Stephana nodded, patting her bag twice.

"Lead the way."

Frost said "They're better off than us. They're both Half-Velkars, right?" He let out a sigh "I really should get to know these kids"

"Half-Velkars, yeah," Peridot nodded. "So I guess they don't have to worry about wings."

Athena climbed up two flights of stairs before the bright red glow of the exit sign washed over them. "Bingo," she said, before pushing it open. A blast of cold air ripped into the stairwell but she stepped out. It was far more than she expected up here, she'd hoped for boxes to sit on at the most, but there was a now snow covered community garden, twinkling garden lights strung up over the top of the roof, and couches and chairs strewn about. "Oh cool," she said, looking around.

"Woah."

She clutched her shoulders, but the cold blast subsided. It was a little colder than she expected, especially since she had just a T-shirt, but she'd drag her jacket out of her bag if she needed.

This was like some kind of winter wonderland. Absolutely Gorgeous.

Alright, on second thought, jacket now. She'd get it out when she got the bottle out.

"I have little glasses," She swept some snow off a bench, "so we don't need to just take it straight from the bottle."

(Frost?)

Frost sighed "I was trying to lighten the mood." He then sighed and said "You're not a failure" almost seemingly at random.

"Well, actually, they're less glasses and more like plastic cups. But hey, you know."


"Viola!" The bottle was in her hands. Wine, red. She didn't look to close at the label when she was picking it up, (it had a whole bunch of crows on it in some kind of minimalist design,) but it wasn't super cheap. It was supposed to be a peace offering/party gift for acceptance, and she wasn't in BADWINE territory.

BADWINE Stephana was not a good Stephana. Not as bad as Tequila Stephana, that was bad with at least 3 a's. But bad.

Frost said looking at Peridot and repeated "You are not a failure" showing what he meant. He didn't want Peridot think that Athena and Stephana leaving was her fault.

The snort escaped Stephana without her express consent, and that was fine.

Classy. Her.

"Oh no, I am not classy. Just because this isn't Vodka doesn't mean I won't treat it like Vodka."

Frost said "The fire was not your fault, them going on their own isn't either. You are not a failure, you're having set backs. Some major, some minor, however you are better than standing and moping, and you're not alone either. Everyone, Ken, the girls, me, even those two, we have your back even if it doesn't feel like it.

So I stress again, you are not a failure. You are a strong, determined, be..." He paused before he finished that. Then shook his head, he already told her, no need to hide compliments. "You're a strong, determined, beautiful woman who will get past these set backs, and well, you know I'll have your back through every future one as well"

Athena watched curiously, breathing in when Stephana did. It smelled funky, but not in a particularly bad way. Sour for sure. “You do this a lot?” Man, She was asking blatantly obvious questions. She needed to reign it in, lest she blantantly admits she had no idea what she was doing.

Peridot sighed. “Thanks but Frost..can we not right now?”

Wait, she couldn't tell that she did this a lot already?

"Busted." She said, shrugging. "Sometimes for business, sometimes for pleasure. Mostly for both. Nothing gets you in someone's good graces faster than showing up with alcohol. And drugs are fun."

Not technically true - it was Weed that really got you in. Spend the night smoking with strangers, you could crash anywhere you damn well liked. And that was a group who'd remember you, and probably buy from you.

She started pouring for herself - she would have poured for BT first, but she didn't have the answer to the question -

"What's your tolerance?"