#(Imbibing in large amounts of alcohol is a necessary royal skill)

[more-than-a-princess]

She'd gone from champagne to wine to whiskey, and yet it hadn't felt like time had passed at all. The only indication was the empty bottles that had been taken away and Anzu's gradually increasing sense of comfort and ease amongst the hosts, King in particular. It would be impolite to show her shock, especially in a country where restrained physical affection was the norm, but Sonia couldn't believe how her friend regarded the hosts. Currently, Anzu was draped over Mr. King's lap with the sort of intimacy Sonia only found in committed, dating relationships and in turn, he seemed to be entirely comfortable with the state of things. She had to wonder if it was an act, or if he truly relished in such affections. Something about him gave her pause on his interest in women in general, but again, she was too polite to say.

"Is our scheduled time finished, then?" She asked, still unsure of how it all worked, particularly at the end. Did the hosts cut off clients who were too drunk, or did they simply not wish to pay for their time anymore? What she did know was that conversation had flowed smoothly, a testament to Mr. King's skill, and the bill was brought over discreetly. There was a subtle art of reaching for it before anyone else had the chance, and it was ingrained in her whenever she went out. It was a rare situation that someone was more financially well off than she was, and thus she felt responsible to cover whatever fees accrued. After all, she had been the one to suggest champagne.

But even the bill had earned several looks their way, from other patrons at their tables to, Sonia noticed out of the corner of her eye, about half a dozen hosts peeking out over Monsieur's shoulder from the curtain leading to the back of the club. They'd appeared for the early champagne call and now found it a challenge to hide their interest for the newcomer who had requested it. Just as well that they were leaving: once she settled the bill, her name would be recorded in the financial statement and she could be traced.

With Mr. King's departure, though, Anzu's full attention had returned to her and their evening together, this time sharing what Shinobu had planned for the very same night. "I am not opposed to ramen, that would be lovely. Thank you, Anzu-san," Sonia replied with a smile. Though, the question that sat on the tip of her tongue was 'Why would Yaguchi-san agree to a lame date? It sounds like a waste of time, if it is already considered to be unwelcome.' She had to remind herself that not everyone dated the way she did: careful, hesitant, and only agreeing if she truly felt some sort of pull, a connection, to the man who asked. She turned down far more requests than she agreed to, from anyone from princes and other members of the aristocracy to the likes of Kazuichi Soda (many, many times). Her friend, however, seemed to do the opposite: she agreed to far more than she turned down, if any. It all sounded rather taxing to Sonia, though she wouldn't voice it. To Anzu, at least.

"Thank you for your company and conversation this evening, Mr. King," Sonia told him as he approached the table with the bill and a credit card reader. "You and Monsieur have made this an intriguing and relaxing experience, I must commend your good work." She tapped her chip card against the reader with no hesitation. It was, perhaps, one of her faults: Sonia had little idea as to what made a total bill not be 'too bad.' She'd seen her uncle purchase several new cards at once, and her mother acquire enough luxury fashion in one trip to go well over six figures in Euros. While Anzu grimaced and Mr. King looked apologetic, Sonia was simply confused as the card reader gave an affirmative 'ding!' that her payment had been processed.

"Shall we be on our way?" She asked, before quietly thanking another host as he helped her into her coat. Doing up the buttons and belt, she grabbed her clutch and followed Anzu when she was ready. Her friend was far more familiar with the area after all, and had suggested a late dinner.

King smiled, giving Anzu another pat on the head as he nodded to Sonia. "I meet many interesting people in this job, from all sorts of walks of life. I think that sometimes people just like to have a space to gripe, no matter what their life outside here is like. Everyone likes to feel heard. Everyone wants to feel understood." A feeling even Anzu wasn't immune to, though at the moment, she was more content just to receive King's physical affection. "But then again, that's just my opinion."

Shinobu's fingers were already flipping through the bills in her wallet, carefully organized between 1000, 2000, and 5000 yen notes, before a hand reached out gently push the wallet to the tabletop. "Shinobu-san, what are you doing?" She looked up, catching the eyes of the woman across the table, smiling softly at her. "Oh," Shinobu murmured. "I thought we were ready to depart, so I was preparing to pay. If I misjudged that, then I regret doing so."

The laugh that followed from the other woman was gentle and kind. "That's not what I meant." Once it was clear that Shinobu wasn't reaching for her wallet any longer, she reached inside her coat, a mix of trendy and formal that, to Shinobu's eyes, made her the best-dressed person in the restaurant. It was at the same time that Shinobu noticed her nails, trimmed shorter than they had been the last time they'd met, and with the dark nail polish she remembered stripped off.

"I invited you." From her coat, she produced a small clutch, drawing out a handful of bills and laying them flat on the table. "And I picked the nice restaurant. I wasn't planning on making you pay." "Oh." Shinobu wasn't entirely sure what to say to that, so instead merely stowed her wallet. "If you're sure, Miss Ji-yeon." So atypical was it in relation to their typical experience that Shinobu felt strangely about not covering the bill. "I'm sure," came the response, accompanied by another pleasant laugh.

"I'd thought you'd given up playing." "Hmm?" Ji-yeon tracked Shinobu's eyes to her hands, and then gave a sheepish grin. "Oh, you noticed. I guess not a lot gets past those eyes, huh?" She shrugged, turning her hands over to get a better look at them. "I didn't quit altogether, I just stopped performing. Nails don't get in the way too much when you're just playing for fun." For a moment a complicated expression grew on Ji-yeon's face, enough that Shinobu couldn't quite read her feelings. "It's a long story, but the university wants me to play at the end-of-year concert. It's a whole-" she waved her hand dismissively "- big thing. They were promoting me for a while, so they'd look bad if I didn't play."

Shinobu nodded, having found a more comfortable place for her own hands in her lap. "That's unfortunate. I thought you'd made your feelings clear, so it isn't fair for the administration to put you in an uncomfortable position like this. I'm sorry." Ji-yeon shook her head, forcing a smile. "It's not a big deal, Shinobu-san." The archer shook their head. "I just don't like the idea that your wishes were disrespected. It isn't your responsibility to clean up their messes." "Don't worry too much for my sake, okay? Besides, they're flying me in a Guadagnini to play with, so that should be fun."

There must have been some expression on her face, Shinobu realized, because Ji-yeon still seemed to be staring. "I know you're busy, but if you can make the time work, you should come, actually. If I'm going to be playing either way, I'd be happier knowing you were listening." Shinobu nodded, slowly. "...Mm. Please send me the details, and I'll try to be there." That earned a return to the earlier smile, as Ji-yeon gathered up her money and stood, moving to the other side of the table to help Shinobu up. "Great. It was really good to see you, Shinobu-san. Thanks for making time for me, but I'll let you get back to things now."

After more drinking, conversation, and borderline inappropriate physical contact between Anzu and her handsome men of choice, the night seemed to be coming to a close. The club, of course, would continue for a few hours more, though perhaps without the high school girls who had livened things up with an early champagne call. "I wanna staaay," Anzu mumbled, having, at some point, shifted positions so she was draped fully across King's lap like a cat. "But I have work in the morning, so we probably gotta go." Plus, she was starting to feel a bit tipsy, and an idea had popped into her head that required some planning and execution, and that couldn't be compromised.

King laughed, helping her back into a seated position. "As a host, I really should ask you to stay longer." He winked. "But I'm your friend, first." Once Anzu was upright, he stood, picking up the pieces of paper he'd scribbled notes to himself on throughout the night. "I'll go calculate your bill." After he'd taken his leave, Anzu grinned, directing her attention back to Sonia. "I just got a text from Shinobu-chan. She's done with what she was doing, and she's not too far away from here." With a soft, pleading expression that would put any doe-eyed starlet to shame, she clasped her hands together. "There's a really good ramen place where we could meet her in the middle? She's probably been on some lame date, so I bet she'd love to see us instead."

She, of course, could hold her liquor, and it looked like Sonia wasn't doing badly in that department, either, but still, getting some food in their stomachs probably would help. The ramen stall wasn't far from her theater, either, so it made slipping away easy. All according to her plan. "I'm hungry anyway, so if we wanna grab a quick dinner there, I'll cover it," she offered, as if that somehow offset the amount Sonia would be spending on their many, many drinks - an amount made plain as King returned to the table. "Between your accumulated credit, Anzu-san, and your new customer discount, Sonia-san, I don't think it's too bad?" To Anzu, that seemed like a result of King's unique perspective on things, as she lightly sucked in a breath. Yikes.