With a whopping headache and a sore throat, Tanya squinted upwards as she lifted the bottle in her hand to her lips. Tipping it upside down, she left it there for a good ten seconds before realizing that nothing had come out. The bottle was empty. Dropping the bottle, she took a few uneven steps closer to the building and squinted her eyes more. It was large and wooden and had a giant sign that she was currently trying to read.
After a few more seconds of concentrated squinting, Tanya suddenly opened her eyes fully. "Aha!" she shouted, finally able to read. "Cray Investigation and Assistance... could be a bar." And with that, she returned her gaze down to the door. Normally, she would have just walked on in, as if she was completely sober. But right now, she was as far away from sober as she had been in weeks. So instead of calmly walking in, she took a few more rocky steps before tripping on the air and smashing into the door.
"Owww..." Tanya moaned, before clumsily turning the doorknob and opening the door. She had one hand on her forehead, where she had hit the door. The other hand was placed a foot or so in front of her body to help her navigate around. Tanya took a couple steps forward before deciding that sitting would be a much more logical decision. So she sat down, smack dab on the floor, directly in front of the door. Then she started giggling, watching all the tall people walk around.
Jaxel was in a slump. No good jobs had come in for days, and he'd been reduced to just practicing his swordsmanship to amuse himself. That had gotten old after the first three hours. Since then he'd alternated between searching the library for something interesting to read, poking around the Keep, and generally shirking the giant pile of paperwork in his office.
At this particular moment he'd just finished speaking with another client- nothing interesting, just another run of the mill bandit problem. Not even good ones- he'd just told a handful of the more competent people around there to get to it and sat back down, hoping for something worthwhile to come along.
He'd just been getting his gear together for another practice session when he spied Tanya sitting in the middle of the doorway. Now, most business owners would have been somewhat irked by random drunks walking in and taking up space, but Jax wasn't exactly normal. In fact, he grinned at something strange finally happening around the place. "Pardon me miss," he started. "Can I help ya with something?"
Tanya looked at the man who had spoke to her. "Ooooo," she started, in a slightly alluring tone. "Dragon man, aren't you a cutie?" She hiccuped. "God, I drank too much." Her eyes left the man and started wandering around the room which seemed to be spinning. Then, as if it was an afterthought, she answered his question. Lifting one finger up and slowly trying to point his way (though it was a few feet off), Tanya declared, "Water."
Putting her right hand on the ground for support and her left hand in the air as if she was grabbing a rope, Tanya tried to stand up. But her legs quickly gave away when she was halfway up and she fell forwards. Too lazy to even try to catch herself, Tanya landed on her stomach and chin. "Owwww..." she moaned again, a decent three seconds after the fall had happened. Rolling onto her back, Tanya lifted her finger up again at the man and said, "Not water. Beeeeeer. I've got to drink myself out of this one." Then she moved her hand to her head, which was aching even more than before.
Tanya did her best to lift her head up. Her sleek black hair was covering one of her eyes, but she managed to push it out of the way without even hitting her face. Looking down at her outfit, Tanya giggled and then, in a sultry voice, said, "Sexyyyyy." Her tight black dress managed to get a good amount of rips, showing off a little of what was underneath (but nothing too dramatic). She was even wearing some black high heels. How she could manage to get as drunk as she was wearing those heals and not breaking her ankle was just another mystery to add to Tanya's drunken abilities. With another moan, Tanya lowered her head back to the ground. Seemed as if she would have to stay still for a while if she wanted her headache to go away.
A job? Khanna didn't get jobs, she was a fearless bandit-killing machine who roamed the lands and ransacked caves and tombs for money. Yes, that is how Khanna would like people to think. But, with all the personal dramas and running away from slavers, she needed a job for practical reasons. One, she needed money. Two, she needed a lot of money. Three, she needed a facade for herself, an alias when the slavers discover her. And yes she needed lots of money, her armour and books and all kinds of weapons aren't given away as freebies. They are paid, with lots of money. Plus, there is no better way to look unsuspicious to locals then to get a job and work with them, right?
She looked at the door. It was just a door, but she felt a nausea sweep over her. She never felt uncomfortable, and didn't understand what was happening. Well she didn't even understand why did they accept her application on the first place. Yeah, she was smart and had a lot of knowlege about history, languages, magic and weapons but she was by no means the most qualified person there.
She made another step, slowly opening the door. Don't get her wrong, Khanna was never a shy person and at the time she was working as a slave she has seen a lot of things. Less pretty and a lot of strange or just openly disguisting stuff. She was kinda used to it. But seeing a pretty woman lying on the floor, obviously drunk and barely clothed did make her frown. Where did I got a job? She looked once again at the entrance table and the company name was good.
"Um, you dying or something?" she asked the woman.
Jax beamed as the door opened and Khanna walked in, not seeming the least bit bothered by the fact that someone just saw a drunk lying on the floor of his headquarters."Ah, the new rookie! Nice ta finally meet in person. I'm Jaxel Cray. Was told someone like you'd be coming along sometime. Khanna, is it? As for her, I think she's just drunk." Jaxel shrugged and knelt down, tilting his head at the drunkard. "I suppose the respectable thing to do would be to toss you out, huh? Lucky for you, I'm not respectable. Come on, I don't think you'll be getting any alcohol from me, but I can give you a place you can lie down."
At that he reached out and- apparently unconcerned with anyone looking (as by now they'd attracted a little bit of a crowd)- lifted Tanya to her feet and used his shoulder to steady her. With his free arm he gestured for Khanna to follow. "Could ya come along? We need to sort out the details of you working here, after all."
She quickly adapted. It seems like her boss, the man who picked up the drunken lady, didn't seem bothered with the sight at all. Not like a drunken lady on the floor would ever be bad for reputation. Perhaps that was why the buisness was slow. She liked the cool atmosphere without any pressure, though she would prefer if he didn't call her rookie. She felt like she was a kid. Yes, Khanna was only 18, but calling her a rookie made her feel twice as young.
"Not many things come from being respectable." she said with a grin, agreeing with her new boss and following him.
Working here, it can't be too hard... Can it? She already met her boss, and her drunken colleague. But, she reminded herself that she isn't here to make acquaintances and friendships. This is her facade and she will maintain is as long as she can. She continued after Jax, looking around the office room.
Tanya turned her head sideways when she heard somebody walk in. A pretty girl with bright red hair. She had just prepared a genius reply to the girl's question when the man replied instead. How rude. Interrupting her before she even spoke. And he wouldn't even give her beer... at least he got her up.
Grunting, Tanya walked with the man as support. She slung her arm around his shoulder, as if they were pals. She looked behind herself at the girl and stumbled a little, but stayed upright. Even if the man hadn't let her talk earlier, that wouldn't stop her from answering the girl's question. "Dying? You, girl, are a genius. I'm definitely dying, with this bloody headache and all. Somebody should make you manager!" Tanya shouted the last sentence before getting quiet. "Manager... manager... Ha! Somebody should make me the manager. Or the owner!"
Tanya stopped moving, lifted both her arms into the air and yelled, "I am the owner!" Then, moving one hand to her stomach and another to her mouth, she turned to the dragon man and whimpered, "I feel sick." If somebody didn't get her somewhere quickly, she was going to throw up.
"Seems like someone will show us what she had for breakfast." she said in a teasing tone as she saw the woman was obviously sick.
Was she a client, or was she one more of her colleague rookies? It seemed unclear even if both solutions were very possible. Seeing the leader of the merry bunch, her boss, she couldn't even guess what kind of people or -not-people did he employ. Oh well, she'll deal with that problem later. She looked at the woman again her face getting paler. Not a way she'll allow her to throw up on her. Khanna moved a few steps back and glanced at the woman and then her new boss.
"You shoul probably get her to the bathroom. Or at least get a bowl for her to throw up in. If not, your carpets are going to be a mess." she said flatly with her arms on her hips.
"I've got a bucket in my office... don't ask why." Fortunately for all concerned, Jaxel's office wasn't far. Opening the door, he gave a short bow- cut short by the fact that he was also supporting the woman's weight- and grinned. "My humble abode." Whether or not it was actually humble would have been hard to tell... as there were pieces of paper covering practically everything. Pieces of paper that he didn't seem to mind unceremoniously pushing aside so he could set Tanya down on the couch. He hurriedly darted to the corner and swiped a small metal bucket, leaving it right beside her head.
"There. Now, make yourselves comfortable." Cray pointed Khanna towards one of the two chairs sitting in front of his desk, plopping himself down in what he liked to call 'the big fancy chair' on the other end. "First thing- ya need room and board, or do you have that covered?"
Tanya quickly grabbed the bowl with both of her arms and retched into it. Then she used her hand and attempted to wipe the nasty taste off of her tongue. Although the taste stayed, she was glad she threw up. She was already starting to feel better... though her mind still wasn't as stable as it normally was.
Setting the bowl down next to her, Tanya stood up and walked to one of the chairs the man had pointed to. She even managed to get there without any stumbling. Tanya smoothy sat down, smacked her hand onto the desk, and said, "Room and board. I need both." Then she leaned back into her chair.
After briefly eyeing the dragon man up and down, she used her sultry voice and added in, "Although I could just room with you..." She winked at him. Then, turning to the girl, she finished, "... or her." She winked at her.
Jaxel laughed and leaned back in his chair. "I wasn't exactly asking you, but ya know what? I like your attitude. Sure, you're hired too!" Perhaps it wouldn't be the most reassuring thing regarding the company, the boss hiring someone deliberately because they stumbled in drunk, but once again, Jax didn't really care. "And my room's big enough for two, if ya really don't like being alone." By the tone of his voice and the look on his face, it was entirely possible he'd missed what she meant.
"Oh, hold on here..." The man dug through the massive stacks of paper, eventually pulling out an ink vial and two blank pages, along with a quill. "Alright then. Full names? And the drinker needs lodgings..." He gave a quick scribble on one of the pages.
Khanna watched the two with amusement. She never met a more stranger lady, if you can call the vomiting pretty woman that way, or for that matter a stranger boss. She'll just go on with it and play the game.
"I still have no place to stay," she said "And my full name is Khanna."
Slaves don't get to have any last names, nor did Khanna want a last name for that matter, because the only way to get one was by getti.g married and that wasn't something she planned on doing soon. She sat near the lady with a bowl and slowly pushed her chair a ljttle bit away from her, with a wrinkled nose. Nothing like drunken vomit, early in the mornings.
Tanya let out a sigh of disappointment when she learned the man wasn't interested in sleeping with her. Then she hiccuped. Then she smiled, a true smile. She got herself a job... and that was more than she had managed in a while.
"Tanya Danes," replied Tanya. "My name is Tanya Roy Danes. How about you, cutie?" Not even waiting for his reply, she turned towards Khanna and floppily held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Khanna. I'm Tanya Danes," she said, forgetting she had introduced herself seconds beforehand.
"This couldn't possibly go wrong" she murmured sarcastically but managed a smile towards the woman.
"Glad to meet you."
Even though the woman was a complete drunk Khanna couldn't help but find her amusing. She let a sigh of surrender not really sure what to say but pointed a look towards her new boss.
"Yes Tanya, you got a job, but perhaps you should try to rest a bit." she told her with a strange sound of concern in her voice. But she couldn't stop herself, the lady looked as if she would fall from the chair and pass out any moment. Plus there was some nasty vomit in that bowl and Khanna didn't want the lady to slip it in her direction.
There was a jaunty bounce in Sam's step as he made his way along the street towards Cray Investigations and Assistance. It had been a good morning, all in all, a game of cards that had gone his way and left him with a satisfying bulge in his coinpurse. He whistled an old tavern song as he went, swaggering like a cheerful cockerel, and as he stopped before the doorway of his new employer he took a moment to tidy his hair and goatee and primp the finely cut blue jerkin he wore in the reflection of the window.
"Anybody home?" he asked as he stepped into the doorway. Silence greeted him. "Hello?"
He could hear distant voices through walls, from where he guessed was Jaxel's office. He figured he'd just knock and say hello. As he arrived at the office, he poked his head in; the new girl, Kharna, Kelna, something like that, was there, as well as the boss, and Sam wrinkled his nose as he smelt vomit. The stink was emanating from the bucket by some woman in a black dress, slumped in a chair, and Sam frowned.
"Good day, all," he managed. "Might I ask who this...person is?"
Jaxel beamed. "Ah, Sam. Both of these ladies here are our new employees. Feel free to stay here while we go over the basic stuff if you like." Scratching down both their names and their need for room and board- though he spelled Khanna's 'Kanna'-and looked back up at both of them with a raised eyebrow. "So then! Both of you need rooms. The charge for that'll be taken out of your pay, so don't worry about that. Now..."
Jax rubbed his hands together and gave a somewhat evil looking grin. "Are either of you frightened of spiders, bandits, the dark, the unknown, the undead, suspicious magic, possible portals to the netherworld or other assorted planes of existence, or any combination thereof?"
"Wait a moment, wait a moment," Sam said. "No offence, boss, but while I can see why..." he squinted at the piece of paper Jaxel had just written on. "...Kanna is working here, why are we employing someone who's clearly more off her face than the Faceless Demons of the Faceless Hells, and who's in this state even though it's only the afternoon?"
Tanya turned and inspected the new man before throwing him a look of approval. Then she returned her gaze to Khanna and gave her a coy smile. "I won't be sleeping anytime soon unless it's with somebody in this room," declared Tanya.
She looked at her new boss and replied, "I'm afraid of NOTHING!" She pumped her fist in the air when saying 'NOTHING'. Then she let her arm drop back down before adding, "But I can't fight, if that's what you're looking for." Tanya hiccuped. Tilting her head, she seriously said, "Unless we're having a drinking battle."
Tanya's eyes travelled downwards before resting on the paper. Squinting her eyes, she tried to read the upside-down writing. But after a few seconds of this, she came to the same realization she had come to in front of the bar: squinting just made it so she couldn't read. So she fully opened her eyes, pointed at Khanna's name, and giggled while saying, "You spelled that wrong!"
Then, turning once again back to Sam, Tanya listened impatiently as he spoke. She moved her finger from the paper to him and accusingly stated, "You... are attractive. Wait... that's not what I meant to say..." She rummaged her brain for what he had just said. "Aha! I remember! You clearly don't understand the art of drinking. Or girls. Because we both know I am one hot girl and you are one hot guy and do you want to have sex with me?"
"Bandits, suspicous magic, undead... Sounds okay by me." she thinked about it.
Khanna didn't have a problem with nasty places or dangerous creatures who wanted to rip her head, she met them on daily basis. She would prefer those cases then cases where she had to interact with clients, be polite and nice. Besides, the less people talked to her the more jobs will she be capable of finishing. She let out a small chuckle when she heard Sams' worries about their newest worker. But she couldn't deny the truth, the woman was a mess and Khanna hoped that there was actually she was good is somethinv else than drinking.
"Smooth." Khanna said with amusement, smiling as Tanya flirted -tried to- with the guy she just met.
"Not saying you have to fight, these things just kinda come with the job." Jaxel looked from face to face before scribbling down their answers- not bothering to correct the name, as he was smart enough to realize the drunk probably wasn't the best source on that (even if she was right at the time). "What about any other skills or talents? And Sam, I'm hiring her because I feel like it and I pay you, so there. Now stop questioning the boss."
Standing up and pacing about the room, Jaxel began to partake in what could only be described as mini-acrobatics; he flipped around the couch, did a handstand across the floor, and dangled upside down over the back of his chair. Why? He didn't exactly offer an explanation.
"Aha! I remember! You clearly don't understand the art of drinking. Or girls. Because we both know I am one hot girl and you are one hot guy and do you want to have sex with me?"
Same was quiet for a few moments at that, allowing Jaxel's admonishment to simply wash over him. His face twitched a bit in bafflement at the statement, and he weighed up his options. If she didn't stink of booze and vomit and wasn't obviously drunk she would probably be pretty attractive, but as it was.
"I'll just forget that you said that because you're drunk," he said. "And no Thenwick will take advantage of a drunk lady; that bit of wisdom was passed down to me by Papa Thenwick and by the gods do I intend to honour his word."
He decided to ignore Jaxel's sudden display of acrobatics. Something about this place attracted crazies, he decided. He just hoped that once work started flowing again it would make put up with lunatics worth it.
Tanya paused after Sam spoke, tossing his words around in her mind. After a second of processing, she snapped and pointed to him before saying, "Then tonight, when I'm sober." Or at least mostly sober.
Then she turned to the acrobatic doing dragon man. Shaking her head slowly as to not worsen her disappearing headache, Tanya said, "Just watching you is making me sick." If she was upside down right now, a lot more bowls would be needed.
Tanya tilted her head sideways, finally deciding to think about her boss's question. What kind of job had she signed up for, anyway? Eh, it didn't matter to her. "I," Tanya declared while pointing at herself, "am a genius. A scholar, to be exact." While the scholar part was debatable, it was true that Tanya was pretty smart. The fact that her speech had stayed so formal even when she was so drunk may have hinted at that fact, but people typically didn't notice that.
"Huh. We could use more people like that, come to think of it." Jax, once again, didn't seem the least bit concerned that this claim was being made by someone holding a bucket. Lifting himself up on his hands, he flipped down into his chair once more. "Anything else? And anything you'd care ta mention, Khanna?"
The strange man slipped his sword from his scabbard and began fiddling with the blade. A couple of times he tossed it in his hand as if he were about to start juggling it. "Oh! Hold on, if we're welcoming rookies to the fold there's something here..." Jaxel dropped the sword on the desk and darted to the corner of the room, where he began feeling about in the piles of papers for something. "Here it is... just have to get it open... Keep talking, I'm listening."
"Oh-Okay." she said watching him shift among piles of paper "The name is Khanna, I usually deal with stuff and cases no one else wants to take, you know those with the highest bounties." she said with a grin. And it was true. She usually always took the baddest and not to mention ugliest cases. They were hard and after every one of those cases she would return with a more then one scar to show. But she also returned with a bunch of money and sometimes she even got an interesting artifact she could use.
"I don't really use much weaponry. Usually just my two daggers." she said showing her daggers. She didn't mention magic. They didn't need to know that, and she usually didn't use it in combat. "Also, I have a lot of knowlege in ancient languages and magic subjects." she said "And, that's all about me."
Tanya watched as the dragon man played with the sword. She could tell by how he handled it that he was pretty experienced. She leaned forwards (almost a little too much). It was fascinating to watch—she could see his connection with the blade even though he wasn't actually using it. Things like that didn't form overnight. But then he put it down and headed for papers and Tanya immediately lost interest, leaning back in her chair again.
The girl started talking so Tanya turned her attention to her. Highest bounties? "You," she started, yet again using her finger to indicate who she was talking about, "are a gold digger." Then she started laughing, as if it was the funniest thing she had said all day.
After a few seconds of this and a few more seconds of deep breathing, Tanya returned her focus to her boss. "I am also a really good actor!" she stated proudly. "I can fool people into thinking I'm sober when I'm actually not!" What she said was normally true, but even she was too wasted to do that.
Tanya laid her head back into the chair, closed her eyes, and started to snore. In less than five seconds, she jerked back upright and yelled, "FOOLED YOU ALL! I wasn't actually sleeping!" Then she started laughing again. "Ha! I am just too funny today!"
She looked back at her boss and, as if it were just an afterthought, added, "Oh, I'm also really good at gathering information. Whether it's from observation or weaseling it out of people, I'm top notch."
Khanna switched her attention on the drunken lady.
"I am a gold digger" she smiled widely "And you are a drunk, I am sure we'lll make an excellent team." she said with sarcasm.
So what if she loved money. Who didn't? Even since she was a slave she always imagined how great would it be to have lots of money. Lots of gold and silver coins, exchanging them in whatever you need. It was almost painful to remember that her coin purse was now practically empty. She glanced towards it. Yup, perhaps there was still a silver coin, or two.
"You are a great actress. I'm surprised you are working here and not in some theatre." her voice sounded serious and interested, but in fact she was just joking. And it was very obvious. She didn't quite understand how this woman was going to help them with the buisness. This is bound to be interesting,she thought as with a smile.
Jaxel finally got the small chest he'd been wrestling with open, grabbing four glasses and two small bags of coins. The glasses he set carefully on the table, and the coins he tossed to each of the women. "There's your first pay. Any gear you think you'll need, any debts ya might have, take care of those first. It's a bit more than you'll normally get, seeing as not everyone who shows up has enough to supply themselves."
Diving back into the chest, he pulled out a large bottle of wine. "And this is for a toast, once we've got everything sorted out. Now, lessee... what else should I ask...? Oh, right! Can either of you ride a horse?" Jax marked down a few notes on each of their papers and then leaned back in his chair, finally seeming to have settled down a bit... though he did pick up his saber again.
Tanya giggled more as the red head proudly admitted what she was. Then she sported a wide smile as the girl commented about making an excellent team... since she was too drunk so sense the sarcasm. It had been a while since Tanya had a teammate.
Pointing to herself with both thumbs, Tanya explained (as if it was way too obvious), "I am a scholar! Acting is just a mere talent of mine." Then she scoffed.
But before Jaxel got the chest open, Tanya pulled on the top of her tight dress so that there was a gap big enough that she could almost see as far as her bellybutton. Then she stuck her arm down that gap and pulled a gold coin out of her corset. She let go of the dress and it immediately regained its tight form as Tanya smiled again, reaching and dropping the coin on Khanna's lap. "For my own special golddigger!" she yelled.
Seeing the coins that were now on the table, Tanya added, "Hey! Dragon boy is also giving you money! Lucky you!" She grabbed her bag of coins and set it on her own lap. Picking up her glass, she was just about to ask why it was empty before she saw the bottle of wine Jaxel was holding.
Pointing at the bottle, Tanya said, "Now that is what I'm talking about. That is good wine there. What was that worth?"
Then, using her fingers to keep track of her numbers, Tanya mumbled to herself, "Let's see... given where we are... it was probably about ten silver pieces... but it's been getting made more often... so maybe eight... plus tax... so nine silver pieces."
Putting her fingers down and looking straight at her boss, she tilted her head sideways and asked, "Nine silver pieces?" Chances were, she was right. Tanya knew her alcohol better than anything else. "And I can ride a horse! I learned to when I was quite young!" In fact, she had ridden her first horse alone when she was four. So yes, she knew how to ride a horse. The main problem was staying on the horse after a few bottles of beer.
Khanna stared at the coin in her lap. Damn, if she wasn't such a golddigger she would've refused her. But money was way more important. She took the coin and smiled, putting it in her coin purse. As Jaxel put the bag of coins on the table, her eyes went wide. And again, she smiled widely, grabing the bag. One, two, three.. She happily counted with a satisfied grin.
"For new boots, for a necklace I saw..." she murmured more to herself, than to the others.
Khanna already had plans what and where is she going to buy. She was moneyless for days now, and she couldn't wait for her new payment. Then she looked at Tanya who already made calculations. It was a miracle that she was still awake after the amount of liquid she vomited just a few minutes ago. Fastly, Khanna did the calculations in her head. She was astonished, the drunken lady was right.
"You're smart.. But no more wine for you." she said, moving the bottle away from her. The last thing they needed was for her to pass out.
Tanya looked at Khanna, her mouth wide open. Then it changed to a pout, as she crossed her arms and looked away from the red headed girl. "Hmph," Tanya said grumpily. "You are no longer my teammate."
When she sobered up some more, Tanya might appreciate the girl a little more. After all, right after she made her comment, her stomach felt upset again. Eyes wide and her hand on her stomach, she stood up and ran straight to the couch where the bowl still was. Luckily, she made it in time.
After throwing up, Tanya moaned, set the bowl on the ground, and slouched on the couch. She decided it wasn't worth it to go back to her chair. She slowly slid down the back of the couch until she was laying on her side, facing towards the people. Tanya closed her eyes, yawned, and sent a wave to all the people before explaining, "I'm going to take a nap now..." Then, a second later, she pointed directly to Sam (and was accurate, even though her eyes were closed) and mumbled, "You can prepare yourself for tonight..."
She was asleep, sound as she'd ever be.
Jaxel ignored Khanna's objections, pouring a glass for each of them. "Not a bad guess. But I got half a silver off because I know the seller pretty well." He grinned and pushed three of the glasses forward, scribbling down a bit more. He just raised an eyebrow and kept fiddling with his blade as Tanya puked and fell on the couch. "Well, no harm in letting her stay there I guess. Now, about rooms... You're welcome to any room that's not already been claimed. They're up the stairs, so feel free to have a look whenever- you can tell if they're open by the nameplate out front. Oh! And before I forget, I should introduce you to someone."
With that he jumped up, went to his back shelf, and dug around the piled of assorted junk he seemed to have collected. "Knew it was here somewhere... ah-hah!" He withdrew a small key and beamed. Giving two quick taps on the edge of the key, he said, "Alright now, come on out. We've got rookies to welcome. Don't tell me you're asleep in there..." Jax sat back down and continued messing with the key, apparently oblivious to the fact that it made him look even more like a lunatic.
((OOC: Raisin wanted to join in, so I'm giving him his cue. Don't want it to hold up the thread too long though, so feel free to keep posting until he sees a good spot to jump in.))
It appeared that Tanya was asleep, and Sam breathed a quiet sigh of relief at this turn of events. The woman was completely, utterly crazed, that much was obvious, and she seemed pretty genuine in her desire to bed him even though he was a complete stranger. He wasn't adverse to sex, not in the slightest, and any good looking man or woman was fair game as long as they were up for it, but half of the fun was in the leadup to it all. Just going and shagging Tanya at the drop of the hat felt like a bit of an empty effort.
Also, she didn't smell too great. That certainly didn't help.
"So, Khanna," Sam said, in an effort to distract himself from Tanya's snoring form. "What brought to the hallowed halls of our fine guild?"
Khanna begun drinking her wine. She wasn't too keen on drinking, but she supposed she could, once in a while take a glass of wine. Like a celebration. She threw a glance at Tanya who was snoring loudly. Not that Khanna minded, as long as she was quiet in some corner, she was just fine with the snoring. She reverted her attention to Sam. She was kinda scared for the poor guy, because Tanya didn't seem like the type who easily gives up. Except, if she stays asleep, then perhaps he could be saved from her. But only tonight, who knows what'll happen tomorrow.
"Money and adventure." she said and smiled. Every mission with a big enough amount of money is a go for Khanna. That's why she always finished with those close-to-impossible assigments. Not that she minded.
She also threw a glance to her boss who was... Well, let's just say Khanna wasn't sure what he was doing, but she didn't mind it not with the amount of money she just received. But, he did look strange. Khanna will just have to get use to it, isn't she?
Zehad was incredibly stiff and sore. He had been cooped up in his key for who knows how long, and he was reaching the end of his breaking point when his master had finally thought to give him a bit of free range. As he slowly started to take his form in the room, he surveyed his surroundings. People. Fabulous. He smiled as he felt himself become complete again. He wiggled his toes and began to speak.
"Oh, Master Cray, you have outdone yourself. You've found people genuinely dense enough to volunteer to join this motley crew which you seem to be amassing. Congratulations."
The djinn turned his eyes onto the members of the guild.
"Trust me, you should quit now, my Master is an absolute buffoon and will almost certainly get you all killed."
Tanya, completely unaware of what was going on around her, was in a world of her own.
Physically, she was snoring loudly and in an unladylike manner. Her dress was starting to ride up her well toned thighs as she moved around uncomfortably in her sleep. Mumbling something incomprehensible, she finally turned around so that her back was facing towards the surrounding crew. That only made her dress climb up more.
Mentally, she was dreaming of a giant library. She, of course, was the librarian. At her desk, she could summon one of the many hot men or women who were working for her. There was also a stash of booze. While money had never been an issue for her—though it is a mystery why that's so—in this dream, Tanya had more money than a single person could ever need. She could buy all the booze, books, and beauty she wanted. She smiled in her sleep.
"I'll second the genie." Eirdis said, stepping into the room. She had heard bits a pieces of the conversation, but it was enough to grasp what Jaxel was doing. Or did. Her sleepy eyes looked over the two women; one passed out with a content expression on her face, and the other sipping with hesitant motions at the glass of wine that had been offered to her by the boss, no doubt. Not as gregarious as the other with their alcohol, if she assumed right with the snoring one. They were human. Or at least appearing, you didn't know with these surface dwellers - they could be a toad in disguise. Eirdis scrunched up her thick eyebrows. They were too tall, too long limbed and had a sore lack of facial hair either way.
"But we all die eventually." She continued with a shrug, and slipped off the weathered backpack from her broad shoulders. The cooking pot attached to the side clattered as it hit the ground. Flipping the pack open, she began to dig through it, leading to the eventual finding of a little wooden box. She put it on Jaxel's desk, as fast as her short legs could take her.
"They couldn't pay in coin." She said, "So here are some turnip seeds."
"By the way, I'm Eirdis Stoneoath." She said to the one conscious girl. "I'm a Dwarf, and a woman. Lets get that out of the way, shall we?" She took one of the braids of her moustache between her fingers and played with it. "Welcome aboard."
Jaxel shot the pair of doubters an upside down grimace- at some point he'd ended up being upside down again- and uttered a cry of protest. "Hey now, that's no fair. I've not gotten anyone killed yet, have I? I mean, besides the people I stabbed.... or captured and they ended up being executed... or that one guy I pushed off a building... nevermind! The point is that I've not gotten anyone on my side killed yet!"
With a grunt, the man flipped off the chair and over the desk, somehow downing his glass of wine without spilling any and grabbing the bottle in the process. He landed just behind Eirdis and Khanna, looking about with a cheery expression on his face. "So miss Khanna, Eirdis here is our resident weapons expert. You need a bit of practice or a few pointers, she's the one to see. As for a sparring partner, feel free to ask anyone here. I'm usually up for a match, personally. As for Zehad- he's a friend of mine. Won his key in a bet against some drunkard or other... don't ask me how he got it. Zehad, treat everyone here as if they were me... unless their wish happens to be something that would set me or the Keep on fire or something. Hrm... On second thought, don't. I'd rather you not welcome everybody by calling them 'absolute buffoons' or worse."
With that taken care of, Jaxel scooped up the box and peered inside. Turnip seeds... not as good as gold, but they'd find something to use them for. Maybe they could start a turnip garden or something? Though he wasn't very fond of turnips himself... The man made a disgusted face and put the box back. He'd worry about that later. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Tanya's dress slipping along. "Speaking of wishes, could ya give the lady over there a sheet or something? At this rate she'll climb right out of that thing before she wakes up."
Khanna was suprised to see a female dwarf working at CIA. They were rare and usually were reluctant to work with humans. But it seemed like Eirdis was friendly enough... And hairy enough. Truth to be said, Khanna never saw a live dwarf, and had no idea how they looked like, except that they were short and hairy. She didn't think that the second part would apply on the dwarven women.
"Thank you, I'm Khanna." she said, finally putting down her glass of wine.
"Oh and Jaxel, if I need anything I'll ask." she said turning her attention to her boss.
Her dear drunken coworker was practically lying naked, since her dress slipped way to high for comfort. She sighed and got up from her chair, taking off her cloak and covering her. At least save some pride, for gods sake, Khanna thought. She had the strangest feeling that this is how her missions were about to look: Running around with a drunken lady who flirts with everyone and tries to sleep with them and then falls asleep on random places and make Khanna save her. Damn. Like she didn't have enough trouble withouth that.
"I was paying you a compliment." Eirdis said, a light in her eyes. Dwarves were a funny lot. In the eyes of humans. To herself, she made perfect sense. What Dwarf didn't want to work with dullards and have a chance life threatening danger? It kept things interesting. And in a way, Eirdis knew she was not going to die from whatever Jaxel threw at her. It was not in her destiny, and she believed it no matter how ridiculous it sounded. A beard was a pivotal character, it had to be true.
She wasn't phased by her boss' back flips, she had been around long enough to know that they were his usual mode of transportation, or so it seemed. Though the trick with the wine, he was really showing off. Desperate are we, Jaxel? Eirdis found that amusing.
"Pleased to meet you Khanna." She said, reaching out a hand for her to shake. But then, she retreated to take off her glove, then offered it again. See, she could be polite. "I'm sure we'll all be good friends here."
Her eyes glanced over to the other woman, the one that was crawling out of her dress as she slept. "Guess I'll introduce myself to her later, I seemed to have missed the chance."
Eirdis gave a nod of approval when the new girl, Khanna, placed her cloak over the other. She might have been getting cold. Can't have that. Still, being able to move like that while asleep and not wake yourself up was impressive. Though, it might have been the alcohol.
"Hey, Jaxel. Where's Delvar?" Everyone one else was accounted for, by her count. But where was her Dwarven 'buddy'?
If no one knew, everyone was certainly going to find out! A tremendous BOOM sounded from the room adjacent to theirs and the whole room shook fleetingly. Moments later smoky dust started pouring out of the other room and a short, stout figure covered in ashes and dust came charging out in a fit of coughing.
Delvar found Jaxel and the others assembled, though if he took notice to the newest arrivals at CIA, he didn't acknowledge it openly. Instead he looked up at Jaxel and said (well, more like shouted since he was hard of hearing and all ) "Ah was SO close tah makin' a concoction that'll turn a chicken egg into solid gold! Moost've botched an ingredient somewhere. " he shrugged ,"Ah well. Ah hope ye were needin' a new door, because we now 'ave one! Ah blew hole in the wall big enough fer ye to do yer silly acrobatics through 'em even. Surprise! "
Now he noticed the newcomers, Tanya and Khanna and shouted (though not by intention) , "Who're they?"
Tanya turned onto her stomach when the room shook and the loud sound came from nearby. She turned back onto her side when the new person started shouting, and moaned uncomfortably. Her deep sleep was getting ruined. But when her subconscious mind picked up on somebody talking about her, Tanya immediately sat up, causing the cloak to fall off of her and onto the floor.
Taking no heed of her hiked up dress, Tanya quickly observed what had happened while she was asleep. There were two new people by the look of it, and neither one was very attractive. However, they were both dwarves. A male and... possibly a female? She didn't really have her dwarf anatomy down due to the fact that Tanya decided dwarves wouldn't be that fun to sleep with. Maybe as an experiment—a once in a lifetime kind of thing—but that was all.
Now Tanya leaned down and picked up the cloak (giving her audience a good view of her cleavage). After looking it over for a second, she decided it was Khanna's. She would have preferred it to have been Jaxel's, but the lady wasn't bad eye candy.
Tanya walked over to Khanna, which was easy enough considering that one side of her dress had ridden just above her underwear and the other side was still at upper thigh level, and held out the cloak as if it were a gold platter. "Your cloak, Milady!" Tanya said, a flirty smile on her face (as always). "May I just thank you for the pleasure of being able to sleep with a part of you?"
Jaxel was about to question the dwarf's location himself. He didn't think he'd sent him off on a job recently, so where was he? Maybe he was- oh, that answered that. Rather than seeming upset that Delvar had apparently blown up a chunk of their headquarters, Jaxel just shot the dwarf a broad grin. "Ah! Delvar! I hadn't thought of adding a back door to the Keep before. Innovation- I like it! Come, come, meet the new recruits! This here-" he patted Khanna on the shoulder. "Is Khanna. And the lady in the dress who smells like beer is Tanya. Khanna, Tanya, this here is Delvar. I think you can guess what his specialty is."
Introductions made, the man darted across to the next room to have a look at the hole in the wall- which conveniently opened up into the Keep's training yard. Jaxel gave a whoop and flipped through the hole, doing cartwheels back on forth through the threshold. "Hah, this is a pretty convenient doorway. Hey Delvar! You think you could blast a smaller one though my wall?" He only sounded half-kidding.
Slipping back into his now rather crowded office, Jaxel raised an eyebrow at Tanya and Khanna. "So, I think you've met just about everybody. Would you ladies like a tour of the Keep? Or pick out your rooms? Or do ya want to poke about on your own?"
Khanna was rather surprised by the small group of people around her. She was sure it was going to be a mess, but it also could be fun and bring her some very much needed money. Tanya was still in some state of half-way drunk. At least she wasn't spilling the contents of her stomach around anymore.
"Yeah... You make it sound dirty." she said, taking her cloak from her.
And then someonw blew up half of the damn office. Khanna couldn't say she was surprised it was a dwarf. They had an appetite for destruction and big explosions. She cocked her head to the new comer and frowned. Male and female dwars weren't much different. His accent was unrecognizable to Khanna. She supposed he spoke so loud because he was half deaf from the damn explosions.
"Let's have a tour then... Just please don't make any more extra doors, it's just as wrecked as it needs to be." she gave a sly smile and stood up.
ooc: Looshi told me to skip her. Also, has anyone pm'd colonel mustard or raisin to see if they're still going to participate? I can contact them if you want!
ic:
Delvar watched the man flip his way through the freshly made hole and scratched his beared chin. He strained to listen to the other man, but didn't hear what was being said quite right , "WHAT!? YOU SAID YOU WANT ME TO CAST A TRAWL!? Ah'm a demolitions man, Jaxel! Not a bloody fisherman! "
Then one of the other older members who knew the dwarf was hard of hearing whispered into his good ear. "Ohhhh. " Delvar laughed heartily, "Aye! Ah kin certainly have that arranged,boss!" His eyes gleamed from the excitement of the challenge. He never turned down a fun job like that!
Now his attentions shifted to the newbies. He grinned at the pair of women in a friendly manner. Niether of them were very beardly but he found that human women never were which was...well, he felt pretty sorry for their hairless faces. He reckoned that Khanna could rock a beard quite well. He was picturing a very long, elegant sort of beard on her with handsome braids and decorative silver or brass clasps like his father used to wear for ceremonial purposes...
"Oh. Rookies, eh? Pleased t' meet ye! Ifn' ye need anything blown to smithereens or ye're lookin' fer a weapon with some oomph! Ah'm yer dwarf!" He said proudly.
OOC: you can. i don't think they're rping anymore. :( And tanya was going to have so much fun with Sam :(
____________
IC:
Tanya was about to defy what Jaxel said and instead explain that she smelled like rainbows, but instead she paused and actually smelled herself. Nope, that was definitely the smell of beer.
She simply nodded and giggled at Khanna. Of course she made it sound dirty. That was practically her job! Except... well, she didn't know what her actual job was. She could figure that out later. Maybe when she'd actually remember it a little more.
With a hiccup and a dirty smile, Tanya turned to Delvar and responded, "Pleased to meet you, too! If you need your heart blown to smithereens in a passionate night, I'm your girl!" She laughed at her own cleverness... or what she took to be cleverness, as drunk as she was. Yup, sleeping with this dwarf would be loads of fun, Tanya decided. With an attitude like that, it would make for an interesting night!
After reaching out her hand for him to shake, she glanced over at Jaxel and said, "A tour sounds fabulous! I have to know the best way to sneak people into here... so I suppose knowing my room would be great, too!" This words coming from anybody else may have sounded like a joke, but Tanya was completely serious. Well, maybe not completely. She felt no need to actually sneak people in. It would be more likely that she would come in with somebody else in the middle of the night and wake everybody up.
"If ya want to try sneaking people in, best to try the windows. More fun that way. Alright, tour it is!" Jaxel barely got the words out of his mouth before he shot off, moving and speaking quickly enough that following either (let alone both) would be quite the task. "Stairs to the rooms up here. If there's no tag on the door, it's open, so just grab wherever you feel like. I'd suggest keeping a room between yours and Delvar's though, lots of loud noises, plus you can suddenly end up a wall short."
Turning on a dime, Jaxel flung open the door to one of the unoccupied rooms, did a cartwheel across the room, and perched on the windowsill. He called out, "Training yard's out this way. Come on!" before spreading his arms wide and leaning backwards out the window. The man somehow managed to land on his feet, and anybody who looked down would see him climbing all over a bunch of vines that had grown over the wall while he waited for the others to catch up.
If one more of her colleagues called her a 'rookie', Khanna was going to blow the same way Delvar's explosives did. It was ridiculous! She continued to pout and brood in silence as Jaxel started leading them through the place.
Khanna looked left, then right trying to keep up with the tempo. In the end she didn't really care about what Jaxel was saying so she kept herself at the end of this crazy group of people. All that mattered was that she had a room, and she'll probably pick the one as further away from Tanya as she could. Just in order to prevent any strange ideas getting into her drunk head.
Along with others she looked over to Jaxel who flew out of the window and down below to the training yard. She cocked her head on the side thinking of possible ways out.
"Well, if I die, don't come to my funeral." she told them grimly as she jumped out down.
Tanya somehow managed to keep up with Jaxel. Well, for the most part. She may have almost fallen a couple times, ran into a wall or two, and actually remove her shoes, but she made it to the window as Khanna was jumping down.
A smile spread across Tanya's drunken face. Finally, a challenge. If she jumped down, she knew she would probably manage to break an arm and a leg or two. "Whoooo!" she shouted, excited. Tanya then chucked one of her shoes down. While she wasn't aiming for anything except to get it on the ground, it had managed to hit Khanna square in the head. Laughing, Tanya managed to say, "Sorry!" Then she threw her other heel down. This time it landed nicely, without hurting anyone at all.
Her drunk self climbed over the window and started its way down the vines. She managed to grab the strongest vines and got down rather nicely. Once she was on the ground, she cheered again. After all, she climbed down a bunch of vines while being pretty wasted. However, her luck didn't last long. She took a step and face planted the ground.
Laughing quite loudly again, Tanya rolled around and stared at the sky. "I think I may just stay down here... The clouds... the clouds are so pretty..."
ooc: Done. No response from either of them in over a month. I'd say they're out for now. :(
ic:
"Pleased to meet you, too! If you need your heart blown to smithereens in a passionate night, I'm your girl!"
Few times did Delvar ever hear things correctly. This time, he actually had heard the lass correctly, but he was quite convinced that he hadn't! Not that Del was an unattractive fellow. He was quite charming by the standards of his own people and even by humans. He was still young and baby-faced under his auburn beard which he took great care of.
"Ah..." He stared at Tanya and blinked, not quite sure how to respond. So he stared and it LOOKED like he was staring at her chest which...he might have been for a few moments but he couldn't help it! He was only four and half feet tall and his line of sight was about even with...
He turned his head away politely, not quite aware yet that Tanya was one of those lasses who seemed to have almost no shame.
"Well , with introductions aside ahm' goin' back t' me shop! " He waved farewell to Jax and the newbies and went to go find his room.
ooc: Delvar is out for now. There's no reason for him to go on a tour of the place lol. I'll let you know if I see an opening or let me know if you guys need me again.
Tanya stood up and, seeing that her new boss was busy doing acrobatics, suddenly got an idea. She left her shoes on the ground, deciding that it was too much work to get them on. The hot girl she was with, however, was going to come with her.
So Tanya snuck up (as well as she could) to Khanna, grabbed her arm, and placed a finger on her own lips. Then she pulled the girl away and inside again. Laughing, she said, "Let's explore by ourselves! It's much more fun that way, right?!" Plus, alone time with a pretty girl was never a bad thing. "Here, I'll make you a deal! If I find the booze stash first, I get a kiss. If you find it first, you get a gold coin! Sound good?"
It seemed like a fair deal to her!