[ no matter how long she was here, how many times this thing happened— cerealia could always manage to find a way to dig under her skin. it wasn't as if she made it a habit to drown her disgust away after every instance where she wasn't herself (then she'd be two steps away from being an alcoholic) but this time had been disgusting, she felt unclean, and since drinking bleach wasn't an option to cleanse herself of flirting!! with rideaux!!! she figures alcohol is the next best solution.
so, she's at the least seedy and obnoxious bar she can find, trying to ignore everyone, everything. also, vodka.
and because she's milla, her luck is most likely terrible and her night is not sacred.
[ for rideaux, on the other hand, drinking his pains away has been a longstanding tradition. he'd probably spent more time at the bar in duval over the years than he had in his own apartment. while the bars in this place don't suit his tastes nearly as well, they're better than nothing, and stopping for at least one drink after work is still a part of his daily routine. (and a much needed one now after that atrocious conversation with jude mathis.)
so when milla sits down at the bar, he's already been there for some time, and is sipping his second drink from a few seats away and paying only the vaguest attention to the television screen above the bar. it's only when she orders for herself that he realizes she's there, the familiar voice (she's always a little loud, though he suspects she would deny that) causing him to look over in her direction.
ah... now that's an interaction he doesn't mind recalling. maybe the lines he'd given her while under this place's influence had been just as lewd and embarrassing as the things he'd said to jude, but he doesn't have much reason to regret it in this case. she'd lapped his words right up. it was only a shame they hadn't gotten him further.
after a brief moment's thought, he stops the bartender to tell him that her first drink can go on his tab (he supposes he does owe her one for ending her existence) and looks back toward her with a smile. ]
[ ... no, yes, of course. she becomes the dictionary definition of tense when rideaux's voice cuts through the background noise, when that infuriating smile of his comes to focus in her line of sight, and when she realizes she has the luck of a guy who's broken mirrors and stepped underneath ladders for the majority of his depressing existence.
milla doesn't mean to make her distaste so obvious. it's all satisfaction for him, she figures, but it's hard to cling onto the necessity of "hiding your emotions" when the reason for your misfortune is sitting near you. doubly so when you're basically an open book, which milla unfortunately is.
so, the hand she's resting on the counter curls into a fist.
and she wills away the disgusting things they'd exchanged from her memory. ]
Don't.
[ please applaud her self-control, as that actually sounds like an actual word and not the tangled mess of syllables that's in her mind right now. lkfdlkjgJDLKGJDFL, some might say. ]
[ truly, he's not even trying to provoke her, though he doesn't exactly mind that he's doing it. he stays where he is, with two empty seats between them, keeping a polite distance. ]
I didn't take you for the type, honestly. Though I suppose that can be chalked up to the company you keep.
[ he could never imagine stereotypical nice kids like jude or leia sitting down at a bar like this. but then, they'd probably never had any real sorrows to drown. not like him or julius, or even her. ]
[ his existence provokes her. she eyes him suspiciously, as if he has some ulterior motive in being here and engaging in conversation with her. maybe it's ridiculous how on edge she is, but considering their relationship? maybe not.
the fact he's acting like nothing happened between them is aggravating (if he had reminded her of their flirting, though, she'd just be mad. so there's no winning).
when milla turns her gaze away, she speaks, her words taut. ]
And I thought you'd be the one to push people to drink, not drinking yourself. [ not that she'd thought rideaux is completely free of problems, but it isn't like she gave it much thought. unlike those do-gooders he's thinking of—her company—she can't quite say she cares. ] In case you didn't figure it out already, I'm not like them.
[ not that she's angsting about that at the moment, it's just a fact. ]
[ even excluding her, he's well aware that he's driven plenty of his subordinates at spirius to drink, and probably worse. he'll never apologize for that, though; he may be demanding, but his team is more effective than anyone else's because of it.
he takes another sip as he looks her over. obviously there are differences he can appreciate, but he's a little curious what she thinks those differences are. ]
when milla's drink comes—a bloody mary, vodka and tomato she needs it—she's not sure whether she's completely lost her desire to partake in anything due to this meeting, or if it makes her want to guzzle the whole thing down. ]
Since when do you care what I think?
[ it's the first thing that comes to mind, flat and honest.
but despite her reflex that makes her respond with immediate aloof bitterness, the way her lips press together and the way she looks at her glass seems to imply she's at least considering a response (not that she needs to, she has a laundry list of Reasons why she's not completely one with their shiny jrpg party). it comes a brief moment later, a quiet afterthought. ]
... I'm considering running through you with my sword, for one.
[ but she won't.
though she's obviously not shy about that having crossed her mind. ]
[ the fact that she chose a drink with tomato after spending time with the kresnik brothers doesn't escape his notice. rideaux was always partial to that drink as well -- it involved his favorite colors, for one, so it often coordinated perfectly with his clothes when he had one -- but as his relationship with julius had grown more and more strained and bitter over the years, he'd had a harder time enjoying it quite as much. which was stupid, and he knew it, but that didn't change anything.
(he had still enjoyed drinking them in front of bisley, though.) ]
It's just curiosity. Don't mistake it for something else.
[ he watches as she thinks it over, and chuckles softly at the response she comes up with. she tries too hard to sound tough, he thinks, but beyond that... even if what he knows of his future is extremely limited, he suspects that someone else ended up carrying out that very task. ]
[ ... tch. she has no idea what he's thinking. she has no idea why he's sitting here, in this bar, drinking. she has no idea why he's curious, asking her questions, and having some kind of odd conversation (though any conversation between them is odd. period) with her.
to her threat, a chuckle, and she's not even surprised as she takes a sip of her drink. ]
I doubt that too. [ considering who he is. it's hardly said as an insult, however; just a truth. ] But in the end they wouldn't, so does it really matter?
[ which is hilarious considering the circumstances she came to know them, and the way she says that makes it painfully clear that she's aware of that fact. ]
[ the medicines he takes have destructive enough long term effects on his body that alcohol, ironically, is one of the healthier options he has for dulling his pain. as for why he's talking to her... well, he has nothing better to do, and she's nice to look at.
and honestly, he feels he probably has more in common with her than he does with the rest of that group, though she definitely wouldn't want to hear that. ]
Wouldn't they? [ while his cool smile doesn't go away, it does harden a little. ] You don't think your friend Ludger would do whatever it took to save that obnoxious brat of his?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
backdated drinking shenanigans.
so, she's at the least seedy and obnoxious bar she can find, trying to ignore everyone, everything. also, vodka.
and because she's milla, her luck is most likely terrible and her night is not sacred.
save her from herself. ]
no subject
so when milla sits down at the bar, he's already been there for some time, and is sipping his second drink from a few seats away and paying only the vaguest attention to the television screen above the bar. it's only when she orders for herself that he realizes she's there, the familiar voice (she's always a little loud, though he suspects she would deny that) causing him to look over in her direction.
ah... now that's an interaction he doesn't mind recalling. maybe the lines he'd given her while under this place's influence had been just as lewd and embarrassing as the things he'd said to jude, but he doesn't have much reason to regret it in this case. she'd lapped his words right up. it was only a shame they hadn't gotten him further.
after a brief moment's thought, he stops the bartender to tell him that her first drink can go on his tab (he supposes he does owe her one for ending her existence) and looks back toward her with a smile. ]
I see the former Maxwell still likes her spirits.
no subject
milla doesn't mean to make her distaste so obvious. it's all satisfaction for him, she figures, but it's hard to cling onto the necessity of "hiding your emotions" when the reason for your misfortune is sitting near you. doubly so when you're basically an open book, which milla unfortunately is.
so, the hand she's resting on the counter curls into a fist.
and she wills away the disgusting things they'd exchanged from her memory. ]
Don't.
[ please applaud her self-control, as that actually sounds like an actual word and not the tangled mess of syllables that's in her mind right now. lkfdlkjgJDLKGJDFL, some might say. ]
no subject
I didn't take you for the type, honestly. Though I suppose that can be chalked up to the company you keep.
[ he could never imagine stereotypical nice kids like jude or leia sitting down at a bar like this. but then, they'd probably never had any real sorrows to drown. not like him or julius, or even her. ]
no subject
the fact he's acting like nothing happened between them is aggravating (if he had reminded her of their flirting, though, she'd just be mad. so there's no winning).
when milla turns her gaze away, she speaks, her words taut. ]
And I thought you'd be the one to push people to drink, not drinking yourself. [ not that she'd thought rideaux is completely free of problems, but it isn't like she gave it much thought. unlike those do-gooders he's thinking of—her company—she can't quite say she cares. ] In case you didn't figure it out already, I'm not like them.
[ not that she's angsting about that at the moment, it's just a fact. ]
no subject
There's no rule that says I can't be both.
[ even excluding her, he's well aware that he's driven plenty of his subordinates at spirius to drink, and probably worse. he'll never apologize for that, though; he may be demanding, but his team is more effective than anyone else's because of it.
he takes another sip as he looks her over. obviously there are differences he can appreciate, but he's a little curious what she thinks those differences are. ]
And what do you think sets you apart from them?
no subject
when milla's drink comes—a bloody mary, vodka and tomato she needs it—she's not sure whether she's completely lost her desire to partake in anything due to this meeting, or if it makes her want to guzzle the whole thing down. ]
Since when do you care what I think?
[ it's the first thing that comes to mind, flat and honest.
but despite her reflex that makes her respond with immediate aloof bitterness, the way her lips press together and the way she looks at her glass seems to imply she's at least considering a response (not that she needs to, she has a laundry list of Reasons why she's not completely one with their shiny jrpg party). it comes a brief moment later, a quiet afterthought. ]
... I'm considering running through you with my sword, for one.
[ but she won't.
though she's obviously not shy about that having crossed her mind. ]
no subject
(he had still enjoyed drinking them in front of bisley, though.) ]
It's just curiosity. Don't mistake it for something else.
[ he watches as she thinks it over, and chuckles softly at the response she comes up with. she tries too hard to sound tough, he thinks, but beyond that... even if what he knows of his future is extremely limited, he suspects that someone else ended up carrying out that very task. ]
I doubt you're the only one.
no subject
to her threat, a chuckle, and she's not even surprised as she takes a sip of her drink. ]
I doubt that too. [ considering who he is. it's hardly said as an insult, however; just a truth. ] But in the end they wouldn't, so does it really matter?
[ which is hilarious considering the circumstances she came to know them, and the way she says that makes it painfully clear that she's aware of that fact. ]
no subject
and honestly, he feels he probably has more in common with her than he does with the rest of that group, though she definitely wouldn't want to hear that. ]
Wouldn't they? [ while his cool smile doesn't go away, it does harden a little. ] You don't think your friend Ludger would do whatever it took to save that obnoxious brat of his?