12234/Jinkies, Drinkies!

Jinkies, Drinkies!
Date of Scene:	31 July 2022
Location:	The Velvet Room - Sitting Room
Synopsis:	Our intrepid heroes gather for drinks after bringing Rien back from the edge of nothing. A lot of drinks.
Cast of Characters:	Rien D'Arqueness, Cael Becker, Robbie Reyes, Chas Chandler

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Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
As Robbie and Rien enter the Velvet Room last, the door closes behind them and vanishes, leaving behind that bit of the Astral Plane where she'd been trapped for nearly three weeks.

Rien is tucked up at Robbie's side, her hand firmly in his, fingers laced though his. No intention of letting go of him for anything just now. As she steps into the Velvet Room, her ratty clothes she's been in for three weeks change to become a rather fetching sundress in white linen, dotted with bright blue roses; and a pair of wedge-heeled straw sandals. Classic, understated, elegant. The way Rien actually dresses.

She leads Robbie towards the bar with a smile for Chas, "I think I'd like to try something new. Can you pour me some of the Strength bottle? Seems fitting at the moment." Glancing around at all three of them, she smiles, "And... really, I have to say.. thank you. All of you. I knew you would figure it out and come for me. And I'm sorry for that... that thing posing as me. They, uh, they made me watch. All of it. Watch as it tried to break down all the relationships we've built up..."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Well - there was no fucking way that thing was coming between me and Jon," Cael says in a firm voice. She drops onto the bar - and her right hand clamps around the cuff on her left wrist.
    Where //are// you, Mariposa?
    "We... did have one arguement, but it wasn't that bad of one. I just didn't like him hugging that //thing.// With a frown on her features she adds, "Why did it let me remember? Or was that some sort of mistake or oversight? Why would I be skipped, and not- the l iteral fucking angel?" she asks, nodding her head towards Chas. "It's weird, right?"

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Robbie's battleworn and smells like char, blood and demon under all that leather. Rien, with her very delicate nose, ought to probably know his scent anywhere by now, the amount of time she's spent around him. His gloved fingers clasp hers tight, and the way he walks it's like he's trying to protect her much smaller frame with his own.

"My guess is," he tells Cael as he settles into a seat at the bar, contact shifting to a trailing of fingers along Rien's back. "They picked you on purpose. Chose someone who they couldn't hurt as much with their fucked up game. But just one, so nobody'd believe 'em." His expression's briefly one of distaste. Distaste that melts away as he watches Rien pick one of her usual outfits to wear. He'd missed that, too.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas brings down the Strength bottle for a moment and unscrews the cap of it. "I'm just an angel... fucking angels are... well... " he pauses. "Something else entirely." He shrugs and takes a sniff of the beverage inside. He grins. "Not sure if it's so new to you but... here you are."

    He takes a small tumbler from the shelf and pours a milky thick liquid into it before sliding it before Rien. "Interesting choice, but I can get behind it. The blended emulsion method being a combination of two things becoming stronger together..."

    He caps the drink and sets it on the shelf. "What about you two?" he asks the others. "And I think Robbie might be onto something there. You're not as close to Rien and so it would be easier to think your mind was playing tricks on you. Help isolate you and make you a target in the future for all we know."

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien sniffs once the bottle opens, then lets out a small laugh and gives a nod, "Irish cream... I wouldn't have expected that, but that's not bad. Well, so long as the cream and whiskey are both of good quality." Catching the tumbler, she inhales again, pausing to sift through the scents before nodding, "Excellent. This will do nicely." She pauses once more, then points to the glass so that it frosts over lightly and then gives a nod, "There. Chilled, /now/ it's ready."

Lifting the glass for a sip, she leans in against Robbie and tilts her head up to press a kiss to his jaw before looking back to Cael with a nod. "It was seeking you out, purposely. Probably trying to do equal parts feeding on your fears and distress, and trying to drive you mad, being the only one that saw and remembered. If you had started to be separated from the group, it would have caused further division because of Jon's obvious feeling for you." Jon. Not Jonathan. Never Jonathan, always Jon. Another marker of Rien's return.

"I'm still amazed you guys got /Batman/ to come save me. I feel very flattered, you must have made on Hell of a case to him."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "He probably just ran out of things to watch on his Netflix queue," Cael remarks - pointing to the High Priestess for Chas. She lets out a huff of air then adds, "Well. It was fortunate for us, in the end, that they let me remember, even if it was... yeah. A bit alienating. I still need a chance to stab the fucking thing some more. You know?" She smiles tightly, her hand still clamped onto her cuff bracelet.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Beer's his usual go to. But this occasion seems to call for something stronger; something he stands a chance of actually feeling. With a cheeky grin, he nods toward one of the lesser-used bottles on the top shelf. "Gimme a Fortune." Rien's pulled close with an arm wrapped tightly around her, and a barely audible -- but contented -- sigh when she leans against him.

Batman wasn't his doing, so he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he shoots Cael a glance. "You better believe we're gonna find it, and fuckin' end it. You, uh, think it's got something to do with wherever Jon is?"

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas rubs the back of his neck. "I said I needed help and Lavenza decided to put out an APB" he says, pulling down the High Priestess for Cael and pouring a glass of whiskey neat for the woman. He slides it to her and then gets down the Fortune for Robbie. It's a new one for him too and he sniffs the contents before nodding and filling a small tumbler with a double of dark golden spiced rum.

    Sliding it over to Robbie. "I've got Gabby tailing it with the hand you lopped off. Once it stops moving, she'll let us know. Also..." he eyes the FBI agent. "Where did the lightsaber come from?" he asks as he puts the bottles back where they belong. "That a Velvet Room original or something?"

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"Hey, give the man his due... he has put a LOT of effort into being the best at what he does, and he has succeeded at it." Rien lifts a shrug before snuggling in against Robbie and giving a happy smile up at him. She sips her irish cream and offers, "You guys are welcome to that... Not-Me. I want Nikola's unnatural hide. We haven't seen the last of that one."

Another sip and she's chuckling, "I'd like to know that myself. The lightsaber was.. unexpected and I have to admit I laughed when I saw it. I mean, I know I could create one magically, but... tech-wise I thought we were still a bit away from self-limiting hard light or lasers."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I don't think that thing has fuck-all to do with where Jon is," Cael says tensely, her hand tightening around her wrist. Her discomfort over Jon's continued absence was palpable - it's no wonder the 'Lonely' came after her. "Jon promised me that he was coming back - if I just trust him. So... I'm trusting him. He'll be here." But //when//? How much longer?
    All the talk of the lightsaber earns a smirk of amusement before Cael adds, "'Or something.' It was a gift from a friend. Don't know how it works, or where it comes from but- it's handy. And sometimes a bullet just won't- well, cut it. I tend not to use it too much, though." She picks up her glass, finally letting go of her grip on her leather cuff, so she can take a deep drink from her whiskey. Getting drunk tonight sounds like a plan. Getting... really drunk.
    "Hey Chas? Can I just have the bottle."
    It's not like there's anyone waiting for her at home. ...other than Bear and Nimue.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Cael's watched for a long moment after she replies to him. Her tension's clear, as is her unease with her boyfriend still being missing after all this time. "The waiting, the not knowing.. is the worst part." He gazes at her a little while longer, then reaches for the glass he'd been poured and knocks it back in a single swallow. Like he's doing a shot.

"Ah. Fuck." He grimaces a little, squeezing his eyes shut for a second. "That's.. well, that's somethin'. Whoo." The glass is tapped away, and he offers a slight smile back to Rien when she looks up at him. A kiss to her forehead, too. "Wonder what it'd do if you enchanted her sword, like you did with Gabby's claws," he posits to the blonde sorceress.

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas turns and takes down both the High Priestess and the Fortune bottles once more. He sets one before Cael and the other before Robbie. "Look, Jon is... where Jon is. He's alive, we know that much. But his trip is more attached to whatever he needs to do to deal with the choices he's made and his memories that he recovered. I don't think that I Do Not Know You or The One Alone factor into it for him."

    He sighs. He misses the Archivist as well. "But he'll be back... when he gets back. I can't say when that is... only that his word is good and I will hold on to that." He turns and gets down the Chariot bottle and pours himself a tall glass of the licorice smelling liquid within.

Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"It wasn't the Old Ones. Nikola delighted in showing me any time they had a hand in doing something terrible to one of the JLD. But she didn't know anything more about Jon than anyone else." Rien can offer that much, at least, sipping on her drink and shaking her head. "There were times when I thought... but I just don't know if I can really trust anything I saw or heard while I was there. So much of it was... just Nikola trying to mess with me."

She lifts a shrug, "If it /was/ real, then Jon is trying to get back. Some journeys take longer than others, we just need to be patient and he will come back when he is able." That much Rien seems certain of. She's not worried, Jon can handle himself. It's just a question when /when/ he'll get back.

She glances up at Robbie and smiles, "Did you want to leave Gabe with Chas and Agnes for awhile longer, or should we go get him in the morning?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I know they're trying to get back. I know they meant what they said or- Jon couldn't have said it. They'll do everything they can to keep that promise - I trust that much." Cael finishes off her whiskey, and pours herself another two fingers, staring into the deep, amber-hued liquid.
    "It's not knowing when that- It'd be a lot easier if I just knew when."
    With a smirk Cael adds, "I had to get rid of one of my guns - because that //bitch// enchanted it, and I just didn't trust it anymore." Yup. Didn't trust her //gun.//

Robbie Reyes has posed:
"Thanks," Robbie murmurs as the rum returns for an encore. He's starting to feel it -- he's as affected by alcohol and cigarettes and drugs as anyone else, unless the Rider sees fit to intervene -- but that's all the more reason to pour himself another two fingers of the stuff.

Chas gets a nod for his explanation, the young man's brows furrowing slightly for a moment. Then he knocks his drink back with a swift and visible swallow, and thumps the glass back down again. His gaze slides back to Rien. "I think he'd like it if we stopped by to check in on him. Let him see you're home and safe. But I think it's best he stays there until this Old God shit's dealt with, yeah?"

Chas Chandler has posed:
    Chas nods. "I don't mind keeping him at my place" he replies, tossing back a splash more of the Jaeger. "But you should go see him when you're not blasted. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you as well" he says giving a nod to Rien, he's rather fond of you from what I can tell.

    "Speaking of family, I should be heading out. I promised Asa to tell her when I got back from... where we were." He smirks. "We're not exactly well liked that close to the edge of the Void. And she was more than a bit worried about me going out there." He manages to put The Chariot's bottle back. "I trust you can clean up after yourselves in my absence. Cael, you're free to stay here for the night if you get too wasted. Just, try not to sleep in the sitting room. People get strange dreams in here." He glances to the small case with the haunted doll in it set to one side of the room.

    His part said he starts for the Library door and inserts his key into it. "Just... I'm glad we're almost whole once more. Hopefully we stay that way from here on out." Then he's through the door and gone.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Nah, I'll go home. It's- just a keyhole away, after all," Cael says in a wry tone. "And Bear's waiting for me, besides." She can sleep in her own bed - even if the pillow smells less of Jon, and more of //herself// with every passing night. She frowns at her glass, knocking more of it back, and then offers Chas a nod, as well as Rien and Robbie. "We did good tonight."
    By the time Cael heads home, walking in a straight line is out of the question - but eventually she falls into bed, kicking off her boots before she falls asleep, with Bear snuggling in tightly against her.
    "Computer," she slurs out. "Play 'Dos Oruguitas.'"