Raidou might've only been a fourth of the way through his soup, but he was two glasses of beer and three bread wedges down. The beer was definitely making the exercise a little more bearable, if only because it was starting to deaden his tastebuds. He was also getting back into the habit one learned drinking strong shots, spilling the unpalatable liquid to the back of his throat with a careful wrist flick, rather then letting it land on his tongue. He was marginally successful.

He was still going to die, but at least he was putting up a fight. He was also damn glad he'd taken the sweater off

And then Genma offered him a small patch of Nirvana. Wordlessly--mostly because his ability to speak had done the sensible thing and run away--Raidou picked up his bowl and handed it to his apparently insane friend, snagging a bread wedge as he pulled his hand back. He ate the bread, drank another third of a pint, and coughed once or twice.

Then the funny side of it hit him.

He blinked, chuckled, and propped his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his palm. He found a real smile this time, an uneven grin that lilted up one side of his face. "The next time I decide to voluntarily leap to my own destruction, you have permission to kneecap me."