Pictures of last night ended up online, I'm screwed

[ofmyth]

WHO: Thor (ofmyth), Loki (selfimage), a bunch of booze, and everyone!
WHERE: Safehouse 2.0
WHEN: Late afternoon, evening, night on the 28th.
WHAT: Some people took down the monster, some people kept the group safe, some people snuck off to steal booze. They can all celebrate together.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: This is a post-event mingle! Loki stole a bunch of alcohol and Thor is going to make sure everyone gets some. Debrief, have fun, get wreckt, prepare for tfln the next morning.
Tag your own/check individual threads for specific warnings.

[When Loki hears the news of the Godzilla's demise, it takes a moment to sink in. There were doubts when a handful of the refugees wanted to run out and play hero, especially with their lack of abilities (for those who had them). He expected Thor to come back content on his involvement at best, broken and nursing his own failure, at worst. This? This is better than the best, and it's worthy of celebration. I's hard not to be pleased, hard not to congratulate; it's Thor's victory post the fall of Asgard, and Loki's sure that he's reveling in it.

Then, comes the booze: all different bottle shapes and sizes, some dark with lighter liquid, others opaque filled with something that has a more amber tint. It's unloaded carefully by all of them, messily lined up on the frames of one of the cots..

Thor looks to be almost a different creature than the moping, sullen thing he'd been since they arrived in the safehouse. Getting to his feet he stands taller, shoulders held back, a bright look in his eyes. Loki backs him up, tinking a metal spoon against one of the bottles to get everyone's attention. As Thor speaks he looks around the room, seeking out the eyes of everyone present.]

Seven days ago we were strangers. We were brought into an underground bunker, unsure of who we were and how we had come here. Some were angry, some afraid, others unsure. It's thanks to the aid and kindness of Gaby and El that we survived at all, here in this foreign city. Today, we have proven we will not merely surivive here.

[Thor hasn't met everyone here, but that's ultimately not the point. In his mind they are in this together, for better or worse. There is a 'we' who celebrate together now just as much as there is a 'they' who are responsible for their being here.]

Today we have repaid Gaby her kindness. Today we have protected not only her people here in the safehouse, but the people of the city. Today we have proved our strength to ourselves, to the city, to any who are watching us. Today, we set fear in the heart of our captor. [He seems to relish that last one most of all.]

Seven days ago we had little to celebrate. Today we raise a toast—[Up goes his bottle, held high and triumphant.] To us! To what we have done today! To victory!

[Loki chimes in, shaking the little bottle in his hand.] To New Amsterdam!

[Thor's arm is held high while others raise their drinks, then Thor upends his to drain it in a long pull.]

Comments

[persists]

[ LORD. Stop being the resident eye candy. ]

It is. But, I'm feeling particularly selfish since arriving — mainly because I don't think it is selfish to focus on getting some answers.

[ Yet... as Keith frowns, she feels a bit... well, wrong? There's a tension there as she chews his words. She wouldn't disrespect him and oppose, to try and change his view, so she sits there a bit quieter than you'd anticipate. ]

So how do you suggest we face the new day?

[secondnature]

Well, uh—

[Not the best of starts, but she had gone on about being selfish and Keith doesn't think that's what she's doing at all. Getting off on an awkward foot is only fair.]

—finding out what happened to all of us isn't selfish. We all lost people by coming here. Even if you're only thinking of yourself, you know you can't do that alone.

[Wait.]

Right?

[persists]

[ And.

She stays painfully quiet when he tries to confirm that she isn't as stupid to try and carry her own burdens alone.

Except.

She is. ]

Look —

[ Her words fail her and she gives a shake of her head. ]

I'm trying to keep my own problems out of this, but I won't do anything to risk someone else being hurt on my accord. However I stick my nose into things... I have to be careful to ensure no one gets wrapped up in it.

[secondnature]

That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. [Soft to less soft, though the edge in his voice isn't quite as prominent. Yet. Keith doesn't see any reason to be agitated with her. Still, her point is pretty dumb.

Like very dumb, actually.]

Why would you do that alone when we all have the same goal? That means you're not even using the resources available.

[He should have figured she was as dumb as three years younger him, and yet ...]

[persists]

Hey!

[ She takes offense to that. She's heard some stupid things in her time — this one was fairly straight-forward. He words it less mushy than she anticipates — he speaks tactically. There's a tension growing in her face. ]

Because people get hurt trying to help me — I have a track record with such thing and when I finally think things are better — no, different...

[ She thinks about the people who helped get her out of the vehicle in general. Her shoulders slump slightly. ]

...I know it's ridiculous.

[secondnature]

I've pushed people away because of that track record. [Keith doesn't give details. There's no point right now. The point is: he gets it. So, that's what he's saying. He gets it.]

I don't do that anymore. It's stupid, and it's just the kind of thing that could get you killed.

[persists]

[ He gets it, but he's also stepped outside of his head. Ciri wants to think she is better than holding onto selfish little thought like that — how she knows people are there for her and... anything bad that happens isn't her fault. But some skeletons are hard to stuff into a closet.

Keith can pick up on the way her bottom lip twitches, how one hand goes up to cover her mouth as she tries to keep herself a bit more composed. ]

It's stupid. [ She repeats. She has to repeat it. ] It doesn't stop my mind from going there. Not when people go out of their way to protect me.

[ She feels pity for anyone who does. ]

I'll be better prepared next time — when I can get a weapon I can properly wield.

[secondnature]

[There was a time when he had to be forcibly dragged out of his head by his mother. Seeing the past between his mother and father made him believe that she left him because she had a mission to complete. She had to fight the Galra from the inside. His answer upon seeing that was about as straightforward as someone might expect: "you went back because you had to be there for your mission." And she had made it clear to him: that she did it to protect him. To keep them away from her son.

She had no way of knowing that Keith's father would die. She had no way of knowing that his father would be just as reckless as her, or as Keith himself. How could she?

But he learned. He realized that sometimes people do things because it's just good. Because they have to. And sometimes they do it because they innately care for someone, but don't have a way of saying that until it's far too late.

He doesn't know where Ciri stands on it. He can't ask, or offer her the comfort she needs. He's no good at that.]

Look ... I'm not the one who's gonna change your mind on that. [That's the way it is, hands down.] I'm not a part of—uh. Your life. [Obviously.]

But just ... think about how you can benefit from us until you can get someone like that. It might help.

[persists]

[ There's a lot of mixed emotions and feelings on lineage, so if Keith were to open up — hers would be straight forward: tear the world down for your family if need be. She wants to be strong for Geralt and Yennefer, herself secondary. Despite how Yennefer was abrasive and rude and Geralt detached... she was theres. She wanted to keep going to find answers that will lead her back to them.

She doesn't want to run any longer, not now. So she adjusts, trying to find a balance between her own selfish desires and her selfless nature. ]

You don't need to give me a lecture, you know. Unless you plan on quizzing me shortly after. I'm fairly good at tests, as a warning.

[ It's a classic deflection. She does weigh his words, but she tries to shrug it off. Force a smile and not kill a mood. ]

[secondnature]

I'm not trying to lecture you. [Short and succinct. Keith hates being spoken to like he doesn't know the stakes behind a situation. Most of his life has been spent trying to head off those moments. He's just trying to ... remind her.]

And I don't want you to just—tell me what I want to hear, okay? I've just—I've been in your shoes. That's all.

[He frowns. If only he drank at this stupid thing, then he wouldn't be as mad. Probably.

Who knows what drunk Keith is like, other than a little red cheeked and sleepy. Apparently. Which he isn't right now.]

[persists]

[ Her eyes are focused on him, flicking every so often back and forth as if she's studying him. A twitch of his lips, furrow of his brow, flush of red on his face — anything she can use to size him up. Get to know more about why he presents himself as such.

His words do a fair enough job, but she's use to taking the harder route. People aren't as they seem. ]

I won't be throwing myself into trouble. Not when there's things at stake. You have my word on that.

[secondnature]

All right. [That still feels a lot like she's telling him what he wants to hear. His arms cross, as if tossing up a wall because he doesn't know how to act here. Coming across someone who copes like him is strange. She's the one who threw bricks at his walls in the first place.

That was at the start of this.

Keith has no choice but to trust her, though.]

Thanks. [He tries to sound like he believes her. He only partially succeeds, but he's trying.]

[persists]

You don't need to thank me. I mean it. Before I woke up here, I lost someone precious to me by foolish choices centered around my arrogance.

[ She offers a smile, as if trying to deal with her own ghosts and how they haunt her. That person's last words was how unruly she was growing up — how they loved that about her. Her guilt weighs a bit more than she'd like to admit. ]

I want to blend in and pretend I'm normal for even one night. I'll keep any trouble to a minimum if it grants me that.

[secondnature]

Do you ... want to go be normal, then? [Keith looks around, knowing that this just turned into quite the heavy conversation for two people to have out of nowhere. That's not what he was aiming for, but he doesn't know what he was aiming for in the first place.]

I, uh. I won't keep you.

[Plus, "normal" is hard for Keith.]

[persists]

Do you?

[ Without a second to spare, she flips the conversation right onto him. Regardless of how heavy it was, she offers companionship with a curious twist of her lips upwards. The glint of challenge in her eye, she isn't sure on what she's going to do tonight — be it stupid or selfish, but it'll be enough to get her through another day, fortunately. ]

We can be normal together, I'd say.

[secondnature]

I—wouldn't know where to begin. [Hence having a serious Leader Talk in the middle of a party. He looks at her drink and shakes his head. That's definitely not where he's beginning.]

I'm just happy that we beat the thing. That's enough for me.

[persists]

Make a few mistakes — but... we can save that for another time.

[ Her eyes narrow, trying to pinpoint where he's coming from. He seems hesitant, she won't blame him or push. There's a weak-willed smile on her end, as if she wants to just... not think for a while. Not worry. ]

That's relief enough, you're right. One less thing to worry about.

[secondnature]

Go on. You can make mistakes. I can be there to clean up after you if you want.

[It'd be easier if the other paladins were there, but even that's just a "maybe." He'd been gone from them for so long that falling back into ranks with them would be difficult.]