Another Day, Another Dollar (post-round mingle)

[midpointmods]

PLAYERS: Everyone!
LOCATION: Midpoint, and anywhere else people want to explore
GOAL: Time to relax after some hard-won rounds.
WARNINGS: None
OTHER: The setting post for those who want to explore

The stagecoach reaches the Ranch... and the cargo isn’t with it. A large, feathery dinosaur reaches the Ranch a little later, with only some of their cargo, having been hit mid-route and between transformations by the bandits.

“Well, we’ll take what we can get,” Lee says sourly at what’s left after the bandits’ raiding - maybe half of the empty crates. He hollers at his ranch hands, “Come get 'em, boys!” Between him and the other workers, and any of the remaining driver team able to be pressed into service (which is mostly just Groot), the crates are unloaded and stacked and filled with supplies for the next train out. Looks like they were useful, after all.

At the end of the day, Lee sends the drivers on their way back to Midpoint, and the bandits can do what they will with their portion of the cargo. Got any use for sturdy wooden crates, friends?

In Tycoon Depot, Tiffany Jamesson has spent a(n enjoyable) day and a half in hiding with Inara, Daylight, and Irene, peppering Daylight with questions and flirting demurely with Inara and Irene, presumably out of boredom. The hand-off with her father goes pretty smoothly, with only Fuwa on the outside - he might be furious, but he's not willing to interrupt and risk the target’s life in a firefight.

Exchange made, kidnappers and bodyguards are free to head back to Midpoint.

In the saloon, North has laid out a buffet of everyone’s favorite foods to choose from, with beer and wine on the house for two days only: the traditional post-round congratulations-or-consolations feast. There’s someone on the piano almost all night providing music, and extra hot water for baths whenever people finally retires to their rooms. Most Players make good use of the additional free food and drink for as long as it lasts; whether for enjoyment, self-medication, or to stave off boredom is their own call.

The dead don't remain so for long, and wake up in jail cells - the same ones they started their round at - at the edges of the game arena around the same time as the round ends, ready to be collected by friends - if there’s anyone who wants to come get them.

The next week and a half belong to the Players to do with what they please, be it sleep all day, spend their hard-earned points on more alcohol, ask lots of questions, or explore the arena. There are no events planned, nothing to steal, no one to murder (unless you really want to, anyway), and plenty of things to learn about and try to get to the bottom of, for any Players not too jaded to try and search. Good luck with that, anyway.

Oh - did you want to know if you won, or how badly you lost? Gonna have to ask North or Booker for your points totals, because there’s nobody who actually announces whether you won or lost...

Comments

[worthallthis]

"If we can find a way to stop them. I'll be there to headshot whoever's behind this shit-show. Absolutely."

Their grim expression twitches back out into something like surprise at Ryo's addition. "Uh. Yes." Which is not actually true, mostly he was just the unknown variable, and the most unexpected, and the one without a grudge that would keep him solely focused on beating Soldat into paste for a while. And while Soldat is not great at lying, in this case, they don't have to be: they're pretty sure Ryo is not going to be able to tell that's actually a lie.

[chalicejoker]

"Sounds like a plan, then." Granted, they need more of a plan than just "violently end this," but it's good to have goals.

"And no...lasting harm done," Hajime allows. Damn, but those dead infiltrations had helped. Gave him practice at pretending everything was fine for Ryo, if nothing else. It seems to be working. Ryo's stopped the threat displays, at least.

[worthallthis]

That went better than it could have, at least. Soldat has been used to the idea of dying (and coming back) for a very long time, but they know not everyone thinks that way. Very few people feel that way, really.

So they nod. And then feel awkward. What does one do now? "Do you want the beer? And the mochi?"

[chalicejoker]

Really, if it hadn't been for Hajime's infiltrations dying a few times in Synodiporia, this conversation wouldn't be anywhere near as civil.

And hey! They can both be hideously awkward! Hajime looks down at the beer and mochi like he's only just realized it's there. "Uh, sure. Thanks."

Ryo looks very disapprovingly at the beer. "Better not go pick fights after that."

[worthallthis]

"He does, he gets thrown out by North," Soldat says. "And it's only one. It'll probably be fine." Unless Hajime is some kind of extreme lightweight when it comes to alcohol. The green blood definitely suggested "not human" of some stripe, which... could mean intolerance to alcohol, they suppose.

[chalicejoker]

"Ryo," Hajime says with a sigh, "the time you're thinking of, that stuff was a lot stronger, and I had much more of it." Sure, his tolerance isn't the greatest, but he's not that much of a lightweight.

Ryo still looks very much like he is judging the both of them, really.

[worthallthis]

"Don't look at me," Soldat says, directly to Ryo, for that look. "I can't get drunk. Not without trying really, really hard. Pretty sure one beer ain't gonna do it, though."

[chalicejoker]

"I didn't think I could get drunk, either." Hajime shrugs. "But the last place we were at...let's just say I found the strongest alcohol I could possibly imagine. It did the trick more than Ryo would have liked."

Also he can absolutely get drunk off of normal alcohol and doesn't have the greatest tolerance, but an Undead ego is a hell of a thing.

[worthallthis]

"Metabolism. It's a thing they did to me, back in my own world. Burn through it too fast," Soldat explains. "Did find one thing that could do it, but I don't have that here. And haven't wanted to ask North." They're half-sure North would disapprove, and honestly, while getting absolutely off-their-ass drunk hasn't sounded all that good when living in what amounted to a hostile environment for years. Even at their lowest, it still hadn't been safe enough to lose that kind of control.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime grimaces at the 'thing they did to me' but doesn't pry. He's seen enough shit--had infiltrations go through enough shit--to know better. "Fair enough. I've only done it the one time...it's not really worth it." In the moment, sure, but the headache the morning after, that hadn't.

[worthallthis]

Yeah, you probably don't want to hear Soldat's life story, Hajime. Not fun conversation, that. "Only in extreme circumstances. When there's something that really needs forgetting for a while. That's not now. I mostly don't bother with the alcohol here. It costs, you know. And I have to buy extra food as it is."

[chalicejoker]

"Ah, you've got to be careful if you're drinking to forget." Hajime raises his glass in a mock toast. "Once you start, you can't stop, and then you end up with a little mantis calling you out on that one time for all eternity."

"For good reason," Ryo insists.

[worthallthis]

"I believe you," Soldat tells them both gravely, and holds up his own beer (having gotten two, just in case, this time) in solidarity. "Not going to be a problem now, anyway. You'll be okay here, I think." Ryo might not, but Hajime might. If he's already this comfortable with death, he'll do fine. "But if you find some way out, I've got your back for that."

[chalicejoker]

Look, Hajime will do what he has to do in order to make sure Ryo isn't too badly upset--and he's good at hiding his emotions.

He gives Soldat a nod. "Good. I'll take you up on that." Teamwork may not be his favorite thing, but he's learned its value.