"-With the sudden onset of severe weather conditions and road icing expected, drivers are advised to stay off the roads."Python groans at the television mounted on the wall- it's not a shock, but he'd been trying to be an optimist for once in his damn life. He shouldn't have even come to work, but he and Forsyth are short on their rent this month, and the need for money had trumped common sense. It looks like he'll be paying for that by sleeping at the bar tonight. All but a couple die-hard regulars are absent- they had the sense to stay home, he supposes- but the dour-faced redhead he sometimes flirts with when he's bored is planted in his usual stool at the end of the bar and nursing his usual drink. Grabbing a rack of clean glassware and a towel, he walks over to where the man is sitting, intent on some company aside from the freezing draft leaking in from the front door."Hey," he starts, plunking the rack down onto the bar and picking up a dripping highball glass. "You got any way to get home? Ain't gonna be any ubers out tonight." After a moment of consideration, he reaches beneath the bar, producing a bottle of cheap whiskey and pouring himself a glass before returning to his drying. "The owner told us earlier that if anybody was stuck here they can stay the night- liability, you know. Doesn't want to be responsible for anybody driving drunk on the ice." Raising both an eyebrow and the glass of whiskey, he quips, "This at least oughta make the night go faster."
[sent - 11:17 AM] You did not do anything embarrassing last night..I promise.
Zeke enjoyed going out to the bars with Shinon on occasion, both because he had a pretty good idea of which bars had the best deals on which nights, and because Zeke knew Shinon well enough to worry about his drinking habits when he was unsupervised. At least when he accompanied him once every month or so, he could ensure that Shinon would not drink himself to death, or wind up spending the night in jail. Of course, there were always some nights that he would come dangerously close.
[sent - 11:20 AM] Maybe you drink because you want to forget about a part or all of yourself…….but at the center you are noble and brave….you can never hide that part of who you are. Do not.
It had been the end of a long week, and Zeke had felt weaker than usual. His legs trembled with even his simplest exercises, so when the weekend arrived, he considered staying holed up at home with Tatiana. Except Tatiana had to work late, and being home alone was far more unpleasant to him than beating down his pride and using his wheelchair in public (Tatiana always said there was no shame in it, after all, but Zeke struggled to convince himself of the same). So that’s what he did, albeit reluctantly, and met up with Shinon.
They had arrived at one of the clubs downtown at the start of its Happy Hour, before the crowd really started proliferating, and secured a place near the bar. However, groups soon flooded the tiny place - a sudden boom in business that the exhausted looks of the wait staff revealed to be a complete surprise - and one large man with red, sweaty face stumbled over Zeke as he tried to squeeze between the tables and chairs, sloshing a quarter of his drink into his lap.
“Watch it,” he slurred, his beady eyes dropping downward. He spat the next word with a lopsided grin, “… cripple.”
Zeke watched him turn and lumber toward the bar as he brushed the droplets of beer from his shirt. Three more times throughout the course of the night, the man tried to squeeze past Zeke (even after Zeke had deliberately moved out of his path) simply to kick his wheels. Perhaps he should have stayed home, he found himself thinking, but on the fourth pass, the tabletop vibrated as Shinon slammed his tankard down.
[sent - 11:22 AM] Maybe you are sore this morning…….you probably do not remember why… but
[sent - 11:22 AM] Thank you Shinon
[sent - 11:23 AM] I hope the hangover is not too bad.
Gaius sighed, hiding away in his room with shame. It felt silly spilling his guts over such a little issue, but it still bothered him. He hit Send.
[Sent 9:29 PM] Sry I culdnt help Buttercup out w her hw 2day. Im ok w math but words r hard most of the time. IDKy. Sumtims idk how i got as far as I did wen im such a dumfuk. I bet shes embarased 2 hav me as a parent wen I red an spell abot as gud as a 2yo. Hopfuly she lerns frum my misteaks an dosnt drop poutta scool like her olt man. Ne-ways i mad lasang 4 diner 2nite. It’s in the fridge for wen u get home. Help urself.
OOC Jakob and I are both, in a way, baristas! (˶′◡‵˶) He’s more of a connoisseur than I am when it comes to coffee and teas, but I’ve been training for almost 4 years now.
Setsuna laughed softly, taking his hands with her own. “Thank you, Shinon. It’s very sweet of you. I wouldn’t want you doing something like that over someone like me though. I’m sure there’s something much more productive you could spend your time doing.”
A noble turned street rat. A life much removed from the one he’d once known. Thieving was rarely so profitable as to make up for the spoiled, pampered life he’d been made to leave behind. Most days, though, Matthew didn’t mind. Most days he made do, and he had always cared little for extravagance besides. Most days his hands were deft, his feet nimble, his person akin to a wraith ghosting the streets. He caught coins and tidbits of information alike, no sweat.
Save that today, he’d forgotten himself. He’d gotten clumsy whilst he flitted from shadow to shadow. He’d picked the wrong target. Said target was now animatedly telling him so in none too gentle a tone - curiously, however, aside from catching Matthew in the act and dragging him aside, surprisingly little violence featured in the red head’s actions.
The boy almost wished the opposite. This ear lashing was positively dreadful, too much to bear. Yes, he had messed up, had missed his step. Yes, he would return what he’d pilfered - here’s your lame knife and lame money pouch, weren’t worth much anyway. And no, last but not least, he was not going to ‘change his tune,’ wasn’t going to give up what he did best.
The man didn’t seem to be particularly advocating for that last bit, though, which came as a welcome surprise. But then, with a frustrated mutter, the sniper whirled on Matthew and with no warning flicked him in the forehead. The youngster viciously recoiled, wrinkled his nose, and showed his teeth in obvious disdain as he bitterly massaged his head.
“And don’t be so sloppy, next time. You’ll lose a hand, or worse.”
The advice caught the young thief off guard, but only for a spot. His pride wounded, he bristled and, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest, he pointedly looked away.
“You won’t know it happened next time,” Matthew promised, mouth teased into a premature version of the trademark smirk he’d often be seen wearing down the road.
[[ I only got the one of these 🐣asks and got suddenly inspired upon finishing it to do another sooo… you get two, haha. under the cut.]]
8 years (…ish)
Nervously tugging at his collar - uncomfortable, stiff, annoying thing that it was - little Matthew stayed half hidden behind his mother, poking his face around her side just enough to see that his brothers were both still lying in wait. He retreated with all haste… albeit in vain, he soon learned as his mother pushed him forward.
Toward those damn vultures.
“Go play,” she coaxed.
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t wanna.” He glanced over his shoulder at his brothers. The one was rather amicable, a bit of a pushover, really. The other, the eldest, was a bully and a backstabber. A tattletale. The worst. “Don’t see why I ought,” Matthew elaborated, as though that would help things.
It didn’t.
Which was why he was standing here now, loudly counting as his brothers ran to hide. They’d wait for him to come find them… but he wouldn’t. The eldest would tell on him, inevitably, but that was a problem for the future. The boy was, at present, more preoccupied with a strangely shimmering arch of stone.
Had that always been there? He didn’t think so. He’d wandered these woods more times than he could count. Curiosity his better, he stepped through, hand leaving a light imprint on the stone as he went. The air on the other side tasted similar and yet distinctly different but otherwise everything appeared unchanged… everything save for the lone individual curled up at the base of a tree. He was working on something - an arrow?
Eyes narrowed with no small amount of suspicion, Matthew ventured forth. “You’re on our land,” he reproached, sounding very sure of himself - though in truth doubt niggled at the back of his mind, and he was no longer very sure at all. The man’s clothes were utterly foreign. Green… was he from Sacae? Where, then, was his horse? No matter. “Have you tribute to pay?”
He was pretty sure it didn’t quite work that way, but whatever. He was hungry, and so he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to wheedle something out of this guy. Maybe he’d even make his father proud - the man was the very definition of ‘opportunistic,’ after all. Still, somehow, Matthew doubted he would care.
Clair faltered, grimacing at the man when he denounced her speech.
“Well, I apologize if the way I speak is so offensive to you, but there’s no need to be so vulgar about it.” She gripped the reigns of her pegasus. Why did he insist on insulting her so?
With some struggling, she managed to mount the steed again. Her leg throbbed but it dulled with the weight off it now. As she got the mount moving again, she made a conscious decision to ensure they trotted close enough to clip Shinon with one of the wings, earning a huff from the horse. Sure, it was petty of her, but she felt satisfied nonetheless.
Gripping her lance, she glared down at him as she passed. She was almost seething.
“Of course I can wait for aid, I’m not as barbaric as you seem to be.” Wrinkling her nose, she added on. “The Deliverance is where soldiers are equal. And as such, you’re much more suited fighting then fretting over some lady you hardly know.”
The pegasus knight turned away then, breaking out of the trees and scanning the battlefield. “I’m sure you’d rather leave me for dead, regardless...” She muttered.
"Hey Knoll, it's- ah, it's been a while. Sorry 'bout that. How are you doing?"
"Oh. Shinon!" Knoll blinked. A little bit startled at suddenly being approached. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear and smiled. Just a little bit. "It's quite alright. I assume you're rather busy. I've been alright. I've mostly been keeping busy myself. What about you? Are you doing alright?"
