"Wine Tasting Qualifications? I'm Ace of the UNIVERSE!" [Job]

Spoiler:

Glazed purple eyes stared into the abyss of the patterned wallpaper, almost hypnotized by dancing figures of flowers and vines. They might as well have begun speaking for all her interest, a sigh escaping. They’d seated her all but a few minutes ago, the rather chipper man disappearing behind the bar to carefully select glasses and snacks to go with his selection of “finely crafted” wines. Despite the small lapse in time it felt like ages to Shade as she sat in the well cushioned chair, a slightly chubby chocolate colored plush rabbit sitting in her lap. Ears longer than its body fell over her lap, one of her hands absentmindedly pinching one of the plump limb.

This situation may have been her fault, but Shade would never acknowledge that. Instead she sat there, wondering why the rabbit twins would send her on a wine tasting job. She’d hoped beyond hope – apparently – that they might choose something significantly more interesting and yet here she sat, waiting for someone who was obviously not Magna because in someone’s panic they’d refused to send her alone. In the panicked Black Rose attendant’s defense the white haired girl hardly knew anything about tasting wine or commenting on it, let alone any qualifications for “best in the world.” From what the summoner understood the girl would find her a partner for the job and they’d meet her here before the lass dashed off to find one such individual.

”They better not be late,” she grumbled under her breath, ”though wouldn’t call this a very important “date” either…” Her only consolation might’ve been the fact she could take her lover here later for a free date. About the only thing she really looked forward to was seeing who the desperate person managed to coerce into joining her for this escapade and unable to guess due to a sad lack of socialization with her own guild. ’Eh…I can fix that later. Maybe. If I feel like it.’ Eyes scanned the clock to find that…only one more minute passed, much to her ire.

The establishment that sat on quite the popular spot within Rose Garden was slightly well known for a more odd selection of wines and spices. It wasn't that they were necessarily of a better quality then what others could offer, but they always seemed to have a knack for finding wines others never heard about. This time they even offered a job for mages to come taste their newest addition. Of course unbeknownst to the job takers this was a wine of a more peculiar kind. Instead of the usual fermented grapes and berries this wine was enhanced with a special mixture of chemicals which affected the mind in such ways that the taste changed depending on the person. The intended purpose of this was to create a drink that would be appreciated by all, something that could become a staple in the restaurant business. Now of course any single person could taste this, so you might wonder, why mages? That is, because the creators of the chemicals put into the regular house wine weren't quite sure if the effects would be amplified or decreased by the presence of a magical potential.

The restaurant itself was located in a favorable popular position, had a fancy mural and interior and gave the feeling of luxury for those who could afford it. Although the sun was out and the people were about it was only dimly lit within the room with the bartender and Shade, giving the artificial feeling it was evening. Walking among the many people was one peculiar fellow dressed in a black suit, a loose tie and a collectible limited edition 90% cheap plastics Horatio top hat. Who wouldn't recognize such a quality product? The man stood large, tall, though grand in stature yet lacking the pompous attitude of most patrons that would walk these kinds of luxury streets. The man, commonly known to his fan and people who adore him as Horatio, and to a very select few as strange, seemed in a bit of a hurry. He had been approached by one of the guild attendees about the fact that one of the guild members lacked a partner on this venture. He was to taste wines. Perhaps not a job completely suited for someone of his reputation and talent, but he was never one to let a fan down.

The establishment came in sight and Horatio, showing his white teeth with a wicked smile gave his entrance a second thought. This establishment was a bit too expensive to just jump through the window like his usual grand entrance, even he had the common sense to realize that. But just knocking or entering through the door was the way plebs would do it. The second he planned become a full minute as many people passing began wondering what such a queer man was doing in front of the entrance of a respectable business. But then, it struck him, the perfect way!

Through a series of events in his past Horatio had become well known with the layout of any restaurant that followed the more basic and classy approach. As such he managed to find the entrance intended for the intake of products without much hassle. Horatio had the devils luck on his side again, because one of the cooks, or perhaps one of the service staff, left open the backdoor from where he entered. A quick glance around and he found himself within the confinements of a dry storage, with a walk-in fridge not far away from him. In the distance behind another door he could hear the light clatter of stainless steel on stainless steel, a most familiar sound. One quick chuckle later his plan would be almost finished.

Only 5 minutes had passed. Who knows, maybe Shade had already grown impatient within this time period. But the moment was there at last. With a loud 'thud' the door normally intended for waiters and waitresses swung open and hit the wall. Walking out of it was, of course, Horatio; the self proclaimed ACE OF THE UNIVERSE, and in both of his hands one plank filled with fancy char cutlery and in the other a selection of fancy looking snacks like scampi's in tempura and Gyoza's in a sesame seed dressing. Taking one more breath before he considered the show 'on' he began to exclaim.

''Gooood afternoon ladies and gentlemen!Now you might be wondering, what is the grand Horatio doing on the other side of where he was supposed to enter? Well, you see, the easy answer would of course be the say I entered through the backdoor someone carelessly left open, but the REAL answer is of course that I used only the GREATEST of teleportation magic to conjure myself to the other side of the restaurant. I wouldn't want to belittle the staff after all! Now, if I might have your attention, I, THE GREAT WIZARD ARCHITECT OF GASTRONOMICAL EXCELLENCE have made some light yet befitting of the surroundings snacks to go with the wine, after all, I care about my fans as much as I would care about myself!''

His little presentation was full of extravagant movements, and sometimes it seemed like a feat that he never actually dropped the plate and plank in his hands. Of course, that was the only real thing impressive about him aside from the fact that he seemed to genuinely mean he made the snacks he presented. The man walked towards the table, and put down the snacks as he gave a quick wink to Shade before sitting down. ''Well then, WINE PLEASE!''

The bartender was everything but amused by the display of grandeur made by a mage he had never heard of. Yet, of this man was at least half of what he claimed to be he was perfect to test the chemicals within the wine on, so though disgruntled he was in no position to refuse. He grabbed the wine, showed the label as is appropriate to the two guests, and poured them both a full glass. The full glass was a bit against regulation, but it was done on purpose to make sure the chemicals took their full effect within the short time these mages were available.

Wordcount; 1042

Things might not have been as bad if they’d at least offered more than bread, butter, and water. ’Isn’t this prisoner food? At least in some of those stories…’ Perhaps she would’ve been better off bringing something to read? It came to the point she’d inquired to the bartender if he planned to give them mixed drinks or simple glasses of wine and the fellow insisted on offering them at the same time. There might’ve been some line or other about wanting to let them drink together or something that sounded potentially teasing, but the white haired girl ultimately tuned him out. It seemed so simple: sip some wine and go home. Alas the fellow insisted on complicating things and awaiting the other half, perhaps going so far as to offer a meal or something? If Shade didn’t know any better the girl might’ve suspected someone to either be setting up a prank or an actual date. ’I wonder how mad they’d be if I “accidentally” knocked a candle over?’

Not that time was of the essence or anything. What was a minute, an hour, a day here or there?

A loud noise stole Shade’s attention away from her spiraling dwellings. There a man who practically oozed self-confidence strutted in and for the briefest of moments Shade thought the owner himself might’ve appeared, or maybe even some sort of Super Waiter. And then he opened his mouth.

’Wait…is…is he who they sent to join me?’ Face blank and eyes blinking Shade stared at the spectacle of a man. Vaguely she recalled people speaking in similar manners, often men with top hats in tents, sometimes rallying people in street corners for a product or to proclaim their views. “Greatest of teleportation magic? Just how far away did he teleport? The building hadn’t initially stricken her as large…’No…I don’t recall feeling anybody “spontaneously” appearing nearby…’ While her sensitivity in this realm paled in many volumes to what she felt in Paradise, Shade retained some semblance of awareness in this realm. Eyes narrowed ever so slightly: either he was really powerful and thwarted that sense somehow…or he was lying.

Watching the man as he provided an extra show of wielding the plates she felt inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt of the former notion. The man certainly held a grace about him where she would’ve simply dropped the plates. Unless he’d been blessed by some acrobatic god or some such then he’d put in work to be that skilled.

Not expecting the wink Shade jumped a little, a light sprinkling of pink dusting her cheeks. Any further thoughts and suspicions melted away as the girl settled on a simple fact: she needed to be cautious around this man. This fantastical fellow wouldn’t be so easily figured out and so she’d need to – for the first time in a while – carefully pick him apart. After all he was a guild mate so she couldn’t go the easy route: kill him and force him into her realm.

Eyeing the spread and the well-stocked glass Shade admitted: it all looked quite delicious. The gyoza especially called out to her, the dressing giving a pleasant sheen to the steamed wrapping, hiding the delectable mixture inside. Gently she placed her plush rabbit friend on the ground by her chair before plucking her glass from the table, carefully weighing it, eyes enjoying the rich color even as they flickered towards her partner for a moment, ”Well this looks worth the wait I must say, well done.” Bringing the glass to her nose the summoner pondered the glass a bit: something didn’t seem quite right. While nothing could be seen visually it was almost as if the glass crackled at her, sparking some feeling though she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. Then again wine wasn’t exactly a strong suit either and she chalked it up to nerves, setting it aside in favor of serving herself a few treats her partner apparently put together. Food was always a nice comfort after all, a sigh escaping as she ate a bite of the gyoza, ”Yes, worth the wait despite access to teleportation.” It was impossible not to tease him, grand entrances or not.

Horatio showed only his wicked smile at the remark of the girl, before picking up his glass and swirling the content a bit, inspecting the glass thoroughly. ''I'm always worth the wait dear'' he said winking before taking a small sip out of his glass. The taste seemed.. oddly familiar. It caused quite the conflict in Horatio's mouth, as it seems the chemicals were having trouble identifying Horatio's taste. The reason being that Strange and his alter ego Horatio had varying tastes. One second the taste was nice and smooth, reminiscent of a gentle summer eve, the other moment it was sparkling like fireworks in a clear night sky.

Not only the flavors were a conflict, but the mind of Strange as well. His and Horatio's manner of speaking, their attitude and body language varied vastly. Putting his palm against his left eye Strange let out an annoyed sigh. Something very unlike Horatio. But so was the sparkle that had faded in his blue eyes. Instead they seemed void of the passion that had just filled them. ''The flavor is nice and smooth.. It reminds me of the last days of s-SOMETHING GRAND, haha! The sparkle, the flash of taste! It's extravagant!''. In the middle of his sentence Strange's eyes lit up again, and he jolted up as if given a spark of electricity coursed through his body. He wiped some of the moisture off his lips before tapping his hat back into place. ''Sorry dear, sometimes powerful spirits and souls attempt to take me and my grand stature down a notch, but NOT TODAY, for I am THE SOUL WEAVER OF VAGUE FIRES HORATIO!''

The waiter raised an eyebrow at the display. Could the serum have a different effect depending on the magic user? He looked over towards shade hoping to see a favorable result, or else his drink might be deemed 'too unstable' to sell, or even worse, he might have to reimburse the mages for any damage they might gain because of his drink.

About to finally take a sip for herself something seemed a little off about Shade’s partner. He came off as a very vibrant and lively individual only for some of that luster to fade. Rather than tall and thunderous ocean waves he’d become the calm, rolling ones that gently scraped along the beach, his voice no longer commanding the (almost) empty room only to once again regain it’s bluster. ’Like being in the eye of the storm,’ she likened it, glass hovering close to her mouth as she watched the spectacle.

This time temptation didn’t just nibble at Shade: it outright bit her hand like an excited feline. Eyes blinked a few times before a smile spread, ”Ah. Yes. Spirits. Do be careful of those, they can be nasty things at times. Would be dreadful for them to sour this occasion.” Finally she took a sip, laughing a bit on the inside.

Spirits went one of two directions around her: either they honed in on the woman strongly or ran in the opposite direction. It depended on some factors such as cause of death to whether or not they’d tied themselves somehow to another afterlife. While it could’ve been possible for one to attempt to inhabit him for one reason or another…she very distinctly didn’t feel a single one. Not for miles at least as the white haired girl might’ve made occasional collection forays in Black Rose’s home city. Yet despite the temptation tugging at her, once again Shade decided to stymy the notion because…there was something fun about hearing these declarations. Like a game. When would one be something she couldn’t declare false to a high degree? How many would he make? Then again a large part of the summoner enjoyed his presentation, not wanting to disrupt the “show” so to speak.

At first a lovely, fruity flavor tickled at her taste buds, delightful and light. Yet as it slid away it left Shade with a cold, almost dark feeling. From the beauty and life of spring to the sudden loneliness and chill of winter before disappearing altogether. ”It’s….” hesitation gripped her throat, a small frown forming as she sought out the words, ”it’s…well…it’s good…” Taste-wise she really couldn’t deny the wine. That first tickle and trickle left her with a pleasant feeling, one she couldn’t help associating first with Magna and yet a small, budding sensation she tied to the oddity that was Black Rose. It was the secondary sensation as the delight passed that troubled her a bit, leaving the girl with some of the more troublesome feelings and memories. It…it made her think of time spent in her realm, spent in “Paradise” as her people dubbed it. The vast loneliness of a boundless place, desolate and filled with sadness born from the broken souls that wandered in, and despite crafting them into new entities…experiencing the loneliness of a girl realizing all her tea party guests were little more than dolls she controlled.

”I rather enjoy the fruity flavor, though…I fear I don’t enjoy the way it fades…but I suppose that’s not entirely bad if you wish to sell a lot…and paired with the right food that may not even be a worry. I could even recommend someone who’d enjoy figuring out what dishes work best with it.” To punctuate her statement a fork speared another goyza, eagerly stuffing the whole thing into her mouth even as her eyebrows remained knit in sadness.