Club Moogle Mix [Open]

[Aerith]

[Note: This thread is purely for fun and is not in any way meant to be a part of the official timeline or the official canon of the site. Here, anything goes, and any and all characters are welcome, regardless of alliance and such. Kick off your shoes, relax, and have fun!]

Grand Opening Night

The streets of Traverse Town were bustling as always underneath the starry night sky. It was a world that never slept simply because there were no distinctions between night and day. The First District was especially busy at the moment. Light blazed in the windows of shops selling everything from potions to weapons. The economy of Traverse Town was obviously not suffering, despite the Heartless that still crept out of the darkness on occasion.

Aerith had spent a good portion of her life here in this town, having taken up residence after the destruction of Radiant Garden. And now, she had returned, but something was different about this district in particular. She came across a modestly-sized building tucked away in a corner of the town's market hub. An unlit sign over the door read “Club Moogle Mix.” Crossing one arm underneath her chest, she rested the elbow of her other arm on top of her hand and tapped her cheek. So, here was the source of the rumors she had heard whispered about the town. While the Moogles ran a very successful synthesis business, it seemed they had grown bored and branched out into other potential profit-turning areas. Her finger stopped tapping her cheek and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. What sort of establishment might this be?

Curiosity prompted her to push open the door and step inside. The place was empty and quite dim. Once her eyes adjusted to her new surroundings, Aerith could make out a large room with a high ceiling, decorated by a vast array of lights that looked like they could move if the right buttons were pushed somewhere. There was an ample stage near the back of the room, presumably for any live entertainment that might have been booked at this club. To her far right, along the wall, there was a long bar with plenty of stools, and behind the bar were shelves filled with all manner of what she assumed must be predominantly alcohol. She had never been a prolific drinker, so she wondered if she should even be here.

A few of the overhead lights suddenly came on, and a Moogle popped its head over the bar counter. He—or was it a she?—was holding a rag in one of his tiny stubs of a hand and shining glasses. “Kupo! We're not open just yet!”

The Moogle looked like he was about to explode in a panic, so Aerith tried her best to calm him down. “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I was only curious to see what was in here.” She swept her eyes over the room. Now that it was lit a little better, she could see rather luxurious tables and plush chairs off to the sides, still leaving plenty of room in the center of the floor for dancing. The walls were polished dark wood paneling and decorated with an assortment of metallic shapes that appeared to be semi-reflective. With the full range of colored lights on, the effect might be chaotic.

The Moogle was still busily putting the finishing touches on his glasses. “I suppose there isn't any harm in you being early, kupo. I'm just nervous for opening night!”

Opening night. So, this place was brand new. She was technically the first patron it had ever had. Her curiosity reached new levels, and she moved to take a seat on one of the bar stools. “What sort of people do you expect to visit your club?”

“Oh, all kinds, kupo! At least...I hope so.” The brief perking up of the Moogle's spirits was quickly replaced by that nervous worry.

Aerith smiled reassuringly. “Don't worry. I'm sure you'll have a lot of people who'll come in and love it.”

A tinge of red blossomed on the Moogle's cheeks, and he floated bashfully toward a control panel covered in buttons and tiny lights. “Showtime, kupo!” With that, he pressed several buttons. The room became darker with only the collection of colored lights that were shifting all over the place to illuminate anything. The sign outside the club lit up, announcing the opening, and another Moogle appeared on the stage, hovering behind what looked to be a musical synthesizer. The bass started to boom out of the myriad speakers scattered around the front of the club, and Aerith felt as though all of her insides were vibrating. She decided she would wait from her perch on the stool to see if anyone showed up soon.

[Let's get this party started with a little music.]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"I have a dance music radar, so it seems..."
--

Emi stumbled out of the corridor she had summoned and almost fell flat on her face. She grumbled something about needing more practice and stripped off the black cloak that protected her.

While she was putting it away, something piqued her interested. She perked up, listening closely to the sounds of the night. There was something there, something that didn't match the other sounds. She had visited Traverse Town before and had never heard such a thing. It was a very familiar sound to her and she recognized it instantly.

"Since when was there a club in Traverse Town?[/color]" she said to herself, raising an eyebrow. Well, that didn't matter but it was definitely worth checking out. It took her only a few moments to find the place, identified as "Club Moogle Mix" by the glowing neon sign out front. She walked in, not expecting anything too extraordinary. In fact, the place so far was totally empty except the moogles who ran it and a lone woman sitting on a bar stool.

A moogle, the owner, floated over to her. Emi had to admit for some reason, no matter how adorable the creatures were, they freaked her out. She didn't like talking to them and tried to complete transactions at shops as quickly as possible. So when this little guy came over to her, she scooted an inch to the right and flinched.

"Welcome, kupo!" said the moogle. Emi waved him away.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay, bye...[/color]" she said in an agitated tone, resisting the urge to beat the thing away.

She made her way under the flashing lights to where the only other human patron sat and sat next to her. Emi didn't say anything, not yet, instead preferring to sit there quietly to get over her sudden moogle scare.

"Evil little stub armed demons...[/color]" she hissed to herself.

[Cloud]

Party?

Cloud walked around the streets of Traverse Town aimlessly. He wasn't exactly sure why had he let the others talk him in to coming with them. When Cid decided he needed to go buy something, Yuffie had suddenly decided that everyone should return to world for a day, just for the fun of it. Unlike the rest of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, he had never lived here, so there was no nostalgia in returning. But despite his weak protests, he had been dragged here, and now needed to find something to do.

As he wandered around, he came across a club that seemed to have loud lights and music coming from it. "Club Moogle Mix?" he wondered aloud. Typically clubs weren't his thing, but through he open door he saw a familiar face. Aerith was there. Actually she was one of the only two people in there. Deciding he had nothing better to do, Cloud walked in, moving over to the bar and sitting down next to his old friend. "Hey..." he said awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say.

[Nothingness]

This Looks...Interesting?

It had been a while since Raen walked the streets of Traverse Town. Everything seemed to be okay--nothing had changed...except for a large building tat had flashing lights dancing inside and loud music rocking out the windows. Sighing, he knew he would check it out anyway--curiosity always seemed to get the better of him in these situations. "Hopefully they have something good to eat, at least."

He walked inside, recognizing none of the people in the room, much to his disappointment. He walked over to the bar and sat on a stool. He looked disinterestedly at all the bottles lined up while he waited for the barkeeper. One he saw the red pom-pom pop up over the counter, Raen said,"Evening, barkeep--hey! It's been a while, man!"

"Kupo? Oh, Raen! It's good to see you! First drink's on the house!"
"Told ya that you owed me for that time."
The moogle gave Raen a flat stare, looking over the counter at Fimbulvetr,"The sword was supposed to be the repayment, kupo."
"And one that I am very thankful for." Raen managed to say, slightly embarrassed. "But first, a nice glass of your best white wine--if it's on the house."
The moogle sighed, a little cheerier after Raen's humbling, "Just a minute then, kupo! Here you are!"
"Cheers," Raen raised his glass and took a nice drink. "Wow, where'd you get this?"
"A moogle never reveals his secrets, kupo!"
"Well, I'll take that to the bank--and my wallet for now. Keep the rounds coming!" Raen downed the rest of the glass and continued conversing with his old friend.

[Fate]

Tonight's Entertainment

Kadaj, to put it bluntly, was bored.

This always seemed to happen if he had nothing else to do; he could only destroy so many things before getting tired of it and wanting to do something new. He was in an exploring mood and didn't feel like staying in the same place, which was currently Radiant Garden. There was only Maleficent and his brothers to talk to; none of that sounded particularly appealing to him at all. The Mistress of All Evil was not the best conversationalist in his mind. He decided to take this opportunity and go out on the town... or another town. If his brothers wanted to follow him, they could.

Traverse Town was a sort of interesting world to travel to, so he decided to go pay this one a visit. This world hadn't seen him yet and it was about time it did. With his Gummi Ship right outside the world, he embarked on a night scene. He was still in his typical garb of tight leather and his Souba was still on his back... which most likely explained why that person was running away from him. He didn't think he looked that frightening; goodness, people got scared at everything these days.

It didn't take long for him to find this club, one that was run by those Moogle things. Kadaj was never a big fan of the creatures himself, leaving him to often ignore their presence. This club was interesting though; it would certainly provide an interesting amount of entertainment, at least for him. It was more than what Maleficent had to offer him; he might as well venture inside and see what was going on. He might just find something to do other than his usual destruction.

It was loud and there were a lot of lights. That's how Kadaj summed up the place within the first two seconds after stepping in. His eyes adjusted quickly to the change in lighting as he made his way through the doors, forcing them open like he typically did. There were already other people here and he recognized a couple of them. Cloud was here too eh? That could be fun. Though, a fight wasn't what Kadaj was looking for; he just wasn't in the mood to play with the blond this evening.

Oh, there was that fighter from that dragon world! Kadaj grinned as he sauntered over to him, the man ordering drinks from the Moogle things. He wouldn't mind if he swiped one, would he? Well, he better not. He quickly snatched one of the drinks the Moogle was bringing, not exactly sure what it was, and downed it immediately. He wasn't much of a drinker, not really knowing what the stuff was, though he was relatively sure that his body could handle whatever he put into it.

"Well look who we have here!" he said dramatically, his arms outstretched as he looked at Cloud and Raen with a smile on his face. "Haven't we met somewhere?"

[/size]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"And try not to touch the glass... oh wait.."
--

As more people trickled in, Emi turned in the stool to face the bar. She still didn't say anything. She wasn't nearly drunk enough to start having fun with strangers yet. Everyone else seemed to know each other though, which made her feel out of place.

She ordered a drink from the moogle. Hesitantly.
"Tequila Slammer,[/color]" she said once the bartender floated over from his conversation with Raen. She almost asked if they had any human employees who could mix it but she kept her mouth shut. Of course, after a few drinks she probably wouldn't have the common sense to keep her mouth shut.

This was a bad idea, a very bad idea but when the drink was set in front of her she took it with a small smile. Just like the old days. She covered the top of the small glass with her hand, slammed it into the bar's surface and chugged it before it stopped fizzing.

She would be drunk after a few minutes having never been able to tolerate alcohol very well. Then maybe she would lighten up and start talking to people.

Funny, she used to be so social...

[Aerith]

New Faces?

It was nice not to feel quite as awkward anymore. Aerith would have spoken to the girl who first walked in and sat next to her, but then, to her surprise, Cloud entered the club. She couldn't help but laugh softly as he made his way over to her and sat, clearly feeling out of his depth here. He only uttered a single-word greeting to her.

Typical of Cloud, she thought.

Another man Aerith didn't recognize walked in and made a beeline for the bar. He seemed to know the Moogle barkeep already, and the two struck up a lively conversation, though they had to shout in order to be heard over the booming music. She did catch the man ordering a glass of white wine, and that piqued her interest. Perhaps later, she might have that. Hard liquor wasn't very appealing to her.

She would have attempted to start her own conversation with Cloud, but then another unfamiliar man walked in, this one in tight black leather. She briefly wondered how the man could move in that outfit. When he came closer, she noticed his silver hair and the way the tension in the air climbed a few degrees higher. He was quite dramatic, and there was a detectable hint of a taunt in his voice. Now that she thought about it , something about this man tickled the back of her memory. Before Cloud could say anything or, worse, start swinging his sword around, Aerith tried to make a little peace, lest the club end up a pile of rubble on its first night.

"I don't remember ever meeting you before," she said with a polite smile to the leather-clad man. "My name is Aerith. Who are you?"

[Cheza]

“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water”

[/center]

Cheza was walking around Traverse Town just trying to find something to do when she came across an interesting sight, a night club. “Well that is interesting,”she thought to herself. She saw the flashing neon light that read “Club Moogle Mix” She wasn't much of a clubber, but since she had nothing else to do she thought she would see what it was like. The music coming from the building was the kind that she liked anyway, so if nothing else she knew she would enjoy the tunes.

Once she was inside she noticed there were already a few people inside. After looking around she realized that Emi, from the orphanage, was sitting at a stool by herself. Since Cheza didn't reconizge anyone else in the club she walked over to the empty stool next to Emi. “Hey, long time, no see. This seems like a strange place, don't ya think?” Cheza was thirsty and since the last couple of days had been tough on her, with all the memories of her father beating her, she decided she would indulge in a little alcohol. She thought it was a little strange to indulge in the very thing that caused her father to beat on her, but she knew that as long as she didn't have whiskey, she should find comfort in drowning her problems. She didn't really know what to order so she decided to order the only other thing she knew, a Margarita. It wasn't until now that she noticed the moogle bartender. She never did like to talk to them much, but she could deal with it. “ Frozen Margarita please.” The moogle nodded and went off to make her drink. Cheza tried to relax in this environment, but she still couldn't get past the 4 strangers that she had never meet before in the club. She was glad the she at least knew Emi, but sometimes her shyness became an anxiety issue. She actually couldn't wait to taste the lime flavor of the drink she had ordered and to feel the warmth from the alcohol. Once the moogle returned with her drink she had to control how fast she drank it, because she knew if she drank it too fast she would get a brain freeze. After taking a few sips, she started to feel less anxious and wondered if she would feel up to dancing soon.

[Cloud]

You

Aerith looked at Cloud, smiling like usual, but before she could say anything, seemed to be distracted by someone else. Glancing back towards the entrance, he saw a familiar face that he wasn't too excited to see. "Kadaj." The appearance of the silver-haired remnant always meant trouble for not just Cloud, but everyone. He might have gone over to greet him with his sword, but before he could do anything, Aerith came to the rescue, interrupting his thoughts with a polite greeting to the troublesome man. He guessed he would let him be for now... So long as he didn't try anything funny.

"Would you like something, kupo?" turning back around, Cloud realized the moogle behind the bar was talking to him. He hesitated for a moment. Drinking wasn't something he usually did, but he didn't want to be rude either. Plus one drink wouldn't really be a big deal, would it? "I'll have a beer I guess." The moogle went to get his drink, handing it to him. He took a sip of it, turning back to make sure Kadaj wasn't up to anything.

[Nothingness]

"Of all the Moogle Joints in All the World"

"...you had to walk into mine." Raen glared at Kadaj as he stole his drink. The moogle looked between the two as they shared a rather...intense look. Raen, turning around in his seat asked the moogle, "Would you mind getting me a glass of red wine, please? And get my...friend, here your uh, special blend. You know the one."

"Uh, okay, kupo..." The moogle quickly handed Raen a glass of blood-red wine, and then disappeared behind the counter for what was at least a minute. As the moogle was fixing the drink for Kadaj, the ice in Raen's drink clicked menacingly as he took a sip. The ice wasn't there to begin with--it formed when he touched the glass...as did the frost patterns on the outside of the glass.

"Kupo, here it is." The moogle slid a champagne glass to Kadaj. It looked and smelled like it was filled with red wine. Raen smiled, waiting for Kadaj to try it. "One sip of that...hell, one whiff and you'll be out cold for the evening. Maybe I'll order one myself, later..."

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"It's gonna be a loooooong night."
--

"Yeah. Strange,[/color]" Emi replied, uninterested. She eyed the moogle bartender with suspicion and ran a finger around the rim of her now empty glass. Now that Cheza was here, she wondered if that other guy would show up. She didn't ask though, too distracted with making sure the moogle didn't suddenly transform into a demon bent on consuming her soul. When he didn't, she sighed with relief. Crisis averted for the time being. But she had her eye on that little creep.

"Oh god... I'm going to need about three more of these.[/color]"

She was already beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. It had been a few minutes and she was stick-thin. "Need tequila... lots of tequila...[/color]" She picked up and moved a couple of stools over, trying to get the moogle's attention, a little less inhibited now. Of course, she was only a little tipsy but it gave her enough confidence to lean over the bar, past Raen and Kadaj and the others and wave her empty glass in the moogle's face.

"Move,[/color]" she told Raen bluntly.

Rude perhaps, but what did she care?

[Fate]

No Sympathy for the Sinner

Well that was no fun; Cloud just had to go introduce him before he could even say a word. He knew how to introduce himself, even though he often never did. Still, it was rude. Kadaj made a slight grimace at this and ignored Blondie, just focusing on this girl who introduced herself as Aerith. She seemed sort of familiar to him, though he paid it no heed; it was probably just another one of Sephiroth's memories or something, which he really didn't need to focus on right now.

"What your friend said," he said simply, putting a smile back on his face. "It's nice to meet you." He bent low in a bow before her, glancing at Cloud looking at him as he did. He may never actively practice the niceties of things, often neglecting they existed, and was a tad cruel, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to be civil. He stood up after he did so, still looking at the blond swordsman. "See, I can be nice when I want to be. Just because I'm Sephiroth's remnant doesn't mean anything." He laughed a little after these words, the words themselves being an outright lie. Cloud and him both knew that being that swordsman's remnant meant everything.

His friend from Land of Dragons seemed to have ordered him a drink, asking the moogle thing for a special blend. He sighed melodramatically, now staring at his former opponent. Special blends couldn't mean anything good; this guy just had it out for him didn't he? Why did everyone think he was going to kill everyone? Just because he did it every other day didn't mean anything! Oh wait, yes it did. He couldn't help the fact that he found chaos, darkness and destruction absolutely splendid.

He looked at the drink that the moogle had slid to him, catching it in his hand. It looked like wine. He hated wine. Heck, he barely knew what wine was; he never had the time to drink since he was on the job most of the time. He glared back at Raen, clearly not happy. The bit of alcohol he already had was starting to get to him, only feeding this. He walked over slowly to him, keeping that glare as his boots clacked on the floor.

"Trying to get rid of me?" he asked in a smooth tone, "All because you couldn't beat me in a fight?!" That of course was not the real reason, but Kadaj didn't really care and kept going. "And here I thought you weren't a sore loser." He grinned a wicked grin, then looked at the glass in his hand. He handed it to Raen. "I don't accept gifts from strangers. Everyone's always trying to kill me!" It was a small outburst, though not uncommon coming from Kadaj. He sighed melodramatically, looking down. It was true though. As soon as people saw Kadaj, they either ran away or tried to kill him, mostly the latter. They never gave him a chance!

He had to distract himself from these thoughts; if these people just wanted to kill him, then fine. He would just deal with them later. For now, he would relax. He stayed standing and wandered around a bit, seeing what he could do. There were a lot of people here, some he didn't know. Maybe he could talk to them and they wouldn't want to kill him. That Aerith girl seemed nice; he should go talk to her.

"So you and Cloud know each other, hmm?" he asked, attempting small talk. He never really did this sort of thing. It was always business with his brothers; he never participated in their joking around that they liked to do. Yazoo was always better at these sorts of things. Kadaj was just good at persuading people into things, not actually having casual conversation.

[/size]

[Nothingness]

Ah, sweet--hey, watch it!

Raen simply shrugged as Kadaj, assuming Raen's primary intent was to kill him, let off a little overly dramatic steam. Truth be told, he was really hoping that Kadaj would take the drink, but wasn't all that upset that the man had left him alone. "Note to self: avoid silver-haired men...or people in general." He took another drink, watching Kadaj go off to bug some spiky blond-haired guy and this cute brunette he was with--he couldn't feel more sorry for the two.

As he began to swirl the wine in the glass, a girl bumped into him and made some of the drink slosh over on the table. Out side of being rather rude, the first thing he noticed was that her breath smelled disgustingly of alcohol, though that wasn't surprising seeing as how they were at a bar in a club. Quickly, grabbing a few napkins, he dropped them on top of the spill and turned to the girl. "Hey, watch it." He'd drank enough for him to leave the 'calculating' phase, and had now entered the 'uptight' phase. A few more drinks and he'd be in the 'spontaneous' phase.

[Aerith]

The Enemy of My Friend is...My Friend?

So. I was right. He does remind me of someone.

She could understand now why Cloud was suddenly so tense, but Kadaj had thus far displayed only civility. And while others might call her naive and a little foolish, she believed in treating everyone with kindness until they gave her a reason to regard them as an unforgivable enemy. She was so busy examining his face that she almost missed his question.

"Oh, Cloud?" She smiled fondly. "Yes, we grew up together. We've known each other for a long time. But he has a tendency to go off on his own, leaving me behind. Don't you, Cloud?" She poked her friend gently on his arm. It had been a playful accusation, though there was some true beneath it.

She came to the sudden realization that she was the only person in the club that hadn't had anything to drink yet, and she decided now was as good a time as any. Turning to the Moogle at the bar, she asked, "Could I have a glass of the white wine, please?"

"Kupo! Coming right up!" It was amusing just to watch the little creature, as it hovered in the air on its miniature wings, prepare the drink. He slid the glass toward her with a practiced flourish. "Here you go, kupo! Enjoy."

"Thank you very much." Aerith took the glass in hand and turned back around to face Kadaj. She took a small sip of the wine, just enough to test the flavor of the drink. It was quite satisfying. "So, now that you know a little about me, tell me about yourself." She might end up regretting her next question later, but she wanted to carry the conversation on somehow. "How do you know Cloud?"

[Cheza]

Sorry About That...Owwwww!

[/b]

Emi didn't seem so thrilled to see Cheza, but Cheza had started to not care. The alcohol seemed to be taking effect. Emi seemed to be in a big drinking mood because she took off down the bar mumbling something about needing more tequila. Cheza watched her go over to where the bartender moogle was talking to a man and basically push him out of the way in order to get more of her beloved tequila. In moving the man out of the way Emi made him spill his drink. Cheza then did something uncharacteristic of herself, she walked over to the man carrying her margarita with her. She put her drink down and helped the man the best she could with the cleanup of his spilled drink.

“Sorry about that, I think my friend is just a little tequila obsessed tonight.” Cheza told the man as she wiped up some of the spilled drink from off the bar with a napkin. “I'm Cheza, this is some place isn't it?” Cheza sat down on the stool that was next to the man, hoping he didn't mind. She picked up her drink again and noticed that she was almost done with her drink. "Her bartender, could I have another?" "Sure thing kupo." The moogle went over to fix her drink and when he brought it back to her, she didn't take her time drinking it and got a brain freeze. "Owwwwww, Brain freeze!" Cheza really needed to watch how much she drank, but she was caring less and less about all the strangers in the club now, and was starting to feel more and more like dancing. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone else would dance with her. All she could do was just hope that others would join her once she was fully courageous thanks to the margarita.