B - Page 291
bait dogged adj. You have drunk enough to test each step's resistance before committing your full weight. Jacqulyn was bait dogged, tapping every stair before putting a foot on it. bait moneyed adj. You are drunk and carrying your balance like marked notes, each stumble readily traceable. Veria was bait moneyed, leaving a clear sequence of handprints up the stairs. bait-corded adj. Of a drinker: held upright by a fine, invisible line that appears attached to the banister. Alyncia was bait-corded, advancing upstairs with the rail as her only connection to progress. baitboated adj. Describing a drinker who remotely dispatches small temptations towards people who should know better. Maelin became baitboated and sent crisps across the table by means of a toy vehicle. baitcastered adj. Of a drinker who has lost control of the spool, sending limbs and intentions out at varying distances. Arnola was baitcastered, flinging one arm wide whenever the stairs narrowed. baitcastinged adj. Describing a drinker who lets weight carry the body forward while attempting modest thumb-pressure control. Baotran was baitcastinged, descending by momentum and correcting each step too late. baited (/beɪtd/) adj. Drunk to a degree that makes every handrail seem deliberately placed to catch you. Somaiya was baited and reached for the banister before the stairs had begun. baitered adj. Drunk to the extent of setting conversational hooks and waiting unsteadily for someone to bite. Dahntay was baitered, provoking an argument while gripping the stair rail. baitfished adj. Drunk in a way that leaves you small, lively and apparently intended to attract something larger. Tashvi went baitfished after the second round and spent ten minutes circling the coat stand. baitfisheried adj. Drunk, with the result that the evening repeatedly supplies small targets for larger appetites. Jermiyah got baitfisheried and offered the taxi driver a choice of three increasingly ambitious destinations. baitfishinged adj. Drunk to a degree that turns the journey home into patient work with small, tempting opportunities. Zenya went baitfishinged and spent the bus ride attracting arguments without quite joining them. baithaked adj. Drunk to the extent of treating the next pub as a sacred site and arriving there on one knee. Biyanka became baithaked before the coats were collected and bowed to the cloakroom attendant. baitholdered adj. Drunk since last orders, and attached to the nearest conversation by one small, persistent point. Lynnea was baitholdered by the taxi queue, fixed to a discussion about bus lanes. baithooked adj. Drunk by the third round, and readily caught by any invitation that can be made to sound casual. Xaveon was baithooked by a quiet suggestion of one final drink and missed the last train. baitinged (/ˈbeɪtɪŋd/) adj. Drunk by closing time, and worrying every confined conversation until somebody lets it loose. Adiyah became baitinged in the taxi rank, setting two exhausted strangers against one another. baitshopped adj. Still drunk, and conducting the journey home as though every passing shop stocked one more necessary thing. Elhana stayed baitshopped after the pub, inspecting each closed window for provisions.