Bayonetta exhaled slowly, watching the steam appear and dissipate against the backdrop of falling snowflakes barely illuminated by the porch light. Neat, she thought to herself. I bet this is how it feels to smoke.
She was snapped back to reality by the sound of the sliding glass doors opening behind her. She took a moment to brace herself for the worst before looking over her shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief to find that her intruder was just an old colleague. "Hey Bayo," Said Sonic as he closed the door behind him. "Room for one more?"
"Hey Blue," she smiled and raised her glass. "Don't sneak up on me like that. For a moment I thought Alex Kidd had found me."
"Oh man, that guy." Sonic rolled his eyes. "I mean, there's desperate, and then there's just sad. I didn't know getting that drunk off this cheap stuff was even possible," he said as he raised his wine glass. "Cheers, by the way."
"Cheers," Bayonetta responded, clinking her glass to his. "Yeah, I've been dodging him all night. I just know he's going to ask me for a cameo or something and I just don't want to deal with that shit." She took a sip of her drink. "Speaking of which, I saw you got cornered by Bubsy?"
"Oh god," Sonic grimaced. "You saw that. Of course you saw that. Worst five minutes of my year."
"Was he angling for a guest spot in that Mario Kart thing?"
"I'm sure that pitch is coming later tonight, but right now he's just trying to butter me up. Kept mentioning how us cartoon animals gotta stick together, and implying that we were in the same boat because of our 2017 games.
"He had a game last year?"
"Yeah, 'Woolies Strike Back'. Nobody else remembers it either."
Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden commotion inside. Apparently Doctor Robotnik had finally arrived.
"Whelp, time to be polite," Sonic sighed, before tossing back the remainder of his drink. "You coming Bayo?"
"Yeah, you look like you could use the moral support." She grinned
"Ouch, dissed," Sonic laughed as the two stepped back inside. "Just be on the lookout for-"
"BAYONETTA IS THAT YOU?!" Alex Kidd drunkenly yelled from the other side of the room.
"...that." Sonic grimaced.
"No shit," Baonetta responded, as she prepared a fake smile. "Alex! It's been ages!"