"The tea is the cupboard left of the sink, on the middle shelf, in the red tin," Ernie directed. In Ernie's kitchen everything did have its place after all, so long as he was somewhat with it.
"So Justin asked you to come by?" Ernie asked seeming surprised, but quickly realizing what had happened to bring Jasper there. He sighed and leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen and looking at the floor. "How's he doing?" He tried to bring himself to back to a perfectly detached state with difficulty, but asking this as if he were asking about the weather. He knew that things were incredibly awkward right now, what with what had happened at the gala last night. It brought him back to an old quote from somewhere that went something like wine gives a man nothing... it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost. He had considered that earlier that day for a moment when he was at work and someone said something that reminded him of his friend. (It was normal that someone would say things in ways that reminded him of his best friends, after all.)