forum Unwilling Allies//oxo//Closed//Stalkers welcome

Started August 18, 2021 by @Elder-God-Jacks347

tune

“I’ve already been,” Kayin said, and undercurrent of impatience in her voice. “She seemed nice enough.”

"Yes yes, Xachia is quite the lovely girl. When she was younger, she wanted to have a traveling bar so she could go on adventures." The clerk laughed. "But I think she's given up on that since then. She'll probably inherit the tavern when her father passes and run it for the rest of her life."

“You seem to like her a lot.” Kayin frowned, pulling her sleeves down.

"Oh, I practically raised the girl!" The clerk laughed, louder this time. "This whole town knows of Xachia and her family. We all helped to raise her and now she's just a downright pretty little thing." The clerk clapped her hands together and turned. "Right, your room is up the stairs and will be the second door on the left. Here's your key, have a good night."

Kayin didn’t say anything, just took the key and went to find their room. Unlocking the door, he put his bag on the bed and closed the door.

Meanwhile, Xachia was continuing on in her shift like nothing happened. People always said she looked mature for her age, although she just guessed that was from years of working hospitality since she was little.

Kayin finished putting her things away, leaving most of it packed in the event that they'd need a quick getaway. She made her way back down to the tavern and sat at the bar, hood over his face and his hands folded in their lap.

The tavern had since cleared out a little, the busy time starting to pass. Xachia watched the now slightly familiar stranger settle back down at her bar. She made her way over with her signature warm smile. "Welcome back adventurer. Now, can I actually get something for you this time?"

"I'm not an adventurer," Kayin said, irritated. "Sure, yeah. What do you have that's strong?"

"Well until you give me a name or a title you'd like to be called, you shall be called adventurer." She shrugged with a giggle. "As for strong, that depends on when you want to wake up. If you want tonight, I'd go with the Firefly Whiskey. If you want anywhere from tomorrow morning to the next three days, then the classic Dragon Lily cocktail should do the trick."

"You can call me Kai," he said. "How much for two of the whiskey?"

"Well Kai, that'll be ten silver." Someone called her name at the other end of the bar and she excused herself to take care of it, brightening up as it was one of her regulars.

Kayin dug around in her pockets for a moment, then scooped the requisite coins into his hands, waiting for Xachia to come back so they could pay her.

When Xachia finished with them, it almost seemed like she flipped a switch. It was very slight, unnoticeable unless you knew what you were looking for but it was there. She returned to Kai and took the coins before she started on pouring the whiskey.

"Thank you kindly," Kayin said in a mild voice. He pushed back his hood in a bout of rashness and shook out their hair. Kayin pulled a tangerine out of their pocket and began peeling it with one of her knives.

She set down the glasses with an amused smile and a raise of her eyebrow. "A tangerine? I'd mistake you for a child if I didn't know any better." She laughed, tossing her braid over her shoulder before heading back to take care of the rest of her customers.

Kayin kept their composure, downing one of the whiskeys and then the other, then put a tangerine slice in her mouth. "Hm."
A customer in the bar caught a glimpse of Kayin's face and said, "Hey, I know you." Then he frowned. "From somewhere. I think. Yeah, you're on the wall over there."
Kayin looked where the man was pointing and scowled at the wanted poster hung on the wall. "I'm much prettier than that, thank you," she said and ripped it off the wall angrily.

"Oi! Leave the signs and posters alone! They're there for a reason, thank you!" Xachia raised a warning brow at Kai, huffing quietly.

"Mine's only up there because I'm doing my job," Kayin protested. He uncrinkled the poster and held it out angrily for Xachia to see. "I DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE THAT."

She gently moved the poster down out of her face with a blank expression. "I understand you're upset but it's better if you go put it back up while I'm being nice before my father realizes you took it down and turns you into barbeque chicken."

"I'd rather be barbeque chicken than being wanted by the government." His expression brightened. "At least I'm worth two hundred gold now. It used to be only one hundred." She tacked the poster back up and frowned at it. "That's absurdly ugly."

"Well maybe you should avoid capture a little more obviously so they would have reason to fix it." She chuckled with an amused grin.

"I don't get captured. Maybe I should and then escape, hmm? Then they'd get a good look at me."

"Maybe so. You can't blame them for drawing you so bad if they don't know what you look like. Or maybe they do and they're just using it as a trap to lure you in based on pride." Xachia shrugged as she cleaned a glass. "Who knows."

"You might have a point," is all Kayin said. Then he sat back down at the bar and said, "Give me one of those cocktail things."