Open Bar

[unheiring]

[Luca has spent a few days grappling with the concept of death. Again.

He didn't know Vash, but he knew people that knew him. Ain and Livio, two people Luca would call friends, cared for him. And Joshua, who had already lost so much, had loved Dion.

It's hard to deal with. Hard to swallow. And though Luca has made so much progress on himself, he still doesn't know how to handle grief like this.

So he does the only thing he can think to do.]

Free drinks. All month.
Food too.
... We shouldn't be alone right now.
Again.

Comments

[cryopathy]

["alright" is not exactly an ideal answer, but at least it isn't "horrible" or something of the sort. kiera rolls their shoulders in a show of working out tension, hoping verso follows suit.]

"Dark and personal" might be better left for another time, then. How about something a little less charged? What do you do for fun?

[notthislife]

If you're sure. [He absolutely isn't going to argue that. Instead, a smirk spreads over his lips.]

Did you miss the part about drinking alone? [He tilts his head back, staring up at the ceiling as he thinks.] Let's see... There is all the fights Monoco and I get into. Usually against things we have no business fighting. He usually drags my corpse to safety when it all goes to shit.

[cryopathy]

Hah. You're in good company, there.

[their brows raise, but the look they give verso is quite flat.]

Your corpse. Here, I thought I was one for dramatics.

[notthislife]

No dramatics here, I'm afraid. [He laughs, deep and delighted.] Aside from the white hair issue, I also found myself frightfully immortal. I've been cut in half, drowned, swallowed alive, and many other things.

And yet, here I am.

[cryopathy]

[for once, kiera doesn't have a smart remark or even an easy grin to respond with. in fact, the color drains slightly from their face.

their inability to keep it together is humiliating, even more so than verso's words are horrifying. they knock back the rest of their glass quickly and proceed to pour another.]

[notthislife]

[The immediate change in demeanor isn't lost on Verso. He downs his own glass of wine, before setting it aside. Only then does he heave his shoulders in a heavy shrug.]

It's not that bad, is it? I don't tend to scar unless I want to. And it makes for a hell of a good story, when someone doesn't get too upset about it.

[cryopathy]

[maybe they're overreacting. maybe verso isn't like luca -- and it isn't as if kiera can just go spouting luca's darkest secrets to what amounts to a near stranger.

they take a swig from their new glass before unruffling their own feathers, as it were.]

I don't suppose you're this way by choice?

[notthislife]

[Ah, there it is. His expression shutters, while his gaze drops to the table. He contemplates whether or not it's easier to lie, and if they'll see through it if he even tries. In the decades of his life, however, he's often found that the easiest lies to maintain are those rooted in truth.]

No. Never is, is it? [He shrugs his shoulders loosely.] But... back home I was close to being able to put an end to it. And after that, I'll be able to grow into the old man you've already teased me for being.

[Monoco's voice echoes incessantly within his head. He who guards truth with lies.]

[cryopathy]

[their grip on the glass tightens, perhaps just short of cracking it when verso says put an end to it. but he continues, and whether or not kiera truly believes the lie, it works to ease their tension. they, too, can lie, by way of forcing that relaxed smile back onto their face.]

Once again, I must remind you that you invited the teasing upon yourself.

[notthislife]

[Whether she believes it or not doesn't really matter. The fact that it eases the tension enough for her to continue.]

What can I say? I have a masochistic streak.

[cryopathy]

[they quirk a brow, particularly at his left eye.]

That much is obvious, Ser Wants A Big Scar.

[notthislife]

[They really just keep hitting each other's weak points, don't they? Verso does his best not to wince, but there's definitely a moment where his brows tighten together.]

Oh, that? [He forces a grin.] It draws my suitors. Who doesn't like the tortured looking ones?

[cryopathy]

[they're likely treading dangerous waters yet again, but kiera decides that if verso didn't want to talk about it, he shouldn't have just mentioned an ability to heal his own scars.]

I don't believe I should enable your vanity by agreeing with you...

[notthislife]

[It's fine. This is fine. Verso is used to treating this like a joke, at least.]

Really? But I do so love preening. It's one of my favorite hobbies, in fact.

[cryopathy]

[a quirked brow.]

Then you, ser, have competition.

[notthislife]

[Just grinning away.]

From you? Oh, I certainly? never would have guessed that.