She'd try anything once

[mightbeconcussed]

When; Dec 3
Rating; Probably R
Characters; Chekov, Lucy, Korra, Li
Summary; A friendly game of never have I never
Log;

It's just a small sort of party, but Lucy doesn't have people over that often so she's excited. She spent most of the day cooking food that's appropriate for drinking like hot wings, chex mix, chips and dip, celery and carrot sticks with ranch, pigs in blankets and red velvet cake for dessert.

She straightened the house in a whirlwind, put the rabbit in his cage and picked some good music. she cleaned the stripper pole too, because that was always a fun party activity. The bar was open and she'd set clean shot glasses out. By the time the first person arrived, Lucy was ready, dressed in a pair of snug jeans and a v-neck tee shirt. She's barefoot and she's left her hair down in loose, bouncy curls around her shoulders.

She throws the door open with a big smile, steps back and invites the first arrival in. Bryant, the Newfoundland is in his normal 'we have company' spot under the table (he'll come out later when he's comfortable with everyone) and Masha, the brainwashed-by-a-time-lord, ginger cat is watching everything from the back of the couch.

"Come on in!"

Comments

[anatural]

[Dude, she doesn't care. She's beat up whiny little bitches before. Guilt is for people who realize not everybody is as strong as you are.

And they are not being weird!]

Isn't it your turn, Li?

[candothat]

[Chekov looks from Li and his candy to Korra.

And takes a shot straight from the bottle.]

Perhaps that is enough of this game...

[mightbeconcussed]

[Lucy has no idea what's going on, but Korra and Li are acting weird and Chekov is drinking from the bottle and something is wrong and this is bad.]

Uhm...we can play quarters. Less confession, more aim?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Social interaction might not be Hei's strong suit, but perception comes to him as easy as breathing. He knows what Pavel is thinking. There's a brief, baleful glance at Korra -- Congratulations, Queen Of Obvious -- before he settles back, popping another candy in his mouth. ]

Quarters?

[ The crunch is less comical now. He can feel how the mood has shifted from pink to gray. ]

[anatural]

[SHE'S SORRY SHE'S NOT A COMPULSIVE LYING FREAK.]

[candothat]

[Between the obvious secret that Korra and Li aren't sharing and Li's compulsive crunching, Chekov is going to go crazy. He can, however, fix one of those things.

Pavel reaches over and confiscates Li's candy.]

How is that game played, Lucy?

[mightbeconcussed]

[Lucy is actually going to applaud Chekov's confiscating of Li's candy. She grabs a clean rocks glass from the cabinet, places it in the middle of the table and steals Chekov's vodka. She pours an inch or so into the glass then flounces into her room to come up with a handful of quarters. Those go in a pile at one end of the coffee table.]

everyone gets a quarter. You have to bounce the quarter on the table into the glass. If you don't make it, you have to drink. If you do make it, you make someone else drink.

[mortemscintilla]

[ THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPULSIVE LIES AND COVER -- Hey! ]

[ Li opens his mouth to protest the loss of his candy -- Thief! -- when Lucy deflects his attention to the glass and mound of quarters. Oh. He's played this game, even if it was called something different. Soldiers in Heaven's War traded hours for guard duty and night patrol this way. The only other commodities they could exchange were cigarettes, rations and condoms. ]

[ Pointedly avoiding Korra and Pavel's gazes, he smiles at Lucy. ]

What if people lose on purpose? Just to finish their drinks faster?

[anatural]

[When she saw Lucy pour vodka into the glass, Korra almost said she had to go home. She's ruined Chekov's party enough being sober. But when the other girl explains the game, Korra decides to stick around. It doesn't sound that hard.

And, well, she really doesn't want to go home to her empty apartment. Better a little awkward than aching loneliness.]

[candothat]

I can't imagine why anyone would want to lose on purpose.

[If you win, you can make yourself drink! Chekov takes a quarter and tosses it up and down a few times, approximating its weight as well as the distance to the glass and all but calculating angles of approach and trajectories out loud.]

[mightbeconcussed]

[Lucy purses her lips and twists her mouth to one side.] Sportsmanship. What's the fun in losing on purpose?

[She sees why one would though. Chekov is probably going to own at this game.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ What's the fun? Ask 'Li'. He takes a quarter, toying with it between pretend-clumsy fingers. Like Chekov, he's also gauging the angle of reach and range. But he isn't obvious about it; his face still has that pleasant, gormless expression. ]

[ He's not aiming to score. He's aiming to miss. ]

....So, um, who goes first?

[anatural]

[Korra doesn't trust that pleasant expression on your face, Li. But she's not focused on it either.]

I'll go.

[She takes a quarter and flips it into the shotglass without such niceties as "angles" and "reaches" and "ranges." She does it by instinct.

The coin dances on the rim, almost as though it would fall out, but then topples inside.]

[candothat]

[For his part, Chekov is trying to ignore whatever is happening with Korra and Li, however much it might bother him. He likes to know things; not knowing things that two of his closest friends know is irksome. Fortunately, Lucy and this new, competitive game are quite enough to occupy him.

Korra is very good at this game... but she is good at most things, effortlessly.]

Zamechatel'no! I believe you get to tell someone to drink?

[mightbeconcussed]

[When Korra makes the quarter in, Lucy raises both hands up in a 'touch down' sort of motion.] Score! And yes, you definitely get to tell someone to drink.

[Then to Chekov.] Explain. The Russian. What did you say?

[mortemscintilla]

[ Chekov may be trying to brush the awkward undercurrents aside, but Hei can read people like books. It's weird, being with kids who make no attempt to play it cool. He's used to gameplayers and mindfucks. Still, don't ask, don't tell is the best policy right now. He's in no mood for a Ring-Around-The-Recrimination-Rosy. ]

[ He watches with interest when Korra's coin lands. His smile is faint, but it's the first genuine one of the evening. The word 'friendly game' is clearly not in her vocabulary. She only plays to win. ]

Nice. [ Then, glancing from Lucy to Pavel, ] Whatever it was, it sounded complimentary to me.

[anatural]

[The success of her toss (and, more importantly, the subsequent admiration) goes a long way to restoring Korra's good humor. There is quite possibly a bit of a smug grin on her face.

It's tempting - very, very tempting - to tell Li to take a drink. She'd like nothing more than to see him tipsy and vulnerable as though it would be that easy. But surprisingly, she resists the impulse. Instead she points to Chekov.]

Down it, Chekov!

[candothat]

[The real winner here is obviously Chekov. He raises his shot glass to Korra in a mock toast and downs it.]

Yes, it was complimentary. Let me try?

[Is there an order to this game? Regardless, Chekov makes his calculations once again and tosses a quarter. Much to his dismay, he overshoots the cup slightly. Drinking is fun, but losing is not.]

Ah.

[mightbeconcussed]

It did sound complimentary. [She still wants to know exactly what it was, but she'll badger him later to teach her to understand Russian. She's not going to attempt to actually learn Russian, but recognizing it would be cool.

She applauds Korra's decision to make Chekov drink, clearly approving of getting him smash what?. The order is wibbly wobbly but that works entirely.]

You'll catch on. [She gets her own quarter, leans over so that her cheek is pressed against the coffee table and makes some noises that sounds like she's considering her strategy. This is a game that Lucy used to play a good deal in college. She sits back up, carefully takes the quarter, bounces it and it lands in the glass with a splash.]

Huzzah!

[both hands up in the air before she considers her options. Chekov just drank and while she thinks he would be adorable smashed, it's not fair to make him drink twice in a row. Korra has already made her desire to stay sober known. Lucy, surprisingly, is going to respect that for the moment. Which means...] Li!

[mortemscintilla]

[ It takes more than a few incidental shots to get Hei drunk -- although 'Li' will certainly playact at tipsy joviality as the evening passes. For a moment, he amuses himself in predicting how this will end. Pavel, sloshed and jelly-legged, may end up staying back (with Lucy -- lucky him). Korra, with her distaste for drunkenness (he'll admit he has a hand in that) will head home soon. 'Li' of course, will already have made his exit by then. ]

[ He makes a sympathetic face when Pavel's coin misses, and applauds politely when Lucy lands hers. Given the order of players and their preferences, he's unsurprised when Lucy chooses him -- although 'Li's wide-eyed bunny gaze reflects differently. ] Huh? Me? [ As if there are other 'Li's in the room. ] We-ell, okay...

[ He lifts his glass (a solo-toast: Here's to children's games and wasted evenings ) and downs his shot, pretend-coughing and blinking back tears. ]

[anatural]

[Korra rests her chin on her hands and looks unimpressed with Li. No, not because he's pathetic with liquor -- she's the only one in the room who knows it's an act. The act is what doesn't impress her, as good as it is.

Doesn't he ever get tired of lying?]

Your turn, Li.

[candothat]

[Chekov gives Li a hardy clap on the back when he coughs on his shot.] You get used to it. Now take a quarter and make me the only loser in this group.

[He doesn't mind. Contrary to popular stereotypes, most Russians don't spend every waking moment pickling their livers with vodka. Chekov has had a couple of shots here and there, but this is more than double his best thus far. Needless to say, he's not sober.

At least he's a happy and polite drunk.]

[mightbeconcussed]

The more you drink, the better it gets. [Lucy assures Li of this. It's been her experience anyway. She drinks a good deal more than Chekov and, she assumes, Korra, but she's not sober either. She's that brilliant, light sort of tipsy where everything is smiles and fuzzy and wonderful but she still feels like she's in control. A few more shots will tip her over into pleasantly drunk. She doesn't mind that state of being either.]

There are no losers in quarters. Only drinkers and those who tell others to drink...or something like that. It makes sense if you think about it. [Maybe. She nudges Pavel's shoulder with hers.] I think you're doing okay here. If it helps, I'll probably get a good deal worse as we play.

[mortemscintilla]

[ Does he ever get tired of lying? Do people get tired of using their right hands when they aren't lefties? It's programming and instinct by now. It's how Hei operates. ]

[ He takes Lucy's advice and Chekov's thump on the back with a timorous smile. In truth, he finds the game to be a mix of mindlessness and minor coordination. In the end, it's just another excuse for drunkenness. Not a state he enjoys, or one he prefers to succumb to -- unlike bright-buzzing Lucy or chatty Chekov, his state of mind nosedives to a black tar-pit if you hand him the hard stuff. ]

[ No-one needs to see that. Seriously. ]

Well... [ He takes (seemingly) uncertain aim with his coin. Puts a little wobble in his wrist, for show. ] Here goes. [ A quick calculation, and he shoots. The misfire is spectacular. The coin misses the glass completely. Instead it ricochets off the table and back at 'Li', pinging smartly off the bridge of his nose. ] Owwwwww!

[ Shitfuck. That went a bit better than planned. ]

[anatural]

[Korra snorts. It's an act. It's a stupid act. But man, it's fun to watch him suffer.

She takes a quarter and bounces it. Distracted by laughter, her aim is just a little off. It clings against the glass and then hits the table.



..................................oops.]