Operation: Roll Out

[initiates]

Date & Time: January 31st - February 4th, Present Day Exsilium Time
Location: Neo Las Vegas, in what formerly was called Turkey.
Characters: All Transports!
Summary: Transports have been sent to Neo Las Vegas to gather information on the origin point of the United Earth and the UE AI. Conference sabotage and the rest is expected and invited!
Warnings: Gambling and alcoholic beverages quite likely! Please PM the mod account for anything else.

By day, the landscape isn't desert, precisely, so much as it is dry. Winter's settled in and found in the biting chill of the wind when it finds you standing on the street. Hovercars and taxis thrum down the cobblestone streets, cavorting and honking like a noisy crowd of inelegant, overweight geese. Men walk by on stilts half in make-up, on their way back to their stage for the next night. Walks of shame are taken proudly in this district, one of the few approved and sanctioned vacation zones in the United Earth.

Evidence of law enforcement can be found all around, but they seem altogether too pleased to be there too. Talk with any one of them about crime rates, and they're liable to laugh at the idea. Those who come to gamble know the house is rigged to win. It's not about making or breaking the bank -- people whose funds dip too low are politely escorted back to their rooms and given a set of normal playing cards -- but it is about enjoyment.

Of the flesh too, and it'd be difficult to find anyone working in Neo Las Vegas who suffers from modesty, or anyone visiting who seems unwilling to politely ask visitors and staff if they'd like to keep them company for the night. In fact, Transports may find themselves needing to turn down multiple such requests! The refusal is always taken well. These are people looking to have a good time, and that's all.

No chance taken, nothing gained, right?

At night, the city really comes alive, the lights in all the hotels and casinos turning the Neo Las Vegas Strip into a carnival of sensation. Drinks and recreational drugs are freely passed around, men and women engage in a variety of sexual and other hedonistic excesses without regret, and the beautiful interiors and ostentatious or playful exteriors of the buildings hide and reveal a rich tapestry of events, delectables, and desires waiting to be fulfilled.

Neo Las Vegas is a fun place, and it is a safe place, and it is Where the Conferences For Our Future Are Made. Playtime is on, gang.

Comments

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira stands up quickly, concern evident on his face.]

Do you require assistance?

[stonefaith]

Ma-aybe.

[ Not really. With the initial headrush over, Bariyan's fine now -- but he wants assistance.

He holds both hands out, and giggles. ]

Carry me.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira folds his arms over his chest.]

Is it necessary?

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan staggers back into the booth and sits down again. He keeps his arms outstretched. ]

Yes.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira is not a particularly perceptive man -- and, furthermore, he has no idea what it takes to get a living person drunk. He presumes not much, these days. He sighs irritably, but then he reaches into the booth, pulling Bariyan up and out. He swings Bariyan into his arms and over his shoulder, carrying him like a sack of potatoes.]

As you like.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan is pleased as punch by these developments. He wriggles just a little, to make himself more comfortable, and then settles down with a happy sigh. ]

Ooh. You're so strong. All right, out, before anyone I know sees me.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira rolls his eyes as he carries Bariyan back out onto the street.]

Where is your hotel?

[stonefaith]

I don't remember.

[ Now Bariyan's just being difficult to be difficult. He lifts his head to watch the door close behind them, and waves a fond farewell to Alchemy. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira groans.]

Crusa--Bariyan. Tell me where to take you.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan puts his face against Koltira's back and makes a burbling noise like the big, overgrown man-baby that he is. ]

Take me to your bed. [ He pauses, then adds (for Koltira's sake): ] Sleeping with me is, of course, optional.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira rolls his eyes back up into his head.]

I will take you to rest.

[He starts back for the casinos. His room is in one of the very nice, attached hotels, and he only has one due to a comp ticket earned from being at the tables for literally the entire day. It is a good room, though.]

[stonefaith]

[ Sir, you, barely have pupils, who can even tell that you're rolling your eyes. Who's even looking? Not Bariyan. Bariyan's busy trying not to stare at your butt. ]

If you say so. [ Bariyan pats Koltira's back, awkwardly. ] Mind you -- I'm drunk, not sleepy.

[deadelfwalking]

Then you may watch the video screens.

[Koltira carries Bariyan all the way to the hotel, through the lobby, and up the elevator to his room. He gets a few looks, but being too drunk to stand probably isn't a rare event in this town. Gripping Bariyan tightly about the legs with one hand (and making sure NOT to graze the butt area), Koltira fishes out his access key and unlocks the door to his room.

It's beautiful inside -- plush carpet, cream-colored walls, velvet drapes, a balcony. There's a long, cherry wood conference table decorated with flowers and a fruit basket, and adjacent to the table there's a small couch facing an ever-shifting digital wall of entertainment options. Koltira brings Bariyan to the bedroom, which is appointed similarly well: large bed covered in plump pillows, also facing a brightly lit wall of scrolling film and TV options.

Koltira sets Bariyan down on the bed, then reaches into the well-stocked mini-fridge for a bottle of water. He grabs peanuts from the adjoining snack bar and thrusts both of these things at Bariyan, wordlessly.]

[stonefaith]

[ Video screens!!

Bariyan lands on the bed with an 'oof', and stares at the peanuts and water as they're held out to him, like they're alien things that he's never seen before.

Granted, bottled water remains a bit of a novelty to him.

He takes both items from Koltira. Opens the peanuts first. Opens the bottle after that. Looks between the two, bewildered. And starts, with great amounts of concentration, dropping peanuts into the bottle.

Bariyan is fully aware that he never grew past the age of fifteen. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira stands there, sighing.]

Just drink.

[stonefaith]

Must I?

[ Bariyan makes a face, pops a peanut into his mouth, and then takes a drink -- which lands him a mouthful of water and, surprisingly, more peanuts. His face worsens as he swallows/chews the mess away. Then he takes another drink to wash it down. ]

You're mothering me.

[deadelfwalking]

I'm showing concern for you. [Koltira perches on the edge of the bed.] Would you prefer that I not?

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan smiles as he continues drinking (no more peanuts left in the bottle, now, thank the Light). ]

No. I like it.

[ He puts the bottle down on the nightstand, picks the peanuts back up, and shifts to sit at Koltira's side. He starts eating them, properly, and grumbles. ]

I can't believe you aren't going to sleep with me. This is the perfect setup for it.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira's expression, by some miracle of physics, turns even more dour than before.]

You are drunk.

[stonefaith]

Yes I am. [ Bariyan puts his head against Koltira's shoulder and grins, patting Koltira's arm. ] So I will, with inebriated grace, forgive you entirely for not sleeping with me.

[ He fishes around in the packet for the last peanut, and chews on it thoughtfully before speaking again. ]

I had a nice time tonight.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira draws his hand, lightly, over the top of Bariyan's hair.]

I'm glad.

[stonefaith]

You were happy. At least, you seemed happy. [ Bariyan is eyeing Koltira's hand -- he wants another pat. He laughs. ] You should've seen yourself on the carousel.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira's palm hovers over Bariyan's hair, brushing against it just slightly.

Was he happy? It's hard for him to positively frame his emotions. Everything he does has a dark cast to it, everything he feels seems underscored with anger or dread or a sharp, piercing pain, hissing in the back of his mind. Telling him it's meaningless. It won't last. He doesn't deserve it.

He mutters.]

It was ... it was enjoyable.

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan glances up, for a moment stuck on Koltira's wording -- for a moment, suspecting that something is wrong -- but then a flash from one of the screens catches his eye, distracting him, and his suspicion fades. He falls back against Koltira's shoulder and sighs, content. ]

Good. [ Bariyan closes his eyes and starts, idly, to kick his shoes off. ] I'd like to make you happier.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira's hand stays right where it is -- hovering over, touching, but not pressing down against Bariyan's scalp.]

What do you mean?