He had to leave his room some time...

[onlydisappear]

[Matt's sitting behind the bar, with a cigarette in one hand, a paperback version of Interesting Times in the other, and a half-finished pint glass of a copper-colored beer in front of him. He's lost track of how many times he's read through the Discworld series, and most of his attention isn't on the book, which he's mostly memorized by now anyway

Comments

[redeemed_m]

[Mello is wandering around the halls, seemingly aimlessly, when he stops by one particular door and rests his hand on the knob. He's been warned about the rooms in here doing fishy shit, but this one doesn't have an X on it and really, he can't just keep pacing through the corridors without checking any of the rooms, if he hopes to ever get out.

Almost tentatively, he turns the knob and peeks in, immediately pleased with the sight. Nice. He was thinking that if he didn't get a drink in him soon, he was likely to go nuts. Yeah, it's fucked way of coping, but after everything that's been explained to him, at this point, he really doesn't give a shit.

He fixes his attention on his figure behind the bar, the heels of his boots landing heavily on the floor as he walks over. Matt. Or...a Matt. Sure, he looks like the Matt with whom he's spoken before, but Mello's quickly learning that around here, that doesn't count for much.

He reaches the bar and flashes a smile, leaning over the surface and resting his elbows down.]

Chocotini?

[If

[onlydisappear]

[Matt takes it with his now-freed hand, and knocks back about a shot's worth.]

Ah, we can improvise. Or sleep it off on the beach. Which is, um... [He has to think about it.] Third door on the right!

[redeemed_m]

[Falling asleep on the beach sounds...nice. But Mello has yet to sleep in this place and even though he's in seemingly good company, it doesn't seem like the best of ideas.]

How come you've never gone deeper into the ocean? [It's a ridiculous question, but he genuinely wants to know. Wading's good, but in a place like this, he'd want to swim out as far as he could go in order to see where it would take him.

He sets off toward the designated door, taking one last drag off of the cigarette before dropping it to the floor and crushing it underfoot.]

[onlydisappear]

I dunno. It's fake. I had this thing, okay, towards the-- before I got here. Told myself I'd go swimming in every ocean if we made it. 's, like, cheating, I guess, to do it here. [He shrugs and takes another sip of the cognac before catching up to Mello and holding it out once more.]

This one. [He opens the door a crack at first, to check, because it would be just like the mansion to throw a trick room at them. But not this time. Palm trees, sand, the tide coming in, and a sky going pink.] See? Fake. But nice.

[redeemed_m]

[He absently reaches out and takes the bottle, leaning his head back a bit when Matt cracks the door open. His breath hitches in his throat because after everything he'd heard, he half expects the devil, himself, to come storming out.]

Holy shit, man.

[It's fucking unreal.]

Is it safe to just...walk in?

[onlydisappear]

[Matt laughs.] Sure!

[And he does, stooping to put his cigarette out in the sand.]

I've been in here loads of times. You haven' seen an outside room yet, huh?

[redeemed_m]

[He hesitates before following Matt in through the door. The smell of the ocean is apparent and he reaches down to take some of the sand between his fingers.]

No. But...[Another swig should settle him a bit.] it's not a room. It's the fucken beach, like...

You weren't kidding, man. [Shit. His boots are gonna be a pain in the ass while walking on the sand.]

[onlydisappear]

's bigger on the inside. Like the Tardis, ha.

[He starts to get up, changes his mind, and tackles the laces on his own boots. Fake or not, the sand feels real to walk in.]

[redeemed_m]

[He can smell it... There's no way this can be fake. Not that he doesn't believe Matt, but something just doesn't register in his mind as to being able to physically experience something and have it not be real.]

It's been a long time.

[He can't stop staring at the ocean, even as he crouches down to position the bottle in the sand and gets to work on his own boots. He sways a bit, reaching down to steady himself with a hand. At least if he accidentally drowns, he'll wake up. The thought is more amusing than disturbing, at the moment.]

[onlydisappear]

You're gonna make me go swimming, aren't you?

[He probably would. He's fairly suggestible at the moment. He gets his boots and socks off and rolls up his jeans a bit.]

[redeemed_m]

Make is a strong word.

[A grin as he tugs off his boots, then goes for the zipper on his vest.]

More along the lines of a humble request.

[The leather slips off and Mello lets it fall carelessly into the sand. His pants should be fine, left on. After all, the material is tight against his skin and isn't going to absorb water.]

[onlydisappear]

Ha ha, like you've ever done anything humbly in your life.

[He doesn't quite realize what Mello's doing until the vest hits the ground, and then he hopes against hope that his blush isn't too obvious. He's not sure what boxers he has on, but the chances of them being dorky are about a hundred percent.]

One more sip, and maybe.

[redeemed_m]

Or two.

[He grabs for the bottle and takes a generous sip before holding it out and shaking it slightly. The grin never leaves his face.]

Good swimmer? Or am I gonna have to save your ass?

[onlydisappear]

The booze's for the getting undressed part, not the swimming part.

[Oops, he didn't mean to say that out loud. He takes the bottle, sighs showily, and takes a huge sip.]

Okay, okay, fine, ha.

[He twists the bottle into the sand between them, and in the spirit of getting it over with, pulls everything off except the boxers. Sure enough: the pattern on them is The Tick's head alternating with "SPOON!"]

[redeemed_m]

T'ch. Like it's nothing I haven't seen. [Quite literally.]

...

[He watches the clothes come off intently before he bursts out laughing, leaning over and covering his mouth. He doesn't mean to, really. But he remembers that godawful show and how he avoided it, at all costs.]

[onlydisappear]

Fine, laugh it up. Some people think the geek thing's sexy, y'know.

[He's trying not to laugh himself, and hides it by scooping up the bottle for one last sip.]

[ooc: had to repost for typing fail, sorry!]