A Bar, Somewhere

[seesbosscrotch]

Mar wouldn't say he was a serious drinker. Oh, he had the occasional indulgence -- Kungaloosh, back in the day, had been damn good, and Brewfest came around every year, of course, and one just found so much alcohol across the different worlds that one had to enjoy every so often -- but rarely did he ever enter a tavern just for the purpose of drinking.

So today marked a change from normal.

Not that he was smashed -- he barely qualified as tipsy, the way he was nursing his ale -- but the quiet, frowning blood elf in the corner of the full tavern bore little resemblance to the cheering maniac he normally was.

Comments

[keepstrying]

To say Atoli had a good sense of direction would be a lie. She could get lost too easily and she sometimes made herself too small to be noticed. It was a skill she didn't always like but it made winding her way through a tavern fairly easy. Normally she would be asking around as to where she was but for the moment she wanted to find a spot to hide. Maybe she didn't want to hide but maybe somewhere she could sit and watch.

Which meant taking a spot next to Mar. Of course she was curious as to the man who she decided to sit next to. She didn't see anyone quite like him before. "Are your ears-" She placed a hand over her mouth. No she couldn't ask him if his ears were real! That would be rude. "Oh, um. I mean you don't mind if I sit here, do you? I can move if you want me to."

[seesbosscrotch]

He looked up from his regard of his drink, then grabbed his usual attitude with all the mental strength he had and wrenched it around himself like a cloak. "No gentleman would turn away a lady!" he said with a flourish of his mailed hand to the seat. "And no man with any sense would turn away a cute one. So be doubly welcomed!"

[keepstrying]

She smiled, a little one but very relieved one. She took the seat without question until it hit her. Did he call her cute? She must have been hearing that. That would be silly. "Well you looked like there might be something wrong. I didn't want to bother you if there was." She folded her hands neatly in her lap. "Maybe I'm imagining things. I don't normally find myself in a place like this so I'm probably bad at reading people in here."

[seesbosscrotch]

Well, he didn't hesitate to use the word in general, and usually it failed to produce results, so he took her lack of reaction in stride. Annoyed at himself for revealing too much, he simply shrugged, which looked like it ought to be more of an undertaking than it was in those spaulders. "Work-related, you could call it. No great crisis, for a change."

[keepstrying]

"Oh, I see." Actually,she didn't. There were a few question she wanted to ask. Were his eyes naturally like that? What about his ears? Why was he wearing so much armor in a place like this? There were plenty of questions she could ask but there were more important tasks at hand. "If it might help, you can talk to me about it. Some people feel better after a big old rant."

[seesbosscrotch]

"It's certainly a kind offer." Whether or not he'd take her up on it remained to be seen. He quickly drained his ale, then lifted the mug towards her curiously. "Shall I treat you to something by way of thanks?"

[keepstrying]

Atoli stared at him, wide-eyed at the offer. "What? Me? I can't- I mean I don't um-" She could handle this. The offer was so strange though. She hadn't ever considered having a drink in her life. To her safe guess, alcohol had to taste just as bad as it smelled. "I don't really drink. I bet it makes me being here look silly, huh?"

[seesbosscrotch]

"It doesn't have to be alcohol," Mar said with a little smile. That was downright precious. Humans, always seeming younger than they looked... "Honeymint tea, perhaps? Cobo Cola? Moonberry juice?"

[keepstrying]

She let out a huge sigh of relief. "Guess it's pretty obvious I don't go into places like this." On the other hand, if there was tea around it was all she needed to stick around. So she looked at him with a big smile. After all it was one strange situation crossed off her list of worries. "Honeymint tea sounds excellent!"

[seesbosscrotch]

"I usually don't stay this long myself, so I'm not going to complain." He got to his feet, easy as can be despite the armor, and made his way through the press to the bar.

He took a few minutes thanks to the people clamoring for the attention, but he returned as soon as he could, setting down a teapot and a mug for her, then flopping back down into his own seat with a mug of ale. Someone who wore plate armor shouldn't flop, so the chair protested loudly beneath him. He ignored it.

[keepstrying]

She winced when he sat, well....it seemed more like collapsed in her opinion. "Thank you so much." She gave him a small bow of her head while she expressed her gratitude. Once that was done she went straight for pouring herself a bit of tea. Being in such an unusual place it would be nice to have some level of comfort. "Are you staying here more because of work? Is is that bad?"

[seesbosscrotch]

"Oh, well, in a manner of speaking," Mar said with a distanced wave of his hand. "There's nothing I'm needed for and certainly nothing I'm interested in volunteering for at the moment, and so you could say I'm doing this simply for the comfort of the gesture."

[keepstrying]

She placed a hand under her chin while she spent a few moments in thought. "But even if you're not needed right now, surely there are people who want your company. Wouldn't that be better then this?"

[seesbosscrotch]

Mar looked back over at her, then with a smile lifted his mug in toast to her. "That's very sweet of you to say, and I thank you for the compliment." The implications were fairly obvious, but that didn't mean he felt like just coming out and saying it right now.