Mama Said Knock You Out ★ Private, Job [Itazura]

"Oi, barkeep!" Mei's cheerfully sluggish voice filled the noisy bar as she held an empty shot glass above her head, swaying it back and forth with her own body's movement as she fidgeted in place. "Gimme another one! I ain't feelin' nothin' yet!"
It was a lie, and blatant lie to anyone but herself. Various sizes of glasses sat in front of her, each one wiped clean of any liquid that might have once been poured into them. They were sprawled out, clearly rummaged through quickly and effectively. The mage's face held a bright color of red blush across her cheeks, and purple eyes were glazed over as if they were nothing but glass. To anyone, it was clear that the young lady had more than enough to drink, especially by the way her body was seeming to sway to some sort of music that wasn't even there. At one point, the brunette almost even leaned over too far and almost ended up on the floor, but was able to catch herself before such a thing could happen.
The muscular barkeeper, who was currently cleaning one of the glasses with a white cloth from behind the counter, looked over at the clearly intoxicated girl and shook his head.

"By the way you look i'd say you're feeling it alright. Maybe a bit too much."
Mei's happy gaze narrowed, and pouted her lips out like a defiant child who just got told to go to their room. She placed the glass down onto the counter and slid it over to the man who then caught it with the utmost ease.

"I don't remember asking for your opinion" she stated. "As long as i have jewels to spend you keep the drinks coming."
The man shrugged before turning to refill the small glass with more alcohol, clearly not in the mood for arguing with a customer who could keep giving him money.
Mei leaned down onto the counter, resting her head onto the palm of her hand and staring blankly at the wooden wall in front of her. She would need to look for another job soon. She was only able to live off her job money for the moment and nothing else, and little to say the small jobs she was taking now weren't enough to support her in this society based off how much jewels you had in your pockets. She was able to live off herself, hunting for her food and living where ever she was able to day by day. But she would at least like to be able to indulge every once in a while. These drinks and classy food were rather good. It wasn't a necessity... Well... Maybe the alcohol was, but she would like to be able to experience what everyone else was able to in this part of the world. It was her job to experience new things to grow wiser of the world. But she couldn't do that if she was just looking. She needed to be apart of this new life.

WC: 510/4,500

Itazura ♠ Black Rose ♠ B-Rank ♠ Aruzati
S o   I v e   l i e d   a n d   I v e   b e e n   t r i c k i n g   e v e r   s i n c e

The kamaitachi giggled at her untruthfulness, she was very, very clearly drunk. He liked her stubbornness, persistence to keep drinking despite the bartender saying that she shouldn't drink anymore. Though of course she won that dispute, because she said she had money to spend, and they never argue with a paying customer. A nimble hand held a shot glass, twisting it around in his palm with his fingers. He placed it back on the counter and knocked on it to get the barkeep's attention away from the girl and to himself. Soon his glass was refilled, he grinned at it and the man, who just rolled his eyes and left the two to their own. Itazura had just been drinking by his lonesome until coming across this strange girl, after introducing himself, using his alias as he usually did, they hit it off. She seemed to have a similar appetite to himself, constant food to fill a stomach like a void, along with the want, almost need for constant alcohol.
Plus they were both strangers to this orderly country of Fiore, the itachi less so, being their longer then the young woman. Though he didn't act like he knew much, and he still didn't know much of the alphabet, at least the written one, used in the country. Surprisingly enough he spoke it rather fluently, but that he'd been using for quite some time, and you learn a language faster being around a bunch of people that speak it also. So it's to be expected. His hazel eyes looked to the side of him at the brunette as she laid her head down atop the counter, with how drunk she was he expected her to pass out at anytime. Aruzati drank a ton also, but didn't really get drunk, probably due to his super fast weasel metabolism or strong liver or something of the like. But he always acted drunk, so he just looked like he could hold his liqueur a little better then Meifeng, but still not fully. Which wasn't true, just saying was it looks like.
Bringing his gaze back to his drink, he grabbed it with delicate fingers and chugged the little bit of strong alcohol which resided within the tiny glass. He slammed it back down on the table, making as much noise as you could with a tiny shot glass without actually breaking it. It didn't bring any attention to him, the bar was plenty loud with people as drunk as the chief-to-be. Though since his intention wasn't to bring attention to himself, but just to be over exaggerated with finishing his drink, it worked out. He let go of the glass and brought his hands down to grip the edge of the bar seat, he proceeded to rock back and forth on his toes. Only being able to do this because he wasn't sitting on his rump like any normal person, but was squatting on the seat. Having the balance and the endurance to do so, he actually felt more comfortable sitting like this then like normal, considering it was closer to how he would sit in his normal form. Though he stopped rocking himself, he tipped some of the empty glasses over, then when some of the remaining droplets left it, he would proceed to try and stack them a top of the bear-like girl's head, who was laying it on the counter. "You still awake?" he asked nonchalantly as he continued the task of stacking.

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Was she awake? Now that was a good question. While waiting for the barkeeper to refill her glass the young chieftain had found herself fading out a bit and falling into a light state of slumber, resting her head onto table as she thought a bit about her future. Not because of the alcohol. No, she was far from a sleepy drunk. Rather it was just how she acted. She was pretty much always tired, sometimes it just so happened to show more than usual. Not that the alcohol helped that anyway. In fact it might be the reason why her sleepiness was showing itself more right now. Booze had a way of making you feel warm inside, and warmth with comfort were some of the main components to a sleepy bear.
Mei didn't move when the weasel began to stack glasses upon her head. Really, it was as if she hadn't even noticed he was doing so. She smiled at his question. "Not for long if my shot doesn't get here soon" she reopened one violet eye, looking towards this Aruzati guy who sat... Well more like squatted beside her. "My babushka moves faster than him, and she doesn't even have the majority of her toes." A deep chuckle rose from the bear-like woman's mouth, amused by her own joke. Except it wasn't a joke. Seriously. Her grandmother lost most of her toes to a boar in her youth, and it was true that she moved faster than his guy.
Clearly growing annoyed with the brunette's bashes the shot glass which was now filled with liquor was slid across the wooden counter rather roughly. But even so, Mei managed to catch it with strangely quick reflexes given how sluggish she seemed right now. She glanced over to the barkeeper, he was staring daggers at her as he continued to clean glasses with rags. A breath escaped her nose, a half-hearted laugh. Ah, seems as though she was annoying him. Well, his fault for having soft skin. Seriously, why was everyone here so sensitive? Couldn't people take a little humor these days? Back in the tribe they joked around like this all the time.
The earth mage rose suddenly, causing the glasses upon her back begin to slide and fall off. But before they could shatter onto the floor earth-made hands began to form and catch them all one by one. The hands wiggled upwards with extending arms and placed the shot glasses down onto the counter delicately, stacking them up on one another to make a sort of pyramid like Aruzati had been doing. Once done the hands slid back down to the wooden floor to fade through it, and vanished.
During all of this, the bear swigged down her shot with one single motion before slamming the glass back down onto the counter. "Ah yeah, there it is" she breathed, rotating her head to crack her neck. The extra alcohol in her system was finally settling in, like a big warm spot in her stomach. "This place is lucky there is a currency here, otherwise i would drink this entire town out of booze" obviously this was a joke too, but it came out with more of an spiteful tone than her others. Mei was fed up with the way this nation treated its people, with these jewel things. Why did people need these shiny things to live? Just seemed cruel. And they didn't even offer them out evenly. Some people had more than others. But why? It wasn't fair. Surely everyone had a right to be comfortable. They were all human after all. Well, they were at least all... beings. She wasn't exactly sure about Aruzati over here. He gave her a weasel-like vibe. Not that it was a bad thing, he literally just looked like a weasel. But he was alive. A living, breathing being. But yet, not an equal living, breathing being. Just like her.
Some might think it was weird she was having such a hard time comprehending this when she was a chief-to-be, you know, a being with higher authority than any person in the tribe other than the current chief. But she still saw all of her members as equal. She could never imagine turning down someone down just because they didn't have enough shiny stones. She was just someone who guided them in times of need, not some ruthless dictator who controlled every single action or thought they had.
But this was not her culture.
These were not her people.
She could do nothing about it.
It wasn't her place to do so.
The girl leaned up against the counter, hunched forward and staring at the tower of glasses, watching her reflection in it. "... Hey, weasel boy" she called attention to the dirty blonde. "This guild thing you're in... What is it like?" He had called so much attention to it during their brief talk. Grey Daisy or something. It had caught her attention. She was rather curious about what exactly they were.

WC: 1,354/4,500

Itazura ♠ Black Rose ♠ B-Rank ♠ Aruzati
S o   I v e   l i e d   a n d   I v e   b e e n   t r i c k i n g   e v e r   s i n c e

The weasel was enjoying himself, stacking the glasses a top of the brunette, balancing them in some sort of pattern that he's seen somewhere. His eyes glanced downwards, looking at the one purple eye that looked at him. He smiled at her before looking away to grab another glass, he listened to what she had to say. He giggled at the sound of her joke, though being one who could usually tell truth from lie, he wasn't so sure if that was a joke or an actual true. He assumed it was true, though he wasn't sure what a 'babushka' was, sounded like some sort of person with the way Meifeng used it in her sentence, but it wasn't in any of the two languages he knew. The boy didn't bother asking though, he didn't feel like it. Silence was between them as a shot glass slid towards the girl, when it passed by Itazura he had to stop himself from grabbing it. He didn't want to be another person, like the barkeep, keeping the young woman from her alcohol. With unusually fast reflexes she snatched it up, he watched the sort of thing that was happening between the chief-to-be and the bartender.
He guessed that the man wasn't in a good mood tonight, or you know, just annoyed by the bear-like girl, and was glaring at her. He heard the half-hearted laugh slightly escape the girl beside him, perhaps she was irritated with the man irritated with her, or something of the like. Though the weasel was just thinking of different ways to mess with the man, he loved picking on the overly sensitive, those that could never take a joke had the best reactions of them all. Though his attention was pulled away to look at the young woman as she abruptly sat up, he expected to watch all the glasses he stacked upon her to fall and shatter into a million shards of glass. It would've been amusing to see the people's reaction, but the barkeep's most of all, considering he'd probably have to be the one to clean it up. But instead of that, hands made of dirt and rocks, earth, caught all of them thus preventing them from their demise. With a watchful and interested gaze, the boy watched as they all extended, placing them back upon the counter in a orderly fashion, stacking them up like he was doing earlier. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the girl finally be able to down her drink.
The kamaitachi watched as the hands and arms receded back through the floorboards, then he looked back at the young woman as she started to speak. He let out a slight laugh "I'd do it anyways, why worry about the currency?" he said, grinning, this was true for the boy, he never worried for payment because he didn't care. He rarely bought anything, just stealing it all, leaving everybody fresh out of whatever was taken by him. He was talented in the art of stealing, he'd been doing it since he left his mother's womb. It was in a weasel's nature to do so, he didn't care about the consequences that came with stealing. He didn't care for the consequences that came with anything, this is probably due to the fact that he barely lived them. Even if he did, he never learned from his mistakes, you think he would being as old as he is, but no.
His hazel eyes looked at her, as she called him to get his attention, by addressing him as 'weasel boy'. It worked, he was the only weasel here, it was rare for his kind to leave the safety of the forest. Only occasionally to steal things and mess with people, but even then, they never strayed to far from home. Home was all the way back somewhere near Midi, so seeing another itachi was something he figured would never happen, even if he went back to that country where the kamaitachi's like himself lived. He listened to her question, at the sound of what it was he let out a long 'hm' sound, debating as to how he should answer it. His skinny fingers and hands reached back down through his legs to grab the rim of the chair. He leaned back, trusting that the chair wouldn't fall, though I doubt he'd care if it did. Still hming as he did this, though he stopped doing it so he could get a breath in before he started to speak to her, explaining a little about his guild. Perhaps interesting her in it in some way.
"Ah Black Rose, it's a strange one, though I don't know other guilds so I can't really say if it is or not" he said with a chuckle afterwards. He stopped leaning back, straightening himself, but he still gripped the chair, though more loosely. The weasel continued "There is a wide variety of people there, to say the least, it's amusing, but all the paperwork is dreadful. Not that I do it" he said, though when saying 'dreadful' he exaggerated the word in a weird way, and didn't really sound like he hated it. "But it has plenty of secrets and surprises, it's not like most legal guilds, though not that I would know. Probably why I decided to stick around." he said, not mentioning the other reason for staying, which would be Seika.
The young looking boy made it sound interesting, at least he would be interested if someone said it to him in a similar way. He was a curious one, he loved figuring out all the secrets everything had, and it's surprises before they even had the chance to do so. "The best part it probably the people though, oh you humans are so amusing" he said, the last part of his sentence more hushed and under his breath with a chuckle following close behind. The henge yokai stopped being cryptic and slightly creepy, perking up he looked at her, placing his hands on the counter "You should drop by sometimes, Silver Moon Inn. It has amazing food makers and serves great alcohol, plus beds. You could sleep in mine if you didn't want to pay, I rarely sleep in it anyways" the boy said a very tempting offer to the bear-like girl, he knew what she liked, so if she remembered maybe she would drop by. She was interesting and fun to hang around, so he would liked it if she dropped by. Plus he would be bringing the guild some business, which was always good and wanted.

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From his response about currency, Mei could conclude either he had enough money to not worry about such a thing as running out, or he was simply a thief. From his looks alone it was safe to say he was the latter. The chieftain, despite her rough and tough lifestyle, wasn't actually one who liked stealing. It was wrong, and went against what her trials were supposed to be about in the first place. Though of course she did however believe in equal exchange, trading things equal in value for something just as valuable. May that be a service, her time, or something physical. So if she thought they deserved nothing from her, they would get nothing. It wasn't like stealing, because the other person most likely deserved nothing. And it was better than giving them something that might 'accidentally' hurt them now was it? Would you rather get nothing, or have your arm chopped off? Exactly. With it she was more in control of the situation, and control was something she needed.
She would have began prod and dig into his statement, but she was not his mother, it was none of her business if he got in trouble for it one of these days. She simply smirked, twirling the stay shot glass in her hand before leaning in closer to the boy. "Well as one of the things i've learned best in this country so far, if you have enough jewels in your pocket the people tend to be a little nicer" she would gesture up to the barkeep a little away from them, to which he was still staring at the two. The bear girl gave him a playful wink, causing him to grumble before looking back down to the glass he was still cleaning in his grasp.

A snicker escaped the woman's lips before she promptly turned her attention back on Aruzati. Black Rose, yes that was it. Little bit of a frilly name, but there was something mysterious about it. She wasn't exactly sure what these guild things were all about, but it sounded like a place where a bunch of people hung out, or maybe even lived. He said something about having a bed. Normally anyone would have rejected the idea of sleeping in someone else's bed, but back in her tribe it wasn't a strange occurrence to share living spaces... And sometimes even more than that. They were open people, not ashamed to hide anything they had... The people here were just lucky Mei hadn't bathed since she arrived, otherwise she might have revealed what she isn't afraid to hide already.
But still, from the way he described this Black Rose thing she saw no reason to decline the invitation.
"You had me at food" she smiled. "Silver Moon Inn... I'll have to drop by some time. Well, at least as long as my drinking buddy is there." She was enjoying Azurati's company. He seemed to know this nation well, but at the same time seemed just as foreign as she was. It was a nice mixture. Not completely clueless, but not overly knowledgeable and annoying. Plus hey he liked alcohol and food just as much as she did. Something told the earth mage they'd get along just fine. If there were more like him at this guild thing, then she was pretty much set on going.

As if intrigued by something in the conversation the barkeep shuffled over quietly, and slipped a folded piece of paper onto the counter towards the dirty blonde before walking back to his place near the side. The action was so subtle and sudden one might question if it even just happened. But it did. Mei watched as he approached and left, giving him a questioning gaze. "That was... Weird." She didn't think he wanted anything to do with them. Well, other than kicking them out of the bar. But handing them paper? It was ominous.
Having been the one to receive the paper Mei stared at Aruzati, waiting to see if he would open it or not.
"What is it?" If he opened it and it was letters, Mei would not be able to help or even tell what it was. She wasn't literate at all, at least not with the language they had here. Unfortunately, her tribe only shared the spoken language, not the written.

WC: 2,084/4,500

Itazura ♠ Black Rose ♠ B-Rank ♠ Aruzati
S o   I v e   l i e d   a n d   I v e   b e e n   t r i c k i n g   e v e r   s i n c e

"Who said I cared about people being nice?" he said with a chuckle afterwards, he was a very bothersome person to say the least. He made the majority of people hate him because he didn't want to get close to anybody, which is often why he used his alias, Aruzati, also because it was very amusing to see people angry. It made them act stupid, and it made them easier to mess with, because they were already being an idiot to begin with. He didn't often get angry, he felt like it wasted to much energy, and he didn't have much reason to be upset. So it was rare for the kamaitachi be on the other side of that scenario, of someone being angry and irritated and someone else messing with them. Since he rarely got upset or annoyed, it was extremely hard to mess with him, because he didn't care at all. It's almost impossible to screw with someone who didn't really care, he usually just fed off of people trying to mess with him, and he'd throw it back at them worse then they were attempting to do to him.
The young looking boy giggled giddily, clapping his hands together in joy when he heard her response to his invite. "Oh I can't wait, It's a delightful place, you'll love it" he said happily, dropping his hands back down to the smooth bar counter. He would be very happy if she did, he did like the thought of being someone's drinking buddy, he didn't get close to people that often since he didn't like to. But he didn't mind being friends with Meifeng, even if that means he's going to have to risk keeping her on the line of still being distant like he is with everybody else, yet still closer then that. He pushed the thoughts aside, he'd have to deal with that when he gets there. In no way would he reveal any sort of actual genuine feelings towards her, that his smile is just a lie majority of the time and that he has endless amounts of issues. Only one that is that close to him, or at least was, is Seika, she is part of the reason he joined Black Rose after all. Considering he isn't really the type of person to join a guild, he'd prefer the be hopping from place to place, causing a lot of problems then jumping to the next town. Though he still does that, he still does technically live at the Silver Moon Inn, even if he doesn't actually sleep in his room that often.
The boy, pulled away from his thoughts, looked at the barkeep as her shuffled over, sliding a folded paper over to him before leaving. This confused the kamaitachi slightly, but he kept his mischievous expression, as always. He'd seemed weirder, but he did nod to agree with the bear-like girl with her statement. It wasn't typical human behavior, but the unexpectedness of them just made them all the more interesting to the weasel boy. Though he did sense something, off, about the man. He couldn't quite place a finger on it though, maybe it was nothing, but he didn't think so. His gut feelings and yokai sense were rarely wrong, having quite the amount of experience due to Itazura's age. Though he isn't as old as some yokai, cause they can get impossible old, being nigh immortal and all. But he was older then most creatures that he comes across. His delicate hand reached out and grabbed the slip of paper, curious as to what it was, and it was slid towards him after all. Though as expected, when he unfolded the paper, he couldn't really understand anything. Being practically illiterate and all, it's become rather troublesome at this point. Considering people used written language in most civilizations.
At the chief-to-be's question, the boy just shrugged, he could only pick up a few words. He figured it had to do with things that got people drunk, he didn't see how this was much of a problem, but he figured he might as well check it out. Any place with booze was a place he wanted to be at. He did at least know the location of these things, where they were causing problems. Sakuramori, a large cherry blossom forest owned by the guild he is a part of. He's been there a few times, one wasn't the most pleasant experience, but he didn't really want to turn it down. "Guess I am headed to Sakuramori for... whatever" he said with a giggled, crumpling up the paper and tossing it over his shoulder. Aruzati, being the show off that he is, back flipped from his squatting position on the seat. His legs just barely missed hit the counter as he did so, but being the agile weasel that he is, it was nearly effortless. He landed firmly on his feet, covered by the black boots that he wore whenever he decided to wear shoes, facing the same direction that he was facing before the little flip. Placing his hands in his pockets he grinned at Meifeng "Coming?" he asked, no doubt that she would tag along, if she refused he could just convince her with a jewel reward and alcohol and food, you know, the usual stuff.

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2,585 ♠ 4,500

Itazura ♠ Black Rose ♠ B-Rank ♠ Aruzati
S o   I v e   l i e d   a n d   I v e   b e e n   t r i c k i n g   e v e r   s i n c e

The kamaitachi giggled at the sight of the bear-like girl being rather joyful from being invited to come along on his newly acquired mission. He never really thought someone would be happy to be around him, it wasn't something he ever really tried to strive for. It was a nice feeling, seeing someone happy, especially them being happy was because of him. But it was weird all the same, he had to say he preferred irritating people majority of the time. It brought a lot of joy to his soul to see people annoyed because of him. Rather odd, yes, but normal for him, and you could've probably guessed this by now because I do believe I'm repeating myself. The weasel let himself be happy, have some joy, well around this girl. Despite coming from different walks of life, they had many similarities; with their appetite and near alcoholism, both being rather confused with civilization.how it worked, and why it worked, both seemed rather mischievous too. But probably the yokai more then the chief-to-be, considering she seemed to stick by some rules. Itazura, not so much. Though that's all he could really tell about her, in the little amount of time that they've been together.
Aruzati wasn't very surprised at the sight of the two-toned bear, a panda was it? Though he did think that this wasn't a normal creature to have anywhere near people. He figured this out by the reactions of the patrons of the pub that they resided in. Which caused him to snicker, it was amusing to him to see shocked people, being able to see how little their human brains could comprehend. It was truly surprising to the henge yokai, sort of ironic isn't it? Being surprised at people being surprised? Though I guess that is just saying it simply, there is more to it then that, probably. The weasel was a complicated, yet at the same time simple, boy. Conflicting in many ways, a grin to hide everything underneath, something he's always done. But why did he decide to open up to this girl, Meifeng. Though he hasn't that much, at least not yet, he hasn't even told her his actual name. But the fact that he was letting himself actually enjoy himself, not constantly messing with her, was in some manner, opening up for him. A strange and mysterious one he is.
The ayakashi watched as coins flew onto the counter, but grinned a devilish smile when he realized what they were. Being able to do so much faster then any of the slow and narrow minded people here. He was a weasel, a kamaitachi to be specific, an illusionist, master of misdirection, he could usually tell when something of the like was being done. They were false coins, actually just being dirt crafted into their current shape by Meifeng. Being an earth-make mage that she is, it was probably extremely easy to do a task such as making dirt look like currency. Aruzati let himself get dragged along by Meifeng, giggling as she pulled him along. "You sly girl" He said underneath his spurts of laughter. Though she was the one leading him along at the moment, she told him to do so, he continued to let her do so until they appeared to be in the clear. "Well that was fun" he said matter-of-factly, letting his hand still be held by the tribal girl. He actually had grabbed onto her wrist in the process of running away, to better fasten the grip so they wouldn't loose each other in the streets.
"Well I guess it's my turn" he said, looked downwards, he used his feet to remove his black boots. Leaning down he grabbed them and handed them to Mei. "Hold this please" saying this simply, he didn't want to loose his boots cause then he'd have to steal another pair. And he liked this pair, and he was pretty sure there wasn't another like it, but who knows, maybe he could find one in the vast amount of stores that reside in Rose Garden, home of Black Rose. Gripping her wrist tightly, thankfully for the girl he did not having his claws out on this hand, he then looked up and hopped up and down little bit on his toes. He didn't often do what he was about to do whilst carrying another person, probably a little dangerous, but he wasn't a cautious one. Jumping upwards he stabbed his free hand into the stone wall of the building, doing this easily with his long silver claws. He used claws from his feet also, not something he often did, yet still something he was used to doing. The young looking boy scaled the side of the building, and crawled onto the roof, letting go of Meifeng when the two were safely on top. Well as safe as they could get on a slanted tile roof.
Without stopping to see if the teenager was alright, he walked up the side of the roof, going in the direction of Sakuramori. Or at least the train station which would lead them to a place close to the cherry blossom orchard. Before reaching the edge he'd jump to the next roof, using the claws from his fingertips to help him cling to it. Standing up straight he would look behind him to actually see if she was following "Come along, this is the quickest way, plus roof jumping is really fun" he said with a grin, as per usual. It might not be considered fun to most, but it was for an easily bored thrill seeker such as himself. He didn't even consider the fact that she might not be enjoying this in the slightest, and might want to get back down. He really wasn't one to consider things ahead of time, he was usually the time to just go with the flow, ignoring all problems and not worrying about them, just letting what happens happen. Unless it drastically effects him, then he might be a little worried, but that's quite the rare situation.

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