Let Loose

As the daylight was beginning to dim, Shoot entered the nightclub Love in a Bottle. It was going to be opening time in an hour, Shoot was arriving way too late since he was one of the few employees around to set things up. The lust bun sighed and closed his eyes as he entered the club’s main room.

“Oliver's gonna yell at me in three, two, one…”

…Nothing. Not a peep.

Shoot shrugged, guessing that the club’s manager must be stressing out somewhere else in the club. When he opened his eyes, though, Oliver was there, sitting at the bar and surrounded by far more empty beer bottles than usual.

The gloomy bun looked over at Shoot. “Mn… Hey. What’re you doing here?”

“...Showing up to my job…?” Shoot responded as he sat on the barstool next to Oliver. “Totally not late, though. I would never.”

That got a light chuckle out of the other bun. “Bullshit.” Oliver paused to take a swig of the who-knows-how-many’th bottle he was working on. “Anyway, club's not opening tonight. Didja not read your calendar? It's All Sinner's Day.”

“Well, yeah, but…” Shoot looked around the club. Other than a few candles on the bar, none of the lights were on. It was eerie. “Wouldn't opening on the big ‘party hard until you drop’ holiday be good for business?”

“Oh, please.” Oliver chugged the rest of the bottle, stacked it with the other empties, and cracked open a new one, all in one fluid set of motions like he was born to do it. “If you hadn’t thought you needed to come in for work, would you have come here? Tonight's the ‘holiest of all nights,’ no one wants this dingy place for that. Anyone with taste is gonna go to the all-out party that Angora sponsored.”

There was some truth to that. Shoot had already hit the party earlier that day, and it was way more hopping than any club he’d ever seen, nevermind Love in a Bottle. “Oooookaaay… then, why are you here?”

“A few reasons. Mostly, I just didn’t want to compete for the open bar. I’m just planning on drinking Burrowgatory’s share of our inventory and hoping that the owner will have mercy on me.” The gluttony bun held up the beer bottle in his hand, label facing Shoot. “We had five whole bigass cases of these. No one’s been drinking them. I’m honestly doing the place a favor by using them before they expire.”

“You're doing it wrong.”

Oliver set the beer bottle on the bartop and turned his body towards Shoot. “...Doing what wrong?”

“All Sinner's Day. You're doing it wrong.”

“What do you mean? I’m indulging in my desires, and I have no intent to stop until I black out. I even have candles out. What's more in the spirit of the holiday than this?”

“You're holding back.” Shoot got up from his barstool and made his way behind the bar, still talking to Oliver as he looked over the liquor stock. “You gotta put your all into it and not think about anything that comes after.”

Oliver gestured to the empty bottles around him with both arms, exasperated. “I’m literally drinking my weight in our own supply! The owner could get pissed at me when I send the next inventory report!”

Shoot turned around and pointed at the other bun. “See, there. That last part. You're still thinking about consequences and responsibilities, even tonight.” He picked up one of the empty beer bottles and held it label-out to Oliver. “And you're drinking cheap beer that the club can do without! You said it yourself: you're doing the club a favor! You're prioritizing the needs of this club and the owner more than your own vices! It's wrong!”

There was nothing Oliver could say in response. He could only stare blankly at the bottle Shoot was holding in front of his face. It seemed the truth of Shoot’s words was sinking in.

With a sigh, the lust bun set down the beer bottle and turned back to the rest of the alcohol. He wordlessly grabbed a large bottle of something and slammed it down in front of Oliver.

Oliver looked wide-eyed at the label. It was a clear 95% grain alcohol. “Th… this one?”

“I’ve seen you eyeing this stuff every time you take stock. You want it? Tonight’s the night.”

The gluttony bun was still for a few moments before his hands snapped forward, forcefully removing the cap and immediately beginning to down the bottle.

“That’s it! Now you’re doing it!” Shoot grabbed a bottle of tequila and hopped over the bar to join in on the drinking right beside him.

“Mm!” Oliver unstuck the bottle from his lips and gave a long, hearty exhale. Soaking in the feelings that were starting to spread throughout his body, he let his head loll to the side to look at the other bun. “Thank you… thank you so much, man—” His lips were back on the booze as soon as he stopped speaking.

Shoot paused his chugging to smirk back at Oliver. “No problem. I’d do anything to have you loosen the fuck up, y’hardass.”

Oliver looked like he wanted to respond to that, but he couldn’t tear himself away from the bottle again. He gave up, closing his eyes and continuing to drink. 

Eventually, no more liquid was coming through. Oliver lowered the bottle from his mouth and looked down at his hand gripping the neck.

Shoot laughed. “Damn! You really downed that! Nice! I’m only halfway through mine. I’ll getcha another. I think there was one more bottle of that, hold on.” He hopped back over the bar and slid Oliver a second bottle. “I’ll set out some vodka for you after you finish that one, too. You like that, right?”

“Set out one of everything,” Oliver barked before beginning to chug.

Shoot looked absolutely elated. “You got it, dude!”

The two of them drank with hardly any pauses to speak. While both of them were going at it with all that they had, Shoot stuck with alternating between tequila and whiskey, and Oliver downed at least one bottle of everything in the club’s stock.

Eventually, a question burned in Oliver enough for him to break away for just a bit. “Hheyy… Shoot. Whyyy didja come to work if you believe soooooo muuuch in not thinkin’ about conquen-, conswen-, consequences and responsibilities and… all that?”

“Mm! Almost didn’t. Why d’ya think I came in late? But as awesome as that bigass party was, I don’t like stayin’ in the same place the whole time when I’m celebrating. I thought this place would be open, and I wanted t’get wasted and DJ to an even crazier crowd than usual.”

“Awwww… damnnn, I wish I opened the club, then…”

Shoot leaned in. “There’s gotta be people pub crawling outside. It’s not too late!”

Turns out, if you scream “FREE BOOZE AND MUSIC” into the streets in Burrowgatory, a crowd does indeed show up whether the venue is dingy or not. Especially if it’s on All Sinner’s Day.

That night, Oliver let himself fully enjoy the club and not worry about keeping everything together. With a hoard of booze of all varieties around him, he whistled and hollered as Shoot hyped up the crowd more than ever before.

Not a single thought crossed his mind about how he would explain to the club owner that the liquor had completely and totally run dry. Well… except for a couple cases of cheap beer.