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 Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 7:22 pm
Exhaustion clung to every atom of Imnolu's being down to his very soul. The world had almost ended tonight. Thanks to a great deal of effort, it hadn't. There was one person Imnolu knew who wouldn't have the news just yet, and he wanted Isidor to know. Especially if, as he suspected, Isidor was up all night with worry instead of sleeping. He rang the bell to Isidor's apartment outside of the building door, shivering from the cold and shuffling his feet to keep himself awake. Hopefully his friend would answer and let him up.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 9:09 pm
For a moment, Isidor wasn't sure what to do with the buzzer.
He was drunk. Very, very, very drunk, though he was fairly certain not near to the drunkest he'd ever been, as he still felt like he was thinking and he was pretty sure he'd remember this tomorrow.
The strange storms had picked up, and given all he knew about what that meant, Isidor had started worrying. And before long, worrying turned to assuaging it the only way he could think of, and a couple poured glasses had turned into an emptied bottle of Jack and a start on a second.
Still. If someone was coming to see him, he sohuld probably let them up. If it was one of his colleagues, he could point out that he was not working and therefore his drunkenness was irrelevant to anything. Most other people wouldn't bother to visit.
The half empty bottle was set on the table, and Isidor wobbled over to the front door, whacking the button to buzz his mystery visitor in. Then, he leaned against the other wall, since he assumed he would probably have to open the door, soon.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 9:12 pm
Imnolu perked up and darted inside before the door could re-lock, taking the stairs two at a time rather than wait for the creaky old elevator that he was sure would kill him one day. Knocking on Isidor's door rapidly, he chirped, "Isidor, it's me!" He didn't want to think about why the thought of seeing Isidor seemed to temporarily cure his exhaustion. Why he was so excited. Thinking about that would just... make him feel guilty.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 9:36 pm
Oh. Well.
That wasn't the worst possible person. It was hard for Isidor not to feel at least a little excited about seeing Imnolu, even given his...state of intoxication. Especially since it did sort of answer whether or not the world was going to end.
On the other hand, well. Imnolu was going to see what a wreck he was.
He really wished he'd lit a candle or something, to have some illumination, since the power had gone out--probably a result of the ******** Calamity or whatever. The big monster, that Imnolu may well have just returned from fighting. But he'd been drinking and hadn't cared and...well.
The point was, when he opened the door, he was haggard and obviously unsteady on his feet, and his apartment was dark, except for the sad glow of his phone screen, unlocked to check for any news.
"Imnolu. You're alive," he said, and he stepped away from the door. "So....the world is saved, then?"
His speech was a little slurred, a little off, but not so much. Too experienced at being drunk.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 9:43 pm
Imnolu grinned as the door opened, then faltered a little as the smell of Isidor's breath hit him. And Isidor was unsteady, slurring his words... "World's saved, worried about you," he said, stepping in and shutting the door. "You never said. Are you diabetic? You seem... I dunno, like you're having a hyperglycemic episode? You should take care of yourself, end of the world or not. What can I do to help?" On impulse, he reached over and cradled Isidor's head between his hands, staring into his eyes and trying to determine what was wrong through sheer willpower.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 10:07 pm
Isidor blinked.
Oh. That was. Really cute.
"....Do your people not drink? Sorry, if so, I..." He gestured behind him, in the dim light, not really wanting to move away from Imnolu's hands for reasons he didn't want to examine because they could not be happening. He'd already ruined one person, it would be unfathomably cruel to ruin a second. "I got worried. And I started drinking. And then I kept drinking. 'S the second bottle I opened."
A brief pause.
"...If you do drink, do you want some? It's decent." Not good, but Isidor wasn't shelling out for good. Probably he should have better for Imnolu. Imnolu deserved fine wine and fancy restaurants. Unfortunately, they were not that kind of friends, and that was not what Isidor had in his apartment. So ol' reliable Jack would have to do.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 10:20 pm
Imnolu breathed a sigh of relief. Just drunk. Drunk was fine. That wasn't dangerous, as long as Isidor didn't try to drive anywhere. Drunk was "sleep and get better in the morning", not "hit up the hospital for IV fluids". "Second bottle?" he echoed, eyebrows lifting. No wonder he'd thought it was a diabetes problem. That was... concerning. But given that it was supposed to be his last night on Earth, until Imnolu came along and told him no, actually, he couldn't blame Isidor for trying to drink until he couldn't think about the impending doom anymore. "I'll take some, sure," he said, dropping his hands reluctantly. That had felt so... right. "We can sit together and toast our lives as the not-dead. Well, briefly dead, in my case." He shrugged. "People did get drunk on my planet though," he added. "I just, uh, I read that it was a huge problem, mixing up drunk with a bad diabetic episode, and I didn't want to risk not realizing you needed immediate medical attention."
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 10:40 pm
Isidor shrugged. "Not my worst night," he said. No, that had taken a lot more and ended up with him blacked out on his living room floor, and so hung over the next morning he'd barely been able to think.
At least Maria had already been gone. She hadn't liked his drinking towards the end of their marriage, she'd have been much angrier to see how far he'd fallen. Or maybe she'd agree with her friends who laughed and crowed over their divorce, over how he'd never deserved her--
"Anyway, let me get...glasses." Because he'd been drinking straight out of the bottle.
Everything was a little blurry, but that made sense, it was dark and he was drunk, plus he knew his own apartment well enough. And knew where he kept the whiskey glasses. So he pulled a second out of the cabinet, picked up his abandoned one from the counter, and set them both down on the coffee table by the couch, where he flopped himself.
"Normally I'd offer ice, but with the power out I don't want to touch the fridge," he said, apologetically. "But it's sweet of you. To worry. I drink a lot, it's nothing to be too concerned about." Except for when it was, but Imnolu didn't need to worry about that. Besides, surely whatever was budding between them would be shot dead by Imnolu seeing him like this, which was for the best.
"So," he poured two glasses and offered the second to Imolu, and if the pour was a little fuller than might normally be expected, well, that was irrelevant, "to being alive?"
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 10:54 pm
Not his worst night? Well that was definitely concerning. But... well... his wife had left him. Imnolu had never experienced anything like that. And he'd had other tings to worry about when he woke up to everyone he knew dead. Except not quite. Grief was so... so strange. "Don't worry about the ice, I'll live," he said as he clinked their glasses together. "To being alive. To trapping a giant monster in its prison. To good friends and good company." He swallowed back the things he wanted to say with the shot of whiskey, forcing it all back down his throat. He'd just been thinking about how they'd both lost their loves, turning it into... what he wanted to be with Isidor, even if he denied it, was just... disrespectful.
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2025 11:56 pm
Isidor eagerly clinked glasses, and then brought his to his lips, taking an easy drink. Honestly, one more glass wouldn't make that much of a difference. Not at this point.
"Afraid I might not be such good company tonight," he admitted, "but you're sweet to say." And so lovely, and so clever, and fun, and...
Isidor was honestly glad that he had enough experience with drink to know when to shut his mouth, or in this case take another drink so he couldn't say what he was thinking.
"Thanks. For coming by tonight. 'M glad to know the world isn't ending. Good work saving us all."
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