That evening, Lefi and I found ourselves doing the usual. We sat cross legged and faced each other in front of a game board as we engaged in a battle of wits. By the usual, I meant the usual. Board games had become one of the dungeon's staples, and we almost never passed on them before bed.
"Hey Lefi." I called out to the dragon girl as I got ready to enact Operation Help Lefi Relax. It was the perfect time for it. Illuna and Shii were asleep, and the maids had already retreated to their room for the night. "Do you drink?"
The game we were playing was shogi, kind of. To be more exact, it was shogi with handicaps. I had chosen not to use either my bishop or my rook in order to even out the playing field. The whole situation made it sound like Lefi was bad at the game. And frankly, she was. But the dragon had come a long way from where she started. The handicap had been a lot more significant at first, as it had also included both my gold and silver generals.
"That is a given. I would be surprised to hear of a dragon that does not." said Lefi. "However, while I do enjoy the substance, I must admit that I prefer treats of a much sweeter variety."
"Dragons love booze? That's a shocker."
"My race's thirst for the substance runs so deep that some amongst us have been known to attack cities in order to acquire it and sate their thirst," said Lefi, exasperated. "I believe it should come as no surprise that fools who know so little patience often meet their fate at the hands of those that they had wronged."
Welp. That's karma for you. Can't say you'd really deserve much else for causing a bunch of trouble just 'cause you wanted booze.
"I do find this sudden question of yours quite strange, Yuki." Lefi stopped staring at the board and turned her eyes on me curiously. "I was under the impression that you disliked drinks of an alcoholic nature."
"Nah. I mean, you're kinda right. I'm not much of a drinker, but it's not like I hate the stuff," I said. "So anyway, you remember how I saved that king or whatever? He more or less rewarded me by giving me several bottles of this super high-class wine he happened to have. It's pretty good, so I figured you might like some."
"You say that the drink is so delicious that even you enjoyed it? Very well. I shall partake."
"Alright. One glass of wine, coming right up."
I produced a pair of drinking glasses from my inventory alongside one of the bottles I had gotten from the king. A delicious mellow scent began drifting about the room the moment I popped off the cork.
I poured a bit of wine into each of the two glasses and handed one to Lefi, who promptly raised it to her face and inhaled its alcoholic fumes.
"It bears quite the fragrant scent," she said.
"Right? Oh yeah, this stuff goes down your throat super easy, so make sure you keep track of how much you drink," I said. "Unless you don't mind being the first to get wasted."
"You believe that you would be able to outdrink me? Preposterous!" Lefi's face twisted into a dauntless grin. "Listen well, Yuki. Dragons are creatures known for their ability to consume copious amounts of alcohol. As the ruler that stands upon the species' apex, I assure you that no such thing will happen."
"Heh, bullsh*t. You know what we call that, Lefi? Overconfidence." I returned her grin with a fearless smirk of my own. "And overconfidence is a poison. All it does is set you up for someone to turn the tables on you."
"Hah. Run your mouth as much as you please. Soon, your defiance shall turn into submission," she scoffed. "Very well. I shall tentatively believe your claims and hope to see that you live up to my expectations, Yuki."
"Bring it on!" I cackled. "I'll show you just what a demon lord can do."
The two of us raised our glasses and clinked them against each other before each taking a sip of the devil's nectar.
***
"So uhhh…Lefi… you sure you're okay? I dunno if drinking any more is exactly what I'd call a good idea."
"Sheashe your pwaddoling. You need not be conshenred!" The dragon replied to my question in an adorable display of drunken rage. Her cheeks were dyed red, and her eyes were glossed over. Yet, she continued to drink. And even that action served to demonstrate just how drunk she was. Wine spilled out from the corners of her mouth. The way the excess liquid dribbled down her neck and ran down her chest was so erotic that I couldn't deny its appeal.
The Supreme Dragon was drunk. Dead drunk. Her head tottered to and fro as she spoke with a distorted lisp. Despite her claims, she had turned out to be a total lightweight. Er, actually that's not quite right. I guess it's more like she was more of a lightweight than I'd imagined, 'cause she did technically have a lot.
Lefi drank much less than Nell, but she did still have a bit more than what the average person would be able to handle. Wasn't I supposed to be the one not living up to her expectations? Why's it the other way around? What happened to dragons being heavy drinkers?
I smiled wryly as I headed over to the kitchen and got her a glass of water.
"Here, you might want to have some of this."
She took the glass from me and immediately drained its contents. She moved both it and the shogi board out of the way once she was done and then laid her head down in my lap. She was warm; I could feel the heat of her body through her thin nightgown.
"What, giving up already?" I taunted.
"Of course not. What a ridiculous proposition," said Lefi. "I am merely in the midst of a brief respite. I shall resume shortly."
Apparently, the water I gave her had caused her to sober up a bit. She no longer sounded like someone that had too much to drink.
Truth be told, this same process had already happened several times already. She had repeated a cycle of getting hammered and sobering up, with both processes taking only a relatively short period of time. I mean, I guess the whole copious amounts of alcohol claim wasn't all that wrong after all. She can technically drink a helluva a lot of booze in one night if she keeps this up. Just… maybe not all at once.
I smiled at her, placed a hand on her head, and started running my fingers through her beautiful silver hair.
"Hey, Lefi."
"Mmn?" She responded to me with a groan as she adjusted herself to be a bit more comfortable.
"You've been pushing yourself pretty hard lately, huh?"
"I-I have not," she turned her eyes upwards towards me as she answered. "W-Whatever are you talking about?"
"Come on. We've known each other for almost half a year now. You can't fool me," I said. "You've been acting hella different ever since I got back."
"…"
She kept silent, I kept talking.
"I don't know what you heard from Lyuu, Leila, or whoever, but you don't really need to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Messing around with you is fun, and so is watching you do the things you enjoy. So you don't have to try to act a certain way. You can just, you know, be you."
"I am not… pushing myself outside my zone of comfort…" She averted her gaze and started to speak in a bit of a bashful tone. "I admit that I have done many things that even I may find peculiar as of late. They are things that I am not accustomed to, but they do not bring me discomfort."
Her face started to turn red.
"I-I am frequently initiating physical contact, touching you, b-because discomfort is precisely the opposite of the emotion it dredges from within me," she said. "I-I find myself longing for the comfort of your touch, Yuki."
Lefi's skin, which was usually as white as a clean sheet of snow, had turned as red as a tomato. The look on her face was so adorable that it felt like my eyes were glued to her. I couldn't take them off her face even if I tried.
And as I stared, I could feel my heartrate begin to quicken.
"The time for respite has ended." Lefi got off my lap and crawled back over to her seat. "Cease with the silly expressions and provide me another bottle of wine. This one is empty."
"S-Sure…" I realized that I had been enchanted by her charm and that I probably looked like an idiot, so I quickly tried to cover it up with a sigh of exasperation. "Wait. You want to drink more!?"
"Of course. And it follows without question that we shall also resume our game of shogi."
"Alright, alright." I turned towards the board as I spoke, only to find that something was wrong. "Wait a second! You totally spun the board around! And you've definitely moved a bunch of sh*t too!"
"I see not why you are accusing me of such foul play despite lacking the evidence to back your claim," she said. "Or is this perhaps just another childish way for you to acknowledge your defeat?"
Lefi's face, which was still tinged in a slight shade of red, was covered by a triumphant grin.
"Son of a…" I sighed as I grabbed another bottle of wine from my inventory. "Alright, you know what, fine. You're on. We can call all this just another part of the handicap. I am that much better than you at this, after all."
And so, the two of us continued to hang out throughout the night, stopping to pass out only once we were both too drunk to function.