[Saturday, October 25th. 2 PM] [Christian, somewhat restless after his discussion with Horus some hours ago, is finishing up a training session at the Rampart base. Both Sister Admin and Solaris are around, doing their usual things in the main room.] [Mini start] * Christian cracks his knuckles as he walks out. Thank god the training room doesn't need masks because it's not really his style anyhow. So he's not got it on. He walks out casually, stretching his arms above his head as he goes and checking around, making a face. "Man, you guys are always here, ain't ya?" [Solaris looks back, grinning wearily. "Always something going on."] * Christian breathes out. "I hear ya." He looks around. "Hey. Where's the big guy, anyway? He always out on the field?" [Sister Admin nods. "As our last remaining super heavyweight, we've got him out on call almost 24/7. He just finished up at Madame Tussauds's... someone brought all the wax figures to life, and apparently John F. Kennedy had a chainsaw for some reason."] I don't think I wanna know. I failed fuckin' history anyway. [As if on cue, Eternal Warrior walks through the door from one of the teleportation room, grinning and covered in wax. "Another great victory! FOR ODIN!" He notices Christian, then walks over and claps him on the back, hard enough to feel it but not hard enough to do HP damage. "Young warrior! How fare you today?"] * Christian looks up at EW and sighs. "You *know* I hate it when you call me that." ["Well, when you get older I'll call you 'old warrior."] * Christian gives Solaris a bit of a "Does he *ever* get a clue?" expression over EW's shoulder and then just turns to look at him. "Yeah...right. Actually..." He pauses for a moment, as if considering something, then shakes his head, starting to walk. "Nah. Forget it..." ["Besides, when you've lived as long as I have, all are young. Even Solaris." Solaris bounces a balled-up piece of paper off his head for that.] [EW grins again. "Come now, Christian, do not be so glum! If you have need of the ancient and questionable wisdom of the Eternal Warrior, I stand ready to aid!"] Y'know. It's things like *that* that worry me. * Christian turns around and smirks. "Fine. Y'know any good place to chat?" [EW sidles up to Christian, and drops his voice. "I know several. Which we choose depends on how well you can hold your drink."] * Christian snorts and looks up at Eternal Warrior. "Y'know, for heroes of truth and justice and all that crap, you sure are pretty damned lax about buyin' a nineteen year old kid booze. Not that I'm complainin', but hell." ["Bah, in my day a boy became a warrior as soon as he could swing an axe and swig a mead."] We ain't *in* your day, Greek Tra--uh, where the hell *is* Odin from again anyway? [EW raises an eyebrow. "Odin is the King of the Norse gods."] Right. Right. * Christian rubs his head slightly. "Fuck it. Wherever the hell you think we should go." [EW grins again. "Then follow me." He calls out to Solaris and SA. "Contact me if I am needed!"] [Solaris nods back. "Whatever you do, Christian, don't let him sucker you into any sort of drinking game. I'm convinced that mastery of those was one of the boons he got."] [EW barks out a laugh. "No, fair Solaris, those skills were won only through centuries of hard, rigorous training!" And he heads out, dragging Christian along.] * Christian follows along, sparing a quick glance at Solaris. Man, adults are easy around here. [A teleport and a short walk later, EW and Christian find themselves in an alleyway in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. EW opens an outer door and walks in; as Christian follows, he sees a minotaur sitting in a chair next to an inner door.] * Christian makes his way in, looking around a bit. Well with the minotaur it's doubtful they'd be looking at either of them funny, but hey [The minotaur snorts as the two approach, but nods regardless, and the door opens next to him.] [Inside is a clean, if somewhat spartan bar, mostly empty. A group of three large, tanned men in Roman garb sit at a table, while a large, multicolored bird sits at the end of the bar.] [Behind the bar stands a bearded man, wearing a white toga and laurels, sipping a glass of wine. "Sigurd! And friend, I see."] [EW nods, taking a seat at the bar and turning to Christian. "Meet the best bartender this world has ever seen. I give you Dionysus, Greek God of drink."] [Dionysus grins. "And the theater. Everyone forgets the theater." He looks at Christian. "What'll it be?"] * Christian rubs his head. "Yeah. Whatever. Whiskey sour." [Instantly, a whiskey sour appears before Christian, alongside a large tankard of mead that's obviously intended for EW. "Let me know when you want refills. Quetzecoatl's been feeling lonely since he and Venus broke up, so I'm gonna see if I can cheer him up." And he walks towards the bird at the end of the bar.] This ain't exactly what I had in mind. [EW shrugs. "It's private, there's good liquor, and it's quiet unless the Romans start fighting. What did you have in mind?"] Well, yeah I suppose it's private. But...a place without people. Plus...well, Jesus christ, it ain't like I'm used to dealin' with gods directly. Avatars maybe but. Whatever the hell. Fuckin' head'll explode later. Got a good place in this joint to sit down at? [EW takes a swig of his mead, then picks it up and walks over to a booth.] * Christian heads over too, taking a hit of his shot as he goes. He slides into the booth. Then gets a bit quiet as he seems to be considering. [That's the best damn whiskey sour Christian's ever had. It's pretty much the best damn drink he's ever had.] * Christian coughs slightly as he takes the drink. "Wow. Whatever the hell he puts in this is fuckin' fantastic." [EW grins. "That is why I brought you here. You seemed as if you could use a good drink."] Yeah. Whatever. * Christian takes a sip of the drink. "Chicks, man. Don't know what the hell to do with 'em." [EW 'aah's. "Man's oldest problem." He motions for Christian to go on as he takes another swig.] * Christian points at EW, pre-emptively. "And before you start, I *didn't* screw that up. That Ugg's a moron. I don't care what his fuckin' degree says." [EW tilts his head. "... I have no idea what you are talking about."] * Christian blinks slightly, then bites his tongue. Not literally but still. "Right. Course you don't." ["Between patrols and... other recent matters, not much else has caught my notice."] * Christian hehs. "Yeah, I never got that. You had a fuckin' blowout, man." What gives? ["Hmm?"] * Christian takes a sip and looks at Eternal Warrior. "The fuckin' Mizuki thing. I mean we *all* took it hard, sure, but..." [EW blinks, then nods. "Mizuki's death... we had grown... no, we had begun to grow close in the days prior."] * Christian hehs again. "Never really thought her the type. I thought priestesses were all chaste and pure and junk." [EW's eyes narrow, and he leans forward over the table. "She was that. And much more."] * Christian points with his finger. "And *you*. No offense, but you got the game of a book nerd in a rap contest." * Christian sighs and holds onto his drink. "Look. I liked the priestess well enough. Hell, I thought she was pretty fuckin' awesome with that staff and all. I jus' never thought of either of you as the type." [EW shrugs, and leans back. "We were both from another time. We both remebered fondly certain aspects of the old ways."] So, what you're sayin' is you're both old farts who liked bullshittin' about times that no body else seems to give a flyin' fuck about. * Christian takes another drink and then calls for a refresher. [EW's face darkens as another drink appears in front of Christian, and anger creeps into his voice. "Boy. I care not for myself, but you *will* speak of her with more respect."] * Christian eyes him carefully. "Goddamn, you do get pissed when she gets brought up. Are you even fuckin' listenin' to me, old man? Who the fuck else do you think went to her rescue when she was all by herself trapped with Metal Nazi? It sure as fuckin' hell wasn't Miss Prim And Proper Scientist Chick." ["Hyde was there as well. And your actions, however noble in purpose, do not excuse disrespect for the dead."] * Christian slams his hands on the table. "*What* fuckin' disrespect are you talking about? Goddamn it. If you're gonna get pissed off at this, what the hell is the point?" Okay, so Hyde was there. Still, you think you're so goddamned noble? You...goddamn, you're all the same. Bitchin' about the little things while the world is going to shit. [EW's eyes flash for a moment... then he slumps back in the booth wearily. "You are right, of course. I brought you here to listen to your problems, not have you listen to mine. My apologies. It... the wound is still raw."] * Christian folds his arms. "Look, I didn't love her, but you think it wasn't hard for me too? I'm *still* tryin' to figure out this whole Abby thing. Fuckin' thing just doesn't make any sense..." ["I do not completely understand it either, but at the end... we lost one comrade, but another survived. Abby was always there with Mizuki, even if we couldn't see her."] * Christian lets out the breath slowly and deflates a little bit of the tension. "Well at least I'm not the only one..." * Christian settles back into the chair and sits back down, taking his drink in hand and downing it in one go. "Dammit, man, I don't know... I mean...she says she's the same person and all but it doesn't feel the same. Guess we'll just have to see..." He sets the glass down hard on the table. * Christian rubs his head slightly. "Musta been all the same way when people heard Horus was back in town and then found out it wasn't "Horus."" He airquotes that one. ["I did not share the same bond with Abby as was in the process of forming with Mizuki, but she is a worthy comrade regardless." He nods. "It was something of a surprise, when I first met our Horus."] Well fuck man. I didn't even really get it. I mean all I'd heard was stories. And bam, there's Horus in the flesh. * Christian hehs. "Never was a fanboy or anything though. I could give a rat's ass about what the rest of the heroes did. Especially now, we're all doing our part. [EW's eyes narrow again momentarily, but it fades as he finishes his tankard of mead, which is almost immediately refilled. "You group has indeed done fine work these past weeks."] * Christian shakes his head. "Yeah. I ain't sure it's enough but...hell. We still ain't any closer to stopping those stupid Axe creeps or the guys who are offing heroes. It don't mean nothin' if we don't stop that." ["Right now, our job is simply to hold things stable on the streets until Solaris and Sister Admin and Druish Princess can discover what it is that Master Magus is after. Once we know that, we will have our path to victory."] Why can't we just pulverise the asshole anyway? He got some kind of protective forcefield or something? [EW scowls. "He is an enormously powerful magi. When I fought him two years ago, and thought I had killed him... it took hours of fighting before I eventually eliminated all of his protectors, pierced his defenses, and triumphed."] Yeah. So we've got to figure out a way to make him stay dead then. ["Last time, I bisected him at the waist. My mistake was in not going vertically."] * Christian thinks about that for a moment. "...nah. I rather think he's at least a bit less gross this way." [EW chuckles, then falls silent for a moment. "There was something else you wanted to talk about?"] Eh? ["You mentioned women problems."] * Christian looks up a bit. Then hehs again. "Well, the Mizuki thing was on my mind a bit." He then barks out a laugh. "Hell, it ain't really a *problem* really. 'Cept that Myspace bitch. But that's past history." [EW works on his mead, letting Christian continue.] * Christian grins a little at EW. "Jus' lookin' for better spots to be a Mask in. I ain't runnin' into no damned papparazzi this time. Noooot that I think you'd know any, old man." * Christian punctuates the last with a bigger smirk and drinks to that. [EW looks simultaneously amused and offended. "What neighborhood, how fancy, how private?"] Private as it can be. Don't think neighborhood matters much and hell, as fancy as what you guys are payin' us can afford. Jus' lookin' for options, man. Haven't settled on anything yet. [EW pulls a pen from one of his pockets, and scribbles a few names and addresses on a napkin. "All of these are places where our kind are respected."] * Christian looks it over for a moment, then pockets it and sighs. "All this would be a helluva lot easier if we didn't need the damn masks. But hell, who am I to complain?" * Christian stands up slowly and downs the rest of his drink. "Thanks for showing me this place. Look, I know I didn't come off well, but if you ever wanna talk about Mizuki...bet I'd be a helluva lot better than Hyde." [EW snorts. "I have as little contact with Hyde as possible. She has been trying to kill me for decades over something that is not even my fault."] * Christian waves his hand slightly. "Like you need to tell *me* that Hyde's got a screwed up version of reality. Fuckin' chick's got more screws loose than a 20-foot killer robot tightened by circus midgets." ["You are wise beyond your years."] * Christian looks at Eternal Warrior for a second and then barks out a laugh. "Yeah. Right. Whatever you say, old man." He smiles and puts his hands in his pockets. "Catch ya later. Don't kill yourself killin' bad guys." * Christian heads out. [EW watches Christian leave, shakes his head, then gets up and walks over to Quetzacoatl, putting an arm around the bird god. "Come, Dionysus, a mead for the lord of the Aztecs."] [Mini End]