endgame

[wooliefrand]

WHO: wasted
WHERE: no longer in front of your salads
WHEN: day 15, later afternoon-ish probably

[ ]

[ after a sufficient degree of . . . chaos . . . the winged demon—much bigger now than before—giggles in satisfaction, the sound not unlike clinking glass. it flutters its wings and climbs into the sky in a swirl; the bars, ingredients, and tools all disappear, along with the medicine box.

where the demon once was is schnapps, who . . . well he doesn't look like he's having a bad time. with a drunken chortle, ]

wooooooooooooooooooooooow that was greeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

[ he rolls over . . . puts his face to the ground . . . picks himself up . . . starts toddling off . . . ]

noooooooow for the afterpartyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

. . . oh wait! right right right right winners. Right!!!!

[ turns right back around. takes out A PIECE OF PAPER!!!!!!!!!!! TO READ OFF OF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ]

A-hem! Ahem ahem ahem!!! I'm announcing winners now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i wrote it all down im so smart hawhawhaw

Rose and Clover BOTH made drinks for the most customerrrrs. that's so niiiiceee. but uhm which do i go with OH OH OH it says "go with Rose." Okay?? If ya say so!

Clover gets "best original drink"! 'cause like, the only thing better than one drink is eleven drinks!

[ hiccup ]

Oh and and and Thistle!!!! You also win 'cause uhhhhhhh [ (squints) ] 'cause the nice black-collared folks said so! Well there's no arguing that!

Next next next . . . the most RIDICULOUS order . . . mannnnnnnnnn, making drink orders puzzles!? er. was it math. I dunno. I'm drunk! Hawhaw.

That one goes to Lily!

And uhmmm uhmmmmmmmm LAST but not LEAST. This one. This one's my favorite one. MY drink. the MOST drink. it'S THE LILY KILLER wow such a cool name SO THAT GOES TO LILY!

. . .

Wait. Didn't I already just . . . wait . . . huh. . . huh?? HUH????

[ t. tilts his head. one way. then the other. hm ]

whadoidonow . . .

[ turns the paper over ]

Oh I wrote it down! I'm so smart. Hawhaw . . .

"note to self: if someone wins twice, choose the next winner as the team with the most difficult customers. . ."

That would beeeeeeeeee Lily, Clover, andddddddddddd . . . Bluebell!!!! Make sure to tip your tarbenders lots you guys!!!!!!

And next is . . . oh. Oh, I'm done. No more! Okayyyy. Then uhmmmmmmmm . . . Meeting adjourned! (?) I should go home. i think i left the faucet on.

[ and so, with that done, schnapps toddles away . . .

a-anyway.

The following flocks receive appropriately colored coins:

Rose—Most drinks made/Most customers serviced @ 37 (tied with Clover)
Clover—Best original drink w/ a whole menu
Bluebell—Most ridiculous orderdifficult customers (picked from how frequently a team came up in this section of turn-in)
Lily—Drink that is the Most. end of sentence (schnapps' favorite)
Thistle—✨ Weeds' Choice ✨ "because we say so."

In addition to coins, every winning flock receives a wishcoin to redeem a personal room upgrade. get you some furnishings! Fancier beds! (wait until ash is around for personal room upgrade deets okok)

Weeds additionally receive black coins, as well as a bottle full of whatever their most ridiculous order was. ]

MAIN GAME POST

Comments

[ohlord]

[trufax: learning to pull his punches is definitely becoming part of it. probably especially after the first few were definitely harder than Charon can properly take even if he does put up a good defense.

it's a workout in a different way, and once they decide to call it, Styx is claiming a spot against the boxing ring to lean against and sit. thoroughly wiped out from the lack of sleep more than any strain of the activity. the latter just helps with getting out all the energy keeping him running.]

[endsjustified]

[yeah Styx cracked or tore something at least once in there too badly for Charon to keep properly going and they were both, like, heck, and had to dig the tears out for that one. at least blunt injury is likelier to stay within the threshold of clean healing they have easy access to.

Charon is gonna drag himself off to get them both some water before he sits next to Styx heavily. he's definitely totally wiped from the activity. fuck]

That went well, I think.

[ohlord]

Kinda messy. Never hadta instruct other people before.

But you're punchin' straighter, at least.

[endsjustified]

If I weren't with that regimen I would be hopeless indeed.

You are moderating yourself better.

[ohlord]

Guess so. Not used to people needin' me to hold back.

[endsjustified]

Have you ever fought for anything short of killing or escaping a dangerous situation?

[honest question considering what all Styx has shared with him, curious]

[ohlord]

[quuuuiet for a moment]

Once. But I couldn't go easy then, either.

[endsjustified]

...did you win?

[ohlord]

I won in that I saved the people I was tryin' to save.

But that is when I died, ya know.

... overdosed on a healin' serum in the middle of it. So y'know, if Minuet ever gets fussy 'bout that kinda stuff, that's probably why.

["fussy", "ptsd" same thing.]

[endsjustified]

...I remember, I think. But it didn't have solid context.

[ohlord]

... right. The nightmares.

Thing about it is. Chapel always got on my fuckin' case about goin' easy on people or havin' mercy. But it ain't like I was ever a softie about it, either. Just his idea of the perfect servant doesn't look their target in the eyes and walks over the bodies without lookin' back.

Guess I wasn't ever that cut out for that much, but could manage it enough to get by.

[endsjustified]

[closes his eyes a moment, his expression unreadable]

I am very glad you stayed human.

[ohlord]

Maybe I wouldn't've but I had the very stupid idea of pointin' a gun at somethin' I couldn't kill.

[endsjustified]

If you don't do it sometimes, how will anyone ever find out one way or the other?

[ohlord]

Yeah, well.

Sometimes pointin' a gun at somethin' ya can't kill gets ya babysittin' a man labeled as a localized disaster.

[so like. he was doomed either way. doomed to humanity. could be worse.]

[endsjustified]

[a soft, half-huffed noise, as he leans back on both hands and slowly stretches out his shoulders]

You gave him something new for that last year, you know. Did he ever tell you?

[ohlord]

... no?

[what could be new to a 150 year old? i mean, really...

but also, they don't... talk about that stuff.]

[endsjustified]

"I'm just not used to the teamwork thing, y'know? Only had it for a year and then it was gone."

[he doesn't bother trying to mimic Vash's voice, but he gets the cadence perfectly.]

[ohlord]

[oh.






well.

that is all kinds of awkward, embarrassing, and sad. guuuuilt but just kinda sitting there for a second before pulling out a cigarette and lighting up]

... y'know, it was a year travelin' together, but we actually met two years before that, briefly. Then he went n' disappeared for two years, I was given my assignment, and spent those two years lookin' for his dumb ass.

Year of travelin', seven months him locked up and me killin'...

[... yeah, no, it's still awkward.]

[endsjustified]

You made quite the impression on each other, then.

[shakes his head a little]

I have seen few other men so sad in all my life.

[ohlord]

I'd say Minuet's been sad since the day he was born, but probably more likely it's been since the Big Fall.

... probably worse now, though.

[and it's his fault on many levels.]

[endsjustified]

...

What's the Big Fall? Or is that a secret?

[ohlord]

It's no secret.

The Big Fall is when the colonizers from Earth crashed onto the planet a hundred and fifty years ago.

... I know some of the story, but it's what the assassin group I was with told. And their version's basically that humans did somethin' terrible. Or they were just terrible. Leavin' Earth they destroyed to try to find other planets to inhabit and destroy. Whatever. They did somethin' and the price for their sins was the Big Fall. Millions dead. Thousands more died in the struggles after the Fall. To that group, everyone who survived, everyone born on that planet afterwards are Sinners. And they would be Judged.

Buncha shit, if y'ask me. Most of us born after don't even know what was even done to cause the Big Fall in the first damn place. Since it was so long ago and shit went to hell right off the bat before they got even slightly better, a lotta information was lost. And most've what people know are stories or random bits of technology from the ships that hit the surface.

[endsjustified]

[ok well he can see several scenarios for how and why a gigantic ship world crash would destroy happiness pretty definitively for someone involved, whether that someone happened to be on said ships or on the surface. not enough information now to piece together exacting guesses, but another chunk of the puzzle in his hands. a patch of sky, but he's still missing corners.]

...

He said he's been happy once.

[ohlord]

Yeah. Wouldn't doubt it was before the Big Fall, then.