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_ Hangover _

"Hey," called Dan, arriving back at our table with a beer in one hand and a metal tray balanced on the other. "Which of you got the rum and lemon?"

I waved up at him. Easier than trying to shout above the noise of the dusky bar around us.

"There ya go, Timo... How 'bout the Club Punch?"

"Mine," Karel answered from his seat adjacent to my left. The snow leopard shifted a few of our empty glasses aside to create room.

"It'd be a damn sight easier to keep tabs on things if you weren't drinking all that fruity stuff."

"Yeah well, I don't need to be dealing with a hangover tomorrow," I shot back as Dan filled the space with our tray. "So shorts are my best friend right now."

"If you insist, 'Yote." The bear plonked down to his seat opposite, sliding closer to the table to better peer down at our smaller version atop it. "At least someone here's keeping up with me."

"You know it," cheered Ales, the husky in the seat to my right. He reached down to the tray for his beer, lifting it to clink with the base of Dan's far larger glass.

"What's your excuse, K?"

Karel shrugged back, smirk creeping. "I like Club Punch."

The dozens around us carried on with their own conversations, knocking glasses, relishing in their own respective evenings. It all aided an atmosphere befitting our friend Ondrej's birthday, well involved in whatever drinking game he and the rest of our group had got started over at the bar. Ugh. That kinda thing wasn't for me. Four beers and a couple of shorts had left me plenty buzzed enough.

"It's good to see you guys again," Ales said between sips.

"For sure!" Dan set his thick arm on the table, leaning towards us three. "I don't think we've all been out together since... was it New Year Festival?"

"Reckon so." I treated myself to some of my own drink. The sweet sourness soon jabbed at my tongue, warranting a sucking of air through teeth.

"Enjoying that?"

"Yeah," I croaked. "Takes a sec to adjust."

"Especially when you're like three months outta practice."

"I guess." A cough helped clear my throat. "Suppose it must be that long... A couple of weeks before we moved into our new place."

"The night we dared you into that 'suicide shot' and you upchucked all over the front step." Karel grinned at me. It grew even wider as I grumbled at what remained of that memory.

"Hey, hey. You lot put straight-up moonshine in that thing, I'm sure!"

"More like Cool Blue Afterburner."

"Ugh... You know I can't stand that sickly crap."

"Which is exactly why it was the first thing to go in the glass."

"And you were shocked that I puked? Really?"

"The chilli sauce probably helped that along, too," Ales chimed.

"Not to mention that foreign aniseed stuff Radek and I saw collecting dust on the top shelf," Dan added.

"Oh, trust you two overgrown jerks to have spotted that," I mumbled. "Y'know, I was laid up in bed 'til two in the afternoon on New Year's Day."

"Hence 'suicide shot'," Karel sang. "Our proudest creation."

"Lucky we were still living in Old Town back then. I don't remember a damn thing about getting home that night."

We each took pause to tend to our drinks, sharing a few patchy memories from that New Year's celebration. I was just glad for them to move away from the memory of that gods awful shot they stuck down my throat...

"How are you guys settling in up in Stromny?" Ales asked past the rim of his beer glass. "All the way up on the north, northside."

"It's going decently so far." My answer drew a wry smile from both he and Dan. "Honestly," I added through a scoff. "You look surprised?"

"Not surprised..."

"Maybe a little," Dan admitted. "Me, personally, I don't know if I could deal with living that far out, right on the outskirts."

"Koprovice doesn't end at Old Town," Karel argued. "We're in a real nice neighbourhood. And I'm ten minutes by bus from work."

"Man, you're from Stromny, you would say that." Ales' accusation _did_come with a laugh. "Guess I just can't imagine not living with everything right close by."

Maybe it was the sum of the evening's drinks, but the heat in my face sure seemed to rise in step with what were sounding more and more like put downs. Hell, I wasn't even raised there... but I guess it_was_ home now.

"We'll have to have you 'round," I said. "We've snagged ourselves a top drawer mixed-size apartment. More than big enough for all three of us." Past the occupied tables and through the shallow crowd, I gestured a nod towards Radek, the otter at the bar. "One main bedroom for him, and two compartment rooms for each of us." "Thank the gods," Karel muttered, raising his glass. "No more room shares. No more divider curtains."

I clinked my glass to his again, taking another moment to watch Radek. Still, he looked deeply involved in whatever drinking competition he and the other guys had come up with at the bar. We had both Visoka and Maleni competitors involved. Representing the former, along with Radek, we had Ondrej, the birthday fox, and Petrik, the grey tabby beside him. Stepping up for us Maleni, the two wolves, Tobias and Aron, were stood on a chest high shelf on the bar between them all. The sheer pace at which they were pounding down beer, barking and bellowing to each other before sucking down even more, left me woozy enough to feel like I was taking part. Whatever rules were in play weren't immediately clear, but either way, I was glad to be sat at our way calmer table.

"We will have to come up," Dan suggested, almost sounding apologetic. Perhaps on Ales' behalf, for that crack at our home. "Sounds like a good deal you've got going on."

"We do." I turned back to the table, up to the big brown bear opposite me. "Big upgrade on what we had down this way. Dual usage and dual size-controlled stuff included on pretty much everything."

"Most of all," Karel added, leaning in past his drink. "It's a breeze for us two to get around the place."

"Sounds great," Ales said. "Too bad it's so damn far from the city!"

"Yeah, no doubt," I got myself another sip of sweet lemon. "But I'll take that for saving a third on rent."

"How long does it take for you guys to get a bus down here?" His head cocked to one side. "An hour? More?"

"Yeah, an hour. Maybe." My fur prickled. The alcohol in my system made it tough to know if we were in polite conversation, or if he was looking for another put down.

"That ain't short."

"No." A deep inhale loosened me up. "Not by bus, anyway."

"We grabbed a taxi," Karel confirmed. "It took us fifteen minutes at most."

"I'd take a ten minute walk over that," Dan shot back.

"You do you." I waved my drink at him. "_I'll_take the extra bank to spend on stuff like this."

Time ticked towards midnight. Slowly, the bar had emptied, and what looked likely to be our last drink stretched out further and further towards closing time.

A tiger and tigress stood up from the table next to us, paws in one anothers. The former brushed past, tossing us a 'sorry' as the jacket draped over his arm dragged across the table, not far from the back of my seat.

Ales tsked. Dan sucked his teeth. I, on the other hand, was too busy watching Radek and the others over by the bar.

Their drinking game, as far as I could tell, had come to an end. They weren't finished there, though. Shots were the order of the moment. A whole tray of them, in fact. They each downed one after the other, stopping at three in a mad rush of alcohol. That included Tobias and Aron, up on their shelf with six smaller shot glasses to share.

"Holy gods," Karel mumbled, glancing to me. "They're not messing around."

Not in the slightest. They were hitting overdrive, egging each other on, cheering and clapping each other on the back. In no way was I averse to hitting it hard on a good night out, especially for a friend's birthday, but that there was a whole 'nother league. Plus, on top of all that, something else came and stuck in my mind. "We've gotta get back to Stromny yet."

Radek sank lower and lower, almost slumping over the bar. He wasn't alone: said bar seemed to be propping up the rest of the guys, too. It was alright for them. Like Ales was keen to remind me, most of the group lived no more than a short walk away. And some, like Ondrej, weren't thinking about getting home anytime soon. I watched him slink his sly fox ass down the bar, trying to get in good with some lady wolf, looking to make his birthday even better.

"We should go have a word," Karel said.

"And say what exactly?" I scoffed. "Something like 'hey, slow down, you need to help us all get home in one piece'?"

"Why not?"

"I think that ship has sailed, sunk and hit the sea bed, that's why."

"Radek!" Karel waved an arm. Then again. "Hey!"

The groggiest otter in all of Vodaskal narrowed his eyes, grinning as he caught sight of us. "Hey!"

"You good?"

Up went a strong pair thumbs... swaying as heavily as he was against the bar.

"Oh yeah, he's good," I grumbled, finishing the last of my rum and lemon. "We're so screwed."

Midnight came, last orders were called, we all filed out into fresh air one by one. Dan offered Karel and I a helping hand down from the table. We strolled out through the Maleni-sized side entrance, meeting up with the others in the spitting rain.

Some of us were far worse for wear than the others. Us two shared our goodbyes with Ales and Dan, the former up high in the latter's grasp. They wished us a good night and said they hoped to see us again soon. I found it hard to think too far ahead, truthfully.

The rest of our group exchanged their own best wishes, and extended them to us, too. Way louder and a lot more slurred than those we'd already received.

A couple of the guys wobbled off along the pavement, heading on their own ways home. The rest, Ondrej included, announced their plans to venture further into town and extend the evening. Birthday boy must have struck out at the bar.

"Ey, Radek," Ondrej called through the night. "You coming?"

He found him just before we did, leaning against the outside wall with head hanging low.

"Yo!"

Radek waved him away, spluttering and hacking his throat clear to give a heavily slurred, "Naw... Not gonna, no."

The others didn't look the best, constantly shifting to catch their balance. Tobias and Aron were having a hard time of it, too, down here on our level atop the walkway.

Ondrej turned to find me down towards the pavement, then Karel, asking, "You guys?"

I waved that away, Karel adding, "Not for me. Gotta get back."

That led to more goodbyes, more swaying and shouting. Eventually the rest of them slipped off, yammering away, heading down the hill towards the bright lights of Old Town and the rest of the city beyond.

I was relieved to have Radek still with us. If he'd headed off, it'd have meant us two having to venture home alone. Absolutely doable, with the walkways and all, but way less straightforward and convenient than having someone bigger to help us along. Too bad that relief didn't last too long.

"Hey..." Radek heaved himself away from the wall, taking more than one attempt to set a good paw forward and come towards us. "Guys... you okay?"

"Doing fine," Karel answered, grinning away. A dark shadow under the streetlights soon overwhelmed everything around us. "You?"

"Yeah, yeah." We were half his shin high on this section of walkway. Still low enough for his staggering to have me wanting to shift back. Sure, there were guard bars around and above us, but I hoped they wouldn't have to be tested. "Was a big night... Proper good... proper real night."

"Maybe you wanna stop there," I said, batting Karel on the back to bring him a few retreating steps down the path. "You're not looking too steady."

"Am fine, fine... Look." Radek felt the need to raise a paw and balance on the other, arms spread wide. He lasted all of a second before his swaying turned to shaking. A couple seconds more, and he had to catch himself with the wall right above us.

"Hey!" I yelled, almost tripping as my own tipsy legs struggled to keep up with my rushing away from him. "Watch out. Damn."

"What?" His grin turned to outrage. He spread his arms further. The smell of booze blasted the walkway. "What? No trouble. Nothing wrong."

"For you." Karel had stayed right there in the unsteady otter's shadow. He'd taken this a whole lot better than I did. "Wanna take a minute?"

"Said I'm good," he complained, shoving away from the wall and almost clattering into some goat minding his own business on a walk back up the hill. "Gonna go, yeah?" A cough came before a burp. Another sickly stench breezed down our way. "Taxi... Taxi it home."

"Good call."

Out came his webbed paws. It took a couple of tries for Radek to get them together. "Lift?"

I shared a glance with Karel. "Nah... We're fine down here."

Radek took off down the pavement without further word or prompting, forcing us two into a sudden, fast stroll down the walkway. It took a moment to rebalance under the influence of a few drinks, but I felt stone cold sober in comparison to the swerving missteps we were seeing ahead. I doubt Radek could have even described a straight line at that point, let alone kept one.

"Careful," I called up to him, descending with the walkway towards an underpass running beneath the entrance of a late night cafe. He didn't seem to hear.

"This ain't good," Karel muttered, joining me in entering the darkness. "You ever seen him this bad before?"

"Not for a while." I could still hear Radek's off-beat steps above. "But we never had far to go when we were living close."

We upped our pace to get back out into the electric light and gentle rain, dodging a group of snack-seekers heading into the cafe's downstairs Maleni section. Even with aid from the rolling walkway, and all of Radek's weaving, he was extending his lead over us by the second.

"Man, if he falls into the road..."

I could have done without Karel's pessimism, but he had a point... Thankfully the owner of the parked car we watched our roommate drunkenly hip-check wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Radek, slow it up!"

At last, he heard us. Or at least, he shortened his strides of his own accord, peering around in all directions. In the state he'd gotten himself, it seemed like Radek had forgotten where to look for us.

"Down here."

Before he could find us, instead, our roommate's step found the concrete edge of a tree planter. A trip and a tumble followed, but he managed to stay upright. On the plus side, it allowed me and Karel to close the distance.

"Guys... what?" Radek grabbed the tree for support. "We goin' home or what?"

"Yeah." I stepped onto the static edge of the walkway. "You were rushing way ahead of us, is all."

"Gotta find a taxi, though," was the excuse he offered... I suppose it made sense to him.

"Startin' to not like this," Karel said into my ear.

"There!" Radek's bellow shook me to my core. By the time I could peer up to ground level again, he'd begun to stumble between two more parked cars. "Taxi!"

Karel and me could see his awkward, double-armed wave, and could also hear the slowing of an engine. My tail swayed; it looked like the worst of this journey home had passed...

The seconds ticked by. Rain kept on falling and Maleni after other Maleni passed us down here on the walkway. My tail went still. Karel turned to show me a grimace that matched the gnawing in my stomach.

"...Why?" I heard trail through the night. My ears perked. I'd wish they hadn't. "It's only Stromny."

"I ain't taking you," someone gruffed.

"Got two more coming."

"What?"

"Two more passengers... Maleni."

"And--? Get your paws off my taxi."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry--"

"You stink of booze and I ain't taking you or your friends anyplace."

"Just to Stromny. Ain't far."

"Don't care. No way I'm having you chuck up on my backseat."

"Please, man. Please--"

The engine revved up high and roared off down the street. By the time I'd stepped back onto the walkway, rising back up to ground level, we only had Radek's hanging head to greet us.

"So much for getting a taxi home," shot Karel.

"I'm not that drunk!"

"Drunk or not, we're gonna need to find a new way home." They both looked to me. Great. Sure. Let the 'yote fix the problem. "Yeah, I'm open to ideas, too."

"Well it's gonna hafta be a bus." Karel snapped. "What other choice we got?"

"Fuck sake." I reached into my back pocket for my phone. "Do we know which?"

"74 or 75... I think." He rubbed a firm paw over his reddened eyes. "74 would be best. The other one goes all around Trebelec before it gets to Stromny."

"Look... I'm really not that drunk, guys."

"Go try to get us another cab, then!" Radek's folding ears almost had me guilty for shouting. Almost. "If the last guy refused, chances are the rest will, too."

I left him to go on a wander, maybe to find us a taxi, likely not. With Karel looking over my shoulder, I called up a map for the area and searched for all the nearest bus stops, hoping that one of the routes we needed came out this far into Old Town. If pulling apart all the bus lines wasn't tough enough, the strengthening rain and drink-fuelled haze made working my phone all the more challenging.

"Hey, taxi," Radek called out from a short way down the street. I looked up just in time to see him flip off a car rolling right on past.

"It's this or nothing, then." I searched on, and on. Every stop I selected seemed to serve just about every route but ours. I was close to giving in, even with no plan C to call on, until we _finally_found something. "There's a stop on Cernek. Opposite the park. The 75 stops there... 74 does, too, but it stopped running at 11."

"Typical," said Karel.

"Better than nothing."

"Never said otherwise."

He was beginning to get pissy. All the more reason to get on with this. "Radek!"

Gods bless Normalisers, he heard me from halfway to the next junction. I waved him towards us, urging him to obey. Making it two streets over to Cernek shouldn't have been a big deal. What was a massive_deal was the prospect of getting a wasted Visoka otter there along with us. If he fell, or if he didn't wanna cooperate, it wasn't like grabbing someone close to ten times taller, and like a thousand times heavier than you and _forcing them was an option. Gods damn it, Radek...

Judging by the map, our journey to the bus stop should've taken us five, maybe ten minutes on a good day. Fact of the matter was that this wasn't a good day. Not at all. Every other moment there was something to distract us. First it was Radek missing me and Karel take the corner onto Kazan. Then there was the need to convince him that, yes, Kazan really was the best street to take towards our stop. All that before the walk had barely begun...

"Watch the walkway," I called up from our raised, frankly exposed position. It was impossible to miss his constant swerving and borderline staggering, or his chunky tail swinging like a massive pendulum.

"Gonna," he complained past all the other sounds falling out his mouth. "Am."

His leg lumbered close regardless, then again. Each step and shift blasted discomforting air into the side of my face. As horrible as it might be to admit, every time we passed a house, tunnelling through the brick and stone of its front steps, I felt a whole lot safer.

"I'm dropping back a bit," said Karel, already easing his pace. "Just keep going, Radek. To Cernek, okay?"

"Yeah... I know."

"Just making sure."

"Cernek. Got it."

"By the park."

"Said I got... I know it!"

"Fine! Just don't go trying to cross over the wrong street again--"

"Calm it," I snapped at the snep. "We know where we need to be. Let's get there." Great. Looked like it'd be me to keep the peace, on top of everything else. Our next night out had best be a damn lot closer to home than Old Town.

We made it to the junction of Kazan and Lesik without further argument or any drawing first blood. Just one more street to go, then an easy walk up to the park. This was all going fine... totally fine.

"Straight on," Karel called up to Radek. We watched him come to a halt at the crossing's red signal. So far, so good. "We'll meet you on the other side of the ro--"

"Wait a sec." I nudged my co-Visoka minder in the ribs. He followed my lead in stepping onto the static side of the walkway. "Let's hold back... Make sure."

"It's a crossing."

"And he's fucking wasted." We looked up from just before the interchange between the junction of Lesik's walkway, and the sloped section ahead that'd carry us under the road itself. Radek remained there waiting. Good otter. "Let's get him home in one piece, right?"

"Fine, yeah." He grumbled. "This is a fucking headache, and no mistake."

The red light of the crossing went on forever and a damned day. Quiet as things were, with only the odd car passing in either direction, there was no chance in hell I'd be telling Radek to start across whenever he thought it safe.

A pounding thud of bass carried from the distance, fast in tempo and its approach. It rattled the walkway itself, long before we could hear the loud dance music it accompanied. Some poser prick with a stereo too nice for his car, no doubt in my mind. Whatever. We'd let him come, let him go, and get on with getting home--

"Ah, boys..." Radek hicced and burped. "Boys!"

"Gods," Karel complained."

"I love this one." He threw up his arms. The thumping bass peaked. "I'm all about this tune."

A red convertible sped through the junction, but my attention was reserved elsewhere.

Radek broke into some weird half-dance, half-shuffle at the crossing. Off-beat and way off-balance.

"Man, watch yourself."

"Calm it!"

Both mine and Karel's complaints feel on drunkenly deaf ears. The booming bass had a replacement in our roommate's dizzy stomps. He was having the time of his life. Us down on the walkways sure as hell weren't.

"Radek, Radek, watch the fuck--"

"Radek!"

We both rushed back, but had nowhere to go once the big, out-of-control otter lost it completely. His paws fell over themselves, sending him stumbling. The first thing solid he found were the metal bars overhead, forming a guard here on the walkway's interchange. It did the job, thankfully. But gods did Karel and I know about it.

Radek's leg collided with enough force to start what felt like the whole world shaking. Clanking and clattering forced my ears to flick like crazy. I'd have thrown my paws over them, if they weren't busy trying to find my balance.

Up, down, left and right went the metal and rubber underfoot. Along with the grinding and settling of metal, it just would not stop. Between that and my own tipsiness. I don't mind saying I came damn close to face planting.

"Shit..." I turned around to Karel, wide-eyed, clinging to the guardrail for all he was worth.

Radek on the other hand had nothing but a furrowed brow and a toothy smirk to show for us. "Hey... guys, what're ya doin' down there?"

"Are you serious right now," yelled my fellow victim in crimes against Maleni. "Fuckin' damn near kicked us all the way home by yourself."

He barely flinched at that. In fact, the only shaky move he made was to peer up at the newly green crossing signal. With no fuss, no apology, Radek started on his way across the street, fat tail sweeping wide, leaving the two of us behind.

"You good?" I asked.

"Think so." Karel righted himself, joining me in dizzily staggering for the walkway underpass. "Man... If I ever get to be _that_much of a liability when I'm wasted, just leave me behind."

Somehow, maybe more by luck than judgement, we got ourselves onto Cernek in one piece, past the locked up storefronts and along to the park where we'd board our bus home. The whole way I stayed two Visoka-sized steps back from Radek. After his display at the crossing, even the walkway didn't feel fully safe from any potential drink-fuelled misstep. To think he'd offered us a ride in his paws back at the bar...

"Alright," I called after him. "This is our stop."

"I know," he mumbled back. As I hoped, he swerved under the rain-soaked cover of the bus shelter. "Saw it way back."

"Just checking." I stepped onto the stationary outer walkway with Karel, just shy of the path down into the stop's lower Maleni section. We had no-one else around to listen in on our conversation. Even so, things were too quiet for comfort. "You all good?"

"Fine." Radek stood there with arms folded, leaning, or more collapsed, against the shelter, looking off down the road. That was... off.

"You sure?"

"Leave him." Karel jabbed an elbow into my rib. "Not long to go."

He wasn't wrong. The electronic schedule board listed a 75 as the next bus due, only five minutes away on its journey up to the airport. We were pretty much home free. Karel's smile said as much, but I couldn't stop thinking that something was wrong.

"Radek," I called again.

"What?"

It took a moment to get past the bite in his reply. It took another to decide on a reason for my call in the first place. "Make sure you signal for the bus, okay? The 75."

"Yeah," he slurred, batting out an aimless paw. "I know... I get how riding a bus works."

"That's cool... Good." Our conversation stalled. The patter of rain on the shelter offered some ambient noise out here in the open. "Did you get a ticket?"

"'course."

"On the phone app?"

"How else?"

I glanced over to Karel. He seemed happy for me and me only to be putting myself out. "I'm only trying to get us all home in one piece, that's all."

I counted down the minutes until our bus' arrival. In that time, we barely said a word between us; a far cry from the manic evening we'd enjoyed with our friends. I was happy for the silence, and uneasy all at once.

A whirring drone sounded from the distance. Down the road, I caught sight of headlights emerging from a sidestreet. Higher up, a bright white strip of light cut through the night. Once a little closer, I could make out a blurry '75', right alongside 'Airport'. At last, we were in business. I was gonna get to sleep in my bed tonight, not huddled up rough with these guys on some bench over in the park. Thank the stars!

"Radek, Lannova South is the stop we need to get off at. Around the corner from--"

"I know," he snapped back.

I watched him stagger away from the shelter, uneasy without its support. His eyes looked heavy. He never turned my way. "You all good--?"

"Hey." Karel pushed at my shoulder, starting towards the stop's underpass. "Hurry up."

"We'll see you in a little bit, alright?"

Still I got nothing by way of response. Radek dragged himself out from cover, heading for the kerbside where he'd board our rapidly approaching bus.

"Timo!" I caught sight of Karel a moment before he disappeared beneath ground. Whatever Radek's issue was, I didn't have time for it. I had to run, or I'd be having an issue all of my own!

Both Karel and I made it under the pavement and up to the narrow Maleni boarding area in good time. At this time of night, and this far out from the livelier areas, we found ourselves as the only ones waiting to board.

The bus pulled up slowly, positioning our entrance to the underside compartment near-perfectly. We stepped aboard, offering a quick scan of our phone tickets to allow access beyond the inside barrier. Out of sight down below, the only sign of activity we had from above were the thumping of footsteps. Hopefully they belonged to Radek, else Karel and I would be having one hell of a debrief up in Stromny.

For the time being, we found ourselves a couple of empty seats. Not too tough, honestly. Seemed there wasn't a whole lot of demand to be heading north to the outskirts, then on to the airport at this time of night. Karel took a seat a couple rows from the door while I parked myself in the empty chair across the centre aisle. I spotted some mouse a few rows further back, slumped over and fast asleep, his face plastered to the window. Finally, we'd found someone in a worse state than Radek.

The peace we got aboard came much appreciated, truthfully. With the chugging of the bus aside, what few of us there were riding in the Maleni section had nothing but silence in which to talk or to think. After a big night and a less-than-simple trip to get here, I'd have been happy to tune out and indulge in the latter. Karel on the other hand, he seemed more keen on the former. "Man, Radek's _really_got himself in a bad way, huh?" He slid over to meet me at the aisle. "Don't think I've seen him this way... ever."

"You're not alone." I took a quick look forward to the handful of conscious passengers riding along with us. Noone seemed that bothered by anything outside their immediate surroundings. "That walk was something else."

"How he didn't take the walkway clean off the wall back at that crossing, I'll never know."

Karel had the knives out and ready for Radek, that much was clear. At first, hearing him talk like this felt harsh. This was a night out of drinking, after all. For a birthday, no less. But the more I thought about it, the more all this effort and aggravation had me ready to join him. "Damn sure hope he doesn't do anything like this again.

"I hear you." He huffed and settled back, peering out of the window. "You think he got on board okay?"

"It sounded like it." The brightness and busyness outside grew the closer we crawled towards the city centre. "Truthfully, I'm more worried about him getting off at the right stop."

"Yeah, and not getting thrown off before that."

That comment stuck fast. Karel didn't look anything close to bothered, but with each bump and thump from above, I found myself wondering if that might be the moment. Each station we stopped at, I had a good hard look through the window for any sign of Radek getting his marching orders. Admittedly, while down below, and with how frantic and packed downtown was, getting a good look up to the pavement wasn't easy. Mostly, all I got to see were a bunch of shoes and shins, striding through the rain above the Maleni-sized boarding area.

"How could he let himself go so damn badly?" Karel threw up a foot to cross it over his knee. "It's not like we don't go out like this often."

"True." I settled back as our bus grunted back into life. A few more passengers had boarded our section, but not enough to stop me wanting to say what I had to say. "We don't get back down this way too often, sure, but--"

"And another thing." He threw out a paw, finger extended. It took a grab of the seat ahead to stop himself tumbling out into the aisle. "What was that all about with Dan back at the bar?"

"What was 'what' about?"

"Putting Stromny down."

"Ah, I don't think it's anything." I tried not to bat that away too hard. Karel still had a slur. Liquid honesty was still in play. "He's a proper townie, that's all."

"Townie?"

"Yeah." Figured my tongue was still well-greased, too. Made sense. All the ads on the walls were pretty damn floaty. "Don't think he'd ever move out from the centre. Too happy living life right on his doorstep."

"I guess. Pah."

"Kinda see his side, too. This isn't exactly a short trip."

"Not like we're going cross country."

"I get that... Guess I could've used a short walk home right about now, that's all."

"Prefer a bus ride home to getting mugged by our landlord each month."

"Fair--"

"Plus, none of this'd be happening if we could've grabbed a taxi like we planned."

And there we had it. Right back to the real problem at hand. "Kinda wonder if that cab driver was a bit too harsh."

"Harsh, not harsh, doesn't matter much if you can barely walk in a straight line."

"Guess not." I wanted to be as pissed as Karel clearly was... but even fuelled by a night of drinking, I found it hard not to find a way to ground myself. "Not like we've never been in that kinda state before. Worse, even."

"Man, whatever the state, I haven't ever been so bad that we couldn't get where we need to be." He ground a paw over his eyes. Yeah... I was getting tired, too. "Fact is, he's fucked up tonight. Not me. Not us."

I caught myself as the bus lurched into a turn. Yet another busy city street to roll down on this winding journey home. Karel collapsed against his window. He'd done all the talking he was willing to do for now. That suited me. Moment by moment, the urge to sleep was coming on stronger. I settled back and got as comfy as possible in these rickety old seats. Man, I sure hoped Radek was upstairs and doing the same...

The further from the city we got, the emptier our bus became. Our journey on the 75 took us on an... extensive tour of Trebelec, which was where we lost the last of our fellow Maleni passengers. Luckily for that mouse towards the back of the bus, he woke up in time for his stop. Or maybe in time for a stop or two after, given the pace he rushed at to make his exit.

Almost an hour and a half since leaving the bar, we crossed one of the bridges over the highway and entered Stromny. I never thought I'd be so glad to see the upper floors of houses and short apartment buildings lining the street. We slowed to a crawl around about the time we made it to Café Eden, nestled on the corner of the main shopping strip. They did the best breakfasts in Koprovice, no doubt. How much I'd have killed for something nice to munch on right about then...

Hunger aside, crossing the strip onto Stromny's west end had me checking my pockets for my phone and my wallet. Just a couple more stops until the station closest to our apartment. Fun as most of this evening had been, my bed was calling loud and clear.

"At last," Karel slurred. "That took forever."

I followed the snep and his sagging tail up the stairs from the Maleni boarding area, onto the walkway just above ground level. Part of me wanted to say 'it could have been worse', but most of me... most of me couldn't work up the energy.

We turned back to the street, resting back against the walkway's guard barrier. Both directions of the rolling sections were empty as far as we could see down the street. One of the few signs of life out here at this time of night was our bus, roaring back to life to finish its journey over to the airport. Another, thankfully, was an otter clinging to the shelter maybe two steps from where he'd been dropped.

"You okay, Radek?"

He waved a paw through the air. In our direction, almost. "Need a minute."

"What's up?"

His first answer was all he had in him, I guess. A low groan replaced the noise of the bus. Radek stood there almost perfectly still, head dipped all the way down towards the pavement.

"Come on," Karel insisted. "Still gotta walk yet."

"Okay, okay." With a sigh that would have fit the prep for something like a fierce workout, he pushed himself all the way upright. Then let go of his support.

A couple of wobbles here and there, but Radek's slow walk looked good. Mostly. Lucky for us. I'm not sure how in the world two Maleni would be expected to drag a passed out Visoka all the way home--

"Woah." Suddenly, he wasn't good. His legs went in all directions, damn almost kicking himself into a stagger across the pavement. His arms meanwhile flailed out in search of support, but there was nothing. Nothing except our illuminated walkway, and the flowerbed of someone's darkened front lawn beyond.

"Oh, hell." Karel grabbed my shoulder from behind. I went one better and I grabbed the damn railings instead.

With limbs barely under his control, Radek somehow managed to spring into some weird half-jump, half-tumble combo. He cleared the walkway a few steps from us, a trailing shoe missing the outer rail by a hair's width. The garden beyond didn't have the same luck. A bunch of sweet-smelling flowers, and some pointy-looking shrub, all disappeared with a solid, teeth-chattering thud beneath the otter-shaped wrecking ball.

"Holy fuck, Radek." My eyes darted straight towards the windows of the house. None were on, upstairs or downstairs... and that's the way they stayed. Thank the--

"Gods!" Karel stormed down the walkway to where he'd landed. "What's the fuckin' matter with you!?"

Radek groaned out loud, face down, trying to right himself amid the plants he'd not flattened. I'm not sure how much of Karel's yelling he heard, but my hackles, rising faster and faster the more I watched him roll around like a beached whale, convinced me to make sure he'd damn well hear mine.

"You've made this a godsdamn nightmare, y'know that right!?" I made it to Karel's side. getting a better angle on Radek's hopeless attempts to get back up. "That's twice you've damn near landed on us! All 'cos you got yourself too wasted to get a taxi..."

I drew a deep breath. Heat in my cheeks subsided. Spitting all that out so hard made my jaw ache, but damn if it hadn't been building. Radek's hand bent and snapped a bunch of once pretty yellow roses on his way to turn himself over, tail slapping down on a whole lot more. Now, he was at least sitting on that garden, not sprawled out on his stomach. Both Karel and I got the chance to see his weary scowl.

"So... you guys ain't never done none of this?"

"I've never almost kicked a walkway clean off it's--"

"Of course... you two..." He wretched and hacked out a boozy cough. It just added to what he threw our way. "Ya don't remember all the times... you did stupid shit."

"Stupid shit?" Karel scoffed. He grabbed the railing, puffed out his chest but came nowhere near a big otter in the imposing stakes. "Says the guy sitting in some poor fucker's flowerbed--"

"Fuck off, Karel." Radek shifted with so much force that the walkway rattled without him even touching it. "Round the corner... from our old place..." He made it up onto his knees, towering over us at half his height. "New Year's night. You ended up jumping in the fountain on the plaza. Eating takeout while sat on the edge... that wasn't fun enough."

"I, ugh..." Karel glanced at me. No point in doing that; after doing that damn suicide shot, that night was mostly a blank for me. "That happened, I guess. Don't remember too great."

"No?... I remember jumping in to fish you out." He slammed another paw down to catch his balance. With it came another deep dent in the soil. "Ya could have drowned... but nah, I'm the bad guy. I'm the one... outta control."

Sitting there, trashing a patch of this now half-ruined flowerbed one move at a time... He kinda was out of control. My mouth was welded shut, whatever the case; Radek had firmly made this moment his moment.

"Long as it's always been... I'm the guy that needs to be careful. It's me counting drinks. It's me making sure... When you're all tanked up, outta your minds... it's me that..." He growled out loud, but saved the garden from any more renovations. "I'm the one who's gotta get everyone back home. But maybe I wanted a turn. We don't do many big nights these days, with everyone... So maybe it was my turn to get what everyone else always gets."

There we had it. Everything was out in the open. My hackles fast retreated downwards, feeling mighty stupid for getting as riled as they did. From a glance over at Karel, rubbing his jaw, I got the impression he'd be taken down a notch, too. I was such a dick. We both were... Radek was right. All those times... We'd taken it for granted.

"Guys. Guys, I think... Where's my wallet?"

"It's not in your pocket?"

"No." He patted himself down. "Not here."

"You had it when you left the--"

"Fuck! I had it. I'm sure."

Radek's search got more and more lively. Some pretty white flowers were mercilessly mown down as he swung himself around, batting whatever plantlife lied in reach aside to scour the soil. But, hard as he tried, he was out of luck. He dropped his kneel down onto his ankles and threw a paw to his head. "Don't believe this."

A loud whine rang out. In an instant, Radek had gone from angry to beaten. His slurring sounded close to sobbing. I felt like an even bigger tool.

"Here!" Karel called. "I think I've found it."

"Where?"

"Over near me." He climbed onto the first bar of the guardrail, leaning over to point down into the darkness. "Under this shrub thing."

I padded over to join him. Radek shifted, too; still on his paws and knees. "Can't see."

"C'mon, right here!"

"Guys," I grumbled, half an eye on the house. "Keep it down--"

"Look!" Karel pointed straight down. I spotted the corner of the wallet, too, poking out into the light from the walkway. "This shrub, here. It's in a divot.

Hard as we tried to guide him, Radek's beer goggles were just too damn thick to see through. Luckily Karel had a better idea. "Help me down there."

The big, drunk otter cocked his head, looking at him sideways.

"Gods..." He climbed all the way up the guardrail, vaulting a leg over the top bar. "Help me, or I'll jump down myself."

"Oh-- Hey, no." Finally, it clicked. Radek threw out his arms. A matter of moments before Karel jumped, webbed paws were there to catch him.

Figured I'd be the one to play lookout a little longer. Every window of the house remained dark. How hadn't they heard all this noise? How hadn't their neighbours!?

Back in the garden, I watched Karel clamber across the soil, literally guiding Radek with a paw wrapped around his little finger. They looked ridiculous. It looked hilarious!

"Stop laughing!"

I held up a paw. Karel's shouting couldn't stop my snickering, nor could his growling. Maybe it was my own share of the booze talking, but watching a small snep trying to tug an otter large enough to grab him up into that single paw... I couldn't stop myself from breaking into full-on laughter.

"Fuck off, Timo!"

"Got it!" Radek's mumbled cheer belted out all through the street. It knocked me back on my heels, but that was nothing compared to Karel... he did get grabbed up into that single paw, then hugged firmly into Radek's chest. "Thank you."

"It's nothing," he croaked back. "Ease up, damn."

"I'm sorry... about all this."

"It's cool." Karel sucked in air. The force of Radek's squeezing paw visibly loosened. "We're all cool."

"For real," I called. "And, y'know, for what it's worth... I'm sorry, too--"

I went cold. Every strand of fur on my body leapt up to stand on end. Past Radek's shoulder, a light in the house flicked on. Then another. "Shit."

Karel tried to follow me, but found his view blocked by the otter peering back to do the same. A faint rattling had me ready. The front door opening got me set.

"Hey!"

"Go!" Instinct launched me down the walkway. Cool air blasted my face with how fast I set off... but it was far outmatched by the momentary gust Radek hit me with by stomping through the rest of the flowerbed, leaping clear over my head, and landing with a thud onto the pavement opposite.

"Don't drop me!" I heard Karel cry out. "Do not fuckin' drop me!"

With a loud, monumentally pissed, "Bastards!" ringing in our ears, we fled the scene as fast as our legs, the walkway, or our friend could carry us.

---

"And that's five!"

Karel's cheering cut way deep under my skin. That wasn't to mention how seeing his players slapping paws on screen had me feeling. I tossed my controller onto the couch. Maybe playing some 'Handball Championship' first thing in the morning wasn't the best idea.

"You still drunk or something?"

"No."

"Don't sulk."

"I'm not." The replay of his goal started. Great. "That goal sucked, though."

"_You_suck."

"You reckon?"

"It's 5-1 already, yeah, I do."

"Come on, then." The replay ended. I grabbed my controller from beside him. "I'll show you who suc--"

A loud, droning groan rattled through the half-open door of our living room. I hit pause on our game, regardless of Karel's tutting.

The Visoka-sized door swung open with a thump, creating another as it came to rest against the arm of the couch.

From our seat perched atop the opposite arm, we watched a huge, fuzzy green lump lurch through the doorway, whines and complaints still coming thick and fast. I peered up higher, spotting puffy red eyes, matted brown fur and a runny nose; Radek looked absolutely ruined. "Morning, sunshine!"

He shot me less of groan and more of a growl at me for that. His slippers scooted noisily across the carpet, until finally, he collapsed into a heap in the armchair adjacent.

"So..." Karel sat forward, grinning. "On a scale of one to ten, just how much are you hurting this morning?"

"Eleven," Radek snapped, cuddling up to his own dressing gown. "It's like a bomb's going off in my head... over, and over."

"Probably resembles that guy's garden this morning."

"Huh?"

Radek struggled to focus on Karel, then me as I asked, "You don't remember?"

"At this moment, I don't remember much of anything after leaving the bar."

I smirked along with Karel, apparently the only witness, along with myself, of everything that happened last night.

"Damn," Radek croaked, narrowing his eyes at the TV. Seemed he was having trouble focusing on just about anything, including the corner that 'Maleni Mode' displayed our scaled down screen. "5-1 _this_early in the game?"

"Piss off!" I tossed the controller all over again.

The big, broken otter managed one 'ha' of laughter, shortly before sputtering, grimacing and throwing a paw to his temple.

"Try not to die, man."

"Doing my best." Those reddened eyes settled on me. "_How_are you guys not feeling it?"

"Pretty sure we didn't drink anywhere close to how much you did."

I waited for some kind of sizey jibe. A 'That's not hard' or similar. All we did get from Radek were more grunts and groans... He_really_ was struggling.

"I was gonna suggest we head out down to Café Eden," said Karel. "Get ourselves something greasy to eat... but I'm guessing that leaving the house might not be on your agenda today. Right?"

"Got it in one." Radek groaned again. Though this time, it came from lower down. "Plus, I'm not eating until my stomach settles."

Watching him slumped back and sprawled out in his chair kind of reminded me of last night, down the road at that flowerbed he'd demolished. Bad as I felt about it... at the same time, it was pretty funny. But, as much as that made me want to laugh and reminisce, something else from that point in the evening played on my mind a whole lot more.

"Timo?" Karel shook his controller at me. "You ready to go or what?"

"Wait a sec." I turned back to the armchair. "Hey... Radek, listen."

His ears perked; probably the most I could reasonably expect in his state.

"Karel and me were talking about what you said last night. After we got off the bus."

I could visibly see him trying to put two and two together in that head of his. He came up blank.

"You were talking about..." Damn it, why couldn't he remember? "Y'know."

"I really don't."

The back of my neck got itchy. Help out any time, Karel, won't ya? "You were going on about how you've always got to be the sensible one. When we go out together."

"Oh..." Radek's eyes went wide. "Yeah... suppose I did."

"We were thing that next time we head out, we'll check out some of the places we've got on our doorstep."

"That, or at least not halfway across the city," Karel added.

"Yeah, exactly. Someplace we can get back home nice and easy. That way, you'll be able to enjoy yourself without having to worry about us. What d'ya say?"

"Sounds good," Radek answered past a half-hidden burp. "But, one favour."

"What's that?"

"Can we not talk about drinking again? At least until the walls stop spinning."

"Alright," I replied, smiling. Radek left me to do that alone. "Fair."

"If heading out's a bust, we could order some food in," said Karel. "Once you're feeling ready to mop up the alcohol. My treat, How's that sound?"

"I..." Radek's ears folded. He went from distant to vacant in a flash.

"What's up--?"

"Oh, gods!" He threw a paw to his mouth, struggling to push himself up with the other. His entrance might have been plodding, but Radek damn near sprinted out the door.

We heard him retching, thumping along to the bathroom. Of course, Karel couldn't wait to show his sympathy.

"Okay, man. Just let me know when."

"Damn." I snorted. "I'm so glad I'm not him right now."

"You're telling me." He dipped his muzzle towards his controller. "Come on. I ain't waiting all day."

"Pfft."

"Don't 'pfft' me."

"Fine then." I grabbed my pad, too. "Gonna mess you up like Radek does flowers."

Karel laughed, almost as loud as the cheer of the virtual crowd watching us get back under way.