Ode to Remedy

Act VI

"So jumpy!" The voice in front of him exclaimed through a laugh. "I'm not going to bite you, darling, I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Markus blinked. He always used to believe that Ocean's glacier eyes were ice cold, that they knew no warmth. But now that she stood before him, her perfectly polished nails digging into the skin of his shoulder, he suddenly recalled that the hottest fires always burn blue.

Ocean's full lips curled into a smirk. "Cat's gotten your tongue, hm? Shall I leave you be?"

Markus choked, then covered his drunkenly red face with his hand. "Ah, n-no, I'm quite alright."

"You seem a bit addled. Is this your first time?" 

"Drinking? God, no. I wish it was."

She brought her hand to her lips and giggled behind it. "I do love a melodramatic background."

Markus paused for a moment, shooting a glance to her hand on his shoulder, wishing she would catch the hint and remove it. He knew very well that she was flirting with him. But what would someone like her want to do with him? And why were her sultry ways actually taking toll on him?

To Markus's relief, she pulled her arm from his shoulder and leant against the wall next to him, tilting her head slightly, drawing attention to her sensuous azure hair. "Marius, was it?"

"Markus," He corrected after a moment's hesitation. He knew very well that she knew his name.

"I was close." She grinned. "I'm glad you could attend my party, by the way. It's always a pleasure to get to meet new people."

You never bothered to meet me outside of this place, Markus thought sharply.

"Glad I got to come." He lied, lowering his gaze. "I needed an escape, anyway. You just happened to plan the perfect opportunity for me to."

Ocean only analyzed him. Her smile never disappeared, even after the sudden fog that seemed to settle in Markus's eyes. She turned slowly, facing the remainder of her party. All of the people she managed to gather into one place. Though, looking at her from this angle, under the dim light of the spotted overhead lights, Markus realized that she truly knew not one of these people, despite her extreme popularity. She was never seen around campus surrounded by a clique as those would think she would be. Now that he truly thought about it, he rarely even saw her around campus.  Then, why do people obey her as if she'd execute them if they didn't?

Ocean lured a passerby near and whispered something to him. Markus couldn't catch what she said to him, for the hazy sea of voices lingering in the smoke-polluted air no longer seemed important to him. Once the male that Ocean had beckoned left, she turned back to him, her blue eyes flickering with something he's never seen before. His spine tingled.
"Markus, I know we just met, like, five minutes ago, but if you're ever seeking escapism, you can contact me."

Markus opened his mouth to protest. He never even considered on hooking up behind Valentine's back, and he never planned to. He'd never felt the need to. Markus jumped once more when her hands found their way to his torso. His eyes shot to her body pressing closer, then to her face nearing. He wanted desperately to break free from her grasp. She then laughed, almost tauntingly at the fear in his eyes.

"I'm not going to harm you. I only want to provide comfort for you." One of her hands slithered up his chest and grazed the side of his face lightly, in some sort of malicious gentleness. "For I've heard you don't have someone to do that for you already. Perhaps that's why you wish to get away? Though I don't wish to intrude, but Markus, you and I are one of the same. You don't understand." Her gaze fell away for a moment, a sudden cloud of sorrow polluted the waters of her blue irises. "Everyday I have to sit along and await the return of my father. And everyday, he has to remind me that I was not intended, and that he has no further intentions with me. And although he tells me that, I wish that was the case." With a shudder, her heavy eyelids fell closed and her voice became suddenly filled with woe. "Every night, Markus, he enters my room."

Markus stared at her in horror, unable to speak. He found himself unable to push away from her now. Was she drunk? Out of everyone in this building, why would she be sharing this with him? Was it selfish of him to be thinking these things?

"Ocean, I-"

Her gaze shot back into his, a desperate smile flashing across her face, quickly cutting him off. "Markus, we can depend on each other. I don't even require to be your friend, that's not what I'm asking, no. We can benefit each other."

The male from earlier returned, this time carrying a large glass bottle, as if that was Ocean's request. She took it from him and examined it softly, before silently popping the lid off of it. With a singular cold look, she dismissed the male and he hurried off to return to his friends on the dancefloor that Markus had become completely unaware of. Markus watched as she rose it closer to him, and smiled slightly when he recoiled backwards, like a small child rejecting food from his mother.

    "We both suffer terribly under the doing of the ones we love. I only want to help you, for I've cried myself to sleep for too many nights to want to wish it on another soul. I'd like to assist you." Her slender hand returned to his face, curling under his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes.

How did she fucking know about Valentine?

She lifted the bottle once more, and this time she held his head in place. His breaths were ragged and harsh, and his fists trembled, fastened around Ocean's slim wrists.

"You don't have to answer me, it's okay if you wouldn't like to."

The bore of the bottle pressed against his lips, and he squeezed his eyes shut. He could no longer hear the music causing the room to hum, for he could only his own hammering heartbeat pounding in his ears. What liquid did the bottle possess? And why couldn't he do anything to stop her?

He felt his heart leach into the drink. Alcohol. The liquid trickled inside his mouth and he felt the keen burn on her tongue and throat, scalding the skin of his insides as it entered his body. Ocean watched, progressively tilting the drink further back, satisfaction burning in her eyes almost as harshly as the alcohol did to his inside.

Did he want to stop her?

Some of the liquid trickled down the sides of his face and onto the front of his hoodie, staining it along with the slight tears escaping his shut eyes. After what felt like forever, Ocean pulled the drink away and looked into his watery eyes.

"Was that good, love?"

Tears began to spill down his face. It was like he couldn't control it, as if his face had become numb. Beneath his feet the wooden floor felt soft, like the ground was beginning to deflate. Markus staggered slightly and collapsed against the wall. He suddenly fell a prisoner to the immense throbbing that struck his head. He felt helpless in the cage of pain his head had trapped him in.

Markus forced his eyes to meet Ocean's. "You spiked the drink, you bastard,"

He tightened his grip on her wrists and stumbled forward a bit in a desperate attempt to maintain himself. He refused to show weakness in front of Ocean. She took the sides of his face in her palms and balanced him, a malevolent smile spread across her face.

"That would offend me if I wasn't actually a bastard. Good attempt, though." She then leaned in and pressed her lips against his in a long moment of interlocking. When she finally pulled away, she grinned. "It usually takes people until they wake up to realize that they've been contaminated. But you," She brushed his matted hair behind his ear, "You're so clever. I love that."

It was difficult to make out the details of the her face, even despite her being so disgustingly close. His vision began to falter and his breaths became shallow. The last thing he wanted to do was to fall unconscious in her arms, for he feared what she would do to him while he was not awake. He squeezed his eyes shut, cursing himself a million times as his own tears dripped onto Ocean's skin. He regretted leaving his apartment a million times, and he regretted ever upsetting Valentine. If only he could see his lover now. He longed to fall to his knees and apologize, and let his walls down for the person he loves most to enter at last. He longed to just let everything spill out, but he already made his decision. Valentine didn't deserve any of this. Markus's lovely didn't deserve any of this.

Ocean looked down on him as he slowly slumped lower and lower. She stroked the side of his face a last time, just as the final waves of pain crashed into him, plunging him into a dark opaque of oblivion.