Week 73, Directly After The 'Mission': A Great Time For A Drink

Hugo looked at Shinobu, Fenris, Coraline, and Stephen as the waitress bought drinks back to their table. They were doing a lot of drinking together, recently. And they had each done stupid, dangerous things to save his life. The massive agent smiled and sighed. He was moved. He was happy. He was too sober.

He was distracted, in a good mood, and had ordered the hardest, burniest alcohol for everyone. In shot glasses. On him. He grabbed a small glass between his fingers, and raised it in a toast to the assembled people around the table. "To the best friends a depersonalized person could have."

Stephen was still wearing his tactical assault armour, and had just barely managed to wedge its bulk between the seat and the table the party was sat at, though he had at least removed the helmet, which was set down on the table next to him. Fortunately the vigorous application of BioCleene had virtually eliminated the unpleasant smell of the sewers from his gear, although he was planning to disassemble his rifle and give it a thorough maintenance check and cleaning when he got home.

He picked up his shot as Hugo did and raised it along with the other agent. "Damn right we are," he declared, grinning, in answer to Hugo's toast.

Shinobu, dressed in a plain black dress with her long black ghostly hair hiding much of her face, looked more like she should be mourning - or haunting a low-paid actor - than celebrating, but now was hardly the time to go home and change, and the Biocleene had cleaned up her outfit nicely. "Yeah, to dumb luck and beauracracy!" she cheered enthusiastically, raising her glass.

Coraline took a glass and raised it to Hugo's toast. They probably didn't have to worry about being overheard since the nuke had spoken in English but she looked around just in case. She also cast a glance at her Hugo, he looked better and his fever was down but there wasn't much more she could do. Most frustrating. The petite plague doctor drank and checked her phone.

"Oh, the time!" The words were out, small and worried before she could stop them. Coraline looked up at her friends and smiled weakly. "I uh, kinda left one of my droids half assembled in the van, I really ought to put him back together." She nodded, as if to herself and courtesied to the group as a whole, somehow making it apologetic [L&A pass by 12]. Before she left though, the former plastic surgeon moved over to Hugo and spoke to him, soft and quiet.

"Hey.... I'm glad you're.... you know, safe Juicey. Let me know if your fever gets worse, alright honey?" Coraline bit her lower lip before planting a kiss just to the left of Hugo's lips. She hesitated for a moment before turning on her heel and hurrying to the door. "See you all soon, sweeties!"

Fenris was still in her matte-black combat armor, still dripping, and raised her glass cheerfully despite the stench of chemicals that surrounded the group. She knocked back her drink, and gave Hugo a playful grin. "You might want to avoid stealing your own car in the future."

She looked slightly puzzled when Coraline got up to leave, but that passed when she was given an explanation. "Well, If you've got to go... Have fun!"

"Will do!" Hugo grinned at Coraline as she left, hugging her very briefly to him by placing his hand on the small of her back. He drank as well, putting his drink down. "Hey, Fenrir, I should be COMMENDED. Not only did I steal my own car, but I changed the chiplock to open and start for me flawlessly. There wasn't a scratch on it. I'm a genuis." He laughed hugely, amused, running some fingers over the burned holes in his once fine dress shirt.

"Shit, speakin' of stealin' cars... I wonder what happened to that guy we, uh, borrowed the taxi from? Poor sonuvabitch musta shit himself." Stephen downed his shot and then pulled out his PDA, tapping away at the touchscreen. "Never did get around to payin' him, either. Well, soon as I work out who the hell he was, gonna give him one hell of a tip! Guy sure could drive." He sighed, thoughtfully. "Really oughta get my own wheels, I guess."

"I threw him all my slip. It was almost nine thousand, so.. hopefully he got it. But you could always follow up with him." Hugo looked more thoughtful as he spoke, moving his fingers to the waitress to signal that they needed another round of shots. "And I have a lot of people in Lil' Japan to apologize too. Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow." He didn't seem to upset about it, though, and he smiled at Stephen. "When it's not being confiscated, the X50 is a good model. Nice and solid. I can recommend it."

"Make sure to get something good, it's worth splashing out on. Sitting around in a cheap van in traffic waiting to try and stop Hugo turning into a cloud of Hugo-dust wasn't the most comfortable way to spend that time," Shinobu said after downing her shot and seeing the familiar "Toxin Blocked" notification in her GUI. "I have to say, seeing Seoul's ronin district for the first time made me glad I ended up with the corp rather than just driftin' around like I used to. Not really one for seeing the same old stuff everywhere I go and nowadays all sorts of stuff I wouldn't expect happens, even if that does mean the occasional trip through a sewer..."

There was a noise as the door swung open forcefully. Standing in the open doorway, clad in very expensive clothes, most notably a rather fetching padded leather jacket, stood Han, a large grin on his face. He scanned the room, looking for the group of agents.

[Presence+Looking Good roll pass by 4]

"Catch!" Shinobu called out to Han, tossing her phone over to him. On the screen was the text Good work with the legal stuff, thanks.

Han deftly snatched the phone out of the air and smirked.

"Hey, you all waded through a river of shit. I waded through a river of bureaucracy. Who can really say who had the worst job there?" He threw up his hands in mock confusion, before walking over to the table and laying the phone back down in front of Shinobu.

Hugo laughed as Han entered and motioned him to the seat next time him. "And be careful with the door, erizo! We've pissed off enough folks today as it is." The recently un-depersonalized agent gave an apologetic nod and a wave to the wait staff, signalling for more drinks. "And thank you. I'd still be crawling in shit if it wasn't for you." He gave Han a mighty clap on the back, grinning hugely and pushing a shot over to him.

"Hi!"Fenris tried to greet Han with a smile and cheer, but she was unable to meet his gaze, and quickly became interested in the bottom of her glass, staying quiet and in the background as much as possible.

Han looked puzzled at Fenris's weird behaviour, but inwardly shrugged, turning his attention back to Hugo, clapping him on the back. "Don't be daft, Hugo. You'd be dead by now. Course, I had a guy ready to meet you at the morgue, so it would have been fine." He laughed, and sat down.

Stephen swivelled to look at Han as the other agent approached the table, a serious expression overtaking his face and driving away the good-natured cheer from moments before. "Look, buddy. I don't care how many shitty call centres you had to go through - we were swimmin' through a literal river of shit and chemical run off while the goddamn Malenbrach were comin' up behind us with the intention of introducin' our asses to heavy plasma cannons or whatever the fuck else they let those nutjobs play with," he said, "which I am aware would normally be an enjoyable afternoon for my amigo here but in context there ain't no way in hell that's better than dealin' with some idiot on a phone."

Stephen paused to glare for a moment.

"And you owe me a goddamn lift."

And then he leaned back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, and the smile returned to his face.

"Okay, I'm done. So who's gonna buy their best buddy another drink?"

"Whoa, settle down buddy. I was making a joke. You know, the funny things? Despite what the WF claim, I'm pretty sure even you Fed types have those. As for the lift...well, what can I say? No plan survives first contact with the enemy, and that includes the legal system.

He paused momentarily to flag down a waitress and ask for a Large glass of Sake, before returning. "Besides, I'm a field agent by trade. Always have been, always will be if I can help it. How about this? Next time, I'll do the shit wading, and you can learn 5 flavours of hold music, deal?"

Hugo looked from Han to Stephen and laughed a little, his voice booming. He slapped Han on the back once more, then gave the Fed agent a pat on the arm. His fingers moved quickly, enough to make it seem like he was just being comforting. <<Ally: Situation Normal.>> "I'm gonna pay for everything, compadre. Whatever you guys wanna drink, where ever you guys wanna go. It's all on me." He turned back to Han, smiling, "And you did good work. Don't mind my fellow federale, but no offense, erizo, it would be hard to imagine you could have come in at a better moment than he did. Just, WHEEEEEEEKKK--" Here he was mimicking screeching tires. "--And he pulled up the exact second I needed him. It was like something out of a movie. It was amazing." <<No Back-up Required.>> He grinned happily at both of them and then at the waitress as another plate of strong smelling clear alcohol was dropped off. He grabbed another shot, and motioned for them to do the same.

"Shit, amigo, you got the taxi driver to thank for that. I was just sittin' in the backseat thinkin' 'bout guns," Stephen laughed, picking up his shot. "And yeah, uh," he went on, turning to face Han once more, "you did, you did good gettin' everything cleared up on the double like that. Sure would have been in a whole 'nother world of trouble if you hadn't. So I ain't the kind to hold a grudge over it," he said, giving a shake of his head. "And next time, we can wade through the river of shit together, and hopefully nobody will have open wounds." He seemed to feel this was a fine sentiment to drink to, and downed his shot at that moment.

Fenris had been sort of paying attention to the conversation, nodding in all the right places, but never speaking up. But now she felt up to the challenge. "Personally, I was more worried about the Malenbrach, than the shit or the wounds. Shit washes off, Malenbrach tend to be a bit more permanent." She sighed, giving Hugo an over the top exasperated look."I mean, you would have to get them set on you, wouldn't you?"

Hugo grinned in reply, having finished off a few extra shots in the time it took Fenris and Stephen to speak. "I wasn't TRYING to get Malenbrach, yeah? I mean, it just sort of happened. If you avoid the cops long enough in the CCZ, I guess you get a team of them, you know?" He didn't seem bothered or offended by Fenris' words, and his near-death experience was just funny now. "They didn't hurt half so much--I mean, thanks to you, I never eve saw them--as much as that Iolite cruiser. Fucking plasma." He ran his fingers over the burned holes in his shirt. "It's always fucking plasma."

"Nothin' but the best for you, right?" Stephen chuckled. Then he started scratching his stubble, a recognisable sign that he was pondering matters. "Good thing I gave you that shield, ain't it? You'd've been paté on the highway without that sucker, never even got to worry 'bout the Malenbrach." The scratching paused. "From now on I'm carryin' two tac shields on me at all times. Don't care how daft it looks. Close call, man." He took another shot.

Han laughed. "Sensible plan. It'll save your life, trust me. I've been carrying two around since my very first big Oracle paycheck." He turned to the waitress carrying a large tray of Sake glasses and began draining them, one by one. After the third, he turned back to the group. "I remember back when I was still with the Ai-Jinn, saving up credit by credit for one. One job with Oracle breaking into an Ai-Jinn lab and I made forty times what I needed."

He grabbed a fourth glass off the tray and raised it towards the group. "To obscene pay checks!"

Shinobu drank, sighed, and shook her head. "So do you actually, like, use your pay?" she asked Han, brushing her hair out of the way only for it to fall back in front of her eyes. "To me it's all just numbers, no idea what to do with all that."

"Oh hell, yes and no. I've more money then I know what do with, but I pay my employees obscene bonuses, and I donate fair amounts to charity. But by and large...there are very few things I can't afford out of hand." He looked down, his face suddenly shifting to very upset. "Those that I can't afford...well, they're always the most important things."