From the moment they found out about the Backus award results they knew that they were going to have a real party to celebrate. It was only cemented as they witnessed Sofia’s mounting frustration as she spent the rest of the week deliberating over whether or not to submit to Allerton’s request. More than once Antonis found himself having to talk Natasha and Zachariah out of gate crashing the event.

In the end he had managed to direct their energy into organising a pub/bar crawl. That was how they ended up in one of their favourite pubs in outfits that were rather more glitzy than they would normally inhabit the place in. Their night, however, was only just getting started something he suspected the barman guessed from the bemused look as he took them in. As a student town he must see this kind of thing relatively often, though not as much as some of the other pubs.

Right now their energy was mostly focused on reassuring Sofia that she’d done nothing wrong. Antonis was silently fuming that Allerton had done this to her. This was supposed to be a celebration of her achievement not reaffirming the fact that they didn’t care if she played the game or not. Perhaps he needed to have a word with Natasha and Zachariah about toning down their criticism of Allerton. He knew they didn’t blame Sofia for anything but he could understand how she might think they might. He smiled ruefully as he could hear Natasha calling him an overprotective big brother again. He was and he didn’t care.

“Why does this even matter?” Olivia asked as she tried to understand why the battle lines were so utterly entrenched.

“The reason it matters is principle!” Zachariah was the first one to stop drinking to answer. “Allerton just swans in and tries to take credit for all our work without giving us a damn thing in return or even the fainest bit of effort herself!”

“Breathe, Zach.” Joseph reminded him and also in part to interrupt him before he expanded on the rant. They were trying to forget about work for the evening. Though they could all understand Olivia’s curiosity. She’d only been in their team for a couple of weeks now and they had tried to shield her from it, at least for now.

Olivia looked around the group with confusion. “But in academic work the team leader gets all the credit... that’s the way it’s done.”

“I like to think that in most cases the team leader actually helped with the project in some way!” Natasha thumped the table with her fist.

Olivia had to admit that Natasha might have a point there. “I know it probably doesn’t seem like it, but we did try and get on with her in the early days.” Joseph explained. “Some of us more than others.” He gave Natasha and Zachariah a pointed look.

“We were perfectly civil in the beginning.” Zachariah objected.

Olivia giggled. “They were actually on their best behaviour.” Antonis assured her. “Unbelievable as that sounds.” If he hadn’t known them as long as he had he would also struggle to believe that those two were capable of good behaviour. He’d never change them though, they needed that kind of fire on their team.

As curious as Olivia was about what happened with Allerton she decided to change tack. “So... how long have you all been on the team?”

“Me and Giù; three years.” Sofia figured that Olivia knew as much given that she knew they were both final year PhD students, but it was only polite to confirm.

“Zach and I were already part of the furniture by then.” Natasha briefly paused swigging from her bottle earning a chorus of wry chuckles.

“We started as fresh faced PhD students together, bit like those two.” Zachariah waved his hand towards Joseph and Sofia.

“We were ever that fresh faced?” Natasha pondered wistfully and Zachariah chuckled.

“Wait... You two..?” Olivia’s eyes were darting between them at light speed as she tried to work out who she could possibly have missed that.

Natasha and Zachariah shared a look, as if to ask each other if they were going to go down that route to mess with her, before neither of them could hold back their rambunctious laughter at the idea. “Oh, heavens, no.”

“I’d pretend to be offended, Zach, but I agree wholeheartedly.”

“Sorry, I just thought...” Olivia hid her face in her glass as her face flushed in embarrassment.

“No biggie.” Zachariah shrugged. “I can see how I implied that.” He admitted. “Besides, they didn’t know each other before they started here.” Olivia had to admit that surprised her. Joseph and Sofia seemed so settled and comfortable with each other she had assumed that they had been dating longer than a couple of years. “Anyway, that must be - what? - eight years ago now. Toni started the year after us. We had a relatively stable department for a few years. One guy moved departments, a lady took a better job offer, the last guy left for family reasons. Bloke before you had decided he wasn’t going to stay even before his PhD was finished.”

“And Allerton?”

“The last head of department retired a few months after we started.” Joseph explained.

“To Prof!” Zachariah raised his glass and the rest of them all joined in with his toast. Even if Olivia didn’t quite know what was going on.

“Our previous professor, took us all on, his health took a turn and he finally left to look after himself.” Natasha summarised with a sigh. “He’ll always be our Prof.”

“Aw, Tasha! You can be sentimental!” Sofia gushed as she leant over to give her a half hug.

“I keep telling you Nat is sweet really.”

“That’s because she’s nice to you, Toni.”

“It’s impossible not to be nice to Toni.” Natasha and Antonis shared a rueful look at that sentiment as they both tried not to laugh at the memories of when Antonis first started. She had so badly wanted to hate him. He had been equally determined to prove her wrong. Zachariah had happily sat back to watch the show - with popcorn half the time - to find out which one of them was more bloody minded than the other. Natasha had eventually admitted she was wrong, but had pointed out she was right about the fact that no one was that nice without wanting something. She had just been wrong about the something. It still made him smile to remember the equally tenacious yet uncomfortable demeanour she had donned that day.

“Believe me, she tried.” Zachariah chuckled into his beer. “How long till you gave up, again?”

Everyone apart from Antonis turned to Natasha as she considered the question as she took a few long gulps of her drink. “Even allowing for the month where I only kept it up because he kept bribing me with chocolate... Three months.”

“Wait, I could have a month of free chocolate if I was mean to Toni?” Sofia’s glass dropped back to the table in mournful reflection.

Antonis chuckled into his drink. “Could you be mean to anyone longer than a week?” Sofia tried to look confident whilst her grin was fighting its way onto her face every second which only made them all laugh.

~-x-~

Antonis couldn’t stop his chuckle as they watched Zachariah - yet again - fail at duelling Sofia on the dance machine. Natasha was naturally goading Zachariah on with running commentary on just how well Sofia was doing even. Olivia was looking around the bar in wide eyed wonder as the rest of them cheered their friends on in the running rivalry. Zachariah was determined to win, though none of them - and Antonis suspected that included Zachariah - didn’t ever expect him to do so.

“I didn’t know places like this existed!” Olivia yelled over the music. “I mean... it’s a bar, with arcade games! And a dance floor!” Her eyes somehow managed to get wider as her hand flew to her mouth as she hiccuped.

“Is this a warning we need to get a round of water in?” Natasha teased with a wry grin.

“I’m fine! I just get hiccups sometimes.” Olivia was surprised the other woman even noticed something that minor when she was so engrossed in the battle between her friends. Despite her reassurance Antonis made a mental note to include water the next time he went for a round.

Suddenly Sofia cried out in triumph as she threw both arms up the air and Zachariah slumped against the back railing. “How... How do you do this? You’ve not even broken a sweat and you’re wearing heels!”

“Clearly there’s only one answer. She’s a witch and we need to dunk her to prove it!” Natasha pointed a finger at the woman in fake accusation before raising her other hand to take another sip of her drink.

“If by ‘dunk me’ you mean Zach is going to buy me a drink, sì.” Sofia smiled sweetly where Zachariah was still slouched and batted her eyelashes at him hopefully.

“I am a sucker for punishment.” He decided as he patted his wallet to check it was still there after all that movement. “Right, what’ll it be?” He quickly went around the group before dragging Joseph after him to help carry.

As Zachariah moved out of Sofia’s line of sight she broken into a grin. “Tasha, look!” She said as she reached over to nudge Natasha’s shoulder.

Natasha’s eyes lit up as Antonis’ went wide with horror. “Nat, ochi!”

“Bomb Jack!” Natasha cried happily as she bounded over to the currently free machine. Sofia drunkenly giggled as Antonis sighed with the resignation that kids in sweet shops had nothing on drunk Natasha.

“Bomb Jack?” Olivia asked timidly from where she’d just barely dodged Natasha’s enthusiasm.

Antonis shared a knowing look with Sofia. “It will be easier to look.” Sofia waved towards where Natasha had perched her drink atop the machine and was engrossed with jumping, dodging bad guys and collecting as many bombs - and trying to follow the pattern of lit fuses for additional points - so that she could beat her own personal best.

She was still happily going when Zachariah and Joseph returned with their new drinks. “I leave for five minutes and you let Tasha on Bomb Jack?” Zachariah teased as he passed Antonis his drink.

“You babysit next time.” Antonis suggested with a wry smile as Zachariah considered his options, before they shared a rather less cynical smile at the way Sofia beamed at Joseph as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they clinked their glasses together.

For the most part they ignored the way Natasha grumbled and cheered at herself as she played her game, Antonis and Zachariah briefly explaining the rules to Olivia who was observing the screen with confused, drunken curiosity. Once they’d covered the basics they started quizzing her on her knowledge or experience of video games, refusing to believe for a second she knew nothing. Surely she must have owned a Gameboy when she was a kid? A smooth transition to board games suddenly gave her stories to share from her childhood and an ongoing Monopoly feud with her baby brother.

They were just considering whether or not they needed to get another round in as Zachariah was mournfully checking what was left in his bottle and Olivia was noisily slurping the dregs of her cocktail with her straw when Sofia threaded her fingers through Joseph’s hand and gently pulled him after her towards the dance floor. “Should we catch up with them?” Olivia’s eyes were darting unsurely to the rest of the group and following the couple.

Natasha barely glanced up from the machine. “Nah, this is the part where they go off and be all cutey and whatever on the dance floor before they remember they came with friends and things go back to normal.”

“You worry me, you know that, right?”

“She worries everyone.” Zachariah assured the younger woman.

“On purpose.” Antonis added.

By the time Natasha’s prediction came true they had persuaded her to finish playing so that they could claim a table with a fresh couple of pitchers for drinks - one of which Antonis had insisted be water. He managed to keep an impressively passive face as Natasha and Zachariah yet again teased him for being the mum of the group, though he was smiling on the inside. Yes he was, he was fully aware of that and had no intentions of changing. Why shouldn’t he care about his friends? Why shouldn’t he look out for them? Others might ask him why that was his job and he would say it wasn’t, it was just his way. Natasha and Zachariah didn’t mean it maliciously and he knew that, they were all happily drunk and if he were honest he would tease them for their own habits just as jovially. Others had taunted him for it with far darker intentions, usually questioning his manhood and sexuality. Antonis refused to let them get to him, he was comfortable and confident in who he was. He had seen the dangerous effects of men who thought that to be ‘real men’ they couldn’t express themselves in gentle ways, men who thought that they had to be the loudest or the strongest, demonstrating their prowess with physicality and violence. Antonis didn’t understand the mentality. How did hurting others make you better? He much preferred his way.

“Now can I initiate Olivia?” Sofia asked after taking a long draw on her new drink.

The rest of the group shared wry and amused smiles as Olivia looked around them all worriedly. “Initiate? You guys haze newbies?”

Antonis chuckled. “In a way.”

“It’s Sofia’s patented drinking game.” Natasha rummaged in her purse to produce a number of coppers. “Okay, I need two more two pennies.” Zachariah happily obliged after a quick search through his own wallet. “Right, rules are simple. We all get a coin, tails means drink - two fingers -, heads means you have to answer any - and I do mean any - question we ask.”

Olivia cringed. “Any?”

“Don’t worry, we always play - somewhat - nice on someone’s first game.” Zachariah assured her. “We’re mainly just going to probe for embarrassing stories.”

“Capovolto!” Sofia’s tone was almost a squeal. “Literally meaning flipped, but I think it makes a good game name.”

Olivia toyed with the coin she’d been handed nervously. “How do we determine who asks questions?”

“Those who have to drink get first dibs on questions, after that it’s just whoever thinks of the best questions first.” Zachariah explained as he poured more drinks so that they all had equal amount to start with. “Same question to everyone in a round.”

“It tends to naturally get shared between us.” Joseph added. “If one person seems to end up hogging all the questions someone tends to notice and play umpire.”

“He means Nat.” Natasha turned an affronted look upon Antonis and he wasn’t the only one to chuckle. “Anarrípto!” Olivia was a few seconds behind the rest of them tossing their coins onto the table.

The first few rounds involved what Zachariah described as soft questions, such as what they’d pick as a superpower or their most embarrassing favourite song before they got progressively more specific and personal, but somehow never invasive. “Weirdest place you’ve ever made out?” Olivia asked as she swayed slightly in her seat.

“Atop the statue in the quad.” Natasha declared with a giggle.

“Chicken hut.”

“You got into a chicken coop?” Zachariah wasn’t having it.

“Behind it.” Antonis clarified.

Natasha called for them all to flip their coins again before knocking back her own drink for tails. “Favourite momento from a partner? Past or present.”

“Míxi.” Antonis struggled to find the word he wanted for a moment. “Before CDs...”

“A mixtape?” Zachariah supplied and Antonis pointed at him whilst nodding happily. Sofia practically cooed because she was drunk and found it adorable.

They turned to Olivia next who was trying to focus her thoughts. “Jumper.” She decided. “Comfiest thing I own.”

That just left Joseph who chuckled to himself despite being a deep shade of red. “Bra.”

“This is where I really wish we hadn’t created a no follow-ups rule.” Zachariah admitted as Natasha turned to Sofia with an inquisitive eyebrow.

“I think I need another drink!” Sofia lifted her now empty cocktail glass high in the air. None of them were sure if it was in triumph or defeat. They were all sure it didn’t matter.

“Excellent idea! I’m buying!” Natasha’s tone was definitely triumphant as she leapt from her own seat, landing haphazardly on her high wedges but recovering her balance before hitting anything. Antonis shook his head and stood to go with her. He knew he didn’t have to worry about Natasha being able to take care of herself, but that didn’t stop him. Besides, she’d need help carrying a full round of drinks. He didn’t want to witness a repeat of the time she tried to balance a pint on her head.

~-x-~

They headed up a floor because they knew they’d get served faster. It wasn’t a long walk, but it was long enough to remind Antonis why he hated crowds of drunk people. Someone had already groped his arse on the stairs, though if he were honest he couldn’t say for certainty whether or not it was intentional. However there was no mistaking the intention of the three ladies that hollered at them before one of them slapped his butt. “Hey! Not cool!” Natasha shouted as she clocked what was happening a second too late to stop it.

“What? You going to get pissy with me for hitting on your boyfriend?”

In so many other situations Antonis would have laughed at the way Natasha towered over the tiny woman with a fierce - but drunken - glare. Instead he simply took hold of her arms and steered her away as she was mid-denial about being his girlfriend. “Leave it.” He whispered firmly.

It wasn’t the first time this had happened. In fact it happened frequently. Antonis had learnt to shrug it off when he couldn’t avoid it. Natasha sighed as she extracted herself from his hands and he couldn’t quite meet her eye again, of course she had noticed. “You know you shouldn’t have to put up with that, right?” She asked as she leant on the bar to wait her turn to be served.

Antonis shrugged as he stared at a cup full of straws. “It is fine.”

Natasha turned to scrutinise him, both drunk and concerned. “Is it?”

Antonis refused to meet her gaze. He could keep face in front of anyone else, but Natasha knew him too well. She would be able to see what he tried to hide. However, he refused to worry her because he knew he could handle this himself. “Some people have grabby hands, it could be worse.”

“Okay, some people have worse done to them, but that doesn’t mean you have to put up with people treating you like an object.” Natasha corrected as gently as she could when she wanted to do nothing more than start hitting people who touched others without permission. It was one thing to make a pass when misreading a situation, but to just straight up assume someone was okay with such physical contact? She huffed her frustration out as a breath that knocked some errant hair back out of her face. Antonis’ lips twitched slightly at her concern. He refused to burden her with his troubles and not just because he knew that she would get herself kicked out for instigating a fight if he did. “What about when it’s not just some trashy hen party?” She asked quietly after giving their order to the barman.

Antonis swallowed, that had only happened once, and he had been able to extract himself from the situation. Being a tall, athletic man helped in that regard. Even though it wasn’t in his nature to fight, he could defend himself when required. He knew Natasha wouldn’t see it that way. A part of him he locked away to preserve his sanity didn’t see it that way either. “They are just drunk.”

“So am I, but I haven’t grabbed your arse yet.” Natasha retorted, slightly relieved to see him smile at the joke. “I still know it’s wrong just to go around grabbing people like that.”

“People lose their inhibitions differently.”

“You don’t have to be superman all the time, you know?” Natasha’s voice was barely loud enough for him to hear over the music as she picked up a pitcher and a stack of plastic glasses. “You’re not burdening us if you need us to be there for you. We’re your friends, we care about you too.” Antonis swallowed as he reached for the jug of water and the remaining glasses from the bar but said nothing else. What could he say? He wasn’t going to lie to his best friend and he didn’t want to discuss the fact that she might well be right. Tonight was supposed to be about celebrating Sofia’s achievement - even if it had descended into a general team party - and he wasn’t going to ruin the night with problems he knew he could handle.