11 | they should worry

[alephbet]

Characters: Aleph and you!
Setting: Floor 1, Floor 62, Floor 86
Format: Actionspam
Summary: Aleph shares a little wine that will knock the unsuspecting out. He heads up to the beach, and from there to the fairy ring floor where he has a "little" problem.
Warnings: Drinking, by minors if you.. count Aleph as a minor. Will update to include other things if they occur.

[Floor 1]
[There was a rather large bottle of wine on the table.

On close inspection, it would be labeled with simply 'Dionysus' on one side of the label. Anyone paying any attention to it would get Aleph to smile and say:]

If you promise to drink responsibly, I'll let you have some.

[Warning: alcohol made by the god of wine is delicious, but severely intoxicating.]

[Floor 62]
[It's good to be on the beach when it's warm...

Don't mind Aleph's deposited top half of his armor. It was 70 degrees and it felt great to just stretch out on the beach there.]

[Floor 86]
[Maybe he'd drank too much of the wine. There was certainly a sway in his step when he was proceeding up the stairs, enough that he stepped off onto this floor in particular.

Right into a ring of mushrooms. Should they even be allowed to grow that close to the stairs? Either way, it was too late to think of that now, as a small group of fairies appeared and surrounded him.]

What a silly man!

Coming into our ring, how mean!

[Right, he could handle this, he negotiated with spirits for a living... He started to speak.] It was an accident-

Did he bring iron into our ring?

Scary, scary, we'll have to make sure he doesn't use it!

[Well crap.

The next thing Aleph saw was a swirl of lights, and then... everything suddenly looked a whole lot bigger.

Those who enter this floor after Aleph will notice that he's about the size of somebody's hand - that is, if they look before they step onto it.]

Comments

[alephbet]

[Aleph raises his glass in return, smiling. He's not denying the accusation.]

Likewise to you.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid tips his glass again in acceptance of his words and then takes a drink of the wine. It's a sip actually--a cautious taste considering what he has been told about it. He lingers over the taste. It is very different from what he is used to, but still quite good, certainly better than anything else he has had in this place.]

I am still conscious, that is a plus.

[He laughs.]

Though, I suppose even the most powerful wine needs more than just a sip to knock someone out.

[alephbet]

If it was as powerful as that, I wouldn't need such a large bottle of it.

[Diarmuid, you're silly.]

[oathshackledbird]

Of course you would.

[Diarmuid grins at Aleph mischievously.]

It's called a disguise and it's meant to mislead so that more people underestimate how strong it is.

[alephbet]

You imply I would get people drunk without them intending to? That's not nice.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid raises an eyebrow at him.]

Not even your friends as a little good-natured trick?

[alephbet]

Too dangerous to here. Something might happen.

[oathshackledbird]

Of course, of course, not here.

[Diarmuid takes another, larger, sip of the wine in his glass.]

I was thinking more back home, but then again you were fighting there too. Perhaps it would have been too dangerous there as well.

[alephbet]

That, and I didn't have friends.

[Aleph says this matter-of-factly. Unless you count summoned demons - and they're a special case.]

[oathshackledbird]

None at all?

[Diarmuid knows that despite how old Aleph looks, he is quite young, but he had still expected him to have a few friends.]

I know the demons are a little different, but I would say they should count at least.

[alephbet]

Well, if you count them then they're my friends, but it's a little complicated there.

Besides them, there was Beth, before she died - maybe Zayin, before I had to kill him - Hiroko, who is my mother, and Lucifer, who is honestly a terrible best friend.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid winces at Aleph's words, finishing his glass of wine in one long drink.]

Sadly, complicated would be a good way to describe most of your relationships, wouldn't it?

[alephbet]

My entire life is complicated. [Aleph sighs and takes another sip of his own drink.] There's no use bemoaning it, though.

[oathshackledbird]

Especially when we could be enjoying this wonderful wine instead?

[Diarmuid tilts his now empty glass, the shine in his eyes showing that maybe it's actually starting to have an effect on him--especially after emptying his glass so quickly.]

May I have a refill?

[alephbet]

Of course you may.

[One refill for Diarmuid. Aleph's pretty pleased to see his bet on the wine is looking good.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid laughs as Aleph refills his glass. It probably helps that Diarmuid wants to get drunk at the moment. It's been a long time.]

Of course, you aren't going to deny me. You want to see me drunk, don't you?

[He takes a sip from the new glass before continuing.]

My brother will be upset I got drunk without him. Oh well...

[alephbet]

A man has a right to get drunk when he wants to. He doesn't always have to be accompanied by his brother.

At least, I think so, I've never had a brother.

[oathshackledbird]

They are good and they are bad.

[Diarmuid tips his glass back and forth gently, before taking a drink.]

I wouldn't give him up, though. Family means being there through good and bad.

In this case, though, him not being here just means more wine for us. I'm not going to argue about that...

[alephbet]

I miss Hiroko. [He doesn't like dwelling on it, but...] I wish she could have come to my wedding. I'm sure she would have wanted to be there.

[oathshackledbird]

Hiroko?

[It takes Diarmuid a moment to think about why that name sounds familiar and then it hits him.]

Would this be the same one as in the story about the love potion that Lilim told me at your wedding?

[alephbet]

Oh, she told you about that incident? [Aleph chuckles a little - it's funny every time, even if only a little.]

That's right. Hiroko is my birth mother.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid nods.]

She did. I hope that was okay. She was trying to calm me down since I was rather nervous about being at a wedding after how the last one I was at went.

[Running off with the bride is usually frowned upon for some reason, even if Diarmuid hadn't had a choice in the matter.]

Would you mind tell me more about her?

[alephbet]

It's fine with me.

[Aleph thinks for a moment.]

Hiroko was amazingly strong. Not just in combat, though she was that too. She went through so many things... To find her child, she left the Center without permission, and was punished for it by imprisonment and brainwashing. I was able to free her from that, but her parents were also brainwashed - I don't know what could be sadder than parents not recognizing their daughter when she's right in front of them.

She was able to push through that, to deal with the cause of that misery. She helped me so much throughout my journey... I owe so much to her.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid frowns. While he is happy to hear how strong she is, hearing why she is that way is heartbreaking.]

I don't understand why they would do such a thing. Why is your government so obsessed with controlling people?

[He shakes his head.]

Were you ever able to help her parents remember?

[alephbet]

No.

[Aleph is silent for a few moments before continuing.]

It all stems from God, really. If God is cruel and demands subservience to cruel orders, then people will use faith as a reason to harm others rather than to give them help. I'd never known there was kindness in religion before coming here.