He Was a Friend

/51/ They're all game. /

"Never have I ever... gone commando before," Robin declared during their Never Have I Ever game. It's a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they haven't done. Other players who have done the thing mentioned should respond by taking a drink.

They were at a resthouse in a famous province in the south, just beside the lake – for their annual cafe foundation day celebration. They use this time to thank everyone for their hard work as well as unwind a little.

There were about 15 of them, circled around the hall's biggest table, as they play, drink and eat their snacks at the same time. There were nachos, french fries, various types of bread, nuts, chicken wings and other finger foods all over the middle of the table, aside from two liters of hard drinks. A large coffee brewer was setup in the middle of the table as well – after all, even though they were drinking hard drinks that time, in the end, all of them are a bunch of coffee addicts who still crave for the taste of a sip of coffee every now and then.

"What's commando?" Shaina, one of their servers, asked blankly.

"It's when you go out without underwear beneath your clothing," Robin explained.

Everybody fell silent.

"Who'd go commando—"

She was interrupted when Eric suddenly drank his shot. Everyone ended up laughing after he placed the emptied shot glass on the table. Louise was so surprised, with an obvious "Why would you do that?" on her expression as she laughed with everyone.

Eric laughed seeing he needed to explain. "Okay, fine. I joined this race. It rained like heck during the run itself. I was already planning to eat at Selina's even before the race started, but... you see, you know they have those cotton seats right? And everything I was wearing then were wet, and I only have a shirt and jogging pants to change into. It was a light gray jogging pants, and well, I didn't want to have a 'trace' there of... 'that'," he explained in full detail, not wanting them to get any funny ideas.

Everyone laughed again as they started with the next round.

"Never have I ever...", it was Brian, their barista. "... sniffed a permanent marker ink." Everyone laughed again as they waited for anyone who will drink. This time, it was James, their cleaner, and Andrew, one of their chefs, who drank without hesitation.

"Never have I ever...", it was Marla this time, the other chef. "... drank so hard I slept right there and then." Louise and Art silently drank their shots, while everyone cheered in disbelief.

"Never have I ever...", it was Stephen, the cashier. "... got drunk after playing these types of drinking games." Everyone whistled in amusement, then almost half of them drank at the same time.

"Never have I ever...", this time it was Art. "... fought in the street." They cheered as their security guard, Louie, and Eric, both drank committedly.

Almost all of them were wiping tears from all the laughs they have been experiencing. Some were even holding their stomach which already hurt after numerous rounds of that game.

"Never have I ever...", said Gianne, their baker. "... received, or have given, a serenade." This time, almost everyone drank except Louise, Art and Eric.

They did a few more rounds, and after an hour, the game ended with Eric having drank the most – though with his high tolerance in alcohol, it didn't seem like he did.