(open) there's got to be a morning after;

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and anyone else who really needs a beer right now
Where: The bar
When: August 9th, during that very still period between the end of the event and the return of everyone's powers.
Rating: PG-13, will note if anything escalates
Summary: Everyone got to live different lives and be different people! And then they woke up with the realization that they might have said or done some things that maybe shouldn't have happened. Beer is the solution to this problem. Come commiserate.
The Story:


[People talked about it, of course. They mentioned that events could change more than just parts of the mansion. But this was the first time Fitz had the chance to experience it. He'd lived an entirely different life, and it was... Pathetic. He'd become a person so steeped in published dogma that he lost track of common sense and self-awareness. He let people perform atrocities on him, all because he "knew" he was adhering to science.

And ever since waking up with his true memories restored, he's felt absolutely sick about it.

He settles down at the bar at just before noon, nursing a beer and brooding. He's not an expert drinker, and lets the beverage sit long enough for condensation to bead along the exterior of the glass between sips. But the sips do come eventually. How else is he going to wash away an alternate lifetime's worth of horrible choices?

Occasionally, he'll glance to whomever's settled down nearby, seeking comfort in shared misery.]

If I never hear the word "mutant" again it'll be too soon, yeah?

[This might be the most social he's been in the four months since his arrival.]

Comments

[rosswood]

[Alex has been here since morning. He didn't think he'd be one to sink back to the habit after he returned here in the first place. He didn't think anything could catapult him back to this, back to plunging uncertainty and fear and doubt.

He'd thought wrong.

If he'd felt like everything he did was justified then, what does that mean for him -

No. The two are completely different.

Alex is on his fourth beer and is no closer to achieving clarity. He looks to Fitz wearily.]

Jesus. Whoever's event that was, I kinda wanna strangle 'em.

[hypoxic]

I think it might do well to consider the opposite.

[He tries to smile, but it only weakly creases his face.]

Someone has to live in that world. It's more than a week for them.

[He raises his drink in a distant cheers.]

[rosswood]

[Alex takes a swing from his beer in solidarity. God but he feels exhausted. It was a damn miracle he didn't kick the bucket during that whole business, but he's not sure if the end result is much better.]

So. What were you, then? Human? Mutant? Resistance? Whatever the fuck?

[hypoxic]

Human. [He scoffs bitterly.] Worshiped every bloody word of that announcement the Queen made. It was disgusting. You?

[hyperkinesia]

[ Aside from this one, the greatest change Bruce has seen during an event was the one where genders got swapped, and that... well, let's say he'd have gladly chosen to turn into a woman again instead of living through the event they've just had. The setting itself and the tension between the two factions in that alternate timeline were bad enough as they were, but Bruce also has his own very personal reasons to be here right now, even though the bar is the last place he'd normally be found at.

Being free of the Hulk, which he assumes is a temporary thing, at least gives him some breathing room in this aspect. He doesn't have to worry about keeping himself tightly under control, and while he can't know when he'll have his condition returned to him, he'll risk it. He dislikes alcohol on principle but he seriously needs a break right now.

So, a drink it is. Not beer since he's always found that a little bitter, but he asks for a glass of cream liqueur instead. Sweet, and the taste of the alcohol, if he remembers right, not too strong.

He's just taking a seat by the bar when a familiar voice comes up a couple of seats away, and he glances over. ]

Right. Tell me about it. [ It's rhetorical, don't tell him about it. ]

[hypoxic]

[Fitz hadn't been particularly bothered by swapping genders. The last several weeks have been a blur of duties and tasks, and the stream of activity continued regardless of his shape. Obsessions help with sundry tasks like those.

Nothing helps with forgetting everything important and turning into something that disgusts him.]

Hadn't thought I'd see you here, Doctor Banner. Is it... okay?

[Given his condition and all, he means.]

[hyperkinesia]

[ Bruce shrugs like he wouldn't care even if it weren't okay, although he really would. He wouldn't be here if he thought there was any risk at all that he'd lose control.

Alright fine, he could get the Hulk back at any moment, so there's a very small risk. But it's really very small. ]

I don't have it— my... ability. Condition. Whatever you wanna call it. [ He grabs his glass and takes a long sip from it, wincing slightly at the unusual sting of alcohol. ] A side-effect from the event, I'm sure.

[catchacold]

Cheers.

[That beer you're nursing, Fitz? It's not enough. Instead Len puts a small shot glass with a clear liquid inside in front of him as he sits down, Fitz's drink wisely not on the rocks, while his own has a lot of liquid, but also a lot of ice. He likes it cold, even without being a mutant.]

To that shit being over.

[hypoxic]

[Shots? Okay. He can Shots. It doesn't even matter that it's too early. Wonderland. Magic. Everything that Science spits on. What rules even apply anymore? Should any?

He's just going to raise the little glass and pound it down. Maybe that'll quell the horrible internal discourse.]

Cheers.

[catchacold]

[Not too surprisingly, Len has a bottle. A bottle he gladly uses to fill Fitz's glass back up.]

Let's get the worst out of the way, kid. You knew Sno-- Caitlin before this?

[blackbirdsing]

[Sarah's been sort of numb through the rest of the event, quiet, not sure what to do with herself. She can't help Kurt, she can't help Jane. She didn't even do anything during the event - she wasn't anyone. She found Jane's body, and that was it. That'd been all she was good for. Hadn't saved her, hadn't gotten there in time. Just. Found her. Lying in a pool of blood, eyes wide open, vacant.

That's what she sees every time she closes her eyes, so she doesn't when she can help it. She finds herself at the bar around ten in the morning, and when someone sits beside her, she's already been drinking, downing her fifth whiskey, asking for another. But she still feels too sober and adjusts to a double. Drinking to cope; that was her father's game, and she doesn't want to be anything like him, but she doesn't know what else to do right now.

Glancing over, she lets out a breath that isn't quite a laugh. Just an acknowledgment.]

I haven't even been here long enough to know yet if the events are more this and less Halloween monsters and sleeping curses, or if something this fucked up only happens once in a while.

[hypoxic]

Bit of a grab bag, I'd say.

[Oh, yes, that whiskey might do the kind of damage he suspects he might need. He probably ought to warm up first, but it sets a reasonable goalpost for later.]

This is the first one that's been that strong, though. They don't normally go all the way to pull you out of yourself.

[blackbirdsing]

I don't even think I was that different. I don't even know why I'm here to begin with. I don't...do anything, I don't have any insane life that this place could use to spice things up.

Unless you all want to know what it's like to be the single parent of a nine year old, I don't have anything to offer.

[And that's probably good, but she also doesn't get it. Everyone's something here. Everyone's either a part of something, or their world is screwed up, and she's not saying she wants that. She just doesn't get why she's here in the mix.]

[radiopalkiller]

[ There is one bright side to all of this, exactly one: In the aftermath of the event Philip's abilities are gone. All of them. For the first time in years he can finally get drunk on a reasonable amount of booze! And Christ, is he gonna need to.

It's not really surprising that more people had the same idea. It's a bit unfortunate that a particular one of them catches his eye at the bar- for just a fleeting second too long to ignore. Philip shudders internally, and scribbles down a quick thing into his notebook.

He tears off the piece of paper, and slides it across the counter, pinned underneath a cool bottle of beer. ]

Is "Hey, let me get you a 'sorry for almost trying to liquify your insides in some bizarre eugenics science program' pint" too flippant?

[hypoxic]

[He knows that face. Boy, does he know that face. That was the face that haunted the last wisp of memory from that horrible place, the most recent jailer in an imagined life of subjugation.

But Fitz isn't that man anymore. And neither is he. He nods to the note, and raises the beer appreciatively. All can be forgiven if he wants it to be.

He gestures to the stool beside him. They might need to have a conversation about things. Talking is healing, right? That's what people always seem to say.]

[radiopalkiller]

[ Oh boy, has Philip got bad news on that front. Because without his abilities talking can only happen in a much looser sense of the word.

He joins Fitz on the stool, anyway, with another note in tow: ]

That telepathy thing? Not an event exclusive. And currently out of order.

[ The scar on his neck may be gone, but so is his voice. A different background story for its disappearance, sure, but the silence is just as uncomfortable now. He takes an awkward drink from his beer. ]

[eyething]

[Damon has two glasses in front of him. One of these glasses is alcohol. The other glass is blood, and he drinks from both in equal measure like it might make him feel better, but being without powers is hard. It's very, very hard.

He looks over at the person who speaks even as he grimaces]

Yeah. If we could get all the way on the other side of this event and have everything be normal again...

That'd be great.

[hypoxic]

[He doesn't identify the glass of blood for what it is; it could easily just be someone caught between choosing brandy or a bloody mary. Why settle for one when one can have both? It makes sense. It's also the particularly human explanation, which makes it the far superior one over having to consider the alternative.]

Shall I take it you're had some powers removed that have yet to be restored? I'm sure they'll come back soon enough.

[If nothing else, Wonderland does seem to love its status quo.]

[eyething]

I've had them all removed. It's annoying.

[It may be putting it lightly because it is hard to pick up the glass of bourbon in front of him. He grimaces at himself. Being made so incredibly weak after having over a hundred years of super strength, it's not easy to adjust to.]

Y'know, if we took a shot for every time someone said mutant, we'd be drunk as hell in no time.

[and hey, without Damon's super healing, he might actually be able to get drunk without downing a whole bottle in record time.]

[widows_kiss]

[ Natasha overhears the sentiment as she saunters in behind him. Unlike most of the people she's passed today, she's looking cool and poised and professional, but there's a deliberateness in the careful distance she's keeping today that is as much a defensive measure for herself as it might be for anyone else around her.

This most recent event had been a doozy for pretty much everyone involved, no matter which side of the conflict they'd fallen on. The things she'd said, the things she'd done... Well. It could have been worse, she can acknowledge that, but that didn't always make it better.

She slides onto a stool beside him, orders a drink, and promptly downs it in one abrupt swallow before glancing over at him. ]

Are you alright?

[ She'd heard things about Fitz, after all. She'd heard things about a lot of people. ]

[hypoxic]

[What she'd heard probably depended on how much attention she paid to worms. Fitz had been fairly invisible, he'd thought, but he'd also been the sort of toadying creature that went out of his way to report some of the more dangerous humans to the authorities.

All because he could find science to confirm the local biases. Hmph.

He looks up at Natasha, who'd at least managed to retain her fierceness and edge throughout the ordeal. He remembered seeing her sometimes, when he'd go to watch reeducation sessions. Absolutely abhorrent.]

I'm fine.

[He's not fine. Nothing will ever be fine again.]

You're all in one piece as well, I hope?

[widows_kiss]

Looks like it.

[ Her answer is blunt and to the point as she orders another drink, then angles herself towards Fitz to study him in the meantime. He's still fairly easy for her to read, especially now that she's becoming more familiar with his tells, and it's plain to see how much that was a lie, but she searches his face for a moment all the same. ]

Is being 'fine' the reason you're in here getting drunk too?

[therapize]

I'm guessing things went pretty badly for you?

[Probably, given his presence. Cami can't remember seeing Fitz around before, and the way he's ever so slowly sipping at his beer speaks to an inexperienced drinker. She can't even pretend she's hovering around because his glass is low, so screw it. The comment invites conversation, so she'll bite.]

So which side of the coin were you on?

[hypoxic]

Things went.

[Huh. Bartenders who really are invested in their patrons' affairs? That's just like the kind of thing you'd see on American TV! He'd be excited about this on any other day.]

I was a human, but that's not particularly remarkable now, is it?

[therapize]

[Poor Fitz. He has no idea how much of a sterotype Cami is. She's not only interested, she's got an actual license in professional listening.]

I wouldn't say that. On pretty much any other day, I'm the human who ends up surrounded by supernatural creatures with impossible powers.

[And that's in a world where most people believe the supernatural only exists as part of fiction. She leans against the bar, offering Fitz a sympathetic grin.]

Being a human in that world wasn't exactly easy.