(no subject)

[hungover]

Date & Time: Saturday night!
Location: The Cascade Lounge
Characters: Haymitch and [open]
Summary: What are we doing tonight, Brain? The same thing we do every night.
Warnings: ...trying to take over the world? No, nothing actually. Haymitch being himself is warning enough.

[No matter where he was, there was one thing he could rely on (other than himself) -- alcohol. Sure, he spent most of his nights drinking at home alone ... but he'd started to think that he needed more information about this place, and the easiest way to get that would just be to sit around and wait for people to come to him.

A lonely drunk at the bar is the perfect potential conversation partner, right?

Right. At least he's been quiet and hasn't started any fights with anyone ... yet..]

Comments

[bitch_is_back]

[Oh she's got all the parts, for certain.]

I was just talking to an old man recently. He offered to buy me a drink, though.

[Sully was far more friendly. What a charmer. Though she bets this guy has it in him too, if he felt like it.]

So what're you doing here? Got something to drink about?

[hungover]

Don't we all have something to drink about? Some people just need to think a little longer on it than I do.

[He takes a slip of his drink and then purses his lips, turning to regard her a bit more fully. She's interesting enough.]

This place doesn't precisely bring in those pure as the driven snow.

[bitch_is_back]

Not sure if I should be offended by that.

[Meg smiled and drank her whiskey. She is far from pure that's for sure.]

You look like you've been thinkin' for awhile.

[He must've had a few drinks by now, judging from the looks of him.]

[hungover]

Purity's boring.

[He smirks. Don't think he doesn't see that smile.]

A couple of decades, sure.

[And he really has been drunk for most of those.]

[bitch_is_back]

Boring? Yeah.

But so are old men with baggage.

[The bartender looks like he's busy watching a game. Meg leans forward over the bar, which does provide Haymitch with a nice view as she's taking hold of the whiskey bottle by the neck.

She sits back when she has it, removes the stopper and tips it to top off Haymitch's drink.]

[hungover]

[He can't help the chuckle. Oh, he likes her. It isn't as if the bartender will miss one little bottle, after all.]

I don't remember claiming to be entertaining. Too old for that.

[The view is nice, but he's not overly interested in it -- just now, at least. Looking at things he couldn't touch just made him want it more, and his current vice was at least readily accessible.]

[bitch_is_back]

Doesn't matter how old you are. You can always be entertaining.

[Meg tops off her drink, puts the stopper on and then sets the bottle down at the foot of her stool. It's hidden a bit by the leg of the stool and her own boot.]

[hungover]

Too old to put the effort in consciously, then.

[And it isn't as if Haymitch is going to say anything about it.]

Unless there's a show to be made, of course, but I don't see any cameras.

[bitch_is_back]

[She finds his remark curious.]

Are you a performer?

[hungover]

Of a sort. More of a -- mentor.

[Yeah, that'll do for now.]

[bitch_is_back]

What do you mentor? Drinking?

[Meg takes a drink of her whiskey and smiles.

Meanwhile, another customer is at the far end of the bar; he orders a whiskey. The bartender wanders back toward them and looks around for the whiskey bottle. He has a puzzled look on his face. When his search turns up nothing, he takes a new bottle from beneath the bar and goes to serve the man his drink.

Meg's eyes follow him the entire time looking amused.]

[hungover]

[Haymitch snorts.]

Only to the special sort. Most of the time? I teach kids how to kill other kids.

[Really noble work, isn't it?]

Or I did.

[bitch_is_back]

[The subject doesn't seem to shock or bother her. In fact, she looks interested.]

Were you a soldier or something?

[Some military guy who taught young recruits how to kill in battle? He looks like he could've been the type.]

[hungover]

Closer to the 'or something' category.

[He finishes his drink, setting the glass on the counter. Fill 'er up any time there, Meg.]

Turns out, the place I come from's a lot more screwed up than this one.

[Outwardly, at least.]

[bitch_is_back]

[With the bartender back to his game watching, Meg picks up the drink and tops both of their glasses off again.]

What's it like where you come from?

[hungover]

More of a police state than this place, which is a feat.

[He tips his glass back and forth again.]

Bit of a war zone shortly, I'd assume.

[bitch_is_back]

Interesting. I guess only the strong survival, huh?

[She drinks her whiskey. Despite how much she's had so far, she doesn't appear affected by it.]

[hungover]

Or the clever.

[He chuckles, though.]

Up until recently, it was just everyone that kept their mouth shut and wasn't selected for the Reaping.

/smacks the previous typo. :/

[bitch_is_back]

The reaping? I like the sound of it. Sounds.. so dramatic.

[She knows he won't agree, though.]

It's cool!

[hungover]

[Oh, he's used to people liking the Reaping.]

Oh, sure. Much pomp and circumstance, and forcing children into their Sunday best to be sent to their deaths.

[He'd perhaps agree, given a certain set of circumstances. One can never predict exactly how they'll react until something happens.]

[bitch_is_back]

And that was you, wasn't it?

Mentoring these kids before sending them to their death?

Hah. Sounds like you have a lot to drink about.

[She'll go ahead and refill his glass again.]

[hungover]

Once upon a time, sure. Decades, really.

[He's glad for that refill. He's about reaching his limit of what he'll talk about even with the drink in him, but not quite there.]

Don't sound so surprised. Most people aren't as good as they pretend to be, or would like to be.

[bitch_is_back]

I knew that. Most people are downright evil.

[Meg knows that all too well.]

Myself included.

[She smiles and drinks her whiskey.]

[hungover]

[Haymitch lets out a soft laugh.]

At least you can admit it, princess. What makes you so evil, then?

[bitch_is_back]

I've done some pretty mean things to get what I want.

And I've got a collection of enemies to prove it, which doesn't exactly make my life easy.

[Especially now that she's stuck in this world with said enemies running around hating her.]