#and the irrational amount of attachment to things. they would LOSE IT if billiam were ever killed in front of him. they would legitimately

[thatnamelessbutler]

(OoC: No you have not told us about that, please share.)

((ooc: Okay >:::::D

Cw for underage drinking, mentioned death, bad coping mechanisms, possible hallucinating, etc.

So. John ran a bar, which means that Bu with very often around alcohol and drunk people, and he knew that John served it all the time. Alcohol is not actually a thing that invokes bad memories, but rather fond ones for him.

So, while Billiam was asleep and Hubert was somewhere else entirely, he got into the wine stash and pulled out a bottle he recognized. He wasn't entirely sure how to read read incredibly curly text, but it was a brand that was always in high demand at John's bar. And he was just feeling... empty, and lost, and angry for a while after that shock through his pearl that told him John had died. So for a little bit, he just stood there staring at it, remembering things, and he remembered how John would stop him from ever drinking anything, telling him to wait until he was older.

Well, he was older. And John was dead.

Quietly, and looking around as if John would somehow materialize and take the bottle out of his hands, he popped the cork and took a swig. It tasted awful. He kept going.

Billiam came down that morning to Hubert serving breakfast alone, with the excuse of Bu never came down. So he went out to find him after eating. Bu was not in his room, and it took a while before he found him by the alcohol rack with a nearly-empty bottle in his hand and sleeping soundly for once. Nevertheless, he was far too late to waking up, so Billiam shook him awake, and thankfully it didn't take long. He hadn't been asleep for more than 30 minutes at this point, so he was still very. Very drunk. And he woke up and had no idea what was going on or where he was or who Billiam was. He thought he was still in the town and he thought Billiam was the sheriff and he said that multiple times, "get off me, sheriff" when Billiam tried to shake him back to himself. Billiam tried to say he was Not a sheriff, but Bu didn't seem to hear him. He just stood up, very wobbly and clearly intoxicated now that Billiam took a look at him.

He does not want this child to turn into James, if they even survive that long.

He felt the weight of the bottle, lifted it up to look at it, and mumbled "John's gonna want this back." Billiam does not know who John is. Bu tries to walk a couple steps and nearly falls over with each one, and Billiam has to grab him before he gets too far. He once again protests, calling Billiam the sheriff, and Billiam is surprised to hear a curse word leave his mouth. Butler never curses. He doesn't like to.

Eventually Billiam can get the awfully intoxicated child into his arms and the bottle back on the shelf. He carries them up to their room, but trying to put them down means Butler gets distressed and clings to him for dear life, even leaving rips in his sleeves. The gloves haven't been made yet; he doesn't wear any. His claws are out and open. Billiam doesn't like the fact that Butler is damaging his things, but trying to pry him off only yields a worse result. He's stronger than he thought. So Billiam relents, picks him up again and moves to his much larger bedroom instead, because if Butler won't let him leave then he might as well stay in the comfort of his own room instead of a dirty servant's room. He tucks Butler into the bed(with no small amount of gentleness, although he will forever deny any hint of softness and Bu doesn't even know it happened) and resigns himself to sitting down next to them. They latch on and wrap their entire upper body around his lap. He does not like this, but he does not move.

Hours later, Bu wakes up again with the worst headache he's ever felt, so he just nestles into the very warm pillow and tries to go back to sleep. Billiam pokes him, and it doesn't take any more than that for him to sit bolt upright despite the pain and the absolute mess he's in.

(There are burns on his face. He was crying while he was asleep. Billiam comforted him and stopped them before they could get any worse.)

"Good. You're awake."

Butler feels absolutely awful, but he acts normal. Unfortunately, Billiam knows the hell that a hangover brings. "How much did you drink?"

Butler does not know how to answer that. Things fade out after the first sip. Billiam sighs exasperatedly and just stands up, beckoning Butler to do the same. He cannot stand without everything swimming, and Billiam just takes them to the bathroom to get it all out, because he knows they're going to throw up because he has before.

It's been a while, so once it's all out of Bu's system, Billiam takes him down to get some water. That makes a hangover feel better, right? Hubert, of course, sees, he's been worried sick about this kid all day, and Billiam just casually mentions that oh yeah, he drank almost an entire bottle of alcohol, and Hubert fucking PANICS because that shit can be DEADLY and he wastes absolutely no time in getting Butler down to the nurses to make sure they're completely okay. Billiam still gets them that water bottle.