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+---- Thread: drink in the wild air (/showthread.php?tid=11442)
drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-01-2025
It's one thing to visit Torchline for an extended vacation, but another thing entirely to have committed to moving there. And whilst he does still spend most of his time aboard La Verbena, which he has moored jauntily above Flora's house (he still sees it as her house even if she isn't currently living in it), even he has to admit it's quite nice to have the beach and the sea on his doorstep, and the best of the region's tropical nonsense at his fingertips.
He ducks into The Hanged Man early one evening, when the light outside matches, for once, the perpetual twilight of the bar, taking off the straw hat he'd been using to get a little shade from the sun and hanging it on a hook probably meant for something entirely different. The bar is busy as ever, despite the change in ownership, and though Mateo is here to drink, have fun, and absolutely flirt with a particular barman, he's also here to check on the place. Flora would want to know after all, even if their conversations are by letter and by yelling across a few feet between the perimeters of the shield.
Sliding onto a barstool and leaning an elbow against the polished counter, he tucks his sunglasses into a loose linen shirt embroidered with tiny golden pineapples, and peruses the new specials as he waits to be served. (Served what is entirely up to said barman, of course).
RE: drink in the wild air - Vesper - 06-01-2025
Vesper’s already behind the bar when Mateo saunters in, the kind of slow, lazy motion that always suggests he’s been there for hours even if he just wandered in ten minutes ago. The bar’s dim lighting throws sharp angles and faint starlight across his features, catching on the constellation freckles dusted over his cheekbones. His shirt—charcoal grey, silk, and only buttoned up to mid-chest—is rolled at the sleeves and clings just enough to suggest he didn’t come here intending to lift crates or mop floors.
Silver chains glint at his collarbone, layered and subtle, some threaded with star-shaped charms, others just delicate metal links that disappear into the shadows of his shirt. Rings crowd his fingers, mismatched but elegant—thin silver bands, a chunkier one stamped with a crescent moon, another with a chip of pale tourmaline set crooked in its bezel. A deck of playing cards sits abandoned near the cash box, fanned slightly as if he’d been mid-shuffle before the door creaked open.
Now, with both palms braced against the bar, he leans forward just enough to let a curl of pale hair fall toward his eyes. The drawl he greets Mateo with is syrup-smooth and far too casual to be unintentional. [say]"Anything you see that you'd be interested in samplin'?"[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-02-2025
[say]"Oh, I can see plenty,"[/say] Mateo purrs in automatic response, having been watching Vesper out of the corner of one eye as he slinks to the bar like a shadow, hands braced against the counter as if he was always meant to be there. [say]"Some new items on the menu that I have never seen before, though. What do you recommend out of these?"[/say] he asks, gesturing to the colourful additions to the specials board with a raise of his eyebrows.
Leaving that particular decision in Vesper's more than capable hands, the botanist turns his full attention to the demigod in question, drumming coral blue nails lightly against the counter as he drinks him in, all silver and liquid darkness begging to be touched and savoured. [say]"This place is looking good,"[/say] he adds, though he never takes his eyes off the other man. [say]"Since I am a permanent resident of Torchline now, I thought I had better drop by to see how things are going. My sister would want a full report, you know."[/say] He winks.
RE: drink in the wild air - Vesper - 06-02-2025
Vesper grins, slow and razor-edged, as he leans in to follow Mateo’s gesture toward the specials board—close enough that the scent of peppered citrus and something faintly smoky rises off his skin. [say]"Mm. Think I’ve got just the thing."[/say] His fingers brush the counter as he straightens, a languid stretch that sets his chains swinging faintly with the motion before he turns toward the bar’s back wall.
A shaker is pulled. A bottle with no label but a flash of gold at the throat. A muddler, something green and herbaceous crushed at the bottom of the glass, followed by a splash of clear liquor that hums faintly with magic if you squint hard enough. Then juice—citrus, pink-hued—and the final touch, a sliver of candied starfruit and a rim kissed with sea salt and starlight sugar.
He sets it in front of Mateo with a tap of his ring against the glass. [say]"Midnight Drift,"[/say] he murmurs, eyes flicking up. [say]"Sweet at first, might wreck your night if you don’t pace yourself."[/say]
As for the rest, he tosses a look over his shoulder, gaze catching on the glitter of one of the new chandeliers overhead—delicate orbs of blown glass threaded with filaments shaped like constellations, throwing soft celestial patterns across the bar’s old wood. The tables wear midnight blue runners stitched with silver thread, stars scattered like spilled salt.
[say]"My sisters did most of it,"[/say] he says, voice loose with something halfway to fond. [say]"Nova got glitter everywhere. Caly argued with the supplier for hours about the angle of the constellations."[/say] His grin turns dry as he flicks his gaze back to Mateo. [say]"Very collaborative process. I mostly nodded and moved things with shadows when they weren’t lookin’."[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Serendipity - 06-02-2025
From the corner of the room a massive wine-spider scurries. Running toward you, it tries its best to crawl up your leg, hovering against you for warmth. Clearly something has startled it. Poor thing.
This is not a RE nor a rare creature. It cannot be used for levelling.
Wine Spider: These friendly arachnids can grow up to the size of a small housecat. With fuzzy bodies and spindly legs, they are often found lurking around wine racks or kegs of beer. They are almost always drunk, hiccuping and stumbling about. It is said that finding a baby wine spider in your drink is a lucky omen!
RE: drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-02-2025
[say]"You always do, I find,"[/say] Mateo trills in response, offering a dimpled smile to Vesper as he leaves him with the lingering scent of citrus and smoke. More interested in watching the barman than the drink he's preparing, there's still no question that whatever experience the demigod has gained by sidling behind Flora's bar, it's done wonders for his cocktail making skills. Only the brush of something against Mateo's leg tears his eyes away, and he arches an eyebrow at a fuzzy wine spider clinging to his calf.
[say]"I do not know that you'll find much of a home down there,"[/say] he tells it, leaning down to scoop it away and towards one of the dark corners of the tavern where it can lurk in peace. As he straightens back up it's to see the Midnight Drift planted in front of him, his eyebrows raising with approval. [say]"That so?"[/say] he purrs of the drink's description. [say]"Sounds like somebody I know, actually."[/say]
Grinning and leaning in to try the cocktail, it's with a hum of obvious approval that he follows Vesper's gaze around The Hanged Man, taking in the sparkling light cast by the chandeliers, the spray of constellations on the table runners, the way everything is the same and yet very subtly different. [say]"Mm, that is sisters for you,"[/say] he says with a smirk, raising his glass in a cheers. [say]"Is it just you tonight, then? Shame, if so. I was hoping to find someone to wreck my night."[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Vesper - 06-02-2025
Vesper echoes the words right back at him, voice low and teasing as he leans across the bar. [say]"That so?"[/say] The grin that follows is sharp enough to cut ribbon, a flash of teeth behind a veil of amusement as he watches Mateo taste the drink like it’s something stolen and forbidden.
He hums softly, dragging a bar towel across a faint ring of condensation before tossing it aside. [say]"Mm. That is sisters for you,"[/say] he agrees, though the nod that follows is touched with something more tired than fond this time. [say]"Caly’s off on a date she swears isn’t a date, and Nova’s barricaded herself in the apartment with a bath bomb and six towels. Told me if I interrupted her spa night she’d rearrange my freckles."[/say]
His rings click faintly as he rests his knuckles on the edge of the bar and leans in again, shadows curling lazily at his heels like smoke rolling off the tide. [say]"So yeah. Just me tonight."[/say] His voice dips to a drawl, smooth and deliberate as starlight poured over velvet. [say]"I still reckon' we could have some fun, even with me over here, and,"[/say] Vesper's shadows will slink across the floor, pooling around Mateo's barstool before curling up his leg like an ill-mannered snake. [say]"-you over there."[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-02-2025
Bouncing his eyebrows over his next sip of the cocktail - that is so, yes - Mateo doesn't bother with the age-old advice to pace himself. His tolerance is enough for at least another Midnight Drift on an empty stomach, he thinks, and if it isn't, it's not as if he's planning to stay sober tonight anyway. [say]"A date that is not a date? I cannot relate,"[/say] the botanist confesses with crooked grin. [say]"I make a habit of not taking myself on any dates, whether they are intentional or otherwise."[/say]
Tipping his head curiously to the side as if to imagine Vesper's freckles arranging themselves into foreign constellations never before seen, Mateo's attention is dragged down towards the ground at the mischievous press of shadow curling around his calf, and he chimes out a laugh and props and elbow on the bar to regard the other man. [say]"Oh? Do tell. Because if your suggestion is that you use your clever shadows to tease me all night, I will have to respectfully decline. Not that they are not lovely, but there is no substitute for good old fashioned getting handsy, mm?"[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Vesper - 06-02-2025
Vesper grins, because of course that’s the kind of thing Mateo would say—flippant and flirty and just a little self-deprecating, like charm spun from goldleaf and tossed in the sun. He tilts his head lazily, pale hair shifting over one brow. [say]"Mm. That so? Then what would you call what we got up to in Stormbreak?"[/say] he murmurs, voice all velvet drawl and quiet insinuation, as if the word date were too delicate for what had really transpired between their drinks and drugs and barely restrained indulgence.
The shadows slithering around Mateo’s leg stir at the invitation, curling higher up the inside of his thigh with all the deliberate grace of a whisper meant to undo. Vesper doesn’t look away, even as he lifts one brow and shrugs, silver rings catching the low light. [say]"You said you wanted your night wrecked,"[/say] he says mildly, though the smile curling at the corners of his mouth is anything but.
[say]"But."[/say] A slow pause, a shift in posture, Vesper stepping back just enough to let the suggestion settle. [say]"If you're after something with a little more...substance,"[/say] he adds, voice dipping as his gaze flicks toward the back of the bar, [say]"my addition to the Hanged Man wasn’t another chandelier. Carved out a private room in the back. Cozy. Quiet. Outta sight, not terribly big, but.."[/say] It had been a supply closet, after all. His fingers toy idly with a deck of cards beside him, but his gaze stays fixed on Mateo before dropping to his drink.
[say]"Another?"[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-02-2025
[say]"Ah, what happned in Stormbreak was a rendezvous,"[/say] Mateo retorts smoothly, waggling a finger at Vesper and leaning in to take another sip of his cocktail. [say]"One that turned into a bar crawl, which then turned into a hook-up. Several hook-ups."[/say] Hopefully the other man doesn't find any issue with that description, because if he does Mateo will happily point out that dates normally do not take place in brothels.
Despite himself, he adjusts ever so slightly on the barstool as if to invite those shadows to continue their nefarious wanderings, no matter what he might have said about their teasing. [say]"Mm, I did say that, didn't I?"[/say] he concedes, finishing the cocktail and setting the empty glass down with a dimpled smile. [say]"But I cannot wreck your night if you are over there and I am over here."[/say] Shrugging mildly, he leans in a fraction closer to hear of Vesper's additions to the bar.
[say]"Oh I see,"[/say] he says, eyes gleaming wickedly. [say]"Will I recognise that private room I wonder? Alas, you cannot leave the bar untended, can you?"[/say]
Nodding a clear yes as he's offered another cocktail, he slides his empty glass further towards Vesper.
RE: drink in the wild air - Vesper - 06-02-2025
Vesper chuckles low at the correction, the sound sliding through the shadows like warm smoke. [say]"A rendezvous, is it?"[/say] he muses, silver rings glinting as he nudges Mateo’s empty glass aside with two fingers. [say]"Whatever you wanna name it, I’m not complainin’."[/say] His shrug is languid and entirely unbothered, as if being casually reduced to a very memorable night or three was something he’d happily be known for.
The shadows between Mateo’s thighs continue their wandering tease, playful in the way of waves lapping just a little too high on the shore. Vesper’s eyes narrow slightly, his smile sharpening. [say]"Dunno, I’m quite sure you could wreck my night from all the way over there,"[/say] he murmurs, voice soft and coaxing. [say]"Not that I see any need for you to work that hard."[/say]
As for the private room, Vesper’s grin turns wicked. [say]"It was dark last time you were in there,"[/say] he agrees, lifting a brow. [say]"And if I recall, you weren’t exactly takin’ in the decor. Just what was sturdy enough to brace yourself against."[/say] His voice curls around the memory like a hand closing over velvet, slow and indulgent.
But then he clicks his tongue, shaking his head as he reaches for a fresh glass. [say]"Still, can’t go abandonin’ the bar, now can I? Not with you needin' to provide that full report back to your sister,"[/say] he drawls, already measuring out the liquor. He makes another Midnight Drift with the same languid precision, then prepares a drink for himself as well—something darker, heavier, poured over ice that cracks faintly in the glass. Placing Mateo’s fresh cocktail in front of him, he raises his own before downing nearly half of it in one swallow.
RE: drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-02-2025
[say]"And nor am I,"[/say] Mateo purrs in response. He had been far from complaining at the time, and the memory is one he keeps tucked away for the rare nights he finds himself alone with little more than his hand and his imagination for company. Letting his smile turn a touch sly as he pointedly ignores the rest of the patrons in the bar - and the increasingly teasing press of shadows around his legs - the botanist's thoughts flush like crushed velvet and fever dreams, blooming dark scarlet as he recalls their time in the supply closet.
[say]"On the contrary,"[/say] he trills, smiling indulgently at Vesper, [say]"when it comes to things like that, I hardly consider it work at all."[/say] However much effort it might take, it's always a pleasure to bring pleasure, in whatever form it might cum in. [say]"As for your shiny new room, I do hope that shelf I settled on is still there. It did a hero's work that night."[/say]
Sighing out his regret as Vesper turns away to make another drink (or two as it happens), at least he gives Mateo something good to look at, and the botanist accepts his fresh cocktail with a purr of gratitude in the travelling tongue. [say]"Shame, really. I would think you were entitled to a break."[/say]
RE: drink in the wild air - Vesper - 06-02-2025
Vesper lifts his drink slowly, letting the condensation bead along his knuckles, and arches a brow as if he can’t quite believe the feigned innocence spilling from across the bar. But he can—he can believe it perfectly, because Mateo’s thoughts ripple through his mind like warm wine over silk. Scarlet and slick with memory. A shelf. The scent of sweat and citrus. That trembling inhale just before—
[say]"That so?"[/say] he murmurs, voice dark and silken, just shy of purring as he props one elbow along the bartop, head cocked lazily. [say]"From all the way over there? Now that’s talent."[/say] His shadows tighten faintly around Mateo’s legs in agreement, curling like pleased cats in the cradle of his chair.
As for the shelf, Vesper’s mouth twitches into a smile made of moonlight and suggestion. [say]"All the surfaces’ve been reinforced,"[/say] he drawls, the words as casual as if he were commenting on weatherproofing. [say]"Tested to handle not just weight—"[/say] his fingers trail briefly across the bar in a rhythmic tap, slow and deliberate [say]"—but a fair amount of movement, too."[/say] The implication lingers in the air like the ghost of breath across a bare throat.
Still, when the talk turns to taking a break, Vesper’s grin only sharpens as he clinks his glass lightly against Mateo’s. [say]"Mm. I’d think you’d know better than me whether your sister’d approve of that,"[/say] he says smoothly, eyes gleaming. [say]"Wouldn’t want anything untoward showing up in your little report on how we’re managing the place. My sisters wouldn't ever let me hear the end of it."[/say] His silver rings flash as he lifts his drink again, taking a sip like this is all just friendly conversation, even if the presence of his shadows between Mateo's thighs suggest otherwise.
RE: drink in the wild air - Mateo - 06-02-2025
[say]"You just said you believed I could do it,"[/say] Mateo points out, his smile crooked enough for only one dimple to appear, his posture shifting ever so slightly as he does his best to ignore the increasingly mischievous shadows intent on winding him up - despite his declining such unfair teasing, might he add. Sipping at his cocktail and humming a note of approval at the taste (just as splendid as last time, and Vesper ought to be proud of himself), the botanist feigns disappointment at what the demigod says next.
[say]"Reinforced and tested, and I was not invited to participate?"[/say] He tuts and shakes his head. [say]"I hope whoever you had to help you was thorough."[/say] Because if anyone could break a shelf, or a sink, or any other unsuspecting fixture with his acrobatics, it's Mateo.
Cocking an eyebrow at the glass that clinks against his own, as if he's giving due consideration to the other man's words, eventually he shrugs a casual shoulder and glances purposely just over Vesper's shoulder towards the once-upon-a-supply-closet. [say]"My sister cares about people more than she would ever care about a business,"[/say] he says with quiet confidence. [say]"If she knew someone was here all evening without a break, she would close the bar for fifteen minutes to make it happen."[/say]