When we got to The Rusty Chalice, things were already in full swing.
I was actually surprised that the place looked intact after the attack from the Alliance last time. TAPESTRY must have figured out a way to fix it quickly—I wondered how.
Anyway.
Llewellyn had called Phelan to ask whether he minded if he brought Lumos along too, instead of leaving him alone, which apparently Phelan didn't mind at all.
Looked like most of them were dog people, because when we arrived everyone crowded around Lumos (and Penguin), picking him up and dispensing cuddles and head scratches.
Well, that was great. I liked these people and both Lumos and Penguin looked happy. I briefly wondered if they'd react the same way to Gléonwon and felt a bit of a pang that we couldn't involve him too for now.
We should visit him soon; spending all that time alone couldn't be good for him.
Well, anyway. Since we were all here, we sat down, took out our apps, and tried to decide what to order.
"What are you all in the mood for?" Ejay asked. "Should we order from different places? It's rare that we're all together for a meal these days—and with guests too."
"Let's just choose a fusion place," Shea said. "That way everyone is happy."
"Alcohol is on me," Llewellyn said. Phelan tried to protest that it was on the house, but Llewellyn shut him down. "I can afford it," he said. "There's no reason for you not to make money out of this today, since you closed down for us. Technically, the System is paying anyway."
That seemed to settle it.
We completed our takeaway orders. Before we knew it, Phelan had brought over crisps, olives, pretzels, and beers, and was trying to shoo off everyone asking for Destabilized Whiskey.
"Not without food," he said. "I don't want you all throwing up everywhere."
Penguin waddled toward me on the table, chirping questioningly.
"To Lumos?" I asked. "I don't think he can eat anything we ordered."
Llewellyn took out a generous handful of dog snacks from his inventory and placed it on one of the benches, well away from Lumos' reach.
"You can give him these," he told Penguin. "Make them last all evening. If he has more than that, he'll be sick."
Penguin chirped happily and started floating the first treat to Lumos, who turned in circles trying to catch it while Penguin levitated it left and right, looking like a tiny music conductor.
I grinned.
"Anyone want to play darts?" Jihoon hollered, waving a set of darts in his hand.
We had to wait for the food after all.
I grabbed a beer from where Phelan had laid them out and watched everyone crowd around the dartboard.
Jihoon went first. He landed two decent throws and one that barely caught the outer ring, much to his (very loud) disappointment.
Tiernan did just as well.
Roan went next. He was somehow the best of the lot, hitting just left and right of the centre.
Damn. My round was terrible—I only barely managed to land my darts on the outer ring.
"Booo," Jihoon booed happily, grabbing another beer.
Well, he wasn't wrong. I'd never played darts before though, so.
Ejay's turn involved a lot of unnecessary spinning before he threw, which got him absolutely nothing in terms of accuracy, but made me feel immediately better.
"My turn," Gilded said, fixing the collar of his embroidered jacket.
He shook out his arm, flexed his fingers, and flicked his wrist. Three darts flew across the room in quick succession. They thudded into the board—all bullseyes.
"Bullshit," Shea said immediately.
"Agreed!" Jihoon shouted.
"Pfft. I'm good at darts," Gilded said.
"You didn't even look at the board!"
Tiernan laughed. "Try that again without cheating."
"Fine," Gilded said. "More darts, please."
Someone passed him more.
Gilded threw three more darts. Bullseye, bullseye, bullseye.
"Still cheating!" Roan said.
"Prove it," Gilded said with a grin, already heading back to his bench. "Bet you can't."
Llewellyn set his beer down. "I'll go."
An Oooooh suddenly went up from… seemingly everyone.
"He's clearly cheating," Llewellyn said. "Someone should make him work for it."
Gilded perked up. "Ha! Challenge accepted."
They moved to the line.
Llewellyn went first and threw three darts—all three bullseyes.
Damn. As with everything he did, he was incredible and because he was so unshowy, somehow he made it look even more amazing.
Gilded went next. Same result, except he did it while looking at his phone.
"Right," Tiernan said. "This is going to get stupid."
Llewellyn's eyes narrowed.
The bigger game was forgotten, we were now just cheering them on.
Llewellyn threw from twice the distance, getting bullseyes again.
Gilded went immediately after, throwing with his eyes closed, getting all bullseyes too.
Llewellyn threw left-handed. Gilded threw backwards over his shoulder.
At some point they were both just standing there, casually tossing darts without looking, hitting perfect scores every single time.
"I think they're both cheating now," Jihoon said, looking entertained.
"Obviously," Shea said, sipping his beer. "But I'm waiting to see what they could possibly come up with next. Can they hang from the ceiling, bat-style?"
I snorted. That would be a sight.
Penguin was perched on Roan's shoulder, chirping excitedly every time a dart hit the board, then turning to gently peck at Yuè Zhōu's cheek, demanding more pets. Luckily, Yuè Zhōu seemed to be loving that.
The food arrived right as Gilded landed a triple bullseye while lying on the floor.
"Draw," Llewellyn said.
"For now," Gilded said. He looked tipsy already, grinning widely, and we hadn't even got to the Destabilized Whiskey yet.
We connected a couple of tables to make a big one and set everything out. We got pizza, chips, noodles, dumplings, fried rice, some kind of spicy chicken that smelled incredible (and had Lumos wagging his tail, eyes fixed on the table), spring rolls, more appetizers, and about ten different sauces.
Penguin immediately waddled over to investigate.
"This is good," Yuè Zhōu said enthusiastically. "Can I give him anything?" He asked me, tipping his head towards Penguin.
"Anything he wants," I said. "It won't harm him."
Yuè Zhōu cheered and started feeding Penguin, letting him try things.
"We read that Geusgnosis book," Llewellyn told Tiernan suddenly. "The one you'd been asking me to read."
"You did?" Tiernan said, looking delighted. "What did you think?"
"It's what we're doing right now, isn't it?" Shea cut in, looking happily tipsy, eating his chips. "Finding things we love in the middle of the shitshow."
"And celebrating!" Ejay said, raising his glass.
"Hear, hear!" Jihoon cheered.
"I don't disagree with any of that," Llewellyn said, shrugging. "Seems like a good way to go about it."
"Exactly," Tiernan said. "So don't just fight, you know. You need to recharge too."
Shea finished his beer and grinned. "Well, he's recharged now! Gilded, Llewellyn—rematch! But this time, you're both drinking Destabilized Whiskey first."
"Follow me!" Phelan said.
"Oh, come on," Gilded said.
"Scared?" Llewellyn asked.
Gilded scoffed. "Fine," he said, getting up.
Phelan poured two glasses, slid them across the bar. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Who else wants some?"
I'd never tried Destabilized Whiskey. Apparently it was rare, expensive, and had side effects that ranged from almost immediate drunkenness to intense euphoria and full-blown hallucinations depending on how much you drank and how well it had been stabilized.
Well. I grabbed a glass immediately.
Llewellyn studied his glass for a moment then knocked his back in one go. Gilded did the same.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Gilded blinked slowly.
"Wooow," he said.
"Wow?" Tiernan grinned.
"Everything's… very… here."
Phelan snorted.
He had a point though. Very, very here.
Plus Llewellyn looked amazing.
Also fine. Completely normal. He picked up the darts and walked to the line.
"Wait," Roan said. "You're not feeling anything?"
"Should I be?"
"You just drank Destabilized Whiskey!"
"I feel fine."
Gilded squinted at him. "You're cheating," he said. "But I feel too great to hate you for it." He patted Llewellyn's shoulder.
"I'm not cheating," Llewellyn said.
"You're definitely cheating," Jihoon said happily.
Llewellyn threw. Bullseye.
Gilded threw right after. Also bullseye.
The room was spinning colorfully around me, but… they kept going.
Llewellyn's posture remained impeccable and he kept hitting perfect scores every time. Gilded meanwhile started getting creative—throwing while spinning, throwing with his foot, at one point he tried to throw with his elbow and somehow… still hit bullseye.
"He's definitely using magic," Ejay said, squinting through the Whiskey. "But I can't tell how."
Jihoon leaned over to him. "Is it just me, or is Llewellyn not even tipsy?"
"He's not," Shea said. "Which means he's definitely cheating."
"Is he? Is he?" Yuè Zhōu said happily, before drifting back into drunken awe and cuddling Lumos while petting Penguin with his free hand.
Well. The contrast with Llewellyn was stark.
Tiernan laughed. "Llewellyn. What's in the glass?"
Llewellyn threw another dart. "Whiskey."
"Destabilized Whiskey?"
"Correct."
Roan stood up, walked over, picked up the glass and sniffed it. "It does smell like Destabilized Whiskey."
"Told you," Llewellyn said, hitting another bullseye.
Yuè Zhōu grinned, then his gaze landed on the glass. He frowned, then activated some kind of skill, directing it toward the glass, and a moment later Llewellyn's glass morphed into—
Wait.
"That's not one of my glasses!" Phelan yelled.
Damn. I was definitely drunk, but… Wasn't that Blackwut— Blackwait— What was his name— Blackwater's Tankard?!
I needed to put this Destabilized Whiskey down, but… it was good. I took another sip.
Tiernan went over immediately, grabbed the tankard and drank from it.
"He's drinking water!!!" he yelled cheerfully.
Everyone was up in arms.
Shea was wheezing. Jihoon had his head in his hands. Even Phelan was laughing.
"This is the best thing I've ever seen," Tiernan said, suddenly sounding more drunk in his excitement. "I want about—" he hiccuped. "—seven."
"Me too, me too!" Roan cheered, then went back for a second Destabilized Whiskey.
Gilded threw another dart, missed the board entirely, and didn't seem to notice. "I knew he was cheating!"
"You're the one using magic!" Shea pointed out.
"I'm not!" Gilded protested, throwing the next dart. It curved through the air and started singing the Innishaean national anthem before hitting another bullseye.
Yuè Zhōu fell off his bench, laughing and hugging Lumos. Jihoon had laughed so much he was crying, half-lying over the table.
"I'm taking this!" Tiernan said, requisitioning Llewellyn's tankard. "Phelan, get Llewellyn a real Destabilized Whiskey!"