its a blacked out blur but i'm pretty sure it rocked

[iustitiae]

Who: Connor & Some Party People. (Johnny Storm, Jack Benjamin, Cashmere - all separately although that sounds like a great party to be honest)
What: Connor offered drinks to people and now the time has come
Where: Delight's Bar
When: Various times between mid-October and now.
Warnings: Drinking to various ends. Will update as necessary.



Johnny Storm - October 10th

[ok so maybe hitting on someone as the first thing he did after getting to hadriel (okay, not first thing first there were the dragons) was maybe not the BEST idea Connor had ever had, but he really does feel like this was the good way of dealing with things that he was one hundred percent here for. and this guy was pretty cute so they can flirt a little bit, drink a little bit, forget dragons and if worse comes to worst johnny was apparently impervious to flame.

so it's a win-win all around, right?

he orders himself one very well deserved vodka and then waits for johnny to show up. when he does:]

You look even better in person.

Jack Benjamin - some time late October

[jack and connor had discussed some preferred coping methods and vodka, the real star of this show, was pretty high up on the list. being here was bad enough. finding that stupid photograph that belonged to uryuu was bad enough. he's been sitting on those feelings, trying not to acknowledge them, trying not to think about how much everything at home was completely messed up, and he finally decides to send jack a message to actually hang out.

vodka. vodka was absolutely a great idea. and if he gets started without jack, well, he's just that much closer to being wasted. and that sounds like its on everyone's agenda tonight.]

Does it ever get easier? Being here?

Cashmere - early November

[the parties were great and all but they were decidedly not alcohol. and in the mess of all these extra phoneless newcomers, connor decides he needs time away from it. he owed cashmere a drinking outing. he texts her and shows up at the appropriate time to the bar.]

Thoughts on all the new comers?

[when she gets there the first thing he launches into is absolutely gossip. they've got a lot of ground with everything that's happening.]

Comments

[benumbing]

In its own way.

[Jack isn't soft. He really doesn't know how to comfort someone, not when all that he knows of it came from a bottle much like the one(s) sitting in front of them. He tosses the rest of his shot back, smiling grimly as he goes for a refill.]

You'll become convinced that life where you came from was much easier, if you're not already. [But when he's not being chased by zombies or dragons, Jack knows that's a lie.] You'll mourn your old life, grieve for it until you finally reach acceptance. And then, you'll live.

[Vodka philosophy.]

[fulminants]

[ See, being in the whole murder cave thing is a trip and a half, especially with all the monsters and the latest iteration of dragons -- it's not boring, not really; but sometimes you just need a drink or two to take the edge off, you know? Johnny's pretty good with the adapting and living in the moment, his impetuous nature leading him to new things, new people, new experiences.

Connor is one of them; a shamelessly flirtatious kind of person much like Johnny himself, and he takes to the guy well enough, even if his thing is usually the ladies (but hell, he has eyes and a sense of aesthetics and Connor is an incredibly attractive human being). It can't hurt to have a couple of drinks, flirt right back, and have a good time at a bar with another person, right?

He orders himself a drink, too, clinking it briefly against Connor's glass as he drains it with a boyishly cheeky grin. ] So do you. The device's little camera doesn't do you justice.

[iustitiae]

[connor doesn't know how to comfort people, either. it's alright. he's not looking for comfort, really, at least not from jack. he laughs, short and bitter at what he says about thinking life was easier back home. that didn't seem likely.]

Maybe both situations are just fucked up.

[iustitiae]

[Connor smiles. He's not shy about his looks, usually preens under attention. They're the only kind of compliments he's gotten good about taking. The other kinds all seem more difficult some how.

But that was part of what was so great about flirting - it was the easy kind of banter that wasn't difficult to accept. it was fun. it was decidedly not dragons.]

Then it's a good thing we decided to take some time to see for ourselves.

[he winks and then polishes off his glass. one good turn deserves another, after all.]

[64th]

[ Cashmere tilts her head to one side, considering his question a moment before she answers. ] I don't trust it. I don't know what the gods are actually up to, but they're either fuck ups or this is a trial run at something.

As for the actual people, there doesn't seem to be a pattern to them. Some of them know people here, some of them don't. Being dropped here knowing no one and with no phone? Can't be great.

[iustitiae]

Right? The best shit happens on the network, the day to day is kind of boring when you're not being chased by dragons or whatever.

[he waves his hand dismissively]

Not that I'm asking for dragons, but they're not big on emotional balance here. Boredom one day panic the next and now this whole party thing. My money is on they fucked this one up. First we got people's random stuff from home and then we got random people.

[64th]

And it keeps them isolated from each other and from us. [ which makes it start to sound a lot like home. ]

You think they'll fix it by killing them all or - something? Guess you might get your dragon. [ please no dragons. ] Honestly, I liked the stuff much better than the people.

[iustitiae]

Killing them? Why is that the first option? [really tho dang] Wouldn't they come back? Maybe they'll just get kicked back out through the Door or whatever.

Update on the stuff, though, it wasn't porn. Not that that makes my find any better. Did you find something good?

[64th]

[ wow thanks for calling attention to fact that she immediately jumps to the most horrible outcome. that's gonna need some self-reflection later. ] They probably would come back. But I can see Hope saying, oh, you humans don't like that? how were we supposed to know?

Not porn is kind of a relief but at the same time not. I didn't find anything belong to someone else but I did find a very large, nicely framed portrait of my brother and me as babies. Just like the one in my parents house.

[benumbing]

You're probably right. I wonder if it's true for everyone.

[The possibility of that seems high now that Jack thinks about it. After filling his own glass, he leans over to top off Connor's too.]

You'll be okay. I'll do what I can. [Jack smiles, the drink pausing on its way back up.] Men like you are hard to find around here. I wouldn't want to lose one.

[iustitiae]

[anytime he's here to help] I'd rather come back then...not.

The owner wasn't some kind of creepy axe murderer or anything, at least. [ha ha ha fuck] Congrats on the non-crazy find.

[iustitiae]

What, like they only bring messed up people to eat their emotions better? I wouldn't put it past them. Can't have hope in a place this bad if you didn't come from a worse one.

[more alcohol though excellent.]

That's kind of you. People here are...weirdly good about that. [way nicer than back home at least]

[64th]

Coming back is okay. I have a bald spot now. [ SHE IS STILL SO PISSED ABOUT IT. FUCK THAT HOPE GUY. ]

I don't think there was any way I was going to find something crazier than you found. [ although... ] But a giant picture of myself is creepy in it's own way. Of all the stuff to come here. Did anything of yours show up?

[iustitiae]

Don't worry, your hair is still nice.

Yeah, I can see that. It's an oddly specific thing to bring in. [he shakes his head and takes a drink] Nothing that I found, at least. If you find some random law book in a tree months from now that's probably mine.

[64th]

[ she smiles. she does have lovely hair. ]

Some good it would do you here, huh? [ a pause while she sips at her own drink. ] I guess it's probably heavy. You could throw it at someone.

[iustitiae]

[connor laughs]

There we go, my own special kind of weapon. "The power of torts compels you..."

[64th]

I don't even know what torts are and I'm terrified. People better watch out for you and your heavy books.

[ but, back on the gossip: ] No one from your home showed up, right?

[iustitiae]

Nah, no one from my home. Although this blind lawyer from a world with places kind of like mine but with superheroes showed up and now he's sleeping on my couch.

[ensofar as the couch is indeed his. claiming ownership of his stuff in hadriel thats a bad sign]

Why? Did you get a long lost boyfriend?

[64th]

Letting the blind guy sleep on the couch, that's generous. [ she's teasing. it is a whole lot nicer than leaving him to roam the city and get eaten. ]

No, but now I'm going to get my hopes up again. I looked for people but -- no one. It's been a long time since anyone I knew was here.

[iustitiae]

Did I mention the blind guy is really hot?

[#ulteriormotives #connorNO]

Better for them in the long run not to be in cave-hell, right? Who was here before?

[64th]

Wait - hold on. Then why is he on your couch? [ come on, Connor.

she hesitates and then nods in agreement. there are people she thinks might be alright here, because like her it would be better than what's waiting at home. but overall? they're better off. ] The girl who killed me. It wasn't personal, or so I've been told.

[iustitiae]

Because I'm a nice guy and he needed a place to stay. The hotness is irrelevant, although beneficial.

[i mean its not like hes sleeping with the guy come on

hold up wait that other thing she said was way more important. he downs his drunk because every conversation about murder makes him want to die and then]

You were killed?

[64th]

[ oh yeah did she forget to mention that earlier? hello my name is Cashmere and I was murdered on national television? 10/24, parents very unimpressed. ]

Mmmhmm. With an axe. [ somehow that sounds even more horrible without the backstory??? ] It's okay, I wanted to die. Just didn't want her to be the one that did it.

[ she glances at Connor, realizes that she has provided some very fucked up sparse details and maybe she shouldn't just let him keep imagining how horrible it gets. ] You don't have to hear the whole story. It's not a nice story.

[iustitiae]

Okay, we're going to need more alcohol.

[he grabs the bottle and pours them both out some more, and proceeds to drink most of what he pours.]

So you got literally axe-murdered. That's fucking horrifying. [he doesn't have to imagine what gruesome murder looks like. he can still see sam keatings body every time he goes to sleep.] Why did you want to die?

[64th]

[ she raises her glass in a toast and downs some of it. ]

Because my brother was dead and I knew I would never be able to live without him. [ she says it in the same tone that one might say the sky is blue. it is just a fact to her. ] We knew we weren't going to make it. Not together. We'd already decided if we couldn't both walk out of the arena then neither one of us wanted to.

It was just one thrown axe to the chest, if that makes you feel better. Still all in one piece. I probably drowned.