♤ Network || Log - Raise a Glass

[deal_me_in]

WHO: Cayde-6 and erryone
WHERE: The Deep End (Orange-13 on map)
WHAT: Cayde doesn't like dwelling on negative things so HEY Bar Grand Opening come drink away your sorrows and stress and enjoy company in general
WHEN: 'bout a couple of days after the storm's passed, time flexible thereafter
WARNINGS: N/A will change as necessary
NOTES: Use whatever format you want

[Network - Video]

[The image starts out crooked but the Exo's actively adjusting it before he steps back and gives someone a thumb's up off-screen.]

All right, so good news? Nothing sprung a leak despite prior circumstances, surrounding area's a little damp though, but all in all? Everything's pretty much how I left it. Even got some supposed cyanana booze that's been uh...going through this still since before we left for space. -okay I'm not exactly sure how that might taste? So in the meantime, I've got a backup plan.

[He seems to remember something then, coming up close to the communicator.]

But Cayde, you say, what's all this about anyway? Excellent question! I was so excited I forgot to say. Ahem. So, some of you- a good number, actually, might be aware that I have been in the process of putting together a bar-slash-common gathering area type of hangout...thing. It's pretty much been done, just not stocked- but now that we're finally back from...all that and then some, I've got a selection of fine drinks for your...uh... drinking pleasure. Also some non-alcoholic stuff for the non-drinkers and the under-aged. Oh, and there's tea and coffee too.

[Fishing around in his pocket, he holds up a map he's drawn up, the location circled.]

We're right down here, southeast sector, past the lake- I'm working on getting some kind of a landmark but this place is fresh out of neon signs. Anyway! I'll be around. Come as you please, even if I'm not- don't trip up the stairs, help yourself and uh, don't mind if the fish stare at you.

---

Making the network announcement had helped to fully kick his mood back into a semblance of normal. Truth be told, he just wanted to gather up people together, real people, and settle in with an ambiance of more pleasant times and warmer company.

The backdrop of the water-filled courtyard that made up the center of the nest of buildings had been something Cayde had at the time thought whimsical. During the daylight hours the light that filtered through the large window was a wavering green-blue, offset by the small sconces along the wall and a few individual lanterns at tables and flanking the bar area adjacent to the makeshift aquarium.

Cayde had set up the various bottles of drinks he'd acquired from their planetary pit-stop and scavenged from the cafe on a somewhat crooked shelf behind the bar itself. He'd been trying to go for rustic like those Old West saloons but in the middle gave up and just let things shape itself as he found them. The glassware is just as mismatched as the furniture, but everything's clean and ready to be made use of. If there's anything he really wishes he had, it would be an old-fashioned phonograph player or some kind of music source just to drive off the quiet that filled the space when no people did.

Comments

[kree_soldieress]

Take it black? Lauri-Ell tilts her head as she follows him, considering the question.

"Is it not normally dark brown?"

She has had coffee before. The once. Her sister pointed to the pot and said 'you can have some if you want' and failed to explain more than the name of it.

[deal_me_in]

"Uhh..."

The Exo pauses and glances at the Ghost hovering beside him as though wondering if he was having his leg pulled. Both look back towards Lauri-Ell.

"Yyyyes," Cayde replies, suddenly uncertain about all his coffee savviness, not that he's really been a big expert on the beverage. "Colloquial term- I figure saying black over brown sounds a lot better, anyway, roundabout meaning is do you take it plain, pure, straight. Or do you need to soften up the flavor or something? I needa invest in a signboard. Probably just offer Black Coffee, because I honestly have no idea where that sugar is." The latter is a one-sided exchange with Sundance, who simply offers a bobbing nod in the air.

[kree_soldieress]

"If black is pure, then yes, I shall take it in that manner," she agrees. How intriguing, that he seems uncertain with his own creation. It was him that had offered the stuff.

"It seems this 'coffee' thing is more complicated than Carol explained to me."

[deal_me_in]

Picking back up like the needle reset on a record, Cayde beams and nudges the mug in front of her. "Well then, you're all set."

The notion of coffee being complicated makes him bark a laugh. "Oh, I'm pretty sure it is. People love mixing all sorts of things in, claiming it enhances the flavor." He shrugs. "Though I'm sure that the more you add the less it actually tastes like...coffee, so I dunno what the point is."

[kree_soldieress]

At least Cayde points out the issue before she does.

"Is not the coffee just this dark, hot fluid? If you add the juice of a fruit to water, it is not water, but diluted fruit juice."

She does not understand at all. But she does take the coffee and is pleased to wrap her hands around the warm mug.

[deal_me_in]

A double snap-point for that. Cayde nods vigorously.

"Right?! I dunno why people like complicating things. Drink's a drink- they even do that with alcohol, add little umbrellas and a slice of fruit that doesn't do a thing for it. Anywho, enjoy your coffee."

[kree_soldieress]

Double snap point. Lauri-Ell stares at it, confused. Why is he doing this thing?

"Is the umbrella edible? Otherwise, it makes no sense, even compared to the fruit."

[deal_me_in]

No explanation is given, mainly because that's one battle Cayde doesn't want to dive into. He shakes his head, waving a hand at that as he turns to busy himself behind the bar. Perhaps searching for misplaced sugar.

"Nope, not at all. It's decoration. Not sure who decided an umbrella was the way to go, much less who's crazy enough to make tiny, folding umbrellas in the first place. Ooh! Is this- no... what is this?" He pulls out a random container, shakes it around and then sticks it back in it's spot.

[kree_soldieress]

"They make these tiny, folding umbrellas, they are inedible, and what?"

She wishes to understand this choice.

"Humans are hard to understand. Kree do not even drink for pleasure."

[deal_me_in]

"I guess it's whimsical. See, there's practical, and then there's whimsy. Good ol' whimsy. I myself like a bit of whimsy, but I think I draw the line at drink umbrellas," Cayde replies as he continues to root around behind the counter. The sounds of things being slid around the shelves and the occasional clink of glasses fill up the space in his silence.

"Oh, humans have always been hard to understand. I used to be one and I still don't understand why we do or did the things we ...did." Abruptly he pauses what he's doing and pops his head up, squinting. "What? Not drink for pleasure? That's like... Hm. Actually there's a question. Do I drink for pleasure? I think I drink just to drink, sometimes. It's...a kind of..." He gestures vaguely as though his hands could shape the answer he's trying to get at. "It's just a thing you do. Sometimes with friends. A company thing. Or sometimes the company's just you an' your glass. I dunno, I'll quit before I start to wax Warlock."

[kree_soldieress]

"Whimsy?"

Please define? But she sips the coffee and seems entirely unaffected by the bitterness.

"Ah, Warlock. that is a term I am used to. It is a magic user. There are not many among the Kree and Skrull, mostly we have wizards."

[deal_me_in]

"Ask Jon." He says that straight-faced before breaking into a grin again, his metal features surprisingly expressive somehow. "Whimsy! You know- playful, fun. Un-serious... I don't know how else to describe this."

Cayde ducks behind the counter again. "Yep, that seems to be a universal thing. I guess technically us Guardians all have our fair share of...'space magic', but Warlocks? They specialize in it. Make it an art form. Will also talk your ears off about theories and all the other things. Aren't wizards kinda warlocks? Not with a capital. The capital W Wizards are some nasty things, Hive, love their ancient death rituals and all things dark and crusty."

[kree_soldieress]

"The Prince-Consort is a wizard with a capital W. He has not done nasty things," Lauri-Ell says quickly. She will defend the honor of her rulers until her dying breath. Anything else would be wrong.

"And I do not know that whimsy is very useful."

[deal_me_in]

"The who-what now?" Cayde asks distractedly before his head pops up briefly again from behind the bar. "He's not Hive, right? Hive Wizards, now those're the ones I'm talking about. Float around in raggedy robes, hurl green fire at you, and then there's that terrible shrieking and the chanting. Hive in general are not fun."

He gives up on looking for the, by now he suspects, imaginary sugar container as he straightens up from the bar, flashing Lauri-Ell a crooked grin. "Whimsy? It's not meant to be useful. It can be, if only to break through too many layers of seriousness, but otherwise, whimsy is whimsy. Just like practical is practical."

[kree_soldieress]

"The Prince-Consort. Husband to the Emperor. And no, he is human. Though he does seem capable of floating around, his cape is quite intact, and his magic is blue."

And she's pretty sure there is talking, not chanting. She can't be one hundred percent certain though.

Still, she is puzzled over the whimsy.

"Like the games?"

[deal_me_in]

"Phew. Okay, different wizards with a capital W. So long as we've got that settled, we're golden."

Cayde drums his fingers on the bar counter, considering. "Well...games can be whimsical, yeah, but I mean more like..." He glances down and pulls out an empty mug, setting it there in front of him. "Here we have a mug. Standard, plain and simple mug. Does the trick. Holds liquids or what-have-you, has a handy little...handle." He holds up a finger and then reaches down to pull out another mug, setting it beside the first. It might not come off as a mug at first glance, bright red and looking like it's been formed of twisted glass, but it's hollow and has a hook of a handle pulled from the side.

"This? Also a mug. Looks like it could be an art piece. Maybe its both, I don't know. Shaped more like a fat, giant noodle but it still holds liquid and stuff, still got a thingy here to hold it by. Practical? Eh, it takes a little more space than this one, but it still gets the job done. More fun? Oh, you bet. It's colorful, and it's shaped funny, but which one's more likely to get a reaction from someone when they get their drink served in it?"

[kree_soldieress]

The visual display is actually quite useful, enough that Lauri-Ell looks at it very seriously and considers the mug. And, though she might not want to admit it, she finds the thing fetching. So very fetching.

"It is beautiful," she tells him, reaching out to touch the side very lightly. "This is what whimsy is? I think I like whimsy."

[deal_me_in]

"See?" Cayde grins, feeling accomplished. "Whimsy's like a flavoring to otherwise everyday, straight-forward things. Life would be a lot more dull without some whimsicality to it."

Around here especially, he figures. He's used to being the fun one surrounded by straight-laced people, and all the more so did it seem people had to remember to try enjoying themselves when they could, around even a place like this.

"So, what was your name again? Laurie? Somethin' close?"

[kree_soldieress]

"Lauri-Ell. It is my pleasure to meet you."

She continues to consider the cup, turning it very carefully.

"I admit, I am not certain as to whether my life has had much whimsy in it."

[deal_me_in]

"Back at'cha. Name's Cayde. This is Sundance." The Exo thumbs over at his Ghost, who dips slightly in acknowledgment as she hovers.

Leaning on the bar again, Cayde gives a little shrug. "Eh, never too late to change that. Sometimes it depends on the circumstances. But hey, you know something of it now, which means it's an open option now. Just gotta keep an eye out for opportunity."

[kree_soldieress]

Lauri-Ell gives the Ghost a very thoughtful look. And then back to Cayde.

"What are you?"

[deal_me_in]

"Complicated."

Cayde smirks. "We're called Exos, back home. Robots, if you don't wanna get fancy. Not exactly, but I mean, we cover most of the qualifications so really, we don't get worked up being called otherwise."

[kree_soldieress]

Complicated is a concept she understands. She was not born, she was created by careful scientific ends. So truly, a complication was not something she was bothered by.

"Sapient robots are not known in my understanding of the multiverse as very welcoming to biologicals. Which makes you intriguing for your differences. But I have never met an Exo, therefore you are clearly different."

An alien to earth well familiar with other species had a very easy time making the distinctions.

[deal_me_in]

"Hm, that right? Well, we were made by humans. We used to be human."

Cayde supposes he shouldn't be surprised. There'd been enough concerns about the Warminds overstepping their bounds, and Exos themselves hadn't been developed without consideration of fighting capabilities. Now he supposes there's only so many of them and yet enough that they're as common a sight and accepted as anyone else dwelling in the Last City.

[kree_soldieress]

Made by humans and formerly humans? Intriguing. That did not make full sense to her, but she took it as given. What purpose would he have to not tell her the truth? Not that, without her hammer in hand, she could confirm one way or another the validity of his words.

"So you are truly of Earth."