Drink in moderation

"Who's Bobby?"

Sarah couldn't help but ask just who or what Sophie was talking about, digging the hole that the dragon woman had made even deeper.

It didn't take long for the other two to follow her lead, "Oh? You have a boyfriend?", "Is there someone else in the apartment?" Two very different responses, to which I strongly ignored the first one. Knowing I had no way out now, I just called on myself, "Bobby, come here!"

It felt pretty stupid to act like this, but what could I do? When Bobby walked into the room, all of the girls completely lost it, seeing the 'cute dog' come from the living room, with Sarah being the worst offender, "Woah! He is so cute! Are we allowed to keep pets at the academy?!"

It didn't take long for all three of the girls to surround the wolf, their eyes dangerous and vicious. 'Just get it done... Please...'

"His fur is so soft!"

"Oh my god! Look at those cute teeth!"

"Are you happy I'm back, Bob? Yes, I know, it's been a long time!"

It wasn't bad to get snuggled by the soft women, but it was just too much when there were three of them. But I didn't dare to stop them, afraid that they might rip me apart with the same gentle hands they were petting the other me with.

After some time, they had finally calmed down enough to sit down again, as I walked with Bobby to myself, putting my own head in my lap. Although it took a lot of convincing to tell Sophie that Bobby didn't like to chew on the meaty bones she had brought, it was worth it.

While the girls had been busy with Bobby, Arthur had already unpacked the contents of the bags they brought, filling the space between us with beers, ciders, pizza, and fried chicken. It was truly something that college kids would consume before going for a night out.

Sitting in our circle, Sarah had for some pretty obvious reason sat down next to me, although she didn't dare to sit too close. The contrast between her golden hair and the red dress was more than impressive, the silly girl was truly beautiful.

"Now, let's drink!"

Anna took the initiative, grabbing herself one of the countless ciders as she waited for us to follow suit. Taking a beer, even though I truly needed something a lot stronger to calm myself, I hurriedly downed it in one go.

"Thirsty, aren't we? Here, have another one!"

"Thanks..."

Anna immediately handed me another beer, her eyes hiding behind the glasses carrying an amused look, but I didn't care. I just needed to somehow make it to the point where we got to the club. As long as I managed to make it there, it wouldn't be hard to 'teleport' back and give them some excuse like 'I went home because I got too drunk'.

Like this, the night carried on, with them chatting away about nothing of importance, while I kept drinking in silence, with nothing to add to their very normal conversation. Suddenly, the girl beside me turned her gorgeous blue eyes to me.

"So, James... What do you want to do when you graduate?"

Sarah seemed pretty nervous as she stated the question, as if it was somehow important to her what I wanted to do in the future. Taking a couple of seconds of pretending to think of an answer, I just replied politely.

"Hmm... I don't know. I think I just want to get to live a fulfilling life. It doesn't really matter if I become a part of some big guild or anything."

The girl seemed a bit disappointed with my answer, "I see... You haven't thought about joining the royal army then? I could probably put in a pretty good word for you..."

'I bet you could, after all, you're the next in line for the throne!'

Ignoring the amused looks from the other girls, I just kept up my polite act, "Maybe. But as of right now, I don't know. So I can't answer your question. My apologies."

"Stop being so stiff, you two! We should enjoy the night!"

Sophie raised her voice, successfully dragging the princess out of her negative thoughts while raising a glass of cider into the air. At the same time, Arthur proposed a game that he had heard that friends often played while drinking.

"Do you guys want to play 'Never have I ever'? I heard that it was supposed to be pretty fun..."

It was a sad sight, that the hero had never actually had any friends, and therefore had never had the chance to play a drinking game with people he liked. However, I wasn't all too keen on playing some sort of childish game. After all, alcohol was best served in silence and solitude. "I don't think..."

"Yes! Let's do it! That's a great idea, Arthur! God, it was so long since I played drinking games with friends!"

Although the others probably found Sophie's enthusiasm to be a bit strange, I assumed that she was quite a bit older on Earth, and therefore her energy was based on nostalgia. It would have been the same for me, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't have anyone to call a friend on Earth...

Before long, I was surrounded by four drunk youths who happily declared that it was better to stay here and continue drinking, instead of going out to the club.

"Is it okay, James? We don't want to intrude..."

One of the people at least had the decency to ask me, as Sarah looked at me with worried eyes.

As this would allow me to throw them out earlier, using the same excuse I would have used at the club, I just agreed to it with a nod.

"Hey! James! Stop looking so down!"

Anna was holding a bottle of wine, which I had no idea where it came from, in her hand and sat like a Chinese warlord while yelling at me like some sort of chieftain.

Although she was sitting in a very dangerous position, as just a slip of her dress would give us quite a sight, she didn't seem to care much.

"Don't mind her, James, she is just really drunk."

"Who are you calling drunk, you... you... you stupid man!"

Anna's usually witty tongue was nowhere to be found as she tried to argue with Arthur.

"Who's a good boy? Yes, who's a good boy!" At the same time, a pretty buzzed Sophie had kidnapped Bobby from me, her hug making my furry head get stuck between her lovelies.

It was truly chaotic, but somehow, I didn't completely hate it.

Taking a look at the idiots around me, a part of me felt pretty happy that I had people who wanted me to be around. The feeling had slowly but surely grown inside of me, but now it almost became too much.

Unfortunately, I couldn't contain myself in time before Sarah noticed my condition.

"James, are you alright? Does your body still hurt?"

Wiping the single tear with my hand, I pretended to yawn as I did something I rarely did; I told her a complete lie.

"No, I'm just a bit tired. It's been a long week after all."

"Oh! Then, do you want us to leave so you can get some rest?"

Acting like a father who didn't want to ruin Christmas for his children by telling them to keep it down, I just waved my hand.

"It's fine. As long as this doesn't become a common occurrence, I can bear with it."

=======

"You really don't have to help me, you can go home to sleep if you want to."

"No, it's fine. After all, we were the reason for the mess in the first place."

After Anna had fallen asleep in front of us, and Arthur had fallen silent with tears in his eyes, it had been time for them to go home.

So, an apologetic Sophie had left with the sad man, while carrying a snoring Anna to the women's dorm.

Sarah had stayed behind to help me clean up the hoards of bottles, cans, and the rest of the trash that covered a big part of the training room.

While I was concentrating on cleaning, Sarah suddenly opened her mouth.

"Say, James..."

Turning my head, I could see an anxious girl fiddling with her fingers. "Yeah? What is it?"

Looking down at the floor, she had to take a breath before making her inquiry, "Do you have anyone you like?"

Pausing the cleaning, I felt my stomach turning a bit, knowing where this was headed.

The responsible thing would be to reject her, right here and now, knowing that I wasn't a person that should be loved.

However, for some reason, I couldn't do that.

"No, I don't."

If she did have the courage to ask me out right here on the spot, I would reject her immediately. However, if she didn't, there was a part of me that felt like it might be fine to live in the lie for a while. To just bask in the happiness that someone might be interested in me, that someone might look at me with romance in mind. That someone might want me.

Luckily, it appeared like fate was on my side, as she just gave me a bright smile, "I see. That's good."