A/N: YAS! A new chapter!

So sorry it has taken a while to update Thunder Stone, but I've been working on getting through the introduction chapters for my new story, Storm's Helm. I was hoping to get through all the new introductions and then swing back to this story, but it didn't quite happen that way. And I was missing Thunder Stone! So I whipped up a little something to get back into the swing of things! So I should be updating this story more regularly again since it's still my main focus.

And what better way to get back into the swing of things other than a new omake?! I've been wanting to do this theme for a while now and the perfect time for it finally appeared! I absolutely loved writing this one and I really hope you all enjoy it! I think I had way too much fun again like I did with the Christmas one, lol!

Fun Fact #16: Zander is actually left handed. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this throughout the story so far, but yeah, he is a left handed swordsman, so that makes his fighting style a bit more tricky to people who are used to right handed swordsmen since there aren't very many left handed ones.

Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter! They were all so great and amazing as always! I normally reply to them all, but considering how late…or early…it is where I'm at, I'll be skipping my normal replies for just this chapter! We'll go back to the usual stuff next chapter, but I gotta try to get some sleep as some point tonight!

Credits

Benny - MyDearWatson

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!


Maddox's Guide to Nakama

Lesson Seven: Drinking

Beginning Notes: Drinking is one of the easiest ways to bond with other people. Even if it's only one drink, it allows us to drop our guard a bit and loosen us up. It creates smiles and memories that we would normally never see or have. I believe mages especially deserve these small, happy moments and they should be able to get a bit wild from time to time.

"Looks like almost everyone came out to celebrate," Walker mentioned, looking back at the long trail of Thunder Stone mages walking with them to one of the local bars in Magnolia that they would go to often. It was a week before they were to leave for the Grand Magic Games and Maddox had just announced the five man team for the games earlier that day. Team Aftershock had decided to go out to celebrate the fact that one of their members had made the team and slowly the rest of the guild had decided to join them.

"I'm not sure if it was a smart idea to bring the whole guild with us," Zander mentioned, "You know how everyone can get. It would have been better to party at the guild."

"Yeah, but then we would have to get people to serve the drinks," Yuna answered, "This way we can get the drinks brought to us."

"Plus, we also get a pretty good discount here since we know Eddie. He's friends with this bar owner," Diesel added.

"You don't get to worry about anything tonight anyways!" Quinn announced with a grin, "We're celebrating the fact that you made the team for the games. I figured you'd be more stoked about it."

"I am!" the redhead replied quickly.

"Good, then the first drink is on me!" Quinn shouted as she grabbed his arm and dragged him the rest of the way to the bar, causing the rest of the guild to run with them. They soon came a bar simply named 'Benny's' after the bar owner. Quinn busted the doors open and ran straight for the front bar counter, the rest of the guild spilling in after her and Zander, taking places up at the bar or at tables. She came to a stop next to a man sitting on a bar stool in a lazy hunch and a white t-shirt. She fully turned her attention on him after ordering two beers for herself and Zander and quickly realized who it was, "Eddie!"

The brunette glanced over at her with his droopy eyes before a grin split across his face, "Little chicky! Imagine running into you here…and the rest of your guild," he said as he looked from her to the now completely packed bar, "Some sort of celebration?"

"Yeah! Our master announced who would be participating in the games and we decided to come out tonight to celebrate," she answered, "I thought you had to work tonight?"

"I own the restaurant, so I can come and go as I please. Plus, I figured beer would be a nice change of pace from sake and I hadn't seen Benny for a while."

"Did someone call my name?" a voice called out from the crowd in the middle of the room.

The trio at the bar looked behind them to see a man around Eddie's age with pale orange hair buzzed on the sides while the rest of his hair was slicked back on top of his head. His light green eyes held a playful gleam and he wore a pair of rectangular, black plastic glasses. He had black gages in each ear while his skin was covered in a plethora of different tattoos. He wore a red and black plaid, buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows along with a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of old chucks.

"There you are, you lazy bum," Eddie mumbled over his beer.

"Oh yeah, I'm the lazy one," Benny waved off his comment, "You're the one skipping work."

"I knew it!" Quinn shouted after thanking the bartender for the beers and handing one over to Zander.

"Don't go telling everyone, Benny," Eddie grumbled.

"How you doing sweetie?" Benny asked, ignoring the brunette for the moment as he turned to Quinn and Zander.

"Great! We came out to party tonight! So I hope you don't mind the crowd!"

"You're practically throwing money my way, so no, I don't mind. Matter of fact," he grinned, "I'll give you and the handsome man behind you free drinks for the whole night."

"What?! Really?!" she yelled, practically beaming at the thought of all the free drinks. She had come out ready to party that night, but she didn't imagine that she would get to party that hard, "That better include shots too!"

"Of course, you've more than paid for them tonight," Benny answered, "What with all the money and handsome Thunder Stone mages you brought with you," he said, eyeing all the men in the room, "Mages always tend to look so much better than regular civilians."

"You're the best, Benny!"

"I really wish you wouldn't have done that," Zander sighed, already dreading what mixing an already excited Quinn with free drinks all night long would bring, "I'm going to have to be the one to look out for her tonight. She's already hyped up about going to Crocus."

"Don't kill my buzz when I haven't even gotten it started!" Quinn said before starting in on her beer, "And I'm a pleasure to look after when I'm drunk! Just you wait and see!"

"Cheer up, handsome," Benny smiled over at him, "You are getting free drinks after all."

"I'd like to think that the only reason I'm getting them is because we brought everyone with us," Zander answered, not missing the way Benny looked him up and down. Fortunately, the redhead had become accustomed to the bar owner's flirtations and knew that he would be on to a new target once he realized that Zander wouldn't flirt back.

"You need to loosen up some," Benny said, "You're here to party AND you should feel at least a little proud of yourself for gaining my attention. Not everyone does."

"Yeah, sure, it's appreciated," Zander answered, trying to play it off cool, but he still felt a faint blush on his cheeks.

It was at the moment that Quinn slammed down her empty mug, "ANOTHER!" she shouted to the bartender.

"You just got that one!" both Zander and Eddie shouted.

"Looks like you wimps got some catching up to do then!" she grinned, "And add in Snake Bite shooter to that order too!"

"She's a brave little mage, isn't she?" Benny asked, "Starting in on that liquor early."

"It's your fault!" Zander and Eddie continued to shout.

"But she always looks so cute with flushed cheeks!" Benny cried in an attempt to defend himself.

"Come on Zander! Do a shot with me!" Quinn smiled widely.

"Not this early…and someone needs to keep a clear mind here."

"Party pooper," she mumbled, "Fine then I'll have one for you. Bartender! Add in a Lemon Drop to that order as well!" she shouted, causing the bartender to pale slightly in the middle of him working on the first shot. She then turned back to Zander with a sly grin, "I'll get you to have a shot with me by the end of the night!" she announced, her face lighting up when both shots and her beer showed up in front of her.

It was then that Walker made his way over to the group, slinging an arm over Quinn's shoulders, "What are you drinking? Ah! Breaking into the shots already?"

"Of course! Zander won't do one with me yet, so you get to have his!" she said, handing over the Lemon Drop to him.

Walker quickly agreed to the shot and in seconds, both mages had knocked back the liquor before slamming the glasses back onto the bar top. Quinn quickly chased the harsher taste of her shot with a gulp of her beer before looking up at the blonde in front of her, "Where are the others?"

"Holding onto the pool table before someone takes it, so lets go!" Walker answered, pulling her up off the stool and towards the pool table in the back corner.

"Keep the drinks and shots coming to the pool table, Benny! You know what I like!"

"Of course sweetie!"

Zander and Eddie simply dropped their heads with sighs. They both already knew that it was going to be a long night.

. : + : .

A few hours had passed since the guild had come to Benny's and the party was definitely in high gear. Everyone had consumed some sort of alcoholic drink, causing spirits to rise up pretty high despite some of the earlier disappoint of some mages for not being picked for the five man team.

Anna was giggling at the table she sat at with Liam and Shaw, the blonde woman actually participating in the drinking this time around instead of giving Shaw a hard time for it. Though, she was definitely a light weight compared to the other two members of her team. She had about two beers before she was already spinning and laughing in her seat. She was into her fifth beer when her eyes landed on Planteggs dancing on the table in front of her own.

Drinking did a funny little thing to the Cipini twins. Since they didn't drink very often, it was fairly easy to get them drunk and it was like their personalities did a total one-eighty. Snagget became a friendly guy who enjoyed socializing to the point where it would give Walker a run for his money. Planteggs became friendlier as well, but she also became a huge flirt, making passes at practically anything that moved. And it caused her to dance often and luckily she had music this time to move to as Benny had flipped the music on and turned it up.

So the drunk celestial mage was a bit entranced watching the nature mage swing her hips back and forth to the beat of the music as she held a glass of straight vodka in her left hand. Planteggs turned suddenly and was now facing and looking down at Anna. She noticed the way the blonde was swaying to the music while she watched her, causing a smirk to spread across her face.

"Come on up here with me, you pretty little thing," Planteggs said in a smooth and sultry voice. Anna pointed to herself, her already flushed face darkening a bit, "Yes, you. Dance with me."

Shaw quirked an eyebrow at what was happening since he could see what was going on unlike Liam. Since he was used to heavy drinking, he was one of the few people not up running around like a fool. It also allowed him to be a bit more clear minded and he knew whatever was about to happen probably wasn't a good idea, but he was more interested in seeing it play out for a bit rather than stopping it ahead of time. He needed some more entertainment for the night and two drunk girls and an eventually riled up Liam would more than fill his entertainment needs.

Anna could only smile as she made her way to Plantegg's table, too drunk to answer Liam's question of where she was going. That, and dancing on top of a table looked like fun. She took the hand offered to her and Planteggs easily pulled her up, causing a few more curious stares to look their way.

"Oh! What's this?!" Riku shouted, the ice dragon keeping his focus on the two women.

Felix easily pulled the blonde back when he tried to move towards the table, "You're only allowed to watch, no touching! I don't feel like picking your beaten ass up off the floor when you piss someone off again!"

"Awwww," he whined, but listened to Felix nonetheless.

Planteggs began moving to the music again, grabbing onto Anna's waist with her free hand to get the woman to move with her. Cheers and whistles were heard in the background for the two women and Shaw almost dropped his head in shame. He really hoped all those cheers weren't coming from his guild mates.

"What's going on?" Liam asked.

"Wouldn't you like to knowwwwww," Shaw answered, smirking at the sight before despite his previous thoughts.

"Yes, I would. That's why I asked."

"Don't get yourrrrr panties in aaaaaaaa bunch," he replied, "Anna is jusssssst dancing with Planteggssssss…on top of a tablllllleeee."

"What?! And you're just letting her do it?!" Liam shouted, quickly standing up from his seat.

"Don't worry soooooo much," Shaw said, "It'sssss just dancing."

"And dancing will lead to other things!"

"Chilllllll out," Shaw huffed, "It'ssssss not like they'llllll have sex right onnnnn the table…I think Planteggssssss would at leasssssst get a room for that," he added with a laugh.

Liam, however, didn't find this as amusing and moved right over to the table the two women were on, "Anna! Get down from there!"

"Awww, but why?" she asked as she leaned further into the nature mage.

"You could fall!"

"And she'll fall right into my arms," Planteggs grinned as she pulled the blonde mage closer to her, "She so pretty. Too bad you don't get to look at her more often. You're missing out!"

"Put her back on the ground right now!"

"I don't think so! She's mine tonight and I don't share!" she retorted loudly as she pulled Anna away from his reaching hands.

"This is fun, Liam! Don't make me get down!" Anna grinned widely, not really understanding what Planteggs meant by her words due to the alcohol buzzing around her brain.

"Please Anna! Come down from there!"

"Oh! I see what's going on!" Planteggs said with a foxy grin, "You're jealous!"

"I am not! I just don't want her to get hurt!"

"I wonder if she's even had her first kiss yet!"

"Don't you dare!"

"But she's too pretty not to kiss and you're taking too long with it! You've kept the poor girl waiting long enough!"

"Kiss her!" Riku shouted from the background, earning a hard whack from Felix.

"I don't need Liam coming over here to beat you up. Don't ruin my night of drinking with your idiocy!" Felix grumbled.

"Looks like I have to do it now," Planteggs said, "It's a good thing I traded my poison lipstick for a normal kind tonight."

"Don't do it!"

"Do it!" Riku shouted, despite the second whack to the head he received for it.

"Three," Planteggs began as she pulled Anna in closer towards her, inwardly laughing at Liam's loud protests, "Two," she continued, he smile growing when she noticed Anna lean in towards her. With the way they were dancing and the alcohol in her system, Anna just went with what was going on at the moment, "One," Planteggs finished, dipping down for the kiss. Though, Anna was quickly ripped away from her and replaced with Benny in what seemed like a single second by Shaw. Planteggs jumped back from the bar owner as soon as her lips landed on his and Benny did the same thing, causing both of them to fall off the table. Even in her drunken state, Planteggs knew that Benny was gay and that kissing him would do nothing for her. Benny laid on the ground across from her, wiping away at his mouth furiously, still unsure of how he had gotten pulled into that situation, "Shaw! What the hell?!" she shouted as she stood back up, somehow having managed not to spill her drink.

"I figured it haaaaaaad gone far enough," he answered with a smirk, "And Liam wassssss about to have aaaaaaaa brain aneurysm from what youuuuuuu were doing. I couldn't let the poor guy sufferrrrrr anymore," he said, plopping back down at his table where Liam was looking over Anna to make sure she was all right. Though, he had to wonder how he even knew if she was with those bandages over his eyes.

Planteggs simply huffed in response before walking off, "I suppose I'll have to find someone else then to have my fun with."

Shaw could only smile in response to her comment before he heard loud shouts coming from the front bar. It was there that Miyako and her team along with Titan's team as well as Tada and Bishop had hunkered down for the night, pulling up tables and chairs near the bar where Miyako and her team sat.

"Whoooo! AZI! You're gonna be in the games!" Miyako shouted, completely obliterated for the night. She hugged onto Azielle, nuzzling into her shoulder, "I'm so proud of you!"

Azielle giggled over her own drink, as she patted her friend's head, "I'm proud of me too," she said, the alcohol allowing her to drop the more humble part of herself to bask in the pride of gaining a spot on the team for a bit, "And I can't wait to shove it in the face of that idiot sensei of yours!"

"Idiot sensei?" Bishop asked, sipping at a glass of whine.

"Raoul-sensei!" Miyako suddenly shouted, standing up on top of her barstool, "He's the best sensei ever!" she continued, striking a pose albeit a wobbly one.

"What about Nika?" Remi asked, seeming to show no affects from the alcohol she had been drinking.

"Ah! Nika-sensei! She's the best too!" Miyako answered, almost beginning to cry from forgetting her other teacher, "They're both the best!"

"They both just need to hook up already," Azielle mumbled from behind her glass, "They better be together when we go to the games! I swear!" she shouted, downing what was left in her glass, "I can't take their sexual tension anymore!" she added as she slammed her glass down on the countertop.

Everyone stared at the blonde in surprise, not expecting a reaction like that from her. Though, Tada was the first to shake off the shock and smirk at her, "I like you when you're drunk. You're more honest."

"Well someone has to be when it comes to those two!"

"Azi is right!" Miyako shouted as she jumped on top of the bar top and started twirling around, "My teachers have liked each other for a long time now! But they haven't done anything about it yet!"

"It must be pretty obvious if Miyako can see it," Tejil chuckled, earning him a bop on the head from Remi.

"Don't be rude! We're not all pathetic flirts like you!" the fire mage snapped.

"Do you get meaner when you drink?" he frowned at her.

"No, you're just being the same idiot you always are."

"Ohhhh, burrrrrrnnnn!" Titan and Kokou shouted.

"Kokou wants to dance with the magnetic chick!" she suddenly shouted, moving to stand on top of the bar with Miyako.

The two easily fell in sync with each other, moving along with the song fairly well for having been drinking for so long. Though, the song quickly changed and created a new tempo. Kokou was able to change with it, but Miyako had a bit of trouble with it and ended up tripping over her own feet and fell over. Luckily, Titan was able to catch her with ease before she smacked into the floor. She laughed loudly from the hold he had on her before she wiggled out of his grasp and crawled up to sit on his shoulders.

"Dance in my place!"

"He'll break the bar just from standing on it!" Tejil laughed loudly.

"And you'll bump your head on the ceiling," Remi added, looking up at her drunk friend.

"Mush!" Miyako shouted, ignoring the warnings from her friends.

"Get up here already, stupid rock monster!" Kokou shouted, still dancing to the music.

"How did I get dragged into this?!" Titan shouted, "Look, I'll dance on the ground if that makes you happy since I really will break the bar if I get up there and then Benny won't ever let us back here!"

"Fine!" Miyako and Kokou sighed in response, "Now start moving!"

Titan quickly chugged what was left of his current beer before he moved in front of the bar area where Kokou stood to embarrass himself while dancing. He was sure Kokou would beat him up if he didn't.

While that was happening next to the group, the bartender sat down a cocktail next to Azielle.

"What's this?" the blonde asked, looking down at the interesting orange color of the drink.

"It's a new drink that we have here are the bar," the bartender answered, "It's been around for a while now, but we just started serving it here a few weeks ago."

"What's it called?" she continued to question.

"Foxxie's Kiss," he said, "It's on the house since we're trying to promote it."

"Thanks!" Azielle grinned as she reached for the drink.

Tada quickly intervened though, keeping her from even touching the stem of the glass, "No, she doesn't want it."

"Um…what?" Azielle asked, looking up at the man with a curious stare. She heard Bishop laughing in the background so hard that he practically choked, so obviously he knew something she didn't, "It's a free drink. Why can't I have it?"

"It's not of import," Tada answered, throwing the cocktail behind him and ignoring the crash of the glass. He then turned to the bartender, "Just get her another glass of what she was drinking before on my tab and you can put the cocktail on there too if you need to."

The bartender nodded at him before Azielle attempted to get the information about the cocktail out of him again, "Obviously it's important if you threw that drink across the bar!"

"Don't worry about it. I'm getting you a new drink."

"Tada," she said with a warning tone.

"That cocktail was probably made with cheap liquor anyways," he said, still sidestepping her questioning.

"How would you know that if I didn't even get to try it?!" she yelled, getting upset that he wouldn't tell her what was wrong with the drink.

"Azielle," he said, turning towards her to block the others from seeing them, "Leave it be."

"Tada, just tell me wha-"

She was quickly stunned into silence when she barely felt a ghosting of his lips over hers. Though, just as quickly as he moved in, he moved away to stand up straight again. He smirked down at her flustered appearance just as the bartender brought over her new drink. The bartender sat it right in front of her, expecting her to grab it, but he paled when she fell over limply with her face fully flushed, Tada having to catch her with a chuckle.

"Works every time," Tada said, hearing Bishop still laughing loudly in the background while Remi and Tejil looked at the older man with quirked eyebrows. Though, Remi snickered to herself, feeling giddy about teasing Azielle with this piece of information in the morning.

The focus soon turned towards the back corner of the room where the Steele family had joined Team Aftershock at the pool tables. Currently, Quinn, Walker, Diesel and Rey all stood on top of one of the tables with their arms all crossed together while kicking their feet up in the air in time with the music.

Charlie held her head in her hand, shaking it in embarrassment, "Is this normal?" she asked, looking over at Raina, who stood next to her with a recording lacrima in her hands.

"Oh God! This is priceless!" Raina laughed loudly as she took a swig from her own beer bottle, "And yeah, this is pretty normal. You should probably get used to it."

"Oh my God," was the only thing she could reply with.

"Loosen up some," Raina grinned, pushing a jell-o shot across the table towards her, "You'll find this funnier if you add some alcohol to your system!"

"There's alcohol in the jell-o?!"

"You've never had one?! Oh man! You're in for a treat!" Raina grinned widely before shouting over to Benny, who stood a few feet back as he watched the chaos unfold, "Oi! Benny, love! Bring over a try of jell-o shots with vodka in them this time!"

"Sure thing, sweetheart!" he called back before disappearing.

"Eat that one and then we can dig into the new tray coming out," Raina smiled over at Charlie, "We'll make sure you get home in one piece if you get too smashed."

Charlie sighed before finally picking up the jell-o shot. She supposed that if she couldn't beat them, then she should join them.

"Quinn! What the hell are you drinking now?!" Zander shouted up at the memory mage that was locked in the middle of the group on the tables along with Walker next to her. Zander had had a few other beers during the coarse of the night, but having to watch over his team had worried him too much to really drink anymore than that, especially when the four up on the table had been slamming back shots and beers all night.

Quinn had just taken the four shots that had been handed to her from the bartender that had been keeping a fresh supply coming all night. It was a dark purple liquid that filled the glasses and Quinn had just finished passing them out to the three guys when she heard Zander's shouts from the floor. She looked down at him with a lopsided grin, "I don't know exactly. Something called a Purple Nurple, I think."

Zander sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "You don't even know what the hell you're drinking anymore."

"Stop being such a fuddy duddy," she said, somehow managing to slur it all out, "You still have to do a shot with me tonight!"

"How many shots have you even had?!"

"Uhhhhh…was it eight? Ten?" she questioned, looking over at Walker for an answer.

"I thought we were at twelve!" he grinned widely.

"Let's go in the middle and say…uhhh…" she said, clumsily counting over her fingers, "Ten."

Zander sighed again, "Ten is not in the middle of ten and twelve."

"Then it's nine!" Walker added in.

"Nine isn't the middle number either!" Zander shouted.

"So let's agree to disagree," Rey interrupted, "So we can take this shot already!"

"Agreed!" the other three on the table cheered before all four of them downed the shot in single gulps.

Yuna and Raina were roaring in laughter at the scene while Raina continued to record it. What had been going on was too good not to record! And she wanted proof of what happened tonight in the morning.

They handed their shot glasses to Raina and Yuna, Zander feeling a bit of relief that they had enough sense to at least not throw the glasses across the room.

"I have to admit, you're a lot easier to get along with when you're drunk!" Rey said, looking over at Quinn.

"Same could be said for you!" Quinn answered, "You're quite the gentleman, buying a lady drinks when she's already getting them free for the night!"

"Yeah, well, ya know…wait…what?" he questioned, the comment not really sinking into his brain. Charlie smacked her palm to her forehead while the rest of the group busted out laughing again, even Zander was chuckling at that one.

Before Rey could figure out what her confession meant, another one of Zander's shouts interrupted the group, "Quinn! Where the hell are your clothes?!"

Everyone stopped and looked over at the memory mage to see that her top half was covered in nothing but her green, satin bra with a small black bow in the middle of it.

Quinn stared down at herself before she started giggling, "Well, will you look at that! My shirts disappeared!"

"Shirts don't just disappear Quinn!" Zander continued to shout as a pink flush crossed his cheeks, "Now get down here so you can cover back up!"

"What's the problem? It's like wearing a bikini and you didn't have a problem with that!" she said with a smirk, "And I don't even know where my clothes are anyways!"

"That's not the point!" Zander retorted, "I still don't understand how you took them off in the first place without anyone noticing!"

"It might have to do with the Ice Magic," Walker smirked, pointing towards Riku who was now walking around in nothing but his boxers. The group stared at him longer than they had meant to, causing the ice dragon to freeze and look over at them. It was then that he noticed that Quinn had nothing but a bra covering her top half and began to make his way towards her, considering the more open smile she wore now.

"I don't think so, you damn dragon!" Zander shouted, blasting Riku across the bar with his Bullet Magic. He then turned back to the group on top of the table, "That's why I want you to come down!"

"Ohhhhh, I think someone's jealous!" Walker announced while the rest of the group laughed or agreed with the blonde.

"Shut up, you drunken idiot!" Zander yelled, smacking the blonde in the head with an empty beer can.

"Bullseye!" Rey and Diesel shouted.

"If you really want me to come down that badly, then you'll do a shot with me first!" Quinn announced.

"That's not fair!" the redhead retorted.

"Then it looks like I'll be staying up here the rest of the night!"

Zander contemplated his options for a moment, but the leering eyes from other men in the bar quickly made up his mind for him, "Fine, you troublesome woman! I'll do a shot with you!"

"YOSH! I win!" she cheered, quickly ordering two Three Wise Men shots for them. They came out quickly and she handed one over to Zander, "All right! Three, two and…uh…"

"One," Zander sighed before they both downed the shot. Zander felt it burn all the way down, causing him to cough a bit and hit his fist against his chest, "Just what the hell was in that?!"

"Ah…let's see," Quinn began, "It should be a mix of Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels."

"Seriously…scotch, bourbon and whiskey all in the same shot?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Well we weren't about to do some froo-froo Tootsie Roll shot!"

"Whatever, just get down from there now."

"Finnnnnnne," she groaned as she attempted to step down from the table. Though, being as drunk as she was, she didn't have much grace left in her and she easily tripped over the side of the table. The three drunk men on the table weren't able to catch her, but luckily Zander was still sober enough to have the proper coordination to do so. She landed rather unceremoniously in his arms bridal style, but at least it hadn't been the floor she hit.

"Nice save!" the men on the table all shouted.

"I wasn't gonna let her fall," he grumbled in reply.

Quinn looked up at him, noticing their close proximity even in her drunken state and how cute he looked right then. A blush rose to her cheeks, but it could easily be written off as an affect of the alcohol. She then moved forward, the alcohol fueling her actions and keeping her from stopping. She planted a kiss on his cheek, having at least enough sense to not have it land on his lips. Zander instantly froze from the action, his eyes wide as the rest of their group had been frozen along with him. The group quickly unfroze as they started cheering for what had just happened and Raina had thanked whatever God was looking over her that she had remembered to bring the recording lacrima with her that night. Quinn wouldn't believe this happened otherwise.

"Uhhh…" was all Zander could get out at first.

"You saved me!" Quinn announced, saying the first thing that came to mind in order to explain her actions.

"Yeah…well, you're welcome," he said, coughing in embarrassment as he sat her on her feet. She swayed a bit, but she managed to stay standing. He quickly chalked up the kiss to her just being drunk, but that still didn't get the blush to go away. He then took off his jacket and threw it over her, zipping it up for her once she had put her hands through the sleeves. It hung a bit big on her, but at least it was better than having her run around half naked. He was then embarrassed all over again as she hugged him and leaned against him for support.

"Thank you."

"Y…yep, you're still welcome," he mumbled in reply. When she didn't move away, he quickly realized she had fallen asleep against him.

"Guess the only thing keeping her awake was standing up on this table," Walker chuckled.

"Oh! Let me write on her face since she was the first to fall asleep!" Rey shouted.

"No one is writing on her face!" Zander snapped in reply as he picked the sleeping woman back up, "I'll take her home, so the rest of you can stay here and party. Just try not to do anything too stupid."

"I'll be watching them!" Raina announced.

"I'm not too sure how reassuring that is, but it's better than nothing," he said and glanced over at Charlie. She still looked mostly sober, so he wasn't too worried, "Enjoy your night!"

"You take good care of her, Zander! She did give you that kiss after all!" Walker said with a laugh, the rest of the group joining in with him.

Zander simply rolled his eyes in response as he walked out of the bar, though a blush still played at his cheeks, "You really are a troublesome woman," he mumbled before beginning the trek back up to the guild.

Conclusion: Drinking has ways of bringing people together, albeit in strange ways sometimes. But it's all in good fun. We need these small moments to loosen up and to be able to laugh and smile freely. As mages, we have many harder moments than easy ones, so to be able to sit down and have a drink with friends and comrades is something we should cherish, even if we tend to get a bit rowdy at times.

Note to Self: What the hell is a Foxxie's Kiss? And why is Tada so bothered by it? New mission: uncover the truth behind the drink! Also, it seems a few of our mages can hold their own when it comes to liquor, considering how many shots they were pounding back. Maybe I'll have to make a wager about that one of these days…maybe I could win some money back from Akemi this way.

Maddox Huxley


A/N: And there we are! I hope you enjoyed it!

I should have the next chapter up soon!

Please remember to review!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson