Oktoberfest: Beer!

[memento_mods]

Who: Everyone
What: Oktoberfest, the beer version
Where: The large building in the park
When: September 27 to October 4
Warnings: Alcohol and all the havoc it may bring.

Comments

[a_severed_fate]

Tear peered around the corner of the doorway into the bustling building. She had returned here with the intention of giving the manager a piece of her mind - it seemed like there had been a leak of some sort and the alcoholic beverage was now tainting the island's fresh water supply. This wouldn't do! It would ruin the cafe's tea and coffee and was already making the whole place reek! There were children to think about, too. Tear herself wasn't technically old enough to drink, but she knew already that she didn't much care for the taste of beer if the glass of water she had sipped from during her training break was any indication

[apurposetolive]

Luke arrived at the building, wondering what all the fuss was about. That, and he felt the strong urge to visit anyway, having consumed a glass of juice earlier that contained traces of beer.

The first thing he saw was Tear holding a mug of beer. Utterly bewildered, Luke's mouth moved without connecting to his brain first.

"What? I didn't know you drink!"

[a_severed_fate]

Luke's answer was not in the form of words, but rather Tear choking on the previously offered beverage. It was... just about the worst thing she had ever tasted, and she had no idea what had possessed her to even try it to begin with. She also had no idea what little tolerance she had for the stuff. Perhaps it was out of curiosity, spite, or (most likely) a temporary lapse in common sense.

"I-- I don't think that I do..." she muttered under her breath, flushing with embarrassment. She... she could do whatever she wanted, couldn't she? That idiot... It wasn't as if she had an intelligent reason for doing something that she wouldn't have even considered under normal circumstances, but she wasn't without a badly-formed excuse

[apurposetolive]

"Look who's talking," Luke replied. "Anyway, I saw the crowd and wanted to see what's going on.

"Anyway, for something you couldn't bring yourself to refuse, you downed it pretty quick there."

[a_severed_fate]

"Perhaps, perhaps not. I might actually be much older than you, although I don't suppose I've made it to twenty yet." Didn't that mean she wasn't technically old enough to be drinking? That made her a teenager - still a kid. How bothersome... And now she was being reprimanded by Luke again... Again..."It tastes terrible. If I had sipped it slowly, I never would have brought myself to finish it," she replied. Tear attempted to look properly offended, but failed. It was hard to stay completely serious

[apurposetolive]

Luke hesitated. Tear was talking a lot more than normal. Did she really have a low tolerance for liquor or something?

"So...have you done that yet, or have you been drinking this whole time?"

[a_severed_fate]

"Ehh...?" What was his problem? Luke was usually all eager to have fun and here he was standing around and not doing a whole lot of anything. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, "What's with you? You didn't actually think that I hated you...?"

She had no way of knowing it had nothing to do with that and everything to do with the drink that was currently inhibiting her good sense.

"Ah, no... I only had that one. Even if it's an issue of hospitality, drinking more than one mug would be incredibly stupid."

Tear laughed quietly before continuing, "Although it'll be a bit of a problem over time if they don't do something about the water."

She paused for a moment, looking around the room curiously, taking her time about it. Finally, mission forgotten for the second time, she turned her attention back to Luke and actually smiled.

"If you're planning on just standing there all evening, then we should go do something instead. What do you think?"

[apurposetolive]

Oh, yeah. She definitely couldn't hold her liquor. Luke was about to say something, but got derailed by Tear's last statement.

"H-huh?" Was Tear actually asking Luke to do something with her? Something that (hopefully) didn't involve labor on his part? A look of surprise on his face, Luke asked, "...Like what?"

[a_severed_fate]

Obviously not.

Tear, amused, laughed quietly at Luke's reaction. What? Did he think she was going to make him help her clean up the Hakurei Shrine again or something? What kind of question was that? With some effort, Tear forced herself to quit laughing and remain halfway serious about this... well, she still wasn't being serious by Tear standards, but, it was an improvement.

"Oh, I don't know. A walk perhaps? Like... like a date. That's what they call them, don't they?"

[apurposetolive]

In the meantime, Luke found himself with a cup of beer in hand. He didn't remember grabbing it, and he didn't remember drinking any -- but he coughed and sputtered all the same when Tear likened it to a date.

"A-a-a d-date? A-are you serious?!"

[a_severed_fate]

Tear practically leapt back a few feet at that, her eyes widening slightly into an expression of utter confusion. Really, she couldn't understand why he was being like that.

"That's what they call it when two people do something together isn't it? I'm still a bit foggy on the details, but I think as long as the two people are friends, it's called a date. If that's no good, we'll just call it a walk."

Well, no, she still didn't quite have the right idea, but she was getting there.

"I thought you weren't going to drink any," Tear pointed out helpfully with a wave of her hand in the direction of Luke's mug, "You need to learn to make up your mind, Luke fon Fabre."

[apurposetolive]

"Hey, I never said I wasn't gonna drink!" Luke exclaimed. At that moment, though, his mind was foggy, and it wasn't from the alcohol. He had just been asked out on a date by an extremely attractive woman. Sure, they bickered a bit every now and then, but overall, Luke considered Tear a friend. And to be asked on a date by her...well, obviously the alcohol was affecting her, but that was only a note in the back of Luke's mind at this point.

"Anyway, if you want to, uh...I'm game, I guess."

[a_severed_fate]

"You might not have said it, but you always get defensive like that when I ask something you don't like," Tear remarked, still terribly amused.

Upon hearing Luke's answer, she smiled again, looking vaguely relieved. This could be nice. Actually, the voices around them seemed to have become incredibly loud and the lights hurt her eyes just a little. Outside there'd be a nice autumn breeze, fresh air, a wide open sky. Unfortunately for Luke, Tear's train of thought wasn't exactly running along the same tracks at the moment. Well frankly, she wasn't exactly thinking.

"Oh good! I thought you might refuse."

With another laugh she took a step closer to Luke, still smiling, and not seeming to bother with being reserved or serious at all. "Of course I want to, silly. I wouldn't have asked you otherwise. Shall we be going?"

[apurposetolive]

Luke was still flustered. His mind was racing a mile a minute and yet going nowhere at the same time. "Uh, s-sure."

[a_severed_fate]

The poor guy. Maybe she shouldn't have called it a "date" to begin with. He was being awfully shy about it, but then, Luke's discomfort was almost charming. Maybe she should suggest he drink something else - she had certainly loosened up after a mug of the foamy stuff. But, he was also still a kid - still somehow seemed like one. She couldn't just tell him to do something like that; she was supposed to be responsible even if she was just a kid herself

[apurposetolive]

"That's not what's bothering me!" Luke replied a little too enthusiastically. "It's...gah, never mind."

He accepted Tear's hand, but not before adding, "And I am not fighting any bears. And neither are you!"