estoria | [OPEN] It's Only a Bar Crawl If you Fail At the First Bar

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[OPEN] It's Only a Bar Crawl If you Fail At the First Bar

Who: Darin (

forgeabettertomorrow ) and you!
When: IC: 7/31 - 8/1 the party goes on until question marks
Where: The Pleasure District
What: Darin's had a rough time since he arrived here and now homesickness has set in. What's the best medicine for homesickness? Copious amounts of alcohol.
Rating/Warning: Drunken rambling, hilarity, and maybe, if you're extra lucky, some feels.

Things had not been coming up 'Darin' lately. Not at all. He's barely been here for any significant time and already several people knew things about him that he'd never wanted anyone to know. Probably one of the only people he could actually call a friend was pissed at him. And to top things off, he was homesick beyond belief.

He'd known that there was a Pleasure District in the colony, but he'd chosen to avoid it. Nothing really good comes out of places known distinctly as 'Pleasure Districts' but for once, he was actually trying to stay away from his smithy. And he'd heard there were a few really good bars around...and it had been such a long time since he'd had any decent booze.

Maybe you're just out drinking and this blue haired stranger is being rowdy next to you. Maybe you work at one of the establishments in the Pleasure District and this half drunk jerk stumbles into your business looking to have a laugh and a drink and maybe some decent company to vent to. Odds are he'll only remember parts of this when he survives his hangover the next day.

-Prompt I-

He'd only just started his evening, wandering into the first few bars that catch his eye. He looks around at the patrons, rubs his chin, and takes a seat at the bar. His face looks like the face of every bar-hopper with a story. He's got tons of them, and the look in his eyes says he hasn't slept in a few nights. He looks downright worn out, his clothes are dirty and singed from working non-stop in the forge and he raises a weary hand and drops it on the bar."Hey now, what's the best way to get smashed around here?"

-Prompt II-

He's already downed enough booze to considerably lift his spirits. He's staggering and swaying every which way. He hadn't felt this good in a long time. A looooooong time. He's not particularly dangerous to anyone. Maybe he's a little clingy. In fact, he might be draped over you right this second, just laughing. His breath stinks of alcohol and while he's not doing anything terrible, it seems you can't exactly shake this new leech.

"S...So hey. Hey, where are we goin' next? Night's still young, right? What's on tap?! Come on, let's have some fun!"

-Prompt III-

We've reached the part in the night where the alcohol has seeped into his brain enough to make him resentful of where he is. Not necessarily resentful of the Pleasure District, just resentful of the fact that he has to put up with all of this stupid nonsense. He bumps into you, then acts completely indignant. It's the third stage of drunkeness: The 'I'm not wrong, everyone else is and now I need to argue very loudly about it' stage. So, now that he's bumped into you like a teetering bull, it's time for him to snap at you like the petty drunk that he is.

"Hey! Watch where you're goin'! You blind or something?!"

-Prompt IV-

Ah it's finally morning. Calm has descended upon the Pleasure District, and Darin's night of binge drinking and shenanigans is over. How does one celebrate this achievement? Well, in Darin's completely hungover case, he's prominently displayed hanging from his waist atop a fountain. He's hanging from his belt. How he got there? Well, he climbed, but he had to do some kind of epic gymnastics to get his belt hooked on the fountain. He's just...hanging there. Passed out. Won't someone get him down? Maybe drop him into the cold water below? Or maybe just let him hang there. Take some pictures. Toilet paper him. He probably deserves it for all of the trouble he caused.

-Wildcard-

Work in the Pleasure District and want Darin to stumble in for shenanigans? Go for it! Feel free to get a prompt rolling and if you aren't sure or want to plot something, just ping me at

bitterbearface

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Uh...yeah, actually.

I'd really appreciate it.

I guess my legs haven't gotten the 'sober up' memo from my brain yet.

[To accentuate his point, he reaches down, grabs his leg by the pants and shakes it about like a floppy noodle.]

Sure. I'll help ya out, though don't expect me to drag ya back.

[Darin's taller and bigger than him, for one thing! And Raven is old and easily tired! He stands, and offers an arm to help Darin onto his feet.]

How's your hand doing? All healed up?

[Darin grabs Raven's hand and pushes himself up. He's wobbly, but at least he can stand for the most part. He even takes a shaky step forward.]

Ah...yeah it's good as new. No marks or scars or anything. You really gotta do some damage to really leave any kind of a mark on me.

[Which begs the question: What the hell was strong enough to leave that jagged scar on his back?]

[It does beg the question, and while Raven's curious, he's still going to stick to his guns and let Darin explain at his own pace instead of pushing it. Everyone has their burdens, after all, and Darin figuring out his own will be half the battle.]

Let's hope it won't ever come to that, eh?

[Though Darin seems to be plenty good at doing damage to himself without anyone else needing to lift a finger. Sigh!!

With that, Raven starts to lead the way, but he'll start slow to make sure Darin keeps pace, given how unsteady he looks on his feet.]

[He's wobbling like a newborn calf, but at the very least, he's keeping up.]

I ah...I think I owe you another apology, Old man.

Huh? What for?

[Raven scratches his chin, and looks at him sidelong with a deliberately blank expression.]

For...

[Darin looks up, as he tries to think of a way to word this.]

For...being me, I guess. Sometimes I get up my own ass about something that...I guess I get a little short sighted.

[A nonchalant shrug.]

An apology's fine, but ya don't hafta apologise for who ya are. That ain't why I got riled up.

No no, I mean...I get why you were mad but...

I do have to apologize for being me.

[He stops to lean against a nearby wall to get his bearings.]

That thing you said...about torturing myself to show off? You...

You weren't that far from the mark. I don't do it to show off...I do it to prove I can take it...

Now, I admit, that's not much different but...

Look, the only reason I'm alive and Dromas is dead is because of this...power. That, and the fact that I ran.

[He stops to a halt and looks back at Darin, sighing.] Ahh, this makes an old man's heart hurt. Kids like you shouldn't have to carry such heavy burdens.

Who were ya trying ta prove it to? Me, or yourself? And why?

Both, I guess. Everyone. Because Dromas was always the leader when it came to the two of us. Dromas always thought that because we were special, because we had abilities, we should show it. We should be proud. We were supposed to better than everyone else.

I never...well, I never believed I was better than anyone except at being a blacksmith. But after he was gone...I promised I'd live in his stead. If that means I get hurt then...well, it's not like I can't take it.

So all this time you've been trying ta live as two people instead of one. That's a story I've heard before.

[Raven looks away. As much as he doesn't want to turn his back on Darin on this one, it's all a little too close to home for him.]

You said Dromas ain't dead after all though, right? So even if he's not the brother you remember... doesn't his bein' alive change things at all?

You...have?

[Darin tilts his head curiously.]

Well...yeah, but he's not...supposed to be alive. I don't know if he's undead or his soul's been given a new body or...well, no it's definitely the same body. He has the matching scar across his chest. I could only see part of it but I'd be able to place that wound anywhere...

[He runs his hand through his hair.]

Dromas is out to get the prophecy rolling. The Archfiends...did something to him. He's stronger now than I thought he was ever capable of being. He can wipe out an entire city without breaking much of a sweat. He's 'alive' in name only.

[He sighs and pushes himself off of the wall and starts to shakily walk again.]

The only thing him being back changed was that I could never go back home again until I could prove my innocence.

Yet you're set on livin' in the memory of the brother you remember, regardless of who he is now. That's a rough deal.

[Raven starts to walk again too, going quiet. It's definitely too familiar a story, so much so that he's not sure how to respond. Yuri would probably have something smart to say. Raven? Not so much.]

Seems like your world really is as messed up as mine... And now there's nothin' we can do for either of 'em. [Raven stuffs his hands into his pockets and looks on ahead, lost in thought.] But I can tell ya that I learned recently that ya can't let the past control ya forever. Livin' for others instead of by yer own will is a recipe for misery.

I just...want to follow his example. He didn't let the world trample him. At the very least, I could do the same.

[That last bit kind of takes Darin by surprise. He casts a sidelong glance Raven's way.]

Learned it recently, huh? Y'know, all this time I've been going on and on about my world...

What's happened in your world that makes it so similar to mine?

Ahh, let's see... [It's all been such a mess, Raven has to think for a few moments to wonder how to begin summarising.]

For people in my world, they're split between the Empire, and the guilds. My nutjob of an old boss tried ta orchestrate war between the two to bring the world to its knees. He wanted ta purge it and start society over as he wanted it to be... But he had no idea what he was meddlin' with, and instead, he accidentally unleashed a calamity that could spell the end of the world altogether.

[The details of which are way too complicated for an outsider to follow, so he'll just stay vague on that particular detail for now.]

Then we've got some other guy who's so sick of watchin' humanity fight and wrecking the natural order of things, he's happy ta just wipe us all out in some warped idea of savin' the planet.

[Raven sighs.] Me and some friends were gonna stop him and that huge calamity, but it didn't work out since the Flamines did the job instead... It's kinda depressing.

So...on the one hand you've got some crazy guy who wants to shatter the economic and social balances by having your kingdom and the trade guilds...

And on the other, you have a lunatic that's just tired of people fighting so he's going to wipe everyone out on principle?

...Aside from the social in-fighting...yeah, our worlds are scarily similar.

That's about the long and short of it. Ta say nothin' of the war between humans and creatures called Entelexeia, but that's long since been fought and won by humans ten years ago.

Old Raven here's had front row seats ta pretty much the whole thing, and it hasn't been pretty.

Front row seats...?

So...what, are you some type of mercenary?

Nah... It's more like...

[His automatic reaction is to fob Darin off with a non-answer or say something silly and change the subject. But Darin had already trusted him with so much about himself, the least Raven could do is return the favour in kind. Especially when people in this world don't have a stake in any of his own worlds' affairs, which makes this a little easier.]

Well, maybe you'll think less of this old man if you hear it, but we've already talked this much. Ten years ago I was just a regular soldier in the Great War. After that, I moved ta the top of both the Imperial Knights and the Guild Union... I'll leave the rest to yer imagination. [Considering the two almost descended into war, the implications don't exactly cast Raven in a flattering light.]

And then eventually, I wound up joinin' a bunch of kids who're now fightin' hard ta save the world. I owe 'em a debt, so I was tagging along too.

Wait so...you were part of the top brass of both opposing sides...?

[Darin stops cold.]

Wait, what the hell?! A top class soldier and a guild leader?!

When the hell did you find time to sleep?! And for that matter, just how talented are you, Old man?!

H-hold on! I wasn't leader of any guilds, just high up in the ranks of one. That'd definitely be way too much work for this poor old man!

[Haven't you seen how lazy he is? He loves sleep!]

As for the military, my brigade was kinda unique, so it worked. Don't go thinkin' I'm some kinda crazy talented busybody or anythin'.

Define 'unique,' Old man.

[Because he is side-eyeing you so hard right now, Raven. He's definitely getting a 'more than meets the eye' feel from you, now more than ever.]

Because all I'm hearing is that you somehow managed to get caught on both sides of the political spectrum, so to speak.

[Darin leans in closer to Raven.]

You're not a two-timer, are you, Old man?

[Raven sighs and smiles to himself. If he's supposed to be put off by all this side-eyeing, he doesn't react to it.] You heard what I said, didn't ya? But it's all in the past. I wouldn't air out dirty laundry like this otherwise -- it'd be pretty dumb to, considerin' there's people from my world here who'd be at risk of findin' out.

[He shrugs noncommittally.]

I'll let ya draw yer own conclusions. I'm just tellin' ya this stuff because it's only fair. You've trusted me with a lotta stuff about you, good and bad, and I didn't give a whole lot in return... So this is me, givin' back to ya.

[It's that last bit that kind of catches Darin off guard. He really did trust Raven, didn't he. And sure, he's been burned in the past with trusting others...Raven was just...easy to talk to.]

[Darin falls silent as they walk along. His legs were starting to recover from the previous night's shenanigans and he was walking steadier now.]

[Finally, as they get close to Darin's place, he stops.]

I'm...sorry I haven't told you the whole truth. It's not that I don't want to. Hell, you're probably one of the only people I've met since I got here that I'd consider an actual friend.

I'm...

[He turns away a bit and rubs the back of his neck.]

To be honest...I'm scared of what you'd think of me. If you knew the truth about who I am. What I am.

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