( open ) you doing anything to keep her by your side

[disagree]

Who ❄️ Eula and you!
What ❄️ July catchall. Substories, mingle things, Eula getting white-girl wasted again.
When ❄️ July duh
Where ❄️ Around town
Content Warnings ❄️ Copious amounts of alcohol. The rest is TBA.


substories | ic mingle
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Comments

[disagree]

[ nope, those other drinks weren't included in the promo, including eula's lemon shochu. should've told him that from the beginning.

eula isn't paying too much attention at what he's saying at first. do what with her? she doesn't know. and even if she does know, she doesn't want him to. he's probably just running his mouth like he usually does.

still, though. everything feels hot all over, from the drinks she'd consumed to the arm comfortably wrapped around her shoulders. who knew he's capable of being gentle either? but as much as she wants to stay here a bit just to rest, it'd be better to call it a night for now. she lets out a small hum of agreement.

without opening her eyes, her hands clumsily fumble around her purse, and she nudges a set of keys at barton's side. she rented a car just to get used to its controls after getting her license, but it's pretty funny how barton still ends up being her driver anyway. ]

[federates]

[ and barton accepts automatically. with a jangle of metal, he dangles the keys in front of his face - like he needs to figure out what the set matches to. she'd drove here? he'd taken a taxi, and they could very well, probably, return in a taxi. no doubt most public transport has shut down for the night. ]


[ so nah. he's still got his shit together enough that he can do this, obviously, and not a youkai here is going to stop him, either - this is hell, after all. he finds he's not particularly eager to part from eula, slipping that arm around her waist. it's time for them to stumble for the car. barton forgets there's an automatic unlock button, instead clumsily scraping it into the keyhole to manually unlock it. ]

[ leaning heavily on it, he can at least hold open the door for eula to clamber into the passenger seat. ]

[disagree]

[ of course, she drove here! that was the whole point of this entire celebration, right? she needed to prove that she deserved that license!

only for her to hand the keys to the care onto her fellow drunk, but. details, details.

she lets herself be guided by him, head still swimming in alcohol. even back home she usually just waits until she's sober enough to walk home on her own, so having someone hold her like this feels... different. so's riding home in a drunken stupor. once the door's opened, she practically plops onto the seat and lets her head loll to the side--

but not before fumbling to buckle her seatbelt. she's gonna need it.

but maybe, she dimly thinks while she waits for barton to turn on the igntion, she shouldn't let him drive. isn't he drunk too? but maybe if they go slowly, they won't run into late-night traffic enforcers who would actually look into why two sergeants of the department are DUI-ing. hopefully. ]

[federates]

[ it's not his most impressive ride. he's driving more slowly than he might usually, trying to make sense of the swimming traffic lines. corners are taken a little too sharply, and there's definitely a few squealing tires as he hits the gas too hard taking off from green lights. at some point, sirens do pass, but it's another cop gunning for two youkai that have decided on a race in the middle of the night. a short-staffed department didn't have the time for a traffic check tonight on this route, apparently. ]

[ but they're lucky (so is anyone else, for that matter). it's when barton parks, crookedly, that he pressed the gas pedal instead of slowing. boom. the car jumps over the curb and bumps the corner of the enma apartment's solid concrete block of a building. ]

Agh! Damn.

[ looks like a portion of its hood has been crunched, a headlight probably obliterated. barton stares at the unbothered building corner, and shifts into reverse to uh... dislodge the car from around that. whoops. ]

[disagree]

[ the impact was enough to stir eula from her alcohol-induced stupor, blearily squinting through the windshield to get a better look. she was having a good nap?? ]

What... did you do?

[ she doesn't sound mad for now, addled as she is, but tomorrow will be waaaay worse. that's what he said earlier, you know. foreshadowing galore. ]

[federates]

[ the prophecy..... ]

[ barton has switched off the car now that they're parked diagonally again. good morning, eula. with a sigh, leaning back in his seat, but spoken confidently, ]

Nothing! The car just had a lil' bump, that's all. Hey, we've survived way worse.

[ this rental's a trooper, it is. barton's gonna get out, though, and actually kinda glance at what happened. tbh, he's already over it and ready to go. ]

[disagree]

[ well, if he says so. eula will inevitably kill him in the morning anyway.

it does tell her they've arrived though, and she attempts to stand up from her seat. she succeeds, but not without a lot of wobbling before leaning her back against the car for support. oh god, she's still out of it. good thing there aren't a lot of people out around this time of night. ]

A little... help?

[ hi, she still can't walk on her own, ]

[federates]

[ ah, yes... who knows how successful this attempt will be - barton nearly stumbled over the curb himself, but does eventually meander his way over to eula's side. while eula's tall, he stoops slightly so that she can grab onto him better, however she may, while he snakes an arm around her waist. ]

[ his vision's spinning, but not as unpleasantly as it felt while trying to stay in his lane. ]

Which -- Which one's your apartment, again?

[disagree]

[ like he said, they'd survived worse. if they can make it inside the building in this state in one piece, they've won. but for now, eula wastes no time in clinging onto the arm that was offered to her, her hand making its way around barton's waist as well. ]

It's...

[ she tells him, and then they're off on their own sluggish but careful pace. aside from the odd looks they're getting from the guards, there doesn't seem to be any signs of lost souls roaming around the premises at this time of night. for once she's grateful that a bunch of them are inherent honor students who wouldn't dare go out at this hour.

up the elevator, and soon they arrive in front of eula's door. just give her a moment to get her keys before she can unlock it. ]

...Thank you. I had fun tonight. [ until she sees what he did to her car, that is. for now her bashful smile is all he needs to know. ] Can you...

[ "stay?", but somehow she's able to hold back the urge to ask that. of course he can't, he has places to be. ]

--make it back on your own?

[federates]

[ barton leans against her doorframe, casually, even if the gesture is mostly a front for keeping his balance. her bashful smile is easy to respond to with a grin of his own - it's not as if they're ending the night having had any other unmet expectations for it, after all. ]

[ because even while he would like to stay, that's not the question he's asked. instead she's met with a good-natured chuckle. what if he couldn't? would she help him back--? ]

Yeah, not like my place is far! I got this. [ of course. he stumbles back from the frame; as this isn't falling, he takes it as further proof of impending triumph. with an impressively sloppy salute, one that would bring shame for him to witness soberly from anyone, ]

G'night, Eula.

[disagree]

[ no, she would honestly have him stay a while. but she's still sensible even when drunk and... well. let's be real, they have to be professional here. they'd just narrowly avoided DUI violations, after all.

later on, though. she'll dwell on how that was probably the first time she'd had fun here without being obligated to. she may have spilled her feelings a little too much, but it may as well be worth it? he supported her all the way for some reason, and it gave her a nice kind of warmth that's different from what the drinks had provided. the department can be stifling, after all, so every little bit of fun counts.

and besides, he did say he wants to see her vengeance sometime, right? better get ready for that payback for that fender bender, then. :)

for now, she laughs at that clumsy salute as she slowly closes the door. but not before saying her own quiet: ]

Goodnight, Barton.