As writen by @Dashmiel @Script @TheZanta and @Machina Somnium
Raul opened the door to find a familiar face from his past along with his rented gangoons.
“Pedro! ¿Qué carajos haces aquí?” Raul exclaimed with joy as he pulled the figure at the door over and quickly exchanged a complex and multi-stepped handshake.
“Took over Juan’s Moving ese. I’d be the preemest in discrete shipping around your hood it seems.”
“Fucking nova tipo. I guess I don’t have to ask if that’s real Mezcal el aparato ordered?”
“You know it hermano,” the courier said as the pair of heavily muscled lifters with him brought forth a bundle of boxes neatly stacked underneath obscuring netting. The man reached under the net, and pulled a heavy looking glass bottle shaped like a skull. It carried no label.
“Got a fresh shipment from down south. Damn nomads we hired cost enough to cut into profits, but it was worth it to get the real shit past the Militech cordon.”
“Sabes que…” Raul started.
“Yeah, this one makes us even. Next time you fucking pay for it, cheapskate,” interrupted the courier with a rough laugh as he handed Raul the bottle.
Raul promptly directed the lifters to his room, and within moments they’d left a bundle of now visible boxes. Some were locked down, and made of metal, while others were overflowing with cabling and exposed parts. He wasn’t looking forward to the pain in the ass getting the whole set up together would be, but he was proud to say he owned everything needed to supply basic clinical services in a heck of a portable package.
He looked down lovingly at the bottle in his hand as the lifters continued their work, and then stepped back into the living room proper.
“Choombattas. Who’s up for formally chippin’ in, here?” Raul asked as he gestured with the liquor bottle at the others.
"I've actually got to go see a friend, but you guys have fun. I'll be back tonight!" Said Bunny, who had only just realised he may be kinda late. So he slipped into his room to get ready-er.
As Bunny left and the lifters brought Raul's belongings through the cramped living space, Kirchhoff stayed planted at the barstool. Though, as soon as the doc presented the bottle to everyone, she jumped out of her seat with a sudden enthusiasm. Admittedly, it was an enthusiasm that she wasn't proud of, but it didn't stop her.
"Shit, can't turn down mezcal. Always prefer it over tequila, it's so much smokier." She approached Raul to get a closer look of the bottle. "Though I don't think I've had this one," she said, looking with interest at the unique design of the glass.
“You most likely haven’t, unless you know any other suave and charming men of Hispanic descent with ties to the criminal underworld,” Raul said with a smile at Kirk as he popped the cork off the bottle with a practiced flick of his rippers.
“Only us crooks and the stupidly wealthy get to drink this. This shit is artisanal. Small batch distilled in this little village where the same family has been doing it for like 300 years now,” he said as he passed Kirk the bottle after taking a sniff.
“I heard the sound of a bottle opening!” From the room Bunny had disappeared into, Tachi poked his head out, joining the other two in the main room. He wore a grin that called into question whether he was even capable of making the expression without looking like he was up to something. “And at least one word that sounded like it meant expensive.”
The young solo slipped through into the kitchen, weaving his way past the scattering of freshly delivered boxes, and hopped up to sit on the counter to survey the mess. “You’re making me feel like a pauper here, doc– I only had the one bag!”
Kirchhoff smiled derisively at what she figured was typical Heywood boy posturing, and carefully took the bottle out of the man's hand. Though, as soon as she got a hit of the aroma from the lip of the bottle, the skepticism faded quick behind the intense, smoky agave scent. It was a scent that she never experienced before anywhere, let alone from a spirit.
"Åh herregud, you weren't fuckin' kidding," she said after practically being knocked back by just the aroma itself. She offered the bottle to Tachi as she went to search for some glassware that would do justice for this liquor.
“I don’t kid about fuckin’, mami,” Raul said with a smirk at Kirch’s expression as she moved again. He looked at Tachi and waggled his eyebrows, awaiting his opinion on the liquor, before his attention diverted to Bunny’s statement.
"Save me some, or… have a party I guess. Gotta go!" Said the blonde, who had apparently changed in the three minutes or so he had been inside the bedroom. He came out and headed for the entrance.
"I'm not cleaning any messes either, unless they're mine. Bye bitches!" He slipped through the front door, and he was gone. On his way to see his friend, Shade Under a Willow Tree.
“Hasta luego bag-man, get us something juicy!,” Raul called out loudly at Bunny’s retreating back. As the door closed, he turned back to Tachi.
"Safe travels, venn," Kirch responded to Bunny as she returned to the counter with an assortment of rocks glasses in her arms that she set out among the three of them. They weren't exactly what she would be using for this particular drink, but it was sufficient and she wasn't about to complain.
Tachi had been squinting at the bottle of liquor with some degree of suspicion, wrinkling his nose slightly at both the smell. “Last time I had anything
real expensive was back home, some whiskey that cost more than my bike. Can’t say it wasn’t fucking good, but… I’d rather take the bike.”
He shrugged and poured a drink out for each of them, setting the bottle on the side before picking his up and raising it in a toast. “Kanpai, dachi!”
Kirch leaned over to put an elbow on the counter and took her glass. “Well, we can be thankful that we’re not the ones paying for it this time,” she joked, holding the glass up in the air alongside Tachi. “Skål,” she answered with an amiable smile, slamming the bottom of the glass on the counter before bringing it up to take a swig.
“No liquor is as sweet as free liquor, savor it because I sure as hell can’t afford more,” Raul said good naturedly as sauntered to join Kirch and Tachi by the counter after retrieving his own glass. He poured two fingers in, and swirled the smoky contents around savoring their aroma. “Brings back memories,” he whispered poignantly, before lighting up with a smile. “But helps you get rid of them even better, Salud!” he cried out while raising his glass before taking a healthy swig.
“Hmmm. Wish we had some worm salt and more oranges, but this is great. Speaking of wishes, what’s everyone’s hopes for our first gig, eh?” he asked conversationally. “I mean, bagman sure left a wide-open list of possibilities.”
Kirchhoff took a moment to savor her glass of mezcal before finishing it and setting the empty glass on the counter, a warm and toasty sensation flowing from her throat to her chest. She exhaled, enjoying the feeling. "Next bottle's on me, then. Have to return the favor in some way," she said, already reaching for the bottle to pour herself a second glass.
She pondered on what little she knew of what the party's first gig would be. "Well, I'd like to say I'm ready for anything, but I've been dead wrong about that in the past." She answered, a difficult history clear in her tone. "That said, I'm good as long as our first job doesn't involve delivering a body… at least not one that gangoons are searching for." She shifted in her seat. “Sure had my share of shady fixers who decided to tell me I’m doing a ‘routine delivery’ and leave it to me to find out exactly what it is I’m transporting.”
“I’m kind of on board for something flashy,” Tachi remarked, leaning back on the counter with his glass. “Something that lets us make our mark on the scene. Maybe not too ambitious, don’t wanna draw the wrong attention, but… big enough to get our names out there.”
Raul nodded sagely at Kirch’s anecdote whilst gesticulating animatedly as he took a sip of his second drink. The ‘Wrong Corpse in A Box’ was practically archetypal to the Edgerunner mythos at this point. Always a fool out there looking to offload that fun bad decision onto bigger fools.
“I could go for flashy,” Raul replied, draining his glass and reaching for the bottle. “Notoriety I can take or leave,” he clarified as he finished pouring and held the bottle out for whoever would take it next. “
Pero, flashy does tend to come with a side of big eddies. Could use some of those.”
Kirch could only laugh dryly. "Anything big enough to make our names known is going to draw unwanted attention no matter what," she theorized, swirling the beverage around in her glass. "Though I have faith in our ability to deal with the consequences as they come," she downed her second glass of liquid blind courage.
“Ai, I barely even count pissing off some nobody gangers as unwanted attention– life would be too boring without being on
somebody’s shitlist,” Tachi snorted.
Raul nearly choked on his drink as a short and rueful snort-laugh escaped him. “Trust me,” he said as he downed his glass. He promptly reached for the bottle and filled up a third measure while continuing. “It’s a bit
too fun to be on everyone's shitlist. That said compadres,” Raul announced. He raised his glass in an ironic toast. “Right now, I too have a good feeling and faith in our abilities. Let’s make sure those other gonks— whoever the fuck they turn out be—are the ones getting iced.”
Watching Raul fill up his third glass, Kirch quirked an eyebrow, and promptly took the bottle once he was done with it, filling her own glass for the third time. She eyed him through the process, and a barely-visible smirk crossed her lips in a silent challenge. "I'll drink to that, kammerat," she responded heartily. "To zeroing gonks and earning some real scratch."
Tachi laughed and held a hand out for the bottle, topping his own glass up again. “To zeroing gonks,” he agreed with a smirk, tipping his glass. “And a life that’s fun enough to be interesting, but not so fun that it kills us.”
A mostly alcohol-fueled grin overtook Raul’s features as he gestured a clinking motion with his glass. “Let’s get started with the fun part!,” he encouraged boisterously, draining his glass in one. The bite of the drink didn’t even register at this point, just more pleasant smokiness joining the pool that was beginning to set him afloat. He dismissed his agent’s warning almost without a second thought.
“I think you already left us behind at the starting line, buddy,” Tachi remarked with a grin, pouring himself out a second glass - taking a slightly more measured approach to the drinking than Raul, largely due to being aware that for all his tolerance was fairly impressive for someone of his size… he
was still his size.
Kirch laughed a faintly tipsy laugh. "Speak for yourself, choom," she said before slamming back her third glass and knocking the bottom of the glass twice on the table, all in a rhythmic motion. "I'll be damned if I'm going to be outdone." The warmth that permeated her chest had spread to the rest of her body, the smokiness bringing about quite the pleasant buzz. Though, it was sure to be more than just a buzz considering the path of the night ahead.