OPERATION: YOUTHFUL DISOBEDIENCE

[stresstokens]

WHO: Members of the grand curfew-breaking plan!
WHEN: During the Moorecroft event.
WHERE: Various Moorecroft locales.
WHAT: A bunch of youths have gotten together to break curfew in tandem to get to the bottom of the mystery at heart of this place -- but what they find leads to more questions than answers.
NOTES\WARNINGS: Probable violence, death, emotional trauma, cursing. All the fun stuff! I'll be putting the log headers for pre/during/post-curfew breaking logs in the comments, so just hang tight while I do that, though all members are of course more than welcome to post their own logs if that suits their tagging style better.

Comments

[maximumlegend]

Well, that's a given, isn't it? [ Again with that same confident smile - but it doesn't seem faked. For what it's worth, Fabian really does seem to have some confidence in what they're about to do here, despite the risks and the odds. ] We have yet to see the first thing that can kill Fabian Aramais Seacaster!

[ .. let's hope we don't see it today though.

Still - it's not like Fabian is entirely stuck in thoughts about himself here. After that proud proclamation, something about his grin softens a little. It's still a grin, but it's a little less over the top pompous and instead more-- playful, almost. Caring. Especially as he reaches out to nudge Gorgug's side with his elbow, the grin lingering on his face as he asks: ]

A piece of gold for your thoughts?

[ He can tell you're still thinking, bro.

It's written all over your face. ]

[tinflower]

[ What more is there to say? It's true, that it isn't gone from his mind entirely, the worry, but he's fine with leaving it where it is. A gold piece for his thoughts? Well...

Gorgug considers it, and then pulls his lips into a half-smile, and says, ]

If you get in a fight, you have to leave some for me.

[ And it brightens slightly with that request, before Gorgug holds out a fist for Fabian to bump. Bro. It's a bro bump. ]

I'll be watching.

[ So be on your best worst behaviour...!!! ]

[maximumlegend]

[ Even when Gorgug holds out that fist, Fabian doesn't bump it right away. There's a moment or two where he's staring at Gorgug, almost like he's trying to discern something. Maybe trying to figure out if the other really still does have some stuff going on that he isn't telling him about.

That smile doesn't seem fake to Fabian though, so after that moment he's already moving his fist to bump against Gorgug's own. It even evolves into a more complicated secret handshake. Fabian probably does this all the time, let's be real. ]

Of course! There's no one out there who can deal and take damage like you, man.

[ A few years ago Fabian would never have given anyone else a compliment like that - the kind of compliment that implies someone might be better at something than him.

But he's not that Fabian anymore, and he seems to mean every bit of this compliment, grinning at his friend. ]

I'm going to have to work twice as hard out there to make up for the lack of you.

[tinflower]

[ The secret Bad Kids (or Bad Boyz) handshake...! A gesture that makes Gorgug smile more, a true fondness. It ends with their hands clasped together, its grip tight, and Gorgug--he could let go. Not that there's any rush, not even in the face of Fabian's compliment that makes Gorgug duck his head a little. Which hey, it's nice. It doesn't embarrass him completely, and there's plenty that Gorgug could say about Fabian's own skills with Fandrangor.

But there's something that catches him; something, in-between the widening of Fabian's own smile into a grin, and in the words lack of you. A feeling, one he can't quite define, that makes him want to speak and express a sentiment that he doesn't know himself.

It's brief--it's more than brief. You don't have to be without me. But there's no sense behind it, and he doesn't exactly feel compelled to pick up his axe and to go out with them. So--what is it? Where does it come from?

Maybe...it's because Fabian's been lonely lately, and they've been spending time together. Maybe that's what's going on, even if it's not quite right, but feelings don't have to make sense. Right?

That has to be it.

It's a good thing then that it's only so brief, so that he can say something else, his hand still clasped around Fabian's. ]

I'll make it up to you when you get back.

[ There. He can do that. ]

[maximumlegend]

[ Okay. Yeah. That's so much like his friend, isn't it? Even when Fabian is just partially joking around, or trying to make things lighter by making jokes about them, Gorgug is always dragging them right back down to genuine reality.

It's not something he dislikes though. It's just-- In this very specific case Fabian hopes that it isn't putting any real weight on Gorgug's shoulders. He hopes the other can step into this as easily as Fabian can, who isn't worried about going out there at all despite the risk.

Not in the way Gorgug seems to be. ]

Make it up by getting a bath ready for me when I come back. [ He lowers the volume of his voice a little bit, the next part mostly a joke but still too embarrassing to say out loud that loudly to everyone present here-- ] The Ball says we might be going dumpster diving, and I will have to erase every trace of that the instant we're back.

[ Like getting a little bit of trash on himself is the biggest danger Fabian is facing here. ]

[tinflower]

[ Oh, Fabian. If the Riz says they're doing something? They're definitely doing something--and definitely if it's dumpster diving to sneak around. ]

I'll do my best, [ Gorgug replies, voice lowered in turn and his head leaning in to make it more private. His tone is serious--mission received, captain. ] Do you have bath bombs? I've always wanted to see what a bath bomb looks like.

[ Fabian just seems like a bath bomb kind of guy because he's so fancy, so why not?? He might indulge in those kinda things. It's 50/50, and it's also 70/30 of Gorgug wanting to see a bath bomb in action, and being happy to go without. ]

[maximumlegend]

[ There's such a contrast between the serious situation Fabian is about to face and what Gorgug is asking him right now - yet still with a serious tone, somehow. It manages to make Fabian smile though, clearly amused. Partially by the contrast, but also by an interest in bath bombs that isn't even about using them.. and yet it's all so typically Gorgug. Of course he'd want to see how they work, how they were put together. ]

I might just have a few. [ He says, similarly lowering his tone - though it sounds more playful, like they're having a fun little conspiracy here.

Over bath bombs.

Besides, Fabian definitely has some now. Especially since he managed to get himself and his house a little bit more on track again with his friends. ]

Some of them even glitter.

[tinflower]

[ Gorgug rn. Glitter bath bombs. Please just see as Gorgug may be looking at you, Fabian, but those eyes? That brain? Is somewhere else for a good couple of seconds. ]

I'll make you a glitter bath.

[ It's as good a promise. How could someone sound both in awe about such a task??

(Because he wants to see something cool out of something called a bath bomb, alright. He doesn't know anything about them in reality.) ]

[maximumlegend]

[ Look, would Fabian surely enjoy a good bath with a bath bomb after this? Yes, he would. Even if he doesn't end up in a dumpster, and at this point he's pretty sure his chances of ending up in one along the way are pretty high.

But it's also kind of nice that it can serve another purpose. He'd rather see Gorgug like this than with his face all scrunched up, like he's either thinking too much or truly displeased by something - or just worried. Fabian isn't particularly worried about what's ahead of him, so of course he doesn't want his friend to have to worry either. ]

Great. It's a promise. [ If Gorgug's hand is anywhere he can reach it, he will give it a Manly Handclasp for a moment - squeezing and all - to seal the deal before letting go of that hand again. ]

I should probably go to The Ball now before he does sneak off by himself despite what all of us settled on. You just expect me to return as soon as possible, alright?

[tinflower]

Okay, [ he answers--much easier than he had before when the worry was still fresh and Fabian's reassurances had been first given. But it's true that Gorgug feels better now, or with his concerns not so much at the front on display. Even for a silly reason, but all he could do was trust in his friends.

So trust in them he will, with no words of luck necessary. Gorgug will move out of the way if he needs to, but allow Fabian to go first.

He should get his side of things set up. ]