expiationlogs | [ OPEN ] willkommen, bienvenue, welcome

Who: The Adults Of Aldrip
Where: A handy dandy bar!
What: Claude has collaborated with one of the local bar-owners to host a Chosen-only night for the adults of Aldrip to have a nice night away from the prying eyes of locals.
Warnings: Alcohol, drug-use, grown men making embarrassments of themselves, potential hand-holding.

Welcome one and all to a place where the Chosen are able to unbutton that top button, sit back, and relax, free of the badgering eyes of locals, and able to mingle amongst like minds! Your local Apothecarist, Claude von Riegan, came up with this idea with one of the local bar-owners as a good way to drum up business amidst the Chosen for a place for the Chosen and the Chosen alone to be able to shed some of that weight they've been carrying. Claude himself has made no secret of the fact that he's the one who put this shindig together, openly advertising it as something of his own creation, a community building effort for everyone to bond with one another in a context in which they're not forced to do so by threat of death or imprisonment.

For this evening, liquor has been put out for the Chosen to serve themselves, and runs freely enough that everyone will be able to drink their fill, though there's a table at the back of the room laden with all sorts of bar snacks to help fill people's bellies and soak up some of that liquor; flatbreads and fried delights, a generous selection of meats and cheeses, and confections enough to satisfy even the most demanding sweet tooth.

Along the south end of the bar there are a collection of booths, far enough away from the booming sound system to be able to chat quietly amongst themselves, if you're the more retiring sort and would just like to have a nice talk over a pint or two. In this area, you may also find a few hookahs at your disposal, filled with tobacco or hashish, courtesy of Claude himself -- though he hasn't shied away from cheekily including business cards at each table, advertising his place of business should you wish to purchase teas, salves, potions, and yes, all manner of smokable delights.

In the centre of the establishment, chairs and tables have been cleared away to make room for dancing, if you so please, with the sound system at the Chosen's disposal if they want to pump up the beats or put on a slow song to rock to and fro with a honey or two (or three?).

Lastly, there's a brand new karaoke machine that's been installed along the far east corner of the room, in case anyone would like to thoroughly embarrass themselves. What do you mean, you're a good singer? Then get out of here! You should know by now that that's not what the spirit of karaoke is about!

If there's anything else you would like added, dear player -- just write it in, and it's yours! Whatever can feasibly fit into a bar, you can assume it's present for all and sundry to enjoy.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Believe it or not, Vi, I'm not actually a big drinker. But I'm happy to aid and abet in others' libations, [ Claude says with a wink, tipping his glass towards her to clink them together, whether Vi wants him to or not. His own drink, the first of the night, has only been very slowly sipped at. ]

Besides, is it really working if you're a volunteer? I'm half the barkeep my other self was, but far better company, I think. How've you been?

That's a shame. I'd like to see you drunk one day.

[she doesn't care, though. she'll drink to her heart's content.]

It's been as good as it could get here lately. [which isn't really saying much.] How long did it take you to get your head screwed back on right after the mind fucking?

[ Claude winks at her, jovial despite the subject. ] Catch me having a bad enough night, and you might!

[ He's not one to drown his sorrows in drink, but he's not above it either. ]

It took me... less time than others, from the sounds of it. [ He looks at the glasses in front of him, left over from the recent patrons. He holds up one glass of water, and sets it next to an empty cup, one short and squat, one tall and slender. ]

Both of us were made up of the same things, but... [ He pours half of the tall glass into the short one. ] Even if our spirits were similar, what we made of them was as different as can be. To me, it all feels like a strange dream. But for others, it seems that getting back to normal was quite a bit more difficult.

[ Claude has always been a skilled compartmentalizer. More than that, the way he'd sprinted merrily towards his old memories seem to have helped his adjustment in the long run. ]

Though you and I were thick as thieves in that other world, it seems. How've you been handling it?

[she thinks about it. she had actually thought Silco was the good guy. she had thought he was her father figure. but at the same time, it was less of a problem with Jinx at that point too.

she didn't know. she's still so confused.

she grinned a bit, though.]

Hey, I'm not going to complain about that. You're still pretty cool, even if we still haven't had a chance to fight each other.

[you never really knew what this place was going to do.]

I've been... handling it. [not well.] At least my fuckin' head is finally screwed on right again. It took me a minute to get back to normal.

Gods willing, we won't. What was it that I said to you the day we met? That I'm a lover, not a fighter? I still stand by it.

[ He's lucky, with how little his head was addled with the shift. Yes, it made him feel -- puzzled, about the nature of his feelings about his parents, but they're not here to be confused by. He hasn't even seen them in years. Hasn't spoken to them either. He knows that they could have probably sent a letter his way by now, but he knows, too, that he could do the same. They live in mutual refusal to do so.

But Vi here, she's got all of her important people right here with her. It's a real asshole of a situatio. ]

I keep talking to people who've found it difficult to get back to normal. It almost seems like... [ He taps his fingers on the desk. ] Maybe it's the sort of person where their other life was closer to their own? Or, rather, the way things could have gone. Which seemed like it might've been the case for you.

They certainly presented us with a more peaceful life, I can admit that much.

[there's a long silence as she considers his words. she runs her hand through her hair and takes a sip of her drink... and then sighs.]

Yeah. I mean, it started off kind of rocky... but there wasn't all the baggage from home to get in between us.

[not as much, anyway. there will always be Something.]

What about you? You seemed like you were living it up, too.

Living it up? Not quite, [ Claude says with a short laugh. ] Juvenile rebellion, if you're being kind. I was a mess in that world. I'm kind of embarrassed at how I carried on.

[ Having a taste for liquor is one thing. Most young men develop one. But all of the cavorting and carrying on with married men and women? That was absolutely mortifying. ]

I was angry at my father and lashing out. [ His lips lift in a half-smile, wry. ] Would that our problems in our real lives be as simple as the problems in our fake ones, huh?

Well, we were all kind of messes there. Just in different ways... probably the only thing that was the same compared to our real lives.

[she smiles a bit, a little sad.]

Yeah. When my real memories started showing up... I didn't want to go back, at first. But I knew I had to, so I went.

[ Claude shakes his head. ]

I sought them out. As many as I could, as frequently as I could. I remember being absolutely hungry for them, even if the memories were -- let's say, not the sort of memories anyone in his right mind would want to recover, [ he admits with a small laugh, self-effacing as ever. ]

But I was hungry for a purpose grander than going around making a nuisance of myself. Or some sort of direction, at least. Delusions of grandeur, perhaps, but I wanted more, and I suppose I got just that. [ He tilts his head, something mirthful in the arch of his brow. ]

D'you think that means I would have been a philanderer if I wasn't born in wartime? That's a bit of a frightful thought.

[that just meant he was stronger in that aspect than her. even though she suspected some sort of interference because she didn't fulfill her Sentencing... she still hadn't really wanted to go back.]

I wasn't much different. Just... [less traumatized. maybe not by much, considering her fake memories paralleled some of her original ones... but still.

she sighs.] It is like it showed us what life might be like in a peaceful world. But I don't think any of us has the luxury of that back home.

Apparently I'd feel ill at ease no matter what, [ Claude muses, which is getting a little too close to the truth for his comfort -- he presents himself as a happy-go-lucky sort of man, after all, one that's more concerned with feasting and dancing than he is any of the earthly problems that surround them. He's gotten sloppy. ]

It was peaceful. But... interrupted. I felt like I could sense disaster around the corner at any moment. [ For good reason: disaster certainly occurred. ]

Why do you think that is? Trying to convince us we'd be happier here than back home? It is odd that everyone here comes from... tumultuous backgrounds, let's say.

[she'd been on edge, too. as if something was going to happen...

but at his last comment, she shrugs.]

Who knows? I'm not the kind of person who thinks about that sort of shit. That's something you'd need to theorize with Caitlyn about.

[ OPEN ] willkommen, bienvenue, welcome

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