synflux | ( closed ) life like the unplumbed sea;

No, no, ya see, you strike me as the kind of guy who maaaaay not set aside things so easily, despite what he says. I mean, I'm kinda the same way, so I don't blame you! I just like a guarantee. That's always important in business.

[That IS shameless. Then again, perhaps that's expected out of username @ hottie. Sampo doesn't seem to mind - there's no shy sideglances here, no sirree - and just lets his eyes crease a little in coy amusement.]

Besides.....I'm guaranteeing a sort-of kind-of good drink instead of a so-so one. So it's win-win. What do you say?

It seemed more like a test of character than anything. That's why I asked if you did anything interesting. Because when everything's pretty much locked by biometrics, what can you do with that information?

[ Coincidentally, they're both making judgements based on usernames at the moment. @ moneybags because of his transactional nature, perhaps? Well. He supposes that makes things easy. ]

Ahah, is that where the extra star comes in from? The experience on top of the view? [ But there he has it, @ hottie's endorsement. ] Tell me what to get for you, then. I learn better through watching.

A lot of things, my friend. For example....celebrating birthdays! Isn't it nice to have a surprise party for such a special day?

[Obviously its just for the birthdays. Obviously.]

[He lets out a little laugh at that, pleased, and gives a cheeky little wink.]

Exactly. Though if you work hard, you can get an extra star too. [Also his endorsement right back. Look, some people are easy on the eyes, what can he say.] Let's see....can I go behind the counter? Some places have way different ingredients, you know! I hardly could predict what this one has and doesn't have. Should have the staples, though...

You did ask some questions to that effect, didn't you? How could I forget? For such a benevolent person, I'm always willing to let bygones be bygones.

[ Will he have any moneybags left by the time he celebrates everyone's birthdays? Damn. ]

But go right ahead. You don't need to convince me any further than you already have. [ He says it well before he's presumably looking around for his manager, who, for all intents and purposes, appears to be nowhere. For a Friday night, it's surprisingly quiet.

So whenever Sampo comes around, he'll choose to hover rather closely. Not close enough to be breathing on him, but he maintains about a two foots-width apart stock checking aside, a single hand propping him up on the counter as his body faces toward him sideways. ]

For the record? My birthday was two days ago. My favourite colour is red. As for my favourite food… anything that's homecooked. Is it too late to ask for my surprise?

[ this and the mixing lesson are clearly separate, ]

How very kind of you.

[He slips around to the back as easy as anything, like this is a practiced thing he's done a million times. As he starts to mill over the racks, his eyes flit towards the man who stands so close.]

[Something very amused settles in his smile, his eyes creased in a coy expression as a gloved hand reaches past Elysium's shoulder to pluck a bottle from the shelf. He doesn't mind the proximity whatsoever.]

Happy belated birthday, my friend. [He lets out a light laugh.] And that depends. I could, if you want.

[ In tandem with Sampo's reach for the bottle, Elysium cranes his neck to, ostensibly, give him easier access shelf. In reality, he can reach for it perfectly fine as is, so it doesn't quite serve any purpose here but to expose the crook of it, the feathers of his hair shifting to frame it perfectly in one smooth contour.

But Elysium's expression remains unchanged from its usual nonchalance, despite knowing exactly how superfluous the gesture had been—despite hazarding the other would, too. ]

The type of guy who likes to come out up on top, are you? I've already laid out my cards. You want me to stack them for you, too? How stingy.

[ his drink and homecooked meal, please ]

[His eyes flit to it, almost as if that line is a natural perch for his gaze - but it only makes his gaze more mischievous, like they're playing a game he's determined to win.]

Golly. So demanding, aren't ya. [His cheeky grin spreads wide as he taps the top of the bottle against the man's sternum, playful.] I'm already making you a drink out of the kindness of my own heart. You're the one being a little greedy here.

[And he's moving to tug the cork out with a little bite.]

Mm. [He's using his other hand to take the cork out from his mouth.] But if you're nice....well. I can make a birthday guy happy.

[ Terrible behaviour is being enabled here, but alright, this is where we're at. In the brief moment the bottle is poised against him, it elicits a mirthful sound from his chest. ]

I'd agree with you if you hadn't told me mere moments ago that this was on the premise of forgetting about your quiz.

[ Two can play at being cheeky. And on that note, the way in which Elysium's gaze traces Sampo's own deliberate movements is conscious. ]

That aside, haven't I been plenty nice to you already? And who knows, I might just be incentivized to return the favour for yours.

Hey, hey, no need to point out the obvious. I mean, I know that! But c'mon.....

[Here, he'll take a step - like some chess move on this game of coquettishness - and slide that cork into whatever pocket on Elysium is closest.]

[He winks.]

I like when people are incentivized. That means I can dangle something nice in front of them. Customers are like fish. You just gotta know what catches them.

[And now he's moving to grab a glass and slide himself back to the counter.]

Hand me that green one you have on the side, there.

[It's. It's absinthe.]

[ damn they're really doing this …

Because by the way Elysium's eyes crease after reading the label, he's making an informed decision in handing the bottle over. He isn't going to make it so simple though, and the sequence might go something like this: when he holds out the absinthe and Sampo tries to take it, Elysium will keep his grip and maintain eye contact, a wordless challenge in how he pulls out a second glass to clink it next to the first right after.

If he's going to get fucked up, hello? He isn't doing it alone. Then, and only then, will Elysium release his hold. It's a two-fer; when faced against each other with the other's hands preoccupied, it does make it easier to reach over to tug him a step closer, playing at fixing Sampo's collar and lapel to possibly cover the exposed area of his chest. Like it'd been something of a distraction. Otherwise, he'll choose the next best thing to. ]

I do make a habit of returning what I'm given. Several fold, when I'm feeling generous. It leaves the potential for a rather nice feedback loop.

[ pat pat at his handiwork, and then a hand rests on his own hip. This is how he smooths over Sampo talking about catching fish. wtf. ]

Is that what you wanted to hear?

[ sheesh. and he was talking about being demanding. ]

[When people get into a dangerous situation, their pupils swell.]

[Elysium keeps his hold onto the bottle, and Sampo's eyes almost seem, in this low light, to do the opposite. Diamond-shaped pupils narrowing, and with the green of the spirits in the bottle he holds, there's a presence of something snake-like in his stare.]

[But the appearance of the second glass is amusing, and it only takes a second for him to burst out into a smile - and then Elysium's hand comes to brush against his chest just so. Ah. What a joy. He sighs, almost a little plaintive.]

I like those words. Feedback loop. And y'know, I always come into talks with an open mind. I do like hearing it, though. I won't lie. You seem like you'd be fun to do business with.

[But he'll shift back and hum like nothing even happened, uncorking the absinthe as he pours a little hallucinogenic green in both glasses, before topping it off with the drink from before. Not yet done, as he twirls to fetch another bottle behind him, eyes flitting to Elysium with mirth.]

Have you ever had it before? The green one.

Haha, me? Wow. I'm not anywhere near calculating enough for it. That kind of thinking is exhausting. I'm not sure I can say I'm flattered either, but I'll take it as a compliment anyway.

[ He's an honest and straightforward guy, alright? The clarity of his gaze never leaves even when it's staring at danger in the face. But it's reveling, almost, in how it feels that a layer of the other's mask has been peeled back just a bit. If he were to blink, it's near certain the moment would be gone.

And he's right—because the second Sampo returns to pouring their drinks, it is. There's a wordless sound of amusement as he perches his elbows on the bar top behind him, eyes returning to their original purpose of watching the supposed process of mixology. ]

I have. [ Plainly. There's no point in being coy. ] Along with a wealth of other interesting imbibements and consumables. I wasn't going to say anything, but since you mentioned it first? I would hope that you don't just serve it to anyone.

You sure? Some people have some talents they don't know about. You could be a sweet talker. Maybe you already are.

[Of course, its a compliment. Sampo Koski is full of nothing but them. Butter people up, don't tear them down.]

[He picks up each glass, swirling each one to see the colors settle. The smile playing on his lips isn't going anywhere.]

Oh, certainly not. This isn't a drink to take lightly. I know you could handle it.

Edited 2024-05-18 16:33 (UTC)

[ Similar, and almost mirrors——at least, superficially. Elysium starts to wonder if this is where they diverge specifically, in that the primary association of sweet talker would have even his own skin crawl. He's good with words, yes. He's good with people, also yes.

But he's more genuine than that, isn't he? He'd like to think so, and the only indicator of these thoughts will be a fleeting flicker in his eyes. ]

Man of many talents that I am, I'm afraid there's already one I've decided to dedicate my life to! So, maybe I'll just have to keep that unrefined talent of mine exclusive to you, since you think so highly of it.

[ Read: being terrible to you would do nothing to my guilty conscience, probably. To re-encapsulate 'do business with.' ]

… Pfft. That's a rather bold assumption to make of someone from a single encounter alone. [ A lightless, quiet laugh. As if they're in on a secret. ] But, well, I can't say I mind since it seems that you're joining me after all.

[ There's the slightest edge there, now, presumably from how there had only been a single glass… what was up with that, hm? It's an unarticulated taunt. ]

Oh, you shouldn't do that.

[There's an actual pause here that's pregnant in its meaning, almost a little warning sign. The rattlesnake willing to waggle its tail. I mean it.]

...Haha, but I feel so honored, though. So thank you.

[Back to a smile. Oh, he knows the taunt well. The way he picks up his own glass first and then gives the other to his comrade in drink is evidence to that. He will put himself in this man's hands, perhaps, just for the fun of it. But snakes know how to shed their skin. Will he be left holding it?]

Now. Give a toast, my friend. Make it good.

[ Arctic terns: although carnivorous by default, there were comments to be made about them not being birds of prey and snakes not being one of their natural predators. Still, Elysium himself is not an arctic tern—not entirely. It didn't really take having the experience necessary to survive out in all the forlorn parts of the razed world he comes from to understand the overt warning sign he's produced, though, not when he was being so blatant.

The masks are constant in their rotation—flitting on and off, almost dizzyingly so. That Elysium isn't mildly fascinated would be a lie. ]

Oh?

[ As he accepts the glass delicately, their fingers brush from the exchange; his eyes lower into halfmoons, a measured motion along with how he grazes the underside drink with his index. He's thinking. (He's not.) ]

Let's set it to our new venture, then. [ as it goes. ] How about it? Shall we?

[ he's gettin fired from this job i hope you know ]

[He's thinking nothing at all, too. Or maybe he's thinking far too many thoughts to keep track of. How dizzying. It feels like its been a while since he's been able to step into something as outwardly playful and inwardly dangerous as this. Hey, maybe that Sparkle is rubbing off on him.]

[(Ergh. He'd rather that not be the case.)]

[The fingers brush. His eyelashes flutter. Sampo's lips find the side of his own glass, as if in a momentary, unconscious little thoughtful gesture, all while keeping eye contact. A semblance of a kiss. A tease of one.]

Let's do it. To our new venture, with a guy worth knowing.

[He clinks their glasses together.]

[And the drink goes right down the hatch, burning pleasurably.]

[ When you're in the continued presence of good people, it's easy to forget who you really are. A vice here. A vice there. Little sneaks away that would never hurt to fulfill the occasional impulse, that's how he'd gotten away with pretending and thinking he was just like any one of them. Despite how it appeared, restraint was one of the things Elysium knew well when it counted.

But there's a tingle that goes down his spine at the ghost of a kiss. Elysium resists the urge to shudder. Two years since he'd been infected, was it? Two years since his life was no longer his own. His eyes will narrow almost dangerously. The barest of a hint, then, that something in there might snap. Like the many masks the man before him has presented—blink, and he could've very well missed it. ]

Hear hear. [ His voice remains as inscrutably light and airy: ] To our new venture indeedy.

[ His eyes close as he tips his glass to his own lips—holding it there for the same meaningful few seconds as allows his lips to quirk upwards. An answer. A response. Whatever Sampo's reaction to it might be doesn't matter when in the grand scheme of things, their game is officially on. Tossing it back it is, the distinct sear much like a seal. ]

[The word "restraint" is anathema to a Fool. It may be precisely why Giovanni back then had sought to question those strange lines he made in the metaphorical sand to never cross - no judgement from him, but Sampo could tell that it must have felt like seeing someone put himself in their own little cage. Nothing would push him out of it if he could help it.]

[Until now. Perhaps. Elysium kisses his own glass in reply. It makes his eyes widen slightly, and then he catches the brief glimmer of someone dancing at the edge. Well now.]

[Absinthe is a strong drink. Fools love it, of course, for its peculiar, chaotic qualities. He doesn't know if he can entirely blame it, though, for the quick but dizzying wave of madness that shoots up his spine and sparks - he would very, very much like to ruin this man.]

[But that word of "restraint" pulls back, and he's enough of an old timer where he settles his own desires back neatly. Perhaps a younger self would've leaped forward to seal the deal with a grabbed fit of hair and a heavy press against the counter. Now, he knows the game is important, too. Even if its worth nothing in the end, elation was to be found in the nooks and crannies of conversations like this.]

[He laughs, as light and airy as the other's response. His eyes betray nothing, now.]

Do you like it?

[ It's a quiet moment as Elysium polishes off his glass. When the drink runs empty, he reopens his eyes to stare at it blandly. Twirls it in lazy circles, even, as if he hadn't just downed the entirety of one of the strongest spirits around in one go.

Intoxication doesn't happen immediately, Elysium knows. The certain exhilaration that comes from the ingestion of hard liquor is something Elysium knows, too. What he tells himself is that the high is all he needs, the tangible proof that he's alive; there were many other ways to chase the same high or similar highs, but he's content with simply acknowledging it with a degree of detached interest——for now. Being a dying anime man tended to influence your impulse control one way or another, oops!

He sets the glass down before he's regarding Sampo again. ]

The drink itself, or what happens after? [ What a silly question. And yet, Elysium indulges him with a tease anyway. ] The first, well. … You did make it for me, didn't you? How could I not? The second… haha!

[ A laugh that tapers off into an a hum. Elysium is hardly a lightweight or a light drinker, he's pulled himself together for work plenty of times before. But absinthe is particularly interesting for the myths that surround it, when the high it leaves you in is partly contingent on your preconceptions. Were you in control of your thoughts and actions, or were you not? How fun. Unfortunate that Elysium is capable of being surprisingly pragmatic. Also unfortunate that he's capable of identifying the desire to rip Sampo's many guises as entirely his own. ]

Wouldn't you say it's too early to tell?

[ It really isn't. But they can pretend it is, or that the "after" Elysium talks about isn't something as cut and dry as the rest of the evening. ]

[See, this is why he indulged with this in the first place. He would've been more than willing to keep this just a nice little tutorial of mixing a drink, helpful as helpful can be. But this man kept pulling at his strings, poking past the facade (one of many) with those teases and taunts.]

[Even now, with that not-so-straightforward answer, he feels a rush (again, could be the alcohol) that he can't ignore.]

[Would this man be the same way if he truly lost all his inhibitions, or no?]

[Should he pull that particular string?]

It might be too early. You're right. But let me know...let it settle. Spirits have a real weird way of sometimes kicking expectations sometimes.

[A little pause.]

...I'll teach you easier stuff, though. I was showing off. Don't worry. If you feel you can't handle this....no sweat off my back.

[A mildly pointed look and a tilt of the head - might as well ask. Though he wants to think he has a good guess at the answer.]

[ Like the ebb and flow of the ocean, tides eventually come to pass. Following this particular one, Elysium finds himself clearheaded—enough, to wonder, how much of him actually is. But a semblance of normalcy seems to have settled back over them, and he'll decide to go with it as he always has. ]

If you weren't worrying about me after the fact, I might've been touched. But I jest, I'm fine. For the many years I have to go through before I'd consider myself an old soul, I have been around.

[ He can outpace the durins—dwarves of his world, even, but from what he knows that isn't a common standard one could use here. So, all he has to offer by way of a confidence booster is an answering smile and an irreverent wave of his hand. ]

And that would help, wouldn't it? It's not everyday someone would order one of those. Then again, I can't say I know the clientele here all that well yet. If nothing else, I could always just return the favour and make one for you one day. Wouldn't that be nice?

Well, as an old soul myself, its not that its all chalked up to be. Keep hold onto that bright spirit there, Mister Elysium.

[He speaks a little like someone who has been through a possible scenario like this many a time, even though something like this man and his words are admittedly new. That's the joy of life, though. The twists and turns of fate.]

...Hm. [He picks up the absinthe bottle, rolling the liquid in it thoughtfully - the color draws his eyes, who loyally flit back to the other man after a brief pause.] You know...I'd like that a lot, actually. I wonder what I look like from your eyes.

[In drink form, of course.]

… My friend, isn't it a tad too soon for you to be speaking like a withered old man? They say looks can be deceiving, but come on. If you didn't have your spryness to you, you wouldn't be keeping up with me.

[ Ages are a mercurial thing, coming from a world with as many different lifespans as there are species of creatures. It does beg the question of, though, of what experiences this man might be contemplating in calling himself an old soul—an innocent thing, when Elysium is an adventurer at heart and cares to hear tales from lands of all kinds. ]

Consider it done and something to look forward to. [ He meets Sampo's gaze, a spark to it that hadn't been there before. Implicitly, this one might prove to be better than the first that had been put together haphazardly and without thought. Maybe he will finally take a look at the recipe cards. Not much of an excuse not to when you have an eidetic memory, owned entirely to a lack of motivation that per chance has flipped on its head. ]

Incidentally? I'll be looking forward to the belated birthday gift, too.

[ he hasn't forgotten and assumes it will be a thing, yeah. annoying. ]

I'm really not kidding, though! I've seen youngsters out there run miles around me. Ah, the young generation...I've never understand them....

[says a guy who looks no older than like]

[twenty-five]

Oh, I'm already looking forward to it! And....hardy har har. [He pokes the man's shoulder, as if offended, when he's anything but. A gift from this man, in exchange for a celebration of life...well delayed. Makes sense. Maybe.] You keep calling me greedy! But sure. If it was your birthday, then Sampo Koski will come up with something.

( closed ) life like the unplumbed sea;

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