milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Just out of sight of the bar itself, there's a table. Not in a shadowy corner, but not in the main drag of Milliways.

It is currently occupied by a preposterous amount of Daves. One is about thirteen, short and skinny and sulking. If Milliways has any sort of chronology, this is the 'current' Dave.

Two of them are a little older, but about the same age as each other. Still deep in puberty's grasp, maybe around fifteen. One is wearing a dealer's visor.

The next Dave looks more like the 'future' Dave who was most recently in the bar, helping out his younger self. He's probably sixteen.

The final Dave is quite a bit older, wearing a fancy suit jacket and dress shirt over a pair of black jeans. He's face down on the table with his shades mashed up against his forehead. There's a half-full glass of water next to his elbow. He mutters to himself occasionally but barely stirs.

They are apparently playing poker.

[OOC: Feel free to just toss in a reaction if this is too many Daves for you to actively thread with. It is entirely ridiculous.]

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Ysalwen pauses, standing nearby and watching all the Daves.

Just for a second.

She might almost smile.

(Liranan, meanwhile, just heaves a sigh and slides himself under a nearby chair, apparently dropping off to sleep. He has a feeling this might be a while.)

"Um. Daves? Are you -- plotting something?"

"hey girl hey," the twin Daves chorus.

Then, "hi ysa" from the older Dave. The alternate universe older Dave twitches and mutters but doesn't move.

The current Dave looks extremely unimpressed. "i'm not," he says.

Ysa huffs a quiet laugh.

"All right, I believe you. Though -- would you mind dealing me in? If -- "

Well.

"Or I could take over the oldest Dave's hand? He seems. Um. Indisposed."

"sure," says dealer Dave. Everyone tosses down their cards and get a fresh batch, including Ysa.

The other 'future' Dave picks up AU Dave's head up off the table by his hair, and inspects his half-open eyes. "he's tripping balls but he'll be okay. probably"

Ysa fishes around in her belt pouch and pulls out two vials, one filled with clear reddish liquid and the other filled with a startlingly non-organic-looking yellow liquid.

She sets these on the table.

"If he doesn't seem to be, give him both of these. It should help."

Then she picks up her cards, expression abruptly gone very politely cheerful and perhaps a little reserved.

Oldest Dave shakes his head and picks up his cards.

Youngest Dave gives her a dubious scowl. The middle Daves are squabbling over exactly whose card that is, and who was trying to hid it up their sleeve.

"no shots," mutters AU Dave.

Ysalwen snorts.

"Health and stamina potions. This way none of you will have to haul him to the front door when it's time to leave."

She's very thoughtful.

She also smiles very faintly at the youngest Dave, then sorts the cards in her hands and sets down two.

"thanks," Future Dave says absently, looking through his cards. "since these guys probably couldn't lift him real well which means i'd have to do it

"do you even lift bro" he asks Current Dave, whose scowl only gets bigger.

"fuck off" he says, and tosses three cards down.

"I suppose Liranan could also haul him out on a travois, if it came to that."

Then she looks up, gaze flicking around the circle of Daves.

"Is meeting yourself always this strange? I've never done it."

"you get used to it," one of the middle Daves says. "we had a lot of practice during the game."

"that doesn't mean we had to start doing it again," Current Dave says. He hunches down into his seat and ignores the cards the dealer gives him until one of the other Daves elbow him.

"I think, if the game is still going, it probably does."

She sounds a little apologetic.

"We're all at the mercy of what we are, aren't we? Until we're not."

Hmm.

"What are we betting with?"

In amongst all the Daves, she almost forgot to ask.

The Daves all pause. Apparently they hadn't considered that either.

"uh"

One of the Daves produces a few packets of Gushers from his sylladex, and starts ripping open packets to use as poker chips. They're all flavors like 'Ranch Dressing Rampage' and 'Jammin Sour Diabetic Coma' so they're not particularly tempting to eat.

"i bid two"

"I will see that bid and raise you one."

Because honestly, getting rid of Ranch Dressing Rampage can only be beneficial to life and health, right?

Yeah, but that means someone else has to pick it up. Bogus.

That turns out to be the Dave dealing the cards, who shrugs and accepts his fate.

"ignore shrimpy me," says the other middle Dave. "he's just being a little bitch what are you up to"

"I like him," Ysalwen says simply, with a tiny bit of a shrug.

"But all right. Um. I've successfully given up the arling, which is -- good. And with some of our more recent arrivals from Kirkwall -- I now have a better idea of what I may be dealing with in smuggling out slaves from Tevinter and helping them be free? So."

That's good, right?

"And yourselves?"

"oh yeah i remember that," Future Dave says. "you were pretty happy to get that off your back weren't you"

Current Dave turns to look at her. "slaves?" he says.

"Ecstatic."

This is not a lie.

Then Ysalwen exhales, reaching out at the same time to take the cards for her turn as dealer.

"And yes. Slaves. It's -- yet another reason for people to hate mages, I suppose. Tevinter is ruled by them, and elves -- and other non-mages, if they sell themselves into it -- are kept as slaves. Unless they have magic, though I'm fairly sure that's only a question of appearances. Shockingly."

"super awkward if you're an elf and a mage," says the Dave wearing the dealer's visor.

"that fucking sucks," says Current Dave.

"Exactly."

She starts flipping out the cards, fingers quick and agile.

(Thanks, Isabela.)

"Hence the helping part. I -- don't know enough about Tevinter itself to do much politically. But smuggling and killing -- oh, how do you phrase that? -- the shit out of anyone who comes after those who escape -- that I can do."

Current Dave looks dubious, but Future Dave simply nods wisely and offers her a fist bump.

"Fight the power," mutters AU Dave, still mostly face down on the table.

Ysalwen offers Current Dave a quick, crooked smile, then reaches out to bump fists with Future Dave.

"Fight some of the power. I think I have people that I can nudge into fighting the rest while I focus a bit. For now."

Hmm.

She looks at her cards post-fistbump, and after a few moments of thought lays down three and deals herself three new ones.

"you mean you're off to hunt down pirates with your prime piece of real estate," Future Dave says. He drops two cards and accepts his new ones.

Ysa's smile is very crooked.

"I befriend pirates -- well, one pirate. I don't tend to go out looking for them otherwise, however. Slavers are -- a different story."

"yeah sure befriend that's definitely what i meant," Future Dave says.

"dude no" says Current Dave.

"no i'm pretty sure that's a thing that actually happened," says the middle Dave without the hat.

Ysalwen presses her knuckles against her mouth, stifling a smile.

(Or a laugh?)

"Well, yes."

Thanks, Isabela.

"Anyway. I call."