the elaborate precautions of the day-before
Teddy brother man I’m never once hungover for a competitive thing. I take elaborate precautions. Not so much as a whippet. I’m always in bed the night before by 2300 all pink-cheeked and clean.
Context
Pemulis's abstinence ritual stated as a point of pride — the meticulous day-before cleanup, "not so much as a whippet" — offered as evidence of control at the exact moment he is on one knee vomiting into a ball-bucket from nerves. The precaution is real and the disavowal ("never once hungover") is sincere; the scene lets both stand while the body underneath tells a different story.