AFTERPARTY III: Never Have I Ever Been Quite This Drunk

[mirrite]

[There's absolutely nothing celebratory about this drinking party. "Party" isn't even the right word, not really-- it's more like a "drink until you forget and/or black out" session for anyone who wants to participate, and even the bartender isn't immune from that much. Please forgive him if your drink isn't mixed quite right; he's trying his best under the circumstances.

There's food, too, if anyone wants to attempt to stave off a hangover tomorrow, or just get something in their stomach after the events of the day: stirfry from Makoto, vegetable soup from Nageki (mediocre, but hey, a genuine effort was made and that's what counts), and some tea for those who would rather abstain from the harder stuff. (Is that even many people tonight? Probably not.)

Come on by the bar if you're hungry or want a drink, or even if you just don't want to be alone right now. That much, at least, is something that can be guaranteed tonight.]

Comments

[heroicact]

[He's about as together as he is going to get with his hair standing on end (and it really is kind of ridiculously flippy when it's not being tamed by braid nor time spent away from a bar and closer to a mirror) and his clothes all untucked; he loosened his collar at some point in the evening but has somehow, thus far, managed to avoid spilling anything substantial -- granted, with the darker clothes it's a little harder to tell.

And now there are crumbs! Because he is managing to fumble his pretzel things. F.]

Wah, I think, I am steadier than these snacks -- they are much too small -- who thought of these-- [well, maybe two of them have escaped him thus far, but he manages to secure the rest a bit sheepishly] Sorry, I'll try to be better company? You don't have to be. You can just be Tenn.

I am glad you're here.

[He more or less already said that but what is object permanence.]

[incompletely]

...Jack-san...

[ You can just be Tenn. I am glad you're here. When was the last time he heard something like that? That it was okay to be who he was? He's never felt more stupid before coming here, trusting the wrong people not once but twice, and yet...

Jack, even in his drunken state, still thinks that way of him. He's trying not to get too emotional, but...ah. ]

Thanks. I know it's been rough on you, too. So...don't force yourself to do anything for my sake.

[heroicact]

Hmm.

[Now that he's a little more stable on his perch and in his snack and drink of choice (he might be eating ice cubes now, but he's paused that too for a moment), Jack has the leisure to actually concentrate on the conversation they're supposed to be having. As best he can, anyway. There's a long moment where he regards Tenn at least semi-thoughtfully, either in the midst of reading the mood or just very slowly registering the turn in it.

At length, he smiles a little -- it's a little less silly, a little quieter. The lushnesss of the night has sweetened it almost to the point of crookedness but there's something somehow sad hiding in the corners, all the same.]

Forcing myself... would be the opposite? Forcing myself away, because of everything... I'm not strong enough for that at all. [literally? metaphorically? he's just a pile of mush out here and he drops his eyes to his ridiculous glass full of ice] So I'm here like this...

[incompletely]

...I get it.

[ He can't force himself away, either. He can't get himself to stop caring; trust is a different thing in itself, but caring? Getting attached? Those are staples of who Kujo Tenn is, and as much as he'd rather not do those things in this moment, he can't help it. ]

Do you think it's worth it to keep caring, then, Jack-san? That even after everything...it's okay to keep wanting to look out for others?

[heroicact]

I... [...] I am sorry, Tenn.

[After stumbling over his words in such a manner he seems to lose the thread of what he was saying for a moment, and as though in a habitual movement reaches out to tip his glass again. All he gets is a little ice and melted water, but that's probably for the best, still.

Afterward, he sets his head back down on the bar counter and contemplates his bar snacks and perhaps life. His forehead tips forward against the fading coolness of the glass and he closes his eyes for a moment.]

... I can tell you this: it's all so dark... but the ending where someone just pulls away from the world... is so much darker. Please don't, all right?

[Perhaps if he were sober, it would be a much more eloquent appeal. Here, over the edge of sobriety and into the dizzying abyss at the bottom of a bottle that's what he manages.]

[incompletely]

[ ... The ending where someone pulls away from the world is so much darker. And that he's asking him not to do that -- Jack...is really kind, isn't he. He's saying all of this even though he's intoxicated. He's telling Tenn what he really ought to hear, and...

He really doesn't think this world can get any darker. But it can. And it's his job to rise above it, to make sure he can pull himself out of the abyss and take as many people as he can with him. Even if it hurts. Even if it'll come back to bite him in the end.

He's a little emotional, soaking all of this in. Don't mind him. ]

...You're right. I -- we can't.