Ash in the Haze

It was just another day of the grueling grind of real life responsibilities for Ash. She hated her job of flipping burgers for some fast food joint she truly detested of, being a vegetarian herself. Riding the subway home, she still had the stench of grease following her despite changing her clothes in the bathroom before leaving.

All she wanted was to come home to her boyfriend and rehearse some of their new musical material together. She was eager to play it for the crowds. Even if it didn't pay much, it felt more earned than her actual job. Though it bugged her a bit that her boyfriend, Lance, would always seem to divide the performance cut unevenly, making the excuse that she made more than enough with her 'fast food gig.'

Lance, unfortunately, didn't have a job and it was felt most in Ash's wallet. As much as her boyfriend was a leech and mooch at most times, she remained faithful, mostly for the band's sake if not for themselves exclusively. Lance was a master at the guitar, sadly he had a nasty habit of recruiting and kicking out new members within the same week. It was a bad sign of things to come, but Ash refused to let the red flags bring her down.

Leaving the subway station, Ash was a few mere blocks away from home. She probably could have had a beater car to drive to and from by now if it wasn't for Lance's financial dependency on her. It was confusing to her, Lance's parents were loaded, but as soon as he left home, he never seen a cent out of them… What she wasn't told from the porcupine's mouth was that he was kicked out of his parents house. They had refused to pamper him all throughout life and decided he should learn the hard way. Of course, being the sly, smooth talker he was, Lance managed to make a sugar mama out of Ash.

Taking the porch steps, Ash fished the apartment keys out of her pocket. The anticipation grew as her fingers were itching to shred on the guitar. She fumbled her keys about, eventually finding the one that would let her into the lobby. Past that door, Ash sorted her keys again to find the one to let her into her own apartment.

Inserting the key, she noticed something was off… The door was unlocked, yet again. "Really Lance?!" Ash muttered under her breath, How many times do I have to tell you to lock the door?! She complained through her thoughts, knowing those words would probably start an argument between them. She had enough of them for a lifetime. Swallowing her anger in the form of a sigh, Ash turned the knob and let herself in.

It was oddly quiet inside. Usually this time of night, Lance would be jamming out at full volume, riling up who knows how many people who were begging the landlord to give them an eviction notice. Ash wanted to invest in some more sound proofing, but who knows how long that would take with Lance's needless expenses. "...Lance?" Ash called out, hoping there would be an answer back.

Closing the door behind her, she could hear the faint sound of music playing from the radio in her room. Some pop punk band playing by the sound of it, Ash assumed. "Lance? You home?" The porcupine called out again. She was surprised when she heard the door burst open from her room, nearly scaring the quills off of her.

"Baaabe!" Lance hobbled out of the doorway, looking as if he found his way into a dentist's secret stash of laughing gas. "What took you so long! I tried ringing your cell but you never answered!" The porcupine came onto Ash with an obnoxious kiss, giving her no chance to respond. She was overtaken by more than just his embrace. His smell and taste had soiled any sincerity of his drunken kiss.

"Geez Lance, what's gotten into you!?" Ash forced the infatuated porcupine from her, Her suspicion grew as she picked up on the fact that something was definitely off. "Geez! You smell like a skunk too! When's the last time you even showered?" She nagged him, only to watch him laugh it off without a care.

"Ash, babe, Chiiill," He placed his palms out in defense, but his face still carried a dirt eating grin. "Look, I met a dude on a local chatroom..." His words were only sparking more anxiety within the porcupine. "He's a drummer looking for a band who happened to hook us up with some goodies... If we let him join," Lance was almost slurring his words at this point.

"Lance, slow down. Where's this we about letting someone join the band!? And Goodies? You look like you got into a fight with a flight of stairs… And lost!" Ash folded her arms, scowling at the giddy porcupine, who was laughing like a hyena at this point.

"Geez Ash, you're such an act!" Lance slapped his knee, almost falling over in the process, he was heavily impaired and it only infuriated Ash more. "But you need to let loose some more, babe," he attempted to lead her with a paw against her shoulder, only to have it shrugged off instantly.

"No Lance, you need to get your act together!" Ash stomped a foot onto the floor, upsetting some neighbors below in the process. She could clearly smell the alcohol over his breath at this point. She was a straight-edge punk-rocker. Never in a million years could she picture herself dating someone who threw their life away into a bottle of booze.

"Haha! You're so right Ash! Let's get together with our new drummer! I'll introduce you!" Lance had completely misinterpreted Ash's words, grappling her tightly by the arm and practically dragging her into her room. Her emotions swirled, furious that Lance would go and invite a total stranger over without her permission, but scared quilless over the fact that whoever this person was, was actually in her apartment with who knows how much illicit crap they smuggled around with them.

Ash couldn't reply, nearly petrified by fear as her feet and legs were the only things moving at this point. She desperately wished this was a dream. Geez, they were only kids! Ash's mind was beyond restless with fright. They might have been old enough to live on their own, but they were still a few years away from drinking age. Last thing Ash wanted on her record was possession of alcohol that wasn't even hers to begin with.

Lance touted his girlfriend through the door, her room was covered floor to ceiling with the smell of marijuana as well as an assortment of beer bottles had littered the floor. "There she is!" A rather lanky possum spoke up. He was sat against the frame of Ash's bed, with a burning joint in his mouth. His jagged, toothy grin was extremely off putting for the sober porcupine. She didn't know if she wanted to scream or cry. She wanted to call the cops, but was deathly afraid they would haul her away all the same just because of association. "Ash was it?" The possum scratched the back of his matted, neon green dyed hair.

"Y-yeah," She kept her words short, not wanting to converse with the possum longer than she had to. She watched him take a long puff off of his joint. He did his best not to hack it back up as he extended a paw out in greeting.

"Name's Serge," he introduced himself with a ditzy smile, he was obviously loaded up with his own supply. There was no way in hell she was going to reach out and shake it. Instead she put a paw up in a lame attempt to wave.

"Nice to meet you," she lied through her teeth, really wishing the creep would just beat it. But before she could bolt out of there, Lance pulled her down to the floor to sit with him and Serge, almost ripping her clothes off in the process. Sheesh! Could you be any more rough around the edges?! She hoped she accidentally quilled him in the process, but by the looks of it, he was unscathed.

Unfortunately for Ash, the smell was more intoxicating at this level, she waved the fumes away, trying to catch the scent that was once her room. Her actions had only made Serge blow another puff in her direction. Ugh, Why does it smell so much like skunk butt? The porcupine held her nose and fanned the smog assault away.

"Come on Ash," Lance started in on her, "it's not gonna kill ya!" He plucked a sealed bottle of pale ale and forced it onto his girlfriend's lap. "Trust me. Now drink up babe," she glared at the bottle in disgust, removing it from her person and setting it on the floor.

"Oh come on now," Serge was mildly offended by her outright refusal. "That's not cheap stuff, enjoy yourself a lil' bit!" He urged her to at least try some. A party was never really lit if someone was still sober, being a cloud of negativity that rained on the parade. Geez, if it'll shut you up, fine! Ash yelled at him in her mind, though her glare was still apparent, if ineffective towards Serge.

She struggled with the metal top on the bottom, nearly cutting herself open trying to twist it off. Lance laughed at every grunt and whine that came out of Ash's mouth. Watching her squirm about trying to open a simple bottle was entertaining to the jerk of a boyfriend. The worn out porcupine called it quits, unable to open the cursed thing without slicing herself open.

"Here, let Uncle Serge help ya out," the possum waved for the ale, fishing out a bottle opener from his pocket in the meantime. Ash didn't want to touch the thing, furious at it and the duo. If Serge wanted it, he would reach for it himself, and that he did. Luckily Serge was riding the buzz smooth enough not to make any fuss over it. "Aaaand- There ya go!" The cap popped off with little difficulty. He passed the bottle back to the unimpressed porcupine.

"Uh… Thanks, I guess," Ash poorly feigned gratefulness. Well it was now or forever be berated by her peers. She took a small gulp straight from the bottle, It went down as sharp as copper, making her want to gag. She held it down just so Lance wouldn't make another rude comment towards her.

"Don't worry," Serge took another drag, "it all starts tasting better after the first one," his words weren't at all reassuring to the porcupine. But as if a shred of luck was on her side, Lance snagged the bottle from her grasp, spilling some as he began to chug half of it down. For a moment, Ash didn't know whether to be offended or relieved. "Geez Lance, save some for the lady!" Serge took the initiative for her.

The bewildered porcupine was going to object to the notion, but ended up receiving the bottle back from her sloppy boyfriend anyways. "Go on Ash, finish the rest off!" Lance pressured her. The smog was getting to her by this point, jumbling her senses slightly. She would hate herself in the morning, probably break-up with Lance some time after, though right now she just wanted to shut them up.

Pinching her nose close, she took in a big breath of air and began downing the rest of the contents one slow swallow at a time. Lance obnoxiously clapped as the last drop was inhaled by his girlfriend. Ash felt sick to her stomach, she hadn't felt this bad about ingesting something disgusting since her parents forced vegetables on her as a young child.

Ash set the bottle aside as she held her stomach, suppressing the urge to spew it all back out. The ale wasted no time going straight from her stomach to her head, making her feel woozy and vulnerable. Paired with the second hand smoke from Serge, it was a tag team match designed to subdue Ash into dust.

Serge popped open another drink for the dazed porcupine, who took it in hand without any question, she remained quiet as she tried to sift through her mind for a solid thought. It was impossible for her to think straight. "You feelin' it now Ash?" Lance's voice rang in her ears, the background music was more apparent than before, screaming in her ears.

"Ugh! Turn that crap off!" Ash flailed an arm at the source of the music, the distortion of the guitars scraping about in her ears. The porcupine usually loved that kind of music, but she couldn't make heads or tails about it in her current state. "Geez! I thought we were gonna be rehearsing Lance! Not getting stoned out of our minds!" Ash blew up and for a moment, Lance was actually stunned from the backlash he received.

"Babe… Chill," her boyfriend's demeanor returned to that of your average doped up stoner. "Maybe lay on the couch for a lil' while," Lance suggested, receiving only an instant's glare from Ash. Setting her bottle down, the porcupine marched off for the door, only to have her boyfriend tug her back. She huffed and turned about, nearly losing her footing in the process.

Despite her blind fury, she spotted Lance, wearing a doofy smile and holding out her drink. "You're gonna need this babe," he wiggled her drink in his hand, unintentionally spilling it over her floor. Ash replied with an irritated groan and left him without a word. He could choke on it for all she cared. She slammed the door behind her, surely increasing her chances of hearing from the landlord. It didn't matter, she almost wanted to get evicted, it would give her more reason to dump Lance on his quills.

Ash fell face first into the couch, she could hear the music being turned up louder. She covered her ears between the cushy armrest and a pillow, hoping to block out the racket. Amidst the flood of emotions raging throughout her thoughts, the porcupine deeply contemplated how the hell she got into this mess. Ash wrestled with the thoughts until they eventually put her to sleep.

She wouldn't be woke up until an hour or so later by her bum of a boyfriend, Lance. "Psst!" The punk tested the waters, whispering to keep quiet, but still wanting to get his girlfriend's attention. "Hey Ash…" He prodded her side with a finger a few times, hoping to gently coax her from her slumber. "Ash, me and Serge are gonna go resupply at his place," his speech was even more slurred than before, "wanna come with?" He was considerate enough to ask.

"Go away," Ash grumbled through the pillow, not yet on speaking terms with Lance. Not until he, and her. sobered up to talk some sense into him. Lance stood stunned for a moment, he was never told that by Ash before, Sadly, the realization only stuck as long as Ash's reply. He shrugged and staggered off, heading for the door.

"Looks like it's just me and you bro," Lance nodded at the possum as Ash peeked through the pillow, watching them make their exit. Ash hoped the poor sap would lock himself out, maybe he could sit outside and think about the mess he made. If she wasn't so dead tired, she would have made sure herself that he would be denied access from her apartment. Sleep overtook her once more, giving her peace for the time being.