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[paidinbeer]

When Orc woke up it took him five minutes before he had his first thought.

Dry.

His craggy lips felt entirely too dry. In fact his mouth, throat, his skin felt like he'd been sand blasted and thrown into the desert. The only moisture that he was aware of came when he slowly rose from the table to find a string of drool coming off his lower lip to a puddle on the table. Half of it was on his cheek, but he couldn't feel that.

His head began to pound as another powerful hangover settled in. How long had he been in this bar? He'd lost track of time.

That was fine, it was all fine. There was more beer here. He could wash away the pain in his head and subsequent painful thoughts. All he had to do was get himself out of the booth and over to the bar.

...

That might take more effort. He couldn't seem to will his heavy body to do more then sit up just yet. Days spent in a drunken stupor had caught up with him and were spinning his stomach like a blender full of misery and yuk.

Comments

[kungfu_sexnun]

There was a woman on the rafters above him. She had a spray bottle in one hand, and a rag in the other.

At the first sign of movement from Orc, Nima peered over the side of the rafter, paused in her cleaning.

"Oh hey, I almost didn't see you there."

Because, you know, the giant rock-skinned boy was super easy to miss, when he was passed out in the middle of the bar.

"Ready for another drink, big guy?"

[paidinbeer]

Orc's beady little eyes blinked in an attempt to focus but he couldn't see where the voice was coming from. Was it someone even talking to him? He turned his head slowly from the left to the right but couldn't spot Nima above him. He felt like he was being tricked and didn't like that. But he remained silently as to not give himself away if he was being teased.

[kungfu_sexnun]

It was becoming rapidly clear that her greeting hadn't had the intended effect. Nima set her cleaning supplies on the rafter and dropped down to the floor in front of Orc's table.

"Hi."

Personal space was not her greatest concern in the universe, and so she reached out to tap Orc on the forehead.

"I said, ready for another drink?"

[paidinbeer]

Orc's reflexes were too sluggish to be surprised, so instead they settled on confused. He nodded slowly having processed just enough about this beautiful woman's sudden appearance that she was offering him another drink. Despite being hungover and moody he even managed a "Please."

[kungfu_sexnun]

He was so polite under duress that Nima might have felt just a little bad, anticipating how disappointed he'd be when the tankard she set down in front of him turned out to be full of water.

[splendid_roman]

There couldn't be that many eight foot tall rock monsters on Stacy. Especially ones that were likely to be found in the pub. Ian crouched down so he wasn't looming over him. "Are you Howard's friend?" he asked.

[paidinbeer]

Orc's beady eyes blinked trying to clear what he could only hope was sleep crud out of them. It was more likely dust from his skin.

"Yeah...I know Howard." He grunted dumbly in response. He hadn't seen Howard in a few days...or was it weeks? Orc wasn't entirely sure and the drink was probably to blame.

[splendid_roman]

That was good - he had the right... person. But he couldn't come right about about any of Howard's concerns, that would be too odd. "Are you all right?" It could be that he normally sat on the floor of the pub, but it didn't seem that likely.

[paidinbeer]

"No." It was an honest enough answer but Orc knew what the man was really asking about. He plunked down a massive stone paw and started to rise to his tree trunk sized feet leaving a crack on the floor from where his hand pushed.

"Mmm'fine." He added trying to head off any trouble. Maybe they wanted to throw him out for sleeping there.

[splendid_roman]

Ian frowned at the crack in the floor. If he could do that to the floor without trying he was probably someone best not upset. He stood up himself and tried not to think about how tall Orc was.

He knew what those two contradictory answers meant. Especially from someone on the floor in the pub. "I know a good hangover cure. A pint of water and a good fry-up is what you need."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

If Howard weren't so busy doing his Medical Bay work, researching for Leon, and continuing his endless quest to keep himself too distracted to ever think about the FAYZ, he'd probably be spending more time with Orc. As it stands, he's been a little...neglectful. Whether it makes sense or not, he's responsible for Orc.

He feels about twenty seconds of panic when he doesn't find Orc beneath the beer tree before realizing he must be at the tavern. There's still genuine concern when he finds Orc and sees the state he's in.

"Hey. I've been looking all over for you."

[paidinbeer]

Orc blinked at Howard with sleepy eyes. Lately a slow blink and stare was his primary answer when someone addressed him. His gravely voice came scraping out of his throat. "Been here. Drinking." though that part was obvious. His beer breath could have wilted flowers in bloom.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I figured." Howard wrinkles his noise at the smell and gets up on the stool so he can be closer to eye level for Orc. "How you feeling?"

[paidinbeer]

Orc wouldn't Howard's eyes, it made him uncomfortable. The only time he'd been able to meet people in the eyes since the transformation was when he was fighting them.

"Mmmfine." He grumbled staring at his empty mug as if that would make it refill. "How you been?" Not that he was really interested, it just came out automatically.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I'll get you more." Howard pries the mug away and returns with a full one. He fits it back into Orc's hands, knowing full well that the act of reaching for anything is exhausting enough in Orc's state.

"Busy. Real busy. I been doing double shifts at Medical since Sampire went off while we balance the schedule. Mostly that's okay, I mean, it gives me something to do." Howard talks slowly, extra so since Orc is smashed. This is how it often goes, Howard filling the silence with his chatter because he's trying to distract Orc from being amazingly depressed a few minutes at a time, up until Orc looks too lost to keep following. "I'm going to try to find you a job, okay?"

[keep_surviving]

A cold, snide tone indicated the arrival of Diana. Speaking into the cluster of pebbles at the side of of head that resembled an ear. “I was wondering when I’d see you again.”

She stepped back, not wanting to get accidently whacked if he by some miracle managed to sit up.

“And here I’d thought you’d taken up permanent residence at the Beer Tree.”

[paidinbeer]

Orc winced at even the soft spoken sharp words that Diana had as his head began to throb from hangover dehydration. "They bring the beer here. Don't even gotta stand up." He mumbled trying to get his barrings. He'd almost forgotten Diana was even around.

Then again they weren't exactly friends. Orc paused for a moment wondering if he should be wary of her. But as he reasoned, he had noting she could take from him so there was nothing to worry about.

"How're you." he managed.

[keep_surviving]

She takes the seat next to him.

"Good actually. I'd ask how you're doing but, come on, it's obvious."

Ordering something non-alcoholic, because really, Orc was doing a bang-up job as a warning campaign for the stuff, she glances about, taking a sip. "Where's Howie? I'd have though he'd be here to hold back your... rocks." Diana looks at his head, remembering the lack of hair.

[paidinbeer]

Orc didn't get the joke, so he did his best to focus on the actual question while he stared ahead, his eyes slipping out of focus again, fighting the churning in his guts and ordering his first beer of the...morning? Was it morning? Was there a morning around here?

"Howard's got stuff to do." He muttered without any sort of resentment. He didn't mind when Howard wasn't around. It was just different. It left him alone with his thoughts which he didn't like...but also he didn't have to worry about anyone nagging him to slow down or speed up.

"If he stays too long he looks sad." He added. He didn't know what it was, or if it was just imagined. But something about Howard lately made him think of a dog that had been kicked too many times.

[keep_surviving]

"Howie always looks sad."

Diana thought about that then amended it. "Well, actually, he either looks sad, smug, scared or scornful."

She smirked at her own alliteration, even if Orc probably wouldn't appreciate the effort, and rewarded herself with another sip.

"But apart from that, he doesn't have any other expressions."

[governorkang]

"If you throw up in my tavern, you're cleaning the mess," Kang frowned, standing over Orc with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm setting a limit on how much you can have in one night."

[paidinbeer]

Orc had to remind himself that a dragon was perfectly reasonable in this world. After that he had to process that the Dragon was cutting him off. Had he thrown up? He looked down at his chest and found there wasn't anything there so he was OK in that respect.

"How much?" Seemed like a good question to ask as he grunted and forced himself to his wobbly feet.

[governorkang]

Kang eyed the kid, and snorted softly. "Five drinks, and only because of your size. You're likely to kill yourself if you continue at this rate."

[paidinbeer]

"Kay." That's all he could say, not wanting to risk betraying that that was exactly his plan. "Sorry." He added for good measure not daring to look the monstrous bartender in the eye. An amusing thought drifted across his awareness that made him smirk.

[governorkang]

Kang quirked an eyebrow ridge at the smirk, but chose not to ask about it. It didn't seem like Orc was going to fight about the restriction. "I'll get you water."