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

[sullenstallion]

"A katana?"

Dylas blinks. He can remember seeing one of those before—multiple times, actually, though one belonged to one of his closest friends. Or...something.

"Your son gave you a sword like that?"

[immortalmarshal]

"Yep. Custom made, too. Course, I should've expected that, considering who gave it to me..."

Cor is in the middle of taking a long pull of his next drink when Dylas makes that mistake, and it results in the Marshall spitting it out across the bar in shock. Once he gets the resulting coughing down, he sputters, "My wha?! No, no, no! Six, no...not my kid. I don't have kids; would've been a horrible dad..."

[sullenstallion]

Right, someone special gave it to him. Dylas nods, losing interest in the story until Cor projectile spits across the bar. Dylas covers his mouth, the tip of his tail twitching. There's only one thing to say that.

"That was gross." But as for kids? He shrugs. "You probably wouldn't be if you'd spit over 'em all like that. You ever think about the guy who has to clean that up?"

[immortalmarshal]

[Cor lets Ravus think, eyeing him thoughtfully as he continues eating. He wouldn't be too surprised if Ravus did clarify the difference like that. A less practical person would be upset...but Cor will take anyone willing to be Lucis' ally at this point.

Not that he's going to trust Ravus fully with Regis' health and safety yet. They were enemies until recently... But at least he doesn't have to worry about Ravus stabbing anyone else in the back right now.]

I'm sure his Majesty will accept your support. But you should still consider the kind of path you wish to take for yourself at some point. It can't just be about one's duties for your line.

[warpstriking]

Welcome to the visibly wincing club, party of two and one drunken moogle. He has no idea which it is for Castor, but for Noct? Eh, it's a mixture of the two.

'ku-ku...po?' The poor thing is so dizzy; it's kind of sad.

"...I'm almost scared to ask." Because before coming here? He'd never seen a real one. Ever.

[hashtagdaddy]

"Hard t'know if someone's tryin' to befriend Noct for his position, his money, or for his real self. And the kid dressed like a punk. Seems to be his style though - lookin' all badass but actually being the most kindhearted person I know." Another fond smile crossed Gladio's face, thinking back on the earlier days of their interactions.

"He's always been determined and when Prompto has a goal, ain't nothin' gonna stop him from reaching it." Gladio paused and considered Reno's words. Then he considered the man, not that he knew him well at all, and made a decision (one that he knew at least one of his friends would appreciate).

"Third world? That's pretty ... impressive? M'not sure how you feel about world hoppin' so much. But as long as you're here consider yourself part of th' family."

With that, he clapped a hand to Reno's shoulder, his brooding buzz giving way to a more pleasant drunken demeanor. This Reno guy took care of his friend and clearly missed having a close-knit group. Prompto seemed to like and trust him and that was good enough for a less-than-sober Gladio, though he still planned to get to know the redhead better himself.

"What did you n' your team do?"

[chefbayardee]

"Aw, thanks!" Not only was Prompto a fan of the food, he inflated Hunk's ego, too. Drunk people are so nice... even though Prompto was nice to be around any other time. But then as he thinks about it, he realizes that the normally excited and chatty Prompto is... well, neither of those things.

"Are... you okay?" Maybe it's the alcohol? Hunk's never been around many drunk people. He's not sure if this is normal. May as well ask, it'd be a good time to learn something.

[sonoftenebrae]

For the Fleurets and the Lucis Caelums, duty is everything.

[And in the absence of that duty, Ravus has...nothing. There is a hollowness inside of him, and he cannot imagine finding anything that would fill it.]

What do you do when you're not acting as 'marshal'?

[littlemhigan]

"Group've seven of the little buggers went an' summoned a Primal on us once. Good king Moggle Mog, th' thirteenth. Had te lay all seven of 'em out twice te finally put the Primal down, but it was a fuckin' ridiculous half-bell of m'life."

She takes a seat next to Noctis, but holds onto Ivory for awhile longer, making sure the poor moogle wasn't still likely to twitch herself back off the table.

[chocobosnap]

Prompto looked up at the question and shook his head. "No...I'm not good yet I just.." He sighed a little, leaning against the bike.

"Bad time with the memories, you know? Makes me think about things."

[immortalmarshal]

Even so, it doesn't exclude one from having some kind of life.

[...did Ravus had any friends? Was he allowed to just...have a life under the Empire's rule? Not like Cor needs another reason to hate the Empire, but...]

You mean, during my downtime? I spend time check in with those important to me. If they're fellow fighters, we'll spar on occasion.

[He twirls his fork for a moment.]

Hunting used to be part of my downtime, but now...well, can't exactly get much cash any other way.

[immortalmarshal]

"That's cuz you scared me, asshole." Cor takes a rag from behind the counter and starts to clean up. Sloppily, but at least he's getting most of it.

"And no, that ain't why I never had 'em."

[sonoftenebrae]

One does not win command of a foreign army by devoting time to hobbies.

[He...should probably be concerned, how little he has now. Maybe it will sink in later.]

I...wrote letters to my sister. When I had time. It wasn't often enough.

[He waves for the bartender to refill his glass.]

That sounds like training and labor. That's...efficient, if nothing else.

and long late heading towards wrap?

[regisrex]

Regis watches him for a moment, then nods. He'll ask about Luna. Eventually.

"So like Weskham's cooking, then." Fond. Look, he doesn't know his old buddy's cooking is hella expensive now. "And sure. Let me get your moogle and we can head out. Then I'll come back for whoever else needs it."

He's got you, Noct.

[regisrex]

Comfortable and familiar is good. In this strange place, every shard of that can be precious.

"Yeah. Still, somebody's gotta be left standing to get everyone safely home and all."

In the absence of Wesk, he can be the responsible one. Sometimes.

[sullenstallion]

"What part of that was supposed to be scary?" He has to think about it for a second. He leans on the counter, watching Cor clean up to make sure he doesn't miss a spot. The service industry has it hard enough, you know?

"You're scared of having kids?" Actually. Dylas' face sobers a little, so he takes another drink to remedy that. "Yeah. Actually, same. Shit. That'd be awful."

[chefbayardee]

"You're not alone. Those memories were..." He paused, sucking in his breath with a wince. "They were pretty rough." Then he takes a moment before forcing a warm smile and just shrugging.

"There's comfort drinks in there and comfort food out here." He just hopes it'll be enough to help.evetyone out. "Unless... You wanna talk about it?"

Hunk almost hoped he didn't because the Dream Width was bad enough already. But Prompto's his pal, so he'll try to be there. Unless he ran into zombies- Hunk's had his fill of memories with them.

[chocobosnap]

No, there were no zombies.

"I'm kinda sick about complaining about it." Prompto confessed and shook his head. "It was part of just..a bad time."

Prompto wasn't sure he wanted to explain more. Suddenly, he was feeling rather exhausted and not really wanting to get into it. That was for the better, he wondered what Hunk would think about him killing a man.

-gone patricidal!

He almost heard him speaking and he shuddered. No. Not right now. He took a bite of sandwich stubbornly.

[chefbayardee]

"Oh. S-sorry..." Hunk trailed off with the apology, wondering just what could've happened to make Prompto, out of all the awesome people he knows, want to dodge the conversation. Obviously nothing good. But the shudder, the way he bit into that sandwich, it made Hunk hurt. His pal needed a reason to smile and leave all that stuff in the dust. Something clicked, and his eyes lit up.

"Prompto, you uh.... you wanna go on a joyride?" And Hunk slaps the side of his Speeder before gesturing with his head towards one of the homemade sidecar-seats. There is a basic seatbelt to keep the passengers from falling out...

[chocobosnap]

Nothing good was about right, and he was feeling less drunk with the food and the open air and far less willing to be upset about it.

Prompto was tired of being upset and letting Ardyn control his life from afar.

He smiled at the suggestion. Noct would be jealous.

"Let's do it." He climbed into the sidecar, not that worried about seatbelts. Ignis probably wished they worried more, but considering he stood while the Regalia was moving, it was a lost cause.

[chefbayardee]

Hunk whooped out a quick "Yes!" before standing up from the driver's seat, pulling out his combat fork, and using it to close and prep everything around the car. A fork is basically a giant hand, after all. He looks to Prompto to make sure he's comfortable, and then he sees it.

"Seatbelt, Prompto!" The words are sing-songy, like a parent gently chiding a child. One hand revs the engine, and he just turns his head to stare back at his friend. "You're the, uh... the test drive for that thing. Seatbelt." The staring continues. Hunk is too neurotic and sober for risky behavior!

"And where do you wanna go? I was thinking the park, but since this thing hovers," he chuckles, "we don't have to worry about stuff like curbs."

[chocobosnap]

He groaned a little. "You're worse than Iggy." Prompto complained, but he did comply since it was Hunk's ride and not his.

He wasn't terribly worried about being the test drive, and hopefully hover meant still low to the ground.

He wasn't great with heights.

"I think..." He breathed, considering it a moment. "Anywhere but here."

For just a moment of reckless escape, that was good, wasn't it?

[chefbayardee]

The complaint got little more than a laugh- Hunk was used to being the voice of reason, even for people who weren't on his team. But the moment he heard that click and the noncommittal response, the engines flared and off they went.

As it turned out, Hunk was looking for a chance to let loose too. There weren't exactly laws about proper use of ancient hi-tech hovercrafts, so as soon as they rounded a corner they started going fast... at least down a single, longer road for a minute. Twists and turns further down meant it was too dangerous for Hunk's blood, so he started to slow down to "safe" speeds. The whole thing hovered a good two feet off the ground, so they didn't even have to worry about potholes or speed bumps or anything.

"Doing alright back there?" Hunk shouts the words, unwilling to look back because eyes on the road, man even as they pulled into the Curti Center's park. The hovering meant they could even avoid the flowers, and it let the speeder glide to a smooth stop near a large, bubbling fountain. This time, he's actually willing to look back.

"How, uh... how you feeling now?"

[shinra_dog]

Reno lay a supportive hand on Ignis' wrist and gave a small squeeze. Yes, he was touchy. "Hey -- three worlds later, it doesn't really get much easier. It's okay. Time is weird. That much I've accepted."

He finished his drink, though it certainly wouldn't be his last.

"Stuff like that seems to come out in places like this. But you've got a good crew. Just stay together an' you'll be able to handle it."

[shinra_dog]

"What reaction to death is ever good?" Reno asked sincerely. Going to a bar and drinking away the feelings wasn't the best coping, either, but here they were doing it. He shook his head again.

"That doesn't make you lesser 'n anyone else." Reno had a feeling this was going to be a repeated conversation for Prompto, but he was willing to do it.