The pub was warm in that way that made your skin feel too tight — the low buzz of voices tangled with the occasional shriek of laughter, the clink of pint glasses, and the hum of a speaker halfway through some indie throwback.

Arthur and the lads were crammed around a battered wooden table, half-empty drinks littering the surface like trophies. George was halfway through some story you couldn’t follow, all hand gestures and snorts. Isaac leaned heavily against the booth seat, one hand on his face as he wheezed, and Arthur… Arthur’s laugh cracked across the room, bright and easy.

You barely heard it.

Your head felt soft, the kind of soft that came with three drinks too many and a bad night’s sleep. Everything blurred slightly around the edges. You blinked slowly, trying to stay in the present, but it felt like you were watching the scene from behind a fogged-up window.

Instead of joining in, you reached for the back of the sticky paper menu left abandoned on the table.

Pen from your jacket pocket. Always carried one. Just in case.

Your hand moved on instinct.

Loose lines. Sharp cheekbones. The curve of George’s eyebrows mid-story, Isaac’s lopsided smirk, Arthur’s profile — how his brow furrowed when he listened, how he looked even more real when you drew him than he did sitting right in front of you.

The noise faded into a low buzz. Pencil dragged across cheap paper as you focused on the shape of their laughter.

Someone nudged your arm.

You flinched, blinking up — Arthur, peering down with that crooked grin, a little flushed from the drinks.

“You drawing us, Van Gogh?”

You shrugged, not trusting yourself to answer without slurring.

He looked down at the sketch, something unreadable flickering behind his smile. He reached out, gently turned the menu.

“...That’s actually sick,” he said, quieter now, like it was just the two of you in the corner of the universe.

Then louder: “OI, THEY'RE DRAWING US. LOOK AT THIS!"

You groaned, head dropping to your arms, as the others crowded round to see.

Arthur didn’t laugh like the rest.

He just tapped the edge of the paper and murmured, “You always see people like this?”