"Wow, so I guess your brother bought you that limited edition shirt? It's the same one you have but a bit bigger. I-"
Brother this brother that, limited edition, blah, blah, blah. How come I never noticed his obsession with my brother, or more accurately, his obsession with my money? Arek wonders, tapping his fingers against the side of the table in contemplation. Then again I never noticed much back then...But now that I do notice it, why the hell am I just standing here listening to him ramble on about this?
"Arek?"
"Hmm?"
"Does your mongoose bite?" Arek looks up to see Alejandro reaching out for Arthur. "But then again if you're brother bought him for you, I'm sure he's trained-"
With a hiss, Arthur sinks his tooth into Alejandro's finger, as if venting his anger over being unable to get to the cobra behind the cage. Instantly, Alejandro screeches, attracting the attention of the surrounding people. Lightning fast, Arek snatches the mongoose back, hiding him in his shirt before any of the passing visitors catch sight of him.
"Sorry, he doesn't like snakes." Arek says, his voice dvoid of emotion.
Alejandro looks up, livid and ready to retort and demand what hating snakes has to do with biting humans. However, seeing Arek's cold eyes, something causes him to shut up while clutching his bleeding hand. Forget it, his family's got money, anyway. I bet they could shut everyone in here up. Alejandro thinks, gritting his teeth.
"You...you'd better get him trained." He bites out.
"He is trained." Arek lies without batting a single eye as a certain mongoose starts pulling on his chest hair.
"But-"
"He only bites those who deserve to be bitten."
Alejandro freezes, his face alternating between white and red. "What do you mean by tha-"
"Let's see...shall we talk about how you got me to do your bidding, used my feelings to get whatever you wanted? How you caused me to abandon the friends who truly cared for me, manipulated me to turn against my brother and attempt to run away from home resulting in-in-" Arek's voice slightly trembles and he takes a deep breath before continuing, "simply because of your petty jealousy?"
Alejandro opens his mouth again but before he can say anything further, Arek whirls and strides out of the reptile enclosure and through the zoo. Soon enough his strides turn into a jog and eventually a full out sprint, a certain mongoose squeaking indignantly at the abrupt change in pace.
"I hate you brother!"
"...all his fault...do this, do that….bastard...that asshole...thinks he’s my dad...."
"Yes, Your Highness Lennox."
"Save me, please, don't kill me!"
"You monster-"
One by one the causes and consequences hit Arek as his worst memories ring through his head as if on unstoppable autoplay. He tries scrunching his eyes closed, covering his ears, yet nothing stops the unending voices. Reaching his house, Arek rushes inside and down to the basement. Arriving at a locked door, he pulls a pin out of his pocket (always for emergencies) and picks the lock to the door, striding down into the wine cellar.
He pauses, gazes around for a moment, then picks up several bottles and arrives back upstairs. Plopping down on the couch, he calls out.
"Hey." No one answers.
"Hey, I know you're there." Still no answer.
"Come on, are you seriously going to make me come and get you?" Upon receiving no answer for the third time, Arek simply picks up a marble from the table and flicks it in a certain direction. Immediately, a nearly inaudible "ow" comes from the direction he flicked it in.
"Come on, I know there's four of you guys and I know my brother assigned you all to me. Come have a drink with me." No response. Arek's voice turns dangerous. "Come have a drink with me or I'll do to you all what I did to that guy." He says, threateningly holding up four more marbles between his fingers. For a moment, there's no response, until finally, sensing Arek's bloodlust, someone speaks.
"...Young Master, drinking with you isn't within our job scope." It's a quieter but more grizzled-sounding voice. Upon hearing it, Arek beams.
"Well since I'm one of your masters, I decide that it is now. (Insert potent, fancy wine name) anyone?"
An hour later five people, three men and two women, litter the room, each in varying states of drunkenness.
"You know Young Master, you can actually hold your drink pretty well." The bearded man who initially spoke grunts, his face beet red.
"Just pretty well? I'd say not bad, at least he's better than you." An older blonde woman scoffs.
Arek simply smiles, toasts to the compliment, and continues drinking.
"Hey Young Master, how did you pick that lock though?" A skinny, younger-looking man somewhere in his early thirties asks, leaning towards Arek.
"How did you run that fast earlier though?" A young-looking brunette asks, leaning towards Arek from the other side.
"Well, see here it's a long story involving traversing mountains and rivers and saving a princess..." Arek recounts tales from his travels, all the while the group continues drinking and one by one each member starts passing out. Finally, all that's left is a heap of bodies next to countless empty bottles.
And this is the scene that Sayan sees when he arrives home.
