escordvi | Let's Get Garrus Drunk

Entry tags:

Let's Get Garrus Drunk

Who: Tali, Garrus
Status: Open!
Where: Dive Bar on Turtle Island
What: Shepard's left the island and Garrus is taking it ... as well as anyone who knows him might expect. To avoid having him take off and do a bunch of murder about it, she's dragging him to a bar to get wasted like a good friend would. Feel free to run into him, her or both of them to offer drinks, condolences and generally bad (or good) advice.
Warnings: Drinking. Will add anything else if it comes up.

Garrus & Tali

[ It had taking some cajoling to talk Garrus down from just taking off like he'd planned to. The fact that he'd thought to shoot her a message about it at all had been frankly miraculous, and more than she would have expected him to do given the circumstances. But it had been enough to talk him off the ledge and at least get him out to the random dive bar they'd stumbled into on the island's coast.

It smelled like salt, wood rot, and other unmentionables that Tali tried hard not to think about. But it served cheap alcohol, and that's really all they needed it to do. The comedy of a 5'8 Quarian shoving a 7' Turian into a chair at one of the free tables wasn't lost on her -- Garrus was obviously letting himself be manhandled. Whether it was because he was grateful for the distraction or too out of it to care, she'd take it.

After a brief trip to the bar she came back with two glasses of clear, hard liquor -- one with a straw for herself. ]

You know, I think it says something about living life forms that alcohol is one of the few things we can all consume. It's one of the first things I learned on my pilgrimage. When you're low on funds, calories are calories and bar drinks are for everyone. Though,

[ She holds up a thick finger with a sage nod. ]

You have to be careful with mixed drinks. Fruit juices and such. So it's best to drink the liquor straight, as they say.

Tali'zorah vas Normandy

[ With Garrus thoroughly sloshed and in need of a refill, Tali makes a break for the bar. She's rubbing the side of her head as she waits for both a refill of their hard liquor and a pitcher of beer for the table. ]

Keelah.

[ There would never have been a good time for Shepard to leave this place, and she knew from experience now that who came and went was entirely at the whims of luck or fate. It certainly wasn't Shepard's fault.

All the same she felt herself oscillating between her own grief and something simmering that felt a lot like anger. Shepard was her friend, and one of the most important people in her life. She missed her and felt abandoned at the same time. Despite knowing it wasn't her fault, she resented her absence. And what it was doing to Garrus. With them splintered and scattered as it already felt to be outside of the familiarity of the Normandy, it felt like their Commander abandoned ship.

Not that there was any point in bringing this up with Garrus, lost in his own heartbreak as he was. She sighs. ]

If this place excels at one thing, it's fantastic timing.

Garrus Vakarian

[ With Tali up, Garrus is left alone at the rickety, alcohol-soaked table. There are a couple spare chairs around it, wood-grain well worn from a combination of use and neglect. He's staring into the empty glass in his hands, eyes distant and unfocused. You could sit right next to him and he probably wouldn't notice, a rare mood for a man who's usually so alert. ]

Please stop and cheer this sad bird dinosaur man up. ]

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( if there was any way that karlach was going to spend tonight, it was going to be getting blind fucking drunk and screaming her feelings at the ocean. the news of shepard leaving hadn't sat well with her, hadn't sat well with her at all. there's a part of her that wants to scour the islands, flip over every rock and tree until she finally finds her, but she knows it would be a fruitless effort.

when they leave, they leave.

she could vomit.

instead karlach seeks out a shitty dive bar to drown away her worries in. it might be a coincidence that she finds herself at the same one as garrus and tali, but it also might not. either way, she's here and she's overhearing some insane talk of having low funds for alcohol.

karlach always has plenty of funds for alcohol. )

Fuck what it costs, get what you think tastes good.

( she supplies from beside their table. karlach places a hefty pouch of coins down on the table in front of the two of them, making it clear that she'll foot the bill. )

It's time to drink.

[ Tali first blinks at the large red woman sitting down at their table, then lets out a breathy half-laugh that's equal parts surprised and impressed. And that's before she slams the bag of coins on the table. She hasn't met the woman, but she's easy enough to name given previous descriptions. ]

Pretty impressive, as far as introductions go.

[ Karlach won't be able to see the wry smile behind her mask, but hopefully it conveys well enough in her tone. ]

Good to meet you at last, circumstances aside. I take it you are here for the same reason as Garrus and I.

[ Never one to turn down drinks when someone else is paying, she flags down the bartender. The coin visible on the table should be motivation enough to provide tableside service in this dump. And she has absolutely no qualms about ordering on Garrus' behalf. ]

Hey, Karlach.

[It's pretty flat, his voice. Even the usual echo falls short. He only sort of glances up as Karlach sits, his hands curled around the glass in front of him. After a long pause, he seems to snap out of his morose little fit enough to elaborate.]

This is Tali. Tali'zorah. From our crew back home.

[Which probably says a lot. Why they're both here. Why the mood is so sour. Normally, the sight of Karlach gets a grin out of him. But, she probably gets it too.]

[He absolutely let himself be bullied. One hundred percent. Having Tali act like her usual shotgun wielding self, dragging him around, kind of helped in a way. It's normalcy. It's how things are supposed to be. And this way, at the very least, he's not in that tiny apartment - their tiny apartment, trying not to remember how it had been about a year since - ]

What?

[There's a glass shoved into his hand, and Tali is babbling. She sounds like she's one or two words away from wringing her hands. How long had he been checked out? He looks down at the glass. Then back up at her.]

... You bought drinks instead of food?

[Yeah let's seize on that. Let's talk about that and not the looming specter (har har) over his shoulder.]

[ And that's precisely the plan. Have things be as normal as possible, at least between the two of them, to anchor him somewhat to the present. Turians were terrible at handling their emotions in her experience, and the last time Garrus 'dealt' with his a lot of people on Omega ended up dead.

She raises an eyebrow. Audibly. ]

Yes, I bought alcohol instead of food. I left my blender at home, you see. I suppose I could attempt to sanitize some potatoes, mash them, and suck them up with my straw instead.

[Omega is exactly the last thing he wants to think about right now. More loss of people who mattered. Also, his fault.]

[He blinks at her. Then looks down at the glass again. The clear alcohol smells sort of like bio-fuel. Still, he lifts it, and doesn't bother with the usual method of drinking out of a glass when your mouth doesn't fully close. He basically deep throats the glass.]

[It burns badly. There's a lot of shame in coughing, but, he doesn't care.]

You can't eat potatoes.

[YEAH GARRUS THAT'S THE ISSUE WITH WHAT SHE SAID.]

[ She's already inserted the straw into her suit. It takes longer for her body to absorb the alcohol than a species that has to drink it since it has to interact with her suit environment, but at least she can talk and drink at the same time.

Elbow on the table, she places her chin in her hand and levels him with an unimpressed head tilt. ]

Correct. Well done. Can you even eat potatoes? And how would I introduce them to my suit, exactly? There's no way I'm exposing myself to the environment of this place.

[ She waves a hand to a particularly mysterious puddle in the corner of the room. It smells like varren piss. ]

Here? Yes.

[His face has sort of contorted, while the bio-fuel alcohol hits. A full-bodied shudder follows. Damn, that was... not great. Hopefully it does the job fast.]

The tattoo, remember? It's that magical crap. [He waves a hand at it, at the scarred side of his face where the blue has been reapplied over the layers of melted tissue and cartilage.]

Yes, well. Some of us still have to eat through a tube whether it's magic or not.

[ Check your chewing privilege, Garrus. ]

I never thought I'd miss Turian nutrient paste. Pulverizing my own food is incredibly inconvenient.

[ Especially since she doesn't have a kitchen. Or an apartment. ]

Ah. Right. It would be.

[There's no smart comeback. Or even an attempt at one. Why the topic suddenly makes him think of the boxes of "pocky" still in the apartment, he doesn't know. What the hell is he going to do with those things? What is he going to do with her things? With the commission he'd put money on, with the damned animal she'd...]

Is there more liquor? [It almost doesn't come out a question. But if Tali is going to keep him here, instead of letting him work this out on his own, then damn it, he's going to get absolutely blindingly trashed.]

[ The bottle of liquor slides across the table wordlessly. Her own glass is slowly emptying into her suit, and she's starting to feel a little warm and fuzzy. ]

Did you know I had a tattoo already? Before we came here, I mean.

[That's the problem with being bigger than her in these instances. She's going to get tanked long before him. So when he refills the glass, it's up to the rim.]

How would you get a tattoo? Wouldn't that put you in the medbay?

[Well, there's a little snark. Maybe that's a good thing.]

[ He's starting to sound like himself, at least. Tali takes it as a positive side. ]

It's a holographic omni tattoo. Jack helped me find someone to do it at the Citadel. A lot of alcohol was involved. I was examining all of her tattoos and complaining about how unfair it was that Quarians can't get them. My father would kill me.

[ If he was alive. The thought doesn't hit her with the same impact it would have before. It's a wound, but one that's scabbed over. Because of Shepard. ]

Jack?

[He actually chokes on the name. Of all the people he'd expected to name, Jack wasn't one of them.]

Jack took you to get a tattoo. On the Citadel. [What is he hearing. Is he already drunk?] Where - ?

Where did you even get that?

Can you think of someone better to recommend them?

[ I mean, it's Jack. There isn't an inch of her that isn't tattooed.

She grins, reaching for the bottle to top up her own glass. Oh, yes. The alcohol is starting to hit her system. The slower absorption rate of her suit helps when she's drinking with humans, but with how large Garrus is she's absolutely going to get there first. ]

The lower wards, near the bottom.

[He opens his mouth like he's going to say something - or actually provide her with an answer, and then closes it with an almost audible click.]

I... don't have an answer to that.

[So he'll just drink again, instead.]

Which wards? [There's a beat.] Why does that sound like something Liara says?

To be fair, her first suggestion was to do it for me with pen ink and a hypodermic needle. I explained Quarian physiology to her, and after a somewhat ... inappropriate suggestion, she recommended the holo tattoo.

[ She didn't ask why Jack had the needle. ]

What Liara says about what?

Oh, that. Humans call that a ... "jail tattoo" I think. Doesn't work on most other species.

[Why does he know that? But, wisely, he is also not asking about why Jack had a needle.]

[It's Jack.]

Something about... wards. And bottom. It was on Illium. [He waves a hand, dismissively. Then knocks back his entire glass. Again. The coughing and shuddering resumes.]

Why do you know that?

[ Has Shepard been to jail? Does Shepard have jail tattoos? Why has she never asked Shepard if she has jail tattoos? This is suddenly extremely important.

She stifles a laugh. ]

Liara told you about her lower wards, did she?

[ And the bottle slides back to him. Fill up that glass, Garrus. ]

C-Sec. Ink pens got outlawed in the holding cells once humans showed up.

[Shepard does not have jail tattoos. He was a cop, how did you forget that, Tali?]

[He frowns. His mandible clicks against his jaw a few times, while his brain chugs along, trying to process this.]

What? No. Illium's. Why would... Liara doesn't have lower wards. She's not a city.

[Garrus............]

Surely they found a way around the ban. Humans are fragile but very inventive.

[ Says the person whose entire species has to wear envirosuits. She's still going to ask Shepard about tattoos. When she sees her next time. Because she will see her.

She's snickering properly now, hand flying uselessly to the front of her mask. ]

O- oh, she certainly does. Extensive lower wards. C-complete with accurate schematics.

Oh, they did. Didn't mean the ban wasn't there, though.

[It was there, and it was ignored by so many humans. Especially the younger ones. Teenagers are dumb no matter the century. Or species.]

[He just looks at her.]

[And then slides the rest of the alcohol over to himself. There's a low buzz in his system, but nothing serious. Not yet.]

What are you talking about?

[ She's gone now, Garrus. She's done. You've killed her and it's over. She slaps her hand on the table, pressing her forehead against the suspiciously damp wood as laughter takes her over completely. ]

H-- her lower wards! I'm--

[ There's enough brain power left in her to turn off her suits olfactory sensor just before she dissolves into nearly breathless laughter. ]

Y-- I know you're familiar with a woman's l-lower wards!

What-?

[He has not had nearly enough alcohol for this. Maybe if he drinks out of the bottle, it'll make more sense.]

I think you should've started with something lighter, you -

[ ... Wait. ]

[He should not have been drinking when she said that.]

[Because no sooner does it dawn on him than he's choking, coughing it back up again.]

Tali!

[Hold on, he's got to recover--]

That's Liara! I'm not - I would never-!

[ She's going to need to scrub out her suit after this. There's no way it's normal or natural for her to be laughing this hard, it has to be spreading something . ]

You should see-- the look on your face!

[ Her emergency induction port has become dislodged, and that's unacceptable. It takes her two tries, but she manages to plug it back in. ]

A- ah, but you would know more about the lower wards than me! F-from your C-sec days!

Of course there's a look on my face! That's Liara!

[He said that already. But ugh. It would be like talking about his sister like that.]

[Drinking more is necessary. Immediately. To get that thought out of his head. Before Tali gets another look.]

If you're still talking about ... parts... and not the actual Wards, I'm not answering that.

Liara has traveled quite a bit, I'm sure someone has gotten a tour.

[ Liara would absolutely murder her if she heard Tali right now. With her eyes. And possibly shame. ]

Parts? Garrus, you can use the actual word, you know. We aren't children. Or do Turian academies not provide anatomy lessons? I'm sure I can pull up some diagrams on my omni tool if you need assistance.

I'm not hearing this.

[He groans, that out, and presses the heels of his hands to the sides of his head. Really, hearing that about Liara is weird. He doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want the weird little thought of "she was really close to that drell--"]

[Time to drink. More.]

I know. I'm choosing not to. It's polite.

Well met, soldier.

( karlach greets, offering tali a little wave. it's her attempt at maintaining her friendliness, but it falls far short of her usual self. it's a bitter thing. for as much as much as she has been eager to finally get a chance to talk to tali and meet her proper, karlach also currently wants nothing more than to drink until she can stop feeling.

then beyond. )

Right you are. Here to lose myself in a bottle.

( it's honest. she's just about to say something else when one of the waitstaff manifests by the table, their eyes focused on the coin pouch sitting tantalisingly on the table. )

Tell the 'keep to make me their strongest drink in their biggest glass.

( taking a few coins from the pouch, karlach drops them into the staff member's palm. just a little personal tip to encourage them to place an extra importance on her request.

then she gestures to her crew members. )

Whatever they want too.

(They aren't much of a bar person--unless you count eating bar food--and it's really just coincidence that they're here sulking in a corner when they notice the two aliens come in.

This wouldn't be all that notable, given how many different species are here, except... well, they recognize Garrus.

They heard he came out to help them. They should ...probably ...thank ...him.

It's a bit harder than anticipated. How much did he see? How much does he know?

...Who's that with him?

It's the addition of Tali, and their shared distress that finally gets them to approach, because they should probably ask if...)

Are you alright?

(Hey, want to see a kid come back from the dead?)

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Let's Get Garrus Drunk

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Garrus & Tali