the last of us

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

It's probably no surprise that, despite the impending war and despite the odds being ever in his favour (if the favour is dying), Neron is keeping bar. Everyone's headed home by now and the doors are locked, it's true, but there's always replenishment and stock taking to do, and the Launceleyn takes surprising comfort in the mundane. Soon, after all, he'll have to put his battlemage hat back on, and gods if that isn't something worth putting off for a little while longer.

And so, hefting out a crate from the back room - and once upon a time even the idea of manual labour would have been laughable - he cracks it open and begins to remove bottles of wine from Haulani. It's good shit and then some, the red and the spiced stuff, not that he can taste it any more. Maybe he can ask the Voice for his tastebuds back for a night. She might say yes, if it's likely he's going to drop dead the next day.

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

It’s a late night and Sunjata finds himself wandering back toward the bar after getting caught up in paperwork. The streets are dark, the moon glimmering overhead as he rushes back toward the VlamVloed, reaching the door only to find it locked, hissing a soft sigh out from his clenched teeth. He fumbles in his pocket for his own key, slipping it in and opening the door, stepping in only to immediately turn around and lock it, slipping it back into the pocket of his pants before stepping further into the bar.

He spots Neron pulling bottles out of some shipment boxes, and he nods toward the Ascended as he slips into a bar seat, inspecting the bottles. “Didn't even check to see if I was here before you locked me out?” He teases. Shifting his attention away from the bottle up toward the Launceleyn.

SUNJATA

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

The sound of the door has Neron straightening up and the temperature dropping, the Hailstorm going from barman to battlemage in an instant. His shoulders relax, at least, at the sight of his boss, and the area around him is slowly starting to thaw as he returns to stacking the wine bottles. "And risk you getting robbed? Or me getting murdered?" He gasps softly, shaking his head as if to say the entire idea is absurd.

"Besides, it isn't as though you don't have a key, is it?" He points out, turning with a frosted glass and a bottle of whiskey in hand. With a flourish, he pours Sunjata a measure and slides it across to him, before promptly returning to his delivery. "Then again, if you hired a doorman, we wouldn't have this problem."

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

“Hmm.” Sunjata pauses as he slips into the bar chair, still a bit frosty from the surprise he’d taken Neron by. His clothes stick to it for a moment before the cold withdraws and when it does there’s a chilled glass in front of him with his favorite whiskey, scarred hand sliding to it to lift it to his lips, speaking behind the rim of the glass before he sips. “I do but I very petulantly don’t want to use it.” A crooked smirk is given Neron’s way once he’s swallowed his sip.

Hiring a doorman though? “Where am I going to find a doorman?” He asks with a huff of a laugh, sitting up more and leans over the bar to inspect the box. “What all did you get?” He asks, raising a brow, the steel of his gaze lifting to the Ascended.

SUNJATA

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

"Hmm," Neron echoes, a catlike smile on his face as he leaves Sunjata to enjoy his whiskey. "Well I very petulantly don't want to be stabbed to death, if you wouldn't mind too much. And I don't know where you can find a doorman - that is beyond my purview." The Flood is the boss, he's in charge of finding burly men to stand around and look menacing. "It's a shame that Edrei is gone, though. She would have lived for that job."

Hefting more bottles out of the crate, the Hailstorm turns to place two of the finer specimens down on the bar for Jata to inspect. "It's a Torchline shipment. Came through the portal this evening. Red wine and spiced. Might be some rum in there too, haven't gotten that far yet. Anything you want to sample?" He raises his eyebrows, like Sunjata is at a wine tasting and they are both very fine connoisseurs. Well. At least one of them is, or used to be. Neron. It's Neron.

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

A bark of a laugh slips from his throat, a very obvious roll of his eyes as he swishes the frosted glass of whiskey. “Well with a tone like that, I can’t say your review is going to be too high. No, Neron did not go above and beyond his work duties. But you’re right, it is a shame, she would’ve been great.” He parrots the voice in a mock version of his own reviews back from Korofi. But it’s said with a wink regardless, the interest with the shipment far outweighs the playful pokes at the Launceleyn.

He listens to Neron’s explanation, a brow raised at all the mentions and product of spice before he quite inelegantly downs the rest of the whiskey in one go, the glass clinking against the counter as he leans forward and slides the glass closer to Neron. “Why not a tasting of all of it?” They have to make sure their product is top shelf after all.

And Sunjata will never complain with the chance to get fucked up.

SUNJATA

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

"My review?" Neron repeats with a raise of his eyebrows, a fanged grin curling across his lips. "Why, I wasn't aware I was getting a review. I suppose I ought to have been more polite in that case. And left the door open for you." Alas, he will just have to suffer with... well, he isn't sure Sunjata actually pays him, so he's not quite sure. Oh well.

Catching the glass as it's slid across to him, the Hailstorm is more than happy to comply. But he's not letting the Flood drink red wine from a frosted glass that's had whiskey in it - he's not an animal. Smoothly turning back towards the shelves, he uncorks a few of the selection and pours them into three separate wine glasses, setting them before Sunjata with a flourish. "Be a dear and tell me absolutely everything about them, won't you? It's a pain, this not being able to taste thing."

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

A smirk is sent Neron’s way, a playful wink at the mention of leaving the door open. He should have, but that’s neither here nor there. And of course, it’s all in good fun, unsure of how to even pay the Launceleyn unless it’s in stockpiling his abilities. Either way, he slides the glass over and Neron replaces it with three separate wine glasses, each one an interesting mix that he feels as though he’s been transported to before his rebellion, sitting there in a bourgeoise restaurant in the penthouse of a tall building within Korofi’s core, while others around him drone on and on about each flavor.

And Neron’s request of explaining everything? Well, he hums a sound under his breath, clicks his tongue. “Did you do this often? Back before you came here?” He asks as he picks up the first glass — a deep red wine within, the color of blood. He swirls it in the glass and lifts it to take a whiff, lowering it a moment to clear his senses, eyeing the sides where the wine had sat during the swirl. It sticks before it starts to slip down the sides. “Sugary and boozy.” He pauses, looking up at Neron. “I’m getting a mix of plums, apricots, and pineapple… cloves, perhaps? An interesting mix.” He decides, wondering if his nose is broken. It smells divine, however, so he doesn’t think it’s that.

Maybe it’s just been a while? (It has.)

Finally, he takes a sip, savoring it, watching Neron but not quite watching as he figures it out. He holds the small sip along his tongue in his mouth, letting it sit for a few moments before he swallows it abruptly. “It’s light. Tastes like a tropical Leafchange mix. I think it’s the cloves.” He tilts his head to peer at the glass again as if trying to figure more out.

SUNJATA

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

"Did I wine-taste often?" Neron tilts his head, watching the other man accept the first glass and treat it with all the care and respect it deserves. "I drank a lot of wine, if that counts," he continues, leaning his forearms on the counter so he can be on the same level as Sunjata, watching the ruby vintage stick to the sides of the glass. "But yes, I did taste it before drinking bottles of it." He gestures to how the other man is going about it, as if to say like that.

The description is detailed enough that the Hailstorm can almost imagine the flavours on his tongue, inhaling slowly through his nose and nodding. "It isn't really my vintage, but it seems nice enough. I prefer my wines earthier, personally." And gods, has it been that long since he had a conversation like this? "What about you? Did you do this a lot?"

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

“Ah.” Apparently he went a little too far into the tasting, a fact that has him snorting, rolling his eyes slightly as he moves onto the next glass. “Well, from Torchline we may just be in luck.” He rumbles, lifting the other glass and swirling it, repeating the motions as the question is returned.

“I did it a lot more than I’d care to admit.” He begins with a soft huff of a laugh. “Wine was never really my thing. But given that I was supposed to do what every other Aristocrat did, it just fell into line with it. I did it, got fucked up, so it was worth it.” And by the end of it he wasn’t coherent enough to say otherwise.

He takes a sniff of the next glass before continuing. “This ones got a strong coffee note. Cherry?” He hums thoughtfully, taking a sip and letting it settle in his mouth, a bit of the red still lined against the corner of his lips before he swallows it. “More your style.” He pushes the glass to Neron, tongue swiping along his lips to clean up the rest of the wine.

SUNJATA

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

"A man after my own heart," Neron purrs, and if he'd had a glass to raise, he'd have done it. "The aristocrat life isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it? But I'll give it to them - their wine is strong and they know how to get you fucked up." And as a former Duke who spent the majority of his time sleeping in late or getting hammered to avoid his family duties, Neron likes to think he made his time bearable.

Coffee and cherry notes are absolutely more his vibe, and he accepts the glass to raise it to his nose. It's barely perceptible, but it's there, and he inclines his head in a nod. "Gods, I miss being drunk," he mutters suddenly, huffing out a laugh and returning the glass to Sunjata. "I wonder if that's how I ended up behind the bar."

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

A hum of a laugh leaves him, a nod and a crooked smile on his face as he slides the glass over. “No, it certainly isn’t. Too…” His nose wrinkles, pulling the freckles on his face. “Stuffy.” He lifts the first glass to his lips and downs the entire taste by the time Neron’s sliding the glass Sunjata shared back over to him and the Flood gratefully accepts it. He lifts it to his lips again, downing the rest of it as the mixture of all the alcohols start to flush his skin.

“That’s probably it, if I had to guess. At least you have me here to relay the flavors and get drunk in your stead.” He murmurs, humming a laugh and moving onto the last glass, this one of rum. He doesn’t do all the tricks he did with the wine, but he does lift it to give it a sniff as well, before taking a sip and huffing out a breath as it burns on the way down. “This one’s quite spicy and full. Peppery?” He rumbles, head tilting as he stares at the glass. “Sweet after. Honey perhaps.”

SUNJATA

liars and lovers combine tonight, we're gonna make a scene

"If stuffy is another way of saying cruel, violent and trauma bonded, then sure. It was very stuffy," Neron agrees dryly, shaking his head as if to brush it off. It has been an age since the Launceleyns were prevalent in Caido, so anything before then honestly feels like another man's life.

"That's true enough, I suppose. Will it be in my review if I don't help you upstairs to bed when you can't walk?" he wonders, taking the empty glasses to stack them below the bar for cleaning later. The rum glass, at least, has received a touch of frost for its trouble, even though that sort of liquor isn't really Neron's preferred taste. (Then again, what is these days?)

"Sounds like Torchline has given us a good batch to choose from. Which is our top shelf?" he asks, gesturing to the bottles.

Neron

better get to diggin' while my body's getting cold.
i keep tryna fight it so just promise when i go, you'll bury me low

“It absolutely is.” He drawls with a hint of kinship with the Launceleyn. After all, things might have been different for the two of them but there were plenty of correlations, connections between the lives they lived separately in each different world they came from. They both have the scars to prove it.

The mention of the review has a crooked smirk growing again on his face, twisting the scar along the side of his face. “Oh, it will.” It’s another playful tease, a wink sent Neron’s way before he’s debating between the three glasses, two empty with the third about halfway remaining.

He lifts the rum to his lips to down the glass, making over the question. “Either the rum or the second wine.” Both were good options, certainly Torchline based and likely a nice little treat for those that didn’t want to leave the Grounds.

SUNJATA