"I've actually never drunk before, so I'm not sure what I'd like. Sparrow has, usually she gets it in coffee, but I think... I'd prefer a mango nectar?" 

"We've got a one-drink limit here for patrons. Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, I think so. Mango nectar, please."

"I'll get that for you right away, then. Lindsey, your coat?" 

"Here." Lindsey passes over her jacket, extracting her phone from it in the process.

"Do you want anything to drink, Lindsey, or...?" 

"A cold lemonade please, I'm spotting for Dove."

"I'll be back in two shakes. Settle in, take a load off."

"Will do."

By mutual agreement, Dove ends up with her head in Lindsey's lap on the couch, being gently petted and caressed through her clothing. She closes her eyes, and more time flutters past, with the murmurs of low voices around her lulling her gently.

December returns a few minutes later with a small tray, on which are the requested drinks and a small locker key. 

"Have a nice evening, you two," she says with a small smile. 

"Thanks, December." 

Lindsey takes the drinks and sets them on the couch's end table, and gets Dove to sit up again. 

"Up up up," she croons gently.

Dove grumbles a little, but sits up and accepts her glass of mango nectar. 

"Alright," she says. "Um..." 

"You don't have to drink it," Lindsey says. "Just so we're clear. But it would probably help.'

"Yeah." 

Dove takes a breath, tips back her glass, and takes a small sip. 

It tastes of mangoes, sweet and ripe - and underneath, the smooth, slightly bitter taste of agave econal, tinging the whole drink with a spicy overnote not too dissimilar to cinnamon. 

As it hits her stomach, she feels the warmth of the ellecol inside her, and the world seems to sharpen a little, each sensation picked out in higher fidelity, the low murmurs of the crowd now individual phrases she can tune into and out of at will, the feeling of fatigue that's been with her all day easing as the stimulant works its magic on her body. 

"Ahhhhhh..."

"Fascinating. It seems like you're getting a stronger effect than I've seen Sparrow get from an equivalent drink. I can see your pupils dilating a little. Isn't it funny how sharding interacts with biology sometimes?"

"Yeah, it really is." 

She feels a little more confident already, and she hasn't even finished her drink yet. 

"... I should probably pace myself," she says, a little reluctantly. "Could you pet me a little more?"

"For sure. Hand me your drink and I'll put it on the side table."

Dove passes her drink over, a warm flush on her cheeks, then settles back into Lindsey's lap to get petted. 

And for a while it's just the gentle patterns of fingers in her hair, whorling and sweeping, making intricate, delicate swirls across her scalp. 

It feels amazing. 

Lindsey keeps tending to Dove's hair, stroking her side, and every so often giving her another sip of her drink. 

And slowly, as more and more ellecol works its way into her system, Dove starts to fantasize, imagining Lindsey's fingers tracing their way under her clothes to settle on some delicate parts indeed. Each trail of Lindsey's fingers through her hair is so intense as to almost overwhelm her. She doesn't want to do anything else than be in her arms, feeling her touch, being hers, hers, hers... 

If Dove were less warm right now, perhaps she'd wonder why she was suddenly crushing so hard on her next-door-neighbour, but given everything Lindsey and Liv have done for her in the past few hours... It just seems obvious that she's theirs.

For her part, Lindsey is good and doesn't push, despite the temptation. From how widely Dove is grinning, it seems likely that she's touching stoked, even though she's had just one drink. She'll have to keep in her head that Dove's a lightweight. 

Instead she just keeps gently, gently petting. After all, she does want Dove to have a good time. That was rather the point of bringing her out here. 

And time passes, and slowly the ellecol works its way through Dove's system. 

Slowly, Dove comes back to herself, feeling flushed, a little embarrassed, and very, very much more in love with Lindsey than she thought she was an hour ago. 

"Um..." 

She speaks up hesitantly, reluctant for the petting to stop.