[It was frighteningly easy to disassociate in a room full of flat screens mounted high along the walls. Better than the tightly wound nervous wreck he was last time he saw Emi...?
Boy he sure hoped Chou cleared that up by now. Ha. Ha ha.]
Thanks.
[He could swear that if he listened closely, each miniscule bubble of foam murmured out a cheery death aria as it popped and settled. And he wasn't even drunk yet. He eyed the drink with consideration, turning the glass in his hand without imbibing just yet.]
[Emi had just been hanging around to see if Mal could live with the drink or not. Usually if folks didn't like the pre-determined option that was 'whatever is on tap,' it meant that there was something else they actually wanted and just didn't want to ask for immediately for whatever reason. Casual inquiries about his face generally were not involved.
Caught off guard, Emi could only give him a confused look. It hadn't been bruised all that badly. Maybe he'd just been making a face.]
[Oh. Good. THAT SETTLED THAT. Nothing to worry about. Even if Chou said he should practice apologizing, and even if he kind of agreed, didn't this mean that there was nothing left to discuss?
He pondered this while he took an adventurous sip.]
-! ...Huh.
[Nothing at all like other beers he'd tried in the past. It felt like there was a rainbow in his mouth... That wasn't anything to be too concerned about, right?]
It's not bad...
[And he could hear it in his mouth, a chorus of cheerful whinnying, singing the praises of friendship and forgiveness, come on, give him A BREAK HERE. Maybe if he downed it faster it would leave him alone.]
[Watching him try to down it faster immediately after saying it wasnt bad roused a huff of a chuckle out of Emi.]
Yeah, that’s about the usual reaction to that one.
[The other usual reactions were bouts of elation and the smallest haze of rainbows whenever something spectacularly good was happening to their preferred sports teams. If Mallory wasn’t here to actually root for anyone, he was probably pretty safe from the rainbow connection tonight. If there had been any boxing on tonight, that might have been different, but there weren’t any matches on at the moment.
But not being here to root for anyone just brought him back to his original question.]
You’re not here to actually watch anything, are you.
[A statement of fact more than anything else. Emi sounded more bored about the statement than anything accusatory. He was going to get paid either way, so it really didn’t matter.]
[WHY DID EVERYONE KEEP-- no, he knew exactly why. He'd fought people over even dumber shit before. He sighed and pressed his fist against the bar counter.]
I'm sorry about hitting you, alright? [Even if he technically apologized when it happened!] Shit, I get it already...
[The gears in Emi's head turned in swift motions. It'd been a suspicion after talking to Chou about the incident, since there weren't many people that Emi could imagine actually caring about trying to keep things a secret about being in a different body. The suspicion had just been a vague one though, there hadn't been any reason to jump to conclusions.
The blond paused in his wiping motions, leaning his hand on the bar.]
I didn't say you were going to fight anyone. I just meant no one is going to have a problem with you just coming in for a drink.
[Ah. He was the one assuming the worst. Of course... Really, if it were him he'd have a problem with having to serve the guy who hit him.
He pressed his hand to his face and rubbed it upward, smoothing his hair out of his face, which only fell back into place once he turned his attention to his empty glass instead.]
[It wouldn't have been the first time Emi had to serve someone who'd hit him. He couldn't realistically say it would be the last time either. There was a time and a place for making a fuss, and now wasn't it.
(And honestly it didn't really matter if it was him bearing the punches.)
Satisfied enough by the change in Mal's demeanor, Emi gave him a curt nod and eased back from the bar.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Boy he sure hoped Chou cleared that up by now. Ha. Ha ha.]
Thanks.
[He could swear that if he listened closely, each miniscule bubble of foam murmured out a cheery death aria as it popped and settled. And he wasn't even drunk yet. He eyed the drink with consideration, turning the glass in his hand without imbibing just yet.]
...Is your face okay?
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[Emi had just been hanging around to see if Mal could live with the drink or not. Usually if folks didn't like the pre-determined option that was 'whatever is on tap,' it meant that there was something else they actually wanted and just didn't want to ask for immediately for whatever reason. Casual inquiries about his face generally were not involved.
Caught off guard, Emi could only give him a confused look. It hadn't been bruised all that badly. Maybe he'd just been making a face.]
S'fine.
[That's all he really had to say about it.]
... How's the drink.
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He pondered this while he took an adventurous sip.]
-! ...Huh.
[Nothing at all like other beers he'd tried in the past. It felt like there was a rainbow in his mouth... That wasn't anything to be too concerned about, right?]
It's not bad...
[And he could hear it in his mouth, a chorus of cheerful whinnying, singing the praises of friendship and forgiveness, come on, give him A BREAK HERE. Maybe if he downed it faster it would leave him alone.]
no subject
Yeah, that’s about the usual reaction to that one.
[The other usual reactions were bouts of elation and the smallest haze of rainbows whenever something spectacularly good was happening to their preferred sports teams. If Mallory wasn’t here to actually root for anyone, he was probably pretty safe from the rainbow connection tonight. If there had been any boxing on tonight, that might have been different, but there weren’t any matches on at the moment.
But not being here to root for anyone just brought him back to his original question.]
You’re not here to actually watch anything, are you.
[A statement of fact more than anything else. Emi sounded more bored about the statement than anything accusatory. He was going to get paid either way, so it really didn’t matter.]
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It was just the closest place when I felt like a drink. These seats reserved for sports fans?
[It wasn't that crowded...]
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No. The facilities are for everyone.
[He shrugged, turning away to wipe down the area.]
Observing how they are being used is part of my job. No one's going to fight you about it.
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[WHY DID EVERYONE KEEP-- no, he knew exactly why. He'd fought people over even dumber shit before. He sighed and pressed his fist against the bar counter.]
I'm sorry about hitting you, alright? [Even if he technically apologized when it happened!] Shit, I get it already...
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[The gears in Emi's head turned in swift motions. It'd been a suspicion after talking to Chou about the incident, since there weren't many people that Emi could imagine actually caring about trying to keep things a secret about being in a different body. The suspicion had just been a vague one though, there hadn't been any reason to jump to conclusions.
The blond paused in his wiping motions, leaning his hand on the bar.]
I didn't say you were going to fight anyone. I just meant no one is going to have a problem with you just coming in for a drink.
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[Ah. He was the one assuming the worst. Of course... Really, if it were him he'd have a problem with having to serve the guy who hit him.
He pressed his hand to his face and rubbed it upward, smoothing his hair out of his face, which only fell back into place once he turned his attention to his empty glass instead.]
I'll take one more, then.
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(And honestly it didn't really matter if it was him bearing the punches.)
Satisfied enough by the change in Mal's demeanor, Emi gave him a curt nod and eased back from the bar.]
Same kind?