Dan Sagittarius (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hallelujahjunction) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
wildestlogs2022-02-17 10:58 am
hallelujahjunction) wrote in wildestlogs2022-02-17 10:58 am
Entry tags:
Bartender, Take My Keys [Mingle Log]
Who: Dan and any other adults.
What: It’s been a real long week and you know what Rivendell needs? A rager.
Where: Rivendell
When: The a few days into Rivendell.
Warnings: Content warnings for recreational alcohol and drug use, adults acting rowdy.
Note: I’d like to limit this log to characters who are adults, unless you’d like to do a thread of them being escorted away by a concerned grown-up (see the prompt for teens below).
Bonus note: This is supposed to be an open mingle post, but if you want Dan in particular, just let me know in your comment or somewhere OOCly!
Dan, as a guest in Rivendell, checks in with their hosts first and gets their blessing to have a "little soirée" in the Hall of Fire, adjacent to the water. Rather than going on the network, where he might leave some of the teens feeling excluded, Dan makes the effort to go to each other adult in the squad and several adults staying in Rivendell and invite them personally. He frames it as a night for people to relax with some drink, games, music, and cultural exchange, and most of all, a night of no judgments so long as everyone’s having a good time. And then he gets hustling.
When the sun goes down, the party starts. Dan’s been furiously busy networking, begging favors, scrapping together materials and coordinating, all in preparation for a moment of pressure release for the squad that he hopes will lift spirits and pacify any troubled waters. He’s cobbled together a crew of musicians from various backgrounds, and they’ve been spending the morning rehearsing together for some energetic background music. The cooks have provided tasty, fatty snacks and several tuns of beer and wine of various quality. Dwarves, elves and men are milling around on foot or at tables where card games are being played for friendly stakes, and in spite of being hobbled by his injury, Dan’s flitting around greeting everybody, memorizing everyone’s names, and making sure that they’re comfortable as they leave the makeshift coat check.
Once there are enough people mingling and filtering in, Dan climbs up on the table, crutch and all, and pulls out an oliphant tusk horn and blows into it, commanding the attention of the room.
“Welcome!” Dan does his best to shout, which still requires the musicians in the corner to settle down, as Dan’s voice can hardly rise above speaking level. “I’ll make this brief, since I’m certain that y’all have plenty of fun to be had and folks to meet without me yammering. Some of us have just got here by the skin of our teeth a few days ago. Some of us been here a while, twisting ourselves into knots over the horrors of war and destruction. All of us deserve a chance to breathe.
“Before we all get too excited, I want everyone to take a moment to consider how kind it is of the people of Rivendell to lend us this space tonight, and to remind folks to take care of it while having fun. I’ll be helping with cleanup in the morning, so do me a favor and make it easy on me.” Dan gestures to his injured leg, playing up the woeful wounded doe look. “And look to your right, look to your left – your wish for tonight is that the folks next to you have as nice a time tonight as you do.”
He raises a goblet of wine, then takes a deep drink. “Alright, as you were! I want this roof raised by sunrise!”
I. Time to Lick Shots
One of Dan’s many go-to professions when he needs to make some quick cash is bartending, and as he spent yesterday familiarizing himself (perhaps too much) with the different offerings in Rivendell – elven wine and cider, dwarf beer and brandy, Gondorian ale, arak from Agrabah – he feels confident combining and serving to anyone who wants something more complex than a straight pint. It also gives him a chance to sit down and take some weight off his injured leg.
“What’ll it be?” Dan grins at any person who approaches his work station, if they catch him at his rotation after he brings a beer down to Crowley. “The arak’s got a high enough proof to rip the roof of your mouth off, just so you know.”
The bar is long and busy, and people can sit and chat with the people next to them, buy each other drinks, make stupid dares, and anything else that comes to mind.
II. Can’t Read My, Can’t Read My, No You Can’t Read My Poker Face
One of Dan’s other favorite go-to professions in the real world is dealing cards, and getting to know the different sorts of decks and games in this world has been a nice way to pass the time while he’s been off his feet. For the sake of simplicity, he’s restricted his actual dealing to poker and blackjack, as he knows some members of the squad may appreciate the familiarity, but he’s learned and is on his way to mastering everything else put in front of him.
“Want me to deal you in?” he asks to anyone who sits at his table, satisfied that every table in the room is hopping with lively, convivial games. “We can make it strip poker, if you want.”
Come join him, or join any of the many tables throwing down spice packets as their stakes in games of poker, Egyptian Rat Screw, mahjong, gin and more, and feel free to enjoy some of the pipeweed and hashish being passed around.
III. Get Rich Hittin’ the Pole
It’s not a stripper party until the stripper gets a pole, and Dan’s arranged for a tentpole to be set up in the room for people to swing on and play at. For the first part of the night, it’s just a curiosity – people take a single swing on it, or come and poke at it as if they’re afraid it’ll fall over.
But once the liquor gets flowing…
IV. You and Me and These Empty Cups
In short time, the concept of “beer pong” is introduced to the people of Middle Earth, and soon after that someone’s procured a bunch of goblets and set them up to start playing as teams. At this point, several of the people who came to the party early are somewhat impaired, and people are frequently tapping out and dragging members of the squad in to replace them. You can’t let the team down, can you?
V. You Better Karaoke
Dan’s a fantastic piano player, which means he’s an extremely mediocre clavichord player. That does not, however, stop him from blowing the Gondorian horn again to announce that he’s about to play an absolutely wretched version of Fiona Apple’s “Criminal”, backed up by some of the musicians he coaxed into providing the entertainment tonight. His voice sounds like a garage door in need of WD-40, and there’s truly no way to make a clavichord sound gentle, even backed by elves at the harp and flute and a Gondorian playing some sort of bongo. If Dan weren’t so clearly enjoying himself and so clearly in on the joke, it would be annoying, but most of the people in the crowd find the lack of self-consciousness and shame to be freeing.
“Taking requests! I know most songs and I sound better playing than singing!” Dan announces. “So if you want to spare your ears, you better line on up and take the mic!”
VI. Let’s Get a Little Wet
There’s a natural pool of more still water near the steps adjacent to the room, and at some point, one of the elves picks up another and tosses him in, starting a rush into the water. People splash each other, swim around, kick off their boots, and peel off their nice clothes to enjoy themselves. Several people slide down the fountains, whooping.
Dan’s coordinated with one of the Gondorians to check and make sure no one’s jumping into the river with too much liquor in their system, and everyone gets a very stern talking-to about not polluting their hosts’ water, but other than that, bombs away.
VII. SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS!
“Who wants to see me shoot an apple off this guy’s head?” Dan shouts, at least, as close as his quiet, awful voice comes to shouting. A gaggle of elves and men have gathered around him, a combination of awed and nervous; one young man, clearly trying to prove something about his mettle to his fellows, has an apple precariously balanced on top of his head about thirty yards away. Dan’s got his longbow with an arrow nocked, and he pulls the drawstring, eyes narrowed as he fixes on the target.
“How much have you had?” someone in the crowd asks Dan, to which he yells back “six shots and two beers—I could build a house after six shots and two beers. This is perfectly safe. Count me down.”
“I’m not scared at all,” the guy with the apple says, but visible tenses as the crowd shouts down three, two, one. The arrow zips through the air and splits the apple. The crowd cheers and some money exchanges hands.
“Alright, what’s the money on me doing that left-handed?” Dan asks, taking another shot of arak and tossing another apple to a volunteer.
VIII. I’ve Had a Little Bit Too Much
Of course, sometimes a little bit of fun can turn into too much fun, and any party planner has prepared for the eventuality that people may need places to recuperate and lounge on couches, and in the spirit of community, some of the more sober folks are helping the too-drunk folks up to bed or somewhere they can clean up. Some people even are falling asleep on the couches on top of each other in warm piles like living laundry.
Prior to his own “getting too drunk to function”, Dan’s doing his rounds of helping people find a place to recline on the couch, coaxing them to drink water and, if necessary, helping them tie their hair back.
IX. Club Can’t Even Handle You (for the teens)
There’s no real way to keep the teenagers from finding out that there’s a big party going on without them, so Dan’s anticipated that there may need to be some bouncing. He’s enlisted some men from Gondor and some of the dwarves to keep youngsters out, and they go around making sure that anyone who looks too youthful has someone to vouch for them.
“You got ID?” Dan jokes to anyone getting dragged towards the door if he catches them, giving the bouncers encouragement to be gentle.
OTHER
Got some party ideas not covered in the top-levels above? Go wild!
What: It’s been a real long week and you know what Rivendell needs? A rager.
Where: Rivendell
When: The a few days into Rivendell.
Warnings: Content warnings for recreational alcohol and drug use, adults acting rowdy.
Note: I’d like to limit this log to characters who are adults, unless you’d like to do a thread of them being escorted away by a concerned grown-up (see the prompt for teens below).
Bonus note: This is supposed to be an open mingle post, but if you want Dan in particular, just let me know in your comment or somewhere OOCly!
Dan, as a guest in Rivendell, checks in with their hosts first and gets their blessing to have a "little soirée" in the Hall of Fire, adjacent to the water. Rather than going on the network, where he might leave some of the teens feeling excluded, Dan makes the effort to go to each other adult in the squad and several adults staying in Rivendell and invite them personally. He frames it as a night for people to relax with some drink, games, music, and cultural exchange, and most of all, a night of no judgments so long as everyone’s having a good time. And then he gets hustling.
When the sun goes down, the party starts. Dan’s been furiously busy networking, begging favors, scrapping together materials and coordinating, all in preparation for a moment of pressure release for the squad that he hopes will lift spirits and pacify any troubled waters. He’s cobbled together a crew of musicians from various backgrounds, and they’ve been spending the morning rehearsing together for some energetic background music. The cooks have provided tasty, fatty snacks and several tuns of beer and wine of various quality. Dwarves, elves and men are milling around on foot or at tables where card games are being played for friendly stakes, and in spite of being hobbled by his injury, Dan’s flitting around greeting everybody, memorizing everyone’s names, and making sure that they’re comfortable as they leave the makeshift coat check.
Once there are enough people mingling and filtering in, Dan climbs up on the table, crutch and all, and pulls out an oliphant tusk horn and blows into it, commanding the attention of the room.
“Welcome!” Dan does his best to shout, which still requires the musicians in the corner to settle down, as Dan’s voice can hardly rise above speaking level. “I’ll make this brief, since I’m certain that y’all have plenty of fun to be had and folks to meet without me yammering. Some of us have just got here by the skin of our teeth a few days ago. Some of us been here a while, twisting ourselves into knots over the horrors of war and destruction. All of us deserve a chance to breathe.
“Before we all get too excited, I want everyone to take a moment to consider how kind it is of the people of Rivendell to lend us this space tonight, and to remind folks to take care of it while having fun. I’ll be helping with cleanup in the morning, so do me a favor and make it easy on me.” Dan gestures to his injured leg, playing up the woeful wounded doe look. “And look to your right, look to your left – your wish for tonight is that the folks next to you have as nice a time tonight as you do.”
He raises a goblet of wine, then takes a deep drink. “Alright, as you were! I want this roof raised by sunrise!”
I. Time to Lick Shots
One of Dan’s many go-to professions when he needs to make some quick cash is bartending, and as he spent yesterday familiarizing himself (perhaps too much) with the different offerings in Rivendell – elven wine and cider, dwarf beer and brandy, Gondorian ale, arak from Agrabah – he feels confident combining and serving to anyone who wants something more complex than a straight pint. It also gives him a chance to sit down and take some weight off his injured leg.
“What’ll it be?” Dan grins at any person who approaches his work station, if they catch him at his rotation after he brings a beer down to Crowley. “The arak’s got a high enough proof to rip the roof of your mouth off, just so you know.”
The bar is long and busy, and people can sit and chat with the people next to them, buy each other drinks, make stupid dares, and anything else that comes to mind.
II. Can’t Read My, Can’t Read My, No You Can’t Read My Poker Face
One of Dan’s other favorite go-to professions in the real world is dealing cards, and getting to know the different sorts of decks and games in this world has been a nice way to pass the time while he’s been off his feet. For the sake of simplicity, he’s restricted his actual dealing to poker and blackjack, as he knows some members of the squad may appreciate the familiarity, but he’s learned and is on his way to mastering everything else put in front of him.
“Want me to deal you in?” he asks to anyone who sits at his table, satisfied that every table in the room is hopping with lively, convivial games. “We can make it strip poker, if you want.”
Come join him, or join any of the many tables throwing down spice packets as their stakes in games of poker, Egyptian Rat Screw, mahjong, gin and more, and feel free to enjoy some of the pipeweed and hashish being passed around.
III. Get Rich Hittin’ the Pole
It’s not a stripper party until the stripper gets a pole, and Dan’s arranged for a tentpole to be set up in the room for people to swing on and play at. For the first part of the night, it’s just a curiosity – people take a single swing on it, or come and poke at it as if they’re afraid it’ll fall over.
But once the liquor gets flowing…
IV. You and Me and These Empty Cups
In short time, the concept of “beer pong” is introduced to the people of Middle Earth, and soon after that someone’s procured a bunch of goblets and set them up to start playing as teams. At this point, several of the people who came to the party early are somewhat impaired, and people are frequently tapping out and dragging members of the squad in to replace them. You can’t let the team down, can you?
V. You Better Karaoke
Dan’s a fantastic piano player, which means he’s an extremely mediocre clavichord player. That does not, however, stop him from blowing the Gondorian horn again to announce that he’s about to play an absolutely wretched version of Fiona Apple’s “Criminal”, backed up by some of the musicians he coaxed into providing the entertainment tonight. His voice sounds like a garage door in need of WD-40, and there’s truly no way to make a clavichord sound gentle, even backed by elves at the harp and flute and a Gondorian playing some sort of bongo. If Dan weren’t so clearly enjoying himself and so clearly in on the joke, it would be annoying, but most of the people in the crowd find the lack of self-consciousness and shame to be freeing.
“Taking requests! I know most songs and I sound better playing than singing!” Dan announces. “So if you want to spare your ears, you better line on up and take the mic!”
VI. Let’s Get a Little Wet
There’s a natural pool of more still water near the steps adjacent to the room, and at some point, one of the elves picks up another and tosses him in, starting a rush into the water. People splash each other, swim around, kick off their boots, and peel off their nice clothes to enjoy themselves. Several people slide down the fountains, whooping.
Dan’s coordinated with one of the Gondorians to check and make sure no one’s jumping into the river with too much liquor in their system, and everyone gets a very stern talking-to about not polluting their hosts’ water, but other than that, bombs away.
VII. SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS!
“Who wants to see me shoot an apple off this guy’s head?” Dan shouts, at least, as close as his quiet, awful voice comes to shouting. A gaggle of elves and men have gathered around him, a combination of awed and nervous; one young man, clearly trying to prove something about his mettle to his fellows, has an apple precariously balanced on top of his head about thirty yards away. Dan’s got his longbow with an arrow nocked, and he pulls the drawstring, eyes narrowed as he fixes on the target.
“How much have you had?” someone in the crowd asks Dan, to which he yells back “six shots and two beers—I could build a house after six shots and two beers. This is perfectly safe. Count me down.”
“I’m not scared at all,” the guy with the apple says, but visible tenses as the crowd shouts down three, two, one. The arrow zips through the air and splits the apple. The crowd cheers and some money exchanges hands.
“Alright, what’s the money on me doing that left-handed?” Dan asks, taking another shot of arak and tossing another apple to a volunteer.
VIII. I’ve Had a Little Bit Too Much
Of course, sometimes a little bit of fun can turn into too much fun, and any party planner has prepared for the eventuality that people may need places to recuperate and lounge on couches, and in the spirit of community, some of the more sober folks are helping the too-drunk folks up to bed or somewhere they can clean up. Some people even are falling asleep on the couches on top of each other in warm piles like living laundry.
Prior to his own “getting too drunk to function”, Dan’s doing his rounds of helping people find a place to recline on the couch, coaxing them to drink water and, if necessary, helping them tie their hair back.
IX. Club Can’t Even Handle You (for the teens)
There’s no real way to keep the teenagers from finding out that there’s a big party going on without them, so Dan’s anticipated that there may need to be some bouncing. He’s enlisted some men from Gondor and some of the dwarves to keep youngsters out, and they go around making sure that anyone who looks too youthful has someone to vouch for them.
“You got ID?” Dan jokes to anyone getting dragged towards the door if he catches them, giving the bouncers encouragement to be gentle.
OTHER
Got some party ideas not covered in the top-levels above? Go wild!
no subject
I had a friend who was an adventurer. She'd go all over the world, so for years every time she returned home I'd have a welcome back party for her. Gotta celebrate she returned safely, you know? Everybody would come to welcome her. It was like...twice a year or so" he sounds so happy. In his opinion Lizbert deserved the best. "A-And she wasn't the calm sort or anything! I mean, I knew it had been a good party whenever she did things like dragging the couch out of the house to toss it all the way across the lawn!"
From the way Filbo says it that's not an exaggeration at all. Lizbert was remarkably strong.
"Alright, let's go one step higher. Next drink, Dan! Also wasn't that what you said would tear the roof of your mouth apart? You sure you should be drinking it?"
no subject
"Oh, I definitely shouldn't be drinking it." Dan laughs, pouring another beer for Filbo. He slides it over and does another shot of arak, exhaling hard after it goes down.
no subject
Still, it all encouraged Filbo to dare step out there. In many ways it was Lizbert herself who shaped Filbo into the person he is now.
"And now here I am moving constantly in a world that isn't even mine. Funny how life goes, eh? Guess that means I'm half an adventurer by now!" he says, taking the second beer. Adventurer by obligation, not because he really wanted to!
Filbo laughs. "Hey, if you pass out who is gonna serve the drinks? I better not be drinking you under the table!" As if the beers are even anywhere on the same tier as the arak.
no subject
Dan looks around at everyone serving themselves beer and one elf trying to sneak the entire bottle of arak off for himself. He makes a mental note to keep an eye on that elf; drinking what's essentially pure alcohol is something likely best left to the seasoned drunks.
"Filbo, I could be on my deathbed and you couldn't drink me under the table."
no subject
Saying that almost makes it sound like they're going to leave in a week and half and have an easy adventure with no stakes at all. Maybe it's better to think of it that way -- although forgetting this is no small potatoes is impossible, focusing on the task at hand instead of thinking about how much trouble is ahead is far better. That's the way he does things! Focus on the present!
Gulping down the second beer with enthusiasm, he slams the empty glass on the counter.
"Really? Well you also should be careful with your throat. It's not gonna heal if you keep melting it down constantly like that! It's gonna undo the healers' work!"
Apparently Filbo thinks Dan's voice is the result of a recent fight, probably having gotten hit right on the voicebox. The first conversation they had was with Dan having gotten a pretty bad injury, after all!
no subject
He fills Filbo's glass, this time with a less high-proof beer. Filbo's really going through them, and Dan wants to make sure the alcohol doesn't do anything to grumpuses before he gets Filbo wasted.
"Your voice don't sound like what I expected upon seeing you either, you know."
no subject
Dan certainly wasn't the only one who had been wondering if drinking this could be a mistake. Filbo himself was trying to watch out for anything that could mean something was wrong, but thankfully it seemed it was all fine! He was free to drink as much as he wanted! Probably. From looking at him one could tell he was having fun, with no ill effects so far. Perhaps it was due to his size and this being far of his first time with alcohol that he didn't seem to even have a buzz so far. It probably wouldn't be long before he did, though -- there's only so much alcohol he can take before he starts feeling some effect.
And indeed, drinking the new glass seems to begin doing the trick. Filbo raises a paw to his head, laughing. "Oh, good. I think it's beginning to pile up enough to feel something, hahaha!" Glad to notice that he can get tipsy -- although he's far from drunk yet -- he continues the conversation. "Really? What did you think I was gonna sound like?"
no subject
He laughs when Filbo says that he's starting to feel something. He'd do another shot, but he's hoping to be up all night running this party rather than just attending it, so he settles for a beer for now.
"I reckoned you'd sound like Cookie Monster, you know. Big and low and kind of garbled. Just because you're so tall and your mouth's pretty big."
no subject
"I see! Wow, I really wonder how you think the taller ones would sound. I'm just a little below average in height"
Far taller, and with mouths just as wide as his, or perhaps a little more to accomodate tusks. Grumpuses from seven all the way to eight feet tall aren't extraordinary, too, they're just considered tall.
Filbo has a question, though...
"But what's...this Cookie Monster, exactly?"
no subject
Which is why he hops up to sit on the bar, all the better to keep talking to Filbo.
"He's some sort of TV character. Big blue monster with fur who eats cookies by cramming them into his face. Pretty handsome." Dan's caught some Sesame Street in motels when he's been too drunk to change the channel. "Like a smaller version of you, without your attractive nose."
no subject
"So you're telling me in TV there's someone who looks a bit like me" That's such a thought! "Oh, wait! So in other worlds such people do exist! Good!"
Filbo seems so glad about that, mostly because to him it's still really mindboggling that there seem to be so many worlds with humans, and races that look like humans, yet his is the only world where humans don't exist and instead something else does. He has really been wondering about that for a while -- and feels a bit silly about feeling somewhat self-conscious about it, but he couldn't avoid it.
"Ah, true, I came here to drink. Um, one more! Stronger!"
no subject
He pours Filbo another drink.
"But my world's got plenty of sapient races, and most of the world don't even know about it. Werewolves, faun, harpies, all sorts of spirits, hellhounds, pixies. And I've heard of some variations of those in other worlds, so I'd bet some world out there has more grumpuses."
no subject
Even if everything goes to hell soon while on the road because of incidents like the Nazgul attacking, the people are a bright point, as far as he's concerned. Filbo has managed to finally feel comfortable around everyone, comfortable enough to try to approach others and try to help shoulder their problems -- and the intense, unabashed fondness towards everyone probably isn't just the alcohol speaking right now.
Taking once another drink, he decides to ask:
"Hey, Dan, didn't you say you were kinda a diplomat? Is that how you got into bartending?" As if Dan solves the many problems peacefully by getting everyone wasted.
no subject
He starts to create a cocktail out of the limited offerings they have. He has ice and garnishes, which does a decent amount of the work for him.
"Nah, what I do is go to places where humans and monsters are killing each other, or ghosts are haunting people, and hopefully find a more peaceful solution." He sighs. "And a lot of the time there ain't a peaceful solution to be had, so I try to make it a humane solution."
no subject
Filbo blinks and rubs his head, realizing that yes, by now he definitely was starting to get his head scrambled by the booze given he couldn't recall things accurately. Objective fulfilled, he managed to drink himself into somewhat of a stupor. Good!
"...I really should ask more when I'm not tipsy. Guy like you has an interesting life. I think you're pretty neat, you know? It'd be great to find out more"
no subject
Dan winks. In many ways, Dan is open and forthcoming, generally unashamed of where he's come from and what sort of person he is. But he never sheds the fact that he's manipulative, that he has parts of his past that he never talks about to anyone. By being so transparent in some ways, he's got more cover for others.
no subject
Don't mind him, Filbo will just...lower his head onto the counter. Still conscious, just needing to take a moment to recover a little. That was a lot of alcohol in a short span of time. Managing to turn his head to a side, he sighs.
"Thanks for the party, by the way. This was--it was a great idea"
no subject
Dan isn't in any state to carry Filbo home, and he figures he should play it safe with non-human physiology. Filbo did slam those beers back pretty quickly.
"You want to go finish this drink on the couch? Someone can cover my shift for a minute."
no subject
There's no way he's missing everything else. There's a lot of people to talk with and a lot to do. To be defeated by alcohol would be pretty shameful for someone who prides himself in enjoying this sort of event, that's for sure.
no subject