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You wave her goodbye before returning back to your seat next to Lex. A glass of a dark brown liquid has already been prepared for you. Tequila? Whiskey? You're not quite sure.
"So? How did your little chats go?" Lex pats you on the shoulder. "Hopefully you didn't piss yourself in front of them."
"What?" You wave your hand dismissively at him. "None of them were scary."
"That's not what I saw when that robot had you staring at thin air for five solid minutes."
"...Drinking contest." You grab onto the glass of liquor in front of you. "Let's see who can drink more. I'll show you something scary."
Nicolas takes one glance at you, then Lex, then back at you. He leans over with an incredibly worried expression. "Now, young lady, I don't think-"
"DRINKING CONTEST!" Lex interrupts him. He raises his glass up. "FUCK YEAH, LET'S DO THIS SHIT! NICOLAS, START IT UP!"
"Fine, fine." The old man relents. He turns around to start getting more bottles of booze for your drinking contest.
Before Lex can even take a sip, you start chugging down from your glass. It burns going down your throat and frankly, it tastes like shit. Before you even know it, you slam your empty glass down.
"Fuck, take it easy." Lex lets out a nervous chuckle. He paces himself with his drinking, taking slow sips from his glass. "Didn't expect that out of you."
"Guess we learn something new every day. Speaking about learning new things." You snap your fingers. You can already feel the booze going through your system. "...What are your plans now? After all of this?"
"Ha! You imply I think ahead at all, Nicky." He finishes his glass. The two of you keep drinking once Nicolas comes back with a refill. "I dunno. I really don't."
"Nothing? Not at all?" At least you have a goal of eventually getting out of this Cleaner business. "C'mon. Surely you have something to look forward too."
"Nah. Not really." He takes another swig from his glass. "I'm content with my life. Talking to people, caving in skulls. Is it wrong to enjoy the simple things?"
"I-I gu...ess." Your head starts spinning as you slam down your second glass. "But no dreams? No hobbies? It's just this?"
Lex puts down his glass, waiting for another refill. "Nah. See, I think that all you really need in life is the simple things. No point overthinking about your place in it. Just do whatever you want."
"Like, look at me." The brick shithouse of a man points at himself. "I don't have many options here. Hell, you're probably the only one to give me the time of day in a while."
You finish your third glass before you even know it. "That's it? You just punch people and hope to get money out of it? Isn't that..."
"Sad?" Lex chuckles. "I guess so. Never really knew much else. Kinda had to stick it on my own for a while. You learn to stop worrying about non-essentials when you've been in my shoes." The muscular man sinks a bit into his seat. "Hell. This is probably the most I've talked to someone in a while."
