Animus

Chapter Seventeen - Shaded Truths

A/N: Hey everyone! The new chapter of Animus is here! This is my longest chapter yet, beating "Death Run" by a few hundred words. I tried to make this chapter flow as easy as possible, despite the length. Reading week is over for me, so chapters will be coming out at a crawl speed. I purposely pushed out these three chapters to keep you guys sated because the wait might be a little longer than normal. I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

The band of graduates raised their glasses to the air and shouted, “cheers” before downing the beverage in their shot glasses. Laughs soon followed and multiple slaps on the back ensued as the alcohol began to take its effect.

My second round was pushed down from the table and stopped right in front of me. Without hesitation, I shot the liquid down the back of my throat. If Chiron, Nathak and Humans shared something in common, it was we all got drunk in the same manner. Some were sloppier than others, but for the most part, the alcohol knew no prejudice.

I looked over to Liara who was still on her first shot of whatever she was drinking. I giggled to myself. “You gunna finish that, champ?” I said, teasingly. 

“I’ll get to it, when I get to it,” she said, under her breath. Annoyed, she shifted her weight from left to right on the barstool.

A graduate, who was much more intoxicated than I was, came up behind Liara and placed his hands on her shoulders. “L-Liara…that was your name wasn’t it?” I managed to make out from the drunken stupor. “Look,” he slurred, “I dunno you that well and you dunno me, but drink up. Be merry with zee rest of us!” 

I was covering my mouth from laughing. Something about that guy was just hilarious, the obvious drunkenness and the indifference that Liara might have decked him just now.

“He’s right,” I said, once I calmed down, “we may never see each other again after this, so drink up and let’s enjoy the night!” 

Liara didn’t say anything; she just stared at her drink.

Another graduate looked down the table at Liara and I. “Don’t mean to be rude,” he began, “but Liara has drank before, right?”

Liara flushed a rare shade of red and snapped back instantly, “Of course I have! This stuff is just strong, that’s all!”

I narrowed my eyes and cracked a smirk. “Then drink." 

Liara knocked the shot back and slammed the empty glass on the table. She unleashed a large burp and laughed. The rest of the graduates laughed as well as another round came down Liara’s way.

I watched, wide eyed and astonished, as she emptied glass after glass. In the span of 10 minutes she was as drunk as the guy who approached her prior. When she got up to walk, I had to catch her from smashing her head off the floor. She thanked me and reassured that she was all right and stood back up on her two feet. 

“Which one of you fuckers wants to do another shot with me?” she said, approaching two graduates, slapping them on the backs. 

This was definitely a side of Liara I hadn’t seen before. The booze completely took over and an impulsive, loud, vulgar, party goer replaced levelheaded, decisive Liara. I told a couple of the graduates that after her next shot to get her to stop drinking. She was going to go home in an ambulance if this kept up. 

I took another shot and looked to the other end of the bar. Poor Emma was sitting by herself. There was a seat in between her and another graduate, but no one appeared to be talking to her. That wasn’t fair.

“Hey, Emma,” I said, climbing onto the barstool.

She looked over to me with those stupidly cute, deep blue eyes. Was it just me, or did she become a lot more attractive? Maybe it’s the booze.