Birkin swallowed hard, not any easier thanks to the tie. It had been years since he's actually warn his tie properly and had managed to forget just how hard it could be to breathe. "Is it? How so?" He cleared his throat slightly; he was going to loosen that stupid thing as soon as they started working.

"I would love to see her, though in my current state, I doubt I could actually do much." Birkin had no reason to deny it; after four-ish glasses of rum, he was pretty much drunk. He set his own beaker down, wondering what game Stein was playing by asking him that.