[ open: all arise! ]

[vorbratta]

WHO: you. yes, you there. you're invited
WHAT: Sonia is throwing a big party, because everyone needs an excuse to get good and drunk together right now. And dancing. There is always dancing.
WHEN: Justinian, shortly after the return of the jungle crew
WHERE: The suite at the top of the mage tower
NOTES: ♫ have some party jams ♫

The month in the jungle was a long one, made longer by the total lack of any alcohol to mitigate the experience. Utterly unthinkable. Sonia is addressing a public need by throwing a grand party -- a public service, even. Besides, it's what she does. When was the last time she got to plan a party, anyway? Granted, this is not a Denerim soiree for the young nobility, but the venue doesn't matter. Only the people and the drinks, and Sonia is assuredly rich in both. It is also a fantastic excuse not to think about any of the bad things that have happened since she was last in Kirkwall.

The decoration in the residential suite at the top of the mage tower would be best classified as improvisational -- one of those drapes tacked along the wall for ambience may be a bedsheet -- but it's the spirit of the thing that counts. One makes do with what one has. In one corner are a few tables laden with spirits, some provided by Sonia, others by generous partygoers. There are a few Barra vineyard vintages in the mix, highlights of her personal collection, a testament to the celebration she considers tonight to be. There's a small selection of food nearby, mostly for snacking to go with the drinks, though guests are free to bring whatever they like to share.

And there is, of course, music. Someone here has brought a fiddle or a flute or a bunch of pots masquerading as a drum set. Maybe you've brought your very own a capella choir. Whatever the accompaniment, there's something to dance to. Sonia makes sure there is dancing.

Tonight is not for licking wounds or swapping grisly stories of terror and survival. Tonight is for feeling alive, getting properly and delightfully drunk, and having a good god damn time.

Comments

[sulahnan]

[ Takes practice, my good dude. But no amount of practice stops Athessa from pinching her nose and making a face as she massages her nostrils. ]

Gods, that feels weird. Every fuckin' time.

[ A huff and she's done, ready to address his suggestion. ]

Sure, if you can figure out how to hold it without it eating you. I stood on it for a few minutes and it was bad. Like make yer feet stop workin' bad. [ Passing the joint back, she takes pity on him and gives him instruction before he chokes again. ] Try breathing in through your nose at the same time as your mouth, instead of sucking on it.

[inkindled]

Magic, maybe. Nothing I could do, but someone else--or a Rifter, even--

[But doubtful. Oh, well. He takes back the joint with a nod at her advice, trying to give the appearance of being cool without giving away the wash of gratefulness he's feeling in turn. Athessa is cool enough to just give advice--no begging or asking on his part necessary.

He's dutifully repeating her suggestion in his mind as he gives it another go--and is much more successful this time, only a slight cough. Which is good. Probably couldn't have taken much more.]

It's not like, practice. I mean I have, obviously, but not regular. So.

[Too much explanation. He passes the joint back to her, with a little sigh at himself.]

D'you reckon I'll learn to shut up, someday?

[sulahnan]

Pffft I hope not. It'll make teasing you a lot harder.

[ She grins--speaking of teasing--and nudges him with her elbow. He's always trying to act like he's got everything under control, doesn't need any help, has more experience than he really has. It really is the talking that gives it all away, and it makes Athessa wonder how much of her own false confidence was received the way Matty's is. Probably a lot, considering how many people are surprised to learn her age.

She won't pass the joint back just yet; best to wait until the effects settle in so he doesn't overdo it. ]

One of these days I'll learn how to do smoke rings. Can never seem to get those to work.

[inkindled]

[Despite himself, Matthias grins, as he allows himself to be elbowed.]

Shut up.

[He slumps a little against the wall when he rights himself, that pleasant boneless feeling settling in. There's a tingling under his nose, in that weird divot above the lip. He presses his thumb against it, experimentally.]

Wish you would learn. Then you can tell me how. How do people learn that sort of thing anyways, s'not as if there's a book laying about that tells you how to manage. All word of mouth, right.

[sulahnan]

Yeah, pretty much. I asked Tony to teach me a while back.

[ She puffs once on the joint just to get enough smoke to try and shape into a ring, but it just looks like a disk in the air. ]

Tch. It was pretty pointless 'cos he wouldn't explain what he was doing, and then everything just dissolved into flirting, ya know.

[ Heh. Word of mouth. That's funny. ]

[inkindled]

[Even a disk is impressive when you can barely manage the smoke in the first place. That's not why Matthias' nose wrinkles.]

Isn't he like, massively old?

[sulahnan]

[ She scoffs lightly, tch, no. ]

He's only like... ten years older than me.

[ Comparable to the age difference between herself and Matty. ]

[inkindled]

[He clicks his tongue against his teeth, incredulous.]

Get out.

[sulahnan]

No, really! Well...

[ She tips her head back and forth. ]

So probably like, eleven years older, then, 'cos I turned twenty-nine last month, but still. That's nothin'.

[inkindled]

Are you mental, that's loads of, [of....?] not nothing. Like, think of it this way. When you were a baby, he was eleven years of age. At least. Maybe more 'cause we don't actually know his age, do we.

[sulahnan]

Sure, but I'm not a baby now, am I?

[inkindled]

Obviously-- [Though it comes out lazily, more like obvsly.] --but that's still the distance, innit. Age distance. And that doesn't go away, that's forever.

[sulahnan]

[ She blinks at him, slowly, like there's something else she'd like to say, but then a furrow knits between her brows and she holds a hand up behind her ear. ]

Sorry, what was that? Are there maggots in my ears? No? I must not be able to hear you over this age distance between us.

[inkindled]

Wha, that's-- [He shakes his head, to clear it.] Hang on, that's not on. That's not what I meant. We're different, you and I. We're all right. We're like-- Well, and it doesn't matter, 'cause I'm not bloody flirting with you, am I, so even if that is true, s'not the same, and we're friends, anyways, have been, and I'm not--

And maybe there are maggots in your ears, besides!

[sulahnan]

You're so easy!

[ She guffaws, far too delighted about being able to rile him up. A real knee-slapper. ]

Anyway, he turned me down so it double-doesn't matter.

[inkindled]

[...oh.]

Shut up.

[--Mumbled, as a flush starts to color Matthias' cheeks. He scowls, just a little--but it quickly gives way to a grudging acceptance--and she is his friend, so if anyone is allowed to take the piss out of him, it's her.

And there's more important things. Like--]

If he turned you down then he's an idiot as well as old. So.

[sulahnan]

Eh, getting turned down doesn't bother me.

[ She's got...well, some shortage of options of late, actually. But she understands Tony's hang-ups well enough and can't blame him for being reticent. ]

...What were we talkin' about?

[inkindled]

Er.

[How, is what he wanted to say, all emotions and pride and secret sensitivities, but her question derails that thought.

Oh, right. Well, here, first: he reaches to try to get the joint back from her again.]

Dunno.

[sulahnan]

[ She relinquishes it, content that he isn't about to have a panic attack or a bad trip or something. He'd be sweaty and nauseous by now if he were. ]

Hmm. Well, it'll come to us or it won't.

[inkindled]

[Pleased that he's evaded his own guilt for a moment longer, and with the joint recovered, Matthias tries to do as she'd instructed. He does better at it this time. Barely has a cough to suppress, and when he does suppress it, he doesn't choke on it.

In the room, the music changes. Someone else is playing; the pace is slower. It reminds of something. Butter, maybe. A new thought comes to him, elbowing in. He looks over at Athessa again.]

Hey. D'you believe in love? Like--actual love. Real. And all.

[sulahnan]

[ Okay. Unexpected, and... weird. ]

Uhm. Yeah? What do you...Like whaddya mean?

[inkindled]

Like-- love?

[Erm. He scratches at his cheek.]

I dunno how else to say it, like-- like can you be in love, forever?

[sulahnan]

Phoar...when you put it like that... I kinda hope not.

[ You mean she has to be in love with Ciara and Derrica and know that they can't love her back... FOREVER?! ]

But I mean like, when you think about love, is it real people love, or storybook love?

[inkindled]

Didn't read a lot of storybooks.

[Or, like, any.]

Real, I s'ppose. Real people. People can fall in love, yeah? And it can last ages. Actual Ages, maybe even. What'd be wrong with forever?

[sulahnan]

[ Yeah she didn’t read any storybooks either but they had street plays for kids based on them. ]

Forever’s a long time, and love isn’t always mutual.