Oh, brother! The situation was mildly amusing until Ahote had caught wind that Icarus was meaning to confront the belligerent men outside, one way or another. He was charming till the very end with his offers, but Ahote couldn't afford a fight to break loose on his property, and a fight was surely inevitable even if Icarus was avoiding it profusely. Besides, if Icarus humored these hooligans any longer, Ahote would surely end up manning the bar himself.
"What the fuck?" one man glared at Icarus.
"Screw that! We'll fuck you up right here, bro! Step up!" The braver man began to step forward, heading not for the exit, but for Icarus himself. He began to raise his fist, but before anything else could happen, Ahote found a place to insert himself.
"I'm sorry, but I need him a little more than you two, tonight." Ahote sighed, tapping the rather rambunctious one's shoulder. All three of the men were larger than him, but he seemed just as hard-faced and stiff as... any other time.
"That said, you both need to leave."It was clear in both the sternness and hardness of his voice that the charm and pleasantness he had exuded earlier and dwindled into impatience and unfriendliness. He had killed a lot of time just serving the front of the house, and they were about halfway through the night, so to have to deal with this was certainly a buzzkill, and got the hooligans fired up to some extent.
"Who the hell are you? What are you? A zombie? Fucking loser.""Get your nasty-ass hands off of me, punk! Who are you?!" he ripped his shoulder away from Ahote's gentle grip, staring at him with this baffled look on his face. Both of them looked puzzled and ready to jump
him as they were to Icarus.
Ahote sighed through his nostrils and shook his head.
"The owner, and his boss.""Huh?! You're really kicking us out, then?!""We're gonna tell our whole crew about this shitty club! You and your dumbass fuckin' bartender can't do shit!""Is that how it is?..." Ahote responded quietly. Although it might have appeared that he was dwelling on their threats, their words were simply going through one ear and out the other. Listening to their babbling was exhausting, and it was beginning to show. As usual, the hooligans didn't seem to like this or have the reasoning skills to understand why he looked to irritated by their very company. Needless to say, they responded with violence—or that was what was expected.
"To be blunt, you can either leave now, or we'll have to get the Rune Knights involved. I'd suggest the former.""Huh?!""Tch! Fuck off, man! We're outta this shithole anyway! C'mon, dude." one man grabbed the other, stuffing their hands in their pockets with an angry, reluctant look on their faces. Although both seemed particularly ready to brawl, it was a particularly bad location to do so. Capital Crocus was... well, the
capital. Even at night, the Rune Knights were especially active. Now that Ahote was off of their watchlist, even he was willing to rely on their adamant supervision every now and then. On their way out, the especially brave man shoved his shoulder into Icarus's as he passed, glaring at him, while the other spat at his feet.
"Bitch." he huffed, and that was the end of it. It didn't make as much of a scene as some might have hoped, but it was enough to turn a few heads in the crowd. Fortunately, the club quickly returned to a sense of normality, but Ahote, however, was feeling especially exhausted now that the work had finally caught up with his fragile body.
The silver-haired man sighed as his golden eyes floated onto Icarus. There was a moment of silence between them before Ahote had said anything, and when he did, he walked over and gently patted his cheek in a firm, reassuring manner.
"Don't worry—I'm sure you would've kicked their ass, yes? Go take a break if you need to." Ahote didn't smile, but his voice was equal parts thoughtful as it was quiet and firm. After that, he went back to serving in the front, and this would continue until closing.
. . . [4:50 A.M.] . . .
It was ten minutes before closing, and the club was empty of everyone except the two remaining team members—Ahote and Icarus. It was early in the morning now, at a time where most establishments were closed or well on their way of doing that. Although Icarus wouldn't be around for Boomslang's second opening, the doors would reopen in just two short hours, and back to work, Ahote would go. Sure enough, he hardly had time for himself nowadays, but at least he was more than financially stable. Well, that was
almost true. After recent developments, Ahote had developed a sort of eye for things he wants, and surely enough, they were easy to spot since he knew what he was looking for.
Sitting alone at a bar stool, Ahote held a cup of lukewarm water in a mixed drink glass. Strangely enough, he hated drinking alcohol despite operating a bar and being quite good at mixing drinks. He just never tasted them.
He was decompressing after a night of hard work, dwelling in his elusive thoughts. He wasn't entirely sure where Icarus was, as he was far too tired to even look. But, sure that he was
somewhere nearby, perhaps preparing to leave, Ahote quietly seized the opportunity.
"Your pay will make it worth it, you know. I can assure you of that."
Post Word Count: 994 | Total Word Count: 5436 | Needed Word Count: 5000
Health: xxx/ xxx | Magical Power: xxx/ xxx | Muse: Infinite
Passives and Spells Used:
- Testing:
xx
Equipment Passives and Abilities Used:
- Testing:
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