over a drink

[oneholysock]

The OVER A DRINK Meme

1. Post with your character.

2. You're at a bar. What kind of bar? Any kind you want. From fantasy taverns where various species mingle to futuristic space bars where half the drinks will probably kill you, or even an overly kitsch themed place where everything is overpriced, it's all good as long as there are drinks and company.

3. Respond to other characters. Perhaps you want to buy them a drink. Or perhaps you're inclined to be bought a drink. Maybe you saw someone you knew, or maybe you just want someone to talk to. Could be there's nowhere else to sit, and could be you want to drag them out to dance.

4. Get drunk. Or don't! Be the guest, or the bartender, or the newcomer, or even the janitor. Mingle, make friends, or lurk in a corner.

5. They say alcohol lowers one's inhibitions. Might just be time to find out how much.

Comments

rook (dragon age the veilguard )

[chessmate]

[ open to THE all, mostly voicetesting; bare bones info here ]

[spiteandcoffee]

[ The preparations for Caterina's funeral are not what he would have hoped to bring them both back to Treviso. But as a Crow? You learn swiftly that death doesn't stop anyone else's life from moving forward. Massacre a Venatori hideout, and their families and friends will rise the following morning, buy food, pay bills, and carry on with varying degrees of reaction to the news.

Caterina is gone. There's only him and Illario left, now, though the idiot is acting alarmingly cavalier about it. But the world spins on. Likely it will continue to do so unless the worst should happen and their mission should fail. So there are the mundane matters to deal with, and Teia to assist. Rook is there, too. That...that he is grateful for, in ways he doesn't quite know how to express. The usual methods seem less than adequate.

So instead of coffee, he brings around a bottle and two glasses when he sees Rook lingering in the dining area. One eyebrow lifts, as he tilts his head towards the table. ]

Join me, a moment?

[chessmate]

[This isn't what a Crow funeral is like, Teia tells her earlier that evening while passing her one shot of some clear coloured liquor that don't worry, Viago didn't make this one. This is just preparations for one - Crows meeting to share a moment of silence, share a drink, share a story about the imposing old lady who was their First Talon.

Rook has come because Lucanis asked. Because she understands that it isn't habitual for an Antivan Crow to ask for favours. Someone - maybe Viago, earlier - told Rook that there are three types of people for Crows: family, enemies, contracts.

She knows that Lucanis joined the team to fulfill a contract, but she's seen him give a shit about every single one of the weirdoes of her tagtag team in simple, meaningful ways, that she hopes they maybe fit into the first category.

And selfishly here, if not all of them, then her.

The ouzo from Teia is still burning in her stomach, but she's been keeping to the sidelines, watching the others act around each other, act around this monumental loss, act. She keeps looking at Illario, because there's something there that...

But nevermind. She's not going to poison anyone against their family (Viago's job) at this celebration, just because she has a few gut feelings.

They've taken an Eluvian to Treviso, just the two of them, and they'll go back the same way - so really, Rook is waiting for whenever that time comes. She doesn't expect Lucanis to come get her with a bottle of wine, but doesn't hesitate to answer. ]

Sure - you can ask for longer than just the moment, you know...

[spiteandcoffee]

[ A crease appears in his brow. ]

Ah. Figure of speech.

[ Normally, he would have waited until they were back at the Lighthouse anyway. But there's a need to show face here at least a little while longer...especially since Illario seems to have vanished, only minutes ago.

Clearly, all this was affecting him more than Lucanis had initially given credit to. Then again, their relationship to Caterina had always been a somewhat strained one, given the circumstances. ]

[chessmate]

[ A tiny smile here, like something she can't help and can't manage hiding. ]

Alright, the my answer still stands. It's...not as strong as the stuff Teia gave me, though, is it?

[ under her breath, ] Don't want to crawl back to the Lighthouse on all fours.

[spiteandcoffee]

As long as Viago isn't the one handing you the drinks, I think you'll be fine.

[ Sinking into one of the plush armchairs surrounding the table, he uncorks the bottle. It's an Antivan red, predictably, fortified and sweet. Not something to down glass after glass of, but pleasant enough to the taste.

The goblets are small enough that about three-fourths of the way up? Proves the perfect amount. ]

She quite likes you, I think.

[chessmate]

The feeling is mutual. [ She takes the goblet, holding it up for a toast - a clinking of glasses that filthy rich humans love to perform - adding, ] And don't tell him, I don't think we could survive his ego, but I like Viago, too.

[ She has no firm opinion about Illario, at least none that Lucanis would want to hear. Why share that she found him slippery even when she took the contract to find Lucanis in the Ossuary, though maybe it didn't mean something. Maybe it was just grief and anger manifesting differently. ]

So...are we colleagues? [ He asked Teia not to flirt with her, and Rook is still amused by that. ]

[spiteandcoffee]

[ He lifts his own glass in silent salute before taking a slow sip. A good thing too, as he avoids sputtering on her next question. Barely.

Ah. A faint crease appears in his brow ]

Are we not?

[ He thinks of the word he almost used -- friend -- but Crows didn't have friends. Too many looks, too many questions for a word like that, even if he feels Teia would have let it slide. ]

[chessmate]

[ She takes a sip, and it's something else. Good wine, with the bittersweetness of this event. She lets it warm its way down her throat, her gaze darting towards the Crow sat across from her now. ]

Sure we are. Colleagues. Compadres. [ An artifact she recovered for the Veil Jumpers had been somewhat of a thesaurus for other languages. Ironically, any living language of the time, the little thing had been able to pick up. So Rook knows the word for really tight colleagues in Antivan.

There's a small pause, and a bit like the halla herders approaching an animal easily spooked, she tries with: ] But maybe also friends?

[spiteandcoffee]

Mm.

[ It's reassurance that's difficult to give, here of all places. But Rook is trying, in that way she always seems to, knowing just what to say to the team to support and encourage them.

Perhaps the answer is not always the right one, but she is there all the same. That means a great deal more than one simple term can ever encapsulate, and it is perhaps the reason he feels compelled to follow her beyond the dictates of the contract. But saying that seems a bit much. Perhaps it's the wine. ]

That wouldn't stop Teia. Trust me.

[ There's some small measure of wry amusement in his eyes, as he takes another slow drink. ]

[chessmate]

[ There's a lot of unspoken things in that mm, knowing what Rook knows about the Crows, and also about Lucanis. He might be there, or close to there emotionally, but he's not ready to fit one more category into his social structure. Family, enemies, contracts.

She's going to fit herself in there. Straight lines, barrel through all defences, protect the key pieces - like a rook would, in chess.

She takes a more generous sip of wine to try and hide the pleased smile at the corner of her lips; it doesn't hide it. It's really good wine.

And then he comments about Teia, and she inhales half the sip and chokes - indiscreetly. Lets out a laugh, clears her throat. ]

Don't say that, I don't think I'm ready to hide from the Master of Poisons of the Antivan Crows - I barely even passed the basic antidote class. [ There was never such a thing with Veil Jumpers, but maybe the Crows had it? ]

[spiteandcoffee]

[ Of course the Crows had it. Usually before they ever took a poisons class, if they were smart. ]

You wouldn't be the first. There are few as dangerously charming as she, and she is fearless in her pursuits.

[ Not that he sounds judging, in the least. Teia knows who she is, how she wishes to live, and it is worth admiring about the woman. And Rook seems very much the same, unapologetic in her way and ever striding forward. It's not hard to see where the two would have enough common to get along. ]

[chessmate]

[ She tends to move in straight lines had been Varric's exact joke, and she's learned to appreciate it as the truth it is. Rook does move in straight lines, and if there is nowhere for her to make her way through, she'll create it. It's served her well so far, as unwitting leader of the god-killing squad.

Maybe it's the wine, acting past, but her smile feels smooth and the line just comes out; direct, and unapologetic. ] I appreciate her for it, but sadly Teia isn't the Crow I'm interested in.

[ It's definitely the wine. She makes eye contact as she says it, until her brain catches up with her mouth and she realises she's basically admitted she's interested in Lucanis. To Lucanis. Her eyes widen for a fraction at the epiphany, and a little blush creeps up her neck to her cheeks.

She clears her throat lightly, and looks away. ]