[closed]

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict, Colin, & Edgard
WHAT: a Vint, a Fereldan, and an Orlesian walk into a bar
WHEN: allegedly the night after the dream but Truly Whenever
WHERE: at least starting with Lowtown
NOTES: I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, singin waaaaayoh

Benedict is dressed in his finest (which isn't that fine, these days). Edgard has had his hair forcibly combed. Colin... is here.
It's time to get Fucked Up.

Or, more likely, it's time to have a few drinks and talk about their shared dream, but there are no particular rules for boys' night out. Benedict, who rarely gets to come to the mainland, leads the way off the ferry with a spring in his step and a smirk on his face.

"Shall we slum it?" he asks cheerfully, "or climb all those stairs?"

Comments

[altusimperius]

Benedict hadn't had any plan of where to go, so Colin's decisiveness is a relief. He quickly pivots to follow him, glancing at Edgard to make sure he's doing the same, and jogs after his friend with a growing smile.

"Colin!" he gasps, "I didn't know you had it in you!"

[muckspout]

"I did." Edgard grumbles under his breath, smiling a little nervously at Colin. He turns to Benedict.

"But you! What was that? You took everyone out." He whispers a little reverent, a little worried, and laughing a little. The idea of Benedict winning a bar fight is ludicrous.

[keenly]

Colin's smile is nothing but teeth at Edgard's first comment. He's starting to dissociate a bit, though he might be able to pull back before coming through the other side into a panic attack. Focusing on calming down is taking too much of his focus for him to comment at the moment.

[altusimperius]

"I just..." Benedict slows his step, takes a moment to fully acknowledge what he just did. It... wasn't good. But, hopefully, it won't reflect poorly on them. Or Riftwatch.

Just a bunch of drunks, right?

"...well, they would've had us," he reasons as he jogs forward to catch up with Colin, only now thinking harder about the ramifications of flagrant magic use in a barfight.

[muckspout]

Benedict has misunderstood.

"No," He whispers reverently. "That was incredible. I mean, you definitely probably shouldn't have done it, but," Edgard moves his hands makes a noise with his mouth and mimes everyone falling to the floor.

"But wait," Edgard says suddenly comprehending the rest of what Benedict's saying. "What do you mean they had us? We were doing alright. Right, Colin?"

He turns to Colin, noticing his odd expression. "Colin?"

[keenly]

It takes a few seconds after the second iteration of his name for Colin to realize anything's happening. He gives Edgard a blank look and tries to determine whether he's being asked to respond to something, or just being called to attention for some reason.

"Uhhh..." 50/50 chance he says the right thing if he was asked a question, so he goes with the thing that would be correct if Edgard's just trying to get his attention. "...Yes?"

His eyes go to Benedict, taking in how he looks worried, and he gives him a wondering look.

[altusimperius]

Colin's response yields a similar pause in Benedict, who meets his eyes, furrows his brow, and then looks to Edgard, as if he can't quite comprehend which one of them is right. Were they not in danger of getting their heads caved in?

"...well, we managed," he says awkwardly, forging on.

[muckspout]

"We did!" Edgard gives a little whoop entirely changing his tune from before.

He turns back to Colin again, squinting.

"You alright? You got hit pretty hard." Erik recently said something about looking at his pupils, so he tries to look at them although he has no idea what he's looking for.

[keenly]

A frown. "What are you talking about, we managed? You were basically fighting by yourself. If Ben hadn't..."

He waves a hand as if that's going to complete the sentence for him.

"Did I?" he asks, sort of bewildered. "Don't answer that, let's get to my place first."

Being present in the conversation is reawakening the anxiety he's been trying to keep at bay. If he's going to hyperventilate, he'd rather do it in private.

"We've got to get some salt on that shirt."

[altusimperius]

"Will that get the stain out?" Bene asks, switching gears as he looks morosely down at his shirt.

"That barbarian."

[muckspout]

Edgard shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure you were doing the fighting, Colin. I just--got punched."

Edgard glances at the shirt.

"The color might add something to it. A stain of victory."

[keenly]

"Depends on how quick we get there," Colin says, looking up ahead at the steps to Hightown. "Worst comes to worst, I'll buy you a new shirt. You earned it."

[altusimperius]

"No, Colin, you've done enough." His demeanor instantly changes, a little smile cropping up on his face as his eyebrows waggle.

"You defended me." It was kinda hot.

[muckspout]

Edgard very slowly looks at Benedict and then at Colin. He blinks.

"Should I go?" He asks crooking his thumb over his shoulder.

[keenly]

"Wha...? Why would you?" Colin squints at Edgard before glancing at Bene, who is...oh. He knows that look. He's suddenly fully present in the conversation and aims an emphatic finger at Benedict.

"That was not attractive of me," he says sternly. "I did something stupid and you had to use magic to get us out of there. I should never have put you in that position. Either of you."

[altusimperius]

Maybe it's the adrenaline, maybe he just doesn't want to focus on the fact that he cast a spell in a crowded tavern and what that would mean if it got back to the wrong person, but Benedict is determined to breeze past Colin's anxieties and get this night back on the right track.

"I think going back to your place is a fine idea," he insists, looping an arm through Colin's and then through Edgard's, "and that we should never speak of this again, especially using those words."