Deer Country In-Box

[burnitblack]

un: dabi  *cla-chick* ... what?  *growl* [ that would be his omen ] [ contact through his omni stone can be text, audio, or video. contact through his omen can be visual, mental, or physical. ]

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[swellter]

[ Goat's turning?? What kind of bar is this?!

Well, he'll figure it out soon enough. It doesn't help that he has no idea where Muckhod is and has to ask a few people for directions. He doesn't really look the type to frequent the bar, thankfully they don't ask him for his age.

Somehow he manages to get inside but not without turning a few heads not in a good way. Did he think to change before going in? Didn't even cross his mind. Dressed in his full hero custom Shouto makes his way to the bar sporting five canisters around his waist that tend to bump into people a lot more in a crowded room. Maybe he should have changed. Too late now.

Considering Touya didn't give him anything more than a name let alone a time, Shouto goes straight to the bar to ask for 'Dabi'. Amused at his obliviousness, the bartender tells him to take a seat and get a drink while he waits. He takes a seat but declines the drink to which he's countered with:

'The bar is for paying customers.'

'Can I pay for water?'

'Only if I charge you top-shelf whiskey for it, darling'

And so, that's how Shouto ends up waiting at the bar, sipping water with a very chatty bartender, while making minimal comments here and there while the crowd of people keeps growing. ]

[burnitblack]

[well he did give him an hour? but he also expects shouto to be able to use the omni to get directions. knowing it's a bar and its name should be enough. touya tugs open the door to the bar, which is literally a building built into the center of a large mound beneath twin hills covering it. a chimney pokes out the top and there seem to be a few other tubes sticking out of the hills in various places. hard to tell if the building was here first and a hill was "dropped on it" or if the hills were excavated to make room for the bar now sheltered all snug within it.

letting the heavy chocolate-colored door swing back behind him, touya eyes the rich interior of the bar. not rich in the monetary way, but in the depths of its dark browns and tans hues, with dark stone walls and blonde wood bartops and tabletops. the scent of alcohol mingles with a smokey flavor while the spiciness of roots lingers within. lights dangle from the ceiling on spindly chains, each bulb shielded by an inverted cone collar of a metal lampshade, giving each booth-flanked table a private (shady) feeling beneath its single circle of light.

usually the atmosphere here is quiet, compact, very much "mind your own business" - a reason touya frequents the place - but the daytime traffic is different. not something he's familiar with, since touya usually comes evenings and nights. a lot more people than he's used to.

not too surprising shouto turned heads. younger people don't usually come here. ah well. honestly he doesn't know what age shouto is right now. considering he's been here for this long and then previously elsewhere... who knows. but it isn't hard to spot him at the bar. touya heads towards his youngest sibling, hands in his pockets and eyes staying on the chatty bartender. tsk, this bitch...

warm leather and the ever-present scent of burned flesh drift into shouto's space as touya steps up beside him. a single glance down to the side notes the water his little brother's drinking, then flicks his eyes back up to the bartender.]

Oy. That's water, Vien. Give him his pay back.

[touya slips one hand from his pocket and holds it palm up above the bar top.]

[swellter]

[ Ever diligent of his surroundings, he spots his brother the moment he enters. Standing to greet him and ignorant of the abrupt manner in which he sets his drink down and stares at the entrance like he's found something of worth. No subtlety with this one. Then again, Touya isn't exactly subtle himself. Maybe it's a Todoroki thing.

The scent of old drink and spice blends into the background with the occasional punch of cologne hiding a day or more worth of grime. Shouto isn't interested in the background. He's here for a reason and that reason is currently ignoring him. Another familiar Todoroki trait. They really are a catch, aren't they? ]

I asked for it.

[ He interrupts. Turning his head as Touya walks past him to talk to the bartender and ends up catching a hint of smoke and leather. A scent he's come to associate with his brother which soothes his initial caution. The bartender, Vien, looks on in amusement noting the way the younger one keeps on staring at the latter as if they weren't even there. ]

I haven't paid yet.

[ This time, Shouto does look at the bartender and slides over a vial of blood for his water, completely overpaying even for top-shelf. A fact that has Vien grinning at the younger pleased by the little arrangement. Shouto unaware of all the little details being read from the simple exchange turns back to Touya and continues with his business, but first: ]

Where's Wolf?

[burnitblack]

[touya's not surprised shouto sees him upon entering. the kid's been looking for him since he said they could meet up. a shadow among the rest of the bar-goers, he seems to slide and melt between them, though it's obvious some are leaning out of his way. 'dabi' has made somewhat a name and reputation for himself among the lower levels of society. particularly the hunters and bar hops. he can't help the immediate feeling that someone like shouto doesn't belong in a place like this.]

I know.

[and from the shopping trip a long time ago, touya's also aware his little brother has no concept of price per value and can/will get cheated out of his pay by anyone willing to give him half a second's consideration. vien isn't someone who'd be looking out for some little kid either. touya doesn't trust anyone, but he's been in muckhod enough to know the rotating staff.

as soon as shouto slides over an entire vial of blood, well overpaying for even the most expensive quality drinks in this place, touya snatches it from the bar top before vien can get her hands on it.]

Start a tab. We'll pay when we're done.

[that's to vien. much as he doesn't care if shouto blows his payments like an idiot, he's gonna take advantage of that in this case and milk it. touya tilts his head and leave the bar, heading for a booth instead. keeps an eye on shouto to make sure his little brother doesn't have a guilty conscience and try to pay again after touya stopped him.]

[swellter]

[ If he was better at reading a room, Shouto would notice the way some people incline their heads in Dabi's direction to catch a glimpse of a beast out in the wild, while others tilt away for the same reason finding a newfound fascination with the ground. Measuring someone from a distance would never be his strong suit. He's too direct in his thinking. Too blind to all the subtle clues he never learned how to read locked up in his gold-trimmed cage. It's become part of his personality, bland at first glance with depths of layers underneath the neutral look that's become his mask.

Shouto stands out in the crowd of Muckhod for entirely different reasons than his brother. His hero costume is meant to be easily recognizable as well as functional. His artless innocence coupled with his blank mask and direct, albeit polite, manner makes him a curiosity for the casual observer looking for something mildly entertaining or a payoff for anyone wile enough to find his poison of choice which unsurprisingly isn't alcohol but the latest 'super food' for 'keeping your koi healthy'.

Dabi would be annoyed. Probably is annoyed by the way he snatches the vile of blood from the barkeeper. Shouto is left entirely in the dark, but he's used to that - this is your brother - and continues on without a hitch, turning to Touya without a glance back at the barkeeper. He's not here for them.

The tilt of his head means absolutely nothing to Shouto, but he catches on real quick when Touya starts walking towards a booth and follows after. He would have followed anyway even if that signal meant 'get lost'. He's used to ignoring what he's told, a bad habit he formed from dealing with Endeavor for so many years. You either called bullshit on half the things he said and did your own thing or got gaslighted till you believed the world was flat. He learned to call bullshit after a while and stand his ground against Goliath.

Touya's concern is unwarranted. He might look like an easy mark, but he feels absolutely no guilt for something he has no stake in. Unless Vien made a show of being cheated, Shouto's direct view of the world lets him easily keep walking behind his brother with no idea what just happened only that both parties accepted the outcome without argument and that's good enough for him. ]

Where's Wolf?


[ He asks again the moment he slips into the seat across from Touya, not deterred in the slightest by the fact that Kizu isn't out either. ]



[ ooc; apologies. it's been a rough two months, trying to catch up with everything. no worries, if this tag hits you at a bad time. ]