Raise a Glass [OPEN]

[lordshield]

Who: The XV Cast and You!
When: June 6th
Where: Curti Center, Jiminy's Juicery (bar)
What: After saving innocents from the Dream Width, some people just need a drink.
Warnings/Notes: Alcohol consumption, possible violence, whatever people do in bars.

Their first foray into the search and rescue business in the Dream Width had been intense, to say the least. Stressful, heartbreaking, exhausting, and enlightening were other words some might use to describe the experience. After a night of rest and a day to somewhat sort things and people out, the next evening brings about a mighty need to head to the local tavern. Some drink to forget, some drink to remember, some drink to relax. There are even representatives of the Bard's Guild providing live music. You can try to make a request, but chances are they don't know your foreign songs.

Maybe you were invited by one of the excitable young men from Lucis, or maybe you came on your own. There's enough room in the bar for quite a few people, so long as they're of age. Sit right at the bar, or pull up chairs around a table, the choice is yours.

[OoC: Make your own toplevel or tag around. Please put content warnings as necessary. Have fun!]

Comments

[chefbayardee]

"I mean, I've had drinks before." Maybe once or twice back in his home universe, but definitely once early in Vaikuntha. Baiken's stuff had a... a kick. As he reaches over the cockpit and into the front storage, he shoots Prompto a cheeky grin. "I'm not missing much."

And then he pulls himself back, one hand holding two bags. Hunk reaches into one and pulls out a slightly browned-and-cripsy pork bun, and bites into it. Except if Prompto cared to look, he'd see it's not pork. It's bacon, scrambled eggs, cheese, and potatoes.

"Wan' a Hod Pocked, Prombdo?" He's talking with his mouth full, and extends a hand holding the second bag to his friend.

[regalblaze]

Yes, it was real. It happened. The prophecy, their Oracle dying, the battle with Ravus, the Chancellor knocking him out. Ignis twirls drink in his glass slowly, eyes narrowed.

"The man from the memory, Ravus, he arrived here," he says slowly. "As well as our King who is, somehow, not dead and twenty years younger than he was." His brain hurts.

"...what would've happened if we stayed there, stuck in those memories?"

[immortalmarshal]

Cor's not going to apologize for punching Clarus, not in that moment. Maybe the next morning, though, he might say sorry for losing his temper that badly.

The confirmation of Regis' killer, however, only stokes the anger inside Cor, fists clenching at his side until the knuckles turn white. But there's some guilt mixed in with his fury. Guilt of not realizing it sooner, or being closer to the battles that Drautos--Glauca was involved in, so that he could've stopped him then...

Still, hearing that the traitor was killed that night does reduce his fury back down to 'can think thru it' levels. "...at least there was one Glaive that remained loyal to the end," he quietly grumbles.

[chocobosnap]

[He gestures at Cor, who definitely looks like someone he shouldn't mess with. He's not training to be a cop, more closer to a body guard.]

Cor's great. [He grins.] Anyway, it's important that he likes me so I can stay with Noct, you know?

Even if it didn't turn out like we hoped.

[sonoftenebrae]

[Ravus raises his glass to that.]

Indeed. The gods are cruel in more worlds than one, I am learning.

[He sets his drink back on the table.]

Is there a point in trying to put down roots when we may be flung to the far reaches of the universe at any time?

[sonoftenebrae]

...so you've heard.

[He shouldn't be surprised. The Lucians are always prattling on with one another, and news of the Oracle, beloved by all...Of course Cor would have heard from Noctis or his men.

He waves the bartender down for a drink.]

The night is still young. I'll have imbibed plenty before dawn.

[shinra_dog]

"Sometimes being alive is the highlight of the day," Reno agreed with a nod. "And beer. And as someone who's died before, I can say being alive with beer is pretty good in the big scheme of things."

He smiled back gently. "Yer mood'll get better. But it looks like you got a lotta' friends here who got yer back. I mean, damn -- you didn't tell me Noctis was a prince. You're in with royals?"

[hashtagdaddy]

"Yea, the pipsqueak does that. Hell, first time I saw him I thought he might be a bad influence for Noct so I tried to be all intimidatin' and scare him off. Didn't stop the two from bein' friends and sooner'n I could blink he'd gone and made a friend outta me too."

Gladio raised his glass, sadly noting the dwindling amount of alcohol in it, in acknowledgement of the compliment paid to his friends. "They're the best. We've been through a lot together."

That was the understatement of the millennium, but the truth of it was what mattered.

"Thanks for lookin' out for him. I'm sure the others appreciated it too. So where are you from? Or what did you do on your home world?"

[carnageandclass]

The water comes just in time as Camilla pushes it over to Castor, hoping that it may make her a little more sober....or less able to get hungover.

"It sounds like you have done a lot of that kind of fighting before..."

Camilla can respect that but it doesn't sound like the praise is needed at the moment. Not when someone is ten sheets to the wind.

[carnageandclass]

"Normally I am not so reserved in fighting but even I know that there's no need for blood staining the floor here."

Camilla is a fighter and someone who would gleefully beat the living tar out of her enemies and make sure they would not get up. For why have an enemy and prove to them that you are stronger? However, the factors here are different: there's no war to be fought between two easily spotted sides and blindly following one because of ideals or loyalty. From what she has saw, it's just people trying to figure out what to do about a problem not very well known it seems. And a drunken lout doesn't count as an enemy but she will show them that she's not a damn pushover.

As for the brawl...they can handle it inside as she pushes the door open and out of the stale air of beer and other weird smells.

thought I hit this back

[spaceforged]

"...I'm guessing you guys don't know basic car maintenance and what to check for." The list of reasons a car sputters and has to be pushed is long. "Unless you looked under the hood but it sounds like you didn't. Might be no one's fault or the car was pushed too hard."

Shiro takes a swallow of his drink and thinks about that. "But tech is...more advanced in my day so, I probably wouldn't know what went wrong either."

[spaceforged]

No need for blood staining the floor.

Okay.

He covers his mouth with one hand and tries not to think about that too hard. Holy shit he's an embarrassing drunk. He breathes a little easier when they exit the bar into the cool night air. It clears his head a bit to have air that doesn't make his already dizzy mind a little dizzier. "Glad you know restraint. ...you know the way to B housing, right?"

[regalblaze]

Ignis has been asking himself those questions for months now. Ever since he arrived with the knowledge of what is going to transpire, Ignis' mind had never once been calm, despite Ignis' attitude. No amount of cheerful chats, cooking and spending time with friends could push aside the fact that... that this is what awaits them when they go back.

He'd endure seeing the vision over and over again if it could stop the future from happening. Is it... selfish that he doesn't want to go back? This place gives him a bad vibe, but here- Noct doesn't have to die. He won't be killed on the throne, by his own father, leaving them all behind. Alive. With guilt welling up inside of them that they didn't die for and before him.

But that's not what Noct wants. And Ignis... Ignis swore to always respect his King's decisions.

Ignis shakes his head, head buried against Gladio's chest. There are loud noises in the bar and a lot of people so no one really pays attention to them. The sobs are shaking him from the core:"G...Gladio... I feel...- I feel like I'm leading him to his death- I can't-!"

He takes a shaky breath, pulling away and gripping onto Gladio's jacket:"Keeping him safe just to slaughter him at the right moment- Gladio- this is not right!"

His yell makes few people stop and glance at him, but Ignis doesn't spare even a second for them.

[immortalmarshal]

Yeah... I'm sorry for your loss. She was a strong and courageous woman.

[There's deep sympathy in Cor's voice. He may not have known Lunafreya personally, but it still hurts to know that the world lost yet another shining beacon of hope.

He waits for Ravus to receive his drink before he picks up his utensils again.]

[spaceforged]

Thousands of years. He tries to wrap his head around that and the sheer mass involved in carrying a mountain. Even sober he'd have been doing the math for more than a minute. "It is a little weird how everything seems to happen just when you show up, doesn't it? It's like that for us too. Maybe that's a constant in every universe. Its defenders have to deal with problems?" He sounds skeptical.

"Or maybe I'm too drunk to even get philosophical. It certainly feels a bit tiring how often things go to shit. But we see more than anyone else ever has." But from the look on his face...he has to wonder at the cost to that.

[spaceforged]

"I did. He had that air about him I've seen dragoons at the guild carry." But he'd seen a rage in his gold eyes. That battle had been personal to the dragoon. "You need a certain amount of instincts in combat. If you don't have them you can only reach 'decent' fighter."

He'd certainly seen enough decent fighters in the Arena cut down by skilled or master fighters. "The current Red Paladin combines his skills and instincts together in incredible ways...you heard the others call him by his name. It's Keith."

[hashtagdaddy]

Gladio doesn't give a rat's ass who stares at them, lowering his forehead to touch against Iggy's.

"It's not right, Ig. An' we'll find a way to stop it. Fuck them..." His eyes close briefly then shoot open, fire burning within them, and he pulls back this time to tilt his head up and let out a battle cry.

"Fuck the Astrals!" Chest heaving, he meets Iggy's eyes and continues with a harsh voice that promises pain to any who dare attempt saying otherwise. "Fuck them an' fuck their damn prophecy."

There has to be ways to alter it. To make it so Noct can bring back the dawn and survive. He won't accept that his friend's destiny is to suffer and suffer and suffer only to die in order to restore light. What kind of Shield will he be if he can't shield his own Prince - his King - from an unfair and unnecessary death?

"No. No, this won't happen. We'll make it so it doesn't. I swear to you Iggy, we won't let him die. I'll make sure of it."

Gladio's not going to let his best and oldest friend continue to feel as though he's leading Noct to the slaughter - he's going to find a way to make this change. Later. Not now. Now, he yanks Ignis back to his chest and holds him tightly as he raggedly whispers.

"It's not right. An' we'll fix it. I promise. We c'n figure it out when we're sober. We will. Figure it out. Right now I wan' us to get so wasted we can' even think about it. Y'with me?"

[chocobosnap]

He peered at the bag and nodded, reaching over to take it.

"Smells good." He smiled and leaned against the machine lazily as he took a bite. "Good." He said, with his mouth full so it was a little muffled. "'S good."

He took another bite, clearly hungry because he'd had so much to drink.

[regalblaze]

"I've... I've tried. I scoured the libraries here but- there's nothing we could use. Nothing that can help- I just don't know..."

By now, Ignis' talking has turned into low muttering, eyes closed as Gladio's forehead rests against his own. He jumps a bit when he yells but not enough to pull away completely. His brain is completely razzed with pain, alcohol and the neverending feeling of helplessness.

Gladio's hug does help Ignis calm down a little and he relaxes in his hold. Somehow, whenever he says that things will be alright, Ignis believes him. Even though his rational mind is supplying him with reasons that this is not the case.

Ignis manages to nod, wanting nothing more than to drink himself into oblivion so he won't have to think about all of this.

"We'll... fix it. He won't die. And we'll get drunk-! Eb... Ebony- bring us drinks-!"

His Moogle floats over, tilts head curiously at them and then leaves to get them the drinks.

[spaceforged]

"Briefly. It seems memories shape us to fit in it. In one memory there was no such thing as my arm so...I had it back." He treads carefully over the subject. His arm throbs as if reminding him that it's gone.

"A lot of memories were strange. Oh and...thank you for helping me out of mine. We didn't find out anything new but, we have something. That's more than we had before." Shiro peels the edge of the cinnamon roll and pops it into his mouth. It's like brushing his fingers over heaven.

He doesn't swoon but he makes a small pleased sound. He doesn't often go for sugar. But this is exactly what he needs right now. "I missed pastries I recognize." Oh god. He missed so many things. "Next time I'm going to push for everyone having proper equipment."

[chefbayardee]

"Yeah, seriously." Hunk rolls his eyes, before just groaning. "I started using the magitek laser from my gunblade to launch us back to the airships. We had nothing to get us back safely!" And he huffs at that, because they didn't need anyone else getting stuck out there.

"Should I try to draw something up?" And he doesn't really wait for an answer. While he might already be mentally sketching stuff out, something more important is on his mind. "If you have any requests, the kitchen would be more than happy to hear them, Shiro."

And he just looks smug. Better believe he heard that noise, boss.

[regalblaze]

Ignis chuckles:"This defender would like one night of calm sleep. Maybe someone to make him breakfast and coffee. Take a day off... but I suppose when you're defending the entire star, you can't take a day off huh?"

They both are too drunk to get too deep into this. Ignis is basically just throwing out the first thing that comes to his mind. "Hmmm... I'd like the world to pause for a moment. Wouldn't that be great?"

[chefbayardee]

Hunk swallows down the mouthful of food, just smiling ear to ear at Prompto's comments. "Thanks!" And as he watches Prompto start wolfing the thing down, he can't stop smiling. "I love it when people appreciate my food." All them warm fuzzies.

"I was kinda worried that the weird native ingredients wouldn't go over well, but you seem to like it just fine! I think." Hunk's just assuming his friend would like the food if he was sober, too. Less questions that way. "Plus, it's cheaper than the bar food."

It is, in fact, free. And Hunk's not one hundred percent aware of how out of it Prompto is.

[sonoftenebrae]

[Ravus lifts his glass, gives it a swirl, then takes a sip.]

It is all of our loss. Her light kept the darkness of our world at bay.

[It is possible, he now can admit to himself, that Noctis may be able to take up Lunafreya's burden and be the light for their world. But that will not serve to fill the hole her loss leaves within everyone who knew her.]

I had long hidden my allegiance to my sister, yet you do not question it. Did you know? [He does not know if Cor was from after Altissia and had heard of his defection, or if the man is just remarkably trusting of a former Imperial Officer.]

[spaceforged]

Shiro swallows. His face flushed briefly with embarrassment. Hunk heard that noise. Oh no. “I’m not really a sugar person but, sometimes it’s nice.” Sometimes he wants it just as much as the next person. He isn’t going to get away from this without a small admission. “I’ll think it over.”

Using the magitek laser to get back to the ship is a good idea. He reviews the equipment he’d have used and had for Kerberos. “Anyway, we’d need tethers, space suits.” He ticks the two off in his head and opens up the possibilities. “Some kind of emergency propulsion for anyone who can’t muster it up themselves. A magitek jetpack?” It could be possible? He looks to Hunk for confirmation. “Is it possible, Hunk?”