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oblique ordered adj. Drunk by closing time, and concentrating all remaining effort on one side of the journey home. Sheriee was oblique ordered, directing the whole party towards one pavement and ignoring the station. oblique planed adj. Still drunk, and declining steadily from the bar towards the horizon of the nearest taxi rank. Natally remained oblique planed, descending towards the kerb while insisting on walking home. oblique projectioned adj. Too drunk to distinguish the three-dimensional journey home from its flat, simplified version. Luvella went oblique projectioned and represented the route home as one line through several gardens. oblique pyramided adj. Sufficiently drunk to leave the pub with the party apex nowhere near the centre of its base. Zaviera was oblique pyramided, leading the group while leaning noticeably away from it. oblique reflectioned adj. Having drunk enough to return every farewell at an angle, without directly answering anyone. Yeleina was oblique reflectioned, responding to each offer of a taxi with a sideways version of thanks. oblique rhymed adj. Having drunk more than is consistent with precision, and landing near enough to the intended point to satisfy no one entirely. Stphen was oblique rhymed and made a toast that almost meant what he had started out to say. oblique ridged adj. You have drunk enough to chew through the evening’s final arrangements one slanted decision at a time. Casim was oblique ridged, working through the coatroom plan with considerable bite and little alignment. oblique sailinged adj. You are drunk and making for home upon a bearing that agrees with none of the cardinal directions. Haruno was oblique sailinged, crossing the square by a rhumb known only to her. oblique shocked adj. Of a drinker: struck by each new suggestion from the side, particularly the suggestion of going home. Caudie was oblique shocked when offered a taxi, recoiling as though the proposal had arrived sideways. oblique spaceshipped adj. Of a drinker who has left the pub by a route that is neither straight nor diagonal. Yaminah was oblique spaceshipped, gliding between the station and the taxi rank by an unexplained course. oblique speeched adj. Describing a drinker who reports every conversation indirectly, including the one currently taking place. Easley was oblique speeched, explaining what Benjamen had just said instead of answering him. oblique sphered adj. A drinker who sees the whole night tilted around them, except at the poles of the bar. Christepher was oblique sphered, finding the room tilted but the last round perfectly level. oblique stemmed adj. A drinker so far gone that even the journey home declines into its less regular grammatical forms. Daishun was oblique stemmed, declining invitations, destinations and personal responsibility in sequence. oblique stepped adj. The state of being drunk and advancing towards the exit by gradual, purposeful deviations. Gabi was oblique stepped, marching towards the door while steadily taking ground to the left. oblique strained adj. The condition of a drinker who has injured one side while lifting a coat, a glass, or an argument. Margy was oblique strained after hauling her coat from the floor with unnecessary athletic commitment. oblique stroked adj. The drunkenness of one who reduces every route, instruction and farewell to a slash. Wessam was oblique stroked, marking the route home as a sequence of increasingly confident slashes.