[LoL] Wine, Chocolate, and Skibidi

Riley had just caught the trail end of Firebringers conversation on their way to Linden and Archie.
Motley.
It stung more than they expected. But it made sense.

"uh hey, yeah chocolate. I could use that"

They Linden an apologetic glance. They had been running around and hardly had spent any time with Linden after dragging them out here. 

"Sorry"

They picked chocolate off the plater plopped it in their mouth had chewed, and quickly grabbed two more.

"So what's up?

“Why would I lie? Do I look like a vodka guy? I button up all the buttons on my shirt, thank you very much! Either way - Riley, here is your chocolate. I mean don’t start in the Gin is pretty much vodka argument, but the way it tends to linger - its nice. I appreciate the staying power. Call it an anchor. Either way!”

He finally set the chocolates aside and motioned towards the door.

“How about we walk the path and find out. Cacti are the most romantic plants if you ask me, because once you get past their prickly exterior they are sweet on the inside. Like people.”

He would wait for one of the pair to take the lead, it wasn’t his place to dictate where the conversation would go at this point.

In a supreme act of graciousness, Linden did not try to riff off of Riley's last comment, and instead began heading toward the door out to the illuminated cacti. "Who are you comparing to a cactus?" they asked Archie, teasingly suspicious. They didn't think he actually meant anything at all by it, Archie was just Talking.

Linden stepped outside and help the door for their friends, looking around. "It's prettier than I expected. No offense, Archie," they amended quickly, "I think I just usually think of lights all in with leaves. But it's nice. What made you want to host a Valentine event, you got a soft spot for it?" They let the door swing shut behind the last person, one hand returning to their pocket as the other held their wine.

Riley opened their mouth to protest the comment about Archie being basic. They hadn't meant it that way. Why were they such an ass sometimes?

Walking through the garden the twilight dancers' eyes moved across the twinkling lights upon the desert plants. If they never had to see another cactus again they would have been happy. But there was some beauty to be found here.

Riley chuckled slightly as Archie expressed his appreciation of Valentine's day, in such an Archie manner. For the Moth, the last few years Valentine's day had been either to entertain the drunk, lonely or those looking for some spice for their evening. They could hardly remember what it had meant before they were lost.

They gave Linden a slight glance as Archie had a moment of vulnerability talking about making dreams. There was doubt and worry within his voice. A selfish thought intruded into their mind, had they made a mistake to sign with this manager?

Riley chuckled slightly. It was a defense mechanism to shake off the shame, and the awkwardness brought by it.

"Get all that from Valentine's day? I guess I hadn't given V-day that much thought or credit " The moth shook their head before quickly adding.

" I don't know what you're trying to prove to yourself, Archie. This is sweet and all but-" They gesture around to the lights and the gathering.

"Is this how you do that?" It wasn't a judgmental tone.

“It really isn’t much, is it?”

A light hearted acknowledgement of the entire night's proceedings as the two commented on it. 

“Color me at a loss of what else there is to do. Wine selection, wasn’t even me - made sure I tapped  someone who knew what they were doing. I know it all seems cold in the end, but it's at least nice, semi-normal, and a taste of reality, right?”

He didn’t seem to be asking that rhetorically.

“It isn’t the fact that it's Valentine's day really, you could choose Arbor Day if you felt like it - just more fanfare and food options around today. In the end what it lacks in personality it makes up for it with a nice generic sense of inclusion. The party that is.”

They came a little further down the path.

“I find when I have nothing better to do, why not throw a bash, or get some people together right? There isn’t much else I can do with my time so I will settle for watching people live their best lives. So at the very least I hope you are having a good time. There should be a case or two left of Wine by the way, looks like I over compensated. You're free to take some when you leave.”

He tried to brush it all off as just talking about a party, but as the darkness around them grew, and it was just the lights around them even the city seemed to quiet. The Fairest’s mood had dropped a peg despite the chipperness that he exuded. Even as he tried to escape the attention the spotlight of his mantle still dimly shone around him.

Linden's free hand descended onto Archie's shoulder, harder than strictly necessary, and gave it a good squeeze. "Sounding like a bit of a sad sack there, my dude," they admonished him cheerfully. Their own worries and discomfort were of tertiary interest and importance in the face of whatever this moment was. Maybe they were reading more into it than they should, but forlorn talk of reality and inclusion, and downplaying his own organizational skills, left Linden in territory they were much more comfortable with.

"Riley's right, how else are you going to see me looking this good? It's practically a crime." They flashed a grin, poking fun at themself. "You've got a good heart, trying to bring folks together- and if you talk much more about what small potatoes this is I'm going to make you drink that backstock of wine with me until you change your mind. I promise I will win, but you are welcome to try and outdrink me." It was a bit more like bullying than comforting.

"Sometimes its just good to have an excuse to drink with friends and look at cacti."