Finding a New Normal

[runs_on_batteries]

Who: Tony + Gladio, Tony + OTA
Where: His office, the gym, anywhere but the kitchen
When: Egret 22-24
What: Tony dealing post-breakup

[For Gladio: Egret 22, evening]

He left the quiet room they'd been talking in and headed down the hall. It was late enough not too many people were around but not quite so safe as the middle of the night. His expression was hard. Anger and hurt were turbulent inside him for however long they'd been in that room. Now things were starting to just feel numb. He paused at the door to his office before he shook his head and continued on to the standard car where the store was. Damn party draining him of all his- what had Ignis called it? His vices.

Just as he picked the bottle up, he straightened and inwardly cringed as he stood face to face with Gladio. He took a ragged breath. "You should go find Ignis. He's going to need a friend."

[OTA]

There had been friction often in his relationship with Ignis. There had been many high points, but also some impressive lows. None so much as the other night. He sighed as he poured himself another glass. The details didn't matter really. He still cared deeply for the younger man and that wouldn't change. The simple fact that it became apparent they couldn't agree on some very fundamental things made them realize this wasn't working. So now he had a fresh bottle of bourbon and his ring back.

The first day was mainly spent in his office drinking and watching the Void till it gave him a headache. The second, he hit the gym. Wrapping his fists, he pummeled one of his dummies he'd made till his knuckles split and then switched to a sword.

That evening, he requested from one of his friends to get dinner delivered to his office so he wouldn't have to deal with Ignis' domain (i.e. the kitchen).

[OOC: Come bug him anywhere along this timeline.]

Comments

Gym car

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin walked into the gym car, went to the ball cupboard, and rummaged around in it. Then he turned around and stood with a basketball cradled in the crook of his arm. He smiled and made a joke.

"Tony, if you mangle that practice dummy any further, it might lodge a complaint with the Council. Or it might sneak into your office and steal your liquor!"

Re: Gym car

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony was so focused on pummeling the dummy that he didn't notice Curufin was around until he started speaking. Startled, his head jerked up to see a very strange sight. An elf with a basketball. Huh, that had to be the start of a bad joke.

"You're familiar with basketball?" He asked, unstrapping his gloves.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin leaned against the cupboard and grinned. He could certainly relate to Tony's concentration. That practice dummy had never stood a chance!

"Not very familiar, actually. But Conan is, and I wanted to practice a little so that I could play with him. Or no, wait, it was soccer. But nothing wrong with becoming familiar with both. Why, do you know how to play basketball?"

[runs_on_batteries]

He gave Curufin an odd look. "You're going to play basketball with someone the size of a raisin?" He joked back, his lips curling into a grin. It wasn't quite as warm as it usually was, but he was trying.

"I've never played that much with team sports, but I know enough we can play one on one." He much preferred games where he could show off as the only winner, but the company was worth it. He tucked the gloves in one of the cargo pockets on his pants and got ready. "Your team decided to take over the train, I noticed."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Conan can kick the ball against the wall with a really impressive bang, and he can bounce it off his head or his knee and make it go where he wants it to." Curufin was grinning. "And I'm sure he could toss a basketball through the hoop easily. I'd have to stay on my mettle to beat that raisin-sized opponent."

He looked a little surprised at Tony's last statement. "You mean because six out of twelve Council members are now Team Orange? It wasn't planned, you know."

[runs_on_batteries]

"I can't argue with that. I've seen him in here with that soccer ball of his." He'd even tried to play with him a few times. The kid was a pro! "Have you seen him on a skateboard? Boy can be downright scary good on that."

He chuckled at Curufin's reaction about the council. "I couldn't help but notice Team Orange was overly represented." He shook his head at the last part. "Don't worry, I'm not accusing you of anything. I just noticed was all. You have a lot of smart individuals on your team, so naturally they'd be recognized as leaders. The number of people who voted for you was impressive."

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin laughed. "No, I haven't seen Conan on a skateboard yet. I didn't even know he had one. But I can believe he'd be stellar at that, too."

He nodded. "We do have some smart people on Orange Team, and most of us do make the effort to get out into the community. But I myself was pretty surprised to be elected. I thought I'd run but miss the mark."