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“To passing the first round of eliminations!” Poley cheers, raising his shot glass in the air.
Doggy smiles, raising his glass too. The pair turns to Player, who purses their lips together, lifting theirs halfway when nudged by Doggy.
“Oh come on, Player.” Poley rolls his eyes, lowering his cup back to the table, Doggy following. “We’re celebrating! I thought you’d be the happiest we weren’t cut.”
Player sighs. This morning, the Lucella Police Academy decided to start making cuts from the program. Originally, everyone was told the eliminations would be scheduled, but it was a last-minute decision to make the first round a complete surprise. They hate surprises. They’d felt so sick they were afraid they would throw up in front of all their instructors at any moment. They couldn’t even be happy when they weren’t cut, nor when they were announced as one of the trainees ranked highest, as the nausea from their anxiety lingered for a good half hour afterward.
“We’re celebrating by drinking.” Player says slowly, brows raised.
“Yeah,” Poley nods, “I’ve heard a lot of cool things about this bar.”
“Let me rephrase,” Player says, “We are celebrating by underage drinking.” Doggy makes a mixture of a grimace and a smile, and Poley is about to speak, but is immediately cut off. “Are you kidding me?! What if we get caught?!”
Doggy chuckles softly, “We wouldn’t be doing this if we’d get caught. We’ll be fine. Plus, we’ve done worse than this, remember?”
Player’s words die in their throat, and they flush red.
“Wait–What?” Poley questions, eyes darting between Player and Doggy. “No fair. You guys have known each other longer! Now you have to explain, or I’ll be left out!”
“It’s really not important—” Player attempts, but is cut off.
“They were a bad kid,” Doggy tells Poley, “extremely rebellious.”
Poley turns to Player, laughing in astonishment. “Player and rebellious in the same sentence? No way.”
“It’s true,” Doggy continues, “They’d always drag me along with promises of us never getting caught.”
“Well, did you?”
“No. They’re too smart to let that happen,” he grins, nudging Player playfully. “Especially since they wanted to get into the Police Academy.”
“We were kids.” Player interrupts, shaking their head. It’s true, they were incredibly disobedient. They hated certain rules, or would get annoyed at certain teachers or classmates. So, they’d turn to breaking rules that had enough loopholes that they wouldn’t be punished. If they did do something punishable, they’d always go to extreme lengths so as not to get caught. “Wanting to get in and actually being a cadet are two different things.” They continue, “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
The table is silent. Poley and Doggy exchange glances, and Poley stands.
“I’m gonna go grab some more drinks,” he mutters awkwardly, walking away. Player rolls their eyes, turning to look at Doggy.
“We still have our shots.” Player says flatly.
Doggy grins. “He’s probably just going to go get a cosmopolitan for himself until I’m done talking to you. Yknow, to avoid the tension.”
“He likes cosmopolitans?” They ask, eyes on the table.
“Yeah, he doesn’t mind the teasing about it being a ‘girl’s drink,’ or whatever.” Doggy scoots closer to Player. “So,” he begins, “You gonna tell me why you’re acting like you have a stick up your ass?”
“What?” Player looks up, eyes on Doggy.
“You heard me,” he continues firmly, “You’re acting as if we didn’t drink when we got into the academy to celebrate. It was my idea to celebrate the same way tonight. Poley just found the place. I thought you’d enjoy it. You love a drink here and there.”
Player remembers that night. The three of them had gone to Doggy’s house to open their letters together. When they realized they’d all been accepted, they’d had a very long night out, drinking and partying. Poley ate a whole cake and forced Doggy and Player to watch. It was fun.
No. It was stupid. But they wanted to be a bit stupid before entering such a strict program, where there’s zero tolerance for disobedience. However, the way most of the instructors behaved and treated them made Player notice it quickly. Their dislike towards them…It made them doubt themself. Doubt their skills. Now that Doggy was here, asking them why they’d become such a teacher's pet, it made them realize they’d made a critical lapse of judgment. No matter how well they perform, no matter how perfectly they follow the rules, It’s out of their control how people feel about them. That’s how it was in school too. What had they done about it then? How did they get back their sense of control?
“Can we talk about it later?” Player asks with a sigh, embarrassed of how foolish they’d been, “You’re right. I haven’t been myself.” They smile, laughing sheepishly. “I do like getting drinks.”
“You’re the one who told me a bit of mischief can be good for you,” Doggy says with a smile. “And yeah, we can talk about it later. I’m just worried about you, dude.”
“I did say that. I mean, it’s true…and you don’t need to worry. I’m fine.”
“Let me go grab Poley,” Doggy says, walking over to the main bar.
Player nods, and the nausea is replaced with the adrenaline rush they’d so missed. They’d found the answer to their question, via Doggy repeating their old words back to them. Mischief.
When the pair returns to the table and sits down, Player grabs their shot, holding it up in the air with a grin.
“You guys up for another long night?”
. . .
Player walks back to their friends, sitting beside Doggy, in utter humiliation.
“That was awful. I remember why I hate truth or dare.” They groan, cheeks burning. At first, the trio had been having a good time talking with each other, but that’d gotten boring the more tipsy they became. After their second round of shots, they were in the mood for a bit more fun. They’d switched to drinks, and Doggy had suggested truth or dare. Player had complained about the whole game being childish, but they were outnumbered.
The thing about truth or dare with only three people is that there’s only so many times you can answer truth. They’d been pressured into finally requesting a dare, and Doggy had dared Player to go up to the bartender and complain that their drink contained alcohol. The bartender found it pretty funny, but Player felt as if they’d die on the spot.
“You did great,” Doggy compliments, and Poley nods.
“I really didn’t think you’d be able to do that.” He says, impressed.
“Yeah, yeah.” Player sighs, taking a small sip of their drink. “It’s my turn to assign a dare, right?”
“No…” Poley says, “ You have to ask truth or dare.”
“Okay, idiot, you know what I mean.” They reply, rolling their eyes. “Truth or dare?” They ask him.
“Dare.” Poley grins.
“Okay, well,” Player takes another sip, eyes scanning the bar until they get a wickedly amazing idea. “You see them over there?” They motion over to a group of women on the other side of the bar, a bridal shower. “Ask her out.” They point to the woman in the middle of the group. Poley’s jaw drops, and he laughs in disbelief.
“You mean the lady with the bride-to-be sash?” He asks. When Player nods, Doggy stifles a laugh.
“Okay, this is messed up.” He shakes his head, smiling as he gets up. “I didn’t even give you the dare with the bartender, but sure.” As he begins his walk over to the women, Doggy’s laugh escapes him, and Player turns to face him.
“Too much?” Player asks as they smile nervously.
“No,” Doggy answers, shaking his head, “Poley is always up for a good dare. This is gonna be great.”
The two watch as Poley walks up to the table, the women laughing but settling down as he approaches. Their faces go from shocked and confused to laughter once more, the bride-to-be shaking her head as she does so. Player and Doggy laugh together, but they quiet down as they watch one of the women grab Poley’s arm, tugging him over and rolling his sleeve up before grabbing a nearby pen. Doggy’s jaw drops, and Player’s brows furrow in disbelief. Poley walks over, grinning ear to ear as he tugs his sleeve back down.
“They thought I was absolutely hilarious.” He says triumphantly as he sits down. “The bride-to-be rejected me, telling me I was too young for her, and obviously, she’s happily engaged.” He pauses, probably for dramatic effect, glancing at his friends, to which Player sighs. “HOWEVER,” Poley continues, “Her younger sister gave me her number. Boom.”
“Oh my god,” Doggy laughs.
“That was bullshit!” Player groans, “You didn’t even get embarrassed! Just an ego boost!”
Poley nods, taking a triumphant sip of his drink. “And the night is still young! Let’s see what other lucky ladies will give me their number.”
. . .
Player digs into Doggy’s front pocket, trying to grab his front door keys. His hands are full from carrying Poley, who is fast asleep in his arms, snoring loudly.
“Lift him a bit.” Player instructs Doggy, “I can’t grab your pockets with his fat ass in the way.”
Doggy laughs, doing as he’s told, “He doesn’t even have a fat ass. I’m pretty sure he’s flat. I think?”
Player grins, grabbing the keys and rolling their eyes as they turn back to the door. “Okay, well, it seemed fat when it was in the way.”
The pair giggle, and it’s clear that they’re both incredibly drunk. Player fights the door to open, and once it does, they walk into the apartment's living room. Player latches onto Doggy’s arm for balance. They drop themself onto the sofa, lying down while Doggy tosses Poley onto the accent chair.
“I can’t believe I had to carry him up the stairs. My arms are so sore.” He groans. Player moves their legs, and Doggy falls onto the couch. He slides down into a slouch, tugging the string on the lamp light. It clicks on, dimly lighting the room in a warm yellow, the lights of the outside city peeking through the slightly sheer balcony curtains.
“I told you not to let him fall asleep in the taxi.” Player shrugs. “That was your fault. It’s fine though. You got your daily workout in.”
Doggy shakes his head, sighing with a smile. “Hey,” he begins, turning to look at Player, “You never told me about what your problem was earlier.”
“Oh,” Player yawns, glancing over to the clock. “It’s already one in the morning. It’s too much to get into.”
“Just give me the sum up.”
Player pauses, but rolls their eyes as they sigh, “I was just insecure about how the instructors don’t like me.” They say slowly, sitting up with a quiet grunt. “I was just being an idiot, trying to convince myself that if I do everything right, they’ll change their minds.”
“Well,” Doggy sits up as well, facing Player. “They’re the idiots. What’s not to like about you?”
“A lot,” Player mumbles, rolling their eyes once more.
“I think there are plenty more things to like than dislike.”
“Thanks…”
“I mean it,” Doggy says firmly, moving closer to Player. “The instructors can go fuck themselves. You’re passionate and skilled. Don’t waste your time on assholes like that.”
Player grows embarrassed, their cheeks turning pink from Doggy’s words. “Yeah, I felt better about it a while ago, but thank you.”
Doggy nudges them, “You’re a great student, you’ll be a great cop, and you’ll be the best detective Lucella’s seen. I know it.”
They both look into each other’s eyes, smiles on both their faces. Other than the air conditioner, the apartment is silent. Player glances over to Poley, surprised he isn’t snoring. They’re about to comment on it, but they notice Doggy tugging on his sleeve. Is he nervous? Oh. They are pretty close to each other, aren’t they? Usually, Player wouldn’t want someone so close. Was it the alcohol?
“I should probably get going.” Player says, standing.
“What?” Doggy furrows his brow, standing as well. “It’s late. You shouldn’t go out alone. Just stay the night. You can take my bed, and I’ll have the couch.”
“I really shouldn’t—I don’t want to be a bother.” Player says, grabbing their coat from the armrest, tugging it on. “Plus, I have nothing to sleep in.”
Doggy tugs their coat back down, and it makes their heart flutter. “You can just wear something of mine.”
Is this flirting? No, they’ve definitely had too much to drink. He’s just being nice.
“You…” Player attempts to take a step closer, while Doggy’s hands are still on their coat, dropped at their elbows. “You really want me to stay…”
Doggy steps closer, sliding the rest of Player's coat off, back onto the armrest. “You’re being such a weirdo right now.”
“I don’t know how to flirt.” Player attempts a sarcastic tone, but fails. They’re nervous. Doggy half-smiles.
“Can I ask you a question?” Doggy asks. Player nods. “Can I kiss you?”
Player puffs out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. They nod again, feeling giddy as Doggy’s lips meet theirs. He cups their cheek, and Player smiles, wrapping their arms around him.
“Oh,” a voice says. They both jump and separate. The two turn to look at Poley, barely awake, as he sits up and looks between the two of them. “That’s not…unexpected,” He mutters slowly. “I’m just surprised you guys did that with me right next to you guys. Can I get some water?”
Player could die right now. They WANT to. Their face burns, and they quickly grab their coat.
“I’m gonna take your bed now. You two have fun.” They say quickly, booking it to the room.
Doggy turns to meet Poley’s eyes, glaring and giving him an ‘are you serious?’ look.
“Can I get that water yet?”