At breakfast, Everyone seemed to be dragging a bit. The table was quiet. Everyone nursed their coffees and picked at their food with varying appetites. Only Wind and Hyrule seemed to be eating with gusto, devouring their crepes, omelets, and plates upon plates of thick-cut crispy bacon. Winona and Dani seemed a little somber, awaking to the absence of their dear Valda, and were mostly just sitting there pushing their food around their plates. Ravio also wasn't eating. He seemed to have the weight of the world sitting on his shoulders, and from what Time had seen a few nights prior, in a very real way…he did. Everyone else was just varying degrees of hung tf over…
Legend was still looking a little green around the gills, and as his previous level of 'drunkenness' bled away to the new day he was realizing just how awful he really felt. He rested his head against his still empty plate(the very thought of food right now was repulsive), savoring the coolness against the pounding heat inside, and sighed. Winona tapped his shoulder gently and he half turned his head to look at her, not wasting any energy on lifting it up.
"Yeah?" He murmured quietly; cheek pressed to the fine china.
She held up a flask and waggled it in front of his face. "Hair of a dog?"
He gave a smirk. "Isn't it supposed to be a hair of 'The' dog that bit you?"
"Oh, usually yeah…but this is something else." She said with a weak smile. "Different dog." She tipped it up into his coffee without any further comment.
"What is it?" he asked, finally lifting his head in a half-interested sort of way.
"Hennessy. Not as good as what you were probably drinking last night…but it'll get the job done." She said and capped the flask without flourish. She sipped from her own coffee.
"Why do you just….have.. that? It's like 9:30." Ravio asked with disapproval dripping from his voice.
"Because I'm an alcoholic?" Winona shrugged deadpan, causing Dani to giggle. Ravio just sighed and shook his head looking disappointed.
"Don't sound too proud now!" Her friend teased.
"Oh shut up, you Lush." Winona retorted at her.
Dani made a 'gimme' gesture at the flask and Winona handed it over. She dosed her own coffee before offering it to the table. Time who sat beside her this morning took it and drained what was left into his own cup. Wind's face fell visibly beside him, having been himself hoping for a nip.
"Oh for the love of-" Ravio grumbled under his breath witnessing the whole exchange. He rang his little silver bell and ordered a round of 'Irish coffees' for the table much to the delight of the troops. "Boozehounds…all of you." He muttered completely ignoring his own hypocrisy as he sipped his own stout drink and sighed in contentment.
Legend had to admit… the hot beverage was helping. Whether it was because of the caffeine the liquor or both he didn't know. Maybe it was partly because his new friend had noticed his suffering and had cared enough to intervene. He peered over at her. She didn't seem to be 'suffering' at the same level that he was or at least not in the same way. Mostly, she just looked sad. He wondered why. He'd noticed that Valda was not dining with them this morning, but he'd assumed that she was off on some task from Ravio. Did something happen? He was tempted to ask. He opened his mouth to say something, but it felt like it was packed with cotton. He couldn't speak. At least not with any meaningful articulation. He grimaced and took another small sip of his life-saving coffee drink instead.
After breakfast and a hot bath, Legend felt much better. He wondered idly about exactly when the fresh change of clothes laid upon his bed had appeared, and how they had gotten there in the first while he was bathing as he had heard no knock at the door but he didn't worry about it too much They were there, they fit, and they were clean. That was all that mattered. (at least…that's what he told himself.) He was actually quite fond of his new clothes and would be just the tiniest bit sad to have to return to his more practical magically infused tunics... for now, he would enjoy the freedom and the fashion of this world!
Today he wore a pair of tan joggers with a peach-colored long-sleeved hooded tee under a light Hawaiian style button-up shirt. It was a soft cream color with sailboats and hibiscus flowers scattered upon it in an appealing design. The flowers reminded him of something... but his brain shut it down before the thought could fully form. He liked his new threads. He brushed back his growing hair and decided for once to pull it back into a little topknot. (He had no way of knowing this…but he absolutely personified the California aesthetic right now, and any local would be proud.)
When he made his way to the rec room (the now informal meeting area for the chain et al.) He noticed that most of the rest of the Chain seemed to be in much the same mindset: Wars was wearing a candy pink polo paired with a pair of khaki shorts and a powder blue sweater tied casually about his neck. (He looked for all the world like he was about to go play tennis at the local country club). Wild had on a grey heather Raglan tee featuring the bridge they had seen leaving the city with some nice fitting jeans and red chucks. Four was wearing an oversized tie-dye shirt over a pair of denim cutoffs and alarmingly orange crocs. Somehow…he made it work. That wasn't going to stop Legend from making fun of him though.
"What are those.." He approached his friend who was in the middle of an air hockey match with Wars.
"Hm?" Four asked without looking up from his very serious mission.
"On your feet…" Legend pushed.
"Comfortable." He answered, still not looking at his friend. "Try em." He kicked a shoe off at his friend striking him in the ankle with a soft rubber clog.
"Hmph." The man replied, slipping out of his own sandal and into the croc (it was widely known but not often brought up that Four, Wind, and Legend all had the same shoe size. This could be convenient at times if someone was in need of extra footwear while on the road, but they tended to ignore any other potential stereotyped implications). Well. Damn. Legend thought. This WAS comfortable, airy… smooth. Ugly. But VERY comfortable. "They're still hideous." He kicked the shoe back at his friend, not wanting to admit that Four was right.
"Hah!" Four allowed his eyes to drift for a single smug moment to meet his friend's and bask in his victory before whipping back to his game. He was Dominating. He felt around under the table for his missing shoe with his toes and with an almost unnerving dexterity he found it, flipped it around, then right-side up and shuffled his foot into it without breaking his focus on the table. He stood, be-shoed and triumphant as the puck made another hard *SHUNK* into Wars' expertly guarded goal slot.
"DAMMIT!" Wars howled. "How are you so good at this!?"
Just then Wind, Time, Sky, Hyrule, and Twilight made their way into the room, all looking just as posh and dapper as their companions. This world looked Good on them and really showcased their individuality.
Dani was the next to appear, she had on a bright teal sundress today with strappy delicate-looking stiletto heels that made her very nearly as tall as Wars was himself. She looked lovely. Wars seemed to think so too. He looked up at her and completely lost focus on what he was doing at the table. Four enthusiastically took advantage of this and slammed his striker forward into the puck. Though his eagerness seem to overshoot the usual seldom-erring precision of his shots and he slammed the puck HARD into his friend's resting hand on the edge of the table. Wars swore and yelped, doubling over and tucking his wounded hand protectively between his knees.
"AH! Oh no, Wars I'm so sorry!" Four rushed to his side and tried to pull his friend's hand free to examine it despite Wars flailing and batting him away from him with his good hand.
"It's fine it's FIIINE…" He hissed unconvincingly. The other simply stood around with a mix of expressions ranging from concern (Dani and Hyrule), tired amusement (Time) to barely restrained laughter (literally everyone else.)
A few choice words and a minor healing from Hyrule later everything was once again as it should be..