Lahmu Keep

[Bloodedge]

More and more, Meron was coming to understand and internalize Albertus' musings. He was frankly quite intoxicated, mostly talking in what he considered rambles. Even with that being the case, there was at least some substance in everything falling out of his face. Whether Meron thought she would be or not, Albertus was certain she'd be of much use in helping his enjoyment. He found that parties were only so entertaining when approaching them alone. At every opportunity, Albertus tended to involve as many random individuals as possible. No fun could truly be called fun whilst alone, after all. "You'll be plenty helpful. I don't know the first thing about these clubs, so you're the one I'll be leaning on," he stated.

It was beginning to sound like Albertus had himself a guaranteed companion in this strange non-magical world. There was always meant to be one, and though he was becoming sure this wasn't the correct person, he wouldn't be leaving alone one who could have been among his people. After all, there was always the chance his reincarnation went awry. There was meant to be an impurity Albertus himself couldn't be sure of, so maybe this Kujaku Meron was still one he sought. "That's a good attitude. We're gonna have ourselves a blast!" he declared with certainty. Onto the matter of whatever a VIP table was, Meron made it sound like a very entertaining thing. More bottles of liquor was an incredible thought of its own; he didn't know they had alcohol here as well! He didn't care about expenses. He wanted the best experience possible, so there would be no missing that sort of deal. "Groovy. We're going there!" he exclaimed, offering his 'credit card' to the bouncer and gaining clearance for two as a result. "Ah, I bet they've got the best drinks in there!"

[Apollymi]

According to Albertus, Meron would be plenty helpful. He'd apparently never gone to a club at all and thus would be leaning on her decades old prior experience. She couldn't help but laugh at that. "I suppose I do have a bit more experience than you... but only a little," she mused. Strange it was that this man would lean on her. Had he not practically rescued her from the darkest corners of her own mind not even a few hours prior to this very moment? Did he not see the irony? There was apparently a strange understanding that they would manage to have a good time, due to Meron's improved attitude. She didn't know how to feel about this assertion, but she definitely wouldn't have come with this man if she didn't think it would be fun. "I am open to fun," she explained of herself.

They were now moving on towards this club and she'd gone to explain the nature of VIP sections. What did he have to say about it? Groovy? They were going there? Her eyes widened as he produced his credit card and gained them both entrance to this place. Still she could only laugh just a little. "Hehehe~ Who says groovy?" she asked seemingly amused. As for the drinking offered in clubs what she remembered of it was a bit strange. "You get a couple of free drinks, and then bottles. I don't remember them being any better or worse than drinks at bars, but they are usually more expensive," she said seeing to have a decent understanding of the markups. The truly young would 'pregame' going out of their way to have many drinks before attending a club and dancing around in their drunken stupors with only a couple of free drinks to carry them through those couple of hours. She'd happily follow along to the VIP section and mentally prepare herself for more drinking and maybe a bit of dancing. The beat of music was nice and the constant thumping in her chest were about what she remembered of such outings.

[Bloodedge]

A small amount of experience was always enough to make the difference between victory and defeat. Knowing this, Meron's alleged 'little' bit of clubbing knowhow was more than enough for Albertus. Besides... "Doesn't that just make it better? Show me what you already know, and we'll figure the rest out together. It'll be a great!" said the ever-optimistic male.

It seemed the word 'groovy' was something worth a laugh. No one said that anymore? When did that go out of style? How disappointing! "Is that out now? Man, that's a bummer! That one is one of my favorites. Guess I'll just be a weirdo and keep saying it anyway~" he chimed. Albertus definitely wouldn't be giving up on one of his common phrases so easily. If anything, he'd pull it out of its own grave.

As they made their way inside, Albertus learned his second thing about clubs. Meron didn't recall a quality difference between them and bars, but the cost in clubs was higher for some reason? That was odd; maybe there was some secret to it. Whatever the case, there would definitely be a great deal more drinking on his part. Onward he went, his head naturally rising and falling with the beat of loud music. There was even an added little bounce to every step Albertus took; music was a very powerful thing. Ah, stepping up to the table revealed a bottle of some clear fluid called vodka in a server's hand. There were two glasses set out, but assuming that liquid was more alcohol, Albertus grabbed the bottle and drank directly from it in gulps. One, two, three gulps down his throat, and he was holding the bottle in front of Meron. "Whew! That one's got some bite to it!" he announced.

[Apollymi]

The optimism in this man was higher than Meron could have ever expected. His thoughts on how their combined knowledge and inexperienced could be used to further their good time was quite refreshing. "I feel like I should worry about how very excited you seem to be, but it is infectious~" she said as well. She hadn't looked forward to much of anything in a long while. It was rather exciting to think about the coming fun. Speaking of fun, apparently, Albertus didn't know that his word choice as a bit dated. Given his choice in slang, Meron would assume he had a few years on her as well. Ah, but that didn't really matter, he was apparently keen to keep up his slang usage. "You should. It suits you..." she said giving an affirmative nod. She'd only pointed it out because it was so very random to hear in context. But she didn't really mind his speech choice or anything like that.

Speaking of things she didn't mind, this man's excitement about the coming adventure was something she found rather refreshing. He seemed excited to try the liquor here, but given how much he'd already drank she was curious how he was even still standing and moving. Maybe he was used to drinking but just not in the public context? Meron herself was rather tipsy already and having mixed whiskey with her gin she was already sure she shouldn't be drinking vodka. But being so far in already, her own inhibitions seemed quite lowered by association. "Yeah, I think some people call it fire water for a reason~" she chimed. A bottle held out towards her, she grabbed up a glass to have some poured for her. She wasn't really the type to drink straight from the bottle, she needed to control sips to avoid a level of drunkenness that would have her unable to move her legs. She'd already loosened up quite a bit the sleeves on her sweater being pushed up. Yes, the temperature in this place would only contribute to her level of intoxication.

[Bloodedge]

Excitement should always be infectious, thought Albertus. There was no point in worrying over how excitable he was; everything was amazing and should be treated as such. Speaking of amazing, that was roughly his thought about many words he chose to use despite their aged nature. What was the point of humans coming up with words, if they were going to abandon them after a few measly years?

Moving on, Albertus seemed to enjoy yet another form of liquor. It wasn't the tastiest thing he'd ever put in his mouth, but there was something to like about its raw strength going down. Apparently, the people called it firewater. Upon hearing that proclamation, Albertus looked at the bottle in awe. "What?! That name is way more awesome than vodka; they should just call it firewater!" Humans needed to be spoken to about their name choices. Well... maybe not. He was quite sure firewater would more accurately depict something else, though he wasn't completely sure what that thing was at this point. Regardless, Meron took up a glass to drink from. Albertus didn't really get why she wouldn't drink from the bottle, but thinking little of it, he poured until her glass was full. He wouldn't mind drinking from the bottle by himself. "So, what's all the dancing for?" he asked. Albertus once knew dances to be a matter of ritual, but this world had no magic. Moreover, many of these people were dancing very... very close to one another. This wasn't some individual prayer to any gods, or any sort of spell. Albertus was no stranger to dancing as a form of entertainment. Even with that being the case, he didn't understand this particular behavior. "Why are they all rubbing against each other like that? Is that what dancing is now?"

[Apollymi]

Infectious excitement aside, firewater seemed to be a name approved of by Albertus. His excitement in discovering the term was something which made Meron laugh just a little bit. She had to agree it was cooler but there was likely a reason it wasn't the standard term. "I agree it's quite good... but it's a general term for high proof alcohol in general... the kind that burns on the way down~" she mused. Even so, she took a few controlled sips from her now full glass. She would have sworn this man was trying to get her wasted, but he didn't seem to have any ill-intentions about the whole day. He'd been very fair and straightforward this entire time. She'd taken up a glass for a very specific reason, her openness to relative strangers aside, that indirect kiss wasn't something she could wrap her head around while being so drunk.

Ah, but now was a moment of general shock. Albertus apparently didn't understand the nature of dancing. Well, that wasn't exactly it. He apparently knew what it was, understood it in other forms and didn't understand the purpose of people dancing so closely together as they were. He asked what the dancing was for, that was easy... "Fun. People dance for fun..." she mentioned. Ah, but there was a certain heat growing on her obviously pale face. She'd birthed four children she was far beyond general embarrassment, even so she didn't really know how to explain the reason that people found this sort dancing to be worthwhile. "Well.. it's just..." how did she go about explaining this sort of thing. Well, first things first, she'd take a rather healthy healthy swallow of vodka because a little liquid courage went a long way. Though she couldn't do anything about the redness in her face she'd aim for the truth. "It's dancing. It... uh... serves a couple of purposes and it can be pretty fun, as long as you like your partner," she stated. Ah, the indirectness of her culture was coming back to bite her. How was she going to explain this to someone who'd never been this sort of dancing before.

[Bloodedge]

Ah, so firewater was more of a general term for strong alcoholic drinks. That made sense; applying a moniker like that to multiple suitable targets was well within reason. Still, Albertus fancied the idea of using that particular phrase for something. Maybe he'd include something called firewater in his game. Maybe in doing so, he'd somehow have an effect on the other world. That would be quite ridiculous, but oh so entertaining.

Speaking of things that were entertaining, Meron stated fun as the sole reason for dancing. He could see that. Dances of all sorts, even ritualistic ones, were often fun for the participants. On the other hand, there was something more to this form. Meron even gulped down straight vodka to prepare herself for the admission, yet she never fully got around to one even as her face gained a red hue. Albertus would assume that redness had to do with the liquor; he'd seen it on his own face a few times by now. Maybe the explanation was just difficult, and the deep swig had nothing to do with getting it out. Regardless, what she said sounded great. If there were even more purposes to dancing than simple fun, he definitely wanted to find them! "Ya' don't say? Well, I like you. Be my partner!" he said enthusiastically. A short series of gulps later, and Albertus was wobbling just slightly away from the table. Even his lean had a fair amount of swagger to it, yet his level of drunkenness was becoming more apparent each time he moved. "Fair warning; I've got no idea what I'm doing!"

[Apollymi]

A few gulps of vodka down and Meron had managed something resembling an explanation. She knew it wasn't the full details, but even after being a married mother of four explaining something that functioned as fun and foreplay to an adult man was well past her current level of ability. But she wouldn't even really get the chance to mull over a proper explanation either, apparently Albertus liked her and understood enough of the dancing explanation to want to dance with her. She couldn't really help herself out of this now. She was just drunk enough to give him a quick glance over. He was an attractive man, nice, she liked him too... and she was drunk and dancing did seem like a splendid idea. And what was the worst that could happen? Surely, he'd figure out why this was popular and they'd come to a peaceable separation. Besides, she'd not been asked to dance in quite a while, and much like her earlier ideations of war-mongering over her, it was quite flattering.

"I can't really say no to an invitation like that..." she mused. A few more sips and she too was doing a couple little rhythmic steps towards the dance floor. Watching Albertus move she also found herself pulling at the collar of her sweater gently. She needed to focus, and make sure she was ready for what was to come. And in a moment like this Albertus had more to say, he had no idea what he was doing. "I don't really think that will be a problem. It's been a while for me too," she said as she took up a place in front of him as they made their way out to the dancefloor. "You'll get the hang of it, actually you probably understand it already just not in this sort of situation..." she mused. She didn't think it was actually possible for an adult man to lack understanding in this case. In fact, she was certain he'd come to understand as the softness of her own body would be found against his her back against his fore as she swayed to the beat of the music. There wasn't unescapable pressure between them yet. Just enough movement that clothing was brushing against skin and bits of soft flesh were rubbing against each other through their clothes.

[Bloodedge]

Once more, Meron would not be saying no to an offer of his. Frankly, Albertus never expected denial. It was interesting enough that she took a moment to consider things, however. That part was at least something new. She was looking more and more like one of his ilk, whether she was the one he should be looking for or not. Even if she wasn't the fated one, what was a bit of fun in the interim? He could sense that something good would come of this, even without knowing for certain what it would be.

Off to the dance floor they went. Albertus brought with him inexperience, and Meron brought with her a bit of rustiness. With such perfect balance between these two things, surely nothing could go wrong at all. Apparently, Albertus was even expected to get the gist of dancing in this way. As for why, he didn't yet know... until Meron took her place in front of/against him. She moved to the music as one could expect, all while Albertus stood still and grew closer to enlightenment. Oh. Well, softness against softness was immediately becoming less of a fact with each sway of Meron's hips. Anshar was reborn as a human, and thus became integrated into this world as such. He had human anatomy, and thus... human urges that his body was making him realize. It even took as little as a few moments for his own hips to move in sequence. This was far from the form of dancing he would have chosen, but he'd hardly be changing things now that the experience was in front of him. Perhaps that much didn't need saying, given what he was 'saying' physically already. Despite that, he'd comment anyway. "Oh. That's new. Is that what it's like?" he wondered aloud. In truth, arousal was a foreign concept to one such as himself. His groin could stiffen as desired, but never before as a matter of reactivity. The current predicament was a thing of humanity... though not something he was innately against either.

[Apollymi]

Meron gave this man a great deal consideration. He was interesting and the more she talked with him... the more he felt like an old friend instead of the relatively new acquaintance she'd made in a bar while trying to drown her sorrows. Of course, it would only become stranger by the moment for her as they began to dance. She wasn't sure what she expected from such an undertaking, but she knew the gist of dancing like this. Her hips were already swaying to the beat and each movement against Albertus' hips had her feeling an interesting amount of stirring. Perhaps it was her own fault, she didn't think through the long term consequences of dancing in this way. It'd seemed like a good idea and she was actually having fun.

Even so, by the time he'd brought attention to it, she could feel the length and girth of his stiffness pressed against her backside. Even just feel alone through clothing had her considering the impressiveness of his tool and such a thought felt so out of the ordinary that she had the grace to seem to be a bit embarrassed about it. "Oh? That escalated quickly," she murmured almost to herself. "This is what it's like... You do seem to understand now, though~" she managed. Pulling away was probably a good idea, but drunken brain said that doing so would be rude. And she was already moving her hips against him in a steady rhythm, and he was quite warm against the back of her person. She couldn't say she disliked dancing with him, so why not continue. Her blood was already quite warm and her heart was already pounding in her chest, a little movement like this was far from the worst thing that could have happened.