Shop Straightening Shenanigans

[shadearchivist]

Characters: Ienzo, Namine, and open
Content: Cleaning up the spirit painting shop and tea shop. Also shenanigans. Possibly booze.
Location (including world): 4th District, Traverse Town
Time of Day: EVENING (really, morning as far as the "day" goes)
Warnings: Kia is trying to lull us into complacency with comedy elements. :3


Ienzo had set his coat aside and folded it up neatly. The furniture was in well-ordered heaps outside the shop, but everything needed to be cleaned and painted before actually bringing things inside. He didn't even want to consider what they'd have to do to make the upstairs comfortable and livable. He reminded himself that he'd have to mention the apartments on the upper levels; people might be pleased to find a place to live that wasn't the hotel.

The ground floor was large and mostly open, though the space could be conveniently divided so that each business would have its own area. It did have back room space, fortunately enough, so that they didn't have to think too much about creating their own back areas. One of the back areas currently had several crates, one of which Ienzo suspected that several of the adults would prefer to get into sometime soon, given the general stress levels. Still, that would be a question for when they were open for business.

Ienzo took up a broom and headed towards the back to begin sweeping things out.

Comments

[unrecovered]

Wash had been about to lean against a table, but had thought better of it - it probably couldn't take the weight of his armor. Instead, he took up a spot at the counter next to York. "It's the middle of the day, York." He wasn't necessarily disagreeing with York; just pointing out a fact. To be honest, it certainly would take the edge off of a day filled with dusting and moving furniture (he'd gotten stuck with the fiddly little dusting jobs and the heavy lifting, thank you York).

He wasn't expecting there to be another answer to York's comment, let alone one in the positive. "What?" He pushed himself off the counter and followed Even into the storeroom, arriving in time to see him pop the lid off the crate, affording Wash a good look inside. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered.

[skysmirror]

Xion had ended up helping paint, and having more fun than she thought she might. As much bickering as there had been, there had also been laughter, and she'd liked trying something she'd never done before. It was work, yes, but different from missions and therefore a little more interesting.

Once everything was finished, she sat at a table slightly apart from the others. Barkley flopped down beside her, silently asking her to pet him as if he hadn't almost made her trip and/or spill paint three times that day. Those big eyes were hard to resist, though, so by the time the conversation about drinks started up, he was happily enjoying ear scritches.

Curious, Xion left off petting him and went to follow the others, arriving not long after Wash. Peering over the edge of the crate, she tried to read the labels on the bottles inside. "What kind is this?"

She was speaking mostly to Even, but if Wash heard, too, then that couldn't be helped.

[shadearchivist]

Lea had apparently been using himself as a dust rag, and Ienzo was distracted from wiping down the table when the meow wow bumped into his leg and sneezed. That was probably going to involve a very tedious period of bathing. Or a water spell, if he could work one out.

He frowned to himself when Xion headed after Even and Wash, though he couldn't hear what she'd asked; that was something he hadn't thought of previously. He'll need to check with Namine as well, it seems, and Sora. He raised his voice a bit to make sure that Xion could hear him as well. "That reminds me; Namine, Xion, Sora, have you ever had alcohol before?"

[defrostedpride]

"It's the kind that someone your age almost certainly doesn't know enough about to drink without supervision," Even replied, lifting a bottle out and examining it critically. Not that he could tell 'good' alcohol from 'bad', nor did he care much.

[dork_of_keys]

Sora was actually kind of amused (and not really surprised) at the adults' immediate response upon discovering that there was alcohol available. He may have been naive about some things, but this wasn't one of them.

"I have had it before," he said in response to Ienzo's question. As to Even's remark, "Is anyone here responsible enough to be left unsupervised with alcohol?"

[defrostedpride]

"Some of us know what we're doing, thank you very much. It comes with growing up." And having already made most of the likely drinking errors, including but not limited to Don't Drink and Distill.

[dork_of_keys]

Sora raised an eyebrow to that remark. Growing up had crap all to do with it. Not that Sora had ever gotten drunk himself. He had, however, caught his father making out with the coat rack after a night of drinking. Twice.

"Yeah, before you get drunk. What about after?"

[defrostedpride]

"After getting drunk," said Even with a grim smile, "I hope to no longer care."

[allfunandgamesuntil]

"Now, everyone, let's cool down. I'm sure that there's at least one person here responsible enough to be left alone with alcohol." York headed into the room to check out what was in the box. It looked like a surprisingly decent selection. Moogles knew their booze, he guessed. "That person might not be me, but there's gotta be someone here."

[skysmirror]

Xion frowned in thought. So it was like what was in those bottles Xigbar had always said "weren't for little poppets." Before she could ask what age would be old enough, Sora had answered and the conversation had gone on from there, so she chose to simply answer Ienzo's question--after moving back into the other room so she wouldn't have to speak loudly. "Alcohol? I don't think so..."

At least, she'd never heard anything called that.

[shadearchivist]

"You'll need to have a taste, then," Ienzo said. "And Namine as well, if she hasn't had any." It was important to know what alcohol tasted like. Lexaeus had explained it to him at some indeterminate point in time; if you knew what alcohol tasted like, you would know if someone had spiked your drink. At least if they'd spiked it with alcohol. Not that one should leave their drink unattended anyway, but that discussion could take place later.

[colorbymemory]

"I've never tried any either. We need to know what it tastes like?" Namine had no idea why that would be important, but she was willing to trust Ienzo's judgement. Having never heard alcohol discussed before, she wasn't aware of some of the effects it could have. From what the others were saying now, apparently it could make people act very silly. Though if it were only that, then why was it important to know what it tasted like?

[shadearchivist]

Ienzo tipped his head to the side. "Well, I know that you, Namine, have never been to a large party where you don't know everyone and I assume the same is true of Xion. One of the dangers is that people will add alcohol to drinks - either to a communal bowl or to your own individual drink. If you do not know what alcohol tastes like, you won't necessarily recognize the flavor and therefore can inadvertently become drunk. Being drunk impairs judgment and sometimes motor skills; without friends to look out for you leaves you vulnerable." Namine at least would recognize the need to not be vulnerable in an unknown crowd. For that matter, given the company they had kept at Castle Oblivion, she was likely painfully aware of the need to not be vulnerable with a known quantity.