Like A Prayer
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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#1



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


Adam stretched languidly over a bench near the front of the temple, holding his drinking horn by the rim down by the floor. His shirt was lifted up, showing his hips to all holy spirits in the temple, but he didn't care much. Nakedness was holiness, or, something, right?

He was almost falling asleep, Coffee curled up at his feet and snoring out little puffs of smoke. He knew probably he should go home ( to the room he was stealing from a perfectly normal farmer ), but the temple was warm and bathed in soft candlelight, and he had enough booze in him to make a horse keel over.

With a sort of content sigh he sank further down into the bench and closed his eyes, not particularly caring if anyone else came by and saw.
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
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#2
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
"Adam?"

Her voice floats in on a bed of concern, searching for some semblance of coherence behind the glassy eyes. It is not entirely uncommon to see drunkards passed out here, though usually the hour that they appear is rather later in the night. Sometimes Amalia recognizes them; usually she does not. Her grandmother used to give them food, saying it was not their fault they had nothing in a place that gave so little to its people, that Mort would want them to be kind. Her mother tended their tremors and wounds, but only because she must.

For her part, Amalia avoided them all, too anxious and awkward to intervene.

But this time it is different. She knows the figure on the bench, his brittle bones and darkened skin familiar to the girl. The sight of Adam's exposed hips does nothing for Amalia: she is far more concerned with his breathing, the smell of alcohol which leaves him in waves. "Why are you sleeping here?" she murmurs, not really anticipating any reply from the apparently unconscious man.

Kneeling down on the ground beside him, Amalia reaches out to nudge at Adam's shoulder. "Adam? You okay?"
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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#3



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


Amalia's first question only drew a half-asleep, unaware mumble from Adam, the words reaching him somewhere in a dream where they no longer made sense. It was only when she touched his shoulder Adam woke, immediately belching (trying to aim it away from Amalia's face down to the bench, but still rather close) and rubbing at his forehead.

"What..? Uh, yeah, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, wobbily sitting up and trying to look put together and content. To an observant viewer, it would be clear the smile was forced, the other side of drinking coming down on him by now, the beginning of a hangover itching at the edge of his mind and the 'drunk, sad crying' portion of the night yet to come.
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#4
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
Amalia wrinkles her nose at the beach, trying to keep from visibly gagging. He isn't dead, at least, and can wake up, so that's good news at least, though his attempt at coherent conversation does not inspire much confidence. Sitting back on her heels, the girl frowns, less concerned now than deeply unimpressed. "Because you're passed out in a temple," she replies flatly, alto voice unamused by the blatant lank of sanctity he clearly feels for this place.

Sighing, Amalia rises to her feet. "Can you stand? I'll take you home." She reaches down to grab the still-full horn from his hand, fairly confident the last thing he needs is more to drink. She means her home, of course - she has no idea where he lives.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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Posts: 1,044 | Total: 8,707
MP: 0
#5



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


Amalia's response was a little confusing for Adam. He'd been passed out in all sorts of places: alleys, churches, homes, roads...and no one had ever had the thought to be concerned about it before. He had just been Adam, local trashy mess, and it had been accepted (well, except for by Heidi, but she had been more angry than worried).

He nodded a bit though, as she offered to take him home; embarrassingly he wanted the company for the walk. Wrinkling up his nose in a silent objection as she took the horn away, he used the pew to push himself up, weakly swaying from side to side as he did.

"You...you're just tryina take me home so you can tell people you did, right?" Adam asked with a half hearted smirk, wanting to believe he wasn't being pitied. At least if he could pretend this was a romantic tryst, it felt a tiny bit less shameful.
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#6
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
Amalia is not accustomed to people sleeping in alleys. She is particularly unaccustomed to people sleeping in temples- at least, not people who are stone-cold drunk, passed out and lucky not to be soaked in his own urine. Wrinkling her nose distastefully as he shifts and struggles to sit, the baker begins to rethink this idea- but it's too late to recant now.

Adam stands, though not very well, and Amalia takes a halting step back, trying to give him some space. As he sways, she reaches out to stabilize him, taking the horn into her left hand and gripping his shoulder with her right. "Please don't vomit on me," she mutters through clenched teeth, trying to ease him onto her shoulder, to support a bit of his shockingly limited weight.

She takes a first step, leading him on, trying to shrug her shoulder beneath his arm, to hold on supportively to his waist. "Yes," the girl replies dryly, "This is all part of my clever ploy to get you into my bed." Which, in a sense, is true: the baker has every intention of setting him down among the blankets, getting him to sleep off his dismally inebriated state. "What happened, anyway? Why are you so drunk?"
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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#7



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


"Vomit? Ah, nah, I had a tactical chunder before I came here, so I'm good." Adam informed her, smiling as if this would both make sense and reassure her. He was a little irritated to see his horn disappear around her other side, but didn't make a grab for it, just leaned on her shoulder and said: "Hey, careful with that...a God gave it to me, y'know. As a reward for a cool fucking quest."

At least that was sort of true.

Her agreement to his teasing made him smile though, forget his irriation momentarily. "Well, lucky for youuu, I'll come with you." Really he had little choice, his feet seemingly following without any cerebral input.

"Uhh...cos it's past 6pm? Haha...no uh, I dunno, I was testing out the horn.." That really was a lame excuse given he'd gotten it a week ago and had more than thoroughly tested it, but Amalia didn't know that. "And um...y'know, bored, and...I'm not that drunk anyway."
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#8
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
"A tactical... Chunder?" Amalia repeats, though given the context she can deduce the meaning easily enough. Tilting her head to look back at the horn, she is not sure if she should be reverent or appalled. "Frey?" she asks, suspecting that the troublesome being may be behind an antic of that's sort. It seems like something Frey would do, giving an item that facilities debauchery, encourages me to be wanting and fools. Still, she smiles, raising an eyebrow in honest amusement. "What sort of grand quest was this? Were there monsters? Princesses?"

Or perhaps he was handed it by a wayward Attuned, and drunkenly assumed it to be a god. It seems just as probable as anything else, all things considered.

Shifting to better hold his weight, Amalia pats his shoulder fondly, amused by his antics despite herself. "You seem pretty drunk to me." Not that Amalia had seen much drunkenness, never really having gotten properly drunk herself. Raising the horn to her nose, she takes a sniff of the brew within before shaking her head. "What's the appeal, anyway? It seems to only make people foolish and sick."
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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#9



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


"Oh, no, Ludo." Adam corrected, after a good chuckle at Amalia's careful repetition of his crude slang. "It was an alright quest, as they go. Me and Peter and a minotaur, that I killed. Pew!" He 'fired' a finger gun off in front of him, though the trajectory of the imaginary bullet would have been rather off-target from anything, given how much he was wobbling in her grasp.

"I've been way more drunk." He insisted, with a hint of pride in his voice. But when she asked her second question he fell quiet and didn't respond for a moment, then he sighed.

Maybe it was because he knew her, maybe it was because his guard was down, but suddenly he spoke in a far more vulernable and hushed tone. "Because...because...you ever felt like you have a hole in your head, Amalia? That's all black and dark and you can't...it stops you from really...being anything? I dunno. But you can fill the hole, sometimes, for a bit. With booze and drugs and sex and all the rest, and you forget it's there." He was again quiet, then coughed, embarrassed.

"...So yeah, I guess...that might be why, but also..heh...it tastes good, right?"
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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MP: 2580
#10
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
"A minotaur?" The story gets more fantastical, but it remains far from the strangest she has heard. Shaking her head at Adam's antics, she sighs dramatically, though her voice remains playful and light. "I really can't let you out of my sight without you getting into trouble, huh?"

The serious tone is unexpected, and Amalia feels herself tense a little, unprepared for the sudden vulnerability. "Yes." She knows the black hole well, has felt the hollow emptiness and shied away from that foreboding dark - or, not so long ago, sunk into it. Only once has she felt truly free, been relieved of the darkness and actually touched light.

But she had to die to do it, and while that may be a viable long-term solution, it comes with a certain associated cost.

Sighing again, but in earnest this time, Amalia drops her head to Adam's shoulder, empathy and understanding making her ache for the man. "Yeah, I know the feeling. I've never tried alcohol to make it go away. I just kind of..." She shrugs expressively, the silence saying volumes. Endure.
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
Played by: lancydulac Offline
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#11
Trigger Warning 



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


"Yep. Bonafide fucking minotaur." He confirmed with a over-exaggerated nod. In his own world there had been creatures of a similar level of myth, so this part of the story was not too strange to him. He had known centaurs, elves...no magic, but a fair share of odd creatures and different species.

Adam was surprised when Amalia said yes, having expected either embarrassed silence or an insistent denial. He looked her over with new eyes, wondering what it was that ate at the quiet baker. He had considered her life rather idyllic, really (ignoring the part where they'd both been trapped in a pit)...though Adam knew as well as anyone it hardly mattered what surrounded you when you had a hole.

"...Y'know..." He smiled as they walked down the road, stumbling a little on a cobble. "If you wanted to try the alcohol, I would be more than willing to enable that one for you." Not that he was a wonderful advert for the experience at the moment, wobbily and smelly, blurting out personal woes accidentally.
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#12
Trigger Warning 
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
Amalia does not notice Adam's look, too caught up in her own indiscretions, her own dark places and drowning woes. She remembers days without the sun, sitting alone in piles of books, friends with ghosts and dusty parchment without a human soul to share. Maybe her life has been idyllic, maybe it has been marred; in the end it scarcely matters, really, because darkness does not care who you are. It does not care how you were raised, who loved you and who lost you: it eats and eats without remorse, slipping in beneath closed doors and shutting out the light.

So they walk down the road, two hollow people, doing their best to fill the void with whatever tools they have. Adam stumbles and she dips down to catch him, trying to secure his weight in her arm. His question elicits an uncertain laugh, a flush flying quickly across narrow cheeks. "I've only been drunk once," she replies, voice wavering. "It seems like a bad idea." But she raises the bottle to her face, taking a sniff of the liquor within, her nose wrinkling at the acrid aroma.

Bumping him gently with her shoulder, Amalia smiles wryly into the horn. "Besides,I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself in front of an fine upstanding gentleman like you."
Adam Pikely
Smuggler's Liaison

Age: 36 | Height: 6'3" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 12 - Int:
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#13



You've been drinking like the world was gonna end


"Oh, it's always a bad idea. But bad ideas still feel good, sometimes." Adam knew this from experience; they usually felt great in the moment. It was only after, when someone was pounding on the door and your pants were around your ankles you realised it was stupid.

He laughed at her joke and reached over to ruffle her hair. "Very fucking funny. So uh..this...doesn't look like the way to my place, so I guess y'really are taking me to yours...so where do y'live? At the bakery?" Adam began to giggle at the image that immediately came to mind, shaking his head. "You could sleep on the bread like a pillow, if you wanted to."
Adam
It didn't.
Amalia Chandrakant
the Archangel
Baker

Age: 29 | Height: 5'6 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 49 - Dext: 45 - Endr: 52 - Luck: 49 - Int:
JYOTI - Mythical - Starwhale (Humpback)
Played by: shark Offline
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Posts: 3,098 | Total: 4,577
MP: 2580
#14
AMALIA
you're staring at the sky
watching stars collide
"I don't make bad choices." It is clear from her tone that this is not a boast but a rueful declaration, wistful and bittersweet. Amalia spent her youth well-behaved, always striving to be enough, behaving and learning and striving for more than she could ever achieve. Aside from a few notable exceptions she keeps herself and her actions closed, cautious and guarded and up to snuff. And the few times she did let herself make mistakes?

Well, mistakes is a gentle term for the moments that rise now to her mind, raking and tearing further into her doubts.

Adam's ruffling of her hair is enough to distract the girl from her musings, and she flashes a look of reproach at the man, softened by the smile in her eyes. "I thought you lived in the bar," she replies wryly, tossing her head to indicate the way they came. His giggling makes her suddenly embarrassed, painfully aware of the fact that, yes, Amalia lives in a shop. She shrugs awkwardly, self-aware and defensive. "Yeah, well, I have to be there early anyway, and the house..." Is full of ghosts and memories and mistakes. "But if the bakery isn't up to your standards, I can leave you to find your own way back."


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