"Well, first I ask myself what happened to cause that again," Nida offered, and there was a playfulness to the curve of his lips that said this was a joke. Granted not too much of one. He'd heard Time Compression had been like that.

Withdrawal? Strangely Nida hadn't been concerned about that. Or perhaps not so strange. Looking at the man closely he doesn't see a lot of the signs of deep alcoholism. No, this was someone who appreciated the drink, and from the guarded expression, the admission that he was talking to hear his own voice, well, that only made him feel more confident the man was more complex than an alcoholic looking for a fix.

"Good," he said anyway, arms crossing over his chest and his head tilting just a little to the side. "If you pass out somewhere I'd have to carry you back here and I'm trying to save myself for something actually useful."