like you know what it means

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Remi had been drinking for some time now. It had been a big day: Ludo had offered to let him die, had threatened to give him purpose, and had instructed he make a grave. He'd also been drinking for a few hours given that, after having bribed Jack as best he could and with Ronin still not back from the Grounds yet, Remi had precisely nowhere to be.

So of course he was here.

He'd shot the shit with Raza for a time before rowdier customers required her attention. He'd cheated at cards enough to pay for more than a few rounds of drinks for the table (and a few more that he probably should have just said no to), and now here he was. Sat at the crowded bar, drawing vague diagrams of gods knew what on the dirty counter in the watery remains of what was once an ice cube.

As it happened, the only free spot in the entire bar happened to be next to him.

The white sheep of the family

Still trying to learn more about Torchline, Loren had decided to go to a bar called the Hanged Man. Drunk people had looser lips, and while he avoided alcohol, he could use a drink these days. Or two. Or enough to take him under, which, given his gaunt frame and dark circles, wouldn't be that many.

He had a small pack on his back of goods to trade, mostly medicines. Dressed in almost appropriate attire (shirt, shorts, sandals, knife at hip, though none were bright and fashionable enough for the port city), he headed warily towards the tavern. It was nice on the outside, and even nicer on the inside, with low lighting and a cool breeze.

Of course, what wasn't nice was that the only seat open was next to Remi, of all people.

To the Launceleyn's credit, he only hesitated in the doorway for a heartbeat before he headed towards the alchemist. "Remi. I'm just here to drink." The comment was carefully neutral. Turning to the bartender, the healer tapped the bar. "Two shots of your hardest liquor and a mug of beer." As the bartender gave Loren an expectant look, he handed over vials of medicine without really looking until the bartender nodded. Obviously, he'd over paid and equally obviously he didn't care.

Setting the pack at his feet, not really caring if someone stole it, he pounded back the two shots without stopping. They went straight to his head, of course, and he started carefully nursing the mug of beer. Equally carefully, he avoided looking at the man next to him.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Remi turned his head only slightly as the Launceleyn sat down. The real indication that he'd noticed his presence was in how he smudged away the outlines of whatever it was he'd been so carefully crafting in melting ice and beer on the counter. Uninterested in the exchange of goods, the alchemist still watched Loren down the two shots out of the corner of his eye, before watching him almost carefully take the beer. "There's a limerick about mixing beer and liquor and the order to do it in, though I never remember it." He mumbled under his breath.

So this was to be his night then. He should go probably. Much as he and Loren were on the outskirts of even being frosty acquaintances at this point, it was still the case that Ronin was away and that Remi was in a bar—quite drunk—with Loren (who was headed in that direction).

"Go on then. What's your reason for being so miserable this time." The pair had a terrible track record of ignoring each other after all.

The white sheep of the family

Still not looking at Remi, Loren took a much larger sip of the beer. Then he stared into the depths of the mug. "Beer before liquor, never been sicker, liquor before beer, you're in the clear." It came out as quietly as the alchemist's statement, barely above a whisper. "Of course, that assumes you can hold any liquor at all." Again, the healer was speaking more to himself.

At the other man's question, however, the Launceleyn's expression darkened. Taking another long gulp, he turned to face Remi. "Do you really care?" There was no real animosity in the words, just a dull recognition that the alchemist hardly seemed in the mood to hear the answer.

Turning away again, he stared forward for a long and silent moment. "Abasi died." The words were a little sad and a little bitter, but mostly just exhausted.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

"Ahh well, it seems you know what you're doing then." Then again that was what Loren was best at; seeming to know what he was doing, despite it all falling apart around him. It was his strength as much as it was his weakness, though just now Remi didn't care about either, merely shrugging as he helped himself to another sip of his own drink.

"No not precisely." The alchemist replied just as neutrally. "But much as we might loathe to admit it, you can't make new old acquaintances. Friends, even. I will have always known you longer than anyone else." What an utterly terrible reason to ask after someone's well-being.

Abasi died.

Ah.

"Fiat Lux?"

The white sheep of the family

Loren barked out a laugh at Remi’s comment, though it was entirely humorless. ”Hardly.” Tapping the edge of the mug, the healer finally turned to face the alchemist, leaning one elbow against the bar. The Launceleyn's expression wasn't the polite mask he showed most of the world, but rather the tired and empty one that reflected the void in his mind.

Taking a sip, he turned haunted eyes to the other man. "So what does that make us then? Friends, acquaintances, or just people who've known each other for a long time?" Loren didn't really care about the answer.

Remi's question caused the healer to turn back to the bar, staring steadily ahead. "No. After. Just before I saw you." With that, he took what was likely an inadvisably long gulp of his beer, not noticing or ignoring the way some of it spilled onto his chest.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

Watching Loren out of the corner of his eye, Remi similarly turned to face the summoner. His affect was nearly identical, though perhaps less tired. The alchemist was used to seeing Loren empty and devoid of life; it had come to be expected of him, almost like a uniform. "Not even the latter seeing as I've forgotten months of knowing you." But it didn't matter; there wasn't a name for what he and Loren were to each other.

Nodding but not offering platitudes or words of encouragement, Remi merely studied Loren's profile for a moment before exhaling a long breath. "Amazing how just a few months can change everything." Loren had only known Abasi for..a season and a half? But Remi wasn't so cruel to think that wasn't enough. Mere days—hours even—were enough to change a life when love was involved. "Did you love him?" He asked, still softly watching the side of Loren's face; the pale hair there, the way his cheeks were hollow rather than full. The lack of laugh lines.

The white sheep of the family

Snorting, Loren spun his mug idly between his hands. "Fair enough. Doesn't exactly answer my question though." However, he shrugged, hopefully communicating that he didn't really need an answer.

Still not turning to face Remi, the healer took another sip. Then he stared into the depths of the mug. "That's one word for it." The words were spoken more to himself and they were tinged with about as much sadness as he could muster these days.

Sighing, he tossed the rest of his drink back, then tapped the bar for another. "Does it matter?" His drink arrived and he slid his finger around the rim of it idly. Then he nodded slowly. "Yes. Never told him though, so congratulations, you were right about the importance of speaking while you still have the time too." The words were equal parts bitter and guilty.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

"I've never been a man with the answers, you know that." Also not an answer.

Where once Remi might have winced at Loren's words, or far worse, tried to coddle the pain out of the Launceleyn, now the alchemist only shrugged in dull agreement. No of course it didn't matter; absolutely nothing did anymore. But then again most conversations between the two men were nothing more than verbal reflexes. He'd asked because it was simply the thing done.

"I said that, did I? How wise." Remi replied, sounding both disgusted and unimpressed with himself if indeed he'd given that advice. "I remember when Ronin died." He ventured, narrowing his eyes into the darkened spaces behind the bar as memories swirled unhelpfully behind his eyes. "I didn't leave the house for weeks. The hell were you doing here?"

The white sheep of the family

As Remi criticized his own advice, Loren just sipped his beer, not even looking at the alchemist. "More like prescient." The bitterness had faded away to the dullness that the healer was becoming increasingly familiar with.

However, he almost snarled at the other man's question. "I don't remember questioning your approach to grief." Gulping down the rest of the drink, the Launceleyn slammed it down on the bar.

Then he turned to face Remi. "Maybe I was hoping to see you here. Maybe I was looking for a good time. Maybe I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Maybe I was hoping something would kill me instead for a change. Does it matter?"

Though Loren's words were a bit slurred, his eyes and tone grew chilly. "No it doesn't. I left. Right away. Left the Hollowed Ground behind me entirely, since I didn't have anything or anyone keeping me there anymore. And I didn't exactly care where I ended up." Shrugging, he turned back to the bar, leaning on both elbows now.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

"Did I question it or just ask a simple question. At least wait until I've said something worth getting angry over before you go breaking your glass." Remi replied cooley. Snorting at the idea Loren had come for him or a good time, he merely rolled his shoulders before tapping his fingers on the bar to indicate he'd like another drink as well.

"No Loren it doesn't matter." Remi agreed wearily, the Launceleyn's sentiments echoing loudly inside of his own heart (barren as it was, there was a lot of room for echoes). "And then you found Torchline, me, and a group of thugs wanting to pick your pockets. Sounds about right." He added with a brash laugh just as the group to his left grew more rowdy, jostling into him and sending his elbow straight into Loren's drink, shattering it on the bar.

The white sheep of the family

Loren gave Remi an unimpressed look. "Please explain to me the difference between asking a question and questioning it. I'm dying to know the answer." The sarcasm that dripped from every word would've normally been followed up by an eye roll or a snort, but the healer was too tired to muster up more than the slightly biting comment.

"I sure did. Guess I didn't find any of the things I came looking for. Except for you, of course. Some reunion, that. As the alchemist's elbow smashed the glass, the Launceleyn stared at the shards for a long moment. Then he snarled. Picking up the remains of his shattered glass with his telekinesis, he flung them at the person who'd bumped Remi, uncaring what Loren hit with his magic.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

i found cynicism, i found criticism
i've been zero to hero & i have been the villain

"Can you not Loren." Remi snarled back, offering up his own eyeroll. "It was a question, nothing more. If I wanted to fight with you about something, you'd know."

Snorting but not out of amusement, Remi just gave Loren a look. "Well if it was a reunion you were looking for you might have said. Maybe I'd have rolled out the red carpet for you." His deadpan tone suggested that he would have done precisely the opposite had he advanced notice.

But then his elbow was sliced open and the group to his left was hit with the remnants of Loren's glass and everything suggested hell was about to break loose. One man grabbed at Remi with hands that were sharp claws, while the others in the group half-shifted into various things and advanced on Loren. Words like, fookin' outlandrs and let's show 'em lads! were sung out.

Wings spread from Remi's shoulder blades, shoving those around him as he grinned a feral smile at the man who'd just smashed the top of his beer bottle on the bar and was raising its jagged edges towards his throat.

don't you know we're outlaws

givin' the finger to death itself

Oh hell fucking no. Two nights ago it was a window. Now he’s got an emotionally reactive friend and is sprouting wings.

I watch everything. I hear everything. And there’s a reason there’s a big ‘ol cymbal hanging from the ceiling. I don’t see the first strike, or even the second, but the minute men are up and advancing, I leap up on the bar and grab the mallet that I keep up on the beams for this occasion. Swinging it towards the golden disc, it lets out a deep, rattling bonggggggg that one might thing is better equipped for winning a prize - but it does the trick just fine.

The men turn and look up. I point to the door with mallet in hand. “Go fucking fight SOMEWHERE ELSE,” I yell at them, eyes ablaze as they rake across my regulars and end with the two Grounders. Remi knows that look.

Get. Out.

we got no one to hide from

no one to toast our health

RAZA

Base Code by Sky!