Song: My Alcoholic Friends by The Dresden Dolls.
(With some slight adjustments to the lyrics to avoid as much repeating and make it more accurate to characters in certain places)
Characters:
Garvin, Lucia, and Giles.
Context:
There was a point in Garvin’s life where he actually traveled with four other vagabonds, kind of. They all had their own reasons for tagging along. Among them was Giles, Lucia, Jusepe, and Kody. Giles, while never actually directly agreed on, was kind of the leader of them all. Jusepe had been in the group for a while too, and had run away from home plenty of years ago. Kody had also been there already when Garvin joined, and had been there since running away from the foster system a year or so before Garvin joined. Lucia ended up joining after Garvin did, running from home to join the group. The way the group was run was that as long as someone didn’t seem to pose a threat to everyone else’s survival, they could stay. As long as they were where the group was by the time they left the city again. If they did seem to pose a threat to everyone else’s survival? Not so much. And posing a threat to everyone else’s survival could be as simple as the person in question making choices that pose a threat to their own survival. Of course, it still majorly depended on the specific choice/choices. And, of course, if the rest of the group decided that someone was too much of a threat for the group, then that person could only stay until the rest of the group was able to lose them.
Now that you have some basic information about the group though– Onto some more specifically to this song stuff. Everyone in it would consider each other friends. Kind of, at least. At the very least, the entire group were friends by/through necessity. Garvin and Lucia ended up being particularly close. Though, honestly, Garvin was kind of close to the entire group given his nature. So the comparison is mostly based on Lucia’s viewpoint.
Admittedly, the timeline doesn’t change up too much, at least not age wise, but I’ll still give you approximate ages. When I give you Garvin’s age, keep in mind that he doesn’t actually know what his age is.
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*Lucia always tended to be the first one where the group would meet when ready to leave a city. Which was overall a pretty routine thing. They’d stay in a city for a week and then they’d leave. Usually, Lucia would already be there and ready to go when the others got there.*
Lucia (18), on her way back; “I'm counting back the number of the steps it took for me to get back on the wagon of the weekend.”
Lucia (18), referring to the life she left behind when she joined the group; “I'll use the auto-timer to prove that I'll get home with my imagination. If they find the body in the basement, ‘In the very house that she was raised in’.”
Lucia (18), referring to a past conversation she’d had with Garvin; “I'm taking down the number of the Times, so when we get the sign from God, I'll be the first to call them.”
Lucia (18), referring to Giles (24); “I'm taking back the number of the beast ‘cause six is not a pretty number, eight or three are definitely better.”
Lucia (18), reaching the meeting spot; “A is for the address on the letter to my alcoholic friends.”
*Mostly just shifting perspectives over to Garvin here. One way the group measured if someone’s choices were a threat or not, basically deciding if they got to stay, was by having a set amount of money or goods that each member would have to bring back. Oh, right, when I said Garvin would do anything for money. I meant it.*
Garvin (19), hungover and probably feeling gross; “I'm trying hard not to be ashamed, not to know the name of who is lying right beside me… Or the date, the season, or the city…”
Garvin (19), sighing, staring up, and staying for a moment before getting up; “But at least the ceiling's very pretty…”
Garvin (19), taking all the cash from the person’s wallet; “And if you are holding it against me…”
*Both a slight shift in time to where the group is meeting up, a day or so before they’d be leaving, and a change in perspective to Giles. Giles was not a good person. Though, frankly, the entire group kind of always knew that. None of them really considered themselves to be good people. They were all using each other. Giles, though, had the tendency to promise people things, like not being kicked out, and then immediately going back on them. And while they all enabled each other, Giles practically pushed people into bad habits or bad decisions.*
Giles (24), to the group; “I'll be on my best behavior, taking shots for mother nature. Once our fists are in the cupboard, love is never falling over.”
*Slight shift in time to after the group’s already left again, heading to a new city via the free train ride method. Usually, the group would be having conversations with one another during the ride. Lucia usually spoke to Garvin or slept, given her standing with the rest of the group. Kody usually slept, or spoke to anyone except for Lucia. Jusepe usually spoke to someone, including Lucia sometimes, or slept. Same with Garvin and Giles, though they both tended to talk to Lucia more than Jusepe, and Garvin spoke more to Lucia than Giles did too. Lucia might’ve also had a small thing for Garvin, which we can both assume never worked out. Because it didn’t.*
Lucia (18), to Garvin, referring to the path that had been laid out for her at home; “Should I choose a noble occupation? If I did, I'd only show up late and sick and they would stare at us with hatred…”
Garvin (19), to Lucia, staring off a bit; “Plus my only natural talent's wasted on our alcoholic friends.”
Lucia (18), repeating it back with a nod; “Our alcoholic friends…”
Garvin (19) and Lucia (18), making some light of the situation; “The party never ends. Our alcoholic friends.”
Winter 
Night 
Clear Moon: 
