Ana, Lalita observed, was drunk. Very durnk. So drunk that she was ranting about her Before. Ana was very closed mouthed about her Before, the time before she joined the Lamplit Thousand. All most people knew was that she had been with Vaa since they were children. Vaa, in fact wasn't very far away, just as drunk as Ana. He was stairing at her, a vague look in those shadowy eyes.
Lalita took another sip of her wine and contemplated her old friends. She had met them on the first day of basic training. They were close then, but were eager to accept her into their small group. Lalita was always the third wheel, and had resinged herself to such.
Vaa was never a nice person. He played nasty tricks on people and had a nasty evil giggle. Ana adored him. She protected his fragle body with her great strength and he, in return, looked after her in his own way. Lalita was always on the sidelines watching them. She lent assistance however she could, and defended their reputations with all her might.
It seemed all the wine was getting to her, however. Slowly, she began to cry. "Being 'third wheel'," Lalita bemoaned, "is so lonely!" And she began to sob.
Almost instantly Ana was in front of her, drunkenly peering into Lalita's eyes. "Ey," she slured "y'all right?"
Not one to lie to her friends, Lalita shook her head. "I think I should go to bed now..." Lalita stumbled to her feet. She swayed as she realized that she was more drunk than she had thought.
"We will walk you back to your room," Vaa declared, standing up, quickly steading himself.
"Thank you," Lalita whispered drunkenly. "Thank you."
As they stumbled from the small drinking room in (the only one in their sector of the compound) people staired at the three people, not known for getting drunk, making their way tipsily back to their rooms.
After delivering Lalita safely to her room, bumping into no few things along the way, Vaa and Ana stood outside their friend's door for a moment.
From inside, Lalita could sense the tension in the air. It broke when Vaa stutteringly said, "Y-your room or mine?" Then there was a thump of Ana tumbling to the floor in susprise.
A moment later Ana said, "Mine. Your bed is tiny!"
"So it is, so it is," Vaa replied. And then they left.
And Lalita climbed into bed to go to sleep.