A Floor is A Floor [Open]

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. "Cobbler? Hm. Could use some new boots." Adam mumbled, mostly to himself, leaning down to fiddle with a bit of leather that was coming off the toe of his boot. They had clearly been expensive, made with a large (and impractical, really) heel and going up to his knees, buckles and trinkets strapped on with leather thongs all the way up. Shoes that were more for show than any kind of function. He had no idea what a Huskarl was, but it sounded not very him, so Adam shook his head. "No, not a leader. I just look out for me." He tried to point at himself with his thumb, but being rather intoxicated missed and narrowly avoided hitting himself in the eye. "I wanna be famous. Important. Don't care how. Used to be a highwayman and get known that way...or hell, as an important and cool hooker...just...want people to give a shit about my name." i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

"Oh, could you now?" Are asked, eyebrow cocked and stout frame shaking with mirth. His low chuckle turned a good-hearted laughter as the honor-thirsty gentleman bandit grumbled about his deserved place in the world. His half-slurred life's story had Are equal parts amused and worried, far too many good men had fallen prey to eyes bigger than their mouths could muster.

A good eye for a good lad he prided himself on having, not nearly as well trained as his father's, but enough to tell that his new found friend was blowing hot air. Not that Are had the heart to take the wind out of the man's sails, not yet at least. "Do tell! What will the great Adam be known for? No room in Valhall for cobblers and thieves, so what is your claim to fame?!" he roared, spirits lifted by the simple idea of valor for valor's sake. "Me, I will be a glorious warrior, one strong enough to bring down Jörmungandr with only my two bare hands I tell you!" Are punched the air and beamed, blowing life in childish fantasies better left behind like the world before him.

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. "Uh, yeah." Adam snorted, motioning down at himself, as if it were painfully obvious just by something in his appearance that he was destined for a greater purpose than anyone else. He began to suspect he was being mocked, but he was drunk enough to not really care. Equally, Adam wanted Are to go away and let him sleep and he wanted to impress the man. He wanted to impress everyone. But how, Are wanted to know. "Y'don't look strong enough for that. As for me, I'm gonna do what I always did before. Be a famous highwayman. Y'know, steal from the rich, pull off great heists, seduce everyone in my path..." He sighed dreamily, kicking his boot out as he sunk further down towards the floor. "Just like a hero in a story." i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

His expression and the way he said those words took the most of the winds out of Are's sails. How could he be so heartless as to mock a man who just wanted something more out of life? A scoundrel, maybe, but not a bad man. Certainly not one deserving of ridicule, especially not from a cobbler drowning himself in whatever could shut the thoughts of home out for a few more moments.

"No, I am not strong, Adam." he said, deflated but still smiling. "Neither am I courageous, honorable or any number of things I ought to be. I'm just a man." Are let out a defeated sigh and moved over to sit next to Adam, weary about not getting too too close to the small dragon. There'd been a story brewing in his head, one that would finally prove the point he was trying to make. A story both the storyteller Roar and his own father would've been proud to hear. But it was all for naught.

Are took a breath to start his story, but each time it was let go with another sigh. It finally hit home, no matter the flowery prose or encouraging tales there was no changing the world. He looked down at his own shoes, scuffed, but not yet in tatters like the once he came to Caido in had been. He nodded slowly to himself, happy with saying nothing for a good few seconds before a thought rolled off his tongue again. "A hero's road is a tricky path, that few find the end of. It goes through blood, fire and war, and leads to a hero's grave. Whatever path you choose to take, you'll always be the hero of your own story." Are said and gave him a smile bordering on sad. Not pity, no, worry perhaps.

"And worst comes to worst, I'm always looking for apprentices." he said and laughed, what little worry vanishing as he shook with mirth.

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. "Aw, well, hey, you don't look that bad..." Adam mumbled, suddenly feeling bad (and when he was drunk, feelings of guilt couldn't just be swallowed down as they usually were) about his comment. "I'm sure you're a fine guy." It seemed Are was going to say something but stopped himself before the words actually found form -- Adam didn't push. He was too drunk and tired to be annoying right now (or at least, his usual levels of it) and just slumped down now far enough that he was just laying on the floor again, staring up at the ceiling. "I mean, yeah, but I wanna be the hero of everyone else's story too." He said, in a tone that verged on whiny. "I...don't think I'd be much good at making shoes. I'm already rooming with a farmer whose tryina get me to plant shit, and I'm ok at that. It's boring, though. The best thing is his dog." Coffee, from where he had been curled up by Adam's head, suddenly looked up as if offended. "You're better, Coffs, don't worry." i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

The mumble almost went unnoticed by Are, but made a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. Again reinforcing what he had been suspecting from the moment he met the somewhat unstable thief, Caido had again proven to carve fine men out of both granite and limestone.

"I hear you, who wouldn't want their names written and sung?" Are asked, disregarding the fact he could very easily answer the hypothetical question. Still, a part of him had never given up on the notion of making more than shoes, to finally be worthy of entering the sacred hall and dine a hero.

"Lucky you, this whole world seem in desperate need of heroes. Glorious and brave, well, glorious at least." he said and poked Adam with an elbow and chuckled lightly. "There's a barrier out there holding us back though..." he said, for a moment furrowing his brow. "What do you think it hides?"

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. "Dunno. Best thing of my childhood was listening to the tavern songs." Adam did not usually speak of his past, of anything more personal than the details of the him he constructed in his head, but in his inebriated state the words slipped by. "Oi, I'm plenty fucking brave." He insisted. And he was, when he had to be. Adam was smart enough not to handle things that would clearly kill him (like stealing from royalty or going up against monsters) but he had gone through things that could have ended most men. Of course, the moments where he'd really had to show the most bravery were not the stories he told people, because those moments were rarely pretty. "I dunno. I hope it's not more of this place. Kinda hoping there might be a road to home out there, somehow. Don't know how that would work since we're dead and all, but..." He shrugged, looked off to the side. "It'd be nice." i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

Are chuckled at the reaction he'd manage to get out of Adam. Not usually one to tease, but he could easily make more exceptions he thought. At least if they only elicited muttered curses instead of the occasional beatings he'd gotten used to among enough brothers to staff a tannery. "Oh I believe you, you seem like a good man." Are relented and instead of poking more fun at the thief gave him a sincere piece of his mind.

"Hope is in short supply, what little I have left I save for..." suddenly somber, the words stuck in Are's throat. He never figured out why he kept spilling his sorrow onto strangers, let alone drunk thieves. "Her." he finally managed to get it dislodged. Every time he said it it cut a little deeper, but the pain reminded him of why he kept going.

"Sorry, but I think this is home now." Are felt as if someone else spoke with his mouth, like he was just a vessel for ideas he had barely accepted himself. He knew it was the truth, still. "At least, that is what's kept me from going mad with the reality of it all. Grit your teeth and keep working, keeps you from thinking too much about it."

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. "Good? Eh. But brave, yeah." Adam shrugged. You couldn't keep up your bad boy persona if people were going around calling you a 'good man'. He looked up as he heard the beginnings of something that sounded dangerously like tears in Are's voice. Hers were rarely good. Hims weren't good either. Nor thems, or its. Any word that implied someone was about to get lyrical and upset about their past, about to start sobbing and make him very uncomfortable. But the pressure to say something was too great to just ignore it. "You uh...got a lady back home?" "...We'll see." Was all he had to say about the resigned fates of them both. Despite being knocked down many times, he was an eternal optimist, or at least as much as it pertained to his own chances. i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

The reluctance was so thick on his voice even Are saw it through the miasma of his own memories. He chuckled a bit at how pathetic he must seem, slowly spilling his guts all over the shoes of a drunk. Horrible shoes at that, not just the state of them, but, well, everything.

Are shook his head and wiped the tears threatening to roll down his cheeks. Conjuring up better memories, memories of happier times and images that kept him going. He saw a smile worth fighting for, care free where in times where he couldn't be and strong when he was weak. An unyielding will not even Are himself could challenge, not from a lack of trying though. "Yes, her, my wife." Are said, sad visage exchanged for a warm smile, although still with a tinge of tears. A deep breath washed away the lump in his throat and allowed him to finally wipe away the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes.

"I won't bore you with details, I mean, I would, but I lack the words to do her justice." he said, again laughing, more at his own ineptitude than anything else. "She's perfect in every way I am not, far too good for this stubborn coward I tell you, you'll see it when you meet her! What about you? Any special someone you've got tucked away?"

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. "Wife, right." Adam repeated, a clear bit of awkwardness in his tone. Not just because he was uncomfortable with the amount of emotion coming from Are, either; wives in general were a bit of a tense subject for Adam. He began to tap quietly on the floor with one finger as he listened to Are continue on. When he met her...? Adam supposed if this was the afterlife, people he'd known would eventually join...did that mean his father was here?! The thought was as alarming as it was exciting. "Uh, well, I'm divorced." He said, then raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised he'd revealed that. He really had to stop getting quite this drunk. "So uh...I you know, got a couple things going on but...nothing proper. It's not really my kinda thing." i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

Divorced, it took a few moments for that word to land in the cobbler's mind. A few moments more for it to weave it's way through the mesh separating new from old and to fully make sense. He let slip a non-committal noise, seemingly split on whether the answer made him pleased he'd actually gotten it or concerned a bond meant for life had been willingly broken.

At least the topic of Adam's relationships had Are thinking of something other than the state of his own. He tried to see it from the perspective of a glorious scoundrel, something about grand adventure and a dash of skaldly flair and maybe would make more sense. Still it left the cobbler shaking his head and chuckling at the mumbled explanations following his great reveal.

"I know the kind..." the voice was unlike his regular tone, thick with judgment the cobbler should've been the last one to cast. He knew very well his glass house was particularly vulnerable in the area of relationships and it had taken a fair few shaky ones before he'd ever even come close to finding his footing. He looked down and cringed at how harsh his words had came out. "Sorry, I know neither you nor your world and should not judge. No ones asks the cobbler for help in marital troubles." he quipped and laughed, but caught himself almost starting down another winding path before looking up at his new friend again.

"Shoe troubles though..." he tapped his temple with a finger. "there I can work wonders. No patched marriages, but the softest soles you'd ever felt. I shouldn't hold you hostage anymore though, there's stars you seem aching to meet and I won't keep you separated."

ADAM it's not a cry for help, it's just a cry for connection. Are seemed to be quite judgey on the whole divorce thing, and Adam had to put real effort into holding his tongue. He couldn't tell a stranger the whole thing, how it had been something borne of teenage sweethearts forced into commitments, of the way her rich family had paraded him like a novelty, like a thing for their amusement, how he had tried so hard to convince her to go with him away from them and then that final night where she had told him he was leaving, but she wasn't coming. He couldn't say all of that, so he just hummed at Are's apology. Really, he was quite disgruntled. Thinking of Heidi when he was drunk rarely ended well. "Right, yeah, stars." Adam agreed, then reached for a scroll to put under his head for a makeshift pillow. "I'll see you later, Are whatever-the-fuck-your-name-was, shoe guy." i'd trade my life and health, to make people pay attention. I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of entertainment.

Are

"Far vel, Adam, glorious drunkard, I'll tell tales of how I met you before you became world famous." Are said and gave his shoulder a squeeze before getting up and on soft soles leave the little nook behind. The winding corridors took a fair few moments to navigate, but as soon as the musty smell of mold and old parchment was left behind he breathed a sigh of relief and chilling air. As the chilling night enveloped him he wrapped his aching body in the cloak and pulled up the hood.

The cobbler smiled all the way home. Friends seemed to just drop out of the sky as he stumbled through it.