"Stews last a veritable eternity @ House Blu! Pay a visit to our longest-standing location at the Pavane Market!" was what the crumpled poster had said. Laimbeer had been pelted with it out of literal nowhere this morning on his way to nick some breakfast, so he knew he needed to pay them a visit indeed. An uneventful day had followed him until he'd arrived at the establishment just before dusk. 'Stews last a veritable eternity', a trash motto to those who didn't know better. But he did know better. The demon had been told noticed a long time ago the lazy way Lower Pavane slavers would advertise in plain sight. He flicked at the first letter of every word in their advertisement motto, ensuring he'd read them loud and clear.
A bell dinged as he stepped inside the compact restaurant. Helpful for informing him of attempted escape. Judging from the size of the building relative to what Laimbeer encountered inside, management must have opted to put up a new wall to shrink the dining space and thus create a backroom. Tables surrounded by empty seats and decorated with unlit candles manifested as all green lights for him. "Welcome to House Blu! Can I--Sir, would you please?" An elf waiter waggled a finger at Laimbeer's full face covering to which he hissed, "Bad mmmute daaay. Mask stayss pleasse." The elf relented, showing him to a table and hastily lighting the candle. Slipping in just before closing was rude, but soon the staff would have more mortal matters on their mind than manners. "Oxtaaail ssstew, pleassse." spoke Laimbeer through the mask. Beneath the table, he ran a hand along the top of his repaired cleaver. The one he'd borrowed had a strange weight distribution he failed to get accustomed to and, as such, was ecstatic to receive it back from the Crafter. The throwing knives lining the inside of his vest numbered three in total. These, he reasoned, could never be replaced by borrowed equipment or he'd miss the mark every time. He looked down for a second, examining how his long shadow stretched to the empty chair in front of him.
He counted three staff in the kitchen and just the one hall employee. That said, any number of people could be running the backroom right now. What mattered was if the regular staff were in on th-- A ring of the bell indicated someone else had just stepped into what was supposed to remain an empty restaurant.
LAIKA OF GS!
Last Edit: May 23, 2020 18:59:17 GMT -5 by Laimbeer
Upon stepping into the restaurant, Ruuka shed off her coat. She was dressed in her usual skintight black dress, ending just above her mid thighs. Her usual golden horn ornament held her hair up in a ponytail. Her high boots with golden markings were quite eye catching. She was here to mostly check out the competition. With a sigh, she looked around to find the person in charge before noticing Laimbeer at a table.
Unaware of Laimbeer's intentions, Ruuka quickly made her way over, her boots loudly clacking on the ground. "I haven't seen you in... well not too long but far too long for me!" She beamed at him, flashing him a smile revealing some sharp canines. "Well don't just sit there, stand up so I can hug you dummy" The demon crossed her arms, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground with a playful look on her face.
Without seeing her, some sixth sense of his clicked in, causing him to nearly spit out his drink. Laimbeer shuffled his cleaver back into his jacket before standing up. "Che due p- palle...! R- Ruka? Hey, what are you doing here?" Luckily, the employees seemed to be in the back, presumably working on his order, letting him remove his mask without too much concern. The scaly green in his face washed out, only to be replaced with a fair amount of red. "Good to, uh, see you." He managed to stifle most of an embarrassed smile as he opened his arms for a hug. Setting his mask down below the table, he asked her, "What are you doing here? I thought I'd told you how bad the food was here. I'm just here so I can get angry at something." Laimbeer half-joked. "Besides, I think you'll scare the staff. Doubt they can tell the difference between a demon wearing a black dress and the Council Secret Police, if you ask me."
It would not have surprised Laimbeer at all if she had come here because he'd said the food was bad. Nevertheless, what kind of luck did he have to have to get timing like this? Maybe she'd gotten the wrong address? Or maybe she'd heard that they had some dish on their menu that wasn't beyond saving. He wondered if it was too late to change his order.
LAIKA OF GS!
Last Edit: May 24, 2020 2:26:45 GMT -5 by Laimbeer
Ruka nearly tackled the man with her hug, patting and rubbing his back. It lasted a little longer than a typical hug but normal in Ruka fashion. She took a step back with a smile still in tow.
"You know I always have to check out what you say sucks," the demon took the seat opposite of his as if it was the most natural thing to do. "Remember the one place you said sucked and I got wasted? The alcohol was the best! Your taste was a little questionable there"
Ruka glanced around, it felt a bit strange with such an empty place. "Also if you wanted something to be angry about, you could've come to me for a losing game" She gave a grin before leaning forward on the table, resting her chin on her palm. "So what are you having to piss yourself off at? I want some"
Laimbeer sighed, unable to help but smile at the Ruka-style hug he received. Taking a seat again, he recalled, "I remember, don't worry. I just think that alcohol can be judged by, like, taste and not just the speed at which it'll get you feeling plastered." Laimbeer shrugged and adjusted his headband. "Always helpful to have you check me on things though, to see if I'm right or just being an ass." Laimbeer blew a raspberry at her facetiously.
"I feel like you get rises out of me too easily whenever we play anything, I suspect some kind of unfair advantage at play, you know? I almost wonder if games are gonna have to go on hold until I can get some kind of practice in. My losing streak is approaching triple digits, you know." he squinted at her with amused sarcasm. "But, uh, yeah, I heard the food here was pretty bad and I'd had a pretty good week so I thought it'd cap it off by coming here. But now you've showed up, so the food had better be real bad or I'll end up having a nice week for once." pouted the demon. The cleaver in his jacket made its weight felt, but Laimbeer thought little of it. Maybe it'd be fine if he came back here at a later date, alone.
LAIKA OF GS!
Last Edit: Jun 3, 2020 19:50:22 GMT -5 by Laimbeer
The demon frowned, giving a mock innocence facade "But alcohol is meant to make you 'plastered'" She gave air quotes when saying 'plastered'. "If you have time to taste the drink, there is something wrong."
"Oh you know it," She winked playfully, "Usually just you being an ass though.... Just kidding!"
Ruka shrugged at his mention of losses, "Nope. No unfair advantages anywhere. In fact, we should play games more often so that you can get a chance at winning ya know?" She laughed, a loud laugh before giving a light "oops" and quieting herself. It was a bad habit of hers to burst out laughing regardless of the location.
"Oh no!" She mocked playfully, "A good week? What shall we do about this unfortunate event?" Ruka shook her head, amused at Laimbeer's antics.
"Speaking of week, where have you been anyway? You're always disappearing. Sometimes I see you around Pavane but you're gone before I can approach you." Ruka squinted at him in fake suspicion, "You're not doing anything fun without me are you?" Of course she was playful as always.
He winced comically. If she was actually referencing the time he'd passed out, not because of just one drink, okay, there were a lot of things h'ed eaten that day that had already made him sleepy so he didn't truly pass out from just one drink, then, well, that was totally something she'd reference, huh. Her bursts of laughing were so consistent he could set a watch by them, if he had a watch to set. He gave a weary smile at her, not even needing to look behind him to know of the inevitable employee heads poking out of the kitchen to see what had happened.
"I've no clue what we're to do about this pleasant week, that's why you've come in, isn't it?" he fake-gasped and returned to an amused smile. Laimbeer shook his cup around, watching the ice slosh about, until she'd mentioned 'disappearing'?
The demon half-froze up and his wrist turned the wrong way, letting the drink spill all over him. He hardly registered it, however. "Disappearing? Me? I mean, like, it could just be me trying to keep my loss streak in the double digits. But, um, I didn't know you'd been trying to approach. If I saw you, I'd probably at least wave before, um, running away to keep whatever money I have in my own pockets, among other things." he said, scratching his head sheepishly. "Ah, hell, that's really cold!" Laimbeer started ripping napkins from the table to wipe himself off, as he only now thought about dealing with the spilled beverage.
Ruka cocked her head at his composure, then narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"It 'could' be?" Ruka questioned, leaning forward some more. "What do you mean it 'could' be? You should know why you're disappearing."
The demon reached over and snatched some napkins to soak up the drink off the table. "Are you lying to me?" If he said no, she would simply drop it. After all, his business was his business though it hurt to think that he would exclude her from any activity. Fun or not. She invited him to all of hers...
The demon wadded up the spent napkins and tossed them onto a different empty table. He slid his jacket off and hid it behind him after crumpling it up into a ball. "Mannaggia tua... Um, not you! Just, this drink." he gestured at himself, not like she needed any indication. As Laimbeer gestured, he got a good look at her questioning expression. It was different from normal. Momentary indecision wracked his brain.
"Yeah, maybe like a bit. A little lying to help spice things up for us, is one way you could look at it? I thought it'd make for good stakes for our next match, you must get tired of winning just me and money, yeah? Secrets make good wagers." he grinned. "But, like, if you're not confident in winning, it's okay, I can also just tell you. I'm not trying to be some kind of segone or anything. I mean, you probably haven't considered the possibility of me hiding some sort of surprise for you, huh?" Laimbeer didn't mean to but he certainly sulked as a result of himself a little as his words trailed off. He didn't intend to make Ruka worried or nervous or anything, not that she was usually but, like, he didn't want to do that to her.
He ran a hand through his hair and looked back up at her, not wholly sure what to expect for once from her. Making things up as he went along was a short-sighted view of what he was doing, he preferred to think of it as 'single-player cooperative improvisation'. A hint of nervousness appeared on Laimbeer's face.
Living in a dystopian society, seven mystic races are trapped due to their own selfishness. Tensions rise between the races and the different social classes, leading up to the constant struggle for power, with no end in sight.
News
4/11 - With the Ghoul Purge complete, Pavane's fear shifts from the goddesses towards the Council. Check out the aftermath here to get an understanding of the current situation in the plot.
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