Rainer had done no preparation and hardly any research on the guild he was now rushing to join. This was more an act of unplanned desperation than anything. The guild he'd been in, the source of all his jewel, had recently gone under and he was once again frantically searching for enough reliable income to keep his mother and sister alive and fed. So dire was his situation that he hadn't eaten in going on three days, though thankfully there were more than enough sources of fresh water for free, otherwise he'd have been a dead man. His family's carer had come into unforeseen expenses when one of the sources of their food had moved further away, so now sustenance was being shipped in. Every bit of his money had been sent home, and it was meager at best. The odd jobs he'd been able to take didn't pay much. He had to find another guild for the higher paying ones.

As proof of his desperation, the proud young man accepted a ride from a stranger to Ace of Spades, a town he heard was basically ran by a big, wealthy guild. Charity disgusted him, but it was either this or his mother and sister would be without medicine this month. Possibly even worse, he'd likely die and they would die as well without him. By the time Rainer reached the door of the Red Dragon Inn, his limbs trembled from weakness. He paused. There was nothing he could do about the dark circles and worry creases around his eyes, but he could at least put on some bravado so he wouldn't come across as desperate as he was. This felt like his last chance. If he wasn't so hungry, he'd be way more pissed off about it all.

Mustering the very last of his strength, Rainer pushed open the door and strode into the bar as if he had the world by the tail. In the back of his mind, he knew if he stood around he'd fall down, though. So instead he headed right for the counter, finding a place to nonchalantly lean until he could get the attention of an employee. "Hey," his brash voice rang out, a bit more hoarse than usual, not that anyone would know. "I'd like to see about joining up with the guild around here. Sabertooth," he finished, getting straight to the point. He hoped with all of his remaining strength that joining his guild would go much smoother than it had gone joining the last one. He didn't have it in him to prove himself in some sort of battle during a crisis. As far as he could tell, there didn't seem to be anything going on here other than patrons having a meal or a drink. As long as the universe didn't take a giant dump on him and decide he and his family deserved to move on into whatever did or didn't exist afterward, Rainer would receive a guild stamp and some sort of food.

Rainer's red eyes shifted slowly from the barkeep to this 'Mrs. Gaia', registering no reaction but internally questioning the honorific. She seemed young to be married, but maybe he was just being jaded. They seemed close in age, so it felt absurd to him that she could have fallen victim to such a lame and pointless thing as love. He'd yet to encounter it himself and highly doubted he ever would. He had no interest and no time. Could also be in a loveless marriage, his dark thoughts twisted, the hunger forcing his attention to wonder off. None of that was the point. He was wasting precious time, as time was money and he was short on both. Keeping in mind his need for diplomacy if he was to gain his sought after employment, the spiky head knew he needed to play nice. Reaching out a calloused from manual labor, lightly shaky hand to shake hers, he huffed out his name. "Rainer Niehaus...Uh..Nice to mee ya." The handshake was quick so he could return to leaning his weight onto the bar.

Like everywhere, she wanted to know what a guy like him could want in a place like this. He wouldn't be as much as a sore thumb here, but it was still pretty clear he'd be an outlier among the other members. Why were all the guilds around here so...uptight? Believe me, I'd rather be in a ragtag group of misfits like myself, but it don't exist, lady... he thought, cynicism being his only friend as per usual. Still, he did his best to draw the right corner of his mouth up into what was close to a smile, though it looked as strained as it felt. "Just lookin' for steady work. My old guild went under and I got bills to pay." Rainer said, still putting on a brave face, but he was fading fast. "I'll keep my head down an follow the rules. I did it before and I can do it again." he added, vaguely referencing his suit-wearing days in the WFTC, which he pretty much hated but had enjoyed the jewel benefits of greatly. He was hoping to convince her without begging. He didn't have the money to find his way out of this place if this didn't work. Feeling the room starting to tilt and spin, Rainer had no choice but to plop down onto a stool, still trying to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

Rainer just nodded to her question about WFTC, surprised she'd heard of it, let alone knew Kyran's name. Maybe all guild people eventually knew each other. The last names still hadn't clicked for him. It was probably because he was pretty much seconds from passing out. "I won't hurt no one that doesn't come at me first, I swear," Rainer answered Gaia the best he could, voice getting light. It was interesting how ferocious she was about him holding his head high. It didn't sound bad. He was a proud man, so having his teeth kicked in and keeping his head down for so long had him feeling pretty low.

"What? No, I feel fine," he lied, trying to wave her and her help off. He wasn't one for accepting help or charity. It was bad enough he was here basically begging for a job. He was starting to wonder if he'd lost track of time and maybe it'd been longer than three days since he'd eaten. It was all blurring together. "You're like a mother hen...So about that stamp--" the spiky head began but was immediately distracted by Will's movement in front of him. The food she ordered arrived and he received a burst of instinctual energy. Normally he'd have refused it on principle, but Rainer was in survival mode. Snatching up the sandwich, he took a big bite, but he'd pay for the hasty movement. No more did he get it swallowed did the room tilt violently to the side. Or maybe it was him that was tilting. He reached out for the counter for balance, but soon the last of his strength faded and he went limp, plopping right off the stool.


wc: 285 twc: 1852

He did fall quite hard indeed, dead weight and nothing but air to catch him. He didn't feel it if there could be a silver lining of any sort. Rainer was out cold, unable to fight her aid, which was a blessing for the stubborn and proud man. Gaia was also blessed in a way. Not many had seen Rainer not only vulnerable but basically asleep. All the tension and anger and worry had disappeared off his face, making him look soft and maybe a little younger than his actual age. No one really knew how bad things were for him. How he'd suffered a stolen childhood when his father took off, leaving him to care for two very ill family members on very little income, and that was before the mine and the town dried up. With all his ugly expressions, lowered brows, and general prickliness stripped away, he seemed almost someone that could be peaceful, but just like the callouses on his hands, his entire being had become calloused to protect itself.

Between the healing and the bite of food he'd managed to swallow, his body started to come around after a few minutes. When she ran her hand through his hair he stirred. "Mm...mom?" he muttered, his half waking mind forgetting it had been many years since his mother had been able to care for him in this way. Still, the imprint was still there deep inside his memory, enough for him to mistake Gaia for her just long enough for his consciousness to return. No, there was no mother caring for him. It was the other way around and had been most of his short life. Not knowing he'd spoken out loud, Rainer's eyes cracked open, then blinked as he refocused on Gaia leaning over him...and a dragon? He jerked to a sitting position with a start, not expecting the dragon at all. After he got his bearings, he realized it was no harm as well. All that was left was for him to deal with his embarrassment and eating.

If Rainer had had his way, he'd have not addressed his fainting spell at all and ignored it to suit his pride, but now it'd be more awkward if he didn't. Shakily getting back to his feet, he reclaimed his seat and his sandwich, seeming better than before but much more broody and unlikely to meet her gaze. After a long pause, he spoke. "Sorry 'bout that. Been a while since I ate," he grouched out an explanation, shoulders slumped inward in some body language that screamed defensiveness. That was Rainer, in a nutshell. Always on the defensive, protecting himself and building walls between himself and others. "Thanks," he added quickly at the end, finishing off the sandwich and gulping down the water. He was already starting to feel much better. "I'll pay you back once I've done a job."


wc: 485 twc: 2657

Every fiber of his body tensed as Gaia moved to hug him, no matter how small it was. He was about to go nuclear. Rainer was just not this type of guy. Coddling and touchy-feely crap was for little kids, since that's the last time he'd encountered such a thing. Fortunately for her, he was still a bit low on energy, and also things were moving so quickly. Just as it seemed like his skin might sprout as pointy looking spikes as the hairs in his head and he inhaled to unleash an unholy verbal lashing, she caught him off guard and he froze mid-explosion.

As his inhaled breath rushed out of him without the loud-mouthed shouting he'd intended, he deflated in a wheeze. "I...what-" he fumbled. Rainer stunned into silence, an absolute rarity, looking horrified at his own mistake. ...I called her mom...no way...! his brain raced, looking for a way to cover himself and make it go away, but he had nothing.

Even though he'd lost the wind in his lungs for a second, as she kept talking and saying he was being adopted, Rainer tried to reignite. He inhaled again, about to go full tirade about not needing a mom since he hadn't had one in a long time and definitely didn't need one now, but she headpatted him. She headpatted him! He froze and completely disarmed. All he could do was stare blankly ahead for a few beats before the tsundere kicked back weakly in and his scowl reappeared despite the very faint blushing. She did look like a young version of his mother with that dark blue hair. The healthy mother he barely remembered from being very small. She used to headpat him too. That had to be it, but discovering this now did nothing to help him. He'd already slipped up bad.

She released him at last, but he didn't react much. He remained frozen, avoiding looking her in the face. He didn't look it because of all the guarded prickles, but he was pretty embarrassed. Gaia asked about where he wanted the stamp, so he vaguely turned toward her and stuck out his tongue. Yes, he wanted it on his tongue. She also asked about his iLac, which he did have since it was free, though he was still very suspicious about that. Sliding it toward her, she could put her own number in if she wanted.

wc: 404 twc: 3561