On Golden Sands

[flangirl]

characters: anyone!
location: beacon, above the waterline
date/time: mostly an open post for everyone who didn't go to the station july 8 - 15th, but open for july in general!
content: a catchall and mingle (and idle hand-wringing for the rest of us)
warnings: the usual: mark your subject lines as needed

the open event post is a little daunting and full of top-levels for those who went undersea sailing, as it were. i figured i'd make a space off in a corner for anyone who wants to hit up other topside folks without wading (heh) through the event text - and also give space for threads before and after so as not to flood the event!

i'm turning off emails on this entry for my own sanity but i'll check periodically for toplevels and put up my own toplevel a little later in the day!

come on in, the not-the-water's fine!

Comments

[pure_havoc]

That's right, chug the powerful sleepy wine, Rosinante. Cao Pi obliges, managing not to spill a drop even if he's getting a little animated in his movements.

"I am not up to date on our current population, either. As long as I keep seeing familiar faces coming back, I tend to...forget, I suppose, that there were others."

It's terrible to admit but it's true. Out of sight, out of mind, save for maybe two or three souls who left a much stronger impression.

[callada]

"You forget?"

This time the frown is directed at Cao Pi rather than the wine. "Y'know, maybe people would take you more seriously as a leader if they thought you cared about them."

Okay, no, he says it before he hears it in his head and then clamps his mouth shut. It's a little too genuine for his liking. At least this is Cao Pi and not, say, an admiral from home, or his brother, or someone he has to speak more carefully around (or not speak at all, of course, in that one particular case).

[pure_havoc]

Cao Pi snorts another little chuckle, but doesn't elaborate on what it means. It could be a laugh at himself for slipping up, it could be denial that anyone should worry about feelings, or it could be a subtle admission that he doesn't care and isn't sorry. If nothing else he'll chalk it up to wine, which does make truth easy to tell.

"You think people don't take me seriously? Ah, if so...it matters little. I am not interested in being liked."

As long as they listen, which so far they do. Story of his life, really. He dismisses any concern with a little shrug.

[callada]

"Helps, though. This isn't some army you can rule. Nobody's getting paid to listen to you either."

This isn't really a road he wants to go down, though, so he just slumps lower in his seat and looks blankly at the wine. Maybe he should head back soon. Check on Law. Make sure nobody's tried to move him.

Another cigarette first, though - when did he even finish the last? It's getting hard to keep track. He fumbles the pack and it falls to the floor, and he stares dejectedly down at it for a long moment.

[pure_havoc]

Well, he's not wrong.

Cao Pi's eyes follow the flop as well, and then raise to his companion's face. "You should rest," he says with a slow shake of his head. "This wine is more valuable than it looks. I have never slept so soundly here in this nightmare world as I have after drinking it."

He'll stop short of literally bundling Rosinante off to bed but that staredown with the floor says a lot.

[callada]

"Gotta at least finish the glass." Right? Sure, it's an endless bottle of wine that he can't even find any enjoyment in tasting, but it still feels wrong to waste it. Early lessons learned and all.

The problem is he does want a cigarette, and in leaning down to try and retrieve the pack (which shouldn't be hard, the seats at the bar are not that high to him), he just falls straight out of his bar stool and onto the floor. That probably would have happened even if he wasn't drunk, but it's a struggle to get back into his seat, and he ends up kicking the stool over in the process.

[pure_havoc]

The whole floor show is a delight from Cao Pi's perspective, he can't help some rather undignified chuckles here and there, as each new development unfolds. The crash of the stool even makes him laugh loud enough that he has to catch it and pretend it was a cough. Nothing to see here, nope, it's all good.

"Ah. Do you...erm. Need a hand?"

[callada]

"No," he insists as always, even though yes, he probably does. It takes him a second to untangle one of his legs from between the legs of his fallen seat, but then he rights the stool, grabs up the cigarettes, and sits back down to light the cigarette.

A small victory was achieved here, finally.

"You're allowed to laugh," he grumbles.

[pure_havoc]

"Oh, good." Because he already did. "My offer was sincere, but you seem to have managed just fine without it."

He smiles a little more...well, not genuinely, but less mockingly at least. "I am serious, you should rest. By all means finish the wine; the spirit who gave it to me will appreciate your interest in not wasting its gift."

[callada]

"Yeah, don't worry. Heading back to Law after I finish this. Can't leave him alone too long but I had to do something to mark another goddamn year."

He'd check the time, but after the fiasco with the cigarettes, pulling out his tablet doesn't feel worth it. It's not like it matters anyway. Doesn't feel like he's been gone too long. Long enough to feel the anxiety of needing to get back, but that's probably still less than an hour. That's all right, probably, right? On the one hand he's intensely dedicated to watching over the guy but on the other, he can already hear Law yelling at him for not even spending a single hour attempting to enjoy his own birthday.

[pure_havoc]

Yeah, time is an illusion so whatever, it's fine. Cao Pi nods once; he got a much better read on Law watching him in the fight, and has been mentally comparing such badassery to the discussions they were all having earlier. So he's not all sarcasm after all. "Well, I am flattered that you ended up spending it with me," he says, in all sincerity. Drunken sincerity. "What a year it has been. May the next be much, much better."

He raises his glass to his companion again. For better or worse, they're stuck with each other.

[callada]

Well now he feels called out, even if Cao Pi is sincere. It's just a bit of drinking, it's not like his birthday actually matters much here. He'd have spent it with Law but Law is asleep; he'll have to go check on Mary periodically but having a birthday party with a kid isn't really what he wants; Will is... sulking, probably, after accidentally burying a knife in him just a few days before.

He takes a moment to focus on the glass and how his hand should grasp it rather than knocking it over, then lifts it in the air before downing another drink. "If it's not better then maybe it'll be the last. World eaters'll find us eventually," he grumbles. The current situation just doesn't have him full of optimism.

[pure_havoc]

Yeah, yeah. That pessimism is warranted, but it's not going to derail Cao Pi at the moment. "What a shining ray of sunshine you are," he snarks back. "Perhaps you should unleash it all on me so you don't take any back to your friend."

He's drunk enough that he gives zero shits. Lay it on him or don't, it's fine. He won't remember in the morning.

[callada]

"Nothing to unleash. It's just reality. We're not prepared to fight those things." He's starting to slur his words a little and he knows it, and he doesn't really care.

Law almost died, and he can't lose him. He could have died, and instead he was afflicted by whatever this awful hunger is, but that's better than death solely because he doesn't think Law could handle going through that again.

[pure_havoc]

No arguments here. He nods slowly in agreement, setting his glass down.

"We're not. But I'm not dealing with that right this moment. Later." It's not denial, it's a promise. All things in their own time, including grappling with the big existential problems they already chatted about. The difference between Cao Pi and the Wild Hunt is that he will fight, but has already accepted that if this fight goes the way the eight-headed serpent did, death is an option. It's the fine line between rolling over and giving up right here and now, and doing it at the true, utter end. That's what makes him better (in his own mind) than the Hunt.

But he's too drunk to get into all of that right now, all he's got for Rosinante is a sympathetic gaze that wobbles a bit.

[callada]

"Well, you asked," he grumbles. He's not dealing with it either right now, he's drinking.

Though he's ready to be done. He manages to down the last of his glass in a dramatic gulp, then fails to set the glass nicely back down on the top of the bar - instead it tips and rolls, headed for the edge to fall to the floor and break unless Cao Pi is feeling quick.

[pure_havoc]

He tries, but after a couple of deft bobbles, the glass bounces off him and clatters to the floor. It's only by some miracle of exactly how it hits that it doesn't shatter, but it bangs and clatters and then rolls away across the floor. "Ah. I guess that means you're done," Zihuan quips as he straightens up - slowly, bracing himself on the bar.

[callada]

He sure is, and slowly nods as he gathers himself, snuffs out the end of his cigarette against the torch placed at the bar, then slides off the stool and onto his feet with a hand on the bar to stabilize himself. This is going to be one long, unsteady walk back to where Law is passed out.

"Thanks for the drink." And the shitty birthday, made slightly less shitty with Cao Pi's company, for what it's worth.