After Zin's birthday party
The world moved like it was submerged in molasses, the dirty orange lights of the streelamps smudging over the urban landscape as Theo focused on walking in a straight line. His feet swung a little more freer than usual, the impact of his shoes on the cobbles feeling muted and distant, even when he looked down to make sure they were going where he wanted. He didn't wobble overly much, relatively steady, if moving with a loose gait not usually attributed to him.
He was
absolutely ratarsed, but he had many a decades of experience in keeping himself upright and steady, although he knew if he stopped walking he'd start listing to the side like a ship in a storm, so he kept walking. He'd taken the bus with the rest of the city's drunken stragglers, hoping the brisk walk from the bus stop to his house would help clear his head a little. Minutely. Miniscule.
No, he'd be just as drunk once he arrived home.
The cobbles turned into flat slabs and the little bit of Theo's brain online enough to steer him in the right direction turned him down his street, passing through the pools of light in the pitch black. The passage of time muddled, time passing either quickly or slowly, Theo couldn't tell, but the important fact was he'd reached his own door.
Bracing himself on the door, leaning heavily against it as he fumbled in his pocket for his keys. He leant the side of his face against the rough wood-grain, taking a moment to enjoy the cool sensation, before he managed to dislodge his keys and lifted his head up again. He squinted at his lock, trying to get the key in the hole, drunken hands fumbling as they were far from coordinated to get it on the first try.
Drunkenly, the Englishman's thoughts lingered on that ridiculous Sherlock series the BBC has aired, with the weak writing and ridiculous deductions about alcoholics and scratched charge ports. How many times would he have to scratch up his lock before he qualified for alcoholism?
Theo snickered to himself, pushing himself off the door to steady himself, keys jingling as he pulled back and tried again.