Practiced at keeping a straight face, Skwisgaar nonchalantly took a seat in the dining room. Nathan's eyebrows arched, his mouth fixed into a pout, and a plate of untouched food sat before him. "What was all dat yelling earliers?"

"Nothing," Nathan answered too quickly. "Just. . .bleach nightmares again."

"You still has dose?"

"Sometimes."

"Maybe you should go backs to de doctor—?"

"No! There's nothing wrong with me!"

"If you says so. You am de exports. . ." The neck of Skwisgaar's guitar rested in the crook of his elbow as he texted Toki under the table. 'Come 2 dining room nathan all screwed up inside'

"Damn, is it rilly two o'clock?" Pickles yawned when he came in. "I coulda got a couple more hours. Thanks, Nate."

"He am still gets de bleach dreams," Skwisgaar supplied. "Funny, I don't get dose no mores."

"Yeeuh, me needer. But Nate did drink like five times more'n us, didn't ya?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did!" Nathan nodded eagerly.

"Good mornings, everyones!" Toki grinned, unable to hide his glee. "I see we all wokes by the same thing. Wowie, Nathan, that sure is some burnt bacons!"

"Leave me alone, Toki. I'm not feeling good."

"He ams had bleach dreams, Toki."

"Oh, bleach dreams?"

"Bleach nightmares, big difference guys," Nathan grumbled.

"Toki, does you has bleach nightmares anymore?"

"No, I stops having them—"

"All right, I get it, I'm the only one that has those!" Nathan hollered loud enough to silence them. "Now can we just leave it alone so I can fucking eat in peace?"

Skwisgaar's phone beeped in his pocket. 'He got no clue!'

'Just keep it 2gether we cant blow it' Skwisgaar sent back. "What ams on de plan for today, anyways?"

"Anyone feel like going on a bender?" Nathan suggested. "I could sure go for one."

"Heh. Alreddy started." The ice in Pickles' drink clinked the edge of the glass.

"Not here, somewhere else. Let's get out of Mordhaus for a while. Is everyone here?" Nathan's gaze flitted over Pickles, Skwisgaar, and Toki. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is all of us."

They clambered into the Murdercycle and shot down the middle of the road. Now that wind carried most of the sound away, Toki let out the laughter he held in. Skwisgaar followed suit, though hid his face from Nathan. How long could they keep this going? Maybe when he caught Toki alone, they should try and plan a second phase. What a disappointment, if Nathan only settled to believe it was some sort of accident.

The first bar they landed in didn't know what hit them. They drank all the booze and carried on, this time escorted by klokateers and joined by a sulky Murderface. Skwisgaar distinctly remembered throwing up on a sidewalk, a notion reinforced by a nasty taste that only more alcohol could rid him off. He blacked out, then came to at yet another location. "Oogh. . .I t'inks I done."

"Ja," Toki cooed, sliding down in his seat.

"I'm just getting started." Nathan wobbled. "Pickles, whadayathink?"

"Yeeuh dood, I'm wid you."

"Schwedisch and Norwegian pusschiesch can't hold their liquor!"

"Fucks you, you uglies gorilla." Skwisgaar slid out of the booth and crawled toward the door. "I needs air. Mights be back, I don't know."

He laid on the sidewalk, regretting every shot he put down his throat. A couple people stopped to take pictures and were promptly addressed by the hooded men surrounding. This was all worth it, Skwisgaar reminded himself, just to see the lengths Nathan would go in order to forget how he woke up.

"Hey."

Skwisgaar's lolled his head to see who joined him, then pressed his palms into the pavement to ascertain that the world didn't spin. "Holy fucks, Toki. I'm so much more drunk den I ever been."

"Ja, me toos. I thinks I wants to go home."

"Ja."

"I'm sorry, my lords. We only have the one vehicle."

Skwisgaar groaned. "Then drags us bodies into de car so dat we can start de sleeps off."

He couldn't pass out sooner. Nathan pushing his legs off the seat woke Skwisgaar up briefly, but he kept dozing. When he couldn't sleep anymore, he groaned and clutched his head. "I needs water."

"This is so painful," Toki expressed similar sentiment, voice high and tiny. "And they still goings!"

A klokateer ran down the street and bought a flat of water from a convenience store. Upon his return, Toki and Skwisgaar downed a good number of them. "Ugh, we gots any sunglasses arounds here? Ams too bright, evens wit' de tilted windgoes. . ."

"Oh gods, quit talking, is like needles to my ears."

"My lords—"

"Shh!" Toki reiterated.

"A second vehicle has arrived from Mordhaus to take you home."

"Thank fucking Odin." Skwisgaar rolled off the seat he'd situated on. "I wants to be sicks in my own bed. Dat ams my dyings wish."

He slept the entire way there and caught the elevator from the garage up to their level. Toki's boots drug more than his own against the floor.

"Still, dat was. . .good job, Toki. We dids good."

"And now we reaps the rewards."

Skwisgaar pulled Toki by the wrist into his room. Although he felt too sick and disgusting for anything sexual, that didn't stop them from having a little fun. They'd seen each other in way worse condition after a good bender. In fact, considering how hard they could usually go, this most recent one was a cakewalk.

"I nots really in the mood. . ." Toki said as Skwisgaar tried to pull his shirt off. "I feels pretty crappy. Maybe laters?"

"We don'ts gotta do t'ing like dat. Just stays wit' me a bit, ja?"

Having convinced Toki out of his clothes, Skwisgaar tossed his own onto the floor beside and joined him under the blanket. Lazy groping and affection before sleep was a good way to come down from such a crazy night. As it gave way to yawns on both their parts, Toki shifted away. "Guess I shoulds probably go, ja?"

"Stays here, if you like."

"Maybes I would, but we mades rule for ourselves."

"We saids not'ing about not sleepings toget'er."

Toki chewed his bottom lip. "Is true. . ."

"It don'ts mean not'ing, Toki. Just stays." Skwisgaar normally didn't mind another body in his bed, so long as they didn't touch him in any way, but he could make a concession. Being this close, after everything, was kind of nice. "If we both wants it, what am de bigs deal?"

"You know what the big deals is." Toki maintained distance. "Maybes we don't say much about not sleepings together, but we agreeds that we wouldn'ts mistake this for other thing. Nots that this would makes us do that, but it gets a littles too close, maybes?"

Maintaining a friendship with someone he trusted with his sexuality was a lot harder to balance than Skwisgaar initially believed. A little embarrassed, he rolled onto his back. "I sees your point."

"You's not. . .?" Toki didn't have to find the right way to word his sentence; Skwisgaar understood enough to shake his head.

"Ams just easies to get carrieds away. I keeps it in better check, ams all. Maybe it am best we makes a rule about not sleepings in each other bed?"

Toki nodded. "We gets rid of a grey area."

"Ams a good idea." Skwisgaar folded his fingers over his stomach. "I apolgesacs if I makes t'ing weird."

"We just keeps open about it. You rights that it hard not to get carries away sometime. I confess that sometimes I wants to touch you at time it nots a good idea, like in the hot tub. Doing these thing do makes you feel differents toward a person. When you's mine like that for when we foolings around, is easy to sees you as mine still when we doings other stuff."

"But you knows I not, rights?"

"Ja. I knows you got your own thing you does, with you stable sluts. I keeps it in check. Is kinds of hard to feels jealous, anyway, when I knows I get mores of you than alls them puts together."

"I don'ts call dem up as much anymores," Skwisgaar admitted. "You know, nows dat I not so wounds up all de time."

"Wowie, you must has been more frustrates than I thought." Toki threw his jeans back on before sitting on the bed's edge. "And you's sure that what it is, right?"

"Ja, I just don'ts feel de urge as much. Ams good, since now I cans write more for music."

Toki studied him for sincerity. Satisfied, he pat his thighs and stood. "That's all goods, then. I shoulds go sleep now. I probablies come sees you later or something, if you nots feelings sick."