“Ok… I guess it’s my turn?” Miranda asks, holding her mug out as Carrie takes the bottle from Madelyn and tops off her sister.
“Yes, and how much are you drinking?”
“Just a mouthful each time…”
“Have you ever had alcohol before, Mira?” Leah asks.
“Yes! I’m not a little kid. I’ve been going to parties and things for years. You’re only one year older than me!”
“Ok, ok,” Leah replies, laughing. “I’m sorry for underestimating you.”
“Yeah? Well… never have I ever… left a date with blue balls.”
All the girls except Miranda and Alexa drink while you and your male relatives stare awkwardly at each other, the game then moving on to you. Thinking about something your cousins have done that you haven’t, you realize you’ll actually be able to get them drunk pretty easily. You have an entire list. “Never have I ever had oral sex.”
“Is that a cry for help, Maxie?”
Turning to Taryn, you cross your arms and mime drinking a shot at her as she grins and takes up her glass, as does everyone else aside from Rudy and Freddy. “Harvey?” Maddie asks, “Who’d you hook up with?”
“Uhhh… Ailyn… one of Mira’s friends, at a party over winter break…”
“Nice,” Bernard says, lightly bumping his fist on Harvey’s shoulder as he sets down his glass and refills it.
“Hmmmm… Never have I ever…” your cousin Leah begins “…stayed up all night playing video games.” Shrugging as you stare at her in confusion, Leah just says, “you boys need to catch up.”
You drink, as do Freddy, Harvey, Terry, Miranda, and to your surprise, Carrie.
“What? I liked CastleVania," Carrie mumbles.
As the game goes on, you all become increasingly buzzed, some of you crossing the line into moderate drunkenness as the laughter and teasing goes on; some questions becoming increasingly lewd, and some straying into ridiculously narrow niches. Miranda’s meal has become something truly nightmarish, his howls reaching a frenzied pitch as digestion progressed and he was doused in more and more acid and alcohol. Miranda now stood in front of Ben’s cage, her stomach uncompressed and resting on top of the dining table, her meal visibly thrashing within as Madelyn pressed against Miranda’s back, hands wrapped around Miranda to rub her belly as her head rested on Miranda’s shoulder staring down at her caged husband.
For her part, Miranda is just a prop Madelyn can use in her tormenting, not that Miranda seems to have any regrets about devouring her meal. You can’t bring yourself to listen, and you're thankful for the alcohol numbing your mind.
