Drown With Me

Man, you look worse off than I did!

You know what? I can make up for that. Come with me.

Yeah, now lie in bed. Put your head right here.

Sweet. Isn't that so much more comfortable?

Rest up, dude. We have a long day ahead.

You feel the balmy heat of summer against your eyelids. Your body wants to stay under these covers forever, but your stomach wants breakfast. Even though you know the curtains are closed, the room is well-lit from the light that bleeds through said curtains. A yawn coming from somewhere nearby pulls you further from slumber. You instinctively respond with a yawn of your own, burying your head deeper into the warm pillow as you enjoy its calming heartbeat.

Wait, hold up.

You lazily lift an eyelid to find that your pillow's no longer there, nor are you resting on the couch in the next room over. You're back in your own bedroom, resting on something soft and round, tightly clad in purple lycra; a familiar swimsuit. Then you notice the blue skin beneath it.

Your head's on Sonata's boob.

Not quite knowing what to do - or how you got there, for that matter - you groggily try to lift yourself up and away from the breast you're pressing into your own face. Seeing as you're still half asleep however, all you manage to do is flop about a bit and make groaning noises.

"Good to see you're awake, sleepyhead. Thought you'd be snoozing forever!"

Your second attempt to wake up properly is a lot more successful, rolling completely off her. Once your senses are back in their entirety, you see Sonata, still donning that swimsuit of hers, wide awake and grinning; she knows exactly what she did.

"I woke up in the morning and saw you were an absolute mess!" She explains, scooting out of the bed. "It's like you only had like five minutes of sleep or something. So I thought I'd let you rest up a little longer in your own bed."

"What time is it?" you ask.

"Almost one."

"Ah crap. The bar."

"Man, you have more things to worry about than that. Don't you think we should focus more on curing you?"

You rub the back of your head; you suppose you could close the bar for one afternoon. Then you remember what kept you up so late.

"Oh! Sonata, the notes! I found a way to break the charm!"

"You did!?" Her eyes light up.

"Yeah! It's in this chapter right here," you say hastily, grabbing her phone and leafing through the pictures. "Basically, all I need to do is have a near-death experience and-"

Slap! Sonata's hand quickly knocks the phone right out of your hand, sending it flying - thankfully - into the bed's pillow.

"No," she says with the stern tone one would use on a badly-behaved child. "We're not using that trick. If we were, I'd've tried it by now."

"Sonata, what else is there? I know it's risky, but-"

"Too risky," Sonata cuts you off, staring you down. "The charmed guy who discovered that cure was lucky. A few other thralls we had back in the day had the bright idea of trying to do the same thing when we weren't looking. Some tried poisoning themselves to near-death, then drinking an antidote. Some tried jumping off tall things with a trampoline at the bottom. Others even had the bright idea shooting apples of one-another's heads, making it a 'close call'. I won't get into the gristly details, but..." Her eye contact breaks off from your own, "It doesn't work every time."

"So... put it in the 'maybe' pile?"

"Just think of something else, okay?" she pleads. So, being under her spell, that's exactly what you do.

"Hmm. Remember when you said you were able to cancel charms with your gems?"

"Gems we don't have anymore, but carry on."

"Maybe if we recreate the same situation that caused me to get charmed in the first place, it'd reverse itself?"

Sonata opens her mouth to say something, but then stops. Then she tries again; "You mean that time in the pool? With the flash of pain?"

"Yeah. I touched you, thinking you were drowning, then you started failing around, then I felt the flash."

"And you think that'll work? Be honest."

You be honest; "No, I don't think it'll work at all. But it's the only other thing I can think of."

Sonata's mouth twists into a frown. "Fine. Grab your swim trunks. We're going for a dip."

Minutes later, you're at the deserted pool-bar. It would seem the regulars have already spread their wings and flown to other pastures of sunshine and inebriation. Sonata's already there, standing by the pools edge and rocking back and forth on her heels. She wordlessly beckons you over with a finger.

"Here's how this is gonna go down," she states bluntly. "I'll jump in the pool. You dive in after me and touch me with your hand. Or whatever you did back then. Not likely to cure you, but we gotta try something, right?"

"Sure thing," you say, fully aware that the charm is making you say that. You decide to add something else on the end; "You seem kinda tense, Sonata. Is everything okay?"

"Nope. This sucks." And with that, she drops into the pool with a splash. You watch the water's surface dance around until it settles, revealing Sonata's form lying at the bottom, arms crossed. Then the charm kicks in; you take a breath and dive in after her. You push yourself as deep as you can, each stroke making you marvel at how Sonata's such a natural in the water. After a few seconds, you're close enough to Sonata to grab her. Just as you did last time, you wrap your arm around her waist and...

Nothing.

Sonata gives you a deadpan look, and an unimpressed huff that materialises itself as a cloud of bubbles. Then you remember the struggle that ensued that night, and how she cut your cheek in the mess of it. Maybe that was part of an accidental ritual? You gesture your arm around the cheek, and mouth the words 'slap my face'.

Her hand half-assedly pats your cheek. Still nothing.

You point towards the surface before kicking off the bottom of the pool. Taking a gasp of air as you break the surface, you hear the water ripple as Sonata ascends beside you. She's not even panting.

"Welp," she deadpans. "You said it probably wouldn't work."

"Hear me out," you raise a hand while keeping the other clasped onto the poolside. "When we went down there, you accidentally grazed my cheek with your wristband. Maybe if we dive down there again, and you draw some of my blood..."

"Man, you're a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" She splashes some water in your direction. "First you wanna try risking your life, now you want me to start cutting you up?"

"I don't want to do either, Sonata. I want this charm broken!"

"Geez! Fine!" she snarls in exasperation. "If I remember right, I also accidentally drank -" her voice catches for a moment - "I also got some blood in my mouth too. Might as well go whole hog."

"Wha-"

Too late. Sonata flings herself at you before you can get a word out, causing you to lose your grip on the poolside and fall hopelessly back under the water. You wouldn't have minded so much if she'd given you a chance to take a breath first.

Sonata asserts herself on top of you as you sink, until you're met with the dull thud of the pool's mosiac-spangled floor. She makes quick work of you; one of her hands holding your head still, while the other one takes a swipe at you with the metallic studded wristband.

The cut didn't hurt as much as last time - you were expecting it. You weren't expecting Sonata to lean in over you and start licking your wound. The sensation of her tongue on your face was brief and efficient, as if she was making a point of not being sensual. That didn't stop you from feeling a faint blush, though.

A second passes, and you think about rising for air. Then the pain starts. That flash of heat from inside your skull lights up again, and your nerves desensitize. Direction loses all meaning. Despite the numbness, you feel yourself being pulled by Sonata's hand clasped around your own. You trust that she's heading towards the surface.

Your face hits the warm summer air, which you gratefully inhale. Sonata, as usual, is unfazed after such a short dip. The pain has already dissipated like mist.

"Did it work?" she asks.

"I... think so..." you pant. "Definitely felt something. Gimme an order."

"Okay. Poke me in the eye."

"Sonata, that's dumb." You say as your finger takes a jab towards her eye. Of course, she anticipated it; she snatches your hand in mid-motion, and forcefully contorts it away from her face.

"Okay, cancel the order! Don't poke me! Don't poke me!"

"Aaaaaah leggo my arm you're twisting it argh!"

*******

You never thought you'd be mixing drinks today. It's only you and Sonata drinking, of course, but you might as well make use of what you have. Hence why you're sitting on a stool next to Sonata, chilled beer in one hand and her phone in the other.

"Any other terrible ideas?" Sonata deadpans, prodding the ice floating in her rum and coke with a straw. "Or is being forcibly brainwashed twice over good enough for you?"

"On the bright side, Aria's notes say you can't stack charms on top of each other," you chime back, "So I'm still technically charmed once."

"You're still charmed though, Mister Optimist."

"True, but we did learn something important; charms involve drinking the victim's blood. And possibly being underwater, but I'm quite sure it's the blood drinking."

Sonata sucks the straw in her beverage, taking down two thirds of the glass in a matter of seconds. "Pretty sure it's just the blood thing. The water's just what made me drink it accidentally that first time. I'm sure that's why Adagio hasn't figured it out yet; she doesn't swim. And while Sirens always ate victims raw, we don't really get to do that in this world unless it's restaurant-quality."

"So, what now?" you swig your beer; only a fraction down compared to your friend's drink. "Unless you're up for trying the near-death experi-"

"Don't talk about it." Sonata scowls, downing the rest of the rum and coke. "And make me another one of those."

And, as usual, you obey the words that seem perfectly logical and reasonable to you. You aren't even scared that she's doing this. It's like a filter that blocks every little thought against her. By the time you push the second rum and coke towards her, she's already teary-eyed.

"Sorry. I should've asked, not ordered. Dick move on my part. Scratch the no-talking order too."

"I get it, you're mad about this, We both are." you pick up your beer again. Still cold. Good. "But we have to try everything we can possibly think of."

"Wait! That's it!" Sonata almost jumps out of her seat. You totally didn't flinch or anything. But you did just lie to yourself.

"What if - and hear me out;" Sonata begins, "we do the reverse of what made the charm work?"

Your nose crinkles. "You... wanna regurgitate blood?"

"Gross. And no," she leans towards you with a cheeky grin. You notice that her second drink's halfway gone already, and that she's blushing. "If me drinking your blood made the curse, then maybe you drinking my blood..."

"Also gross, Sonata. But it's the only other plan we've got. Let's get it over with."

"Wanna hop back in the pool for that?"

You shake your head. "You're the swimmer, Sonata. That's your way of drinking blood. If I'm the one doing it, I wanna do it my way."

You turn to your faithful cocktail mixer and crack some ice into a tall glass. You pour in some vodka and tomato juice, then squeeze a lemon over it. Three shakes of Tabasco and black pepper. You stir the lot, then garnish with a little more ice and a celery stick. Then you place the glass of deep, red liquid in front of your guest.

"There. Put some blood into this, Sonata. Not too much, though."

Sonata looks at you, then the drink, then back to you.

"Gods, you're such a comedian," she scoffs. "A Bloody Mary? Really!?"

"Hey, some people consider this a hangover cure! I'm trying to cure my charm. It's symbolic!"

"And it's nothing to do with the fact you'll be drinking my blood?"

"Well no, but actually yeah."

She snorts. It's kinda cute. "Whatever you say, handsome." With that, she holds her pinky-finger over the glass and carefully gives it the infamous spiked-wristband treatment. You avert your gaze - it just felt wrong to watch her do it - but you do notice one, two, three droplets of red trickle down past the ice, and into the drink itself.

"Mmm hmm," Sonata signals the go-ahead, popping her finger into her mouth to stop the bleeding.

Raising the glass to your lips, you quietly count down to yourself, then chug the whole thing. You were smart with choosing a Bloody Mary; the tomato, Tobasco and pepper makes it almost impossible to taste anything even vaguely like blood. Clever you.

You hold the nearly-empty glass aloft over your mouth, making sure to catch every last drop, just in case. Then you bring the glass down to the counter with a clack, then wait.

"If this works, Sonata," you say slowly, "you should get a bit of pain in your head. Happened with me."

She fell silent for a moment, expecting the sudden magically-induced headache. "Nope. Sorry. Nothing." She shrugs.

"Me neither. Test it out?"

"Pour your beer away," she orders. Then she watches you grab the bottle and tip it over the nearby sink.

"I liked the eye-poking order better, really," you quip. "Painful, but at least I didn't lose any booze."

No response.

"Sonata?"

She just sits there, in her own brooding silence. Her head's in her hands, fingers clasped at her hair in frustration. "That's it. That's everything we can think of. There's nothing left."

You're about to correct her by mentioning the near-death experience theory, but you recall her asking you not to talk about it; she may have given you permission shortly after, but it's still a sore spot. Then again, she already knows what you intend to say. She's gripping her hair so tightly, her knuckles are turning white. Before you can reassure her, she belts out a scream of rage and dismay. A moment later, her stool is flung in a fit of anger, toppling several others like bowling pins.

"Whoa! Sonata, wait-" You scramble from behind the bar with the intention to stop her from wrecking your bar - stronger ancient monster-girlfriend be damned - only to witness her slump over in hopelessness. By the time you reach her, she's sobbing uncontrollably.

Without a second thought, you bend over to pickup the sorry mess of a girl. She doesn't even try to stand up properly, instead choosing to fall into your arms. You wisely take this chance to embrace her; a literal shoulder to cry on that she wordlessly, yet gratefully accepts.

You can't tell how long you stand there with her as she cries, but she finally lowers herself from sobbing to heavy breathing and sniffling. Despite all of her experience as a Siren, the thing she finds most precious is someone who treats her like a human. So that's exactly what you do. Nothing else needs to be done.

Finally, she calms down, lightly pushing your chest to end the hug. Her eyes are still red.

"You know what this means, right?" She whispers. "It's either the near-death experience or just staying a charmed thrall for life."

"Yeah."

"Is there any way I can get to choose the safer option willingly?"

You shake your head. "No. Would you feel better if I were forced into choosing that?"

"No."

"Then we've already made the choice. But how are we gonna go about it?"

She pauses to consider... well, everything. It's so silent, even the bustle of the crickets seem distant.

"Your choice. You're the one going through it. S'only fair." Sonata's voice is barely audible at this point. The very topic is enough to shrivel the happy-go-lucky girl.

"Let's see... no poisoning, or anything that could involve me being rushed to a hospital. That would depend on an ambulance too much. I'd rather not have any bones broken or brain damage either, so blunt force is out. A car crash sounds just plain reckless for everyone involved, and might even hurt bystanders. It's gotta be something that nearly kills me, but isn't damaging enough to-"

"Gods you're picky," Sonata mutters. Then she quickly adds; "That's fine given what we're talking about, but yeah, you've got slim pickings here."

"Point taken. I guess the most important thing would be having you nearby, in case something goes wrong," You bring a hand to her cheek and wipe away a rolling tear that overstayed its welcome. A small tint of pink blooms on Sonata's face. "I trust you to help me when that time comes. Do you know any first aid that'd help?"

She responds with a shrug. "Not a huge amount, no. I can do CPR, but I only learned that while I was reading up on underwater apnea, just in case I needed to use it."

You look at Sonata, then the empty, motionless pool sitting a few short feet away. Then back to Sonata.

Her eyebrows furrow when the cottons on. "You can't be for real. You want me to drown you!?"

"I don't want you to, but It's the best shot we have," you reply. "It's on my property. No bones to break. And I have you, Sonata, to help me through it. It's the best thing I can think of."

"You... really trust me that much? Be honest."

Be honest.

You gently hold Sonata by the hand and look into her eyes. "Yeah. I do."

The faintest smile twitches at the edge of her mouth, if only for a moment. Then she takes a deep, thoughtful sigh.

"Fine. Let's do it."