10. Neverr Have I Everr (If they all spoke the same language - cattank era)
Most people don’t truly understand how important things are until they are gone. The crew was dealing with this full force. That night, it had snowed nearly three feet of additional snow, and they were way too far from anything good to even consider walking anywhere. Even Lalli and Tuuri, who could still do their work, were already feeling the cabin fever. It was kind of disappointing, given that it had been less than a day before they started to separately plan to commit homicide.
Tuuri and Mikkel were almost drooling on their books, they were so bored. Lalli had chosen to sleep rather than listen to anyone’s bickering. Reynir was testing how well he could crochet upside-down. Emil was just hanging off the side of the top bunk. Sigrun’s blood was boiling at just the thought of doing absolutely nothing.
Emil fell off the side of the bed when Sigrun jolted up out of her seat. This, of course, woke up Lalli, and they both started to angrily grumble to themselves. It didn’t matter to Sigrun, though, as she had started to scrounge through a cabinet underneath her bunk.
“Ah-hah!” she smiled devilishly, pulling out a full six bottles of beer. Everyone else was staring at her at this point, but no one there knew where or how she managed to get that much beer.
“How about we play a game?” Patting the ground beside her, she set out cups on the floor. She had already decided what they were playing, and they knew better than to upset her when she was eager. “It’s called Neverr Have I Everr!”
“We don’t exactly have any shot glasses,” Emil complained, but his actions spoke louder than words as he got himself comfortable on the floor. They were all siting down at this point.
“I guess you’ll just have to measure yourself! I won’t be the one telling you if you’re drinking to much, but if you drink too little, I’ll tackle you. Lemme explain the rules.”
Pouring herself a shot, Sigrun chuckled, “Never have I ever played never have I ever. If you have actually never played, don’t take a shot. If you have, drink.” Taking a confident swig from her cup, Sigrun watched everyone else. Only Tuuri and Mikkel drank. “It goes clockwise, so then Reynir would go next.”
Reynir jolted, “Me? Uh… never have I ever broken a bone?” Sigrun gave him a weird look, but everyone else in the circle drank. Reynir felt a rush of enthusiasm for having understood the game.
“So that would be me next, right?” Tuuri continued, “Never have I ever been in a physical fight.” Unsurprisingly, Sigrun drank, but so did Mikkel and Emil.
Not letting anyone ponder on it, Mikkel persevered, “Never have I ever done something I thought I would never do.” To this, Emil, Reynir, and Lalli drank. Reynir cringed at the taste of his first drink, hiding none of his distaste whatsoever.
“Never have I ever bragged about something I haven’t done,” Lalli stated bluntly. Only Emil and Tuuri drank. Figures, was all he thought.
“Never have I ever cut my own hair,” Emil smiled as he thought of one that would get multiple people. True to his thinking, everyone around him (barring Reynir, obviously) drank.
“Never have I ever set something on fire.” For a moment, Sigrun thought that she had gotten no one, but then Emil quietly lifted his cup, daring them to ask with his glaring eyes.
“Never have I ever gotten drunk,” Reynir ended the short silence cheerfully. Everyone except Lalli drank, although Emil looked on the fence about it.
“Never have I ever cheated on a test,” Tuuri stated. Everyone drank. This surprised Tuuri, given that she had always assumed that Reynir was homeschooled.
“Never have I ever hit someone for no reason,” Mikkel stated calmly. Sigrun took a drink. Emil only reluctantly took a drink after Lalli glared at him, burning a terrible feeling in him.
“Never have I ever done something dumb on a dare,” Lalli knew just how to hit home for Tuuri, but it was also great that Sigrun and Emil drank.
At this point, everyone had started to feel comfortable. The beer had loosened them up, and any silences they had were companionable.
“Never have I ever crossed the world border illegally,” Emil was clearly a lightweight, his cheeks shining a bright pink at this point. He had been drinking the most, though, so he looked considerably worse than everyone else. Surprisingly, Lalli, Reynir, Mikkel, and Sigrun all drank.
“Never have I ever learned how to play a musical instrument.” Sigrun’s statement was less of a declaration and more of a question to see who had. Mikkel, Tuuri, and Emil all drank. When Lalli raised his eyebrow at Emil, he indignantly replied, “I’ve had violin lessons since I was four.” Lalli responded by scoffing, “Your parents taught you violin and not Icelandic?” Emil only sputtered, not able to answer before Reynir cut them off.
“Never have I ever been in contact with a troll.” Emil shot Reynir a relieved, ‘I owe you one’ look. Predictably, everyone besides Tuuri and Reynir drank.
Lalli figured he was starting to get the true idea of the game. No, it wasn’t about the drinking or the game, it was about wrenching secrets from people after they were drunk. He wasn’t sure if he loved or hated it.
“Never have I ever had a pet.” Both Emil and Reynir looked sympathetic to Tuuri’s statement, but stopped when they noticed that they were actually the minority in the group.
“Never have I ever broken in somewhere.” For once, Emil didn’t drink. In fact, only Sigrun drank. She was starting to look tipsy.
“Never have I ever had a sibling,” Lalli said, not seeing to care much about how cheap of a question that was. He got a dirty look from Tuuri, and while neither Mikkel nor Reynir showed it, they agreed that easy questions weren’t any fun.
“Never have I ever pulled a push door,” Emil giggled. He was in a world of his own at this point, but he had a surprisingly good memory, thinking all the way back to the day he had shopped with Lalli, Tuuri, and his aunt and uncle. Tuuri humored him, taking a sip from her cup.
“Never have I ever stolen anything,” Sigrun was more curious about any of them than playing a game. Unfortunately for her, not one of them took a drink. Sighing, she picked up her own drink and downed the remainder.
“Never have I ever been out of my country before now,” Reynir seemed to only get more enthusiastic the drunker he got, and practically giggled the whole sentence. Mikkel drank, and the moment he set his cup down, Sigrun grabbed it for herself and took her shot. Mikkel only sighed.
“Never have I ever pretended to laugh at a joke I didn't get,” Tuuri said, looking the best out of all of them. She raised an eyebrow when nobody drank, and sipped her own.
Mikkel clearly doubted this, and he asked, “Never have I ever lied in this game.” Sighing, both Emil and Sigrun drank, although Tuuri seemed to be drinking more just for the fun of it.
Lalli said, “Never have I ever woken up someone with my snoring.” Mikkel, Sigrun, and Tuuri were all guilty and they knew it.
Getting back at Mikkel a turn late, Emil said, “Never have I ever lied in a job interview!” Raising his voice accidentally. Mikkel only chuckled, and he and Sigrun took turns drinking.
“Never have I ever tried to impress someone who hates me,” Sigrun was mostly just glad it was her turn and she didn’t have to drink anymore. Emil and Tuuri had stopped caring about getting drunk at some point for completely opposite reasons, and didn’t bother to measure their shots.
“Never have I ever stolen a friend’s story and pretended it happened to me.” Reynir smiled when Tuuri winced and picked up her cup. Drunk Reynir was scarier than normal Reynir, everyone realized.
“Never have I ever, uh…” Tuuri didn’t even get the chance to think of a comeback before Emil leaned down against the wall and didn’t get back up again. “Did Emil just fall asleep?” Sure enough, Emil had passed out against the wall. He snored quietly, ignorant to the people around him.
At this, Lalli rolled back under the bed, closing himself off from the rest of them. Mikkel assured Sigrun that he would clean up, and watched as she stumbled back to bed. Though Reynir seemed to have endless energy, the moment he touched his bed it was like a crash, and he was asleep in moments.
Mikkel and Tuuri chuckled to themselves for a few minutes as they cleaned up, although neither of them picked up Emil off the floor, as he had started his own lake of drool. Right as Mikkel turned off the last light, though, he felt slightly sympathetic. Grabbing his coat from the front, he laid it under Emil’s head. Mikkel smiled.
He’d had much worse than drool on his coat anyway, and it was still clean enough. Emil was more important than his coat.
