Edric did trip and fall, eventually, but fortunately for him, his landing spot was the couch cushion next to Sydney. He smoothed his outfit and straightened himself out before sitting up and glancing towards his friend.

"What did she do?" he echoed quietly, staring at Syd but not really looking at him. "Well, she made me trust her and then she...up and left, I suppose. 'S not the first woman to do that to me, but she'll definitely be the last." He was resolved to either (1) never marry, or (2) never be himself with his wife  and find one that was perfectly content with a loveless marriage - unless he somehow managed to get Febs back.

"But you," he said, "if you're sober, you won't solve anything. You're too tense, too stiff - you'll never state what you truly mean," he said, holding the quill out to Sydney. "So write."

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— set by MJ! —

Syd was getting conflicted information here. First it was his fault, now it was hers. He was too drunk to follow along anymore, the last glass that had been poured for him had set him over the threshold of tipsy to trashed.

"Ouch, I'm wounded. Is that what you truly think of me?" He gasped in mock shock. This wasn't news to Syd, he could certainly come if that way if he wanted to, which when he was trying not to get involved he tended to do. His conversations with Ginny prior to the letter had grown increasingly candid, which he'd actually found himself enjoying- when she wasn't in need of medical attention that was. It didn't change the fact that taken the coward's way out.

"You can't make me, forget it mate." He shook his head and downed the bourbon. "What's on your list of ideas then?" Syd was going to be a stubborn mule about this, dig his heels in and wait. "I thought you were supposed to be writing a letter yourself?"

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I wasn't sure it was possible, but he's even more yummy, by MJ ♥

Edric rolled his eyes, making a dramatic show out of it. He was too far gone to make any sense of what had happened the night before, and hopefully would be too far gone by the end of the night to remember much of this disaster in the morning. It really didn't matter whose problems they were trying to solve and by what means they planned to solve them, if at all; two drunken men were unlikely to make progress in anything other than shortening their life spans. (But it was better than drunkenly confronting Febby, which would...not have gone well.)

"It is," he admitted, lazily slouching back against the cushion. "But you're in luck - I'm also tense and never say what I mean. Usually. With his words came a yawn, a sure sign that he was going to pass out from emotional exhaustion (not that the alcohol helped) soon enough.

"I said I was going to one-up a letter," he pointed out tossing, leaning forward once again to grab the quill. "But considering Miss Lynch and I's dynamic, it won't go as planned. It never does."

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— set by MJ! —

Syd could only laugh at Edric's blunt agreement of his views. Well then. "Oh right the moving out, how's that supposed to do the trick again?" Neither one of them were making much sense. All Syd knew was that he had to keep the quill out of his hand and he'd survive the night... maybe. He was going to hate himself in the morning.

It was then that his friend revealed the identity of his paramour and Syd nearly spit out his bourbon. "You mean to tell me this is the same woman from your "hospital misadventures?" No wonder you landed in the paper!" He would not have said that sober, but now, lacking a filter, all bets were off.

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I wasn't sure it was possible, but he's even more yummy, by MJ ♥

"Getting out the house will remove all of this," he explained, vaguely gesturing to the room around him. "The memories. I feel like I keep waiting for something to happen that never will - you know." Sydney probably didn't know, but he wasn't going to get into that. He took another sip of his his drunk, but it came right back out in a series of splutters and coughs when he realized he'd given away Febs' name.

"You're not to tell anyone or I'll have you arrested for something - anything," he choked out, his tone weak rather than the threatening he'd hoped for. "And anyways, the hospital misadventure was before all these - these feelings. I think I threatened to have her arrested that day, too," he grumbled.

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— set by MJ! —

Syd shook his head, not following a single word Edric was rambling on about. Well until the arrest part anyway.

"Hey, hey, hey. Just remember that next time you get attacked by a hippogriff or something on the job." He waved it off with a dismissing motion in his friend's general direction. "Your secret is safe with me, I don't want to ruin any young debutantes... I'm sure you have already." Syd was actually terrible without a filter.

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I wasn't sure it was possible, but he's even more yummy, by MJ ♥

Edric narrowed his eyes, leaned towards Sydney, and gave him a hard shove. "I've only ruined one debutante, thank you very much," he grumbled, his top lip curling upwards in displeasure. "But is it really ruining her if I marry her anyways? Now that I think about it - why did she leave me after I ruined her?" he rambled on, his hands unsuccessfully working on getting another bottle of whiskey open.

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— set by MJ! —

The shove was enough to knock Sydney off balance, but honestly he'd been expecting a punch, so it wasn't all that bad. Just a little spilled bourbon, which he frowned at.

"Maybe she didn't mean to," Syd knew that didn't make too much sense, but women were strange creatures. "If things were or are serious enough that it got that far, maybe she panicked or something. Women are weird, I don't pretend to know what they think. Maybe you said something that set her off." He might have been rambling now as he reached, to take the notice from a struggling Edric and open it (with a little difficulty himself).

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I wasn't sure it was possible, but he's even more yummy, by MJ ♥

Drunk Edric was also an impressionable Edric, and as optimistic as he'd been a moment ago in regards to fixing his relationship, talk about the actual breakup left a frown on his face once more.

"Oh, I definitely said something," he admitted, holding his glass out for Syd to fill up. "And I don't think it was an accident. It took - well, it took effort. She's the most insufferable creature on the face of the plant, but I love her. I wish I could just magic her back."

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— set by MJ! —

Syd poured them both a generous measure and set the bottle down. "So apologize, fix it. Say you were wrong even if you weren't, I do know they like that." Vera certainly looked to hear him admit he was wrong or she was right. Sisters  weren't exactly the same, but she was a woman, at least.

"If she's worth it and you want her back that badly, it won't kill you to take a hit to your pride." Oh how that could be so easily applied to his own life.

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I wasn't sure it was possible, but he's even more yummy, by MJ ♥

If only it was that easy. Things were much more complex than a simple disagreement, and it wasn't necessarily his pride - but rather his insecurities, which he couldn't control - that drove a wedge between him and Febby.

"I've - I'm trying. I'll try. She's a stubborn woman, but I'll do what I must," he explained grimly.

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— set by MJ! —