Locked in a Room

[dishevelment]

Who: Everyone stuck in Pride HQ
What: This load of crap.
When: Nov. 1-5
Where Pride HQ
Warnings: Pg-13 minimum because Carnies. Tag if it gets over that.


Everyone got the same call-- and now we're all stuck in HQ with no hint of release in sight.

The reason? No one knows.

How are you coping?

Comments

[notahobby]

[Maxxie finds Terry on the evening of the 5th, on yet another trip to the bar. He's already been drinking but right now he's only on the good end of a buzz, so it's not obvious that he's had anything. Terry looks upset, so Maxxie hesitates before he approaches. They've only spoken once, but that was a relatively positive experience, so Maxxie knows he's a nice guy at least.]

[He does a quick lap of the club, says hi to a couple people, then takes the barstool next to Terry. He waits for a second, resting his elbows on the bar with his arms crossed in front of him, and then gives Terry a brief smile.]

Alright then?

[traumatizing]

Hey. [He's on the other side of tipsy already and working hard to get to full-on drunk, but unlike Maxxie it'll be the sombre kind and he is staring at his beer like it's done something to offend him.] Maxxie, right?

[notahobby]

Yeah.

[Maxxie gets the bartender's attention and orders himself a drink. He sighs and takes a sip from his beer when it arrives. He's not being abrasively cheery, mercifully, but he's obviously in higher spirits than Terry.]

Drinking alone tonight?

[traumatizing]

[He nods and looks at Maxxie, almost with a smirk but it's kind of hidden behind everything else his face is doing right now. When the bartender comes over with Maxxie's drink, he also orders another and knocks back the rest of what he's got now with a sigh.]

I hear bad moods are contagious.

[notahobby]

Maybe.

[Maxxie smirks at him, then sits up in his chair looking thoughtful.]

I think good moods can be too.

[traumatizing]

[He scoffs and pauses to take a sip of his newly arrived drink. (Thank god for good service.)]

Is that a theory you're here to test?

[notahobby]

[Maxxie frowns, and his eyebrows draw together - he looks apologetic.]

I don't want to annoy you.

[traumatizing]

[Terry shakes his head.] You're not annoying me. [A thoughtful pause.] I can tell you if that changes, if you want.

[notahobby]

[Maxxie grins.] Sure. [A sip of beer.]

It's alright though. Seems like we're all going a bit stir-crazy being locked up in here. I just wanna go outside, for fuck's sake.

[traumatizing]

Yeah. We had shows lined up this week. [He sighs and leans back a little on the stool] I feel like I'm going to explode just sitting around here instead.

[notahobby]

Yeah, I was alright going without the morning talk shows, but...

[Maxxie chews his bottom lip thoughtfully. At this point he's numbed himself to the boredom with a mixture of alcohol and relentless optimism, but he's still looking forward to being out. If not for the balcony in the Flashstep penthouse, he'd have a hard time remembering what fresh air tastes likes.]

Oh well, least we've got this to get us through, right?

[He holds up his beer before he takes a long drink from it.]

[traumatizing]

And thank god for it.

[He mimics the gesture and takes a long drink himself.] I've been writing, but it's not the same.

[notahobby]

[Maxxie nods, and his smile slips a little bit.]

Cosmic Indulgence is putting a song together for that EP Luci's putting together, I take it?

[traumatizing]

[He nods again, but.] This is mostly my own stuff though. Just... Something to do with all this energy I can't use up on stage.

[See how energetic he is, leaning forward on the bar like a particularly morose dog.]

[notahobby]

Oh yeah? That's so cool. Do you do a lot of your own stuff?

[Maybe a lot of people would carry on just to be polite, but Maxxie is genuinely interested. He doesn't do a lot of his own music past writing down chunks of lyrics all over his notebook. Putting music to some of it occurs to him occasionally, but it's more of a daydream to him.]

[traumatizing]

[He looks a little bashful at that and nods, taking a sip of his drink.]

It's all I'm really good at, so... I write quite a lot.

[notahobby]

I dunno, I like the stuff Cosmic Indulgence puts out.

[He takes a sip of his beer.]

Do you think I could hear some of it? It's alright if it's private or whatever. I've hardly listened to anything but our own songs while we've been doing performances and stuff, might be nice to hear something different for a change.

[traumatizing]

Uh, yeah. Sure. [He scratches the back of his head, feeling weirdly awkward about it.] It's kinda... Niche. So I won't be offended if you hate it.

[notahobby]

I won't hate it.

[Maxxie says this with such confidence.]

Just let me finish my drink.

[traumatizing]

[He laughs softly and takes a long drink.]

I'll hold you to that.

[notahobby]

[Maxxie stops himself from making a boastful comment about how it appears that good moods are contagious after all. He doesn't want to ruin it, but he's grinning as he takes a long drink as well.]

[It doesn't take him long to finish his drink, and when he does his head is swimming just a bit more than it was before.]

Right.

[He sets the glass down on the bar.]

I'm ready.

[traumatizing]

[Terry downs the rest of his beer and gets up, wobbling a little when he gets off the stool. Determined not to be stopped by a little thing like Drunk Legs, he straightens his shirt and gestures for Maxxie to follow as he leads the way to the Cosmic Indulgence penthouse.]

So you don't write much music then?

[He glances at Maxxie, assuming since he'd said it was cool that Terry did. Not judging or anything, just curious.]

[notahobby]

Not really. I do, but I hardly finish anything and most of it stays put in my notebook anyway.

[He stuffs his hands in his pockets and shrugs, then adds wryly:]

Apparently they didn't hire me for my writing abilities.

[traumatizing]

[He laughs.] I can help out if you ever wanna do any of your own stuff.

[notahobby]

[He raises his eyebrows at the offer, not that Terry can see. He shrugs again, but he's grinning.]

I dunno, you might have deal with the wrath of Manny if you do that. Solo work sounds a lot like 'solo career' and solo careers are what kill boy bands.