citylogs | [closed] catch-all log for December

Oh, I didn't know you were coming with recommendations.

[ Something that Daniel does not seem to mind in the slightest, judging by the way he says it - with a smile on his face that's reflected in his tone. He is definitely always up for trying new things, after all, especially when it is together with a friendly face.

Besides, Hob is a good guy. He probably has good taste. ]

Have you ever had this one before? Is it any good?

[ When it comes to drinking, Hob is pretty sure he lost plenty of years to the endeavor back when he used to over-indulge in all manner of things. That was mostly cheap stuff, though. As his status in society rose, so did his taste for finer things. Not that he still can't knock back a regular old beer when he feels like it. But since the drinks are all free here, why not get the good stuff? ]

I'm not familiar with the brand, but it's a good age, so we might as well try it.

[ He pours each of them a shot into a glass, then sets the bottle down and picks up his drink. ]

Cheers.

[ Daniel picks up his own glass too, holding it to Hob's own. ]

Cheers.

[ Then he takes a sip. Judging by how relatively well he takes it, Daniel is indeed pretty used to drinking. Especially since he speaks up again pretty soon after. ]

Oh, that is good. [ And he certainly is a man who can appreciate the finer drinks too. The appreciation is easily visible on his face. ] I guess that even with everything going on in this place, at least we're not doomed to only have to drink cheap corner store beer.

[ Thank god. That would clearly be the city's next level of torture, right. ]

[ Hob finds that someone who isn't still in college might be able to actually appreciate a more refined drink. With so many of the people in the city being younger, it's nice to spend time with someone who has at least a few years on him like Daniel.

Hob laughs in agreement. ]

I'll drink to that. They do still provide us with some comforts, whoever the hell they are. I heard some people were trying to investigate more about them.

Edited 2024-01-08 16:35 (UTC)

[ He hums. ]

Yes. Robby is pretty into that stuff too.

[ .. did he mention Robby to Hob before? Daniel isn't too sure, honestly, but he feels like he probably has, considering how often he mentions the boy here in this place..

He can't help it when he feels so protective of him, after all.

After another sip: ] I can't blame him. He's a very proactive kid. I'm sure just sitting around and doing nothing would drive him nuts.

[ Hob has spoken to Robby a little when the cafe was getting organized, and Daniel's spoken of the kids he mentored back home; Robby is one of those, right? The two are obviously close. ]

I'm sure a lot of others here are the same way. Do you know if he's discovered anything noteworthy?

Well..

[ Apparently there's something a little bit more troubling about this. There's a certain energy about Daniel when he mentions Robby, definitely something close to parental, but it shifts a little bit into something more worried now.

It's especially visible in the way his eyebrows knit together into a frown, his hand clenching a little bit tighter around the glass. ]

You remember that Halloween party this place announced for the end of the month? Seems like Robby wants to throw a Halloween party of his own to try and replace the city's own. To try and defy it.

[ Which Daniel is definitely fussing about, as evident by the look on his face. ]

[ Hob nods at the mention of the party, then raises his brow at the plan to antagonize the city so blatantly. ]

I can't imagine that will go well. [ Everyone involved or who chooses to go must know that. ] But, I also understand the need to be defiant in the face of our captors.

[ Daniel exhales. It's close to a sigh. ]

Yeah. That's-- That's the thing I'm struggling with too.

[ It's a little hard to be so open about his feelings, but.. well, at least Hob is also an adult. He might get why Daniel would view it in this particular way, why he'd be struggling with the concept. Better to air it to him than to the actual teens involved. ]

I don't want to tell them they can't do it. It's important to them. They feel like they're doing something important-- and who knows, maybe it might actually lead to something important, or just new information.

[ .. the 'but' practically already hangs in the air before Daniel speaks it, if not just in the worry that seems to hang around the man like a cloud. ]

But I'm so worried about the kind of danger they might end up in. I don't want this city or the people behind it to hurt them.

[ Parenting it hard, Hob. Even more so when you're not even dealing with your own biological kids, making the lines even more difficult to draw. ]

Of course you don't.

[ Hob can empathize. ]

I had a son, once, and no matter how hard I tried to keep him out of trouble, he always forged ahead.

But what Robby's doing, he's doing it for you as much as he is for himself, I'm sure of it, and for the rest of us, too.

[ .. oh.

Well, that's one way to get his mind off the topic of Robby. Daniel instantly gives Hob a more concerned glance when he listens to the other talk about his own son in the past tense, of all things. It'd be one thing if only the last part was in past tense, but.. even going so far as to say 'I had a son once'?

There's no way it doesn't immediately make him fuss over the other man. ]

Did your son..

[ It's almost as if Daniel can't even say died. Like he feels too bad for the other to do that much, even though the word hangs in the air all the same with the way Daniel's voice trails off, his glass momentarily forgotten. ]

[ Hob isn't looking for a fuss or sympathy; he only tried to empathize with Daniel's situation with Robby. Hob can see the look of concern, though, and he appreciates the sentiment. ]

Yes, he's passed on. I think he was a little too much like me, sometimes.

Not that I think Robby will suffer the same fate, of course. I just know what it's like to look after a strong-willed boy.

I'm so sorry.

[ It sounds like it might have been a while ago, given how Hob is talking about it now, but that doesn't make it any less important to Daniel to express some sympathy here. Losing one of his kids is practically his biggest nightmare. Or losing Robby, for that matter. Especially when it's such a likely possibility in this awful place. ]

You just.. can't help but worry about the kids around you, right? [ At least Daniel is pretty sure Hob will understand that sentiment as a father. Even as the father of a son who passed. ] About them getting hurt, or about the sort of danger they could be in at any given moment.

[ He glances down at his glass as he thinks about it. ]

It's been difficult for me to not often think about it here.

Right.

[ Hob can definitely empathize with how Daniel is feeling. Even if the kids Daniel is looking after aren't his own flesh and blood, it makes no difference. Daniel can care about them just as much. He's a very good man, Hob thinks. ]

This place has a lot of real dangers. It's impossible not to think about it. If we could spare them from any of this, we would.

[ Hob would do anything to save his own son, and he's sure Daniel feels that way about those he cares about. ]

[closed] catch-all log for December

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