[Day 205] It's the end of the world, get drunk

[bastionpc]

Who: Georges and anyone about
Open: Open
When: 205 sometime in the afternoon
Where: Around the Monument
What: The Cael way of celebrating everyone not dying involves booze, so drink up! (Fun fact: the Cael way of mourning may also involve booze.)
Format: Any
Warnings: Drunken shenanigans, likely. Also feel free to treat this like a mingle thread and not just talking to Georges! (Although he'll try to chat with everyone if he can)


So, just to double check: A cure has been found? Everyone's recovered? No one's dead? It's safe to leave the house now? Excellent.

With this fact well known, one can find Georges starting off his morning not hanging about the bar (as is his custom as the only bartender in the Bastion) but in fact setting up something in front of the Monument. Tables, chairs, some blankets to sit on when those inevitably run out... There's also something of a makeshift bar area, a variety of liquor in fascinating bottles set up along with some glasses.

Everything is all finished up around the afternoon, and Georges goes behind his little makeshift table-bar to cup his hands around his mouth so he can yell-

"DRINKS ON THE HOUSE!"

...What do you mean he technically never makes anyone pay for booze at the end of the world? Just come up and have a drink, Georges will be happy to recommend something. Or maybe bother someone else having a drink?

Comments

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko can't keep track of everyone, and at the end of the world, there are plenty of reasons for a person to shut themselves away. It's true she hasn't seen Ippo around in some time, though. Not since before she found the remains of her palace, before the plague was brought back to the Bastion.

And he's definitely changed in the time she hasn't seen him. It's clear enough where he's just come from, so she's not going to ask where he's been, but...]

What happened to you?

[windgod]

[The sudden voice from behind him was enough to make Ippo jump slightly, but he quickly caught himself, as well as his drink, and turned around to see Zuko eying him critically. Perhaps...he'd be better served going to get a proper shirt from his room sooner rather than later. He gave a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head, taking her question into account and remembering all of what he'd gone through out on a skyway.]

I uh...well, a lot of things actually. I took some time on the Skyway to get a hold of myself...it just turns out there are a lot of things out there that wanted to get a hold of me too.

[daughterofursa]

No kidding.

That didn't occur to you before you left?

[windgod]

Oh, it did, that's why I brought these!

[Ippo smiled and held up his gauntlets. They looked a little dingy, but they had held up wonderfully, a show of Colin's craftsmenship, though they would probably need a little maintenance.]

But...I figured that I wasn't going to learn the proper ways to defend myself if I just kept myself here. I learn by doing and getting into the thick of things...if I had stayed, I would have just convinced myself that things were okay as they were and they definitely weren't. Sometimes you need to take a few bumps in order to set your head right, you know?

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko's expression doesn't lighten up. Learning things the hard way has basically been her life story, but she still wasn't alone for most of it, and by now it's something she's grateful for.]

That doesn't mean you don't need anyone to watch your back.

[windgod]

Hmm...that's true, but that's something I considered as well.

[For a large man, he seemed to almost deflate in his seat, his eyes getting an almost glazed look to them.]

I don't really know how to explain it right...but I felt like if I'd taken the time to talk to anyone or to invite someone along, it would have been too easy to give up. If things got too rough, I'd have more easily considered going back...and if I'd taken any time before leaving, I probably would have convinced myself not to go.

[He sighed. It was a deep, thoughtful exhalation; sure it had been rough, and there had been a few times where he had thought he might not make it back...but he didn't regret it.]

Maybe it wasn't the best of choices...but it was the choice I chose to make. There's still a lot I have left to learn, but now I feel like I can start making those steps for myself.

[daughterofursa]

That doesn't say much for your resolve.

[Zuko sighs, finally taking a seat herself though she has no intention of getting any more drinks.]

I've made a lot of stupid choices myself, that's why I try to think harder before making them these days. You could've gotten yourself killed. You could've gotten someone else killed if they decided to go looking for you.

[windgod]

[Whelp, she had him dead to rights on that one. Perhaps it had been his skewed sense of self in the Bastion, but he hadn't even considered the possibility of someone coming to look for him. No one had, and he hadn't died, but there was the chance either could have happened and there wasn't really any room to argue on that.]

That...I can't argue. I guess...I just never considered myself important enough to look for, or that I'd be any great loss if something did go wrong. I suppose it was my mindset at the time, I realize now that I wasn't right at all about either of those things. Everyone here is just...amazing. And I'm just some kid who can throw a good punch, I felt...like I didn't belong.

[He leaned back against the makeshift bar, his eyes aimed upwards at the sky filled with clouds as he thought of home...of his friends...and of why he'd even started boxing in the first place.]

All my life, I've wanted to know what it means to be strong...not just physically, but as a person. I've never felt like I really belonged anywhere, or like I had anything worth striving for...being forced into the end of the world just kind of...it amplified all those feelings, but in the end, those are just excuses to justify not doing my best. I have to start thinking about myself as someone worth pushing forward...or I'm just going to keep going backwards. Its a shame it took me this long to realize something so painfully simple, but...I was always told I have a thick skull.

[That was enough nostalgia to get a small chuckle out of him. His coach had always made the joke that he took punches so well because his head was made of iron. Maybe that was true.]

[daughterofursa]

...I know plenty of amazing people who deserve to be here more than I do. But they aren't.

[And she's thought about that more than a few times, but it's something she's dealt with before, too. Back home, almost no one had thought her deserving of any of the things she wanted, not even herself. But she'd fought for them anyway. She'd fought to get her honor back and be deserving.]

It's not about what we think we're worth. The fact is we're here. It's the hand we've been dealt, and we owe it to everyone we left behind to do what we can with it.

[windgod]

[Ippo finally let his gaze fall forwards once more, and this time he was smiling. The softness of it seemed disjointed from his physical appearance, but beneath all of that muscle and scars was the same kind-hearted boy he'd always been. Just with a bit more confidence and self worth behind him.]

Yeah...I've got a lot of legacy on my shoulders, but now I feel like I'm strong enough to move forward with that weight. I'm going to keep getting better...I owe my coach and my family that much; but I know now that I don't have to do it all by myself. We're all in this together, and even if I'm limited in what I can do, I owe it to everyone and myself to do my best.

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko nods. She doesn't smile, but her expression finally looks less severe.]

That's more like it.

[windgod]

[Ippo laughed a little and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He still wasn't sure where he stood with Zuko as a whole, but she'd been nothing but a haven for solid advice since they had met, so for that he was thankful.]

I know I've been a royal pain, but thanks for the advice and encouragement. I have a ways to go...but I think now I can start making better decisions and really start improving. Speaking of though...what's been happening here since I left?

[That was something that had been playing on his mind, what all had happened around here in his absence. Everyone seemed so festive...but what for?]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko actually snorts when he mentions advice. When did she get any good at that? She tries to act in a way that would do her uncle proud, but actually emulating him is beyond her. She's not exactly a font of wisdom, she just has a long list of mistakes she's learned not to make again.]

Hm. If you had to be gone, you didn't pick a bad time. Some of the others brought back a plague from out on the Skyway. But we managed to find the cure out there, too, so everyone who got sick- they've mostly recovered.

That's... why we're celebrating. [Because Zuko sure looks like she's been celebrating, right?]

[windgod]

A...plague?

[That sounded awfully serious, but considering the state he'd been in...it might have been better that he'd avoided it altogether if he was being honest.]

Wow...can't say I'm envious of missing out on that one, but I'm glad everyone pulled through okay. You didn't get sick did you?

[daughterofursa]

No.

I was with the group who found the cure.

[windgod]

[That was a relief to hear, but all the same Ippo felt a compulsion rise in him that he hadn't felt since his last time in the ring. He got to his feet and without any preamble, gave Zuko a very deep and formal bow with both hands clasped to his side.]

Thank you Zuko-san, for helping my friends, and I'm glad you stayed safe as well.

[daughterofursa]

[She may have gotten that kind of treatment before for being royalty, but not for being herself. Feeling awkward just sitting there, she returns it with a short bow of her own, fist to palm.]

I... just did what I could.

[windgod]

I definitely appreciate it...and everything really. I'm lucky I got to talk to you today.

[Prepare for more awkward then Zuko, Ippo's not one to let people off without getting their justly deserved praise.]

[daughterofursa]

[That is pushing her past awkward and into the realm of outright baffled.]

There's nothing lucky about talking to me.

[windgod]

I don't know about that...I feel a lot more at ease now, and I have a little more insight than before. If that's just coming from talking to you, I don't know how else to think of it than as lucky.

[daughterofursa]

You could just think of it as something that happened.

[Why does luck have to come into it?]