She gets drunk without him on a Wednesday night.

He's been busy for the past couple of weeks with leadership training and she's been working on the task force with the tactics division. But no matter how busy both have been, they're always prompt to have dinner with each other. However, that Wednesday evening, she's nowhere to be seen. So, after a long day of physical and mental stimulation, he wolfs down his dinner and heads to her room only to find it empty. He lets out a heavy sigh and then heads to the roof that overlooks the city and is glad to see her sitting on one of the couches that had been brought up years ago.

While people may have partied in the Pit, it was also a habit of some smaller groups in Dauntless to come to the roof for a small party or just to hang out after a long day. Both he and Teddy have both come up for such occasions, but they've also come up just the two of them or even alone. Teddy's actions in coming up were similar to when they were still in Erudite and she was feeling stressed and just needed some space. She claimed looking over the city put things into perspective for her, but Eric held onto the notion that that wasn't the entire truth, though he didn't push her.

He expected her to be extremely stressed out, perhaps crying over the pressure of her position so she could get over it and potentially relax before returning to her daily duties. But instead, she was sprawled out on the couch, legs spread and she held a glass that he knew was mixed with the liquid in the two bottles sitting next to her. When her head lolled up at him, she let out a large grin that somehow managed to put him at ease. Her eyes crinkled and there was a glow emanating from her face as she took another gulp of her drink.

"Want some?" She held up her glass. He shook his head and she drank some more. "More for me!" She giggled. There was music playing in the backround and it was with great difficulty that she attempted to stand. "Help me." She pouted. Eric tried not to smirk, but he couldn't resist as he pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing?" She started to bounce her head to the music, her long hair swaying with the movement.

"I'm dancing." Another gulp. "And drinking." She grinned.

"But why?" She smiles gently at him, as though speaking to a toddler.

"My dear Eric," she places both her hands on his shoulders. "Do we need an excuse to drink? Why not have a jolly time for the sake of it?" She took another gulp from her drink.

"So...you're not stressed out?" She purses her lips comically, pretending to think.

"Mm, nope! I love my job. And I'm pretty damn good at it."

"No asshole giving you trouble?" She laughs.

"Just you." He rolls his eyes. "Seriously though, the social notion that people only drink when there's a celebration or to take the edge off is just despicable." Her words were slurred and her pitch was sporadic. Eric was floored when he found it...adorable. The thought made him cringe; he hated that word. But in certain situations, it seemed to fit his best friend perfectly.

"So you decided to see how much fun you could have on your own." She smiled.

"Now you're getting it. This time, I don't feel the write to need my findings." She frowned and shook her head. "Wait, no, that's not it." Eric stopped himself from laughing. "To find my writings." Another shake of her head and Eric couldn't suppress his laughter, which only made her smile. "Write my findings!" She nodded, proud of herself, and her friend allowed himself a smile. The reference to her social experiments with sex caused him to smirk.

"So you mean to tell me that you're still on that research?" He took the liberty of stealing a drink from her glass before handing it back. He resisted the urge to grimace because fuck, that shit was strong. Her bottle of rum was half empty and even though she wasn't toppling over everywhere, he knew she was completely wasted.

"Always." She smirked. "Until I find what I'm looking for."

"Until you get what you're looking for?" He teased. She laughed before turning away and continued dancing to the heavy music. "So who was the last variable in your research?" He sat on the old couch and kept watch over her as she bounced around, occasionally sipping from her glass.

"You know, this is so much better than Erudite." She sighed. "No one gossips so much about stupid shit that isn't their business."

"Is this you telling me that you're not going to answer?" He chuckled.

"Well, part of me wants to tell you, just to get your reaction." His pierced brow rose dangerously. She smirked and knelt over him, green eyes dancing mischievously, not leaving his as she poured herself another drink. "I may have gotten some interesting information on Four." His reaction was immediate. His jaw clenched and his eyes flashed dangerously to hers, now a steel gray. He wasn't aware that his grip was hard around her forearm until her eyes peered down to his contact. Then she looked back up and began laughing. Her laugh was sweet, coming from the pit of her belly and pitching at the end. She continued laughing as she rested her forehead on his shoulder and then stayed there as it died down.

"I fucking hate you." Eric grumbled, which only made her laughter continue.

"You should have seen your face!"

"What? You gonna research my reactions to the fuckers you sleep with now?" She fell at his side and he lifted her legs on his lap. She lifted a brow at his words.

"Maybe I already am." She gave him a smirk. He frowned before she took another drink and giggled. "Christ, Eric, maybe you need to drink. What? Can't take a joke anymore?"

"Not about shit like that."

"You can't joke about sex?"

"I don't like Four." She snickered.

"I didn't have sex with Four. Please, you know the Stiff has to still be a virgin." She rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't be able to get accurate results. Not at this point."

"Why? He'd come too quickly? Because he won't know how to pleasure you?" His brow was cocked again. She groaned and leaned back and then took another long gulp. Her reaction made him laugh. "So this is the real reason you're drinking. You do need to take the edge off, but it's not the stress of your job." He was actually cackling at this point, which made Teddy punch him in the shoulder. If her movement wasn't so sloppy, it might have hurt. "Aw, are you sexually frustrated, Teddy?"

"No!" She protested comically, taking another gulp. "I'm fucking sexually furious!" She punched him again and as much as this one hurt, he still laughed. Teddy sighed and took another drink. "Eric?" Her soft voice certainly got his attention. He hummed over at her. "I can't feel my face." She pouted, lightly tapping her cheeks. He snickered and pinched her pink-stained cheek, much to her chagrin. Then she sighed as she closed her eyes. "I need to keep moving." She mumbled. "Otherwise I'll pass out."

"So get moving." With a huff, she heaved herself up and began to pour herself another drink. Eric didn't move to stop her, knowing that she wasn't about to kill herself-not under his watch. She paced around a little to get her blood pumping again. Then she skipped a few songs on the radio until a louder song came on.

"Dance with me." She held out a small hand. Eric snorted.

"No way." She let out a sad harrumph and dropped to her knees in a dramatic fashion, in between Eric's legs, resting her head on his right knee, arms folded beneath her chin. Her lower lip jutted out and her eyes widened as she tilted her head.

"Please?" She whined. Eric hesitated. He'd never been in this position with his best friend; had never even thought about her this way. Sure, she was pretty, but for some reason, the way she looked at him now made him swallow hard and he felt his pants tightening, which caused him more surprise than Teddy being in that position. Her face was far too close to the area he'd been ignoring for a few weeks and with their recent conversation of sex, of course his body would react like this. Yes, of course. Plus, she was drunk. She had no idea what she was doing, all her inhibitions were lost.

"You dance around. I-I'm gonna have a drink." She smiled brightly again and stood up, still smiling as she moved her hips to the beat. Meanwhile, Eric refused to give a name to the tight feeling he got in his stomach every time she smiled.

The night ended when she settled back onto the sofa and she blearily swore she could see shooting stars, to which Eric scolded her drunken vision. He let her talk, knowing that alcohol turned her into a little chatterbox. She was never annoying, though. Eric found her honest thoughts and lack of a filter quite comforting, if not totally amusing. There was a release in open communication, especially with her. But when her voice got softer and trailed off into nothingness, it was with ease that he scooped up the small woman, grinning when she snuggled into him, and set off to her apartment to tuck her in.