Caritas, Thursday Evening

[wrongkindofsith]

The renovators had apparently been taking very long and frequent breaks because the new bar was still only half up, but having actually turned up for a shift, Cara was not to be deterred and was sitting at one of the new tables with an esky full of beers while she directed Tino to keep working on the bar.

[Open, no OCD]

Comments

[jedigrammarians]

After valiantly dodging the debt over the last few weeks, Aphra was finally being forced to pay up and get Tony that drink because that shuttle had landed in the ocean.

"Huh, usually bars only look like this after I've been in them a while."

[imafuturist]

"...and I'm sure that's not concerning at all," Tony replied, looking around at the place. "I'm suddenly so glad the previous me renovated my place."

[jedigrammarians]

"Don't tell me you're afraid of fun?" Aphra said, because bar fights were totally fun.

[imafuturist]

"A half demolished bar is fun," Tony replied wryly. "I generally like where I drink to be standing. Maybe have a ceiling of some sort. But I'm picky like that."

[jedigrammarians]

So, so picky. "There are cultures where ceilings are abominations unto the gods."

Sure, Aphra wasn't from any of them, but show some cultural sensitivity Tony.

[imafuturist]

"Are there?" He could be culturally sensitive! "My apologies. I'm awful at religion."

[jedigrammarians]

"Being bad at religion is also an abomination unto the gods." Spoiler, pretty much everything was an abomination unto the gods on those planets. Aphra tended to earn her own category when she visited.

[imafuturist]

"Should I worry they'll strike me down here?"

[jedigrammarians]

"Of course not, that's what they have followers for," Aphra said. "And I don't see any of them about."

[imafuturist]

"Kind of a terrible god if they can't do it themselves," Tony said, wrinkling his nose.

And this would be why he'd get burnt at the stake for heresy.

[jedigrammarians]

"Or great ones because they have such dedicated morons ensuring they don't have to tire themselves out." Aphra would...probably have sold him out to save her own skin.

[imafuturist]

That would in no way be shocking to him. Considering his type and all that.

"Any idiot can form a cult. They just need to buy matching, terrible uniforms."

Seriously, guys?

[jedigrammarians]

"Well, yeah." Not that Aphra had ever considered the benefits of starting her own or anything. "But a successful one requires charisma and hard work until you get those uniforms filled out by the suability gullible."

[imafuturist]

"Or luck and depending on a herd mentality." He hadn't wanted to start a cult, but he did deal with AIM and HYDRA a lot.

[jedigrammarians]

"But there's no personal loyalty when you go that route." Take it from a person whose loyalties were despite herself.

[imafuturist]

"Buy me a drink and we can discuss loyalty of potential cult members," Tony said with a laugh.

[jedigrammarians]

This was all going to end in duelling cults. You could tell. "Yo, Barkeep, two of your finest."

Or two of whatever random thing Cara threw at them out of the esky. Same diff.

[imafuturist]

She kept Tino around for a reason. Poor, poor Tino. No love for that man. It all went to Tiny at the other bar in town.

"The finest," Tony replied with a little 'ooo' of appreciation. "I guess fighting a shark filled weather system creates a bond like that."

[jedigrammarians]

Tino deserved every skerrick of disdain he got.

"It's like we're connected now." And she doubted the finest at this place was anything to write home about. Even if she was inclined to pay her tab.

Which she wasn't.

[imafuturist]

So, Tony would end up buying he own drink. Which... was par for the course.

"I see. It's all very sudden."

[jedigrammarians]

It wasn't Aphra's fault Tony couldn't read her narrative and know what he was in for.

"Well, you can't plan these kind of things." Aphra's life would be much simpler if she could.

[imafuturist]

"Shark connections. They're like a bolt of lightening from the sky." Sure. On this awful island, maybe.

[jedigrammarians]

"It's like we've been smoten by a shark god."

Smoten was a totally real word.

[imafuturist]

Tony waved that off, accepting a glass of... something alcoholic in a glass from Tino. It was clearly The Good Stuff of what was within reach. "If I was going to be smoten by a shark god, it would have been years ago."

[jedigrammarians]

Aphra also had a glass of...something. "Sounds like a story there."

[imafuturist]

"We have a guy back home who calls us all filthy surface dwellers," he replied, taking a sip of what might honestly be a mix of bottle remnants. "I'm pretty sure he can to to sharks."

[jedigrammarians]

Aphra was very grateful for her pocket poison tester, at least she knew her was survivable. "That's more like being smoten with a shark than by one."

[imafuturist]

Tony just had shitty luck on his side.

"...fair point. Either way, death via shark."

[jedigrammarians]

There was a difference between survivable and palatable. "Maybe the real shark death was the friends we made along the way?"

[imafuturist]

Tony laughed at that like it was surprised out of him. "Awww. I think there should be a little rainbow overhead for this PSA."

[jedigrammarians]

"Friendship, it's like a deadly shark attack in a way."

There was a reason Aphra didn't have many friends.

[imafuturist]

"Sudden and debilitating?" His friends were people in ridiculous costumes, so...

[jedigrammarians]

"Also liable to result in missing limbs."

Wookiees and murderdroids.

[imafuturist]

"I want to refute that, but I don't think I can."

For the same reasons as he had above.

[jedigrammarians]

"...we have some terrible friends."

Were, Aphra, you were a terrible friend.

[imafuturist]

"Like calls to like," Tony replied, sipping his probably not poison, but hey he had a high physical tolerance to these rhings... drink.

[jedigrammarians]

"Do you think normal people have less murderfriends?"

[imafuturist]

"Probably?" They really weren't the right people to ask about what was normal here. "Or they get out before the whole thing gets weird?"

Look, he made friends with employees and people equally messed up as him.