steps inside and slightly lifts his hood higher to scan the area. There are many wooden tables, all occupied. The bar table has a short line of elves while the bartender tries his best to keep up with the incoming orders. Kata can hear a group by the back singing and all around everyone is loudly discussing with their friends. The line for drinks it is.
Kata stands awkwardly at the back and paitently waits.

.

"And what can I do for you?"

Kata snaps his head up and comes eye to eye with the bartender, a young looking man with long blond hair that's tied into a neat bun and a suggestive smile playing on his lips. The man sure is attractive.

"Whatever is your recommendation," Kata replies with a small smile.

"A good choice, sir. I'll make you something you won't forget," the man smirks and turns around to grab a huge glass.

Kata let's the smile drop and looks around for a seat. Just as the bartender is handing out his drink, Kata spots a small empty table at the back of the building.

"Here's your drink. I hope you enjoy!"

Kata accepts the glass and drops a few coins on the table before heading for the table. He swears he can feel how the other elf keeps watching him until a crowd comes between them. Kata places the drink down and takes a seat. No one around him seems to be paying any attention to the prince. Deciding everything's clear, Kata raises the glass to his lips and takes a sip.

Holy shit that burns! Good stuff, though.

.

Kata's not sure how long he's spent in the bar already but certainly enough time to get properly drunk. He's finished at least four glasses of whatever that drink from before was. Kata's abandoned his lonely table and is now dancing around with the other elves. He's been singing, laughing, flirting, drinking and just doing whatever he wants for hours. Kata can't even hear his voice over the loud chants and music in the room. There are bodies bumping into him and pushing from side to side, every once in a while making someone splash drinks on him or on the floor.

In the middle of it all Kata feels his hood slide off. He's too drunk to pay any mind to such things and just let's it be, it makes it easier to breathe and hear to not have it on. Not his best decision.

"Look! It's the prince!" A loud voice powers over the music and everyone turns their heads towards a female elf pointing her finger at Kata.

"Fuck," Kata sighs deeply when all eyes turn to him.

There's a short moment of quietness before the absolute chaos. After getting over the shock, bodies start surrounding the elf prince faster than he can react. Everyone's trying to get their hands on him, screaming to get Kata's attention.

Not knowing what to do, Kata freezes. He franctically searches for a way out while he feels people grabbing at his clothes and hands. Before Kata can get himself to react, someone strongly grips his arm as another pair of hands takes his other arm. They start dragging him away and pushing the elves out of the way. Kata starts hysterically trashing and screams at the two figures.

"The hell are you doing!? Let go of me you bastards!"

The hands just tighten their grip and Kata starts to panic. He should've never come here.

"Would you stop struggling, prince Kata? We're just trying to get you out of here alive," comes a familiar voice from Kata's right.

That's when the realisation hits the young prince. This is even worse.

"Wha- did father send you? No come on let me go! I can handle myself," Kata yells with a slur, clearly drunk.

"Didn't look like that a minute ago. And the king is furious, Kata."

Kata screws his eyes shut to stop the world from spinning and wishes for the earth to swallow him whole. He's never getting to go out of the castle after this.
Kata gets dragged to the street where there's a carrier waiting with horses in front of it. The two guards open the door and almost throw the prince in. He comes face to face with his father. His very angry father.