Let's take Delilah with us.

As suggested, you all go your separate ways until it is time to meet up. Miranda had requested that you all rally around 5 o’clock, which gave you about 3 hours to play with. You knew Delilah had a little bit left on her shift, but that didn’t seem to affect her all that much, considering she was just going to change out of her old dress for another.

You simply lounge around until it’s time to meet up with the girls. You had a lot of energy saved up since you didn’t really do anything energy draining, but it felt kinda wasteful not doing anything at all, so you organized your gear and stowed everything around accordingly. However, you would be eager to see what the two others could be wearing.

When it was finally time, you went to the lobby, dressed with dark pants and a white dress shirt - your line of work this far north didn’t really call for anything fancy to be worn. This was as good as it was going to get.

The first person you see is Miranda, unsurprisingly since she lives in the dorm area of the tavern. She looks amazing! Miranda is wearing a short red bodycon dress with a lace back and stockings. Due to the temperatures outside being less-than inviting, she had a coat over her, which was black with not a lot of features. She had boots on, but carried a pair of high heels that had a shiny piano finish to them... She poked out strangely in the tavern, looking nothing like any of the travelers or natives here. You praise her appearance, as she sizes your wear too.

“You’re a little lackluster, Warren,” Miranda’s eyes glide around your body. “But not horrible.”

Before anything else can be discussed, Delilah barges in and shouts an apology. “I’m late! I’m so sorry!”

Miranda puts on a sly smirk, noticing that she is only about 2 minutes off the mark. She lets out an exasperated sigh. “Damn it, Delilah. We were worried!”

Delilah squints at Miranda, fully aware of the sarcasm. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’ve been here long.”

She rubs her wrists, looking at how you are both dressed before she looks at herself. “You all got dressed up pretty nice. You know that this isn’t anything fancy, right?” She brushes her dirndl, which was now red and brown.

Miranda shrugs. “It’s the only time I have a reason to get dressed up here.”

“Didn’t want to be mistaken for a contractor,” you say. “Wouldn’t want my reputation here to be damaged somehow.”

Both of the girls look at you, missing your sarcasm. “Whatever,” Miranda sighs. “Let’s get going.”

By the time you get there, most of the attendees are already there. It looks like a warehouse, somewhat modern, had been turned into a party room for the local ball. There are plenty of young women and men, some of which you have actually seen at the tavern. You walk around and chat for a bit, but everyone mostly seems interested in the girls, none surprisingly since they had been here much longer than you have. Delilah seems pretty sheepish for the most part, while Miranda drags a few conversations on for around 20 minutes sometimes. In the meantime, you share a banter and two with Delilah while you begin partaking of the drinks and snacks.

The ball goes on for a while. The only person who seems to be enjoying the company is Miranda however. It was a good thing you knew Delilah so well, because you were able to talk to her without any kind of pause or awkward silence. You poked fun at the others and made comments about the building. You danced a few times and drank some more.

Eventually, you work yourself into a buzz. As Miranda bursts into laughter with some others, you drink from your glass just to find empty. You were pretty sure there was more left in there...while you examine the glass, you notice a faint, glossy stain left on the glass. While you turn the cup around, you notice Delilah just in front of you. She seems much more bubbly. She smiles and squints. “I was hoping you weren’t going to notice!”

Delilah was definitely feeling little buzz. You smile and grab her, she screams playfully and then breaks into a giggle. Miranda is brought out from her circle as she asks what you two are doing. Delilah was in your arms and she was still laughing as Miranda interrupted your attack. You tell her that two are just playing. Miranda knits her brows together and she taps her foot. “You two are drunk.”

You narrow your gaze at her. “I am not drunk,” you say without a slur.

“N-neither am I!” Delilah says, every word slurred.

Miranda’s usual smirk bends in an unusual frown. “We should had back to your place before you do something stupid.”

“Pssah! I’m in perfect health!” Delilah counters, throwing her arms out, nearly hitting someone as they were walking by. She notices this then giggles, covering her face slightly as she bends forward. “Whoa! Whoops! Sorry about that.”

The man, also slightly drunk, takes no offense and continues his trip. “Delilah, let’s get you back. Seriously.” Miranda steps forward and grabs her. Delilah falls on top of her and then starts to fake-cry.

“Ugh, you’re so lame. You...you mother fucker!” Delilah lets out an amazing curse just before you make it over to help take her back.

The party, though not really short lived, was a little bit of a bust for the three of you. While you haul Delilah back, you realize you have no way of getting inside of her home. You ask Delilah where her key is, but she just winks at you. “You’ll never find it, Mr. Visser.”

Miranda kicks one of the rocks over, exposing a key lightly covered in dirt. “Warren, I found the key.”

Delilah growls and then groans. “Foiled again! Damn rocks!”

You bend over to pick up and then unlock her front door. You push the door open. This was the first time you’ve been in here. It was lightly furnitured and smelled of old candles. There wasn’t a lot in here, but you never suspected Delilah to have a whole lot in her house. Delilah is carried to her dainty living room where she throws herself on the couch and kicks off her shoes.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome all!” She falls off the couch and starts laughing until she’s crying. “My humble kingdom for all who are tall!”

Miranda puts her hands on her hips. “Jesus. How much did you let her drink?”

“Not a lot,” you lie. “She only had a couple of glasses.”

“Well, we should get going. If she causes a fire perhaps I’ll have a good excuse to leave.” She looks at you and then frowns a bit more. “I should have spent more time with all of you. It was just nice...being with other people again.”

“Don’t mention it. It looked like you were having a good time with everyone else.”

Her cheeks burn slightly. “Thank you.”

Delilah throws herself at you and then rubs her cheek against yours. “Please don’t leave! We could totally just hang out here for a bit! I’ve always wanted friends over at my place!”

“Delilah, you need to sleep. I’ll bring you bread in the morning.” You grab her waist and then push her back...Or at least try to. She’s practically glued onto you at this point. “Delilah, go to sleep.”

“Du kannst mich nicht dazu bringen!!” Delilah suddenly screams.

Her outburst makes you recoil. You weren’t aware that Delila was bilingual… ”Where’d you learn that?”

Miranda steps between you two. “She’s from the east,” she says with a slight grunt. “Everyone from the east has a heavy German background. I’m sure one of her parents taught the language.”

Delilah falls back to the couch and then starts to cry again, this time a little more seriously. “I don’t want my friends to leave me!!”

Miranda rubs her temples. “I don’t like drunk Delilah. You stay here. I want to leave.”

You stand there, staring at Delilah as she sobs while Miranda begins to leave. You don’t really want to stay here alone all that badly.