cigsandbeer | IC INBOX

Hakkai hums agreement as he lets himself relax bonelessly back into the couch.

"Well, I've spent worse evenings," he remarks, with a quirk of a smile. The bar for Hakkai's worst evening is very low, and Gojyo was there, so he knows - but this, even if it was difficult.... It's not so bad.

If Gojyo's letting himself press his leg back against Hakkai's, well, Hakkai's not being careful about whether flopping back into the cushions means leaning against Gojyo's shoulder or not, either. He lifts his teacup and downs the rest of the tepid tea in a single gulp, leaving it empty for liquor.

After a moment, he raises his voice to call, "Jeep? You can come sit with us."

Jeep chirps loudly from the corner of the room where his bed is nestled on a bookshelf, and where - Hakkai suspects - he's been watching to see if any of his people need an off-road vehicle dropped on their heads to make them stop being stupid. A rustle of leathery wings, and the little dragon comes soaring in towards the back of the couch.

Right, the stupid tea. Gojyo didn't even so much as touch it while it was still hot. But since sacrifices must be made for the sake of alcohol, he likewise tosses his tea back in two quick gulps and makes a face over it. Well, ot could be worse: it could be cold coffee.

"Hey," he greets Jeep, and doesn't even feel bad that he didn't think to wonder where the little dragon was. Jeep can take care of himself.

"It's bad manners to eaves-drop."

"Well, he won't tell anyone," Hakkai says. "Will you, Jeep?"

With another chirp, Jeep eels forward to settle half on Hakkai's shoulder, tiny claws pricking through the fabric of his dress shirt, and half on Gojyo's. His tail is definitely in Gojyo's face.

Hakkai politely doesn't laugh about it out loud.

Is this the first time Jeep's tail has been in Gojyo's face? Probably not.

"Uff", he grumbles, but only brushes the tail off his face without further comment. But, well, he guesses their shoulders will just have to continue touching now or it'd disturb Jeep's chosen resting spot.

Hakkai does let himself chuckle at that, settling in more securely and reaching a hand up to stroke Jeep's mane.

"How did the breach treat you?" he inquires, while they're waiting on the alcohol. An easier subject seems like a good idea just now. "I was a teacher. And a spymaster, though I think I liked the teaching better...."

"Oh man, it was so ridiculous. I was a student, and a secret spy."

Uh--

"And me and my team kept fighting Jedao's team."

Gojyo doesn't know if Jedao can hear them all the way to the kitchen, but he specifically chooses to frame it as Jedao's gang, just in case. Guns don't need beds indeed.

"Oh no," Hakkai says, but he keeps his voice lighthearted - yes, that kind of conflict might well explain why Jedao had been upset enough to hide in the engine room and get very drunk. Although he'd bet there were more angles to it than just that one.

"I recall that the students would keep fighting each other after hours. With proper deniability, of course, as long as they were professionals and not just moonlighting like some of our dignitaries' children..."

The amateurs had been so much more of a headache.

"At least you being a spymaster teacher makes a lick of sense", Gojyo says, likewise keeping his voice grumbling-but-in-a-lighthearted-way. "Unlike most of the things that went on in that breach."

How did no one figure out their secret identifies when in retrospect it was so obvious who was who?

"I've been a teacher in a few different breaches now," Hakkai admits. "It makes me miss it, a little. Tutoring isn't the same. But I don't know if I'd really want to again, as myself....

"I'll grant it made more sense than most of that breach. Even if I was working on a concealable freeze ray that would fit in a cell phone."

Which he's almost sure isn't a real thing that would work. It's a shame he can't recall the technical details.

Gojyo snorts a little at the mention of the freeze ray. What a ridiculous breach.

"Ellie was my little sister, and that was just annoying."

And they had a father who loved them, but we're not touching that.

"She teases you like a little sister already," Hakkai points out with a little smirk, and finds the good spot to scratch just under Jeep's chin. "I can see it."

Parents are a tricky topic, and he's not about to ask any more than Gojyo is to bring it up.

"The Admiral pairs us up for two months in a row and now I can't get rid off her", Gojyo complains in what is surely the most convincing performance of the century.

"Next thing you know it's going to be permanent," Hakkai laughs - well, it's a joke, but he wouldn't be surprised. Gojyo would be good for a kid who's had to look out for herself too much.

Jedao's actually hearing isn't anything special, but he is keeping tabs on the conversation through the cabin surveillance system, so it hardly matters. He gets two of the bottles Hakkai picked up during his run from Stockwood - a nice sake that Hakkai has opened before, a known favorite, and a whiskey that he hasn't, therefore probably bought for someone else's tastes - and a chokecherry cognac from drowned New York for himself. A tray and tumblers He sets it all down on the table and then wriggles back into his spot.

"Ugh, no, I'd want a--"

He was about to say 'a hot woman' but manages to remember in just the last second what kind of conversation they've just had. Thankfully, Jedao has good timing for once.

"All right! Now it's a proper evening!"

"So it is," Hakkai agrees, and takes Jedao's hand, threading their fingers together. He pours out a few generous drinks with his spare hand - the cherry cognac for Jedao and himself, because frankly sake isn't quite strong enough for his feelings at the moment, the whiskey for Gojyo - and hands them out, leaving his teacup on the table. It seems it's going to be a slightly classier round of drinks than he'd been imagining, but it's not as if he minds a clean cup.

"Bottoms up," he toasts, glancing from one of them to the other with a smile shading towards shyness.

Jedao squeezes his hand gently, and adds his weight on the opposite side to enforcing the unspoken cuddles.

"Cheers," he agrees.

Speaking of unspoken cuddles, at least Gojyo isn't jumping away from touching Hakkai as soon as another guy walks into the room. Progress?

"Last one to finish their glass is a loser", Gojyo toasts. It's probably a traditional toast somewhere. ~~Gojyo can always be counted on to lower the classiness of any set-up.~~

Hakkai laughs outright, and - well, good luck, Gojyo and Jedao: he's clearly taking that as a real challenge.

Down the hatch!

"I'm like six glasses in already," Jedao argues, only slightly exaggerating, sipping more slowly. "You're both way behind me."

Whelp!

Gojyo has no delusions that he'll ever beat Hakkai in a drinking contest, but he can't lose to Jedao! He drains his own glass, not with Hakkai's impossible speed but at least quicker than Jedao's.

Hakkai pours himself another glass - sake, this time - before settling in more comfortably on the sofa, doing his best not to dislodge Jeep (or lean away from the men to either side of him.)

This one he's drinking more slowly: he doesn't want to race Jedao, either, even if it's something of a question which of their metabolisms would really handle the alcohol better. But someone is going to have to make sure they all get poured into bed. And it is a good liquor, besides.

Speaking of which....

"If you need to crash here, afterwards, I've got blankets for the couch," he offers to Gojyo. No pressure, and it's certainly too soon (maybe always too soon) to offer a space in their bed: but still.

If he gets any encouragement, he's a possessive man.

"And I've got more of your cigarettes in the study. I can bring 'em out here later," Jedao adds on.

Gojyo makes a face at the sheer amount of bitter alcohol he swallowed in one go, before tossing back:

"Man, you guys must be so bored when I'm not around."

No he can't reply sincerely to being so earnestly included; he'd have an allergic reaction.

He might not be able to reply sincerely, but Hakkai hears the yeah, okay, whatever in the tossed-off comment, and grins behind his glass.

"So bored," he agrees ingenuously. "Nothing to do but think up places in the cabin we haven't had sex yet to cross them off the list."

It's three-quarters teasing, and one-quarter a sly attempt to sneak the image into Gojyo's mind, now that the offer has been explicitly made and left open.

"Don't worry," he adds, now entirely teasing, and downs another mouthful of sake. "I make sure everything's well scrubbed afterwards."

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