"Hey, Nesshiah!" Sleip hiccuped.
Nessiah, who had been passing by, stopped in his tracks near her. "You needed something?"
"Yeah. Drink with me." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him much closer.
He tugged, but her grip didn't loosen an inch. "That really isn't necessary."
"Course it's necessary! You need to looshen up a little. I bet you're wild when you're tipshy, or at least more honest with your feeeelings." She lifted her ever-present bottle to his lips.
He sighed. "...There are no feelings I've hidden that you need to bring out-"
She poured some beer into his open mouth as he spoke. "Much better. C'mon, it'll be fun."
"You are really not intending to give up, are you...?" Nessiah commented to himself. "Fine. But only for a short while."
Nessiah staggered into the room, earning strange looks from the gathered members of the strategy meeting. At Gulcasa's concerned look, he explained, "Sleip accosted me."
"Are you going to be all right?" Gulcasa asked, planning momentarily forgotten.
"It's only a bit of alcohol. I will be fine." Nessiah took his usual seat next to Gulcasa, and was unusually quiet during the meeting.
In fact, he fell asleep halfway through, which left Gulcasa the problem of what to do with him. Gently, he carried the mage back to his room, and tucked him under the blanket of his bed.
It was at that point that Nessiah woke up. "Gul...casa?" he murmured. "Why are you here...?"
"I'm taking care of you, obviously." Gulcasa sighed fondly. "Don't go drinking like this again, all right? Even if Sleip wants you to."
"You were worried..." Nessiah gave a slight smile. "I never had someone worry over me before... Thank you, Gulcasa."
"You don't have to thank me for something like that. You deserve to be worried over."
He laughed softly. "Many would disagree."
