Fear And Loathing on Duro

[Daniel Tresk]

Daniel blankly stared at the flashing neon lights that covered the entryway to the large bar. He sighed as he walked up the rain-covered steps and shoved open the doors with a shrill squeal. A couple patrons stopped and looked at him, but mostly everybody ignored him. Dan slid onto one of the cheap leather seat, as he gazed at the wall lined with amber liquid. Every single drink imaginable, from beers and wines, to whiskeys and vodkas, to bourbon and tequila, if it had alcohol, it was here. He began getting fidgeting, scratching at his neck and shifting around constantly.

'Should...No, no. I can't, I mean... I guess one drink won't send me down again.'

Daniel tried to shake away his troubled thoughts, as he snapped his fingers and turned towards the bartender. "Hey! Excuse me, could ya' get me some vodka?" He asked, as he twitchedly placed some credits on the bar. The bartender nodded, as he grabbed the money and began mixing his drink. From out a nearby window, Dan looked down at the untouched landscape of Duro.

'Man, these floating cities have one heck of a view.'

Dan grabbed his vodka as soon as his server walked away, and begin quietly sipping away at it, as he turned his attention to the door.

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Rain is a queen. This is the conclusion Malachite came to during his stay on Duros. When he went to go hunt nasty Vong things on the surface? It rained and he was chased out of the forest by a giant worm. When he went to impress a girl with his fire? It rained and she insulted him. Basically, he was now stuck in a big floating city full of blue and green rubbery people, and he couldn't use his fire. This vacation hadn't been fun, and the guy who had sold the blonde fox-man the tickets here would be punched in the face at the next convenient opportunity.

Finally, totally defeated, he walked into the nearest bar. He audibly gasped when he saw the amount of alcohol behind the counter. It was magnificent. So much to choose from, and he probably could've drank all of it. But, he sighed, looked at his money, and then looked at the bartender... Sake bombs! He knew sake bombs all too well, and loved them way too much. He looked at the bartender, and he might have jumped up and down like a little kid if it wouldn't have looked seriously weird. Grinning like a maniac, he said, "Gimmie sake bombs, please... Oh, and that sweet stuff... Erm... Oh yeah, wroshyr sap!"

He plunked down onto a barstool and wrapped his tails around it. Maybe he'd finally have some fun.

[member="Daniel Tresk"]

 

[Daniel Tresk]

Daniel was quitely sipping at his drink when he saw the jovial man sit down and ask for some wroshyr sap, and whatever the hell a 'Sake Bomb' was. Dan glared at the man, but he couldn't help but get slightly cheered up from the mans infectious mood. He stood up, and walked over to the ecstatic patient, and sat next to him. "Hey, buddy. What in the feth is a Sake...whatever!" Dan asked the fox. The bartender smirked and shook his head, as he poured Malachite his drink. "I know you're my server and all, but don't start with me." Daniel snarkily told him. The bartender rolled his eyes, as he walked away to deal with the rowdy patrons.

A couple of Duros were sitting in a corner when they heard his question. "A Sake Bomb you hutt-spawn is-" The near-human silenced himself as he saw Dan, who was looking right at him, begin tapping at the barrel of his pistol. While he couldnt shoot if his life depended on it, he had other weapons in case things got hairy.

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite looked at the man who'd just walked over to him like the guy had nine tails... That is to say, with a mixture of surprise and familiarity, since Malachite himself had nine tails. Most of the surprise in his expression was about the ignorance of sake bombs. The rest was because the blonde fox could very easily identify the man as a fellow mercenary... And probably a fellow drunk. He grinned even wider and replied, "Well, sake is rice wine. Powerful stuff. And the stuff you drop the sake into is just beer. Crazy stuff."

[member="Daniel Tresk"]

 

[Daniel Tresk]

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]

Daniel slowly nodded as the nine-tailed whatchamacallit described the drink. "So, powerful and crazy stuff, got it." The Hitman slowly drank his vodka, trying to savor every last flavor. While the scalding liquid carved a burning trail down his throat, the bartender walked over to back to the duo. "Hey, you wanna try a Sake Bomb? It's on the house." Daniel suddenly put his drink down and became twitchy and nervous. He awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck as he shook his head. The bartender shrugged and walked into the back room, apparently to take a break.

Dan relaxed as soon as he left, as he turned towards his Foxy Friend. "Two questions: What brings you here, and what in the hell are you!?"

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite watched as the other merc seemed to have a moment of indecision before saying no to the free drink. He could respect that decision... Never, ever, ever make that decision, but he could understand it. He got his beer and sake, mixed it together, dropped wroshyr sap in, and then grinned in delight as he tasted it. The sap just made everything taste nicer, since it was just so sweet and sugary. Now he looked at the merc and wagged his tails.

He replied, "I'm a Ruferalahuin. And a Calian. Sort of makes me some kind of a fox monster. And, well... I was here because of all the fine animals for me to hunt on the surface, but the whole rain bit made my primary method of fighting a bit useless. So, I came to drink until it stops raining. And then burn the alcohol out of my system. And then go kill large Vongy animals."

[member="Daniel Tresk"]

 

[Daniel Tresk]

Daniel slowly nodded as he heard the Fox-Monster-Thingamajig tell him why he was in the rather dingy bar. "So you're a Calian and a Ruf-Ru...Reh...A Roofie, got it." Daniel sipped at the drink in his hand...glove while gazing longingly at the brown mixture of sweet, heavenly pleasures the Fox had in his paw-hand. "How!? How are you not blackout drunk when just inhalin' that drinks aroma? HOW!?!" The bounty hunter asked with a truly befuddled expression.

After hearing his question, the bartender once again gazed disdainfully at Daniel. He was going to be doing that a lot.

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite laughed at the drunken man's pronunciation, and the question afterwards. His tails waved around almost uncontrollably, but enough of them were still wrapped around the stool that he didn't lose his balance. Before he replied, he knocked back half of the cocktail and grinned, "Well, I've never been called a Roofie before. I like it, though. I'm dangerous and I burn things. Good enough description."

After another sip, he chuckled again and continued, "My lack of apparent tipsiness is because of both my metabolism, and the fact that I'm probably subconsciously burning the alcohol out of my bloodstream. It takes a lot more than a bomb to set me drooling."

[member="Daniel Tresk"]

 

[Daniel Tresk]

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]

Daniel gazed warily at the fox-man-guy-thing, as he slightly expected him to spontaneously combust at any given second. However, his expression changed completely when he heard his response to his butchering of his species name. "Uh...you do know what a Roofie is...right?" He asked hesitantly. Then, Dan balked as he heard Malachite's explanation on his constant sobriety. "Subconsciously burning alcohol!? That doesn't even make karkin' sense ya' fethin' Roof-Thing!" Daniel told him with a lot of intensity.

And of course, the bartender pitifully gazed at Dan, which was becoming a recurring theme.