University X

Chapter 5
WILLIAM II

WIILIAM II

He was still drowning on his red leather couch, with a bottle of whiskey on his coffee table. AN OPENED bottle of whiskey. While most women require over a litre of that before even starting to get tipsy at all, the average boy would be totally wasted even just sticking his tongue in such strong booze, and William’s metabolism was rather weak even compared to most men… plus he had drink half a shot of it. He was beyond shitfaced… shitfaced and absorbed in the drunken false-intelligence, depressive state. Then, a sudden acute sound startled him. *RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING* He went for the door and opened it, two gigantic figures were standing there, but he was too drunk to understand what they even looked like, he couldn’t stop moving his own eyes, every image his eyes could conceived looked fluid… in that moment, he was seeing demons.
“E-Egads!? The Heralds of the Unspeakable Mistress, have you come to take me?” the figures looked at each other then came down to him, grabbed him and started speaking unintelligible languages. Rationally, he knew that it just was the alcohol to distort what he could hear and see, but in that very same moment, emotions took over causing him to faint.

He didn’t know how long it had passed, his head was spinning like crazy, but he eventually found the strength to open his eyes. He was in his room, in his bed. Had he gone there? Did he have a nightmare? Wait… there were some noises coming from his living room. Who was there?  Was he being robbed? He was too scared to get up, but he needed to know. What to do? There, his feet, were moving on their own, getting further away from his alcove. Lights were on. Careful. He was hiding beyond a wall. It was two women… Gods, his head… he wanted to vomit… they were just… sitting. Well, trying to, his apartment was cut for a man, each one of them would have needed a couch to use as a sofa. They were… yes, those two. The students, Noemi and her friend… Laura…What were they doing there? How did they enter?

“I’ll go checking on him again…” <CRAP!> She was raising, he needed to go back to this bedroom, quick. Bashing his head against the wall, he went for a goofy run to his bed, covering himself back with the sheet and pretending to sleep. Steps, approaching him. Then a second pair. Then he could feel an enormous finger caressing his right cheek. Everything was moving too fast. He was still hungover. “I think his fever is lowering.” It was Laura’s voice, she was whispering. “Then I think we should wake him up and give him some medicine or something…” He needed to act at that point. He wasn’t a child. “I’m… I’m awake. What are you two doing in my house!?” “Professor... you don’t remember don’t you? We came earlier and you fainted on the floor. Why did you drink so much!? You know boys can’t handle alco-“ “If I want to poison myself to death within the walls of my own apartment, I am allowed to do so, now.” Noemi was too young to remember, but not that long ago men had much more restricted rights. Alongside with them, there was the prohibition to buy alcohol on their own. To prevent them from killing themselves, laws implied that a men, if above the age of 25, could drink alcohol as long as long as he was under the direct supervision of a mother, a wife, a sister, or a daughter. Now the second part has been eliminated, but while women can drink booze at any age, men still require to be 25.

“Now, once again, thank you for your help, but you two do not need to worry about my every move, you’re not my legal guardians.” Noemi sat on his bed, causing basically an earthquake on it, then lowered herself closer to William. “Speaking of which… you don’t have one, do you? Just judging by the size of your apartment… isn’t it dangerous for-“ “Again, young Lady, your concern is appreciated, but I HAVE RIGHTS. You know what University you go to, don’t you? You should understand that someone teaching there has EXTREMELY profound beliefs. Especially a man.” ”I’m sorry Professor, I just… tend to be very protective.” She seemed sincere. “It’s not a bad quality. Now since you two are here anyway… would you mind take me a painkiller in the medicine cabinet? It’s in the bathroom.”

Since his head was on the verge of exploding, he let them stay for a little longer, too weakened to maintain his composure or care about philosophy in the moment. Aside, they weren’t bad people and it wasn’t their fault if society conditioned them into thinking that all men need constant supervision. It was just the way the world worked. Eventually, they finally decided to leave, and he went back to sleep. Thank Gera none of them had to go to class that day.