milliways_bar | (no subject)

Something's not right about that lady down the bar.

She looks nice enough, a little exotic and certainly attractive enough. I could see her singing down at the Shoebox, up on the stage with the lights low. In my mind, she's got a sultry voice made for pulling a man right up to her for things that ought to be in a dark room. I wonder if she works here doing just that and give her a smile.

I'm not hitting on her. It's just a hello. I'm taken, and happily so, and I figure it might be a relief for a woman like that to just get a bit of friendly chatter instead of being hit on all the time.

The lady down the bar beams, brighter than a spotlight, and waves. One hand in a cheerful "hello".

'Course, her tail waves as well, the white tip fluttering like a flag back and forth and back.

"New here?"

Her voice could be sultry, if she felt like it. Currently, though, its just cheerful and warm.

I notice the tail, but ignore it in favor of not thinking too much so that I don't skip being polite. My mother'd disown me if she heard I'd been anything less than cordial to a lady.

"Got it in one, ma'am."

"Welcome to Milliways, then. First drink is, traditionally free. I am the Honorable Lady Ako."

She performs an Oriental style bow, still with that brilliant smile.

I stand and deliver a short bow of my own, figuring I should return in kind, before taking my seat again. Then I order up a coffee for show as I've taken to doing and throw her a friendly smile.

"Yeah, I got the lowdown from a couple of others. Thanks for the welcome, though. I'm Jack."

"Pleasure to meet you, Jack. Human or other?"

She's curious as to what he'll say. He looks human, but then so do Will and Merriman.

"I am a Fox."

I nod to the tail.

"So I can see. Human."

Dead human, but human just the same. There're a few complications to that title, but I wasn't an animal or an Animal, so I figured I'd be all right with my answer.

Without ever letting the smile slip she manages to imply that she's not entirely convinced. Fox sense of smell, and all.

"We have a lot of those here, too."

I give a look around and nod, as if agreeing. I don't know if she believes me or not, but I'm willing to let it slide. If she brings it up, fine, but I wasn't about to.

"So I can see. And how many Foxes?"

"Two. Me and Laini. And, mmm. Several ghosts, some dead people who aren't ghosts exactly, some immortals, at least one mutant, a handfull of vampires."

She leans back against the bar, rolling her eyes as she thinks,

"The anthropomorphized representations of quite a few things, witches, wizards...although they're actually humans plus...some AIs..."

"Um, hello."

There is a rather awkward young man standing nearby, holding a book.

"I was just--. Er, it's only that. I--"

He looks terribly flustered.

"I'm not v-very good at this."

"Hi!"

She says cheerfully, as soon as her player gets back. And then, because she's that kind of Fox, she kisses the rather awkward young man.

He startles, flails a little, then just stands there, totally flustered.

He is also very red. Shading toward purple, in point of fact.

"Um."

She grins at him. Yeah, just like the icon says. From a distance of no more than three inches between noses and curls her arms around his neck,

"Can I help you, Sugar?"

"Um. I don't. Er."

There is more flailing, then he takes a deep breath.

"Stories?"

He's remarkably articulate. Really.

Right.

"A goldsmith who made decorations for swords had brought down upon himself the wrath of foxs, whom he persecuted pitilessly. One day a woman appeared at his shop and requested that she go with her to show a number of his golden ornaments to a wealthy nobleman who was a friend of hers and who wished to buy some of them."

She informs him while walking him backward until he hits a chair with the back of his knees and is forced down so that she can snuggle in his lap,

"The goldsmith prepared a handsome assortment of his works and accompanied the woman to the entrance of a sumptuous mansion. There he turned over to her all the ornaments he had brought, and she requested him to wait while she took them inside. But hardly had she passed through the door before the astonished goldsmith suddenly saw the mansion crumble into dust and utterly disappear."

Her voice is bright and cheerful, and she makes herself quite comfortable.

"Nothing remained but an old abandoned water hole- and a fox that went scurrying away, flashing his white teeth at the bewildered goldsmith."

One of his arms wraps around her waist, then hesitates, and unwinds itself.

He is looking everywhere but at her, for a moment.

Then she finishes her story, and he grins, ignoring everything else for the moment.

"Can I write that down? I collect them, you see. Stories. Yes."

"Of course."

She says brightly, snagging his arm and putting it back around her waist,

"Everyone should know about Foxes. My name is Ako, and you are cute."

"Hmm? Oh, thank you."

He seems distracted, now, otherwise he'd be blushing even more brightly.

"Do you have a lot of these stories?"

"Sweetie, I'm over two thousand years old and have a grown daughter."

She points out, chin on his shoulder,

"Of course I do."

"Oh."

He blinks.

"You don't look it. Um."

"Nope. I know. That's one of the perks of being a shape-shifter, dearling."

She curls her tail around to touch his nose, a soft brush of fur against skin.

He attempts manfully not to sneeze.

It mostly works.

He beams.

"That's the thing I like about this place. Magic is real."

"Very real."

She giggles and kisses his cheek.

"How long have you been here?"

He blushes, again, fiercely.

"Er. A matter of weeks? I've mostly been in my room. Er, our room. My brother's and mine, I mean."