“Not! You’ll never get off her! You aren’t a Lis, you really have little willpower, you easily get into everything you embrace. You easily become addicted.A couple of glasses and you cannot stop, a couple of shots and you're ready for anything to get more. "Water" will ruin you in a couple of weeks!”
“But why so?”
“Because your brain is week!”
“Help me! Find something if you really kind to me and don’t wish me anything bad as you say!”
“I will not prick you again, otherwise you’ll never get out. Alcohol will be sufficient.”
“I cannot anymore! I'm starting to puke. It’s the same with the food.”
“Da-a-amn, mad, my knowledge is not enough for you, this is a degeneration, and I am almost powerless.”
“But… but… do you still love me?’
“O-o-oh, what are you thinking about?!”
“Do you love?”– Arel whispered softly, and his voice trembled.
Nikto leaned toward him, hugged him, lifting him from the floor, putting him on the bed like a toy, like a big doll.
“Of course, I love you,” he said gently. “And I will fight for you! We will fight, right?”
Arel nodded not too confidently.
“Nik… Nik, if I become like her … Like my mother. If you don’t succeed,” – he swallowed, suddenly grabbing Nikto by the shoulders, glaring at him with crooked fingers.
“Not me, but us, you must help yourself too,” – Niktocorrected him.
“All right, if we don’t succeed, promise me… promise that you’ll kill me. I don’t want to live like her!”
Nikto bowed his head, hugging him:
“I promise!”
He slowly knelt on the floor in front of Arel so that their faces were about the same level. He looked into those crazy and distressing brown eyes. He hugged Arel, pressing his face against his trembling chest with intermittent breathing. Arel clutched his shoulders harder.
“I promise,” said Nikto. “Promise.”
Arel greedily pressed his lips to the coveted flask, with foreigh strong tart-smelling liquid. It didn’t cause vomiting, it didn’t stir up thoughts, it gave tranquility, all-consuming tranquility bordering on complete indifference.
“What a rough job!” Emba said, shaking her head andlooking at the crouching on the bed and sucking her flask, as if his mother's breast, Arel.
“What if your mother and your sister saw this?! Did they teach you like that?” with indignation in her voice, she turned to Nikto, who was standing behind her. “They would burn with shame when they saw what you had done! I warned you! I said that people are fragile! Too fragile! You cannot do it this way!”