Adam had to grin at her phrasing; not what he would have chosen (going at it had a pretty definite association in his head that he didn't think she meant) but effective. [say]"Yeah...'Spose it probably was nicer around here before all the Gods and random fuckers from other worlds showed up, so uh, sorry."[/say] He laughed, not really all that apologetically.
[say]"A lightning trident? What does a bartender need one of them for?"[/say] He asked with an amused grin; while plenty of people in Caido did go on epic adventures, Adam couldn't help but imagine her using it to manage unruly customers at the bar.
As for Torchline being in her blood...it wasn't very surprising; Raza was every bit what Adam had come to expect of the people around here (not a bad thing - he liked Torchline best of all Caido. Everywhere else was so...serious). [say]"Mine? Uhh..well, we had more stuff. Guns and things like that. No Gods though - least not any real ones. There were Kingdoms and stuff like that, but there were usually big oceans between 'em. Not all bunched up like you are here."[/say]
Reaching a skinny arm out to awkwardly pat Adam’s knee, Raza has to admit,[say] “Y’aint all that bad. I just wish ye wouldn’t jump into the Gods shit.”[/say] Two thumps and then she pulls back again and sighs, the weight of her eyelids growing exponentially in that moment.
Cracking a small smile, she continues to fight it off, shrugging one shoulder off for a moment - would be ‘colder’ help her stay awake?
[say] “Gotta zap the drunks when they start tearin’ shit up, a’course. I hear it’s a bitch of hangover. Worse ‘n any booze I got.”[/say] That smile turns into a bit of a delighted cackle, raspy, and low, as she remembers the last guy she prodded along.[say] “They always come back, though. Hanged Man’s home.”[/say] And Raza will usually let ‘em return, so long as they pay for damages an’ keep the damage away from her.
His home sounds wildly different. Not bad. Just different. Hard to imagine right now.[say] “D’you miss it?”[/say]
[say]"Hey, if I had a choice, I wouldn't."[/say] He sighed, missing the days when he'd just been concerned with exploring and having a good time, sure he'd get home soon and able to decide to not have anything to do with the Gods. Those times were well and truly over.
Adam smiles as she describes the daily in and outs of her business, the requirement for the trident; he'd spent a lot of time in his old world and while he'd been growing up in various inns, taverns and brothels. [say]"Wish I could drink. I'd probably basically live in there if I could. ...Fuck, I don't even drink and I'm there a lot. I miss the pubs from my old world; always some kinda fight breaking out, or gossip to listen to, or someone that needed a favour."[/say] He'd gotten some of his favourite jobs from bars - it seemed here people primarily used them to drink and wallow, which he understood, but it was a bummer.
[say]"I miss it so much. I got stuff I like here, people I love, but..."[/say] He leaned back, nostalgic grin on his face. [say]"I can't say I don't wanna go back."[/say]
[say] “ ‘Ey, we ain’t an inn, y’can’t live there or I’d zap you.”[/say] Raza says with the slightest of kicks in Adam’s direction. Could she have reached his leg? Maybe. Did she want to make the effort? Not so much. But it’s the intent and the tiny poking motion from beneath the blanket that counts.
As Adam continues to talk, the first thing that comes to the barkeep’s mind is that he ain’t happy. She’s listened to hundreds of people over the years, talked to ‘em, yelled at ‘em, kicked ‘em out when they got sloppy and sad, and she can read a person pretty damn well. Her face wrinkles up as she looks away for a moment, at the Slagveld, and then back to him.[say] “Y’don’t sound happy. Why’d you ascend if y’can’t do some of yer favorite things?”[/say]
Raza would never Ascend. She likes certain vices waaaaay too much. But the Voice, when she’d appeared to help at the Wren Society, seemed nice enough. Yet he don't like the Gods, so... somehow, this has become a great mystery for Raza to unravel.
[say]"Just try to stop me."[/say] Adam joked back with his tongue sticking out; he could throw up quite a fuss when he really had to. Really though, he had no intentions of staying long term in the inn. As previously mentioned, it would just be depressing watching everyone else get drunk while he remained painfully sober, fully aware of everything going on.
Oh Gods, this had turned quickly from 'help Raza stay awake' to 'justify personal choices', but without another conversation topic to easily switch to, Adam supposed he'd have to just roll his sleeves up and get balls deep in some uncomfortable shit. [say]"I dunno, I mean, I died in a pretty fucking horrible way before. I don't...like to talk about it that much, but me and my husband, we both got killed by this dragon and we barely knew about it before it was over."[/say] Would he had preferred to suffer? At least then he might've had a chance to work out what was going on.
[say]"Felt like there was still stuff for me to do. Things I didn't get to finish-"[/say] He paused, trying not to let it show on his face as Amalia breezed through his thoughts. [say]"- you know. And I missed Pet. So...when she asked, I said okay, but now I'm wondering if it's really worth it like this. I feel like some kinda weird fucking ghost."[/say]
Raza hadn’t meant to make Adam feel like he needed to justify anything, and when she hears the story of how he had died the first time, she feels pretty fuckin’ terrible about it. Like it wasn’t a story she should have asked for (and she hadn’t, not really) and it felt… uncomfortable. She hears all sortsa shit at the bar, but resurrection ain’t usually one of ‘em.
She chews on her bottom lip absently.[say] “That’s… damn, dude. I’dunno what to say. M’ sorry.”[/say] That feelin’ like a ghost part… that’s one of the things she’s always been afraid of. Bein’ irrelevant, or something like that. The Hanged Man keeps her important, but after that? Eh. It’s others’ world. She’s just livin’ in it sometimes.
[say] “We don’t have to talk about it any more if y’don’t want to. Hey, maybe we could try to find something Ascended can drink, y’know? Get your goddess to help. Serve it at the Hanged Man.”[/say]
[say]"Yeah, it kinda fucking sucks."[/say] Adam agreed, rolling his shoulders; there wasn't much to say to get past it. Life was rough, even more so since dying, and being Ascended was just as shitty as he'd thought it was going to be. Seeing Raza almost speechless was oddly cathartic in a way; that she saw how much it all sucked and just said it straight out was satisfying.
As for drinks he could have, Adam nodded and smirked at the idea. [say]"Sure, but from what I've heard of her, she's pretty against fun. Not sure she'd help. I'll taste test anything you come up with though."[/say] Why not? If he was going to die again, he'd rather it was over drinking than dragon-breath.
With Raza reasonably lucid now, he looked over to the door that led further into the building. [say]"Think you can walk? It's been long enough that maybe you could go have a nap, I think. As soon as Nate gets here I'll tell him about you. You'll be okay, yeah?"[/say] He hoped so, because he'd done about all he knew how to.
[FIN]
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