melodiesofeternity | Raise a Glass [OPEN]

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Raise a Glass [OPEN]

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!]

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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.

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.

"It's good." He reassures Hunk, even though he might not eat it if he was sober. It wasn't Hunk's doing, he just tended to watch what he was eating and after all the beer he drank, he wouldn't have eaten anything.

But, he wasn't, and he was hungry and Hunk made him food. "You're the best."

He hadn't been paying attention too much to the cost of things either. It had been a strange night.

"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.

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."

"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.

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.

"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...

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.

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."

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?

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?"

The fact Hunk didn't turn around made him a much better driver than Prompto, who's best friend was too much of a distraction.

"I'm fine." He called when asked.

The hoverbike came to a stop and he leaned on the edge. Two feet off the ground wasn't particularly scary, so he didn't feel the fear he did in the airships.

"Alright, I guess. Still kinda...well nevermind." Prompto shook his head.

Prompto said he was fine, but Hunk got him to endorse a joyride through the Curti streets. It's clear he's not fine, especially with how talkative he isn't being. So the Gourmand looks decidedly unconvinced.

"Still kinda what?" Now Hunk just stares. You're on the spot now, Prompto. You shouldn't have kept talking, but... Drunk people make Mistakes. "Should I keep driving? Or do you wanna talk about it? If-" He startles himself a bit. "If you want to. No pressure!"

But it seems like he wants to talk about something.

The joyride was fun though and he thoroughly enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite enough to shake his headspace back into order.

He sighed a little and rested his chin on his hand.

"Bad things happened to me, you know? I mean before the really bad stuff did. And I never- well I try not to let it bother me, but this. I can't shake it. I'm not crying again, you can't make me." He pointed at Hunk accusingly.

Likely, that made very little sense, because he was babbling drunkenly.

"I want to be like I was before I got captured."

Hunk didn't have to know what Prompto was talking about to know that he'd been through something rough. He was captured, some bad stuff and some really bad stuff happened, and he doesn't want to cry about it. Asking about it would make him cry.

"Y'know, one of my friends back home got captured by the enemy." Not going to say he's talking about Shiro, just to save them both a potentially unwanted conversation. "They... they weren't the same when they came back, either." The physical and emotional scars, the entire missing arm.

"I wish I knew what they would tell you, but I don't." He sighs, part of him wanting to cry himself just for seeing Prompto like this. "What I can say..." Hunk pauses again, silently building up his mental fortitude. "...is that the Prompto I met the day we all got here is a great guy. He's funny and kind and he helped me and the bad stuff he went through back home doesn't change that."

But then he falls silent, because he's got no idea if he just made everything worse, or if he should've even said that, or...

Prompto was quiet a moment, listening and he tilted his head, looking at Hunk. Then he offered a little smile.

"That's what happened. I got captured by the enemy and everything he did was worse the longer I was there. And-And when we met I was still kinda-" He laughed a little nervously.

"It wasn't long after that. I haven't been great since being here. Like in my head, you know? And seeing it all again, and getting interrogated, it was too much. Sometimes for me it's too much." He was babbling again, honestly. He had been left with deep emotional scars, even though the physical ones had been healed.

"That's...pretty good though. I um-" He blushed slightly. "Thanks. That's nice. To say, I mean-" He let out a slightly frustrated groan. "Why am I so awkward?"

"I'm glad I could help. I was trying to and-and yeah I'm not always good with people. Like at all."

"What?!" Hunk's tone shifts to accusatory, and he levels a glare at his friend. "You're not awkward! You're drunk and stressed and dealing with some crazy stuff. There's an entire bar doing pretty much the same thing!" Then he throws his hands into the air and a moment later starts gesturing in the direction of the bar. For emphasis.

"You're... you're doing just fine. There's no right way to do any of this. We're in a whole different dimension! I've gone into another dimension and there aren't really rules for this." He's rambling. Hunk has no idea what he's saying anymore. He doesn't know what to say to Prompto to make the bad stuff go away, and he can't just throw him at Shiro because what if Shiro's not okay with that, and, and...

"Do you want a hug?" Hunk wants a hug, honestly, so he's projecting kind of a lot.

He had a giggle bubbling up in his throat. "Nah, that's just me. I'm a mess." He waved his hand but shrugged slightly.

"Yeah. No rules. I get that. This place is...something else. I don't know what to make of it, like?"

Prompto knew he didn't make a lot of sense but he looked surprised at Hunk's offer, because that was outside the usual for him. People didn't offer to hug him. His friends did sometimes, but they were more about fistbumps than anything.

He nodded slightly. "Yeah, okay."

A hug would feel pretty nice, he thought.

If Prompto's a mess, then what does that make Hunk?! A bigger, laser-powered ridiculous mess, that's what. So there's no way Prompto's a mess. There'd be no hope for the rest of the world.

"All right!" Hunk lets out a surprisingly enthused whoop for someone stone-cold sober, and scrambles out of the driver's seat. A moment later, he's moved far faster than he has any right to towards Prompto and his arms are out wide at his side. He nods, as if telling Prompto to prepare himself, before wrapping his arms around his stressed out buddy.

He's careful not to give too strong a hug, since he's not sure if Prompto's gonna get, like, sick or something, but Hunk's still putting in enough strength to start lifting the guy off the ground. The perils of rolling a 16 on a hug. But the worst part is that since Hunk can tell his buddy's in a bad spot, he's... not gonna let go. Not until he hears it's okay.

It seems like Prompto could use a really big hug right now.

Prompto was mildly alarmed by the enthusiasm placed in the hug. He wasn't fortunate enough to get many hugs, and he interacted with his friends mainly in fistbumps and gentle punches and things of that nature.

He relaxed however and slid his arms around Hunk, giving a little squeeze in return. When he felt his feet coming off the ground he laughed and squeaked a little.

"Astrals!" He chuckled. "I'm not that short I swear!"

He was, sadly, the shortest of their group. Anytime that growth spurt could happen would be great.

Hunk just starts laughing, because he's taller than all his friends back home except for Shiro. He doesn't care for a second how short you aren't, Prompto. He does care that his pal felt the need to call out that he wasn't that short- was the hug making him uncomfortable? That'd be terrible! So he doesn't let go quite yet, but he does loosen up a bit.

Maybe then Prompto's feet will hit the ground?

"Are... are you feeling any better?" Hunk sounds a bit uncertain as he asks the question, but he had to ask anyway. Hugs make people feel better, right? He really wanted Prompto to feel better...

At least his feet are on the ground at last, and he's laughing because it was just ridiculous.

He was smiling, fondly at Hunk.

Did he feel better?

He definitely did. He tilted his head slightly. "Yeah. A little better. Thanks."

Prompto raised his hand and pat his shoulder gently. "It's nice of you to hug me."

"It's no big deal." Hunk knows full well he will hug almost anyone with minimal provocation. In fact... "If you need another hug sometime, just let me know. I don't mind. 'Bout as hard to do as stretch my arms." The shoulder pat was nice, and he was pretty glad he could help his pal out, even if his night's only a little better.

"Do... do you need anything else? Wanna head back, or we could just hang out here for a while...?" Really, Prompto's the captain of this expedition into hugs and melancholy, and Hunk's along for the ride. Except for the part where he's driving the car, but... y'know.

"I'll try." Prompto answered, because honestly, he had a hard time asking for the things he needed. He smiled, he just wasn't sure how to react. It was good though.

At the question he looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. By the grace of the Astrals Prompto wasn't driving, but Hunk did not need to know how terrible a driver he was, he was just easily distracted.

"You know...can we just hang out here for awhile?"

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chefbayardee - 2018-08-18 22:41 (UTC) - Expand

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