A whole god damn lot of shit had just been happening so much. Tomoe never expected that sheâd  have legitimately considered what was about to happen as a coping method, but by this point it wouldnât be entirely true to say it was surprising. She didnât really know all that much about alcohol, her only experience with the stuff being that her father seemed to have taken somewhat of a liking to it about two years before sheâd received her letter from Hopeâs Peak. But really, by this point she was so exhausted by everything (namely, having not slept for one) that this seemed like it probably wouldnât be a horrible idea. Probably. Even if it did seem like a bad idea, at least it was getting her out of her room for something that wasnât directly influenced by the virtual materialism of an unknown yet innately charming omniscient third party narrator.
And on top of that, at least she was going to be with a friend. A friend whoâd been kind enough to not only provide her with a very certain something, but extend the invitation in the first place. Sheâd been a little on the fence about venturing into the bar for this reason, but damn if she hadnât been persuaded by the fact alone that they were going to be there as well. All the arrangements had been made prior over Titter, and as soon as sheâd finished stashing all her assorted trash from the ticket machine in the vacant room next to her own (including an unfortunate couple of choice items that would be harder to unsee than all the dead people ones) made off for the fourth floor. In world, this was probably like⊠I dunno, half an hour or so after the meeting had been finalized but itâs nearly five hours later real time as of writing. Be open minded about the time frame, I guess.
The first thing she saw upon arrival was that Otone was already there and waiting, looking more than ready to either fall asleep or get utterly fucking wasted. Maybe both. Fair enough, though, considering she wasnât holding up much better. Sheâd tried, at least, to keep up appearances but the fact that her hair was visibly messier (and notably, now in a low ponytail) more or less served as a dead giveaway. Normally, the idea of getting to spend time with a friend would perk her mood up at least a bit, but considering why they were here and everything that had happened⊠yeah. The sound of her footsteps was probably sufficient to indicate her arrival, and⊠there really wasnât much to say that they hadnât already said in their messages prior. Not entirely certain of where to start with the bottles, she sort of just⊠joined Otone at the table.
There were probably a good few moments of silence before, finally, Tomoe found the question she wished to ask. âHow are we⊠even supposed to do this? Or⊠where are we supposed to start? I donât really know how one is meant to go about kickstarting such blatantly terrible life decisions like this.â A pitiful, almost nervous laugh followed up her statement before she sort of just⊠slumped miserably onto the table. âGod, this is not the path I anticipated my life going down. And yet, here we are.â
Ready to get wasted was an understatement, really. Otone just really, really wanted to try this shit out, considering it kinda worked for one person they knew. Kinda.Â
Their head lifted slightly at the sound of pretty familiar footsteps, and there she was, Miss is-probably-suffering-more-than-i-ever-could. A weak smile of greeting flashed on their face as she sat down, and they finally sat back up straight-ish, theyâd have to get up in a sec, anyway.Â
Really, the entire situation seemed a little on the pathetic side, but thatâs why drinks existed. A nervous laugh escaped Otone following Tomoeâs own, âI didnât think Iâd be going for this either but... well... you took the words right out of my mouth.â The fact they werenât stumbling over their words or really pausing to think about what they were going to say really went to show just how goddamn tired this kid was, absolutely no care was going into what was said.
âWell... to start... glasses, right?â Otone stood up from the bench, and headed over to the main counter, ducking down and rising back up with two spotless shot glasses. âIf I read right, the stuff here is um... really strong.â They placed the glasses onto a tray on the counter, alongside a decorker before spinning around on their heel and picking out a lone bottle from the top shelf. âYep... Thatâs whiskey.â they murmured, they placed the bottle on the tray and brought the whole thing back to the table before they sat down next to Tomoe.Â
âAll thatâs left to do is... start.â Theyâd be lying if they said they werenât extremely intimidated by the hurdle ahead but man this was going to be... well better than moping. They grabbed the decorker and, surprisingly skillfully, opened up the bottle. Holy shit, this was happening. Two shots poured later and Otone was nervously swishing their shot around the glass, âThis is... really happening, isnât it?â
