2019.04.10:Game of Groans

2019.04.10: Game of Groans
Marshall and Cody discuss a personal loss at the Lounge of the House of Keys.
IC Date	April 10, 2019
IC Time	Evening
Players	Marshall,Cody, Teagan, River, Lilian
Location	House of Keys
Spheres	Mage

House of Keys - Lounge

Cody wanders into the lounge, glancing about. Looking like he hasn't slept.

Marshall is seated on one of the couches apparently looking through one of his infamous lists. The lad is wearing a white, button-down shirt, blue tie and khaki slacks but...*gasp* his shoes are off and his feet are up on the couch with his knees bent to support the clipboard. "Hey..." he calls up to Cody and offers the man as he pulls his glasses from his face to clean them.

"Are you ok?" he asks after getting his eyes back on. Cody grunts, "I've been better. Mei is no longer with me." he says softly.

Marshall blinks and tries to put the woman's name with her face. "Oh dude..." he consoles and puts the clip board down on the side table and pulls his feet from the couch. "You ok?"

Cody shrugs a bit "I'll survive." He says softly, not any of hte warmth his voice usually has. "She couldn't handle all the time I am doing my duties and walking between the villages I serve." he shakes his head " We got booze here?"

Marshall hops up and off the couch and wanders to one of the cabinets by the kitchennete. He grabs two small glasses and a bottle of expensive whiskey and tells Cody to have a seat on the couch. "I never did ask but she was your Acolyte, right?" The lad plucks out three ice cubes - small and around and places them in each of the two cups before walking to join his friend.

Cody nods his head " Yeah, she was a psychic, was gifted with telepathy. Skilled in hand to hand. Though her studies into what I do...she was a C student." he says and flops down onto the couch. "Sorry man, don't mean to be a bother. Just sorta lost my center, ya know?"

Marshall offers one of the glasses of whiskey to Cody and slides into a seat at the opposite corner of the couch, folding one of his legs under him. "Ain't no bother bud. I mean...I don't know you that well and the same could be said of me - but we're in this together, right?" He holds his glass out to the man to clink together in a toast and tries to make a joke.

"I mean...I -did- see you naked...but that's sort of like what you'd wear to the ritual, right?" He smiles warmly, "...formal ritual attire for you?"

Cody half smiles and clinks the glass. "Depends, amongst some Verbena covens yes, some of the younger ones would scoff at being sky clad." he murmurs looking into the glass as if it had all the answers. "You are doing great things here, Things that normally would take an experienced and powerful mage would do. You've earned my respect due to that. I had thought to try to make a verbenic coven, but never found the right group."

Marshall asks, taking a slow and careful sip of the whiskey. One eye partially closes and he winces at the burn but swallows quickly enough to keep it down. He clearly doesn't have lots of experience with drinking. "Do you believe in past lives?" He shakes his head and continues without even waiting for an answer. "Ok, bad question. I'm not sure if it's just like memories or echoes or something from my avatar but I think I've done this before. I mean...not here, or anything just...the whole act of bringing people together, helping them - looking out for them," he raises the glass in salute to his bud, "...just seems natural to me."

The lad blushes a bit at the compliment but maybe that's just the whiskey doing its job. "Thanks - I appreciate that. And don't think I forgot your words at that first meeting I went to. You -really- helped me then."

Cody offers a smile, this time genuine. "Verbena tend to be fairly blunt and to the point. I've seen many mages, Ive seen awakenings and been in hte presence of masters throughout my life. I try to pay attention to both and learn what I can from them. Everyone has a lesson to impart. Hermetics are fairly degrading to their apprentices, they break you down and rebuild you up it seems. It's social darwinism. Verbena, we generally put our apprentices through a series of trials by ordeal, ranging from simple to life and death situations. Usually the faiilures don't die." he muses. "Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I stayed home, followed my parents will and marry a Verbenic witch I never met because of her bloodline and politics." he muses softly.

"Kinda dull?" Marshall offers in answer. He tries to smile through the description of the Hermetic instruction but Cody has it right on the mark. It's a grind - wearing the metal down until it can be forged a new. As a good little apprentice, Marshall isn't about to start naming names and telling tales but he's not not going to disagree with Cody either.

"Besides...if you didn't then you'd never meet me...or help us discover this place. Talk about a confluence of fate and chance."

Cody nods his head " Now you sound like my little sister." he takes a drink of the whiskey. "They might come looking for me. I used to travel enough so that they could never anticipate where I'd pop up. I'm the eldest, so eventually the Covington circle will be mine to lead. Though my father will respect power just like any predator. Before I ran away we tried to kill eachother. He almost killed me, I was young and dumb. My little brother on the other hand, he's a power hungry little shit, he was a passable force and prime. My sister was peacekeeper, as are most middle children, she's a fate and time witch. " He just sorta talks without any real point. Anything to take his mind off of what he is dealing with at the moment.

Teagan steps into the lounge, a little surprised to find it's already occupied, and gives Marshall and Cody a wave. "Did I hear something about little sisters? We're definitely underappreciated." She smiles as she puts her bag down on the floor, getting a kettle of tea ready. After it boils she pours herself a nice big cup of oolong and takes a seat in the middle of the couch, crossing her legs. Tying her hair up she acknowledges the whiskey and grows a little concerned. "So, what's up?" Her tone is a little reluctant, but her curiosity is genuine.

"Middle Child Syndrome..." Marshall snickers and takes another sip of the whiskey. His face contorts as the fire burns its way down his throat and he has to try and understand why people do this. "Yeah...I'm right in the middle myself. All boys, but I'm the only one that...uh...yeah..." he takes another sip to cover the thoughts-to-words that almost escaped his lips. Burn.

"Let's not go down -that- particular road just yet." he mutters with a smile and glances up to the door as Teagan walks in. "We're enacting that ancient ritual of the consoling drink. All we need now is a karaoke machine and a red-head story. Care to join us?"

Cody snorts " You don't want me singing. I suck at that." he says softly He glances to Teagan, raises his glass in her direction. He looks like he hasn't slept or anything, he tries to fake being warm but fails miserably. His eyes betray sadness.

"You guys don't look drunk enough for karaoke." Teagan snorts, and takes a sip of her tea. "You know, I used to dye my hair red, I felt like a real rebel at the time. My parents are -super- Christian so my options were a little limited." She adjusts her position the on couch a little, getting more comfortable and gestures to her hair. "It just kinda does its own thing now, it was a whole ordeal as I awakened. And don't even get me started on my eyes." With a sigh she takes one more sip of her tea and gives Lilian a smile as she enters.

Hearing that Teagan was a red-head brings a smile to Marshall's eyes and he reaches to his neck to loosen the tie a little. Why is he wearing a shirt, tie and khaki's? Well...that's what some would consider his jeans and t-shirt look. The fact that his shoes are off and tucked neatly out of the way by the couch reveals just how comfortable he's gotten within this strange building. "Well...if it comes to Karoke I'm sure that we'll -all- be there for ya bud," he smiles to Teagan as if he were hinting very strongly that he'd like her support for this.

"Besides...-no- one sings good at Karaoke. that's the point."

Lilian comes in and looks about then hmms, as she notices the two on the couch drinking and how Cody is looking then looks to Teagan with a smile, "Evening, interesting tea party." then on the whole Karoke thing, "I love Karoke, it is so fun and a few places in china town still have it."

Cody raises his glass in Lilian's direction by way of greeting, "hey Lilian." he greets with none of the warmth his voice normally has. "More like playing with fire, I actually learned to breath fire as a result of a bonfire and drinking. That's what happens when you hang out with a bunch of ren faire performers after hours. " he murmurs.

Seeing Marshall shoe-less Teagan decides that it's probably best not to get the couch dirty, and takes off her sneakers as well, throwing them somewhere out of sight. "Oh, trust me, red is a bad look for me." She returns Marshall's smile. "I used to dye to get rid of all these white hairs, but I think I'm sort of coming along to it being a bit of a fashion statement." Another sip of tea. "Hey, if you have the funds for a Karaoke machine don't let us hold you back. Besides, I'd -totally- slay Fireflies, you know the Owl City song?"

Responding to Lilian, Teagan raises her obscenely large teacup. "The water should still be warm if you want-" Moving her hand so quickly caused some of the tea to spill over her. "Shit!" she grunts, and tries to get some of it out of her clothes. Recollecting herself, she adds to Lilian. "Just help yourself."

"Hey Lilian...or Lil...do people call you Lil?" Marshall holds his still mostly full glass of ice spheres and whiskey and raises it to her in greeting. "Come on in and have a seat. We're all just loafing here for a bit. I say we leave off exploration, cleaning and all that for tonight." He hrms to himself and offers, "...nah...tonight we got other priorities." He looks to Cody and then to Teagan and takes a sip. Still burns. Why do people do this?

Lilian says, "Thank you and rinse or dab with some cold water on the material to release the stain, a little dawn on it before washing will remove the tea too. Easy way and cheaper then all those stain stick things." as she moves to make her self some tea, then to Cody with a smile "So the question on the fire breathing which sounds way cool, learn the right way or the hard way Cody?" then to Marshall, "Lil, lilian, lily, been called them all since I took the name ten years ago."

Cody shrugs lightly and takes a solid drink, he doesn't even really wince. "Spit water for a couple of months before they'd let me use parafin oil. Fuel burps are the worst." he muses softly " Though it does tend to get attention and sometimes pretty good tips when I'm bartending." he says softly, never having really discussed his mundane boring job. "Though I don't do that much anymore, Now I am the hospitality manager for Lucky Strike Falls Resort and the Devil's Brew Pub." He runs his finger on the edge of the mostly gone whiskey. He sighs softly. "I had half a mind to try to throw my weight around a bit and see if whatever it is that growls trie to eat me or something." he admits softly, a slight bit of shame in his voice at the admitting.

"If you're breathing fire, then I certainly -hope- that you're garnering some attention." Teagan responds to Cody enthusiastically. Moving her attention back over to Lilian as she mentions that last bit about taking on the name ten years ago, Teagan decides it's probably best not to prod. She gives her a smile in return for the advice, and looks down at the stain. "Right. I will keep that in mind."

Teagan looks back at Marshall, and ponders something for a moment before speaking up. "Are you, old enough to drink, Marshall? I mean, not to say that you shouldn't, I'm just curious." She takes another sip of tea in anticipation for his response, eyes curiously peeking over the edge of the cup at Marshall.

"Yeah, let's not meet fluffy tonight, ok?" Marshall offers and rises from the couch to grab Cody's glass and walk back to the small bar by the kitchenette to get him a refill. "I mean...I'll just make a note, Teagan will try and hug it, Lil...well, I can't really say what she'd do and you'd try to ride the damn thing. So how about we skip that episode of the Game of Grones and move on. Shall we?"

Once he's refilled the guy's glass he walks back over, slides it into his hand and completes the cicular path to find himself back into his corner of the couch once more. "Uh...kinda..." he answers Teagan - having not added any to his own glass. Clearly the lad isn't a seasoned alcoholic but he's at least trying to keep Cody company on his path to passing out.

Lilian finishes making her tea, "Been there before, it passes in time. Highs and lows, you live long enough you see them both. I will admit when the first high after a low comes I swear it is sweeter as well most the time you are not looking for it, and bam it hit up side the head, stopping you in your tracks." as she sips her tea and moves to a seat not far from the boys. "So did you have more fun bartending, or now as a manager?" then a hmm, "With your luck now the growling thing will lick you sopping wet then follow you about like a puppy." then to Teagan, "He will learn from the morning or learn how to use life to offset the hangover, if he can focus."

Cody frowns a bit "old enough to hold a glass, old enough to drink. Why restrict yourself to the confines of the box that most of society put themselves into. I get that not to make a spectacle of knowing that a lot of what is followed is just self imposed restrictions because it draws attention...but here...meh." hee murmurs softly. He nods his head in thanks to Marshall as he takes his glass back " Thanks man." he murmurs. He glances to Lilian "More fun bartending, then it's my job to entertain and have a good time and inspire the same in others." he snorts "It's like you know my luck. Though it wouldn't be the first time I befriended a critter." He takes another solid drink.

Teagan lets out a slightly nervous laugh at Cody's comment. "I guess that's an approach." She takes another sip of tea and turns to Marshall. "I'm not going anywhere -near- a dragon. Unless it's like Toothless, you know from How to Train Your Dragon? Now, if it's something friendlier, then maybe I'll consider it." With Cody's glass refilled Teagan casts a glance at her bag as to make sure it's still there and then lets out a content sigh. She leans back in the couch and speaks out to nobody in particular. "You guys never shared your redhead stories, so, feel free to speak up!"

Lilian looks a bit more serious, "Well then go back to it, is the money really worth being that unhappy?" then a look to Teagan, "Cairo 1936, well would say more but it really would not be lady like." when a little motion of her body, and look on her faces that just screams sex.

"You want to start off Cody?" Marshall invites and flicks out his phone to check something and sighs. Yup, he's going to take a real drink for once. Still burns and his face twists up in an expression of momentary pain. "Sweet god why do people drink?" he asks - smacking his lips together as they start to get a bit buzzy.

Cody looks confused " Red head stories?" he asks Teagan. His speech just starting to show the effects of his drinking, he probably started before he got here.

Teagan raises an eyebrow as Lilian brings up '36. "Well, uh, you look good for your age." She says politely to the woman before turning her attention to Marshall. "I think you just haven't found the right drink. The best stuff's the stuff that doesn't taste of alcohol." There's a smile on Teagan's face, and she seems a little concerned at Cody's apparent amnesia. She throws another glance to Marshall and addresses Cody. "You sure you haven't had enough, there?"

Lilian looks to Cody, "Well when you need to talk we are all here for you. Also I know River has some bang up hangover cures if you all need them." then to Marshall, "Mixed drinks are good, so are some wine coolers, and wines." as she sips her tea with a look of one enjoying it.

"Yeah...that's probably not a good idea," Marshall begins. "When I was still just a psychic, my talents got sort of out of control one night." he sloshes the remains of his whiskey around in the decoratively cut glass tumbler. "Let's say that four fraternity brothers know -a LOT - about each other that they didn't before my headaches started. I don't like to lose control anymore."

Cody frowns a bit "I'm ssstill able to feel." he states simply and gulps the rest of the glass. "I've ran for sssoo long. dodging family and enemiessss never letting anyone really know me. Just for once I thought I could ssstop sssetle down make a ssstand. Foolishnessseseses. " he chastises himself ruefully and starts to get up or tries to with some effort.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, slowly there big guy." Teagan interjects as Cody starts to stumble onto his feet. Getting from her own position in the couch, she helps Cody steady himself. There's an awkward silence before she turns Marshall. Sitting down again, she speaks to him. "You're a -psychic-?" She scratches the back of her neck in confusion before continuing. "What am I thinking -right now-?" she queries enthusiastically, smile plastered all over her face.

"Teag..." Marshall calls for some help as Cody tries to stand. The young hermetic sets his glass down quickly and rises to make sure he's able to catch Cody should the guy start to stumble. "Uh...anyone know if we got the rooms upstairs made up yet? I've been staying at my apartment lately. "

Lilian looks to Cody, "You are not alone here and what do you need help with?" then to nods, to Marshall, "Need something to unwind with, it can be about anything really." then looking to Cody, "What do you need help with?"

Cody shakes his head as if to get rid of cobwebs over his senses. weaving slightly, but finding his balance mostly. He starts towards the area du booze. He manages a few steps in a not too straight of a line, "I'm fine." he says softly... "left , right, left, to hte right now...cha cha now.." he almost makes it in to a drunken silly dance as he mutters to himself as if willing his body to comply

Lilian says, "Beds are made more dorm then parted to all individual rooms about three to a room some of the mattresses needed replacement with the sheets and bedding, too 1950s blah."

River makes her way into the lounge with her heavy satchel like book bag slunge over one shoulder and a simmaler satchle like bag that looks a little 'fluffyer' resting at her side. Looks as if the tiny woman might be a little more stout that she looks at first glance.

"Alright buddy, I think you've had more than enough..." Teagan calls out to Cody as he starts hobbling away. "Here, take a seat, and I'll get you some water, how about that?" Shoving Cody lightly, she gives Marshall a pleading look before getting the man a glass of water. "Here." She says as she offers Cody the glass of cold water. Sighing, Teagan grabs herself a glass as well, and starts to fill it as River enters the room. A little defeated, she gives her a wave. "Hi."

Lilian smiles, "Well I am sure we can if needed sober him up, though I am voting a blanket and the couch. Maybe some movies on an laptop for all as well."

Cody faceplants on the floor, snoring.