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[nomansundertaker]

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[nomansundertaker]

[ Ah shit, something bad must have happened. Wolfwood's a pro on the getting wasted invitations, and this one isn't a celebratory one. ]

Count me in. It always takes me more than average to get drunk.
But next to you, I might be the lightweight.

[zacrifice]

cool
u know a place that doesn't mind ppl getting rowdy on the booze?

[He doesn't have a broad range of places he goes, since it doesn't matter that much what you drink or where, when it's super hard to get wasted. Suddenly this is important.]

[nomansundertaker]

[ If anyone's done a halfway decent tour of drinking place in Folkmore, it's this guy. Admittedly, he's never been back to Tides after that first trip, but he doesn't need to pull that deep to find a place to drink with Zack. ]

Yeah, the fighting pits have a bar, or well a place where people there drink.
Drinks strong enough to burn the back of your throat.

[zacrifice]

sounds perfect
meet u there then thanks

[Time to find the grimmest hole in the fighting pit areas and shove his face in a bottle for a while. He's definitely not his usual perky self today.]

[nomansundertaker]

[ It's the kind of place that reminds him of home. All the desert and dry heat of Cruel Summer only enforces the idea. Shit's happened, and that is a place in sand with booze raw enough to burn a hole in your stomach.

It's not a long journey, and the pit in Wolfwood's stomach is heavier than the punisher he carries with him. It gets a few eyes running over it as he makes his way to the bar. ]

Two glasses and a bottle just above the worst stuff you got.

[ No reason to wait on each pour. ]

[zacrifice]

Better make it two.

[Zack will cough up the lore for it, it's no problem. But one bottle of even the worst isn't likely to even get him buzzed. He does manage to muster the smallest of low-energy smiles for Wolfwood, however.]

Thanks for comin' with. Drinking alone is too depressing.

[nomansundertaker]

Two glasses, two bottles.

[ Wolfwood confirms it with what passes for a bartender. He holds up his spoon to pay for it. He's had the less shitty day or week or whatever. He can pay to try to get Zack wasted. ]

Before I met Vash, I wouldn't have wanted to drink with any of my potential drinking partners, so it was that and whatever company I made in a bar for me. Before Folkmore.

[ You know, depressing. ]

[zacrifice]

[Zack doesn't even try to protest the payment, even though he should be the one paying since he asked for this. He just pours each of them a glass before lifting his own to take a swig as he listens.]

How come you didn't want to with anybody else?

[nomansundertaker]

[ Wolfwood needs a drink before he answers that question. He takes his glass, sighs, and empties the glass. He pours another but doesn't drink it yet. ]

They were all a bunch of assholes I didn't even want to work with.
I wasn't going to give them any more time of day.

[zacrifice]

Oh. Yeah, guess that's fair. [One more swig, and he's already refilling. Barely even burns, dammit.] Well... glad I made the cut.

[nomansundertaker]

[ Wolfwood chuckles. It's easier to laugh about them now, a universe and a couple years away. ]

You're way better than anyone I've worked with, but that's not much of a compliment.

[zacrifice]

Usually isn't. Most of the people I used to work with ended up wanting to kill me.

[Some of them even succeeded!]

[nomansundertaker]

Ha. [ Wolfwood laughs because they have too much in common. Bluesummers wanted to kill him on sight, and if Wolfwood were any less useful, he'd try to kill him... more seriously than he has already. ]

If Millions Knives weren't holding everyone together, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a free-for-all bloodbath.

[zacrifice]

Millions Knives?

[Is that a person? An organization?? Hell of a name either way.]

[nomansundertaker]

Yeah, Millions Knives leads the... organization, cult, whatever you want to call it. It's many things.

[ Wolfwood waves a hand. ]

No one wants to cross him. He could kill any one of us. Hell all of us if we grouped together, which we never would.

[zacrifice]

Geez. Why do so many worlds end up with powerful, shitty people?

[It sucks! He's tired of it!]

[nomansundertaker]

[ Knives is a Plant, an independent one. He was always that powerful. As for shitty, that's not Wolfwood's place to explain. It was Vash's memory. ]

Shitty things happen, and it makes for shitty people who keep doing shittier and shittier things? That's the best I got.

[zacrifice]

Yeah... guess that's true.

[Zack downs another shot, pouring a fresh one, though before he swigs he swirls the liquid around in his glass.]

...The fox sent my girlfriend home. So. That's shitty.

[nomansundertaker]

[ The words explain everything, and it's shit. It's not something Wolfwood can help with. She's gone, and he doesn't have girlfriend fetching powers. If he did, his brother would be here. ]

Shit. I should have ordered all the bottles in the bar.

[ He pours some more and drinks it. ]

That's shit. I'll drink here as long as you want to.

[zacrifice]

Well, hey. Night's young.

[He could keep drinking for a while yet.]

Stop before you die, though. I dunno a SOLDIER's limits.

[nomansundertaker]

Guess it is.

[ He hadn't looked at a clock when Zack made his way over. When bad things happen, it's drinking time, no matter the time of day.

The limit Zack suggests though... Wolfwood thinks of Vash, and yeah, he's not going to drink himself into the grave, not even for one night. ]

I have a fast metabolism. It takes a lot more to keep me drunk, and even more to kill me. Dying isn't good drinking buddy behavior. It's off the list.

[zacrifice]

[Zack hasn't looked at a clock either, honestly. It's just a thing to say.]

Good. Don't need to make things worse by dragging you into it and getting you hurt. I'm trustin' you.

[He's not sure he has it in him to play watchdog even on a good day- he's just not built for that kind of responsibility. Still, if Wolfwood did get sick, he'd carry the poor guy home.]

[nomansundertaker]

[ It's a small thing, but Wolfwood feels a warmer spark from Zack trusting him than from the whiskey. He wasn't going to cause Zack any problems tonight before that statement, but he's especially not doing it now. Whiskey may fade, but he wants that spark to stay. ]

Only thing you dragged me into is dragging your sorry ass home at the end of the night if you need it. You're not that heavy. It won't be hard.

[zacrifice]

[Zack huffs a laugh at that, brief and a little bitter, but he raises his glass in salute.]

You're the real hero tonight, man. Thanks.

[nomansundertaker]

[ Wolfwood raises his glass in common, even if it is a gesture to him. It's not much, really, what he's doing. ]

If you want to wind up on the floor for the night, drink at home. Then no one has to worry about walking.