♤ 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

[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.

CW: Very crude language

[dr_riley]

Drake folded his arms (protectively?) and aimed an ill tempered glower in the direction of the tank. "Scaly cunt tried to eat me. Shark attack," he clarified, "When I was little; can't look at the damned things since."

Then, as if to try to redirect some of the attention being focused on his reaction to what most would have thought of as a lovely and tasteful fishtank, he gestured at the pizza-covered bar.

"So where did all this come from? I had to cannibalise parts from machines from another planet just to make a Geiger Counter, but mass producing pizza is on the table?" Pardon the pun.

[deal_me_in]

Cayde winced at that. "Geez, no wonder. Sorry, had no idea. At least you can be thankful that behind that window is fresh- well...non-salt water, anyway." He supposed it would be better not to mention that he'd seen something big lurking around the murkier bottom of the incidental lake made up by the copse of buildings.

"What- oh, the pizza? Magic," he said with hardly a beat that it was difficult to tell if he was joking or being serious. The latter of which he was.

[dr_riley]

"Bull sharks can live in fresh water." Drake muttered with no small amount of cynical mistrust. "D'you know they've got the highest testosterone levels of any creature on Earth? Heard it on some nature show the boys were watching and it stuck with me."

When Cayde answered that magic was responsible for the pizzas, he glanced over again at the stacks of boxes piled on the bar with hardly a raised eyebrow.

"I hate that I believe you."

[deal_me_in]

"That why they're called bull sharks? Can't say I've had much experience with 'em, but I kinda steer clear of deeper bodies of water when I'm out exploring. I do not swim very well and don't fancy an underwater walk."

The look on Drake's face, or perhaps his response to the pizzas, made Cayde emit a snort before he laughed. "Well, less work for me to try explaining, at least," he said, thumping a hand lightly on the man's shoulder.