“I think you’ve been here long enough,” Yam hissed through her beer, the glass bottle causing her voice to reverberate and echo weirdly.

“I don’t think so,” Rolf chirped brightly, happily sipping on some apple juice Yam had insisted on pouring into a bright orange plastic cup, lest she knock it over and break one of her precious glasses. “I think we should stay here much longer! Maybe even overnight!”

“It’s evening,” Yam snapped, setting down her beer. “You can go. Get out.”

Ari looked up from where she sat opposite Rolf, staring down into her cup of orange juice. “Okay!”

Aey put a hand up to silence her and turned to Yam, who was sitting opposite her. “Love, I think this is a perfectly fine get-together, and we’re not causing any harm, hm?”

“To my sanity, you are,” Yam hissed, wiping her mouth with the back of her paw and turning around to look at Bread, who was happily lapping up a saucer of milk on the couch. “I reckon it’s time you all go.”

Nobody moved. Yam opened her mouth again, but instead of listening, Ari turned to Aey, a question in her gaze. “Aey, why do you call everyone “love”?”

“Pardon?”

“Why do you call everyone “love”? We have names?”

“You think she remembers our names when she’s drunk?” Yam almost laughed. She flicked a paw at Aey, who seemed to have ignored Ari’s question entirely and was now very invested in swirling her cider around the bottle. “I think love here needs a bit of sobering up to do. And what better time and place to do that than outside at night, walking through the forest?”

“But Yam, it’s scary outside,” Rolf almost wailed. Yam rolled her eyes and stood up, pushing back her chair and crossing the room to open the door. When she flung it open, a frosty wind rushed in,  chilling everyone inside to the bone.

“No it’s not. You can go now.”

“Yam, can you come with us a bit of the way?” Rolf pleaded, ears drooping. Yam groaned and muttered something under her breath before finally nodding slowly.

“Only if you’re all gone in five minutes."