"Here you are ladies and gentlemen, the ichor of gods, the nectar of wisdom and of course liquid courage" Sully announced as he passed out the first round of drinks.
They had been taken to a local bar that Sully said had a good atmosphere, and he wasn't wrong. The place only had a few people since it was a Wednesday and was heavily adorned in wood. It also housed a dartboard, karaoke setup and a pool table so that the patrons could have some fun.
"Perfect" Jacob replied, gulping down the top quarter of his pint.
He hadn't had many friends growing up, but as an Australian, he had been taught the basic manners of a pubgoer.
Stephanie on the other hand had been given London dry gin, a taste of home for her.
Shin was drinking the same beer that Jacob and Sully were partaking in. Sully's recommendation since he was buying the first round.
Erwin had taken to a drink called the old fashioned, which his friends made no small amount of fun of.
The drink was just too suited to the British boy's polite personality for them not to comment.
Ressana on the other hand had ordered straight rum, a full bottle at that.
She had also swigged straight from the bottle, showing her dominance in the drinking realm.
"Right, everyone, the first rule of the night! Everyone drinks with the non-dominant hand, if someone catches you using your normal hand to hold your drink you have to scull!" Sully announced.
With that, the first rule was made.
"Honestly I didn't think you would come" Jacob told Stephanie.
"Why?" She asked him back, as deadpan as usual.
Unfortunately for her, Jacob had grown used to her withering stares.
"Because you act like every second with us is an inconvenience maybe?" Jacob replied slightly joking while probing her actual intent.
He may have gotten used to her countenance and mannerisms, but out of everyone in his new group, she was the only one he could never properly read.
She would speak and act harshly, usually with heavy doses of sarcasm and silent glaring.
On the other hand, she would consistently show up for group study and generally flock toward the group when they were in class.
He couldn't tell if it was just a matter of convenience for her, or if she had another reason.
"It is occasionally inconvenient" She responded dryly.
Jacob was confused for a second, seeing as she hadn't actually answered him.
"But not always" She finished slightly more quietly, like admitting she didn't dislike the people she chose to associate with was an unforgivable sin.
He shook his head slightly as the small girl took a sip of her gin.
Then delight crossed his face.
"Ha! Non-dominant hand! Drink!" He shouted, drawing the attention of the others.
"…" She stared at him, with enough venom that he worried it may have actually poisoned him.
But with everyone staring she had no choice and soon finished her drink in one fell swoop.
She gagged due to the burning sensation as the rest of the group cheered and Ressana came and put her arm over her shoulders.
"That's what I'm talking about! Down the hatch! It gets easier every time!" She shouted as she patted the coughing girl's back.
And so, the night wore on.
More drinks were shared and by midnight they were all well and truly drunk, even the stoic Shin was wobbling slightly.
Eventually, Erwin took the stage.
Well, the bar's countertop.
"Guys… I just wanna say… shhhh shut up, shut up I'm… I'm gonna say something…" He shouted to the nearly empty bar, swaying slightly as he gestured madly with his drink at his still-talking friends.
"You guys are great, I… I didn't have many friends as a lil kid. And it sucked, and now I do and it doesn't suck, so the moral of the story is, have friends, cus there great… To us!" The drunk Englishman shouted, causing a cheer to erupt from his laughing companions.
Jacob had long realised that his ability gave him some level of resistance to the effects of the alcohol, not immunity as he could feel it doing its work. But he could still get drunk off the atmosphere.
As he laughed Jacob noticed a finger poking his shoulder, one that belonged to Stephanie.
Her face was blushed red as she hadn't exactly slowed down after downing her first drink.
Frankly, Jacob was surprised she was still conscious, attributing it partly to her being a dreamer.
"I lied…" She mumbled as she continued to poke him.
"Lied about what exactly? When you said you knew Moresnti's theorem? Yeah, I figured that out about halfway through your explanation of what was essentially the movie inception." Jacob responded.
"No… I just… I didn't have friends. I don't know how friends work. It's hard" She spoke in short sentences, probably because she was mostly unconscious.
"Ahh that's well- annnnnd she's gone." Jacob started to respond only to catch the stumbling drunkard as she passed out cold before he could answer.
Thankfully she was pretty light, he had very little in the muscle department.
So, he called someone who did.
"I'm not surprised, she was drinking like a fish!" Sully laughed as he helped pick her up and prop her onto a seat in the bar.
"What does that make Ressana then?" Jacob asked.
He looked over to where the mad girl was, having taken her shirt off, revealing a pair of objects with an almost magnetic pull for men's eyes as she screamed the words to a sailor's tune into the mic of the karaoke machine.
"A whale?" Sully answered.
"Well, part whale maybe" Jacob responded his eyes focused on that certain area.
He usually wasn't so crass, but he was also pretty drunk despite his ability.
They decided to keep the night going, under the agreement that when they did leave they would take Stephanie back with them.
The rest of the night was a blur.
They had decided that too much was never enough and had drunk like sailors, not like Ress, but you get the point.
Suffice to say, a lot happened that night.
At least that's what he figured when he woke up the next morning staring at an unfamiliar ceiling in an unknown bed.
Naked.