"It gets worse as it settles in," Hughes adds. He thanks the waiter when his water arrives and begins sipping it slowly. In the end, he'll be fine, but while the worst of the drunkenness is still coming? Well, best to get the water in while he's thinking about it.

"Quiet is good, but I can't exactly go home right now." But damn does he want to. If he could send Elicia off for the night he could spend all evening with Gracia and then--

The fantastic thought is cut off when he remembers he's in public. He coughs rather conspicuously and takes a long drink of the water in his hands. "Think I'll need a place to crash, too," he says after a minute. "Not your place, though. No offense, but I hurt like hell right now." Or, at least, he knows he should. The whiskey is making that less and less noticeable by the minute.