Nathaniel waited politely while Ira scribbled on a piece of paper. It made sense that it was some sort of contact information, even if it did seem like he was writing way more than just a name and a number. He took the folded paper from him, and without reading it, put it into his pants pocket, after a few attempts at shakily finding it with his fingertips first.
"Thank you. It's been lovely," he said. With some reluctance he crossed the threshold back into the hallway, but then stopped and turned around to look at Ira.
"I really do mean it," he said, looking Ira's face over in earnest. "Very lovely." He lingered for a moment, then nodded and gave a very small, very shy smile and left.
He had to go all the way back to his car. Which wasn't a terrible walk, but it did take some time, and he was still rather drunk. By the time he'd waddled to the car, he took a moment to plop into the driver seat and just sit in the parked car. His nerves had eased since he'd been at Ira's hotel room, but he realized now that he was going back to that very same hotel and that he wasn't sure he had the emotional capacity to go back.
But where else could he even go?
Nathaniel licked his teeth and stared out at the street in front of him, watching cars drive by two-by-two. He blinked with uneven eyelids, and he knew he'd either have to wait, or he'd have to brave his insobriety and drive anyway. It really was a very short drive, but... why put anyone in danger? He licked his teeth again, this time sucking on them until he rediscovered the paper in his pocket and unfolded it to read it.
He read over the name, and then the number, but he was surprised by the extra lines. He read them over multiple times, trying to make sense of them. No, not of the words really, he realized. For some reason, he knew exactly what those were about. So... why were they familiar? He dredged up a few poets in his memory and tried to match the lines to a poem he'd read. Or maybe a song he'd heard.
He set the paper down and stared on the window while he tried to figure it out. And then he remembered—
He needed to get inside before the sun came up. Nathaniel took a look at the horizon and clumsily shoved the paper back into his pocket, exchanging it for his car keys. Then, with no more time to worry about others, he drove himself to the hotel and casino, and he finally checked into his room only to fall into bed fully dressed.
