Dust to Dust: A W2B Spinoff

Flustered, Ragnelle proceeded to stall as much as possible.

First, the princess looked at her old mentor and bowed. "Teacher! I didn't expect to see you here, it's been far too long. And I suppose you and Sanfar have some catching up to do?" she teased good-naturedly.

Then, to the barmaid. "Umm, beer please."

I am gong to need a lot of it before tonight is done. she thought, finally looking at the cost of her great discomfort.

Fortunately, her blush had mostly vanished, although there was still a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

Gods give me guidance...

"Ahyan. W-what are you doing here?"

Angela began moving behind the bar and pouring bottles, muttering under her breath as she did (as was to be expected of someone not getting paid enough). Before long she had the drinks for the Princess and the leather clad man. She let out an actual sigh as she fished a slip of paper out of her pocket, squinting to read the awful handwriting.

After a few minutes the dark girl had Sanfar's drink constructed to what she thought the specification read as and carried out the current order on a tray, dropping off drinks as she crossed the room. "Righ' rest of you bett'r order somethen' soon. And hands to yo'r own selves, I don' take kindly to rude strangers." She hollered as she moved through the crowd of adventures, finally reaching Sanfar and handing over the drink.

edited 26th Nov '15 8:02:44 PM by guyshane

"I could say the same for myself." Arrluk piped up, before shifting one seat to the side, away from the squire. He swung his head up to actually look at the knight. "I am here in support of the groom, whom I consider to be a rival and a friend. It would be rude to miss such an important moment in his life. I know little of the Vale royal family, save the witch, who I know from reputation alone, and from seeing her bullying Mr. Eisenmann just now."

"Just a pint will do, ma'am," Vladimir said to the bartender as he sat down next to Ragnelle. He noticed his friend's nervousness at the young man also at the bar, but kept his mouth shut

Riko remained quiet throughout most of that exchange between Ragnelle and Wayne. It was not her place, as as servant to Vale's royal family, to judge who Galatine chose as Arturia's spouse. However, as someone also quite attached to Arturia, Riko did not fully trust Wayne to suitably handle Arturia's naïveté. She followed Ragnelle to the table, hands clasped together calmly. She bowed politely to Benkei.

"Teacher," she said, politely. Then, she turned to the bartender. "I will abstain."

Hm. Is that the regular bartender of the Bird of Prey? she thought. She held one hand clutching her scabbard. A public place like this could never be considered truly safe.

Riko turned back to Ragnelle's new fixation. She smiled politely. "You know this man?" she said.

Ahyan nodded in acknowledgement, then took it as an opportunity to approach.

"I heard talk of your sister getting married, and that all hunters were welcome. I took it... as an opportunity to catch up with you again. It's been.. a year? Maybe longer."

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "It's been very strange going on missions by myself. I... kind of miss having a partner." He gave a nervous laugh as he spoke the last few words, and looked off in another direction. "Maybe one of these days we could.. try another mission together?"

edited 26th Nov '15 8:20:38 PM by GyroZ

Yuzuki just kind of looked around for a little while after entering, surveying the people present, interaction with others was not her strong point, much less initiating it.

She decided that, well quite simply, she was not drunk enough for this yet, and wandered over to the bar.

Tempestas 22

Benkei, standing respectfully behind Ragnelle's seat, briefly turned his formidable gaze down to her other bodyguard, the Faunus girl from the Nishiki household. He heard her abstain from the offer of liquor.

If she'd looked up, she might have caught his nod, imperceptible as it was. Even since Riko had entered the service of the House of Vale, it was like the huge man was constantly judging her, measuring her worth.

"I abstain as well," He rumbled to Angela, his voice was soft, but measured and carrying, the voice of a man who has lived his life war-making.

edited 26th Nov '15 8:37:40 PM by KR_Vandal

Angela quickly returned to the bar and grabbed Vlad's pint, adding extra sway in her hips so as to hopefully keep him from looking at her face. "Mi'lord." She said, delivering the drink before walking back to the bar.

And that should be enough swooning for now...Especially since Ragnelle's one bodyguard seemed jumpy.

Angela turned to Yuzuki. "Roght, watcha' be havin'?" She asked

Near the back of the bar, a man has been watching the events play out. Lifting his cup of mead to his lips, he says to himself, " So the groom and the sister of the bride know each other. And neither knows why the wedding is even happening."

"We do yes," Sanfar said with a grin to Ragnelle and her compatriot. "But we can do that catching up later." She finished before turning her head to Angela as she delivered her drink, the look in her eyes let the girl knew she wasn't entirely fooled as she accepted the drink. "Thank you, weird that they are letting a woman behind the bar, especially this late at night, and one so new too." She mused as she removed her helmet and began to drink. Deceptively soft and feminine features were framed by dark red hair.

Sanfar drank roughly half of her liquor before turning to the knights. "I see, that is good to hear at least, as long as you do not cause trouble for me nor my allies." She said with a nod and a grin, a ferocity in her eyes and smile that belied her lovely face.

Out of the corner of her eyes she spied the Vacuo man chatting with her charge and lent a trained ear to the conversation. It seemed he was asking her out for further adventures. Sanfar, having seen how on edge her charge had been after their last one decided that if such a thing were to happen, she would accompany them, regardless of either's objections.

"Oh, I fucking know why this wedding is happening. I just don't like that it's happening." Ragnelle grumbled when someone commented on the Dust-damned, thrice-cursed, dumbass arranged marriage.

The princess took a contemplative sip of her beer, then turned to look at her bodyguards.

"Benny, Ri, you know you guys can order anything, right? I'll handle the payment."

....And then Ahyan spoke, and she couldn't help but blush yet again as she remembered that night. She enjoyed his company very much, true, but...but what happened was just so confusing, and she didn't know how to handle these sort of things!

Frustrated, she slammed a hand on the table and glared at Ahyan. "And whose fault is that?! I would have stayed as long as you wanted me to, I loved working with you, but then you had the brilliant idea of...of..."

She blushed even more and covered her face.

Ahyan cringed a little when Elle slammed her hand down onto the table. He held his hands out as if to calm her down a little, then quickly returned them to his sides.

Then he did something unexpected: he bowed.

"I am fully aware of my actions! Please accept my apology and resume being my partner!" He yelled out, his tone almost official, perhaps even rehearsed.

He kept bowing, awaiting her inevitable response. His eyes closed, expecting the worst.

"Ummmmm.... I don't normally drink, I just need something to help with well.... this" the woman softly spoke up, hoping that what was happening around her would be self apparent, before she gave a quick glance back twords Elle when she slamed her hand on the table, causing her hood to drop slightly closer to her head as her eyes fell inside it, already people were arguing and making fools of themselfs.

"Thank you, Master Ragnelle—" Riko said. 'Master'. A carefully chosen title, to avoid the use of 'lady', 'princess', and 'mistress'; titles that Ragnelle hated. Riko turned her distrustful eye away from the bartender. "—But I do not yet wish to dull my senses."

It was getting harder not to comment on the marriage situation.

"It is not my place to judge, but...Arturia...Arturia at least deserves someone who will care for her, understand her, and keep her safe. That coming from lord Eisenmann has yet to be seen," she said, with an apparent look of concern. She sighed. "Poor Arturia."

She returned to a gentle smile, and soon, this smile actually widened. She tightened her grip on her scabbard.

"Now. Pleased to make your acquaintance, lord Ahyan," she said, stiffly. "Care to explain how you have managed to reduce my master to a blushing schoolgirl?"

edited 26th Nov '15 10:13:43 PM by opnerf

Tempestas 22

Benkei raised an eyebrow at Ahyan's overdramatic response then coughed, his ears turning a slight shade of pink against his dark hair. It always did that whenever she called him the nickname she had bestowed on him so long ago.

"With all due respect, Master Ragnelle, we would prefer not to attend to you and our duties if we were the slightest bit intoxicated."

The older of the bodyguards was doing a sterling job of ignoring the flush of his mistress' face. And not ignoring the anxiety in the body language of his junior.

edited 26th Nov '15 10:15:12 PM by KR_Vandal

"I'll only cause trouble to folks that deserve it." Arrluk detached a small length of metal from the gauntlet on his right hand and tapped the table with it nonchalantly. "I believe that the wedding is actually fairly well-protected. It was an interesting strategic move to make it open to Huntsmen. She probably saved hundreds on security, you know?" He matched Sanfar's aggressive smile with his own. "Money that can instead go into fantastic food and drink." He threw back the rest of his drink and grimaced. "Out in the wastes of Mantle, you don't have much but awful hard-tack and a lot of alcohol. I'm grateful for it, since now that I am here I get to really enjoy my food, and drink everyone else under the table."

Angela appeared to adjust the sleeves on her outfits as she considered the alcoholic options. In truth she was loosening a pair of knives in their wrist sheathes.

I may have to fight the bodyguard if she starts getting suspicious. This man is not the first who would attack after being rejected, I cannot risk Ragnelle being killed, I need a contact with the royals.

"Well hun' We got whiskey, we got mead, we got beer, we als' got some grog. The grog is awful tastin' but if yo'r lookin' ta go wild, you could do worse."

edited 26th Nov '15 10:13:40 PM by guyshane

Yuzuki turned back to the bartender thinking for a few moments before realizing that this helps her very little,"May I ask what tastes the best?" she asked, one of her ears panning under her robes to listen to Arrluk as she talked.

"Oh,as much as I loath the very concept of arranged marriages, I'm sure Wayne will care for my sister with everything he has." said Elle, a small frown on her face. There seemed to be an unspoken or else in that statement. Elle knew full well that she was being threatening.

Then, she turned her frown towards her younger comrade (bodyguard implied that she couldn't protect herself, ans she sure as hell was not going to call them servants.).

"And who's a blushing schoolgirl, Ri?! Ahyan is...is...was a partner, nothing more."

She glared at Ahyan again, the root of all her current problems.

"Be your partner again? After...what we did? Why should I?"

Angela shrugged. "I dunno. This is my first night on the job, yeah? Only know about the grog cause I snuck some. Oh but don't tell me boss, a'ight?" She pleaded with the fox woman.

Really what is the problem here? She cannot truly be this shy.

Nonie bumped into the cloaked woman as she tried to find herself a seat. This led to her dropping her book down on the ground. She bent over, wings flapping a bit as she recalibrated her balance. After she grabbed the book she looked at the stranger in a cloak.

"Sorry about that." The Faunus said. "I can easily lose track of my environment sometimes."

edited 26th Nov '15 11:36:50 PM by RhymeBeat

Ahyan stood back up and turned his head to look at Riko and reply to her question. "It's a long story." It was short and sweet, though probably too implicative.

Did Elle get a new servant? He vaguely recognized Benkei, but this new lady was.. well, New.

Now he turned to face Elle once more. "My only reason is that I... miss having you by my side. I have no other form of rhetoric to give. Please understand."

edited 27th Nov '15 2:00:25 AM by GyroZ

Eugh. She had to go and remind him of all this. Benedict burned a blush matching the color of his coat, clearing his throat nervously. "W-well... pot to kettle..." He grumbled at his student, glanced briefly towards Sanfar and then decided that his own throat is awfully dry.

He moved over to the bar, taking a free stool, trying his hardest to not glance at the black knight that... left him feeling fairly inadequate. "Do you have any water in store?" He asked the bartender. Hm, wasn't that a new sight; a barmaiden. Spoke volumes of Queen Arturia's tolerance and naivety alike.

...something about her didn't quite strike his fancy. He desperately needed something to focus on now that his composure was shattered by Elle and Sanfar's teasing and... that thick accent was almost comical. Did common men and women talk that way in their own habitat, so to say?

...maybe he was overthinking this. "In a metal cup, if you'd be so kind."

Tempestas 22

Benkei, in turn, bowed his head lightly in greeting to Ahyan, boon companion to his master. But not before he surreptitiously tapped Riko's elbow, telling her not to pursue any further looks into Ragnelle's affairs. Their master was notoriously private, after all.

edited 27th Nov '15 7:29:25 AM by KR_Vandal