[PP-F26-PT] Alcohol is the solution

[Mari 1]

Why was she back here again?

The last time Mari had come here was with Atan - and it wasn't exactly a happy experience. But...it had definitely been one. As the woman entered the tavern - the NPC - a bearded man who looked to be in his late 30's greeted her with a warm smile. He gestured toward the empty seats in front of him at the bar. "Care for a drink miss?" It was almost jarring. If Mari were to close her eyes she could clearly envision him toppled over that very same bar - but it looked like nothing had happened.

The woman shrugged her shoulders and approached the bar, her finger absently tapping as she ordered a whiskey on the rocks. 

"Nothin' like a good strong drink to cheer up what ails ya." The man said with a toothy grin. Mari gave him a sideward glance as she picked up the drink and downed it almost immediately. She opened up her inventory and allowed a handful of col to rain down on the bar. "Just keep them coming." She said.

Mari was now nursing her second glass. The place was virtually empty. There had been a patron in it earlier but upon seeing her orange crystal - they had quickly left. 

"I really need to get Redemption done..." Mari muttered to herself

 

<<Assist System Engaged>> Level: 34 Paragon: 57 Tier: 4 True Tier: 10 Final EXP Reward: +0%

Mari | HP: 940/940 | EN: 128/128 | DMG: 21 | MIT:44 | ACC:5 | AA | EVA:4 | BH:52 | BLI: 32/-20 | ENV-O: 32 | PARA-V | LD:1

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

Entering the damn near piecemeal dive that would smell of booze and vomit, it wasn't exactly an endearing place. Every smell seemed so awfully pungent, and Raidou cannot help but look back the little paper from his pants pocket. Sporting his plain clothes, he was out running errands and didn't want the attention. The coordinates matched and he cannot help but shake his head in disbelief. He'd wander up to the bar and tap twice on its face, drawing the toothed NPC's attention who was nose deep in play flirting with a girl at the bar. They really were getting way too damn life like these days. Soon it would almost be impossible to tell the difference. The thought sends Raidou onto a trail of thought that leaves him silent, which is broken by a man in at a back table that starts yelling and squirrelling around in his seat before tipping it over backward, collapsing and falling asleep right there in a puddle of his own filth.

Rubbing his brow, he'd tap again on the counter twice with a clear of his throat.

"Devon, I take it." the man speaks louder to bring the bartender out of his dumb stupor. "Yep, what can I getcha." The sharp smell of wine on his breath was about as welcoming as wiping your ass with sand paper. Raidou cannot help but press the back of his hand against his nostrils. "Uh, Sake please." The barkeeper finally slides into the backroom, it wasn't something that he kept on the shelf given it wasn't as 'hard' as what was normally sold. He does however make a pass at the girl at the bar, making the nomad sit and start to rub his eyebrows. The subtly in here was in clean absence. Attempting to not be rude, he'd take in the orange topped hair and take a seat two stools down. Didn't have a damn clue who it was, as he'd sit and just wait patiently. "This place reeks."

---

<<Assist System Engaged>>
Level: 34
Paragon: 57
Tier: 4
True Tier: 16

Final EXP Reward: +5%

---

Event:
Removed (Temp) | Shift: TECH, Battle Healing R5, Howl, Fighting Spirit, Energist, Charge, Quick Change
SP available: 112 (75 used)

Taken | Shift: AOE, Resolute (10)

---

Raidou | HP: 900/900 | EN: 128/128 | DMG: 24 | MIT:212 | ACC:2 | AA  | F-SPIRIT | EVA:4 | VAMP-D: 99 | REC: 8 | LD:6

Spoiler

Name: Raidou, The Red Wanderer
True Tier: 16
Level: 34
Paragon Level: 57
HP: 945/945
EN: 128/128

Stats:
Damage: 29
Mitigation: 112
Accuracy: 5
Evasion: 6
Battle Healing: 52
Loot Die: 6
AA VAMP-D: 104 REC: 8

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Auric Sunlight - Finality of Faith [T4/Demonic/2HSS] +3 Damage, AA
Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - Vision of Wisdom - Whisper [T4/Demonic/Trinket] Evasion 1, Recovery 2, Accuracy 1

Combat Mastery:
  - Combat Mastery: Mitigation R3

Combat Shift:
  - TECH Shift

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - Ill Omen in Red

Skills:
  - Battle Healing R5
  - Charge
  - Cloth Armor R5
  - Energist
  - Fighting Spirit
  - Howl
  - Quick Change
  - Searching R5
  - Straight Sword R5

Extra Skills:
  - Survival
  - Parry
  - Forgotten King's Authority
  - Concentration
  - 
  - 
  - 

Inactive Extra Skills:
PhotosynthesizeBrawlerFrozen Hide
Addons:
  - Ferocity
  - Focused Howl
  - Nimble
  - Precision
  - Reveal
  - Stamina

Mods:
  - Athletics
  - Detect
  - Justified Riposte
  - Tracking
  - Vengeful Riposte

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Crippling Composition - Lullaby [Tierless/Rare/Debuff/Instant] Hypnosis 2 | [224055] x1
  - Ebon Star - Vanguard Revenant [T4/Demonic/Straight Sword]: V.O 2, Taunt, Blight 1 x1
  - Teleport Crystal x1
  - Vocal Augmentation - Resonation [Tierless/Perfect/Support/Instant] +15% HP [160898][161641][161642][162018][162529] x5

Housing Buffs:
  - Basic Kitchen: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30.
  - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot
  - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.
  - Attic (Storage): +5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests
  - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll
  - Guest Room: Players can have one «Amenity» in a «Guest Room» and the «Amenity» cannot be recovered. Players are allowed to change which «Amenity» is in the «Guest Room». Multiple instances of the same «Amenity» do not stack. This buff affects the player and their choice of up to two party members.
  - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat
  - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
  - Extended Workshop: +2 Crafting EXP per crafting attempt and +1 crafting attempt per day
  - Greenhouse: +2 Gathering EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to gathering attempts.
  - Dining Hall: Turn 3 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Feast. A Feast contains 6 portions of the food items sacrificed. Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread.
  - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post.

Guild Hall Buffs:
  - Trading Hall: Reduce LD needed for Salvage by 5 (10+ for Alchemist crystals, 6+ for everything else). +2 EXP per craft. Rank 9 crafters and Rank 4 merchants/performers receive +1 crafting/identification attempt per day. Rank 10 crafters and Rank 5 merchants/performers receive +2 crafting/identification attempts per day.
  - Treasury: +5% bonus col from last-hit monster kills and +10% bonus col from treasure chests.

Scents of the Wild Totem:
  - Kumatetsu
Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:
"                                                                                                                            

 

[Mari 1]

Rai??

Mari blinked at him. The man barely gave her a second glance - did he not...recognize her? Maybe it was because he seemed to be without his glasses. Mari snorted. This could be fun. Th woman opened up her inventory, and pulled out a pair of his glasses- one of the broken sets she had managed to pilfer over the years of constantly breaking them. She slipped them on - they were without their lenses. But still, it would get her point across.

Mari's hair had grown, and she quickly pulled it up into a high ponytail. Finally, Mari re-positioned herself to be a little more comfortable, leaning forward. He was right. This place did stink. But she didn't have a lot of safe drinking options. Home? Maybe - no....that was too close to her workshop. Mari would end up going there and spending the night working on some sort of experiment.

"Yeah..." Mari mused - fidgeting with the ice in her drink, using her index finger to bang it against the side of her glass. "It does. But oh woe...." She said, exasperated. "What pittance of a place would accept such as I?" Mari added with a dramatic flair.

 "Aye Miss. Yer a site for sore eyes." Mari frowned at the bartender - she didn't need him making a pass at her. I watched you die, you jackass. Still - if it meant she would be able to procure another drink, she would. 

"Would those sore eyes offer a lonely miss another drink?" Mari asked as she picked up her empty glass and waved it expectantly. "I'll have sake too, oh and me a dear and warm it up for me? It's awfully cold."

Did that get his attention? Mari shifted her eyes to Raidou. Still nothing?

"Shouldn't you wear your glassses?" Mari asked.

[Raidou 1]

The man sat in silence before the woman at on his immediate right would start to really lay it on thick, as she began to use her finger as a stirring rod. The bartender was practically drooling all over himself like straight out of a cartoon. Soon his eyes would bust out of his head and stretch 2 feet from his skull, Raidou couldn't help but imagine the image. Tapping his fingers a little hastily across the bar, the clear lack of service was a little irritating. Shoving his face into his hand, he was trying to both not yell at the idiot or bust out laughing. This is shit was absolutely so corny it was almost staged. "Shouldn't you wear your glasses?" The voice seemed aimed at him, but the turn of phrase set a spark up his spine. A spin on that stool of his found him face to face with a ponytail and a pair of unconvincing frames with clearly no glass in them. "One, Hell no. Two Mari...." He caught his own voice as he was speaking at full volume. He'd lean forward and cup his hand over his mouth like a shield. "Mari, aren't you a little.... You know what... Forget it." he turned on the stool with his decision to just nope the fuck out of this situation before it got wacky again, and before he can stand the bartender would finally place the little white bottle down.

Raidou cannot help but sigh, smacking his hand against his face and dragging it down as slow as it could. "Fuck it, we're here now. But if you start giving him tongue I'm leaving." Looking down the bottle with one eye shut, the damn thing was ice cold and he turns over to see Mari's nice and steaming. Yep, worthless service.

[Mari 1]

"Excuse fucking me?" Mari asked. Giving....the bartender what now? Oh hell no. Mari had standards, and they were absolutely fucking cosmic compared to the bartender. Mari picked up her sake - nice and warm, and shifted two sets over to sit right next to Raidou. "There's only one of me. Lord knows Aincrad only needs the one." Mari muttered as she took a small sip from her serving of alcohol. She made sure to do so slowly, enjoying it. Warm Sake was rare for her after all.

Mari signaled the bartender, and tapped in front of Raidou. "His is cold. Be a dear and fetch him a warm serving." The bartender nodded and practically fell over himself to appease Mari. Right. Now that was settled...Mari turned her attention fully to Raidou now.

Mari, aren't you a little.... You know what... Forget it

"Hmm? A little?" She blinked. What was he on about. "Raidou..." Mari leaned in closer to the man, reaching a palm out to place on his forehead. "Are you....drunk?" She wasn't sure she had ever seen him so emotive before. It was almost amusing, watching him practically spin out of his chair - and attempt to leave. Only to give up with a defeated sigh.

"Yanno,  I was hoping to catch up with you at some point." Mari mused as she picked up her small sake cup - finishing off what was inside before pouring herself a second. "Never thought I'd see you in a dive like this though." Mari snorted, trying not to laugh as she watched his eyes frantically shift from her alcohol to his own, then back to hers. Mari deftly poured him a glass from her hot sake. Lest he walllow in the misery of his cold batch.

"I bet if you fluttered those big blue eyes at the man, you'd get better service yourself."

Edited 2 hours ago by Mari

[Raidou 1]

"No i'm not" the sentence breaks off and he cannot help but squint at her in disbelief at the statement. "Drunk." The man raises a hand, he'd push his hands out in front of him and watch as his sake had taken to a pair of hideous legs and walked itself to the back room. "Ok." He'd put his hands up near their view, basically trying to possibly narrow the perceptions of an inebriated woman wearing empty lens glasses that she stole while hitting on a man in a bar with cheesy hamming to pull free drinks or worse hitting on the lumpy sack of clay. "Mari, someone told me to pull the stick out of my butt and relax. I think they might have had orange hair." Without even concerning himself with it, he takes her bottle and pours it into his own cup before shooting it. "What I was going to say is aren't you a little past this? But its not really any of my business. So instead I'm going to sit here and get try and get drunk, as long as I get to keep it while you make goo goo eyes at potato face in the back room."

Two down, Raidou would wince as the alcohol would hit hard, the keeper finally returns with his actually heated this time. "So shoot." He'd clack the cup to the countertop. "I've been to far worse, I've been on fire for 3 days before. God damn cerberus." He'd take in those mischievous blues of hers, always rounding on getting herself into trouble and trying to keep her nose out of trouble. It was the oddest thing, and Raidou half expected some guard to pop in here and start regurgitating a mantra at her for stealing a bagel. "And frankly my dear, I don't have the right assets to be getting free anything."

[Mari 1]

Mari shrugged when Raidou told her he was sober. "Coulda fooled me." She mused, nursing her drink. "Then again..." She glanced at him. "You have quite a few ticks up your sleeve, huh?" It was an observation. Mari had always seen Raidou as someone to not be feared - a simple man with simple desires that usually revolved around picking up various herbs. But - it seemed he had made a name for himself, enough for Baldur to have shown concern when his name was mentioned. 

Then, Raidou told her he needed to pull the stick out of his butt and relax - And Mari couldn't help but honestly laugh at that. That sounds like something she would have told him. "You're not wrong."

Then, Raidou made comment on her jokes toward the bartender. Any jovial feelings Mari was having in that moment sunk, and were replaced with nausea. "You...thought I was actually.... flirting with that npc?" Mari sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. Of all the absolutely insane things... "I'd rather shove a bottle through his throat than even entertain the thought. Holy hell Raidou....I was just tryna get a rise outta you." She slammed her petite cup down on the bar. "You didn't recognize me at first, so I thought I'd ham it up to get your attention. Nothing more. Nothing less I- Seriously?" Mari asked again. She couldn't believe it. 

"Do you... not think I have standards? Jesus fucking Christ Raidou. I have them. And to start- they need to be fucking human. Not some pile of zeroes and ones."

Mari shook her head, exasperated. So much so that she slammed it into the bar- "Fucking hell..." She muttered.

"I am not drunk enough to deal with that. Fuck..."

[Raidou 1]

"Well it worked and now I feel like an asshole." The man leans forward and lays on his own arm as the truth just slides out. Raidou knew that he was always misunderstood when it came to Mari. The best intentions always came across poorly. The bartender just floated round right in front of them like an imbecile, clearly not picking up on a single social queue. "Dude could you leave? I can feel your eyes." The bartender finally takes a hint and grabs a white rag and moves away. He'd look to Mari almost pleading. "If I get so under the table he starts hitting on me, for the love of god get me the hell out of here." It would be at this point he'd look down below the stool and see the pool of vomit that had since dried. The thought comes to mind as he lifts his feet up the rung, expecting to have to burn these. Why the hell was he here again? He had completely forgot and frankly he wasn't going to spend the energy to even attempt to remember.

The guy reaches for his bottle of sake and pours himself a third cup as he'd lift himself up and pound it, putting his head into his left palm as he'd lean on his elbow on the countertop. He was contemplating just eating the cup, turning it in his index and thumb. It would probably be much easier, and at least it would pass.

[Mari 1]

"- I feel like an asshole."

"You are." Mari commented, her eyes shifting from the bartender to Raidou then back to the bartender. "But I'd prefer an honest asshole over fake niceties." As the bartender shifted away Mari slowly...slowly...slowly reached over the bar - as though the slower she moved the less noticeable her actions. She held a finger up to her mouth to signal Raidou to be quiet. Then...

Yoink

She got a warning in the top corner of her HUD - stating she had stolen something, but Mari had taken far more than that from here in the past. "How about we get the hell outta here now?" Mari asked as she tugged on Raidou's sleeve, coaxing him to follow her. Not that he'd have a choice. The woman was practically dragging him behind her. Mari didn't even get a chance to see what she stole. She just wanted out of there. The whole idea of Raidou thinking she was flirting with the bartender made her want to get as far away from there as possible. "There are better places to drink. Like. Literally, anywhere is better." Mari chided as she pulled Raidou out of the bar and down the street.

Mari didn't know her way too well in the city- so simply opted to climb to a high place - a conveniently placed ladder  lead them upwards - till they were now both standing on a rooftop that overlooked the street below. The air was warm, and the sun had just dipped below the horizon - painting the sky in shades of gold and orange. Better yet - the air was cleaner. "Better." Mari said with a nod. "Now...." She glanced down at the bottle of alcohol she had pilfered from the bar.  Green Chartreuse. A french liquor.

"Mmmm.....Not sure I've had this before." Mari pushed it into Raidou's hands. "Here. Ya not gonna...arrest me for that, are ya?" She asked with a cheeky grin.

"I mean - you could but then you'd be stuck reading to me again. I might accidentally break another pair of glasses."

Mari only had about 3 drinks, and it wasn't quite enough to get her tipsy, let alone wasted. Mari took a deep breath and spun on the foot of her heel before leaning over the wall. Watching as players and NPcs alike walked the streets below.

"Yanno, I do get real lonely." Mari mused to herself. "But ya gotta shoot me if I get desperate enough to start flirtin' with NPCs for real, k?"

 

[Raidou 1]

Following along with the girls devious plan, he'd find himself whisked away far away from the damn gremlin that was eye banging everything with legs. Down the busy streets and through an alleyway that led straight to a ladder that would lead straight to rooftop. The sun played upon the brass city in a defiant glare, casting the whole thing in a brilliant bronze shine in a mix of orange. Mari would be staring down at her pilfered bottle, as the man would take a space on the rooftop, a panel sliding of the top and you can hear someone yell from the street below. "Oops." he'd quip but slide back from the edge to avoid being spotted just incase he just beaned someone with a shingle. The man inhales sharply, holding it before exhaling heavily. "Better. So much better."

"Here. Ya not gonna...arrest me for that, are ya?"

He'd look up to her over his left shoulder, offering her a raised eyebrow "I don't arrest people Mari. I'm not a member of Aincrad Pompous Dicks." making the complacent statement and the honesty was obvious, without even giving it a second thought. Only managing to catch the green bottle and stare at its label. "Huh, neither have I." Grabbing the cork, he'd twist and it would offer a heavy *thunk* as it would pop free. "That was actually what I was trying to do." He'd take a swig of it leaning it high up, the liquor was quite fragrant and refreshing. A taste that almost catches him off guard with a bit of surprise in his orange eyes as they widen. He'd pass the bottle up to her. "I get it, sorta. I doubt it was the same. But I was lonely too." He remarks leaning on on his right knee, looking off into the horizon.

[Mari 1]

Mari snorted, then laughed aloud at the mention of Aincrad Pompous Dicks. He had a point, practically everyone she had ever met who had associated themselves with the APD had their head so far up their ass they could taste their own shit. Mari turned and sat with her back against the wall. It meant she couldn't people watch anymore, but she didn't mind. The overly bright glare from some of the brass was getting to her. Looking up at the sky was much nicer.

Gods how she missed the sky. She missed being able to just sit...and listen, listen to life. The players arguing below, to the sounds of a horse drawn carriage, to the chimes of machinery, and the hiss of steam. Everything...just felt so alive in a city. Something Mari hadn't ever really realized she missed till she started frequenting this one more often.

Mari reached for the liquor, then sniffed it - she couldn't quite pick what it was supposed to taste like from smell alone so took two large gulps. It was....pleasant. Not exactly what she expected, it tasted almost herby - but sweet. With hints of honey. Mari swished it around in her mouth and checked the side of the bottle. 110% proof. oof this stuff was deceptively strong. Mari took another large swig from it before handing the bottle back to Raidou.

Normally, she'd offer a snide remark, something about how he'd not understand - but that was in the past. That was a Mari who was too busy pushing everyone away. Too busy wallowing in her own guilt ridden shit.

"Was?" Mari asked, tilting her head to glance up at him. "So you're not anymore?" There was a pause there. Shouldn't she say somethign comforting here? 

"That's good." Mari said. "ITs good to not be alone." 

Mari snorted. "Yanno.... I don't think we've ever actually sat and talked like this before. I always had something more to say. I was insufferable." 

[Raidou 1]

Mari seemed to like the statement but the irony was it wasn't really intended to be a joke, he'd met three of them and each one of them were completely dirty. They'd pick and choose who to engage with, and they couldn't keep a single fact straight. Completely incapable ass wipes sitting on a high horse built on lies. Raidou couldn't help but lean closer to the edge of the roof, watching bright tops of hair wandered up and down completely unaware of them both. The duo was completely invisible these two stories up. 

"So you're not anymore?"

"Nope." He'd quip taking the bottle from her and downing another sip. "Long story short, someone saw me suffering and decided to invade my personal space until I stopped being lonely. She drove me absolutely nuts." he'd remark without turning, finding the sunset an accurate stage for his memories to be replayed. The man would stare on for miles beyond the light, the good old thousand mile gaze.

"Yanno.... I don't think we've ever actually sat and talked like this before. I always had something more to say. I was insufferable."

"We haven't, its probably the glasses you have in your pocket. You had a lot to get off your chest, that I understood. I was ok being the lightning rod." The man offered the statement off the cuff, starting to actually taste the light warmth in his face at this point now that he was really laying it on hard. That little dote tablet in his mouth that he'd forgot to take out was already long dead and widdled away. The dude would look down at his boots, that were still absolutely disgusting. He'd start to untie them and pulls one off, debating casting one off over the side.