[OPEN] Sing for your supper

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He came through the Temple entrance, a thoughtful look on his sharp features. White hair gave him an air of age, but his skin was smooth and unlined. The blue gaze that swept the room – nearly empty this early in the day, in that quiet time between lunch and dinner – was deceptively lazy. Of course he’d seen the Temple from afar as soon as he’d begun sniffing out the ruins of civilization around the Spire, and heard about the bar in its basement soon after. It had just taken him a little while to approach, given how little he knew of this new world and how much he had to explore before he felt safe revealing himself. ‘Safe’ being, perhaps, not quite the right word since he’d lost his divinely granted spells, but so far he hadn’t run into anything that claws or good steel couldn’t deter, and he was no druid, happy living off the land in his animal shape forever.

No, he desired a hot meal, a stiff drink, and perhaps an appreciative audience, though he wasn’t entirely certain of the last. A way to earn some local currency, though, was definitely on the list, and a tavern was a good place to start. Everyone needed a little company sometimes, even – or maybe especially – in a land as blasted as this. And along with company, a little entertainment to lift the grey drudgery of existence from time to time. That he could provide, and so as he approached the bar and the woman behind it he offered a charming smile to ease his introduction.

”Hello, barkeep. What’s the price of a drink here, if I may ask? And what drinks do you have?”

Edy was lazily doing something behind the bar. Calling it working would have been an overstatement indeed. Really, she was just sort of taking a cloth and touching it to things, like a poor pantomime of what cleaning actually was. The new bartender they'd hired did a much better job than Edy at ...well, just about everything which made her job a hell of a lot easier, basically reducing it to just bullshitting with patrons and playing with her bobcat companion as well as Chunk, the tavern's resident feline proprietor. Glancing up Jigano entered, the teenager let her eyes sweep over him for a moment. He looked like a fucking winter's day incarnate: all sharp edges and icy colouring. Still, anything was better than pretending to dust, so Edy sidled over to the counter, leaning casually against it. "Hello yourself." She trilled, her youthful voice full of energy despite the relatively dim atmosphere inside the Rathskeller. "The price huh?" Yeah, she'd asked that too. "Well, if you hadn't noticed, we're stuck in this fucking bubble, so as it turns out, money isn't worth shit at the moment." Shrugging her shoulders, Edy all but yawned against the back of her hand as her dark eyes continued to appraise the man before her. "As for what, well, it's basically whatever Remi or Devrum make. We got some ales, a few of which don't even suck much, some whiskey, and some clear shit that Remi made that smells like flowers and kicks like a mule."

A bright and lovely young woman with a wild mane of dark hair was his host of the moment, and Jigano had almost started to relax at her musical voice when her words took on a rougher edge. His smile didn’t change as the curses fell from her lips, but he found himself reevaluating his approach. Charm might not impress this one, nor base compliments. A different tack, then…

”’Price’ doesn’t have to mean money,” he retorted easily, smile sharpening just a touch. ”Barter, trade, services, or goods all serve where coin falls short. But if you’re saying the drinks are on the house, well, I won’t argue with that. A shot of whiskey, please.” No wine or cider, he noticed with more than a little disappointment, though he kept it from his face. Ales held no charm for him, and liquor was for those times when one needed to drink with a purpose. The whiskey made for a tolerable interim drink, but if he was going to be stuck here perhaps he could try and recall what he remembered of the making of his preferred beverages. It was only book knowledge, but if he could put his head together with someone with experience in brewing, perhaps something could be done to improve the situation.

”And who, may I ask, are Remi and Devrum?”

Grinning immediately, the teenager was forced to nod in agreement. Vai actually hadn't really given her any real structure when it came to charging for drinks. She probably should try and barter and get Jack Frost to offer something up in return for the drink, but he'd made her smile and didn't seem immediately annoying. That was payment enough for now. Spinning around, Edy reached up to grab the bottle of whiskey from one of the higher shelves. She intentionally kept it there so patrons could watch her gracefully reach up for it (and the view of her backside wearing tan breeches didn't usually hurt either). Whirling around, Edy grabbed two glasses and poured them each a shot. With a grin, she tipped the white-haired stranger a wink. "Not presuming you want a drinking partner, just showing you that it isn't poisoned or anything." The teenager lilted, before raising the drink to her lips and tipping her head back to empty the contents into her throat. Setting it down, the teenager shrugged. "Devrum Calob is married to the owner of this place, Vai. And Remi..." Narrowing her eyes for a moment Edy ran a hand through her mop of dark hair thougthfully. "I actually don't know how he fits in. He's an alchemist though, so making shit is sort of what he does."

So, he’d guessed right. Jigano let some of the tension in his shoulders ease a little at the fey young woman’s grin, glad to see her amused rather than pouting or annoyed at his retort. One silver brow arched at the following display of lithe grace, mentally noting her balance and trim, lovely figure. A born dancer, even if she wasn’t trained, he’d wager. They’d make a stunning pair, darkness and light swirling around each other in one of the highland duets.

But of course, no one here would know the steps unless he taught them, and he wasn’t at all sure the young firecracker had any interest in being taught anything. He’d been that young once, and not so long ago, after all. Pride and snark often went hand in hand, and some equines just refused to drink, no matter how sweet the water.

He snorted softly in amusement at her blithe disclaimer, watching her pour both glasses with a quirked grin. ”Hmph. Been awhile since I had to worry about that, but it’s appreciated.” Another piece of magic he had lost in the transition, and one he hadn’t really thought about until she reminded him. Damn, that could get awkward. He’d gotten out of the habit of watching his drinks years ago, and it wasn’t a skill he was relishing re-learning. At least he didn’t have to start today though. And his erstwhile ‘drinking partner’ had a lovely voice to wash down the whiskey with, something a man in Jigano’s line of work could well admire.

He toasted his hostess and tipped back the glass a little more slowly, savoring the burn of the alcohol down the back of his tongue and following it down his throat with an almost grim satisfaction. It wasn’t the sort of vintage one lingered over for the taste, but after a week of spring water the fire was welcome. Familiar, too, after the last few years of plying his trade at inns, taverns, and public houses along the road, most of which catered primarily to working and middle class merchants and travelers. He’d had far worse, and swallowed it with a smile.

Another name was forthcoming, and an important piece of information: the person he would need to speak to if he wanted to secure a regular tab at the only functional tavern he’d been able to find so far. Convenient that they had married a brewer, or simply good business sense. The other though, the alchemist, had him arching a brow. ”I suppose if it secures your meals and drinks, a little moonshine in the side is only wise,” he murmured, lips quirking wryly. ”Leaving aside the purely personal reasons for securing your own source of liquid inspiration.” He toasted his companion with his empty glass and drummed elegant fingers on the countertop in a subdued flourish, grin widening.

” I’m Jigano, by the way. And aside from dispensing drinks and information, may I ask what else you do in this ‘fucking bubble,’ as you so aptly put it?”

(uhm, your writing can fuck off it's so good) Once upon a time in the world she'd just come from, Edy had been trained in dance actually. But so had all the Launceleyn children. Tethered as they were to the crown, the Launceleyns were meant to represent the height of society and to display their societal prowess at every possible interval. Perhaps that was why the teenager had joined the Storm Army at an early age. Could she put on airs and slip into tight outfits when called upon? Of course she could, such was her breeding. Would she rather be bashing in skulls and spitting expletives? Without question. With a sly smile, the girl crinkled her nose in amusement and nodded her head towards the end of the bar where a fat cat sat. Glaring at them through his one good eye—the other hidden behind an eyepatch—Chunk flicked his tail lazily and then went about scanning all the un-seen things that felines were apparently privy to. "Legend has it Chunk knows when things are poisoned and will knock a drink clean out of your hand if he suspects anything." Glancing towards him with narrowed eyes, the teenager shrugged "But I've never seen him do anything other than laze-about." Continued talk about the alchemist had the Launceleyn girl shrugging. As it was, Remi was precisely the reason that a member of her family refused to live in teh same household as her for romantic reasons, but that was a fact Edy hadn't learned yet. So really, all she knew about Remi was that while he was attractive in a sort of sad but cute sort of way, he was a goodie-two-shoes and entirely uninteresting. To her at least. "Mmmm." She agreed dryly, before grabbing the bottle of whiskey and pouring them each another shot: an action that was entirely unnecessary if testing for poison had been Edy's only motivation for drinking the first one. Which of course it wasn't. Placing her pinkie-nail in her mouth and chewing on it distractedly, she eyed Jack Frost with interest just as he introduced himself, surreptitiously renaming himself in her mind. "Edy." She greeted, for once not giving her full name. Then again, what the fuck would being a Launceleyn even mean in this place?   Grinning at his reiteration of her phrase—sounding positively titillating ceoming from him for some reason—Edy chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully for a moment. "Well. There's sex of course—" She said with a straight face but a mischievous grin, her eyebrow subtly rising and failing; she was 18 after all. "Then there's a monster that seems to guard this fairly big, black—" Innuendo dripping from her lips, she twisted them into a smile before continuing, "—spire that no one seems to have figured out. There were some weird gourds attacking everyone just recently, gods popping up and fucking up your life or granting you goodies. You know, the usual." Picking up her drink she downed it again easily. The only thing was, this was anything but usual. The world Edy had come from was absolutely nothing like this at all, and frankly she didn't know what to think about it. And so, in typical Edy fashion, she simply didn't.

The cat had initially escaped Jigano’s scan of the room, but the bartender brought it to his attention and the bard found himself blinking in surprise at the rakish eyepatch the beast sported. Whether or not the legend was true, he gave the well-named beast a respectful nod, receiving a slow blink in return. It never hurt to grant the guardians of a place their due, and in this new world he had yet to learn which legends bore more than a mere grain of truth at their heart. “An honor, Chunk,” he murmured gravely before returning his full focus to the woman with the whiskey at her disposal.

No witty comeback to his comments on the alchemist and his moonshine, but she made up for her silence with a refill Jigano hadn’t been entirely sure he’d be getting and he nodded gratefully. Such gracious hospitality deserved fair turnabout, and he offered his name in trade. “Edy” felt more like a nickname, but already her speech made her seem the sort to prefer short and sharp and functional over flowery ceremony.

Swearing wasn’t usually his first choice, but it certainly had its place in his vocabulary and he tossed his hostess’ vulgarity back at her with a sly grin that she answered by upping the ante – or rather, dredging the gutter. He chuckled, offering her a toast of his glass at her plucking of the low-hanging fruit as she paused, then tossing the drink back as she continued. ”Guardian monsters and gods popping up, I’m familiar with. Attack-gourds are a new one on me, though. Er… just how does that work, exactly? Are these pugilistic pumpkins rooted in one spot, or do savage squashes more sort of, oh, roll after you and try to trip you up with extreme prejudice?” She had finally caught him at a loss, the white-haired man utterly bemused as he tried to work out the logistics of an angry vegetable on the rampage.

Subtlety was not in Edy's vocabulary or part of her usual repertoire. Even so, as her pale drinking-partner seemed impervious to her unequivocal phrasing, the teenager wasn't bothered. Though it might always seem like Edy was putting on a show, if she was, she was her only viewer. "Well, look who has been practicing his tongue-twisters." She quipped with a delighted smile. Having been raised in the Launceleyn compound (read: horrific family-training facility), Edy had actually been brought up with some of the finest tutors in the land. Not that you'd be able to tell given her current vernacular habits and less than savoury ways of being. Even so (or perhaps specifically because of it), the Launceleyn girl was a big fan of word play, or any sort of linguistic witticisms, since she heard them so rarely in the courts or on the battlefield. "They can hop, bounce, roll, or otherwise trundle their bitey asses with surprising speed." Edy said knowledgeably. "I've taken to squashing the squashes, goring the gourds, and..." Therein her wit ran dry for the moment, and so with unabashed confidence Edy merely shrugged. "And simply burning the rest." Raising a cupped palm, a ball of fire appeared there glowing softly before Edy snuffed it out with a grin. "So gods and stuff are common place where you come from?" The teenager asked curiously. Religion wasn't even a thing where she'd come from, much less as common place and eyebrows was making it out to be.

Keeping a bartender happy – especially one as intriguing as Edy – was always high in Jigano’s priorities, and he was glad to see her smiling. He grinned back and sketched a little half-bow from his stool, managing the move with practiced grace. ”My stock in trade, after all,” he replied, pleased at her compliment. ”So kind of you to notice!” He would have offered a wink as well, but didn’t want to push his luck too far just yet. Impertinence mixed liberally with courtesy seemed the tightrope to balance on with her, and too much of one or the other might lose her good opinion of him, but it was a challenge he relished.

He had already begun to formulate a witty response to Edy’s own stab at wordplay when the fire kindled in her palm and Jigano found himself blinking in surprise. ”Well, well…” he murmured, appreciative and curious though not particularly frightened once his initial startlement passed. ”You’re just full of useful tricks, aren’t you?” He gave a little shake of his head to find his rhythm again, grin turning rueful. ”Bitey, you say? That’s an, ah, unusual hobby for a gourd. Hopefully your fearsome fruit tastes better for the fight in bringing it down?” Or perhaps it was better not to try and eat something that had been magicked – or cursed – by an unknown power. Who knew what other alterations might have been made to them? It might be awkward to start sprouting vines and leaves at inopportune times!

”And gods are… very much present though not, ah, personally invested in individual mortals. Usually, at least,” he added with a momentary tightening of his expression. It was smoothed away almost immediately however, his charm returning with a lopsided smile. ”Where I’m from, some magic-users are born with a connection to the arcane and others are… blessed with a connection to divine power if a specific god takes an interest in their prayers.” From his tone that ‘blessing’ wasn’t always a good one, or without cost. ”Most healing magic comes from the gods, while most destructive magic comes from ourselves. I’m sure there’s a moral in there somewhere, but we’ve as many gods of evil and chaos as of law and order – and no few that fall somewhere in between.” Slender shoulders lifted in a liquid shrug as he toyed with his empty glass absently. ”I take it you don’t usually have the dubious pleasure of such an active religion in these parts? Or are you not from around here?”

"Oh?" She asked, leaning in. Back in Northaven you could only come over if you had a real job. Something that would be useful. So bards, performers, or anything creative had basically been eradicated. That's why Edy was so used to making her own sort of mischief: there was no one around to keep her entertained using standard methods. Bobbing her eyebrows in happy agreement, the teenager nodded. Tricks for every occasion as it was. Tricks for fighting, fun, and fucking. Those areas were where Edy's true specialities lay. Others might disagree—labelling her as simply being annoying or impudent—but of course Edy hardly minded. It wasn't her fault that most around her had forgotten to take the time to enjoy life, or remember what true enjoyment really felt like. "Is it?" Edy asked with a challenging smirk. "Know a lot about gourds do you? How interesting. Please tell me more about their usual hobbies." Her laughter was rich as it rolled happily through her entire body. "Never tried eating one before." Looking down at her cup, Edy quirked a brow. "Or drinking one? Bet if you invented us a new cocktail that'd count as payment for all these free drinks you've been demanding." Again Edy laughed, refilling the glasses for a third time. Listening with a mixture of skepticism and interest, Edy found the words to sound more like a story than anything resembling truth. After all, while magic was rampant back in Northwind, there weren't things even remotely like gods. You were developed magic at a young age (or you didn't), and it carried on from there. No rhyme or reason to it really. "Nope." The teenager confirmed with a blunt shake of her head. "Heard about some divine fuckery around these parts though. Gods appearing and stealing clothes and pulling some weird bondage nonsense." Not that Edy wasn't down for a little experimentation, but for as reckless and explosive as she was, even she was a big proponent of consent. From what she'd heard, these gods cared very little about that sort of thing. "Does that sound normal?" Letting the whiskey sit on her tongue for a moment, Edy ran her tongue around her mouth as she shook her head. "Nah, from a place called Northwind. We all just sort of ... appeared here one day. 'Bout a month ago. No one really knows why or how, and we've all just weirdly set up shop and gone about our lives." Actually Edy thought that was fairly strange. Then again Northaven hadn't exactly been that amazing. Maybe it wasn't so surprising no one was killing themselves to try and find a way back.

Jigano grinned, appreciating an appreciative audience as Edy encouraged him to continue. ”A scholar and a bard,” he confirmed, rolling the whiskey glass between his fingers with deft control. ”Or rather, a lorekeeper by preference, and a bard by inclination and a desire to keep myself in enough coin to finance the former. Though with the broken library open to all and large enough for a lifetime’s study, and my coinage apparently useless, well…” he lifted one shoulder in an eloquent shrug, a small frown marring his sharp features. ”I’ll be rethinking my immediate future. Any suggestions you may have would be most welcome.” Spitfire she might be – and in more ways than one, as she called flames to her hand without apparent effort or foci – but she had the advantage of experience on him in this world, and he wasn’t so proud as to turn away advice from someone younger than him.

Especially someone with a clever tongue and a ready smile – or at least, ready smirk. Her sense of humor had him laughing along with her, and he admired the rich timbre of her voice, and the fact that she didn’t try to hide or hold back her enjoyment of her own joke. ”Oh, I’ve read a few pages here and there,” he agreed lightly, blue eyes sparkling. ”Shy, retiring fruits usually, not given to much noise or exercise. Not like tomatoes, at least!” He followed her gaze down to their cups as she refilled them, inspiration sparking as something she’d said earlier rose to the surface of his thoughts. ”Ah yes, it’s been just terrible the way I’ve been taking advantage of you,” he agreed absently, gaze sharpening on the whiskey as he swirled it contemplatively. ”But… you did say the alchemist’s liquor had a floral tone? We might be able to do something with that and a bit of pumpkin flavoring, perhaps a paste we can dilute and strain before adding to the drink?” He blinked, shaking himself out of his internal perusal of comments and snippets of books he’d read on the subject. Not one of his specialties, but it was amazing when little nuggets of seemingly random information would come in useful in his travels!

Switching subjects he tried to offer Edy the simplest summary of religion in a nutshell – she didn’t seem the type to enjoy long, drawn out pontifications on the finer points of different theologies from a world she’d likely never see. Samuel would be far more interested, for one thing, and Jigano hoped he was reading his current audience right. Her prompt dismissal of what he described brought a rueful grin back to his lips, though her relation of the local deific shenanigans quickly smoothed it away, one brow arching again in surprise. ”Well that sounds downright petty, actually. Not, apparently, one of the better class of gods.” He sniffed stuffily, putting on a mockery of a noble air, the hint of a sly smile quirking the edge of his mouth as he sipped more sedately at his glass – raising his pinky as if at tea.

It was just as interesting to hear of Edy’s origin as of the new divine meddlers in his life, and Jigano listened quietly, encouragingly intent. ”Some other mischief cooked up by the local gods?” he asked quietly, running a thoughtful finger around the rim of his mostly-full glass and drawing a soft, pure tone from it.

Edy grinned. "Lorekeper huh. How does it feel to know that a bunch of paper in a stuffy old room has replaced you?" With a melodic cackle Edy tipped the strange man a wink. The question was rhetorical after all, and even she knew that a historian-type position could never be fully eradicated, but the opportunity had simply been too easy to pass by. Low hanging fruit or not, Edy wasn't one to just let it pass by without at least one slap. Without missing a beat, Edy had an answer and grin ready. "You ever thought about being a ghost? With that pretty voice of yours and the complexion for it, I think you'd do quite well." Flashing her dazzlingly white smile, Edy laughed again. "I'm sure you've haunted a few bedrooms in your day, hmm?" Bouncing her eyebrow suggestively (as if the implication had already been abundantly clear), Edy winked for good measure. Crinkling her nose Edy nodded sagely. "Ugh tomatoes! Such busy-bodies." She agreed, before pouting spectacularly at the mention of having been taken advantage of. Edy was glad that the stranger had taken it in his stride. She'd have been annoyed if instead of playing along he'd actually offered up some sort of apology or an attempt to make sure he wasn't really taking advantage. Shrugging, Edy tilted her head slightly. "If you say so. I just drink 'em and pour 'em, don't know much about the making-of." Though that being said, adding some pumpkin to the clear stuff that the alchemist made was sounding like a better and better suggestion all the time. Reading her seamlessly, Edy listened to Jigano's quick teaser of religiosity before growing uninterested. How they came to be here, what gods were involved if any at all, seemed entirely a non-started for the teenager. All that mattered was that they were here now. Edy would leave the more philosophical points for someone else's mind to linger on. Eyes widening, Edy watched as one of Jigano's long fingers coaxed a silvery tone from the lip of his glass. Amazement turned into something much more predictable as the teenager's dark eyes rose with a mischievous glint. "Then again if you're that good at making things sing with just a finger i'm sure there are a few brothels that'd be happy to have you." Taking the last swallow of her drink the Launceleyn-girl looked around the bar. It was mostly empty and Bastien probably started soon. "As much as my presence is needed here, what say you and I give our alchemist a run for his money?"

”I’ll let you know if it ever happens,” Jigano shot back cheerfully, a wicked glint in his eyes. ”Luckily for me there are plenty of people who can’t be bothered with silly things like reading musty old tomes in stuffy old rooms – or even bothering to read at all – and who are more than happy to just have someone tell them the answers to their questions, rather than looking anything up themselves. Sad but true.” He spread his hands in a dramatically tragic shrug before returning one to his refilled whiskey glass, the hint of a smirk on his own lips.

”A ghost,” he repeated dryly. ”Hmph. You wouldn’t be the first to suggest it… alas, I’m in no greater hurry to accommodate you than them. They were rather more adamant about it than you, though. And weren’t particular about where I spent my afterlife. Bedrooms, indeed.” He snorted, grinning in spite of himself at Edy’s antics and raising his glass in silent toast to her wink, sidestepping her innuendo and deftly shifting the conversation back to the unusually active gourds that seemed to do be doing a little haunting of their own.

She really did have a pretty pout. Full lips and good cheekbones helped immensely, but she’d managed to distract him with thoughts of paying his bar tab with a new concoction and for a little while he was lost in his own musings of what might work, given the limited ingredients and expertise between the two of them. ”Ah well, it was just a thought,” he murmured, letting the mental checklist of supplies and processing steps go when his companion showed no interest in pursuing it further. The gods proved a subject no less interesting, and perhaps more pertinent to his current situation, and he pursued it with an interest he tried to hide behind humor and teasing.

Keeping the teenager on track was, clearly, a losing battle as she turned even his idle fidgeting into a raunchy joke. He gave a rueful shake of his head, surrendering gracefully with a grin and another sip of whiskey. Thank the gods the first few shots had already numbed most of his taste buds! ”I did mention that my skills as a bard were what paid my way,” he murmured, feigning modesty, but no sooner had he responded than she was off again, this time bouncing back to a previous point in the conversation with a speed that left him blinking.

”Ah… alchemist…? You mean those possessed pumpkins you mentioned? You want to go hunting them now?” He blinked, looking down at the remains of his drink with more than a little concern that there was something in it addling his brain and preventing him from keeping up with the wicked girl. Still, it was a chance to learn something new about the world, and there was no denying he was curious to see the Odd vegetables in action… ”I suppose I can clear my calendar for the afternoon. Where to, Edy?” Once she’d started heading for the door, Jigano would slide the remains of his drink over to Chunk before he followed – just in case.