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Terra walked into the café in Nikeah, Celes and Cyan following close behind. They had lost track of Setzer while they were purchasing a few new relics, and of course, the first place they checked would be the place with all the alcohol. Just as they thought, Setzer was sitting at the bar downing a glass of wine, and the area on the counter around him was full of empty glasses. It wasn’t hard to tell that he was far from sober. Setzer noticed the three approaching and gave them a drunken smile, giving them what was likely supposed to be a wave but ended up looking more like aimless flopping of his arm in the air.
Celes walks over and slams her hands on the counter next to Setzer, earning her a surprised and confused look from the drunk gambler. “What was that for? I’m just trying to take my mind off of the stress that comes with living in a broken world,” he said, taking another sip of his drink.
“That’s the problem! Every time we go into a town you wander off to the nearest place you can get drunk! The world is destroyed and your first concern isn’t finding our friends, it’s where you can get wasted !” Celes exclaimed, glaring down at him.
“If you’d ever gotten drunk before you’d understand the appeal,” Setzer slurred before chugging the rest of his drink, not hesitating to ask the bartender for another. “The best part is since money is pretty much worthless now, I can drink all I want for free,”
Terra glanced over at the exhausted-looking bartender, who just sighed and poured the drink for Setzer. He seems like he’s used to this kind of thing. After all, what else is there to do in a dystopian world except drink your worries away?
“Bartender! Pour a few drinks for my friends here, they need to unwind a bit,” Setzer demanded before he slung an arm around Cyan, spilling a bit of his drink on his clothes. Cyan looked displeased and slightly annoyed but tolerated Setzer's drunk antics.
“Sir Setzer, are you sure it is wise to get intoxicated at a time like this?” he asked, attempting to move the gambler’s arm off of him, but failing.
Terra looked at the drinks that the bartender had poured. “I don’t think I’m of legal drinking age,” she said, making an excuse to avoid drinking it.
“Ah come on, it’s the end of the world, nobody cares. Drink up!” Setzer laughed, using his free hand to push Terra closer to the drinks.
Terra glanced at the bartender, who just shrugged. “He’s right, nobody cares anymore. The few people left who care about the rules are too busy to do anything about the ones who don’t. Help yourself, these drinks aren’t very alcoholic anyway, though you probably couldn’t tell by looking at him,” the bartender shot a sideways glance at Setzer, who was still laughing with his arm around Cyan.
Before Terra could do anything, Celes walked up beside her and downed her drink in a few seconds. She and Cyan looked at Celes in disbelief. That certainly was unlike her to do, but then again, everyone’s changed quite a bit in the year since the world fell apart.
“It’s not bad,” Celes says after a few moments of silence.
“See? What did I tell you! Cyan, come on, you probably haven’t had a drink in ages, relax a bit! You look like you need one,” Setzer chuckled, downing yet another drink and giving Cyan a rather aggressive pat on the back.
Cyan gave him an insulted look before sighing, giving in to what the gambler wanted and taking a sip of his drink. Terra gave up as well and attempted to down the beverage in one gulp as Celes had, but ended up in a minor coughing fit. The former general patted her on the back until she stopped, giving her a soft smile. Setzer found the situation amusing, laughing loudly the whole time.
Terra shot him a glare and seemed like she was about to say something before Celes interrupted. “Just take small sips at a time so you don’t choke, okay?” she said, clearly to keep Terra from breaking a wine bottle over Setzer’s head.
Setzer just laughed again before calling out to the bartender, “Another round for everyone! And put it on his tab!” he pointed at Cyan, who looked like he was ready to just leave the two women to deal with the drunk gambler.
“Anyways, I think Sir Setzer should be on the airship instead of drinking here until he passes out,” Cyan said after finishing his second drink.
“Good point,” Terra sighed. “We’ll be leaving now,” she said to the bartender.
“Alright, up you go,” Celes muttered as she dragged Setzer away from the bar, ignoring his shouts of protest
The three of them managed to drag Setzer back to the Blackjack before he ended up passing out on the couch. Since that moment, they all silently agreed never to let Setzer wander off again.