Drinking alone was the best way to drink. It meant you didn't have to pretend to like people or laugh at their jokes. Then again, it meant there weren't people around to laugh at your jokes, either. That was a problem that didn't seem to have a suitable solution outside of doing neither or both in turns. Given the latest developments in his professional life, he'd opted for the former on this particular evening and was looking forward to it. No secret agents. No super powers. And no barmy mystical crap.
He was weaving through the crowd carefully, holding his drink high enough to avoid getting sloshed, when someone - drunk and idiotic, no doubt - bumped into his back. Typically, Pete Wisdom liked to think of himself as suave enough to manage a quick save for his drink (which happened) and a graceful recovery (which didn't happen so much. In this case, he stumbled just enough to knock his elbow into the woman next to him. The woman very much dressed like she knew she was going out to draw attention and had no problem with it.