Worldly Brethren [Laguna]

[Remus Irving]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/21bod1f.jpg] "A real man doesn't poison himself with the taints of the world, my boy. Never drink, never smoke, and never lose your gentlemanly way of speaking." Many times Remus Eli Irving would think about that advice that his father gave him when he was young and wonder if he ever taught his son the same thing. Whatever he had taught his boy, Eli was rather certain it wasn't still with him. "Music be damned," Eli uttered softly to himself with a large sigh. The more he thought about those things the more he wanted to be rid of his thoughts all together. Raeburn, Eli's father, had never spend much time with him so it made sense that they were never very close. What didn't make sense to Eli was how, even though he had tried so hard to be there for his son Riley, the boy still grew distant. As far as Eli knew his father wasn't close to his grandfather either. "That's one hell of a family legacy to leave behind. Distant father to son relationships," Eli grumbled as he walked into the Simplistic Medley, "Shoulda had a little girl, I swear." The reason the train of thought came up in the first place was because Eli felt like he was doing things that would disgrace his father and the Irving name. Apparently no Irving alive felt a desire to drink, which was funny to Eli since they weren't close but they still prided themselves on something as foolish as not picking up a drink. Today though would be the day that Eli had his first rebellious phase since he left home as a kid. "Can I get a beer?" Eli asked with a big grin. Settling in at the counter like that, ordering a drink, really felt good. Even though he was an old man with no family he knew one thing, and that was that he could drink himself silly if he so pleased. A few drinks might loosen him up and then he wouldn't have to think about all of his problems anymore, which was why Eli heard other people drank. It was hard to tell if that was the case for everyone as he looked around the bar, but that was mostly because almost everyone in Bass district looked like they had sticks up their asses all the time. Serious expressions and pained ones seemed pretty close in Eli's mind though, so even if the people had clear cut serious or sad expressions he might not realize the difference. Seeing a few utterly drunk individuals playing and laughing and yelling was pretty entertaining to Eli. When the beer came Eli thanked the bar tender and took the mug into his hands, admiring how the glass was chilled. "Here goes nothing," The man mumbled to himself with a grin of defiance as he took his first drink. Foam clinging to his lip, Eli looked at the golden beer with a slight frown. Certainly being as cold as it was in a chilled glass made a difference, but Eli couldn't tell why men went on about drinking like they did. It wasn't back, just didn't live up to what Eli thought it would be like. So caught up in trying to understand the appeal of beer and alcohol in general, Eli didn't really notice his surroundings anymore. His deep stare remained fixed on the frothy drink while his mind tried to work out the inconsistencies. Maybe if he just drank more... Eli thought as he took another long drink.

[Laguna Loire]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/21bod1f.jpg] It wasn't as if Laguna chose to spend all of his time that day at the bar, but he knew he was too drunk to trust himself to toddle off towards home. While more drinking wasn't going to be the solution to his problem he couldn't really help himself. Thoughts were piling up here and there and drinking a little was a bit easier than dealing with them. It was a foolish way of doing things, but men were entitled to their folly. Hours passed like minutes and Laguna was finally starting to sober up. The same drink he'd been sipping on for half an hour was mostly full, as the man was now occupying himself by looking over the dank bar's crowd. Most of the people there were pick pockets, cons, or mercenaries and those were the worst kind of people to see drinking together. Mercenaries were especially bad news when they got a few too many in their system, but there was no way you could just keep them out of the bar. That plan might have backfired worse than just letting the guys drink a little. After a short time though there arrived someone who did not belong in the slightest. Bright friendly eyes with messy brown hair, Laguna thought perhaps he knew the man. Trying to sort through names and faces while recovering from drinking a little too much though was like trying to grasp a wet bar of soap with all your might. The thing just kept slipping away as soon as Laguna wrapped his hands around it. Laguna kept his gaze on the brown haired man just thinking that his name was going to swim into his head any moment. Just looking at the way the man strode over to the counter and ordered a beer was a bit perplexing to Laguna. Somehow the expression that the man had really reminded Laguna of a defiant young boy. Taking a sip, he continued to stare rather shamelessly as his mind tried to fit together some puzzle pieces. It got a little more amusing to Laguna the instant that the man got his drink and brought it up to his lips. 'Oh he's never drank before!' Laguna thought with a slight grin. It would certainly explain why he looked like a devious child, since as a kid you're told many times by your parents what to do and what not to do. You were never too old to really enjoy a little "rule breaking" by doing things your parents never wanted you to. Laguna remembered what it was like when he first joined the military, which wasn't exactly against the rules but was still his own little form of rebellion. But he didn't know what it was like setting the rules. The thought brought Laguna back to his troubles for a moment as he really recalled the family he once had. Missing out on raising his family with Raine was one of Laguna's biggest regrets in life. He scolded himself for getting back to such sad thoughts just as he was sobering and decided he had better things to do. Standing with his beer in hand, Laguna walked over to the brown haired man and sat down beside him. There was a big smile on the elder man's face as he said, "Doesn't look like you've ever drank a beer before. Some of the other guys in this place might tease you about something like that but I think it's pretty admirable honestly." Laguna tried not to be too intrusive, but he really wanted to know just who exactly the man was and sitting on the other side of the bar wasn't going to help him figure it out.

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[Remus Irving]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/21bod1f.jpg] Taking a few more deep drinks of the beer helped Eli come a little closer to understanding the appeal. Even if the taste wasn't the best, which could just have been the specific beer and not all beer in general, it made him feel a little lighter. Not weight lighter of course, but thoughts airier and fewer between. It must have been nice once you got to the point that serious things didn't matter. Thinking that brought a somewhat wistful smile to Eli's face. Irvings were a proud group of men who didn't drink. Was it really because drinking was so horrible, or was it because most Irving men were actually strong enough to handle all of their problems? Eli couldn't say he knew for sure, but he would like to imagine it was the latter. Raeburn always was an unflinchingly proud man and Eli couldn't really think of his father any other way. It severely startled Eli when he heard the voice beside him, almost enough for him to spill his beer. The only thing that prevented him from spilling it, he realized, was the fact that he had drank most of it already. Eli was somewhat mystified by how quickly the liquid went as he turned his attention to the man who had settled in beside him. Longer dark brown hair and warm friendly eyes. "A-Ah first time." Eli was a little embarrassed that it was that obvious, but he put on a big grin and let out a soft laugh. Holding his mug close he let off a few more awkward chuckles before he could say anything more. "Yeah, as much as people around here may tease me I never have picked up a drink before this. My pop was pretty against it when I was growing up so I guess it really stuck with me for some reason." He looked back to his drink and quickly downed the rest of it. Taking a few moments to really think about it, Eli decided he wouldn't have another drink just yet. There was something about pacing yourself that the man knew he needed to keep with him. One lesson, perhaps not from his father directly, that he couldn't throw out the window during this particular rebellious phase unless he wanted to lose control of himself in Bass District. Passing out in the bar and making a true ass of himself just wasn't in the cards this time. "It's nice to hear that you think it's sort of admirable, but why do you think that?" Eli asked with a wry smile. It wasn't like most people to actually think such a think was impressive by any means, so it was pretty evident to Eli that this man was different. Nice even. Finding an honest nice person in Bass was pretty hard usually and there was still that chance that this guy was just another con, but there was something about the look in his eyes... "How rude of me though. Before you answer that let me introduce myself," Eli started, turning slightly in his seat. "My name is Eli Irving of Sanctuary. Tier Two Muse as I would formally be introduced. Just between me and you though, I'm not too big on those formalities."

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[Laguna Loire]

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[atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/21bod1f.jpg] Laguna did feel a little bad about startling the man as he came up, but it probably wasn't his fault. With how intensely he seemed to be focusing on that drink he probably lost all sense of surrounding. If that was the case then Laguna did the man a pretty big favor by snapping him out of it. No one should lose focus when they were alone in Bass. But that aside, the man looked and seemed even more familiar from so close up. Even his voice set off something in Laguna's mind. That first little utterance from the other man was enough to remind Laguna that he had heard the voice before and the familiarity plucking at the back of his mind wasn't for no reason. While he couldn't identify where he originally heard the voice (god getting old sure was a bitch) it was still nice to know for certain that he heard the man before. The way that the man chuckled reminded Laguna of the way that he could chuckle from time to time. One thing the men had in common. As the man continued to speak, Laguna remembered where it was he had heard the voice, but not the exact situation. Surely that would come next. But it was in the Sanctuary and a few muses were there too he thought. "Oh why?" Laguna repeated while looking over to the man. It was a little funny after he looked back on the situation since the other man he was with had done the exact same thing in the same way when he first walked over. From someone else's perspective the two men might look quite similar. Though Laguna's hair was darker and his eyes were blue, the two men shared a certain personality or situation related similarity that made them seem peculiarly close. Laguna scratched at his chin as he thought, trying to come up with the best way to answer the question that was asked of him. Just about ready to sputter something out, Laguna was a little surprised to be stopped by an introduction. 'Aha! That's why he seemed so familiar

[/color]!' The name and title flared recognition through him and he couldn't contain the slight grin. Tier two muse of Sanctuary, so of course Laguna had at least seen him in passing once or twice. Laguna had also heard quite a few things about the man though, most of which he wrote off as rumor. Eli was said to be almost as out there as Theo, which was certainly saying something.

"It's quite a pleasure to meet you Eli. I've heard quite a bit about you around Sanctuary. My name is Laguna Loire and I'm a Tier Seven student," He replied warmly. A few other rumors that Laguna heard related to Eli's once-family. People said his son left him after his wife died, but Laguna wasn't sure how much truth there was to such a thing. Perhaps more than he thought since a man who had never drank before was sitting before him with a glass he drank far too quickly.

That wasn't really any of his business, but even if it was he certainly couldn't judge Eli for doing such a thing. What he was doing wasn't any different. "There's something about alcohol that brings out unsavory things in people when they drink too much. More so when a man gets addicted," Laguna started thoughtfully, "It's nice to see that not everyone was pressured into drinking while they were young. You're quite admirable in that way. Make sense?"[/justify][/size][/blockquote][/td][/tr][tr][td][/td][/tr][/table][/center]