milliways_bar | (no subject)

A scientific experiment of the highest order is in progress. One which includes raspberry fudge, brie and crackers, and several different wines. Autor plans to get tipsy today, and he'll do it in style.

He'll also do it with help. Autor endures light ribbing by Sunshine, who has promised to stay with him and make sure he doesn't do anything foolish while even slightly inebriated--a serious concern of his, especially with a sprained ankle. She's keeping to tea today, just in case.

Autor raises a glass, his cheeks already tingling. He swirls the wine, as he has seen done before. Then he holds it up to his nose and takes a deep breath. "Ah, yes. This clean, buttery wine has a heady bouquet with oak notes, and a spicy aroma of vanilla and currant," he says, and takes a sip. "Sadly, it is broad--it has a full body aroma, but lacks any finesse to its taste."

Rae grins, sipping her tea. "Try harder not to sound like you memorized the book, Autor."

[OOC: Two pups, two muns! All threads will come after Rae and Autor's, when the boy is already tipsy.]

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And Autor will gladly keep giving them, pulling the shell into his lap to cuddle and cooing softly. He might be indisposed for a few moments.

Then he sits up straight. "Enzo! Enzo, we need to tell Rae all about the band! Oh, my gosh, she's my best friend and I haven't even told her one little bit about it. What a travesty."

Rae orders for them all - with water for Autor, as boring as it might be - then straightens as the waitrat scurries off towards the kitchens.

"Band? What band is this?"

"Oh, yeah, we've got one now. Us and Duster. We're called Temporal Anomalies, no 'the'. We're still kind of working out our sound, and we still need a drummer, but it's going pretty well so far."

"Oh, Shiva wept!" Autor says, slapping a palm onto his forehead. "I was meant to advertise for a drummer and I completely forgot to do so, I'm so sorry! I promise never to make that mistake again. Please forgive me."

Then his mood switches, from plaintive to shy, as he turns to Rae. "I'd really like it if you could come hear us play. We're good at Bach."

Edited 2014-10-28 04:30 (UTC)

"You know I wouldn't miss it," Rae assures Autor.

"There are plenty of musicians who frequent the bar, but I don't know of any drummers, or I would suggest someone."

Enzo nods in agreement with Rae; he can't think of anyone either.

"I forgive you; we're not on a schedule. If you want to make it up to me…" He points at the piano. "Go play something. I want to see if you can right now."

"I accept your challenge and look forward to reveling in your defeat," the cocky boy says. Autor stands immediately, gripping the table when he sways. He hobbles to the piano, cursing his sprained ankle, and seats himself with aplomb, straightening his uniform.

The attempt... Well, it's a good attempt, with plenty of passion. Unfortunately, he's playing the Fantasie Impromptu, one of the more difficult pieces, and his fingers are inexplicably clumsy. Notes bounce all over the place, discordant and painful to listen to. He quits in the middle of the song, reduced to plinking a couple of keys like a one-fingered typist.

"Hey, Rae?" he asks, sounding surprised. "I don't think I can get back to the table."

Rae is grinning in wry sympathy with her drink-impaired friend throughout Autor's attempt. She can't help but be amused by it, even if she knows Autor will likely feel foolish when he recovers.

"C'mon," she says, getting up and coming over to the piano. Sitting beside him on the piano bench, she can get an arm around him and help him to his feet. "I've got you."

Enzo will assist if necessary, but Rae seems to have a handle on things.

"You are not allowed to drink before concerts."

"Gosh, I'm glad I'm not home right now," Autor murmurs. "That'd be terrible." Then he turns to Enzo, leaning on Rae. "Of course I won't drink before concerts. Even though wine is tasty I don't drink. I never drink. Except as a social experiment which is totally working. All of my friends come to say hi! I totally didn't expect that."

"I'm glad you're not home, either," Rae says, faintly wry, as she helps him back to the table and into his seat. She won't let him fall, or re-injure himself. "Much safer to be here. As ironic as that is."

"Yeah. How's your ankle doing?"

Autor kisses Rae's fingers in thanks. "You make me safe."

Then he turns to Enzo. "It's all right!" Autor says, waggling his toes for Enzo's benefit. "It's sore and wobbly and frankly it would have been better if I'd broken it, but I can walk without tripping most of the time and it should heal by December. Thanks for asking."

"I was intending to take care of that, tonight," Rae remarks, wryly. "So you didn't have to wait so long."

"You can, what, speed it up?"

"We talked about the latissmius dorsi and the gluteus maxmimus once, while she was studying her magic," Autor explains, holding up a hand. "Rae has worked really hard to learn this and I'm really proud of her because she's worked so hard."

"I can use my magic to heal minor things like cuts and scrapes and bruises, and inflammation and such. I've not done a sprain before, but it's the tendons and the muscles around it that are hurt - it shouldn't be too much different."

She refreshed her memory and looked things up, earlier, just in case. "It's not like a broken bone or major wound."

Enzo nods. "If it were the bone, I could fuse it in the infirmary." Which makes him think... "Since it's your first time healing a sprain, if you don't get it right, your magic won't make anything worse, will it?"

He's no expert on magic, which varies a great deal anyway, but the fuser can overgrow bones and skin if you're not careful, so who knows?

"She won't mess up," Autor says confidently. "Rae is a genius. I trust her with my life, pretty much."