Bar Clean-Up Pt.2

Continuation From: Bar Clean-Up Pt.1

As they were working, Teresa could not help but help but to glace over occasionally at the knight Arthur. “Right! You get it.” She beamed back happily to Arthur as they tossed the first drunkard out. “But the patron of the bar prefers it if no harm comes to his patrons.” She said as the body landed with a soft dud and the silver eyed witch closed the distance to Arthur. As she got close enough to bite his hear, she covered her mouth a bit with her hand. “Don’t tell anyone, but I secretively believe he is a capitalist.” She said with the tone of voice one normally only makes to oust the heaviest of accusations.

Before Arthur could respond she had dashed off again, making road runner signs. She had thoroughly enjoyed that new drink she discovered today, vodka red bull. “By the way Arthur, are you by any chance a mage as well?” She asked curiously as she was carrying a few of the broken chairs in the back.

Once every year the blue bull bar hosted a giant bon fire night. Drinks were half price and they would all come together and burn all the furniture that was broken during the past year. Last time Teresa had visited and had been astonished by the pile of wooden benches, tables and chair. The pile was massive, almost sixty meters high and twelve wide in every direction. It had taken three fire mages to control the fire and prevent burning the city down. She had once tried to ask the owner where he bought his furniture in such bulk, but she had only gotten an angry glare in return.

“If you want we can go and grab a bit to eat after this. I am starving.” She spoke again after a while as they were just about to finis up. All they had to do was sweep up the floor and try to get the blood stains out as good as they could. “I am happy with your help, so it will be my treat.” She continued as she tossed him a very worn down broom, while she started wiping down the remaining tables and the bar.

WC: 357
TWC:357
@Phantasmal

When Teresa asked him about his status as a mage, Arthur took pause. He wondered if he should tell her, not knowing if there were any risks associated. This was a capitol city, however, and she was also likely a mage, so there was really no harm in letting her know. This would be fine, he reassured himself as he opened his lips to speak. Light filtered in from the grating-styled window, casting his face in dust-illuminated rays. It was a fitting setting for how he described his magic to her.

"Yes, I am a newly practicing mage. I know very little at the moment, but I'm always seeking to improve my magical abilities. I've been to a school of magical development, with mixed results of course. My magic isn't flashy, well- it's flashy, but not in the figurative way. I can heal people and use what amounts to requip. My offensive capabilities outside of requip are yet to be seen."

Arthur was doing his best to straighten out the paintings and other decorations hanging off the walls. It was a nice place, from what he remembered of the night before, which was very little to be honest. Regardless, he was trying to restore that nice image of cozy wallpaper, couches and tables. Now that they had gotten the foul drunks out of the premises, they could focus on fixing up the finer details of the place. To be honest, Arthur and Teresa were likely fixing more than what had been broken or misplaced from the barfight, but Arthur didn't particularly mind going to extra mile for the barkeeper. Now that the walls were taken care of, Arthur debated what he should accomplish next. His train of thought was interrupted by Teresa's question.

"Huh? Yeah sure! I'd love to grab some food, I'm starved after that crazy night. God, I could use a good greasy skillet right now. I'll head over to a restaurant with you after we get this finished up. That is, of course, if you don't mind going to get some grub." Arthur almost moaned at the thought of a pan of sausage links and syrup-drowned pancakes. It was probably for the best that he hadn't actually released such a sound, as more than one questioning look would have been sent his way for sure.

"Your treat? You're a bold woman that underestimates my appetite, but I'll go light on your budget."

Catching the broom, Arthur twisted the handle around in his hand so that the head was facing the ground. Quickly, his sweeping motions began from the leftmost corner of the room. With dragging motions towards a central pile near the center of the room, a large clump of dirt began to form. Arthur didn't want to even consider what that pile was mostly composed off. The thought made his stomach churn bitterly. Not as pleasant of a thought as brunch had been. Moving on from the sudden disgust, he continued his work of sweeping the floorboards. They creaked beneath his heavy step, groaning under his weight. It was an old place for sure, but those types of places always had the best character. Cleaning was not something that Arthur did often, let alone cleaning to this degree. It was humbling, in a way, reminding him of his upbringing in that remarkably simple farmtown. He needed to this type of work more often, it cleared his mind and let him appreciate how he felt in the moment.

Tossing Teresa a charming smile, he said. "Hey Teresa, I just finished up sweeping if there was anything else for us to do?" In the same breath, he shot a glance towards the barmaid, seeking her input as well.

WC: 620 TWC: 977

Teresa stood ready to call it a day, when she noticed the big troll standing in the corner, shaking it’s ugly head. She really disliked that ugly mug and as if taunting her it just emptied the remaining bit of a tankard of ale. Still perhaps it was fair after all, she had caused this. And she had to admit that the company could definitely be worse. That armor definitely did look awesome and the inhabitant was okay looking as well.

With a broom in her hand she began sweeping up the remaining glass. Though normally this was a job for the cleaner that came everyday, she had the feeling that today this was her job. Or at least the big oaf in the corner would insist. Plus in a way she did not actually mind, it would be kind of fun seeing the bar when it was clean. Something she never had. With a practiced hand she moved the broom rhythmically across the wooden boards. The minor glass particles swept up easily, but sometimes she had to kick the larger part as they were beer glued to the wood. Luckily she was wearing steel toed boots.

“Oh that is really cool. I have a similar magic.” She replied with a grin as she put her broom away for a moment and snapped her fingers. Instantly she was covered by a thick cloud of smoke and when she emerged half a second later she was wearing her heavy silver plate-mail armor. Golden line decorations ran across her arms and legs and the knuckles where beset with turquoise colored gems. “Such a nice ability, ain’t it.” she said with a grin, before snapping her fingers again and disappearing once more in the cloud of smoke.

“Perfect, except for those two. The owner really likes those to be sideways slightly. Tends to mess with the drunkards and he claims that it is funny.” She said with a deep grin as she walked towards the wall he had just straightened out and gave the two more visually disturbing pieces a good random twist. [i]‘Maybe I have been coming here too long…’[i] she suddenly thought, the corner of her eyes twitching for a moment, as she realized she knew exactly how the owner of the pub liked his decoration.

Luckily she was quickly able to shake the feeling off as Arthur spoke again. “Heh I am picking up dinner, you are picking up the drinks. I am drunk, not crazy.” She said with a grin as she walked towards him, slung her arm around his shoulder and gave the maid and troll a defiant glance. “Yeah we are done here, let’s go get some grub!” She said with a devious grin as she began to pull Arthur along with a confidence stemming deeply from being drunk.

“Okay so you wanted a good greasy skillet right, to absorb all that alcohol, right.” she continued as she pulled him through the door. “I know just the place. Kamehub Grill is just around the corner.” She said as she pointed at a scruffy looking joint at the corner with a half broken neon sign above the door.

WC: 524
TWC: 977 + 524 = 1,501
@Phantasmal

Arthur watched with fascination as the woman in front of him made a set of armor appear, not unlike his own in that it was heavy-plated with golden accents. He could appreciate it, then, the beauty and craftsmanship that went into the plates of her armor. It hugged her form nicely, in a way that Arthur couldn't deny. She summoned her requip in an interesting manner, with a snap of her fingers and a cloud of smoke. His was just as fancy, if he was being honest. Not that there  was anything wrong with being fancy, he just found it interesting how similar their powers actually were when compared. In that moment, Arthur considered the fact that she could potentially be a great ally to him in battle, if it ever came to that of course. A charming smile was sent her way as he made his comment on the use of magic.

"Oh, Requip, right? I think it's rather handy to have, because it lets me have access to my arsenal whenever I need it. This isn't even my armor though, to be honest. From what I've learned from various scholars who taught me, the armor is spoken of in history as having once belonged to a god. Now, I understand something like that being unbelievable in general, but I have my faith that this armor was once worn by someone with the qualities of a god at least. If not directly worn by one. I never knew this myself, until I went under the tutelage of the magic academy, where they have an index of most categories of magic able to develop. Mine was pretty rare in the regard, as it was apparently a lost type of magic up until the day when I could use it. The academy made a big commotion over it, but I never thought it was that serious."

Arthur yawned, stretching his jaw. If he had to be honest with himself, he was still quite tired from the whole ordeal of last night. He needed a lot more sleep than anything he had gotten last night. He knew, then, that he would be paying for all of this later on in the day when he eventually developed a migraine or got a bad stomach. Regardless, he'd deal with that when the time came. For now, he'd continue fixing up the bar. Teresa told him to leave one of the paintings crooked on the wall. Arthur frowned, but did as asked. It probably was quite funny, to be honest. The image of drunken men trying to make sense of the half-crooked picture was amusing at the very least.

Dusting off his hands, Arthur appreciated the final result of their hard work. The place was practically spotless. The only thing the two hadn't done was scrub the various wooden surfaces of the bar. He was fine with not having done that, as it would have gone far beyond what the woman had asked of him. Maybe he would have done that if he was alone, but he wasn't going to force Teresa into doing any of that. If she thought they were finished that was good enough for him. Besides, the idea of a nice meal and another glass of beer was quite appealing to say the very least. After a good amount of physical labor, Arthur's aching muscles demanded protein in return for their exertion.

"Yeah, you trust me to pick up the drinks? Bold of you to assume I have good taste, I'll try to not let you down in that regard."

It seemed, from what Teresa had told him, that she was still drunk. Arthur couldn't judge her for that. If he had filled himself with just a little bit more alcohol last night, he'd probably be saying the same thing, or maybe he was actually drunk but just very functional. That was always a possibility, as it was very hard for Arthur to actually become noticeably drunk from the copious amounts he regularly consumed on an almost-daily basis. It came with a downside though, as if he ever wanted to get really drunk, he'd have to spend a lot more money just to overcome the resistance he had himself developed from his bad habit of getting too drunk too often when he was younger.

After being dragged out into the bright light of the morning street, Arthur couldn't help but hold his hand over his eyes as they adjusted to the sun's rays. It was probably ironic for him to be doing that, considering it to be the source of his magic, but maybe it was just a side-effect of being almost-intoxicated. Naturally, though, his eyes adjusted quickly to the morning's brightness. Today was a sunny day, one where he could feel the heat of the sun dancing on his tan skin. It left his skin feeling tingly and almost excited from the effect of its brilliance. It was an oddly comforting feeling in a way that was hard for him to describe, knowing that the sun could provide enough radiance to keep the planet alive in all of its biological functions.

"That too, but to be honest I mostly want a greasy skillet because it sounds so fucking good right now, pardon my language of course. I have no clue what it is, but I'm absolutely starved. I just know that a skillet will satiate me for a good amount of time. And yes you're absolutely right, the grease would definitely help absorb the alcohol that we are going to definitely drink too much of. Kameha Grub, huh? 've never been there yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how good their food is."

With that being said, Arthur continued down the street and appreciated how everything was washed in bright colors, a nice comparison to the various shades of brown belonging the bar they had cleaned up. The fresh air was admittedly nice too, even though they had gotten some of it while dragging the men out of the bar. Now that he got a good look at the bar, the slightest seed of doubt planted itself in his mind. It wasn't the cleanest looking place, nor the fanciest, but if Teresa was bringing him there it couldn't be that bad. The last thing arthur needed though, was to get food poisoning and put him out of the count for the rest of the week. Considering the fact that he still had rent to pay on his room at the inn, getting sick and putting him out of condition was not the course of action. It made Arthur wonder, though, if his magic could heal food poisoning and things of that nature. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to find out any time in the near future.

Walking into the bar, a peppy looking woman approached them from behind a counter. Getting a good look at both of them, she said.

"Two warriors that need a good hearty meal? I've got just the thing to recommend for you, handsome. Here, follow me to your table. My name is Mary-Anne and I'll be your server this fine morning."

Arthur was surprised at the brazen flirting, but it was an appreciated and unexpected compliment. The rational side of him explained it as just fishing for tips though. It's not as if he needed sexual influence to give a good tip though, he was a lot nicer of a person than that.

"You flatter me, thank you. We'll take a booth for two if you've got one available."

WC: 1264 TWC: 2765

@Teresa Sinclair

Teresa listened and nodded seriously as Arthur explained about his armor. It was possible what he said and if so, it was definitely worth it to keep Arthur around. In all fairness it was the first thing that had drawn her attention. Through-out her long, long life she had occasionally come across traces of these ‘gods’. If you knew what to look for, they gave of a very distinct taste in the aether. Like a sore thump standing out from your forehead. However what bothered her is that she never found conclusive evidence towards these beings. Even disregarding what they were called, she only found fragments of pieces of their power, presence and technology. Without studying it closely, she could not say whether his armor belonged in that category, but the aura it was giving of at the very least allowed her to believe him.

“Well then I would be careful with it. Would be a shame if it got scratched or damaged.” She said with a grin. Albeit a part wondered if a divine armor could be permanently damaged.

Perhaps it would be interesting to have a little spar with the knight… when she was feeling a bit better. Right now she was about thirty three minutes away from her stomach revolting, unless some food was being dumped in there to appease it.

As the arrived at the bar Teresa noticed the girl who was standing behind the bar. She also part-time worked at the silver wolf HQ and they got along splendidly. As they entered, Teresa gave Mary a little nudge and a grin, signaling she could pull her usual prank. She could barely stop herself from bursting out in laughter, but when she called Arthur handsome and she saw the look on his face, she could no longer contain herself.

“Mary, I told you to stop flirting with me when I am in company.” Teresa said, feigning a bit of annoyance, before approaching up and giving the waitress a big hug. “Arthur… did you think she was flirting with you?” She said with a giddy chuckle as she playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Sorry my dear, but I believe MAry is not a big fan of… excessive body/chest hair.” She said with a grin before pointing to a buff looking waiter, carrying a tray full of drinks on the top of his fingers. “If you want to flirt tonight, I would suggest Tony. I think he would find you more his type.” She chuckled again before grabbing Melinda’s hand softly in her. “Now my dear, please show us our booth. I am dying for food.” She said with a faint smile, as a wave of nausea washed over her and the tip of her nose slowly began to turn green. “And please tell the cook to hurry. Perhaps you could give us some garlic bread to kill the time.” She continued brazenly as Melinda showed them their booth.

As they sat down, Teresa made herself comfortable. Luckily their booth consisted of three sofa’s draped in an u shape around a scruffy table. The quality was dreadful, and the pillows stank like grease and age, but at least they were soft. Aside from the fresher stains which were rock hard. With a practiced motion she slipped out of her metal boots and draped herself on the sofa. “So Arthur, mind if I ask what you are doing in Crocus? I must assume you either recently arrived or I completely missed a talented mage right under my own nose.” She said seriously, the look on her face changing to match the tone of her voice.

Just before Arthur could answer, two baskets of garlic bread arrived, Tony dumping one in front of Teresa and carefully placing the other in front of Arthur. With practiced precision the waiter then twisted the basket a bit, just enough so he could brush past the knight without it looking too suspicious. “So what will you have handsome?” He asked with a friendly smile, his entire attention upon Arthur, ignoring Teresa completely.

Who was actually fine as she dove on the bread basket as a pig on slob during feeding time.

WC: 697
TWC: 2,765 + 697= 3,462
@Arthur Harrington

It was easy to assume, Arthur thought, that his armor was irreplaceable and therefore priceless to the point of protectiveness. In reality though, he didn't really spend too much time fawning over the regal armor set. Whenever he used his requip magic, the armor would always appear in tip-top shape, given enough time of course. Regardless of how many axes to the chest, incendiary spells, or bullets to the chest, his platemail mended with time. Arthur liked to think that it mended with the power of all creation, but he wasn't particularly sure of that part. It did take time, though, from his experimentation, as if the armor ever was damaged it never came back to full in the same period of time. It definitely repaired itself with magic, because he wasn't the one doing any of the mending. Could he use it to his advantage, Arthur thought? Taking the jewel out from its holder to sell and have it regrow like a crop? That was just a thought experiment though, considering how such a transgression was likely to anger his god. Helios was a patient and forgiving deity, not often finding himself cross with his acolyte. He had to wonder though, what Helios thought of his almost constant use of the mail. Would he be proud of it seeing new battles and adventures, or would he be anguished by its realistic abuse at the hands of foe and friend alike. He figured it was the former, given that his general commune with the god would let him know of any transgression of that sort. They had a good relationship in that way. It's not like he could actually talk to the god in any real way, but it's more as if he had a magical bond with the deity and the sun in the sky, he could just sense general approval or disproval. And the disproval he had once felt before was nothing he wanted to experience ever again. Needless to say, Arthur had only been taking legal job requests from that point in time, continuing up to his service in Dies Irae. All in all though, Arthur appreciated the concern Teresa held for his armaments. From her own adornment, he could tell she was a woman experienced with heavy armor, and likely knew the value of what he was wearing. Many people knew the value, which was the source of a lot of confrontations from people thinking they could best him. It's not as if they'd get far with it anyway, as Arthur could simply recall the equipment at his will. That was the most comforting part about requip magic, he had access to his arsenal at any point in time. Grinning back, Arthur responded to her comment.

"Ah yes, I understand the desire to take care of it. It's quite regal looking, rather fragile with its luxor, but it always mends itself back together with the power of the cosmos or whatever does it wherever it goes when I'm not using it. It's a piece of equipment that I'm most comfortable in, given my general history of only using it in combat. It helps me feel closer to my god, thus enhancing my magic and efficiency."

Teresa and Mary had to have known each other, from how they spoke fondly with amor in their tone. Confusion momentarily flashed across his face as it reddened with embarrassment upon realization. Arthur, in all his confidence in his demeanor and charms, had wrongly assumed the woman to have been flirting with himself instead of his dining partner. Though, he had to admit, it was definitely an interesting turn of events if he had to say the least. It's not like he particularly minded the sight of two girls flirting with each other anyway. He wouldn't take it to heart, it's not like the two were planning to make a fool out of him anyway. He doubted the woman was of that nature to pull such an embarrassing prank on him. Arthur was the type of person think highly of himself but not at the cost of others, and so he meekly stood dumbfounded as the situation unfold itself in his horror. It was hard to tell though, from the annoyance in Teresa's tone at the flirting, whether or not they were that well-accompanied with each other. The playful punch to his shoulder brought him out of his embarrassed stupor. The red on his face grew even deeper at the comment over his body hair. There was no need for any of that, it was rather lewd and somewhat personal of a fact to stat that a woman Arthur had assumed to be flirting with him would be disgusted by his body. This interaction showed a side of Teresa that he was not particularly fond of, one that found delight in his embarrassment and general malaise. That being said, maybe this was just an off-color remark. It was entirely possible though, that the waitress was not interested in men and so he took the hint. And from what little Arthur could salvage from the situation, was that the man Teresa had so kindly pointed out for him was rather attractive to bat. Seemingly conscious of the attention the waiter had found himself in, he waved at the pair at the bar nervously. Casting him Arthur's most charming smile, he did his best to set the waiter at ease as he gave a quick nod. Hopefully he'd see that man later when he paid his tab. Hopefully that would be the icing on the cake to help his quickly souring mood. Arthur had to say something though, he couldn't just sit there in silent amazement.

"Yeah, I think I'll be grabbing his number later, thank you for pointing him out to me. Shame bout Mary too, though, she was awfully cute."

Her show with the waitress was rather interesting for Arthur to behold. Not only was he embarrassed after the ordeal with Mary, but Teresa was now also telling the waitress to essentially make it snappy. At least this would be a good story for him to eventually tell, a tale of warning perhaps, about being careful with strangers. He'd stomach this meal though, and the atmosphere, when all he really wanted to do was just get up and leave. Arthur was a kind person, sure, but that didn't mean he liked to be humiliated in such a manner. It was partially his fault though, for letting himself feel that way in the first place, he'd have to work on his willpower in general. A knight couldn't let a bit of ill-placed banter affect him so, he'd need to be much more than physically thick-skinned to handle situations like this. In all though, it was a jumping point of self-improvement, the only way forward from here was up. With that confidence-boosting thought in his mind, Arthur decided to bring the conversation back to his control. If Teresa was being Brazen, so could he, politely of course.

"Nah, I think you can take your time, wouldn't want to get raw dough back on a plate! These things take time, like all good things do."

At least, for now, things were taking a turn for the better as the conversation was moving forward away from the awkward blunder. The topic moved quickly to his status of his magical ability, something he found himself willing to ease into. Fair enough, it seemed like an innocent aspect of himself that wouldn't be ridiculed in a similar manner. taking a deep breath, he genuinely smiled to her as he answered her question. Clearly, Teresa had gotten herself very comfortable as she splayed out on the admittedly tattered cushions. He wouldn't have gone that far, especially in an establishment such as this where there was god-knows what spilled over its surface over the years. It gave off a rather rank smell, one he got to thoroughly experience due to his slayer senses, but it was ignorable, as other things other than smell currently soured his now-fleeting appetite. At least he could answer her question to take his mind off of current affairs.

"Oh yeah, no problem at all dear. I'm here to do jobs, take requests, that sort of thing. I'm staying at one of the various inns in town and I find this city rather welcoming, it's not too bad at all. I like the architecture and people of this city, I think I'll probably end up staying a bit longer to be honest. And you flatter me so with that complement, I'm hardly a talented mage. And I'm not sure, to be honest, how you managed to miss me, maybe my magical signature just blended in with all of the other people nearby. It's happened to me before so it wouldn't surprise me, my signature is not very distinctive, I think, but who knows really."

After that was said, Arthur felt a light brushing on his side. After the contact, he felt the warm voice of the bartender speaking to him. And by gods if that didn't make him feel better, he could feel its low purr soothing the edge to his mood. Yeah, this day wasn't so bad after all, he'd definitely be able to score some quality time with this man. He wouldn't usually indulge someone who was just fishing for tips, but he felt like he deserved it at this point.

"Aside from yourself? Well, nothing on the menu really matches up, but I think I'll have a burger and onion rings. Just water on the side for now, thank you."

All-in-all, an interesting encounter.


WC: 1612 TWC: 5062