Devil's Nest, Thursday, November 11, 2021

[texted3times]

Shirtless Thursday was back, and so Eric ws there in leather pants and very little else, sipping a stupidly expensive vodka and giving Tiny's sign, which offered a veterans' discount, a baleful look.

"You know half the adults here are some kind of military, right? We're going to make no money tonight."

But at least it would be pretty to look at.

The Devil's Nest was open! And slightly drafty.

[OOC: OCD free.]

Comments

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio had definitely fallen out of the habit of visiting one of his favorite establishments that fully supposed exactly his kind of dress code, but, well, they had to clear the apartment out anyway to give Prompto a little space for his "cat playdate", so this timing? Was kind of perfect, and it did not take him long to mysteriously manage to lose his shirt.

"Hey, Tiny!" he called out as he leaned on the bar. "Still got some of those Cup Noodle^TM sodas in stock?"

Please say yes! Make this day even better!

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis was more than willing to come join his roommates, so temporarily displaced from their apartment at the moment out of consideration for 'doing a bro a solid,' after his class finished for the evening, the community center still miraculously still standing and somehow not stuck helping with the cleaning until the break of the next day.

And thinking that it was rather unfortunate that he was not only not quite as willing as his compatriot to shirk his shirt for the sake of a discount, but that one was not technically a veteran when they were still currently serving in a war that had been ongoing for longer than anyone still fighting in it had even been alive...

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden had been fussing over Issa before leaving her in Prompto's care, but she knew she would be well looked after, and 'cat playdate' was a good excuse for a night at Devil's Nest with her roommates.

Leather pants was a bit quaint of course, and she wasn't about to take her shirt off, but at least there were a few pretty people to look at. Including her roommate, but at least she was used to Gladio without a shirt by now, not like it would ever be a bad thing.

She ordered a Margarita, eyeing Gladio when he asked for Cup Noodle sodas.

[1000yearstoolate]

"That sounds terrible," Seivarden said, not at all surprised. "Have you no taste?"

It was said with an amused laugh though.

[sword_chocobro]

"Depends on who you ask," Gladio countered with a smirk and an unabashed, unashamed lift of his chin. "Have you tried any of them?" he then challenged. "Tiny can mix up a pretty mean cocktail with them, you know. I'll buy you one if you're willing to try it."

[1000yearstoolate]

Seivarden made a gesture with her hand. "I'm not that desperate for free drinks. I'll just watch you drink yours."

And watch his nice arms but that was beside the point.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio just shook his head. "You don't know what you're missing," he assured Seivarden, "but your loss. That just means more for me!"

Especially since the only other person he knew that would drink them was currently busy with cats.

"Glad you were able to come out and join us tonight," he added. "We should do this more often."

[texted3times]

"He does," Eric said dryly, though not before paying Gladio's abs their due in an appreciative leer.

[texted3times]

"Ignis," Eric said, nodding. "Hello."

[texted3times]

Eric smiled. "Here for the atmosphere?" he teased.

[1000yearstoolate]

"We should," Seivarden said. "Even without the excuse of Prompto having a cat playdate. I hope they're having fun."

[sword_chocobro]

Well, Gladio didn't work out for most of the day every day just to have his abs not be leered at appreciatively!

...actually, he did, but the appreciation was a nice bonus for something he was going to do anyway.

"That's what I like to hear!" he met Eric's response with an eager grin. "How ya been, Eric? Been a hot minute."

[1000yearstoolate]

"Of course," Seivarden said, smiling back. "That and my roommate is having a playdate. Cat playdate."

[chef_chocobro]

"Eric," Ignis nodded back, feeling for a brief moment that he should apologize for his companion, but...Gladio was, surprisingly, a grown-ass man who could be held accountable for his own...terrible life decisions. "How have you been?"

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio shrugged a little. "Kind of a toss-up," he predicted. "Put that guy in front of a cute animal, he's pretty much set. Couldn't be happier. Put him in front of a cute girl, though?" The skeptical, somewhat worried look on his face said what he was not as willing to put into words. "So who knows? Kind of like an unstoppable force meeting an immoveable object situation on our hands."

[1000yearstoolate]

"He's had bad luck before?" Seivarden asked.

[sword_chocobro]

"Bad luck makes it sound like he actually manages to get past a part where luck would factor into it," Gladio said with a snort. "But I guess...the one time he did actually manage to get together with someone didn't end up so great, but...he's still just pretty green. He's learning."

[1000yearstoolate]

"That's what everyone has to do," Seivarden said. "Learn, I mean. And he has friends."

"Let's hope they have a fun evening though."

[sword_chocobro]

Yeah, well, some people had...a lot more to go than others, and when it came to basic human interactions, Prompto seemed...a bit more behind that some. But Gladio did get that there were some reaons behind that, and, well, he was a good kid. He did kind of give him kind of a hard time...

"I'm sure they will," he allowed, with a lift of his now finished Cup Noodle^TM. "They seem a good match. So let's make sure to make it a good long night out, just to be safe."

[1000yearstoolate]

"Anything we can do to help," Seivarden said, lifting her glass in return. "Are you going to have another one of those?"

[texted3times]

"Animal transformation?" Eric asked.

[texted3times]

"Nothing to complain about," Eric said. "Lucifer and I have reached détente on the bar."

Which was it looked...basically the same as it had before the summer, not that that helped Gladio.

[sword_chocobro]

"There's four different flavors," Gladio pointed out, that grin going shameless again, "so that's at least two more."

He definitely started with the classic original flavor, though, and happily.

"So," he then offered, "how've you been these days? Island treading you okay?"

[texted3times]

"Enjoying my Cup Noodle-free lifestyle," Eric said with a rueful grin at Gladio's drink. "You?"

[sword_chocobro]

"Yeah?" Gladio asked, taking a moment to glance around and get a good look at where they seemed to have settled. "So place is going to stay the same for a little bit? I was almost looking forward to seeing what was going to change up each time I came in."