thefarshore | it's like a quarter life crisis

[Let's see, indeed! For now, he's content to drink easily and consider that answer. It sounds so cheery he wonders if it's forced, but it's not like he knows the guy.]

And that man at the door, was he your shinki? [That's what he's stuck on, eyeing Gojyo carefully over the cup he drinks from.]

[ He's a cheerful guy, don't look too far into it. ]

Him? [ Gojyo shoots a clear look of displeasure toward the door Asshole retreated through. ] Yeah, he was here when I showed up. Doesn't talk, doesn't eat... [ Doesn't drink, unlike his god. ] ...he's fuckin' creepy. Guess they tried to take his memories and took too much.

I suppose that could have been me, or any of the other shinki here.

[He looks down at his cup now, curious. That's the second one he's seen, and it's even more unsettling watching him go around like an errand boy. Maybe he's making some judgements... It's fine.]

This is nice wine. [He says after a moment, gesturing with the cup and a smile.] You're lucky after all.

[ There's judging happening, isn't there? Gojyo peers at Jae-Hae over the butt off his cigarette, then leans forward so his chair is solid on the floor again. ]

Look. [ The smoke trails up in front of his face, partially obscuring his expression. ] i don't like it any more than anyone else does. But I don't tell him to do shit. [ At least, not usually. ] Shinki without gods don't last long, so I can't send him away.

[ He takes another deep drag (thank fuck his ribs have finally healed enough to allow him to smoke!) and stabs the butt out in the ashtray at the edge of the table. ] If you've got a better idea I'd love to hear it.

[Ah, caught. Well, he wasn't being very subtle about it, was he?]

I didn't mean to insinuate that you were treating him poorly. [He lowers his cup for the moment so he can face Gojyo more directly.] Only that the ones who have stripped him from every bit of memory and freedom he has are the ugliest things I've heard of yet.

[In other words, just that he's touchy with this sort of thing. It's definitely a relief to hear that Gojyo isn't the type to just boss his soulless shinki around, though.] In a way, it's more of a weight on your shoulders, too, isn't it?

[ Oh. ...Well. Good. ]

I guess, [ --he shrugs, rolling his shoulders back and using the motion to rock his chair up on its back legs again, kicking one foot up onto the table to hold himself balanced. ] It's not a big deal though. He cleans this place all day every day, so he's more takin' care of me than the other way 'round.

[ He takes another swig of his wine, and glances at Jae-Ha out of the corner of his eye. ]

You're a shinki, aren't you?

That's even luckier, isn't it? He must care about you, beyond even his memory.

[He doesn't really think it's so deep, but he feels like saying it like this. He leans back in his chair, but he's still rather formal compared to Gojyo. Sitting up straight, one leg crossed over the other is the most casual he'll get as far as posture goes in a chair. But he sure is going through this wine without blinking.]

Ah, that's right! I'm the shinki who soars through the air. [Of course, he has to say it like this, as well.] So sadly I won't have any tales to share over our alcohol.

[ Asshole doesn't care about Gojyo. Asshole was put here by whoever brought Gojyo in as a reminder, or a warning: look what we can do. Look who we can find.

But he's happy to change the subject. ]

Soars...? You mean you can fly? No way!

That's right! With the strength in my legs, I can soar higher and further than you can imagine!

[It's not technically flying. It's jumping. But it is extreme jumping, so there's that.] That's how I came from my god's temple to here so quickly.

[ The strength in his... legs. Gojyo leans over to the side a bit so he can check out the legs in question. ...He doesn't see any wings? Or, like, rocket packs or anything? ]

What, you flap 'em or something?

Haha! No, no, I kick.

[In example, the leg that's currently crossed over his other stretches out, as if to imitate a kick now. Admire his leg, thanks. It looks completely normal with the boots and pants he's wearing. You'd never think it was green and scaly.]

By kicking the ground, I can soar for miles.

[ He will admire that leg, thanks! That totally normal-looking leg.

He's trying to picture what "kicking the ground and soaring" looks like, and his mental image is stuck on the idea of Jae-Ha lying on his back and striking his heel into the floor. It's not the most flattering mental image there, sorry bro. ]

Oh? I wanna see that! [ When they're not drinking, obviously. This is a drinking party, they're drinking, stupid feats of feet will come after they're properly drunk. ] I never knew anyone who could fly before!

I wouldn't mind showing you later. [ because who doesn't want to see his very graceful jumps?? He takes another drink with a wave of his hand, leaving his legs crossed for the time being. ]

For now, let's relax and enjoy ourselves! Don't hold back. [ With his own cup, he gestures at Gojyo's bottle. Drink more, he's saying, since he's going to be lasting longer now matter how many more sips he has. He's confident. ] Should we think of a drinking game? It's so hard to be social when I don't remember a thing about myself.

[ He's drinking, he's drinking! He doesn't need any encouragement on that front. ]

Most of the drinking games I know work best when there's girls. [ Or people who know their own histories -- you can't really play storytelling games with a guy who doesn't remember any of his own stories! And he doesn't have any darts, and cards really aren't fun with just two people (unless one of those people is Hakkai). Hmmm... Oh! ]

I got one!

[ He jumps up and heads to the sideboard, and the stack of cups there. ] I learned this one here, actually. [ He arranges the cups in a group at the end of the table, and half-fills each with wine. It takes a lot of wine. ] Usually they use this little white ball, but the cork'll work just as well.

[ How about some beer pong, Jae-Ha? ]

See, you try to toss the cork into one of the cups. If you make it, the other guy's got to drain that cup. [ Which isn't quite how the guys at the bar he'd observed played it, but close enough. ]

It's so tragic that any of the shops with beautiful women would only forget about us after a time, isn't it?

[ oh boy, normally he tosses throwing knives, not corks, but it's a good tell of his aim. He's pretty confident, here! So he uncrosses his legs and shifts to face this more directly. ]

That looks simple enough. Let's drain them all, shall we? Go ahead and start us off.

Edited (Accidental mobile leggie icon woops ) 2016-09-28 19:29 (UTC)

I hope you're thirsty!

[ The thing about throwing corks, okay, is that while they've got decent weight, they're also really thoroughly not aerodynamic. There's a trick to throwing them straight... and, perhaps more importantly, there's a trick to throwing them so the skinny end enters the cup. If they're spinning in flight, chances are they'll hit the rim and bounce onto the table, much like Gojyo's first attempt here does. Crap. ]

Crap.

[ Next one! He'll sink the next one, but for now... he hands Ja-Ha a cork (with the number of bottles he emptied to fill those cups, there's a whole pile of corks on the table now because it's more convenient that way.) ]

Think you can do better?

[He's always thirsty.

He's never thrown a cork in his life, but he can still pick one up and toy with it in his hand a bit before deciding how he's going to do this. Ultimately, in a show of what's far more luck than skill, he nails the rim of the cup first in just the right way to get it to bounce back inside of the cup.]

Oh. That shot wasn't beautiful at all, but it still went in. Drink up, Gojyo!

[ No, that wasn't beautiful. It was nothing but luck, but you can't be a gambler and not respect luck just as much as skill. Gojyo just laughs, shaking his head as he reaches into the mess of cups. He flicks the wet cork back down the table at (not at at) Jae-Ha, drains the cup in two long swallows, and showily upends it back in the middle of the rest. ]

Let's see you do that again!

[ It's only going to get harder! ]

[ This time when Jae-Ha tosses the cork, it's not nearly as lucky. Much like Gojyo's first attempt, it hits the rim and bounces back, not landing in any of the cups. Darn!! He laughs. This isn't a bad game at all... his luck wavers, but he'll get more and more used to throwing these as he goes.

How exciting, though. If he keeps it up like his, he might even get a buzz. Either way, he fully expects to outlast Gojyo even if he has to drink each of these cups himself. ]

Ha!

[ That's right -- once is luck, twice is skill, and the skillful one here is definitely Gojyo. ]

My turn, here we go... [ He aims, he checks the distance, he aims again... and the cork plunks right into one of the cups at the edge of the cluster. ] Yes!

You do have some luck!

[He might be teasing just a little to say luck and not skill. But he laughs cheerfully all the same, moving to pluck that cork out of the cup and drain it from the wine completely. He sets the cup back down in place, then moves over to set the cork down in front of Gojyo, as well.]

So, then you go again, right?

[ Gojyo's already lining up his next shot. ]

That's right!

[ And as he aims... ] They've got some crazy games in th'bars here. You should come out some time.

[ ...and the cork drops right into the next cup. Thats two in a row! He really should wait for Jae-Ha to drink before grabbing for the next cork, but he's on a roll! The next cork bounces off the rim of one cup and barely makes it into another, and Gojyo sighs audibly in relief when it goes in. ]

That's three in a row! Drink up, drink up!

[Okay...]

From luck to skill. You're so eager, you couldn't even wait for me to drink the second? [He laughs, moving around to pluck the cork out of that one now and flick it playfully at Gojyo. But he downs this one easily, sets the cup back down and goes for the next. He flicks that cork at him, too. Unfair.]

At this rate, I'll be taken advantage of. [He chuckles into his next drink, but it goes down easily. How nice, to do this with something like wine. He doesn't mind it at all.]

Any bars in particular that you like? I've been to a handful myself, but I do like trying new ones.

it's like a quarter life crisis

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