I'll drink to that -- whatever that is! Cheers! [open]

[encourage]

Sakura had scoped out the Drunken Dragon before, if she'd never spent time in the tavern, even with Kang making a point of letting it be known alcohol wasn't the only thing offered at the tavern. Sakura hadn't been too inclined toward fruit juices in the last few whatever units of time since she glooped out of a pod and got felt up in the cleaning chamber. In fact, the ship as a whole made her relationship to odd (and familiar) viscous liquids rather chancy altogether.

None of this was on her mind tonight. This morning. This afternoon. No, whatever actual time this was, the Melting Clock was destroyed, the last few missions that had been chancy for crew were over and no casualties were reported to depress everyone, the Ohm weren't currently about to be directly engaged, Sakura and most of MedBay staff that could afford to be off shift were off shift (if Henderson didn't show himself, she'd be sad, and by all means Rory better be here after his last few "weeks"), and most importantly?

She would never have to talk or hear from Analog again.

"Here's to surviving the last few," she trailed off, "Last few crises, and whatever else is coming! Cheers!" She held up her clay mug to anyone in the general vicinity, tacking on a silent, Wish you were here, everyone. And I hope you cough up a cog or two, Analog!

[ ooc: Please, thread-jack with vigorous energy and wild abandon! ]

Comments

[governorkang]

Kang stopped over at Sakura's spot and quirked an eyebrow ridge, "You sure you don't want alcohol, Sakura? You look like you could really use some."

[encourage]

Sakura eyed her mug of juice, deliberating. It took all of a few seconds before she asked, "What're you offering?"

Tsunade would either be proud or narrowing her eyes. (Or both, if she was drunk herself.)

[governorkang]

"Ale, beer, hard cider, and mead. If you want something stronger, I can bring out the liquor," Kang grinned.

[encourage]

"After dealing with Analog again?" She paused for a beat. "Please and thank you."

[governorkang]

Kang hadn't dealt with her directly, but he'd seen her on the ship, and had heard enough to get a basic understanding of why Sakura hated her so much. "I'll be right back, then."

He disappeared into the back room and came back with two mugs of ale, a bottle of Jack Daniels, and two shot glasses. The tavern was empty enough that he could join her for a while, and let her rant to him if she needed to.

[encourage]

Need and want were two very different things when it came to Analog. Sakura really wanted to rant about Analog. Consider it therapy.

She eyed the unfamiliar bottle with open curiosity, her juice mug resting on the wood. "Jack? What's it made from?"

[governorkang]

"...corn, I think. Or wheat. I never bothered to find out," Kang shrugged. "You ever done shots before?"

[encourage]

She shook her head. "Medicinal, but not alcoholic."

[governorkang]

"Well, you're about to learn."

Kang poured them both a shot and set one of the glasses in front of her. "Don't drink it slow. Drink it all in one quick go, like this." He demonstrated with his own.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

One little red-head turned his attention from the cup in front of him when Sakura spoke. Jr. raised an eyebrow when he took a good enough look at the mug she was drinking from.

"Isn't that juice?"

[encourage]

Observing Kang closely, Sakura figured it was similar to tossing back a dosage of some nasty brew Shizune had come up with to bolster the system during the winter. Lifting the small glass, Sakura eyed it dubiously before subtly rolling her shoulders back -- and tossing the contents of the shotglass into the back of her mouth.

Even then, the flavor of the alcohol almost had her balking before she swallowed, pulling a face. She ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth, lips pulling back from her teeth. "That's -- different?" Gross.

[encourage]

Sakura looked into her mug. "Yeah? Did you want some?"

[governorkang]

Laughing, Kang indicated her ale with his own mug and took a drink, "Get enough of it in you, and you won't care about the taste. You might want to chase it with ale, too."

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Nah, I'm good with what I've got." A quick motion to the cup of mead that sat in front of him. "I just don't see too many people here who stick just to the non-alcoholic stuff."

With a small shrug and a smile, he reached to grip the handle of his drink. "But, whatever. I can still drink to that!"

[aaaiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee]

"Sakura!" Miranda cried happily, coming over to the ninja was a mug of wine in her own arm. She slid into a chair next to Sakura, before taking a sip from her mug and giggling. Today, it seemed, Miranda was happily buzzed.

"Do you know that I'm drinking from a mug made of wood?" she said, holding out the cup to Sakura to show her with another giggle. "It's very strange! I always thought wine was for glasses..."

[[ooc: If anyone wants to threadjack, go ahead!]]

[encourage]

Leery of what the ale might taste like, she nonetheless followed his suggestion. This wasn't the kind of drinking Tsunade practiced, and Sakura was more familiar with her shishou's habits. She took a sip of the ale, only wrinkling her nose this time. "Chasing alcohol with alcohol. Sooner or later I don't think you'll care about anything. Until the next morning."

Which brought Analog back to mind. "Dragons," she said, eyes narrowing. "Are they that self-important on your world, too, or was Era just a special planet like that?"

[encourage]

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "It's the thought that counts, right?" Not to mention, one couldn't drink only alcohol over the course of one night. "Cheers!" she repeated with a nod. To survival!

To no more time dragons, and mostly correctly placed time!

[encourage]

"Miranda!" Looking at the cup Miranda offered for her perusal, Sakura bit back a giggle of her own. Drinking? Yeah, drinking's great. In moderation, of course! "Really? For what wine? Rice wine," she said, holding up her clay mug to demonstrate, "You drink from a clay cup!"

[governorkang]

"Makes for a great night, though," Kang grinned.

At that, he snorted, "Nearly all dragons are self-important. Those ones were a class above, though. Wouldn't even tell us what they'd accept in payment, expecting us to know already."

[encourage]

She snorted at his first statement, then groaned at the second, sliding her shotglass back toward him. "The guessing games wouldn't have been so bad if she could have stopped with the insults for five seconds."

She affected an aged tone, putting a quaver into her voice as she did so. "I'm a great time dragon! I drink motor oil! I try to spit it on you and then act insulted when you dodge!"

[aaaiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee]

"Oh, how exotic!" Miranda exclaimed, looking at Sakura's cup in fascination. She giggled. "We both have strange cups!" she said, whispering as if this were a secret. "And mine is red wine!"

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

"Cheers!" he echoed, taking a nice, deep drink from the mug he held. He preferred the sweeter stuff, but this was probably the closest he was going to get on Stacy.

"I've gotta say, being on this ship so far's got me doing things I would have never imagined doing before."

[encourage]

"I have," Sakura started, trailing off as she tried remembering. Was she back on juice? "Ale. I don't really like ale," she confessed, leaning a little closer to Miranda. "When I can taste it." She could now, sort of. Not like earlier. Not like the whiskey!

Which was not so pleasant, but Kang had been right. After a while? She just didn't care anymore.

[governorkang]

Kang refilled both their glasses, "What insults did you get? I just got called 'finite one', and lectured on word origins."

[aaaiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee]

"You should try wine!" Miranda said, cheerful. "I like wine. It's much nicer!" she said, holding her mug out to Sakura again, a clear offering.

Sakura was a colleague! It was only nice, to share...