open: the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind bow boy's butt shaft

[bymyheelies]

For those that care to spend time with Mercutio; they may note that today he is conspicuously hard to find. He is still reeling from the recent news of Romeo's fate at the end of their story, and not entirely sure how to proceed with it. Ideally, at home, he would find some way to take his mind off of pressing matters: spend time with his friends (friend, now, singular) or find someone entertaining to harass about the town and make merry. If he was in a particularly snappish mood he would invariably end up picking a fight with Capulets, one in particular.

That is not the case today. Someone attuned to the general sounds of the mansion might hear a steady sort of thunking noise coming from an out-of-the-way bar. It is there that Mercutio can be found, various bottles of alcohol open at his side. He has clearly been there some time by the looks of it, and is currently engrossed in throwing a small selection of daggers at the wall. Despite his intoxication, he is doing a reasonably good job at it; but judging from the stormy look on his face, he does not entirely wish to be bothered.

Comments

[futaille]

Grantaire wasn't necessarily looking for Mercutio in particular, but he was certainly drawn to the thunking noises. He stops in the doorway of the bar, looking at the tableau before him. The vibe makes perfect sense to him, to be honest.

He enters, not to bother Mercutio specifically, but instead to make a beeline for the bar, making sure to keep a wide berth from the path of dagger throwing, and grab himself a drink.

[bymyheelies]

“I shall not hit thee,” he says, sparing Grantaire half a glance. “I am not so far gone.”

[futaille]

"I wasn't particularly worried you were," he says, opening the bottle he grabbed, labeled only with faded sharpie. "But best not to distract you regardless."

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally's been feeling a little better since she made up with Gideon again, but she's still kind of in a mood. Maybe it's a consequence of getting permanently bubblier; it's a lot harder to forget about bogus things when your brain is working better. She's thinking about going for a walk when she hears the noise, and pokes her head in, not able to see Mercutio's face from the angle she's at.

"Hey, Mercutio-la! What are you doing?"

[bymyheelies]

“Mmn,” Mercutio agrees with a nod, and settles back into his knife throwing routine.

[bymyheelies]

“Not what I would like to be, my lady,” he replies, aiming another knife at the wall. “And so I have settled for drink and this.”

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally catches his mood a little, but she takes a few steps into the room anyway.

"What else would you want to be doing?" she asks curiously. "This seems pretty bubbly as it is."

[bymyheelies]

He shrugs. “I do not know, precisely.” There’s another thwack of the dagger thudding into the wall. “I would yell at my fool of a friend, for the most part; but he is not here.”

[futaille]

Grantaire leans against the bar and drinks as he watches Mercutio throw his knives.

[tallyyoungblood]

"Oh, I totally know the feeling. Can I try?" she asks, pointing at the knives. She wants to see how it feels, compared to how it felt as a Special.

[greentara]

Constance will never not investigate a strange noise, though she is somewhat cautious as she steps into the bar. This wariness wanes when she sees Mercutio and the open bottles of alcohol. She observes him throwing the daggers for a minute or two before she speaks.

"Pull your elbow in," is what she says.

[bymyheelies]

Eventually, Mercutio tires (for now) of his knife throwing and turns to search for the nearest open bottle of liquor. Does he know what's in it? Does he care? The answer to both is negative.

[bymyheelies]

"I pray for your sake, lady, that your friends are in better humor than mine." But he nods, and offers her a dagger. "Here you are."

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally takes the dagger. It feels very real in her hand, and she remembers that Mercutio's story, Romeo and Juliet, is real, too. It's so utterly strange to think she's talking to someone from a play she'd studied at school.

"Did you get some news from home on alternate self day?" she asks, before turning and aiming at the wall.

It's not like being Special, when it had felt like she could slow down time and see the knife's path before creating it, but she still has a new level of operation-enhanced coordination. Her first throw strikes exactly where she wants it to go, but hits hilt-first and clatters to the ground instead of sticking.

[bymyheelies]

He turns and raises an eyebrow, giving Constance the slightest of bows in greeting and thanks, before he does just that as he throws his next dagger.

"I thank thee, lady."

[bymyheelies]

"Well done, for a first try," he says, reaching to take an absent swig from the nearest bottle of liquor. "Nay -- that is...no, it was only a few days ago. I learned what became of Romeo after I, ah, departed Verona."

[tallyyoungblood]

"I'm really sorry, Mercutio-la." Tally reaches a hand to tentatively touch his shoulder. Guilt squeezes her. "I... well, I did know about it. It's kind of, um, a famous story where I'm from."

[temnota]

The sound caught Aleksander's attention and he stopped to investigate. He peered inside and upon taking in the scene with the flying daggers and bottles of alcohol, he frowned. Something was clearly bothering Mercutio. He hesitated for a brief moment then entered, taking care to seem calm and unbothered.

He watched Mercutio for a bit, noting his technique and aim. "Nicely done," he said after one particularly skilled throw.

[bymyheelies]

He doesn't shake her off, so that is a start. Instead, he sighs and takes another drink. "I have been told that it is quite famous, yes. Bacchus informed me when I first arrived. It does not change the fact that Romeo is a fool."

[greentara]

She steps further into the room, taking a closer look at the daggers already pinned into the wall. "And what has you feeling so intemperate today? Or is this the typical sort of behavior I should expect from you?"

[futaille]

He extends his own dubiously labeled bottle to Mercutio. "Here."

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally bites back a duh and tries, again, to remember that Romeo is a real person to Mercutio. Selfishly, Tally's glad that her story isn't famous in other worlds.

"Yeah, um... killing yourself is beyond bogus." Tally takes aim with another dagger, and this time gets one to stick, though only for a moment before it falls out. Great, now she both sounds and looks like an idiot. "I'm sorry. I know you must miss him."

[sagramore]

Sagramore did promise Dionysus that he would help try to parent Mercutio. So when he sees him engaged in what's obviously unhappy drinking, and presumably unhappy knife tossing, it seems only right that he poke his head in.

"Good aim," he says lightly, heading over to the wall to collect the daggers that have already been tossed.

[bymyheelies]

"Miss him, ay, I would wring his damned neck were he here," he replies, scowling at his liquor bottle. "The boil-brained knave that he is, marrying his wench after three days." He shakes his head. "I did warn him, love stings sore; but I did not think he would be so foolish."

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally frowns. She kind of thinks wench might be misogynistic, but that's not the point. "He probably had some other stuff going on," she suggests. "I don't think people just kill themselves over thinking their girlfriend died unless they're screwed up in some other way too. I mean, getting married after three days doesn't seem like the choice of a guy who was totally logic-having at the time."