Amnesia: Chapter One

Summary: Drizzt is suffering from amnesia, and remembers none of his time on the surface. What's Cattie-brie to do?

Disclaimer: I own almost nothing, which includes Drizzt, Cattie-brie, and any other character and/or places from the Forgotten Realms, which is a pity : (

No where in all the realms was there a more beautiful bathroom. Sunlight washed lazily over the thin sheet of rose-coloured crystal set into the window pane taking up near the whole of one wall, giving the light in the room a pale pink hue. The floor was the most unusual (and therefore most likely unbelievably expensive) red marble, shot through with thick veins of gold. The walls were decorated with an exquisite mural depicting a party of sun elves, both male and female, in the process of disrobing, presumably for a bath. It had a light, playful feel- the elves depicted all interacting, all clearly enjoying themselves, with more than a little flirting obviously going on. Here and there golden candelabras sprouted from the walls, each cleverly done to appear held in the hand of one of the elves depicted. The red candles held in the sconces were gorgeously scented with some undefinable, flowery perfume.

In the centre of the room was the bath. Easily large enough to hold a dozen people comfortably, it was sunk into the marble floor, making it more of a pool than a tub. Its edge was made of gold, and currently it was full to the brim with deliciously warm water and foamy pink bubbles, which smelt very like the candles.

And in the water was Drizzt Do'Urden. He lay there, eyes closed, full lips parted, snow-white hair sopping wet, gathered under his head and neck where he rested back against the rim of the tub.

Cattie-brie watched him from the shelter of the arched doorway, surprised that he'd not noticed her entrance. She couldn't help but be a little disappointed by the bubbles- she'd hoped for a quick peek at her handsome drow friend, but the foam covered him to his collar bones.

Damn, she thought to herself. If only this were a crystal clear mountain stream…

She must have let out a wistful sigh, because when her mind returned from that very pleasant fantasy Drizzt was watching her with one elegant, white eyebrow raised and an amused smile lurking on his perfect lips.

With a helpless chuckle the young woman moved further into the room, coming to stand beside the tub.

"Are ye finished then? Suren ye must be wrinkled as a prune by now. If ye're lucky ye'll have time to dress before dinner- though I'm doubtin' Alustriel or meself will complain if ye come as ye are."

Drizzt merely smiled contentedly at her, playfully fluttering his eyelashes a little. In truth he'd been close to reverie, and would gladly have skipped dinner, but that would be rude- for he and Cattie-brie, adopted daughter of the dwarven king Bruenor Battlehammer, were invited guests of Lady Alustriel, the ruler of Silverymoon. If the lovely young woman smirking at him seemed not at all worn by the road then it would be hard for the famed dark elf ranger to plead weariness to beg off this engagement.

"Well?" said young woman asked him, hands on her hips, her own eyebrow now raised, quite suggestively.

"May I not have a little privacy?" he asked, meaning yes, I'm coming, be patient.

Cattie-brie turned her back, looking back coyly over her shoulder. "Go on then," she teased.

Drizzt pouted, waving his hands at her. "Go on yourself- shoo!"

She snickered at him, and turned to face the other way, but still did not leave the room. Feet apart, hands still on hips, she stood surveying the wall like a sergeant inspecting her troops. "Ye'll just go back to sleep if I leave- so I'm stayin'. Get ye're lazy elf ass outta that tub!"

Drizzt sighed softly, knowing there was no point in arguing. "No peeking!" he warned sternly, slipping out the other side of his nice warm bath. He went quickly to the bench on which he'd left his towel and garments for that night- clean suede breeches and a new silk shirt, with knee-length leather boots- dried himself and started to dress.

Cattie-brie was indeed peeking, though she could only see her drow friend from the back. She watched with interest as water and foam cascaded down his flanks as he rose, muscles sliding beautifully under his wet, gleaming skin, which was as black as sable's fur. She knew she was grinning like an idiot as she watched his buttocks moving as he stepped out of the tub and walked across the room. And then, as if to give her a better view he bent over, pulling on one leg, and then the other, of his tight-fitting breeches.

The drow heard his friend's giggle as he straightened, pulling his breeches over his hips and lacing them snugly. "You're peeking, aren't you?" he accused, feeling a blush blooming in his cheeks.

"Yup," the young woman declared happily from behind him.

The dark elf gave an embarrassed snort, keeping his face to the wall as he towelled his near waist-length mass of wet hair. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the young woman's voyeurism- they had become very close over the past few years, but Drizzt had to admit to himself that he was afraid of taking the relationship into the realm of 'more than just friends'. Cattie had been subtly pushing him for the past few months- possibly longer. Even after so long on the surface the drow could still miss or misunderstand the intricacies of relationships.

It would help, he thought, if she'd be a little clearer.

Drizzt, a drow, born and raised in Menzoberranzan, a city where the concept of love was alien and reviled, could understand blatant seduction, or a straight-forward order – hell, as a handsome male, even by the high standards of the drow, Drizzt was quite experienced when it came to such things – but courtship was a strange and slightly frightening new arena.

Cattie-brie could sometimes seem to be being quite suggestive- and Drizzt truly did think her the most beautiful person, both physically and in her spirit, that he'd ever encountered. But he honestly had trouble telling whether or not the young woman was really interested in him, or whether he was simply misreading what she was saying.

He was also confused about his own desires. As a male in a matriarchal society, he had been brought up to be the passive one in the relationship; to submit and let the female lead, control, and utterly dominate him. True, he had encountered males who had dominated other males- had dominated him. He'd even done it himself to other males, but that was different. He couldn't necessarily explain why, even to himself, but it was.

And so he was both utterly aroused by the idea of female who would let him lead; let him take the initiative, and dreadfully unsure of it. He was as charmed by Cattie-brie's coyness as he was frustrated and confused by it.

He simply could not decide whether he preferred the idea of making the first move himself, or of letting Cattie-brie do it.

Nor did he know how to indicate his interest to the young woman. If she were a drow- not that a drow female was likely to care if he was willing or not, he wasn't actually going to be given a choice in the matter anyway – he would have known exactly what to do to show her that he was ready and willing to go. But drow social norms were so different from anything he'd encountered on the surface. Indeed, he'd even tried a few of the more common signals in drow courtship- most without initially realising it.

When Cattie-brie seemed to be being flirtatious, leaning in close while talking to him and the like, he'd found his arms falling crossed across his chest, a universal signal of submission in the Underdark. His eyes would dip demurely whenever her voice seemed to take on a hint of huskiness, making sure to keep his head slightly bowed, and a little cocked to the side, as clear an indication of 'take me, I'm yours' as any drow female ever needed. In desperation he'd even given a bow and declared himself "at your service," one day- which was pretty much the drow equivalent of "I love you." Well, almost.

Sometimes Cattie-brie seemed frustrated with him as well, and he couldn't blame her. For all he knew she was using the most clichéd pick-up lines known to man (or dwarf) with similar lack of effect. The only pick-up lines females of his own kind had ever tried on him were, "strip and lie down," "you're mine tonight," and "tell me that you want to be my slave."

So wrapped in his thoughts was Drizzt that he hadn't heard the young woman approach. He couldn't help but tremble when her fingertips brushed his shoulder. He turned to look at her, seeing an odd glitter in her sky blue eyes. She was worried, he realised, as she brought her hand up to cup his chin, making sure he didn't turn away.

"Did ye mind?" she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Did he? He didn't know. So he just shrugged.

In the world Drizzt was used to it didn't matter what he thought.

The drow finished dressing in silence, the young woman watching him sadly all the while. They'd had too many of such awkward moments recently, and he wanted desperately to restore the playful mood from when she'd first walked in.

Head bowed a little, so he could look at her through a curtain of hair, Drizzt let his arms cross. She'd commented before when he adopted this pose that it was very cute- though he thought she might have been trying to annoy him- what warrior enjoys being called cute? – but it was in fact a recognised signal of contrition in Menzoberranzan. "You look very nice tonight," he said shyly, by way of apology.

The young woman coloured slightly, and he was pretty sure it was an embarrassed flush, and that she wasn't about to get angry. And indeed, she looked wonderful: Cattie-brie wore a new satin blouse which exactly matched the colour of her eyes over faun coloured leggings, tucked into soft, suede ankle boots. Her auburn hair was unbound, falling in luxurious, burnished curls about her shoulders, and Drizzt thought he detected just a hint of mascara.

"Help me with my hair?" he asked suggestively when she didn't answer. She loved to play with his hair, he knew, and hoped his offer would let her know he wasn't angry; let her know that nothing had changed between them just because of this one incident.

She smiled, obviously relieved, and willingly took up a brush as he arranged himself comfortably on a bench. Soon the joyful atmosphere was restored, they laughed and joked, Cattie threatening to braid his hair like a maiden's or giving a sharp tug whenever Drizzt got too cheeky.

So absorbed were they in their bonding that they didn't initially notice that it had gotten dark outside- and indeed, in the dimly lit room the effect was less obvious anyway.

It was Cattie who noticed first, and with a cry of "Oh no! We'll be late!" she leapt up, pulling Drizzt along by his hair. The poor drow couldn't help but yelp as he was hauled to his feet, and the young woman instantly let go, throwing up both hands in apology. Rushing, not paying enough attention on the wet and slippery floor, she began to slip.

There was no one with faster reflexes than Drizzt Do'Urden. He reached out to catch her around the waist, hugging her close. Just as it seemed their balance would be righted Drizzt found his own feet sliding, and with the young woman already off-balance in his arms he had no chance of catching himself. He fell backwards, Cattie-brie atop him, to land full on his back on the wet marble floor.

There was an audible crack as his skull hit the marble.

He saw a flash of golden ceiling as he went over, and for just a second the world all seemed to slide together in a whirling, nauseating kaleidoscope. Then Drizzt Do'Urden knew no more.

oOo

I don't know if it's actually possible to get red marble, but I really liked the idea. I was envisioning that opaque glass you often get in shower screens and the like, but crystal seemed both more decadent and more in keeping with the general atmosphere of the Forgotten Realms- anyway, I think you get the idea.

I know it's a bit AU for Drizzt to not be a virgin when he leaves the Underdark, but I just don't think that's in keeping with what we know about the drow, although I do appreciate that R.A. Salvatore has to keep his books fairly clean ; ) That and I really like the idea of Drizzt being bonked by (or bonking) other drow… hee hee hee

I don't actually know what its like to faint/be knocked out as it's never, ever happened to me- though I've come pretty close at least twice. My idea of what Drizzt sees when he falls is more based on my experience of falling off horses- which I have done a number of times, and I assure anyone who has never had the pleasure that it is extremely disorientating, not to mention frequently painful. I apologise if it's not in keeping with anyone's idea of what it's like to faint.