The girl's smile was disarming and Daria thought that maybe she actually had a chance with her. It brought her mood up considerably.

"Hi, my name's Tania," the girl said brightly, extending her hand to Daria enthusiastically.

Dara took the girl's hand, shaking it, studying her curiously. She hadn't met anyone here as bubbly as this girl. If truthful, Daria found it more frightening than refreshing.

"Uh, Hi. Daria," Daria responded awkwardly.

Tania gave her a pleased smile that made her look really pretty.

She then openly stared at Daria; Tania's her eyes roaming over her intently, as if searching for something. Daria hoped it was Tania considering taking her home.

When it seemed that Tania's analyzing was complete, she said, "So, my friend Rachel and I, we play this game where we try to figure out how people offed themselves." She then gave Daria an overly sweet smile and looked at her pointedly.

Daria's mood darkened quickly. "Of course," she muttered, taking a drink from her beer, feeling disappointed and stupid for hoping this girl would be interested in her when she knew the girl was straight. She was never that lucky.

"So, how'd ya do it?" Tania asked bluntly and perversely entertained.

Daria ignored her, not in the mood for her morbid game.

"Oh, come on. It's fun," Tania urged playfully. "Pretty please?"

Daria gave her a disbelieving look. "Are you serious?"

"Oh, yeah," Tania said devilishly.

Daria glared at her but it didn't deter Tania. She simply smiled expectantly.

Daria then sighed exasperatedly, figuring that Tania wasn't going to leave her alone until she answered.

Daria rolled her eyes and then grudgingly rolled up the sleeves of her jacket to reveal the scars on her wrist.

Tania grinned smugly. "Three points for me!" she called over to her friend proudly. Rachel only rolled her eyes.

"You know that's an extremely rude question," Daria remarked reproachfully, pulling her sleeves back down.

Tania shrugged, her bubbly demeanor muting. "Precisely. That's what the game's all about," she stated flippantly.

"I see. Well, what about you, then?" Daria countered roughly.

"Gas. Reason? To get back at people," she explained uncaringly.

Tania's sharp indifference regarding her suicide was a little surprising to Daria. She only nodded and sipped her beer.

After a brief moment of silence between the two, "So, you wanna sit with us or something?" Tania offered. "Maybe play?"

Daria chuckled. "It's a bit sick - your game - don't you think?"

Tania shrugged. "What else you gonna do?"

Daria thought about it momentarily before deciding, "Sure, why not?" She gestured at Joe to bring her another beer. Joe did so, his eyebrow raised in question as he looked between her and Tania. Daria only shrugged, took the beer, and followed Tania over to her table.

Rachel looked at Daria curiously. "Hi," she said blandly.

"Hi," Daria said sitting next to Rachel's left.

Tania took the seat to the right of Rachel and looked around the room. After a moment of searching, Tania focused on a big, hairy, mean-looking biker guy sitting in the far corner of the room. He was drinking straight from a whiskey bottle, alone, and looking as if that was how he preferred it.

Tania grinned delightedly and pointed at the biker. "Him."

Daria and Rachel looked at him intently.

"Drug overdose," Rachel stated confidently.

Tania examined him closely. "Hmm, no, I don't think so. I say gas," she said certainly.

"You always think that," Rachel complained, rolling her eyes. "Just because you did it…," she groused.

Daria ignored them and continued to scrutinize the man.

The man must have felt their stares because he looked directly at them, sending them a deadly glare.

Daria politely looked away but noticed that Tania and Rachel didn't. Apparently, they left their shame behind in Life.

"What do you think?" Rachel questioned Daria.

"Um, I guess...I'd say drowning. He is kinda blue and swollen," Daria answered, glancing back at the biker. He was focused on his whiskey bottle but Daria could tell that he wasn't happy with their attention.

Rachel and Tania, if possible, looked at him more intently.

"Maybe," Rachel reluctantly agreed.

"No. I'm telling you, look at his face, that kind of blue - it's gotta be gas," Tania insisted.

"I doubt it. The faint bloating and that he also looks a tiny bit water-logged - he drowned," Daria said positively.

"Oh, yeah? Go over and ask him, then," Rachel challenged Daria, smirking.

That was kind of the last thing that Daria wanted to do. "Yeah, no, I'm good."

"We need an answer," Tania reasoned.

"Then you go ask," Daria remarked.

"I asked you. Rachel asked our first round. Your turn," Tania pressed.

Daria hesitated, really not wanting to interact with the guy. Especially with how surly he looked. But she was sure the two would harass her until she did and Daria was hoping for a somewhat relaxing night.

She took a determined swig of her beer. "Screw it, why not." Daria stood up but before she could take a step towards the biker he looked at her with a fierce expression, causing her to falter. "Um, on second thought...I don't know about this one, he seems ill-humored."

"No, you gotta go," Rachel cried insistently.

"Why don't you try it with me?" asked a heavy Russian-accented male voice from behind them.

The three girls turned to look at him. Tania and Rachel held expressions of contempt for the man. Daria was indifferent.

The man grabbed his chair and joined them at their table, uncaring that he was uninvited and unwanted.

He was a small, scruffy-looking man; short and somewhat boney, and seemed to be in his late thirties or early forties. He had porkchop sideburns and a thick mustache and was faintly hairy; all hair on his body was light brown and his eyes were a pale blue.

He looked at them eagerly.

"Do you know this guy?" Rachel asked Daria disdainfully.

Daria sipped her beer. "Nope," she said casually but inspected the guy curiously.

"I'll bet you girls won't guess," the guy challenged smugly.

Rachel and Tania rolled their eyes and ignored him, glancing around the room pointedly.

"I bet they won't," Daria stated, smirking.

"Oh! Tania, look who's here!" Rachel said suddenly, pointing to a guy that just entered the bar.

Tania did and she lit up. "Ooh!" she said excitedly and looked at Daria. "We'll be right back," she promised quickly. She grabbed Rachel's arm and practically dragged her towards the guy.

Daria watched them go, disappointed. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere with either of them but at least she hadn't been alone.

"I'll tell you something, whenever a chick says 'I'll be right back', write'em off," the Russian guy said seriously. "They always end up leaving with some retarded big-Joe guy," he said somewhat moodily and took out a bag of tobacco and rolling papers and started rolling himself a cigarette.

Daria took what he said into consideration and then nodded because he wasn't wrong. She busied herself with drinking her beer and continued her studying of the guy.

After a long silence, Daria finally asked, because, again, why not, "So, what was it?"

He looked up from his focus on rolling his cigarette with a confused frown. "What was what?" he asked.

"How did you, you know…off yourself?" Daria asked, now feeling slightly guilty and intrusive.

"Oh, that," he said simply and then grinned proudly. "I poured my beer on my electric guitar at my last gig," the guy said. "Fried my ass," he said amused and took a drink of his beer casually.

Daria looked at him astonished. "You offed with a guitar?"

The Russian man still held a grin. "Sure I did. On stage," he said pleased. "Man, it was wild. Iggy Pop almost came to see that gig."

"Hm," Daria grunted, unsure of what to think or say. She looked over at the girls...and they were leaving with the guy.

They caught Daria's eye and waved at her. Daria returned a small wave.

"See?" the guy said and then introduced himself as "Eugene."

"Daria," she said.

Eugene nodded, "So, you going home alone, Daria?" he asked in a careless tone.

"I'm gay," Daria stated.

He shrugged. "Eh, thought I'd try but, yeah, I should have figured since you've been eyeing those girls since you got here," Eugene said indifferently and lit his freshly rolled cigarette. "You want? I make you one," he offered.

"Er, no thanks. I have my own - I like them with filters," Daria said.

Eugene shrugged. "So how you end up here?"

"Here? Or Here?" Daria asked.

Eugene smirked at her. "I know why you here," he said gesturing to the bar. "I mean, what bring you to this wonderful world?" he said sarcastically.

"Thought I could use a vacation," Daria deadpanned with a roll of her eyes.

Eugene laughed. "You a funny one," he said. "Really?"

Daria sighed wearily. "I killed myself over a girl; Jane," she said, feeling a little embarrassed.

Eugene nodded. "Why?" he asked, his tone curious with no hint of judgment.

"She dumped me claiming the need for freedom and then went on to get involved with a guy," Daria said with annoyance. She wasn't sure if it was directed at Eugene for asking or the situation.

"Yeah, well, girls are crazy," Eugene said somewhat sympathetically. "You don't seem so crazy, though," he said, scrutinizing her.

"Oh, I believe I am. I mean, I'm here right," Daria said.

"Being here don't mean you crazy," Eugene said seriously. "You had one bad day, or days, and found solution."

"Some solution," Daria scoffed.

"Yeah, well, we all think of Heaven and peace," Eugene said and then smirked, "We just get screwed; great cosmic joke."

"Oh yeah, I was laughing my ass off when I came here," Daria said dryly.

Eugene laughed. "We're screwed but just like back in Life, we deal. We just deal better here," he said taking a drink of his beer, becoming thoughtful. "Funny, huh?"

Daria finished her beer and looked at him. "Yeah. Hysterical."

Daria spent the rest of the night drinking and smoking with Eugene. She found that she liked his company enough.

Daria leaned on the counter in the pizzeria, lethargically watching the clock; a few minutes left until her shift ended. She had taken a deep, sighing breath and smelled something burnt.

"Oh, crap!" she exclaimed and rushed to the oven. She quickly removed the pizza from the oven, grateful that it hadn't burned completely. She placed it on the stand on the counter. She started slicing it but she had placed the stand too close to the edge of the table and it slipped off.

"Dammit!" Daria swore, picking up the pizza quickly.

She glanced around furtively - no one had noticed. She put it back on the stand, fixed it, boxed it, and served it to a waiting customer standing outside. Because being in the building on another scorching day wasn't desirable.

At five, Daria walked out of the pizza place and started her walk home.

After a block, there was a loud honk from behind her. She turned, surprised; it was Eugene.

He drove up to her. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," Daria said curiously. "What's going on?"

"I come to get you. We go drink, play pool," Eugene said firmly.

"Um, I'm kind of tired, actually," Daria said, unsure if she should spend another night drinking. The hangover today had been hell.

"Come on, I buy," Eugene coaxed.

The offer was very enticing; free alcohol was always welcomed.

She considered the worth of having her hangover last another day, but found the threat of prolonging the hangover wasn't really a good enough reason not to drink. Hell was hell here - sober, drunk, or hungover.

"Yeah. Fine," she finally agreed, getting into his car. It was better than being alone or spending an evening watching German TV with Erik. Besides, those two reasons would drive her to a bar anyway. At least going now, willingly, she would have free alcohol and company.

They entered Stiff Drinks, grabbed a couple of beers and found an empty pool table near the back. Eugene racked up the balls.

"So, you know anyone here from Life?" Eugene asked taking the first shot.

Daria looked at him slightly confused. "No. I died alone," she said slowly. "Why? Do you?" she asked looking for her shot, thinking his question was bizarre.

"Yeah - my whole family," Eugene said easily.

Daria looked at him wondering if he was screwing with her. "No way," she said with a small laugh, taking her shot, and then looking back at him, "Really?"

"It's true!" Eugene insisted. "I live with my parents and my kid brother Kostya."

Daria sobered. "Wow. Really?" she said, looking at him surprised.

Eugene looked her in the eye. "Really," he said seriously.

"I've never heard of a whole family being here," Daria said astonished. "Not that I've been here long, or talked to anyone, mind you."

Eugene shrugged. "Well, a little while after we came to America, mom offed because she was missing Russia so much. My father, just didn't feel like going on without her, but what really did it for him was my little brother turning out to be gay; Dad hung himself," Eugene said, taking his shot and took out his rolled cigarettes. "Then me; and my brother followed a few months later."

Daria nodded. "Why did you?" she asked.

Eugene shrugged. "Needed vacation," he said and then smiled.

Daria rolled her eyes, amused. "What about Kostya?"

"I guess he had it in his genes," Eugene said nonchalantly with a shrug, lighting up a cigarette.

Daria took a drink of her beer and looked at Eugene. "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard."

Eugene nodded. "When Kostya came here, my father, a man who wouldn't cry if you dropped ten-pound sledgehammer on his foot, hugged kid and cried like baby, no shit," he said taking a swig of his beer.

Daria nodded, unsure of what to say, looking for her next shot.

"Yeah," Eugene said, and then looked at Daria. "Hey, you come meet them!" he said suddenly.

Daria looked at him startled. "No! I couldn't," she declined quickly.

"Why not? Come on. We have dinner, it'll be fun," Eugene said enthusiastically.

Daria wasn't sure how much fun a dinner could be with an entire family that offed themselves.

"Come on. We have good alcohol and food. It be worth it," Eugene pleaded.

Daria considered the offer for a long moment before giving in and saying, "Okay, fine. But I'm coming to meet your family, not for the alcohol. I don't like that I'm turning into an alcoholic hanging out with you."

Eugene shrugged and grinned. "You say that like is bad thing."

"For normal-ish people, it is, Eugene," Daria said slightly amused.

"So, you come, then?" Eugene asked eagerly.

Daria nodded. "I said I would. But I don't want to be bombarded with questions like...I don't know, whatever weird things your family thinks is conversation worthy." She then quickly added, with narrowed eyes, "And you better tell your mother I'm not your girlfriend. I don't want to be asked when we're getting married or something like that."

"I know. I just tell her you big dyke," Eugene shrugged and finished off his beer.

Daria scowled at him. "Gee, thanks," she said dryly.

Eugene gave her a smug smile. "I see you at seven tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, Yeah," Daria sighed resignedly. "Get me another beer, huh?"