♤ THAT ONE PIZZA PARTY THING

[deal_me_in]

(This here's a very free-form, very belated follow-up to the impromptu pizza party that Tony Cayde apparently planned, just for continuity's sake and if anyone was really angling for some pizza times.

So! Feel free to handwave, or if you want to thread anything out, here's a place for it to be back-threaded to your heart's content, as well as if you want some lighter fare alongside your slice of scary, event-wise.)

[Two hours- probably less by now- wasn't much time to make pizzas even if he knew how, that much, Cayde-6 was certain of. He already has a good idea of who's put him up to the task, although if there's any particular reason for it, he hasn't the slightest. It's just one of those dumb friend things, right? Put your pal on the spot by telling everyone they're hosting a pizza party. Sure!

With comms compromised, Cayde relied on his good ol' Hunter skills to track down Billy, an even better friend to have when one of your besties pulls something like this.

"Hey, can you do me a solid and magic up a crapload of pizzas cuz some idiot thinks he's having a hoot trying to tarnish my good name. Thanks, I owe you buddy."

...WHICH IS HOW those who have been drawn to The Deep End, either by false promises of pizza or curiosity or even doubt will come to find an amazing array of pizzas stacked along the counter with a kaleidoscope of dishware stacked off to the side for some self-service.

Grab a slice or three, take a seat, take in the fish, hey! Even ask for a drink. This here's a bar you know!]

Comments

[fatedsacrifice]

[Noctis showed up for the promised pizza, still wondering how the heck they managed to make one. But he had heard of the bar even if he'd never been. He ordered a drink but wasn't sure exactly what was in it, but it smelled good at least. It was some blue concoction or other and he seemed to be early or right on time or whatever it was.

So he took his slices of pizza and his drink and sat next to the fish tank. It was pretty fascinating and reminded him of the one his father King Regis had up at the top of the Citadel. It had been something Noctis had wanted to duplicate before he found out what the whole plan for his life was.

But he did find Cayde and nodded at hi,. "Thanks for the party. We could probably use one every now and again."

[deal_me_in]

No one needs to know the trouble he'd gone through! Or hadn't gone through, technically. Cayde would have gladly used the Replicator if he couldn't borrow Billy, but it would have been a paltry selection of pizza if that had been the case.

"Eh, don't mention it," he said with a wave of his hand. He really wasn't the one to take the credit for it...but that wasn't stopping him. "True though. Just something to have people touch base every now and then can't hurt." The party at the beach had been a lot of fun. That probably wouldn't be a good venue for a repeat what with the weather turning, though.

[fatedsacrifice]

Noctis nodded. "How did you manage to get all of those pizzas? I mean, that's not something we can have normally." He really wanted to be wrong here but figured he wasn't too far off of the mark.

"You had mentioned something about a wizard. Do we have those here?" And he tried to shut his mind out to the comment about pointy hats. But the wizard like ones he knew wielded magic.

[deal_me_in]

"That is a secret. But yeah, it's not a treat we get often." Cayde pawed through boxes for a slice, helping himself to some pepperoni, if struggling a bit as the cheese stubbornly stretched on between box and plate.

"Wha? Did I?" Oh right, that probably wasn't him talking to this guy. "I mean...depends on your definition of a wizard. But I'd say we have some kicking around here."

[fatedsacrifice]

He watched Cayde with some amusement, still wondering how in the world they'd managed to get pizza here of all things, not that Noctis was complaining or ever would complain.

The response to the wizard question was a little odd and even at the conclusion it was still cryptic. So he sighed. "Wizards do magic." Even if they didn't wear pointy hats.

[deal_me_in]

"Well then! Yes. That is the answer," Cayde said with a nod. That made things easy, although he could argue that not only wizards did magic. But he hardly wanted to make things more complicated than they had to be.

"Eat up! Your pizza's getting cold."

[fatedsacrifice]

Something wasn't adding up in the king's mind. Sure it didn't seem like Cayde minded talking to him but the answers were vague and almost evasive. Maybe he just didn't want to be pushed, so Noctis looked at the indicated food.

"Right..do I just refill my own glass then or do I need to ask someone if it's okay?"

[deal_me_in]

The Hunter laughed. "Well, you can help yourself if you want or I can get it for you. It's my bar, after all, guess I should actually work now and then," he said, holding his hand out.

[fatedsacrifice]

"I don't want to inconvenience you or anything." Noctis sounded almost apologetic. If he could get whatever himself it was more than fine with him. The guy had better things to do than just wait on him.

Lark | OTA

[stitch_witch]

[The smell of pizza. Who knew it could be so new and yet so familiar? Lark had come mostly to see her friend and reconnect to this food she had only had in the field of the magical reality they had been a part of.

What she hadn't expected was the sheer spread of choices and stack of boxes. She opened one and peeked inside, frowning.]

There are so many meats on this, but I fear I can't identify all of them. What could they be?

[There were just so many different smells, and in a way she wasn't used to save in a hunter's fall stew, so she was overwhelmed with the choices.]

[deal_me_in]

Uuuh should be pepperoni and sausage for sure. Ham, I think? Maybe bacon? What all exactly goes on a meat-lover's pizza, I honestly have no idea.

[Cayde starts lifting boxes.]

There's a couple vegetarian ones around here somewhere...

[stitch_witch]

Oh my, that is a lot of options.

[Vegetarian or not would not stop her. What did was an important question.]

So... How did you get all of these easily identifiable ingredients?"

[deal_me_in]

Magic~

[He wiggles his fingers for added effect.]

[stitch_witch]

Magic?

[She considered this for a while, for no magic she knew could conjure things whole like this.

Except that wasn't true anymore, was it?]

Young William, perhaps? His magic seemed quite able to provide a spell-space complete with pizza before.

[deal_me_in]

[Cayde brought a finger to his face in that conspiratorial way.]

Shhh! Can't give away any trade secrets.

[stitch_witch]

[Oh he's just so wonderfully charming.]

And you have one of those pizzas we talked about? The one with the diced tomatoes and the greens? Like we had in the city?

[deal_me_in]

Oh!

[Snap-pointing, he resumes his peeking into boxes and rearranging stacks.]

Should've labeled the thi- Ah-hah!

OTA

[dr_riley]

There was pizza galore, stacks upon gooey, rich smellling stacks, just as promised. The only problem was that the Deep End wasn't, as promised, the best place in town. It was quite possibly the worst. Not in terms of accomodations or amenities. Anyone else probably would have appreciated the ambiance and the effort put into making it an enjoyable place to be, but Drake...

...had regular nightmares about the ocean. The deep. The dark and gloomy, the wet, grey, slippery writhing things hiding in the impenetrable darkness of the sea.

That's why when he pushed the door open, he saw the fish flitting or gliding or swishing languidly, saw the color scheme and decor, the dark wood looking like it was dredged up from a hundreds year old shipwreck, the lantern looking like it was rusted to the wall, he took it all in and froze up like a marble pillar. (He may have looked about as pale as one, too.)

[deal_me_in]

"HE-yyy....?" Cayde had started to raise his hand in greeting and trailed off once he noticed that his latest arrival seemed to be stuck at the door. That Drake's face seemed to reflect the shade of the greenish light filtering through the water-filled window was definitely new.

Hopefully the guy didn't startle too bad when he found a heavy hand dropped over his shoulder, the Exo having made his way around the bar counter to see to him. "Hello, you okay there pal?"

[dr_riley]

As he watched the window - was it a tank? was there another side, any end to it? or was it its own wilderness? - Drake's stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch and it felt like it was full of wet, rotting tennis netting while his arms and legs felt like soggy washcloths. When the hand came down, he very nearly went down as well, but for a little stumble, managed to stay upright if somewhat shaky.

"I- .....what?" What did startle him was the mechanical face and glowing blue eyes that greeted him when he looked up. He jerked back with a surprised noise and then rubbed his face with both hands and a muffled expletive.

"I think I've taken a wrong turn."

[deal_me_in]

Sensing that near stumble, Cayde lightened up on his hand there, but remained ready to have to keep the guy on his feet if it looked like he was unwell. Er, well more unwell than he already appeared to be.

The metal face was reminiscent of Felwinter's although not separated by the convenience of a digital screen. This Exo's face seemed to convey more warmth somehow, metal plates shifting slightly enough to mimic an organic expression, even grin despite having a fixed jaw. It was perhaps more of a trick of angle and lighting, but there was no mistaking the intention.

"What? Nah! You can't end up in The Deep End on a wrong turn. Wrong decision, maybe, but it takes effort to get here," Cayde said. "You here for pizza? Cuz I'm sure I haven't seen you come over for a drink before."

[dr_riley]

Oh God, he was in the right place. Obviously. There was the promised pizza, after all, but he suddenly wasn't very hungry or curious.

"I don't.....uh. Sorry." Drake, fixated on those gliding spectres, listening to the sussurating burble of the water, squinched his eyes shut for a moment, trying to control the visceral reaction he was feeling. What was he asked? Yes. No. "I don't drink."

[deal_me_in]

"Fair enough," Cayde nodded. "We do have other things to drink aside from the hard stuff. I even got coffee!" He wasn't sure how enticing the offer would be considering Drake seemed heavily preoccupied with the surroundings. The Exo stepped around him, head tilting.

"You um...wanna just take a box to go, then? I have pizza coming out of the ears so I doubt anyone'd notice."

[dr_riley]

When Cayde stepped around him, the Hunter's body blocked a good portion of Drake's view, and without the alien fish quietly suggesting to him images of gurgling Lovecraftian nightmares, the scientist seemed to come back to himself a little. He drew back, eyebrows raised in surprise.

That's right. He wasn't mired in a suffocating wasteland made of all the bloated white corpses that floated down and all the worms and hagfish that ate them. He was in a bar, and there was a....someone looking at him with what seemed like concern, though the facial features didn't really suggest much.

Drake frowned at his inability to keep his head. "Sorry." He'd have to do better than that, much better. "The uh. The fish were unexpected." Then he squinted up into the mechanical face.

"Do you have ears?"

[deal_me_in]

It was kind of surprising how despite the limited movement of those metal features, it could convey quite a range of emotion. Cayde was definitely more emotive than Felwinter.

"Figure of speech," the Exo said dryly even as he looked at Drake, cocking a metal brow. "You got something against fish?" He didn't sound particularly offended but he was definitely curious. Drake would be the first to have ever complained about the atmosphere.