RYKER VOIGHT:
With his head lolled back, minutes pass. Long, quiet minutes filled with anything but silence; just his thoughts, glasses clinking, and the movement of sequin dresses. So, the fact that his eyes don’t immediately catch Theo’s is no surprise. To see Theo in there at all is a day he never could have foresaw… and that was telling. It spoke louder than Theo ever would. They were down in the dumps. Extremely so. And he was the perpetrator who put them in such a state. He can’t help it then. The groan slips out. Loud, obnoxiously so, as he rakes his hand through his hair one more time and down the back of his neck. It takes another two minutes for him to physically push himself off the cushion he’d left a deep butt imprint in and, slowly, stride his way over to the available spot next to Theo at the bar.
And while his entire body wants to just collapse onto the stool, he doesn’t. His movement is smooth, effortlessly as he claims the spot, straight backed and smiling; not a smile that quite reaches his eyes, but one that is more mournful. He knew how it felt to lose someone. It wasn’t a feeling he never wished to repeat. Which is part of the reason why he did what he did. But, it didn’t make this any easier. He snaps his fingers. “Just a water.” A command given in the direction of the bartender. He goes silent then. Chewing over his words. He’s never struggled with them so much. He can’t imagine even going near Gabriel at this rate. But then he doesn’t have to say anything. The bartender returns with the water and he pushes it closer to Theo with his knuckles. “Alcohol isn’t going to help.” Sure, it may dull anyone’s sense for a little while. But not forever.
.
To say that it was a rare sight to see Theo in such a place as this, would not be far from the truth. They rarely ventured outside of the Vetrova Mansion for anything other than books sourced from Behck’s Pages, or when Raven implored them to go to some sort of trendy cafe. Otherwise, they could often be found in their own room or in their personal laboratory. Hence, one could easily identify that something was truly wrong to find Theo examining the glass of bourbon that sat between their fingers as they worried bitterly over one of their closest friends. Theo had never truly had friends before joining the Angels, and once they had begun to collect them, they had treasured the ones that they had made. And Alexei was no exception to the cause. Especially since he often cheered Theo up on days where experiments seemed to go wrong.
Jolting out of their thoughts the moment someone familiar landed in the stool next to them, Theo weakly managed a smile as they took another small sip of the bourbon, wincing at the slight burn before jiggling it in their fingers, wishing desperately that all was not as it was. Finally placing the glass down upon the table, and placing their attention towards Ryker, they raised an eyebrow at the comments as they nodded, before picking up the water, taking a gulp before sighing at the thought of where Alexei could possibly be. What his fate was. If he was okay. If he was hurt. Would he be found? “Thanks.” They mumbled as they took another gulp of the water, not exactly sure what to say back to the other.

















