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♤ Network || Log - Raise a Glass

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.

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The first time Tony stood in the lobby of the building Cayde had claimed, he knew immediately that this was a bad idea. The residual effect of the storm had him feeling like an exposed wire already, dangerously raw, and he had barely earned his hypothetical thirty day chip since he was forced to dry on the Agrii ship. This was not the time to walk into the bar. The energy went out of Tony then, and he glanced around the mouldering room like he might find any kind of support, anything to convince himself that he would be fine and could go up to just see Cayde and that wouldn't immediately be enough to make him have another breakdown. He should have been able to congratulate the Exo on finally pulling this together, and deliver these grand opening gifts, and not be miserable about it.

The first time he went in, Tony left the guitar propped against the stairs, and a bag of stamped coins behind it, all of them marked with a target on one side and the tipped star of a sheriff's badge on the other. Someone would find them eventually. For now, Tony had to get back outside to take a deep breath of fresh air, then look behind him up at the dark windows of the abandoned monolith. What Tony could really use was reinforcements, and it sounded like Cayde wanted a place that was full and lively, anyway, so, really, this was for Cayde. Trying to explain exactly what the problem was to anybody, though, sounded like a nightmare.

Steve would already know what the problem was. Wanda, too, right? Tony might have been a bigger disaster than the Tony they knew, but that had to mean that the other Tony just handled the program well, had a decade under his belt already, actually made his amends. First to one, then the other, Tony sent a text, still staring at the building and not really anticipating getting an answer anyway.

Someone has to go make sure Cayde isn't producing nerve gas.

Steve got the message and squinted at it a moment before recognizing it as the invitation it was. He'd heard about the bar but hadn't made it around to visit, yet. He should, he knew, but there was a lot to clean up around the town and he also wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to be around a bar after the mess that the last storm was. Everyone was a little on edge after going through that. Still, he should go and Tony likely could use company. He texted back a very quick:

On my way over. Let me know if anyone passes out and I'll grab meds.

And then he made his way over, only pausing when he saw Tony outside the door looking a little green. He frowned, figuring he might know why, and jogged a little the rest of the way.

"Hey," he greeted with a hard clap on the shoulder and a smile. "You head in yet? Any signs of dangerous gases or liquids?"

Wanda can't help but feel initial surprise that Tony's reached out to her. At home they were eventually able to work together but they definitely did not 'hang out.'

She knows their worlds are so very different - even now, she still feels inadequate compared to the other Wanda. It's not fair to paint this other Tony in another man's mistakes but it's still jarring to respond like she's actually considering the implied invitation.

Sundance might need a hand. Are we volunteering?

An Asgardian enters the advertised bar. It's a slow entrance, very much deliberate and observant to the setting he is stepping into. He has seen plenty of bars to see that this one is a bit of a patchwork project.

But he has seen worse.

Loki takes a moment to take in the entirety of what the- What exactly is the person he has seen on the network anyway? Loki has no idea, but he feels mildly intrigued. Another one of Stark's armors, perhaps? Do those run bars in this place? He referred to himself as Cayde...

Well. Maybe Loki comes across that one.

The place isn't very posh, or uniform, so sue him. Still, it looks like it could be cozy if given the chance.

Cayde is indeed in at the time, looking a little bored where he sits behind the counter. He's got his chin propped up by one hand, the other absently plucking the strings on the guitar laid out on the counter beside him. Not far from him hovers a starlike construct of sorts, gray with a stripe of red going down its face, top and bottom-most points crowned with a gold band to frame the blue-lit core. The Ghost turns, vertices twitching in curiosity at the newcomer, and the Exo in turn has lifted his head to look as well.

He fumbles a bit with the greeting he'd been about to spout, blue optics squinting. "-you're new," he ends up saying instead before shrugging and going back to his original tactic. "Welcome to the Deep End! It's...well, kinda slow I guess, but people probably have a lot on their minds so can't really blame 'em."

He sets the guitar aside at the farther end of the bar, moving more like something organic than the machine his face and voice otherwise suggest. "Anywho, name's Cayde. This here's Sundance. You here for a drink or what?"

Some time passes before another patron arrives at Cayde's newly-opened, cobbled-together bar, and he announces himself by gently setting his white weathered helmet down on the counter if not by his obvious presence alone.

Although Echo's weariness is palpable, there's still a glint of curiosity in his eyes as he takes in his surroundings. Honestly, he has no idea where to begin with the decorations, but he figures there has to be some kind of rhyme or reason to it.

But he can concur that there should be some other sounds in here. Not that he minds the quiet, but a little distraction wouldn't hurt none.

If the Exo is in the bar, the clone nods his way. "Nice place you got here, Cayde."

"Hey, there's an Echo in here!" Of course it needs be said. The Exo grins, sweeping a hand out in welcome.

The place is far from what Cayde had envisioned, but it's something, and he's still proud that he's managed to cobble together as much. What he would have loved was more wood, actual wooden furniture and tables. He unfortunately has no idea how to make the things, and it doesn't seem like any of their number has any skills in carpentry.

"It's a work in progress. Thanks for coming by. Kind of on the quiet...empty side but hey, gotta start somewhere, right? Drink?"

Spotting the only other being present hasn't been difficult. The difficult part remains figuring out where to place this... Machine? The Asgardian will have to find that bit out, it seems. At least the owner of the place happens to be present, which puts an easy smile to Loki's face.

A smile that widens into a bit of a grin upon being referred to as new and Loki spreads his arms and hands a little in a presenting manner before adding a slight bow of his head while covering the remaining distance to the bar.

"I am Loki. And I appear to be unable to hide my most abhorrent secret." Loki introduces himself and picks a place at the bar. "I got curious by your little advert, so I decided to stop by." He gestures casually with one of his hands, the other idly on the counter. "Any suggestions for a drink?"

"Loki." The Exo's somehow expressive face conveys a crooked smile. This newcomer's interesting, that's for sure, and he can approve of the casual demeanor. "Not at all," he agrees. "That's the way it goes when you've got, what? Less than twenty people making up the population here, give or take?"

He takes a step to the side to let the Asgardian see the selection of bottles.

"Unfortunately? A lotta them got names I can't read- alien planets, you know? The blue one's pretty good. Most of 'em are. Or if you wanna try the local vintage, that'd be the Red Stuff. Super concentrated- like having ten drinks in one glass." So he's observed anyway. Not like this stuff affects Exos.

Echo's nose wrinkles, the corner of his mouth quirking despite the frown he outwardly shows in regards to Cayde's little joke. "'Course there is," he snorts. "Had a fine time tryin' to get here, thanks to your map."

Which is to say, he's relieved to have this kind of interaction again. Given the fact his soldier tendencies rein everything in, these feelings would have bled out a lot quicker if he relaxed too much.

"Quiet is right, but it's still progress," he adds with a nod, taking a seat as he does. "A drink sounds good. What would you recommend?"

"Hey, have you seen the map they provide us? There ain't exactly any straightforward paths anywhere," Cayde points out. There isn't much by way of landmarks either, and saying to turn left at one crumbling building and then go straight past another would get old and confusing pretty fast.

He spins around and sweeps a hand along the bottom of the selection of bottles. "Well, we have this fine, green vintage from...I don't think we got the name of that planet- and then there's also this blue one- which I personally do recommend, if a bit on the strong side. Oh, but if you want to try the local drink, it's the Red Stuff, and that one will knock you off your feet with one glass. So I've been told anyway."

Naming off a few more, although not much past the color or what the picture on any labels might suggest, the Exo looks expectantly at Echo then.

For all it's worth, this robotic person might well be created with Asgardian technology, yet Asgardians have never tried anything of that sort. Which only leaves Loki intrigued by how human Cayde's expressions turn out to be.

He gives a short noise of bemusement at the information of just how limited the population in this place actually is, but then lets his attention be directed towards the assortment of bottles. Which he raises a curious brow at before remarking. "I am Asgardian, so I can read those. But I don't believe you would appreciate me pronouncing half of those names." His expression shifts into a grin halfway through along with his eyes drifting back over to the Exo. "I think I will try the local one first. Might as well get familiar with what this planet puts on the table."

"Eh, I'm sure a lot of the meaning will get lost in translation anyway," Cayde says, waving it off. "...although I probably should get actual names eventually. Going by colors will probably only work for a little while."

His expression brightens and he stoops slightly to grab a glass from behind the bar counter, setting it down before he turns and nabs the bottle of red from behind him. "Excellent choice." So the drink is virtually a fruit juice since it had been pretty potent without any further effort, but it had still proven flammable enough to prove its alcohol content. The Exo pours some in the glass and then slides it over, feeling slightly giddy just being able to slide a glass across the counter finally.

That Cap was so quick to respond, and didn't hesitate to join Tony at his vague prompt, was reassuring. The sight of him slightly less so, the differences in what Tony expected suddenly thrown into sharp relief again after seeing so much of the Captain America his bones were familiar with during the storm, but maybe that was good, that was better, it made him less sure if he had seen this one die and the dissonance less jarring.

"Winghead," he greeted in response, patting the hand on his shoulder before scratching up the back of his neck with a thoughtful pout. "Don't know about him yet, but I'm still working some up. Do you think he's got burritos up there?" Trying this joke was something of a mistake, because Tony immediately dropped his hand in dejection to ask, "God, do you remember Mexican food?," which might have been slightly unfair. Steve had been working this problem for a lot longer than Tony. Maybe he had developed some shareable coping mechanisms for that kind of thing, though.

Honestly, getting a response that didn't sound like a very delicate rejection was outside of Tony's expectations, too. As much time as he had spent together with the Wanda he knew, she probably wouldn't think much about 'hanging out' with him, either, without a healthy buffer of Carol between them. Too fast, thrilled to have not been immediately rebuffed, he replied, 'She doesn't have any hands at all, severe disadvantage', considered apologizing, then tried salvaging it with another invitation, 'I'm outside his place now, if you're not doing anything.'

That did kind of sound like a date, and Tony didn't quite scrap the second apology, but was sending yet another message is rapid succession while he lingered at the side of the desolate road, 'That's only a come on if you want it to be. Is that weird? It's a little weird.' There was probably a good reason she always made sure she had a girlfriend around him.

"...Alright, I'll give you that," the ARC Trooper concedes after a beat, shrugging a shoulder as he leans forward to get a better look at the drinks provided.

Although labels and actual names would be helpful, it at least gives Echo something else to think about amid his current level of internal thought noise while narrowing his choices down to two of the drinks listed. "Think I'll go with the blue one," Echo says as he looks up. "I don't wanna get too far ahead of myself."

"Fair enough."

With a snap-point, Cayde turns and swipes the bottle off the slightly crooked shelf, grabbing a glass with the other hand from somewhere beneath the counter. He sets it on the top and removes the cork with a satisfyingly hollow *pomf* before filling the glass with the clear blue liquid.

"Here you go," he says, sliding the glass over. "Lemmee know what you think."

Echo watches the whole process with rapt attention, yet his focus zones in and out between steps; a few blinks in and already the glass is mostly full and sliding his way. He almost misses his cue, quickly recovering to catch the drink several inches from where it's supposed to stop.

He doesn't make a big deal out of it, however, lifting the glass to thank Cayde properly before taking a quick swig. "Oh," comes his first thought after swallowing, brow furrowing as his frown reforms in a similar manner. "Yeah." He smacks his lips, his head bobbing slowly into a continuous nod. "Yeah, I think that'll do."

She feels like she should at least try to make an effort to fight the instinctive urge to shut him down completely - he is one of Vision's 'fathers,' after all, even though he's not either Stark Wanda claims as family.

You know, you shouldn't flirt with married women

It's good that this is over text so he can't see the face she just made. Wanda takes a steadying breath. She needs to make an effort, even if just this once, and if it goes horribly she doesn't think anyone would blame her for keeping a professional distance in the future. And at least Cayde should be around if this really goes badly?

She can handle it, she thinks. He doesn't have the same history with his Wanda, and as long as he doesn't start asking awkward questions...

I'll be there soon. Try not to blow anything up?

It seems a favorable enough response that Cayde nods. He pours himself a glass before returning the bottle back to its place.

"So how about that storm, huh? What a wreck," he mutters with a shake of his head. "First time I've been through one for the...how many months I've been stuck here? I think it's been months. The days are weird here- like some thirty-something hours. And then up in space we lose track even faster."

He shrugs, taking a drink as casually as anyone would, despite being, well, a robot.

That wasn't exactly a rejection, either, if Tony knew anything about how married women flirted, making him finally crack a smile as he snorted to himself and looked up again at the weathered building. Maybe he would leave that one alone, for now, but he was definitely going to have to push her a little bit, because it warmed a long abandoned part of him to see Wanda talk about her husband again.

Better be quick.

The likelihood of Tony blowing something up increased exponentially the closer he was to Cayde, so Wanda was on a tight deadline. He could probably find a way, even as he lounged as casually as he could manage with his restless tapping against the wall by the door, frowning and wondering if Jon had any cigarettes left and how fast he could run to the library to find out.

Bar? Of course Tommy is so fucking there. Gotta celebrate life, man. And the moment he came in and saw Stark... Well, guess what? Guardian fucking angel who is already a fan of stealing Tony's drinks. Maybe not the emotional support wanted, but definitely the sort he's getting now.

"What up, Mister Stark?"

It is probably for the best that there wasn't a music player present at the bar, mostly because it would have stopped the Kree woman at the door as she entered. Music was, after all, not a part of modern Kree culture. She would not know what to do with it.

She was here because drinks had been offered, and she had enjoyed trying this human 'coffee' creation. This brought the woman to the bar to look around. And clearly, from the moment she entered, she looked lost.

Seeing the Exo's enthusiasm about finally being able to sere a guest in his still young establishment. Loki accepts the drink with a short nod.

"You were off world to gather a few of these bottles, and yet I hear we are confined to this very planet." The Asgardian says before raising an inquisitive brow. "What happened?"

"Oh, you know. Can't do anything without permission from our fine hosts, until they suddenly end up needing our help and finally give us access to weapons and ships like we're expected to go to war somewhere for 'em," Cayde says as he idly studies the bottle in his hands.

"Except the trip takes forever because these ships don't have any super-fast space speedy capabilities and hey, it being our first time, if not period, then in a while, that we'd been off-world, we found ourselves a planet to stop at, resupply and then some." He sets the bottle down, more so that he can have his hands free for when the inevitable gesticulating comes in.

"Anyway, eventually we get there- to the Agrii ship. Huge thing. Flanked by a couple smaller ones, but nothin's going on and we're able to dock. No welcome party, no cries of relief- not a soul. We divvy ourselves up into groups to investigate. The Agrii had reported an attack so we were expecting it to get messy somewhere. Not expecting over three hundred Agrii to go missing from their ship. Systems on the fritz. One party found our Agrii contact Gary, our party found the supposed troublemakers. Other party was on overwatch, also thought it'd be a good time to check out the ships out there and see who was aboard."

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♤ Network || Log - Raise a Glass

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Lauri-Ell | OTA

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