Do the Drink Thing

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Anaxas' main trade port; it is also the nation's criminal headquarters, home to the Bad Brothers and Silas Hawke, King of the Underworld. The small town of Plugit is nearby.

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Leander
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:21 pm
Topics: 16
Race: Passive
Location: Old Rose Harbour
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Writer: Dizzy
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Wed Feb 13, 2019 1:37 pm

31st Day of Achtus
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To say that Leander Aguilar’s face wasn’t a familiar one in certain… establishments would be a lie from the lips of whoever uttered it. In his formative years, when the young passive wanted to pretend to himself that he hadn’t sunk so low, he had developed a routine of patronage: visiting each in turn, changing his location each night so as to avoid the suspicion that he did not rely so heavily on the toxic liquids to get though each day. It became a pattern, and the rotation took a few days, but it was nightly and, as the years passed, it could not be ignored, not least by himself.

By that point, Leander was so ingrained in his routine that it had become a tradition of sorts, and he continued to meander on his crawl, never deviating from his self-imposed rules on drinking. Whatever the bar tenders thought when he walked through the door, there was no doubt they were aware of his consistency: he was expected. Regular patrons also grew to expect him and, though he mostly kept to himself, Leander had managed to develop a relationship of sorts with some of them.

One such regular, Leander often crossed paths with. Not always: Kit was hardly as rigid in his routine as Leo, so hardly as predictable. There were many things about the pair that were as different as the sun and moon, but they shared enough in common that drinking together was easy. The knowledge of the other’s status as a galdor initially had Leo warring with himself: here was a man who had had everything, and had thrown it away. The years of company had painted a very different picture, however.

It was a while into their acquaintanceship that Leo started to feel a pleasant warmth of familiarity spread through his gut whenever he saw the older man, inevitable drink in hand, standing at the bar. It took even longer until he realised what that sensation was.

This afternoon, pushing open the door to the tavern, he saw the galdor’s silhouette in the dimly lit room as his eyes adjusted to the light. The corners of his lips curled upwards into a smile and he sauntered over. “We must stop meeting this way,” the counterfeiter said, clapping a hand on the other’s shoulder as he announced his presence and came to rest against the bar. “The usual,” he muttered to the barmaid with barely a glance in her direction, typical for his interaction with anyone providing him a service. That done, he looked back at Kit, smile returning to his lips and his tone becoming more animated, as he finished his greeting, “People will talk.

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Kit
Posts: 60
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:03 pm
Topics: 3
Race: Galdor
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Writer: Foxing
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Thu Feb 14, 2019 4:50 am

31st Achtus | Evening
Some dive
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Kit would say that it had been a long day… but he’d woken around noon so that would have been a blatant lie. It had been a slow day. The music wouldn’t muse and he had no jobs for the day and far too much energy, and the walls of his little apartment had felt like they were closing in.

Shae was… somewhere. She’d said she had some business and he hadn’t been in the mood to ask what. He’d left a note in the pie tin that seemed to have become a permanent fixture on his kitchen table- you were supposed to clean and return them, but somehow they never had- telling her he’d be out late and not to worry.

Might as well be bored and guttered as bored and sober, he’d figured, so here he was, propping up the bar at the nearest seedy inn. Kit didn’t want quality liquor tonight, he wanted cheap and strong, and the paintstripper gin that they served here, alongside their piss-poor beer, fit the bill just nicely.

The golly was leaning back against the scarred and pitted bar, one elbow propping him up as he swirled the liquid in his chipped glass when a familiar face caught his eye.

“Leo!”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a lazy half-smile, and he raised his glass in greeting as the younger man joked.

“Oh, come now, darling, you’d be so bereft if we didn’t bump into each other at least once a week. Though...mind you… it’s been a while since I last saw your shining face, though that may be...hmm…”

… I've been spending more time at home than usual...for some reason...

He hadn’t eaten much today, and this was his second glass- and, if you knew him, you could tell. Though perfectly composed, when Kit was sloshed, his words became crisper, more defined, his accent more cultured, and it was impossible to forget you were dealing with a galdor. As if the high cheekbones and insouciant field didn’t scream it for him anyway…

“What's been filling your time this last month or so?”
he enquired sociably, knocking back the dregs of his gin and turning towards the passive as he nudged the glass over the bar with a nod to the barmaid.

“Same again, thanks sweetheart,” the man confirmed, crossing one ankle over the other as he settled back again, this position clearly one he'd been in for a while.
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Leander
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:21 pm
Topics: 16
Race: Passive
Location: Old Rose Harbour
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Plot Notes: Plot Notes
Writer: Dizzy
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Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:27 am

31st Day of Achtus
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It was all too easy to fall to Kit’s charm. He had had years of practice and had easily ensnared Leo with his quick wit and penetrating cerulean eyes. It also helped some that the two shared many things in common, such as their distaste for society and how it had shat on the both of them. The fact that Kit had become a solid and reliable drinking buddy was neither here nor there, but Leo had never had reason to complain, given his own renowned proclivity to drink to excess.

Oh, it seems I could never hope to lie to you again, how well you know me!” It was overstated: a mockery of the posh twits who inhabited the world they grew up in, but the words were no less true. There had to be an exception to the rule of his hatred of his broth brethren, and Kit fit that place perfectly. “Quite, my soul has been bereft without you, my heart broken. Ask the bartender, I was a lost little kitten these past few days.” He put on a dramatic show of waving his arms and clutching at his chest, be recovered himself to joy just as quickly, “Thank the Circle you return to keep me whole.

Ah, besides a couple of lovely young ladies? Nothing more to report.” Truth be told, Leander had probably experienced more than his fair share of excitement, and his tone probably intimated towards that. He just hoped Kit was tipsy enough (and Leo could tell he was) to not pick up on it. Now in the service of the Bad Brothers, it was no understatement to say Leander hated being in the service of Silas Hawke. Gods, Kit probably knew - some time had passed and the ruined card game as a result of his diablerie was now common knowledge.

Wow, had it really been that long since they had last seen each other? What had Kit been doing, where had he been? Leander wanted to pry, to know where the only man he called friend had been. But the pair, for all their years of fellowship, shared a rather shallow bond. They drank and joked and complained together, but that was the extent.

He, too, downed his drink as Kit ordered again, nodding his agreement for a refill. “And you? Don’t tell me another foolhardy scrap has been keeping you away from me, my dear friend?

Last edited by Leander on Sun May 19, 2019 1:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Kit
Posts: 60
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:03 pm
Topics: 3
Race: Galdor
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Writer: Foxing
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Wed May 15, 2019 4:02 pm

31st Achtus | Evening
Some dive
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The older golly chuckled appreciatively at the passive's dramatic flourishes and declarations.

“A lost little kitten, eh? Interesting choice of words…” He ruffled Leo's dark, cropped hair with a gleeful grin, tongue caught between his teeth.
“Has my little lion cub been so starved for attention?”

When Leo assured him that his time had been so very uneventful, Kit raised a concerned eyebrow.

“Mmmmm, I must have been mistaken then. I could have sworn I heard that you, my nimble-fingered friend, had finally been clasped warmly to the familial bosom.” He winked at the young man with a smirk and a stage whisper...
“Brothers at last…” and the musician reached out a long arm to tug the youth in to his side, nodding his thanks to the barkeep as she slid another brimming glass across the bar.

Kit always been a physically affectionate man, never one to shy away from contact, but when he was guttered… every gesture was more expressive, more invasive, more intimate. It was simply the way he was.

Leo's own enquiry made him chuckle.

“And you? Don’t tell me another foolhardy scrap has been keeping you away from me, my dear friend?”


“Funny you should say that...I've had a house guest. It's been a strange few weeks, I'm not quite sure why she's hanging around...cute little thing though, brings in the coin when we’re hopping doorways with songs, I’ll give her that.” He paused, suddenly hit with a pang of bitterness.


“She’ll find out who I really am soon enough, then I shan’t see her for dust I’m sure.”

He looked over at the young forger beside him, arm still around the other's waist as he tossed back another swig of that gin that burned unpleasantly all the way down.

“Not like you. You know exactly how low I can sink, eh Leo? And you haven’t run yet. Why is that, I wonder?”

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Leander
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:21 pm
Topics: 16
Race: Passive
Location: Old Rose Harbour
Character Sheet: Character Sheet
Plot Notes: Plot Notes
Writer: Dizzy
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Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:00 am

31st Day of Achtus
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The passive smiled ruefully and ducked his head, taking the patronising ruffle of hair and nomenclature from the galdor. “Yeah, sure…” he was, for once, lost for a quick quip to retort back. It was too easy to be around this mess, easy enough that Leo forgot about the fact that he should hate Kit on mere principle. “Well, you know no one else could hold a hat to your affection, and I never accept less than the best.

Ah, they wasted no time in beating around the bush. It wasn’t a secret of Leo’s recent induction into the Bad Brothers, and it definitely wasn’t a secret about the circumstances that led to that induction. Also common knowledge - wow, Leo craved nothing other than recognition, but not for these things - was that the passive despised his alignment with the Brothers and the fecking galdors who weren’t loved enough by their wet nurses. “Well... yes.” The passive shifted uncomfortably and tuned back to face the bar, using his drink as an excuse to pause the conversation.

It’s amazing how shite this town is that people can’t think of better things to gossip about than a fecking scrap who lost control.” He glanced back, eyebrow raised in a disapproving curve, as if Kit was personally responsible for the shallow talk around the Harbor. But the manhandling to fit under the golly’s shoulder couldn’t keep Leander angry. Leo was only tactile when it was on his own terms, and normally only when he was propositioning someone or if he already had them stripped naked with the intention of spending time more intimately than was polite for public eyes.

But with Kit, he had never minded. There was no power play here, no attempt on the galdor’s part to remind the passive of his place. Leander might have thought of the man as his brother... if he hadn’t spend so many years preoccupied with knowing the man in ways one should never know a brother. “There will always be scraps that catch my eye... and humans, and gollies, and even the odd wick,” he teased, “There have even been some who have held my attention into the next morning, but maybe if you didn’t keep disappearing, I wouldn’t need these distractions.” The passive pouted, tilting his head to gaze though his eyelashes with an expression he thought to be irresistibly innocent. It worked enough on some older women, after all.

Leander didn’t really like the idea of Kit playing host to anyone. He was, for lack of a better word, a possessive man, even jealous over things he knew he had no right to be. He said nothing about the girl Kit had staying with him: he knew he could probably say the right thing, but he didn’t trust the tone with which hen would say it. He liked the idea of the girl running for the hills, though... even if he could never appreciate why someone would willingly choose to do so.

He admitted as much, and surprised even himself with the open, genuine answer to Kit’s question. “There is so much to admire, Kit,” he responded seriously, “A quiet determination that’s observant and patient. A wonderful compassion in what you say and do. An awareness of the vulnerability of others, the sort that is only borne of a great spirit that has come through so very much to become the person you are.” Wow, maybe he was more inebriated than he thought. But, if he was honest, Leo didn’t doubt how far into darkness he was willing to follow the galdor. “So yeah, I admire you. That’s as easy as breathing.

Last edited by Leander on Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Kit
Posts: 60
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:03 pm
Topics: 3
Race: Galdor
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Writer: Foxing
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Sun Dec 19, 2021 6:54 pm

31st Achtus | Evening
Some dive
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Kit crooned apologetically.

“Ohh, disappearing? Alioe, I had no idea I featured so heavily in your social schedule. How terribly rude of me, I must find a way to make it up to you…”

He winked lazily, tightening his arm around the young man’s shoulders. The boy fit so well under his arm. It was cosy, familiar, comforting… But then Leo launched into extolling his perceived virtues, and Kit tensed. Leo clearly wanted something from him, it was inconceivable for him to actually believe what he was saying… so why was he buttering him up?

…well, I wanted distracting…

The barmaid slid his full glass back across the counter, and the golly snatched it up gratefully.

“Impeccable timing, sweetheart.” He downed it in one, before turning his attention back to Leo. “I think, darling, that you may have mistaken me for someone else. That sounds nothing like the man I know… though on the other hand, feel free to tell me more about this person, he sounds delightful.”

The gin burned on the way down, spreading into a pleasant heat that helped dull the self loathing that threatened to choke him, and the string-calloused fingertips of his free hand traced the sunken grain of the bar-top, the sensation focusing his mind away from less pleasant thoughts, towards more pleasurable ones. With the time they’d spent together in various states of inebriation, Kit would have to be blind not to see the way the young forger looked at him, but if he was honest, he liked the attention… though the passive had never been quite so eloquent before.

“What has you waxing lyrical this evening? I’d not taken you for a poet.”


...meet me in the gutter, make the devil your friend...
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Leander
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:21 pm
Topics: 16
Race: Passive
Location: Old Rose Harbour
Character Sheet: Character Sheet
Plot Notes: Plot Notes
Writer: Dizzy
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Tue Dec 28, 2021 9:56 am

31st Day of Achtus
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There was, without a doubt, something very disarming about Kit. He was just so easy to talk to, with his quick wit and dry sense of humour. “You have no idea, my dearest Kit,” Leander answered as he leaned into the one-armed embrace the galdor was giving him. He reached out with an arm to collect his drink from the bar top and took a long swigmfrom the flagon. He needed more. Or something stronger. Or both.

Both sounded good. He pulled away briefly to summon the barmaid and order another ale, and two shots of whatever house liquor was going tonight. He would have the two or he would give it to Kit, depending on what top he galdor indicated. The barmaid was quick to acquiesce and the drinks appeared within a minute or two. “For you,” he pushed one of the shots towards Kit and kept one for himself.

Leander raised his own as if ready to make a toast but came up short about what to toast for. He closed his mouth, hesitated for a moment, then brought the shot to his lips to down.

No, there’s nothing,” the passive replied quietly, though he plastered a winning smile onto his face as he pulled away from Kit’s embrace fully and turned to look properly at the other man. “I’m a scribe, what else would you expect but poetry?” He guessed he probably went too far in his compliments but he was already so far gone with his drinking, which always loosened his lips. Though he did take offence about his eloquence - Leander was raised as a galdor after all for half his life, and he had a sweet set up now in terms of being able to continue his education. He was not some dull-witted passive with no intelligence to speak of.

Still, he had gone too far, and too fast. Of course Kit would think that something was up. Something more than just wanting to spend the night together, something Leo was always keen to encourage whenever they saw each other. “Well no that’s not quite true…” reaching for his ale, he took a number of large gulps, seeking courage from the liquid he consumed. “It’s just this thing with the Brothers, with Hawke. And I owe a lot of money.

Leo was rarely, if ever, so open with people as he was when speaking to Kit just now. He liked to act and pretend like everything was peachy, even to himself. There was nothing he couldn’t overcome on his own. He didn’t need anyone else’s help. Except now, when he found himself swimming in deep water. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just… drink and let the night lead us wherever it pleases.

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