None of this is supposed to be taken seriously! At all. (Can't believe I'm actually posting this...)

„But you have to! It's tradition." Enu's words, combined with pleading big eyes, were what had persuaded Kian to join their Reapmoon celebration. The actual celebration on Reapmoon's Eve would take place in two weeks, but apparently it was tradition to drink a lot in the time before the Feast of Reaping. Of course they wouldn't join in on the heavy drinking a lot of the Marcurians did, but even Shepherd had agreed, that one evening of celebrating would do them some good.

Kian generally didn't like to drink, but Enu had convinced him that one cup wouldn't hurt. Unfortunately, due to him not being used to alcohol, his tolerance was low enough that one cup had been enough to not make him care when his cup was topped off again. And again, and again. By now he had lost count of how much he had to drink, but it was enough to have everything spinning slightly and it was getting harder and harder to properly focus his eyes.

Enu didn't seem to be off much better though. Her head was currently resting on the table and she let out a groan.

"Ugh. I drank too much." She slightly tilted her head to look at Kian, to let him know that she was talking to him, then returned her head to the same position as before. "I thought this would be more fun. Get drunk, get you drunk. You're always so serious, so I thought, hey, maybe he'll open up if he's a bit drunk, but nooo. Now I just feel like crap, and I wanted to talk, and was hoping to maybe flirt a bit, and, ugh." Enu broke off again.

Flirt? "Well, that would have been a waste of time anyway."

Enu looked up at Kian again with a glare. "Rude, Kian! You're spending too much time on missions with Likho, you're getting rude like him. You know what? I don't want to talk to you anymore this evening if you're being rude."

Enu's arms were now on the table too, and she buried her head in them.

Kian looked at her, confused, trying to make sense of the situation in his clouded mind.

"Enu, I..."

"Don't waste your time, she always gets ridiculously stubborn when she's drunk," Likho said next to him, before he could finish what he wanted to say. "And she's not really interested in you, she just thinks you're pretty."

"I can hear you, Likho!" Enu's voice was muffled because her face was still buried in her arms.

"So?"

"You can't just tell stuff like that. You know what? I won't talk to you anymore either."

"Oh good, finally some quiet."

Enu lifted her head to stick out her tongue at Likho, then dropped it down again.

"Very mature, Zhidling."

Enu made a sound that didn't sound very mature either, and Likho chuckled.

Kian turned his head to look at Likho, surprised. He didn't remember ever hearing him laugh in any way, so maybe he had misheard? His brain was so fuzzy that he didn't trust his senses right now. But no, Likho's face definitely looked like Kian had heard it right. Kian tilted his head and squinted his eyes to focus them better on Likho's face. He looked... attractive without his ever-present frown. Not that he minded the frown, it was part of Likho after all.

Likho turned his head to look back at Kian. "What?"

"What?" Kian echoed back.

"You're staring at me. What is it?"

And now the frown was back, which made Kian frown too. "You shouldn't frown that much. You look prettier without it," he stated. Or at least that's what he tried to say, his tongue was heavy with the alcohol and the words came out slurred.

"I don't understand a word of what you're saying, Alvane," Likho replied, his frown deepening.

Well that just wouldn't do. Kian lifted his hand and reached towards Likho to... What exactly he was trying to do, he didn't know himself. Maybe smooth out the frown? But before he could reach Likho's face, the Dolmari grabbed his wrist.

"What by the balance are you doing?"

"I don't know?" Kian offered as an answer, but he hadn't really listened to Likho's words anyway, he was too distracted by Likho still holding his wrist. He had quite a strong grip and it hurt a bit, but it also felt kind of nice.

He slowly let his eyes travel up towards Likho's face again, and after blinking a few times to make his eyes focus again, he suddenly felt the urge to kiss him. He was in no state to think about how this might not be a good idea, so he started to lean forward. Unfortunately his stomach decided that that was the perfect moment to empty itself, and he threw up all over Likho's chest.

In hindsight it was a good thing that he also passed out at that exact moment, or he might not have survived the rest of the evening.