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Who: Boromir and Ilde.
What: Boromir is on his way to a tavern for post-monster slaying ale, and ~~gets drive-by trolled~~ meets Ilde along the way.
Where: Somewhere by the Gross Tar!
When: Sukkardi (Saturday) evening.
Notes: None.
Warnings: None.

Boromir was restless. In less than a week he had been slain in battle, resurrected in the strangest city imaginable, attacked by even stranger creatures and resolutely he had battled on. But when he had finally gotten back to the Valhalla Inn on Sukkardi morning, washed and tried to get some rest, he found he could only manage a few hours. He wasn't used to a long night's sleep; he had been travelling for months on end, alert and ready at the slightest hint of danger. It was impossible to suddenly stop.

The answer was to find whatever tavern was still open and hope that a good, long drink of ale could bring him some respite.

Still unsure about his bearings, especially at night, he made his way towards the Gross Tar and followed the river.

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It takes her a moment to realize where they've gone sideways, and the tone of her explanation is oddly kind: "There is no world as we knew it, any more." The apocalypse is sort of the ultimate gamechanger in that way. "Not where I'm from. We're going back to fix it."

Or at least wreck the hell out of the villains in the piece. An eye for an eye is good enough for her.

"I don't think I can go back." The way he says it carries a physical implication rather than a lack of desire. It's both an admission and a revelation. "I would like to: to know what became of my brother, and my father, and our people."

Unsaid words hang in the air. He turns to Ilde, resolute. "I hope you can."

She watches him for a moment in silence, mulling that over and wondering at what it might precisely mean - for where he came from (and why), for how he'll adjust to Baedal. It must be noted at this point that Ilde's friendliness (such as it is, Ilde being...Ilde) stems in part from the fact that she doesn't quite take him seriously; he's a curious sort of novelty, so far, one she finds interesting and sometimes amusing, like a string to be pulled along with claws.

There's no malice in it, for what it's worth; he's a very endearing ball of yarn, and she spares him the hope that he'll be all right here, since he has to stay.

"We will," she says firmly, after her brief mental tangent draws to a close and she deigns to reengage with the conversation. Sonja's sheer force of will can make anything happen, she thinks. Sooner or later. "Maybe you'll get news here."

He will more than likely discover, in due time, the nature of the fae and other creatures that reside in Baedel. For now he only has his own experiences and the comparisons from his own world to draw upon. Even then, not all interactions between men, elves, and the things in between have always gone to plan.

"Perhaps." It is a small hope, but it is a comfort nonetheless. And he will certainly make a new place for himself. It's not like he can die trying (again).

The worst that can happen is that he doesn't, she supposes, and it isn't as though that would be a surprise.

"Where were you going?" she asks, absently, as if it's only just now occurred to her to wonder what she interrupted.

"To find a tavern." He also seems to have gotten waylaid but conversation is nice, regardless of how well you know someone, when you've been hacking away at innards for the past how many hours. "I'm finding it difficult to sleep and thought ale might be of help."

Ilde's laugh is quiet, and nothing personal - he's something strange, to her, and that answer is incongruously typical. "It's a depressant." She thinks briefly that serious as he is, he probably doesn't need a lot of help getting depressed.

"It's clear you've never seen a drunk Halfling," he says, smiling, and then, "And either way I'll have to investigate your statement first. I feel as though the ale should have a chance to defend itself."

The second laugh is brighter and louder - there's an odd, water-gurgle quality to her laughter that's more than a little out of place to someone who isn't already used to her - as she shakes her head. "It's science, swordsman, science already found ale guilty." Which isn't to say that she herself is not a goddamn hilarious drunk.

(Sonja's already had to carry her out of a bar once.)

"Nonsense!" Although her laughter makes him grin in like (if you think he is serious, Ilde). And then, conceding slightly, "Although it does have a depressing effect afterwards, particularly when your father catches you the morning after your younger brother's coming of age."

"It makes you sleep," she reminds him, because there is no slight concession in the world that she isn't willing to push harder at. "Though it's nice to know you aren't all virtue." Ilde is inclined to find the too-virtuous suspicious on principle; if she can't see a flaw, she wonders where the bodies are buried. She's of the opinion this is merely realism, as opposed to unfair paranoia.

Edited 2011-06-05 16:40 (UTC)

"You say virtue as if it's a bad thing." At least his bodies are mostly composed of Orcs and Uruk-Hai? "It is something that the Steward's sons must exemplify, especially the eldest. I was to be leader of my people one day," he adds, as way of explanation.

"Turn a virtuous man upside down, one of these days-" she illustrates this point with some gesturing, "-I bet you'll find a bastard underneath. But," with a measuring sort of look, her head tilting, "leaders should already know things like that."

...she's not without a certain degree of bias. A great deal of bias, in point of fact.

A bit more solemn, he says, "I've had weak moments, I will admit to that. They were borne out of my own arrogance, and pride, above all else, is my downfall. I realise that and I make no excuse for it."

"But I have seen great courage in men, and other beings, when there was little hope given. It would discredit them to think only on shortcomings."

Boromir, son of Denethor, thoroughly humbled.

Ilde weighs that in silence for a short time, then squeezes his shoulder lightly, both a little sympathetic and slightly awkward. He's like an illustration in a book, she didn't know people like this genuinely exist anywhere, saying things like that with a straight face and sounding as if he means it. How a person is meant to respond to that, she isn't sure.

"Too much of anything can be poisonous," she says, finally, "including virtue. You should try tequila shots when you go to the bar - that poison's much more fun."

Like that, then, as she lets go of him.

Welcome to Introduction to Tolkien Characters 101 (perhaps Baedel will be good for him, in a strange, strange way). Boromir feels strangely saddened; despite everything, he likes to think he will always believe in the good in people.

"And we're back to drink," he says, getting up. "You're welcome to join me, although I won't be offended if you say no, either."

Considering it for a moment, Ilde weighs her options and the likely consequences; on the one hand, she'll probably need a hand out of the bar and for Boromir to call Sonja later, but on the other, she's pretty sure she'd have more luck taking advantage of him than the other way around, and after the week they've all had...she could use the drink, too. She gathers up her papers and her purse, holding a hand out to him to be helped up, imperious as she remains. "There's a bar that makes the drink I like. I'll show you."

Boromir can introduce modern beer to his system, she wants a brandy alexander.

Boromir is pleasantly surprised. Considering how the last part of their conversation had went, he had expected some form of polite refrain. He helps her up, ever the gentleman, before saying, "Lead the way."

Whatever Ilde is, she is as tempestuous as her element, in her own quiet way (ah, it seems as though he's learning).

He has his moments, this guy.

One of the papers goes in her bag, with her cigarettes and her CiD, but most of the rest (and her improvised ash-tray) get left on a bench not far from the river to free up her hands (and abandon newspapers she isn't going to need) as they walk. The bar in question isn't far away - of course she knows somewhere handy to the river - and it's not much like the kind of tavern Boromir might've found on its own. A stone-arched place lit a neon-blue and underground, it caters mostly to people in their mid to late twenties who won't feel out of place listening to German techno, and Ilde has previously established that it features European beers and a bartender who knows his way around a cocktail.

This is probably significantly more culture shock than her tail was, though Ilde's of the opinion that coming to down here in a white tshirt and flipflops is weirder than his outfit.

...she'll just order for him and find a table out of the way, it's fine.

Just a bit of a culture shock (although not the stone-arches; they are familiar). And what in all of Arda is that din these people are listening to.

He sits down at the table she picks, with a look of that says this drink better be impressive.

Ilde pushes the bottle towards him. "Don't be a baby."

Much like how Captains of Gondor don't blush, they don't sulk. Boromir drinks, and concedes the beer's quality with, "Not bad."

Mouthing 'fussy' at him - the techno doesn't bother her, relatedly, but then, she's reading the shape of his mouth more than she's listening to his voice in the first place - Ilde tastes her own drink, then takes a deeper sip, evidently satisfied.

(And a little flushed, almost immediately; alcohol hits a fairy hard and fast. If she were a more sensible creature, she wouldn't drink the way she does, but where's the fun in that?)

"See how you feel about it in the morning, if you're using it to get to sleep." He looks like he'd be funny, hungover. Men are babies.

Boromir is about as fun hungover as anyone can imagine, but it takes a lot to get him drunk (he's over six foot is used to drinking every day, you figure out his tolerance).

He continues drinking (it is, admittedly, good beer) and can't help but watch the other bar patrons with idle curiosity. When he turns back to Ilde, he asks, "Is this tavern like the ones in your world?"

She shrugs, one-shouldered, following his gaze briefly - there's a little dancing going on, but for the most part, people are mingling and drinking and it's almost low-key, as evenings they go. "Some of them, like they used to be - I used to go to a place just like this, at home, when I had a fake." ID, she means, and it turns out that she's a bit less taciturn and a little more animated when there's alcohol in her system; Ilde's a bit of a chatty drunk.

She's also baby-faced at twenty-one, so one can only imagine how she managed passing a fake ID for the short time she had one.

"When we still had bars," she adds, saluting him with her glass. "Tavern is archaic. You're archaic." Your face is archaic, Boromir- no, she's friendly, still, just tipsy and blunt.