The second drink didn't change her immediately.
It just loosened the edges.
Made her laugh a little faster.
Pause a little less.
Think a little less before speaking.
Sagnik noticed the difference before she did.
That was the problem.
Aanya was still Aanya.
Just… less filtered.
She pushed her plate slightly away after a while, leaning back into the chair again.
The noise of the restaurant felt farther now, like it belonged to someone else's conversation.
She looked at Sagnik for a moment.
Longer than usual.
Not staring.
Just… settled on him.
"You know what's funny?" she asked.
Sagnik didn't answer immediately.
Because her tone had shifted.
"I'm not sure," he said finally. "You're laughing at everything right now."
"That's not what I mean."
She tilted her head slightly.
"I mean you."
That made him pause.
Not visibly.
But enough.
Aanya continued anyway, as if she didn't notice the shift she had created.
"You're always… here."
She gestured vaguely between them.
"Like even when you're not talking, you're still here."
Sagnik frowned slightly.
"That's normal."
"No," she said immediately. "It's not."
Then she laughed softly at her own certainty, like she didn't care if it made sense.
"I've met normal people."
A beat.
"You're not like that."
Sagnik looked at her more directly now.
"Is that good or bad?"
Aanya considered that.
For a moment, she didn't answer.
Then she shrugged.
"It's… annoying."
That should have been simple.
But she didn't say it like criticism.
She said it like observation.
Like something she had accepted a long time ago.
Then she leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the table.
Her voice dropped a little.
Not secretive.
Just unguarded.
"I don't think I like people much."
Sagnik didn't react.
He just listened.
Aanya continued, slower now.
"I like… things. Moments. Noise. Randomness."
She tapped the table lightly.
"People usually ruin it."
A pause.
Then she looked at him properly again.
"But you don't."
That landed differently.
Because it wasn't praise.
It was classification.
Sagnik stayed quiet for a second too long.
Aanya immediately waved her hand slightly, like she was brushing away the seriousness she had accidentally created.
"Don't make it weird."
"I'm not."
"You are. I can see it."
"I'm not making anything."
She smiled again, smaller this time.
"Good."
Another pause.
The food was half finished now.
The drinks almost done.
The table slightly messy in a way that felt lived-in rather than untidy.
Aanya leaned back again.
Then, almost casually, as if she was switching topics—
"I think I look for you first in a room."
That stopped him.
Not because it was loud.
Because it was ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Sagnik looked at her now.
Properly.
Aanya didn't look away immediately.
She just blinked once, slowly, like she was waiting for him to respond but not expecting anything specific.
Then she added, softer—
"Not on purpose."
A pause.
Then she smiled faintly.
"That's the annoying part."
Silence settled again.
But this one didn't feel like space.
It felt like weight.
Sagnik finally spoke.
"Aanya."
She hummed in response, still relaxed.
He stopped.
Because there was no correct continuation.
Instead, he said something simpler.
"You're drunk."
Aanya looked offended for exactly half a second.
Then laughed.
"I'm not that drunk."
A beat.
Then, quieter—
"I just don't feel like editing myself."
That was worse.
Because that was the truth.
Sagnik leaned back slightly in his chair.
And for the first time that evening, he didn't immediately know what to do with what she had said.
Not because it was confusing.
Because it was too clear.
And clarity, in moments like this, was louder than everything else in the room.