Drinks at the Nest! (Crows/BYOB)

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien looked to Raikotsu, smiling but internally wondering how many more people were going to come and drink with them. Was drinking really this common of a habit? And.. Since when did this become a 'party'? At least Raikotsu brought more bottles. Wait, from WHOSE secret stash?!

But, then, Bastille introduced herself. And Lucien smiled warmly in return, hoping the welcoming aura would clear up any smoke in the air between, well, everyone.

"Nice to meet you, Bastille. My name is Lucien DeChain. I.. Was at your wedding, briefly. I found it strange that I was invited when I didn't know who either of you were.. But, it's nice to meet you now." He just barely finished replying before she took the seat beside him. Now, he was flanked on either side by Bastille and Kiyr. Sensing this, he felt slightly nervous, as the two probably had history together also.

Following Raikotsu's advice, he held the bottle over the glasses scattered around the table, and filled them all, oh, about halfway. His was last. The bottle, at that point, was about half full, and that got knocked down to 5/16ths when his glass mirrored the others. It was a small, silent plea, and a strange one for Lucien, but then again, he really needed this.

Can we get to drinking already?

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah returned Bastille's sly wink as everyone settled in, warmly waving over Rai as he entered...WITH MORE ALCOHOL.

AWRIGH.

She pulled her glass towards her and swirled the cup in front of her nose, smelling the mossy, caramel notes of the aged alcohol. Oh, that was fine.

"My kind of night!" she chortled, setting the glass back down. She would drink once everyone had theirs. "So, whose never had scotch before?"

Hell of a drink if you've never had it.

[Kyrie Blaze]

The blonde blinked her eyes several times as someone crossed into her qi along the floor. She twisted slightly, moreso to twist her head to look over her shoulder towards Bastille with a slow blink. And slight nod. And when Raikotsu popped in, she felt a nervous flutter of both her heart and stomach.

Too many people. There were getting to be too many people and she just wanted to sink into the shadows at her feet to cut down on the near-claustrophobic feeling she was getting. Her eyes flickered as she closed them a few moments, pulling in a deep, slow breath, lapsing herself into a partially meditative state. For a measure of peace and quiet, fortifying herself so she didn't just simply flee.

Kyrie's eyes opened to lift to Rai after he addressed her, and the blonde inclined her head, laying her hands upon her lap.

"...indeed, Raikotsu."

Her gaze slid back to Lucien, Marcus, and Delilah as drinks were poured. With Delilah's question, blue eyes flicked to her and she shook her head. She'd never drank in earnest before. The occasional glass of wine with supper with...with her family.

"Cooking with alcohol is quite different than drinking it..."

Because she didn't want to end up a coughing, sputtering mess, Kyrie skimmed the tip of her finger against a drop against the rim of the glass, then brushed her finger against her tongue. Testing the taste, she was mildly surprised by it...and began pondering just how she would be able to shoot the alcohol without the fumes burning down into her lungs.

...which would mean she would have to exhale, not inhale, after. Right? Her head tipped to the side almost owlishly as she considered.

[Marcus Prasad]

"Bhatîjâ and the Mistress of Mayhem herself?"
Marcus announced as Bastille and Rai entered the mess hall, favoring the red eyed woman with a great big beaming smile as she gave him a friendly slap on the back.
"And you brought Tribute! What a good Nephew you are!"

More Booze? NEVER A BAD THING although the looming threat of Retribution from Leon would have dampened the mood if it wasn't for the fact that Marcus decided right then and there that they would ensure that no trace of the hard liqueur remained. Snickering at Rai's comment about the last time he saw him and Delilah, he could only lean back and clear his throat.
"Then next time try not to hit my fists with your head as often. Remember, Vice Versa!"

The Dragonspeach Marcus recognized due to Leon back in the day, though he did not understand the words. The Exchange between Bastille and Rai on the other hand he watched with amusement. They knew each other well it would seem.
Well good! For now Marcus would sit back and watch the camaraderie being grown and shared between everyone as the Drinks were passed out.

Bout damn time too!

Taking a mouthful and letting it swirl and swish in his mouth, the man savored the taste as the fumes tickled his nose.

[Bastille Amtrum]

Bastille nodded and smirked a wide smirk.

"That was because my husband and I are slightly exhibitionists...in a more symbolic way. We like to make things loud and proud and WHY NOT have a party that everyone is invited too? It's the end of the world, everyone should celebrate" She grinned taking the drink.

"Just as we are now" She gave Kiyr a sympathetic smirk before looking at Delilah and sitting back. "I have mother questions for you later!" She announced. The girls were starting to crawl....and she needed to know how to stop their destruction.

[Raikotsu Sudeki]

DOWN THE HATCH! The alcohol went. Rai smiling now that everthing was cool again and the fun began!

"Well lets not stop there!"

Rai piped up as Lucien finished his shot taking the bottle and pouring in more to Lucien's cup till it was near full then proceeded to put bout everyone elses glasses to half full including his own.

"A toast! To our good friend, my little buddy, for this alcohol abundant party! Down the hatch!"

Then Rai would take the shot and shout.

"Huzzah!"

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien looked down at the glass before him. The pungent stench reached his nose, and it smelled slightly like gasoline. But, he surmised that this was what alcohol was supposed to smell like.

Do I... Do I shoot it? He thought to himself.

Seeing what Raikotsu did, but also seeing what most of the rest of those gathered at the table did.. He assumed it didn't matter. So, how strong was this, exactly, when compared to other alcoholic beverages? Hmm...

I GUESS WE BETTER FIND OUT!

Lucien grabbed the glass and downed it in one gulp, almost immediately regretting it, as he choked and coughed. The liquid burned white hot down his throat, and sat in his stomach like hot oil on water.

He wheezed and closed his eyes for a second, and the feeling passed. When he opened his eyes again, his glass was full to the brim, and Raikotsu had a devilish grin on his face.

"Oh. So this is what alcohol tastes like." Was really all the slim man could say as he noticed the eyes of his friends falling on him. Everyone else's glass was half full, he noticed. So, who was trying to get him drunk...?

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah threw back her whiskey shot with the rest of them in one go, letting the smooth fire course down her throat and pool in her belly, warming her from within like a hot coal.

Shit that was good.

"I have mother questions for you later!"

...announced Bastille without any preamble.

Delilah chuckled, taking her newly refilled glass (with a nod of thanks...and suspicion to Raikotsu, noting that Lucien's glass was a lot more full than the others) and knocking back her second shot without even blinking. "I imagine they're discovering they can move their limbs in meaningful ways now?"

[Bastille Amtrum]

Bastille took her drink back, but refused a second in favor of cringing and folding in on herself in a grim fashion.

"They can crawl faster than a horse in heat. Mathew and I are building obstacle courses - well he is, I'm watching in horror." She said, complaining.

Her little girls were learning that they could not only roll over, but that in that position they were also able to access much much more. Bastille was going crazy trying to catch up with them. If it had been one child- this would be a cake walk....but two? It was like they planned it out in advance.

[Kyrie Blaze]

Experimentally - and with no small amount of uncertainty - the blonde lifted the shot glass to her lips, taking a steadying breath inwards. She tipped the shot back and swallowed, setting the glass gently down. And--urp! Inhaled, just slightly, before exhaling.

Bad mistake.

Her eyes watered and she coughed a couple times into her hand, sputtering quietly and trying to clear her throat - which burned - and the fumes from her lungs--even worse. Nope. No, she had never drank in this fashion. Shooting alcohol was much different than sipping a glass of wine over dinner. She lifted her gaze, sheepishly hunching her shoulders, and...

Blinked, perplexed.

Her shot glass had been refilled?

Rai's shout had her starting despite the warmth seeping through her from the alcohol hitting her stomach - oh, her empty stomach, oops - and she stared, wide-eyed at him a moment. Slender fingers slowly curled around her refilled glass.

'...exhale a little before the shot, I think..?'

Kyrie nodded a little at the thought, but so far did not take her second. The warmth the alcohol brought was...nice. It felt like it was suffusing itself into her body.

[Marcus Prasad]

Marcus would sit back and watch quietly as everyone chatted between each other, conversations interrupted only for the time it took to knock back another glass of the good stuff. He could taste it in the air, a real sense of warmth, of friendship......

Of Family.

His heart ached then, a pain he tried to cover as he opened his throat to knock back another shot of Scotch. His mind drifting to his own family, who's fates were still unknown to him. He tried to bury the ache down into the dark cellar of his mind, but only found it to be a temporary respite. He tapped the glass then against the table gently, signaling for it to be refilled though he would hold off from drinking it for alittle while, contenting himself with bringing it up to his lips and letting the fumes waft through his nose, covering the smile on his face as he watched Lucien and Kyr try to come to terms with Hard Liquor with mixed results.

It was then that he heard the Echo's of Silks words to him when they first met in California. Of how Marcus had been alone for far too long. He had scoffed then, but here and now? Sitting with these people who accepted him so easily as he accepted them, Marcus was finally made aware of an absence.

The absence of loneliness.

Before, the compound was the Wolfpacks compound sharing space with Silks house in a city he was assigned to watch over in a state he felt he was only visiting.
But now? It was home. It had always been home. He wasn't here to bloody Barker's nose in some futile heroic last ditch gesture. The people who walked down the street with a cheery hello to him were HIS people now. The Compound was HIS home just as much as New York City had ever been. A Home he would be willing to fight for and People he would be willing to Die for. It was an epiphany that struck the man right in the chest.

For the longest Time he had struggled with the thought. After Barker, would he leave California to seek out his family or stay?
Looking from person to person, the man found that he always knew the answer, and his smile grew wider before he emptied the contents of his glass down his throat.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien started to enjoy the warmth in his stomach, but something felt a bit funny with it. He decided the next one, he would just sip at. That seemed like a better idea...

Taking the full glass in his hand, he decided not to start the second one so soon. Instead, he tried to focus back in on the conversation.. Which was few and far between. Delilah and Bastille were talking about children... Which left Marcus, Raikotsu and Kiyr. Marcus had a distant look on his face, but he looked like he was enjoying the company.

"So, how have you been, Kiyr?" He asked quietly, not wanting to distract from Delilah's conversation. He eyed the girl, as she was having a similar reaction to the alcohol as he was. The last time he saw the girl... That's right. The forest. That was nice...

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah chuckled at Bastille's complaints. The Twins sounded like they were a handful.

She knocked back her second shot and set the small glass down hard. No buzz yet, but warmth was quickly spreading throughout her body, making the tips of her fingers tingle.

"Oliver was like that. When he started crawling, I would turn around for one second and the next, he would be gone. But I only had one to deal with. You have two." She clucked her tongue and sucked in a breath through her teeth.

"You can't stop them from exploring, so giving them things to go looking for will help. If you make a few obvious hiding places available, they will naturally gravitate to those areas. But make sure the locks of your doors are up near the top. All you can do is prepare for when they start walking."

Delilah shivered at a memory. Oh, that boy.

The mechanic looked over at Marcus, noticing his expression and his silence. She smiled a little, raising an eyebrow. "Somethin' on your mind, big guy?"

[Mitsuki Park]

OOC: BECAUSE I PROMISED.

Long story short, she was looking for Delilah and was redirected to the mess hall. Her reason for visiting Del wasn't really anything special in particular- she didn't really have any updates concerning Texas except that it was a slow progress; specific details could just be spoken on a later day, since there was no sense of urgency. Anyway, she was just in the area and, since their friendship (or summat) was still in the development, thought it would be nice to stop by and say a quick hello.~

She opened the door to the mess hall and saw a considerate amount of people gathered where Delilah sat; the girl from that one church whose wedding she attended, the musician that played quite beautifully at said wedding, the guy she got stuck in Persia with, and familiar faces she remembered seeing here and there. Oh! And of course, the raven-haired beauty Mitsuki just witnessed taking a shot of...alcohol?

Oh boy. She certainly wasn't a drinker.

Designated driver has entered the building.

She gave a small wave as she walked in, eyes curiously peering at those she knew by face but not by name.

[Marcus Prasad]

"Hmm?"
Finding himself shaken from his inner thoughts, the man's eyes came into focus as he flinched, tearing himself into the here and now as he regarded the young raven haired woman. He opened his mouth, taking a slow breath as if he was about to speak and was just thinking of the words, holding that pose for a moment or two before blurting out a single word.

"Babies."

Now this statement probably required some explanation. More likely than not the man would be facing the confused stares of everyone in the room
If this was the case, he would simply shrug his muscular shoulders and let a quirked grin poke at the corner of his mouth.

"Did you know that right now, right at this very second there are people out there having babies? Here. In this day and age. These babies are gonna grow up under some pretty harsh circumstances and a few might not even see thier 16th birthday but....well, people are still having babies. And some of these babies are gonna grow up to be some pretty kick-ass grown ups. I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter how bad it gets, Humanity is so damn stubborn that they just wont stop making babies. So really Barker doesn't stand a hope in hell to beat us. Kind of fills you with hope alittle. Like, Life will go on right? Leaving our legacy's behind."

"Kind of makes thoughts of settling down myself sometime in the near future and raise a litter of my own."

And then Mitsuki waltzed into the Mess hall Throwing Marcus' Attention COMPLETELY off of the Baby topic.

"OH HAI!"
Marcus suddenly waved his arm and loudly cried. Before adding with a grin.
"I KNOW YOU! We fought Zombie sand Ninja's I think. Might be mistaken though."