Oh Moon Goddess, what have I done to deserve this pain? My head is throbbing, my every nerve aches. Plus, it smells like stale fruit in here. What did I do last night? Then it all starts flooding back to me. The Elven wine. The beer pong played with wine. The dancing. The late night cream puff and cake buffet. Every sordid detail, until I carried Lala back to my room, then nothing until now. What time is it anyhow?
"Kat?" A whipsered voice calls to me. At least someone has good sense to not make excess noise.
"What is it?" I whisper back, trying to open my eyes past the throbbing in my head. Why did I think this was a good idea yesterday?
"I've got water and some medicine that cures the pain from Elven wine. My master used to have me make it at least twice a month, so I know it works." Lala replies.
If this medicine works she's my new best friend forever.
I open my mouth and she drops some liquid medicine in it, causing me to splutter at the vile taste. Fortunately, most of that washes away with the water. I guess we should send the same to the others' rooms. But that would mean sitting up.
"Don't worry, I made up a big batch and left it in the dining hall with directions. Everyone else should be able to find the cure when they get up to eat." Lala reassures me, seeing the consternation on my face.
Yes, let them suffer until they get to breakfast, I'm reasonably sure this is all Alpha Petros's fault anyhow. Speaking of which:
"Where is Alpha Petros, do you know?" I ask Lala.
"He took a transport pad to the Portland branch of the Witches Association late last night, Miss Kat. Very, very drunk I might add."
Oh, that's gonna be good.
"You don't have to call me Miss, Lala. We're friends" I hug her to reinforce my point.
"Sorry, Miss" she responds automatically, then we both laugh.
"We should get dressed" I start, dragging her towards the closet where I noticed Karl had put a bunch of her clothes.
Quickly picking out my usual Combat outfit, knowing we've got work today, I start looking for something to dress Lala in. I've got a set of her usual secretary outfit here, that could work. But it's so bland and impersonal.
"What would you like to wear today Lala? If you could pick anything, what would it be?"
She thinks well over a minute about my query, making sure that in her mind she's come to the best decision.
"I want the learning outfit. But in Pink and Grey" she finally decides. I wonder if we even have something like that? Sure enough, we actually do. There is a pink and grey tartan pleated skirt, a grey short sleeved blouse and a matching pink and grey tie. Paired with grey knee socks, she looks like something out of an anime.
"You're sure?"
"Definitely, this is the outfit of the day, I'm certain of it."
Headed down the hall, we find Mary sitting with her head between her knees, mumbling about light being evil. Guess she hasn't made it to the dining hall yet, so I send Lala to get her a dose of medicine and some water, while I use my coat to shade her head from the overhead lights.
"Oh, thank you Kat" she whispers.
"Don't worry, Lala has medicine for the hangover, it seems she's had experience with Elven wine before" Just then Lala returns, glass in hand.
"Tilt your head back and close your eyes" she tells Mary softly.
Quickly Mary complies, eager for the pain to end, and as she did to me, Lala simply pours the medicine straight down her throat, causing her to splutter.
"Don't you know about gag reflexes?" Mary asks in a low voice and Lala raises her eyebrow with an amused grin, obviously keeping her response to herself.
"Sorry Mary Mage, drink this water, it'll wash away the taste" she reassures the beleaguered Mage, who begins to look better in just a few seconds.
"Oh, that's good stuff, but the taste is awful" she shudders at the memory.
"The Alchemist who taught me said it tastes that way to remind you that stupidity should be painful" Lala responds with a happy smile, bringing a quick swat on the bottom and a snarky "Sassy Bunny" from a now laughing Mary.
Mood now elevated, we all head into the dining hall, finding Karl already seated, looking a bit haggard, but in no way as rough of shape as us girls were.
"Did you find the medicine?"
"I did, but didn't need it. Unlike a certain Little Lycan, I kept my drinking to a reasonable level last night. We might want to bring some to the rest though, they sounded like they might die before making it out of bed this morning when I set off their alarms." he snorts.
"Wait, you set off their alarms this morning? That's just evil" I exclaim quietly, not trusting the headache to stay gone.
"I set off yours too, but Lala silenced it almost instantly." The bunny blushes at his scrutiny.
"The alarm hurts my ears, so I wake up really quick" she mumbles and Karl draws her into a hug.
"Sorry about that then, I'll make it up to you later. Tell me what you want and I'll conjure you something cute." This thought has Lala ecstatic, thinking of something in particular she wants.
A half hour of conversation later, and not until after Lala has brought medicine to all the other rooms, the whole crew is gathered to discuss our daily tasks.
"Good morning all, or should I say afternoon, as it's now almost 1pm?" Karl gives the delinquent werewolves a reprimanding look.
"We've got one portal on the list today, freshly opened, unstable. Nothing has yet come out of it, so I'll take Mary and Kat to do a quick investigation before closing it up. You fine gents get the day off to nurse those hangovers."
Lala pipes up in her perpetually happy sounding voice "Sorry guys, I really don't have much experience with humans and werewolves, I didn't know how the medicine would work on you."
Everyone waves off her concerns, just happy that the medicine did something, even if it wasn't a total and instant cure.
The 3 of us pile into the Jeep after Karl instructs Lala to take a spa day and get the full treatment experience, as the he called it. A reward for her above average performance he calls it. Though I'm well aware that anyone staying at the base can book a time slot for spa services, that particular package isn't on the listing. Oh well, I'm sure Lala will be more than fine with a full day of pampering.