middaeg | [OPEN] It's gotta be your feisty style, raised eyebrow

Entry tags:

dbh: connor

[OPEN] It's gotta be your feisty style, raised eyebrow

Who: Connor and open!
When: Through November
Where: Aefenglom
What: Quests!
Warnings: Possibly smut in the prurient petals quest threads? I'll update if that happens!

A Drinking Problem;

[You know you have too many animals when you need a second job. The wormipede requires a lot of food as it grows, and Connor's pay at Pile's Petagorium isn't quite enough. Of course Hank helps out too, but it's Connor's fault they have these animals in the first place, minus Sumo. He can at least pay for them.

The sailor talk around here is confusing. The sly smiles he sometimes gets as he serves are... not completely unpleasant, but not really wanted. He's trying to serve a particularly drunk man and his friends, with a tray full of drinks in one hand and two plates of food balanced on the other arm, when he starts trying to pull Connor onto his lap with a raucous laugh. It's entirely unexpected, and while he manages to save the food by hastily depositing it on the table, the drinks go everywhere. Glass shatters, and the tavern goes quiet as Connor straightens up and gives everyone an apologetic look, before bending down to pick up the pieces of glass.

It wasn't his fault. He knows that. But he also knows that he's a professional, and he's going to handle this as gracefully as he can... covered in ale or not.]

Prurient Petals; (potentially NSFW)

[Cutting these plants is tough. Connor is currently trying to cut himself free from one that has snaked long petals around both of his legs, and he can't get away from it. He's probably been here for a good twenty minutes now, and his protective gear feels... uncomfortable. He feels hot, and he's fully aware of what that means. Trying to suppress the urge to think of getting this gear off and going home to Hank, Connor grunts as he frees one leg and looks to the person passing by.]

Can you help me with this?

Veggie Tales;

Oh no. Oh no. It's adorable, and Connor can't resist it. He picks the creature up and holds it carefully to see if it's amenable to being handled, and gently scratches behind the leafy ears.

He was going to take any creatures he found back to the garden, but he... thinks he's fallen in love with this one. It's a good thing he got that second job. Connor can be found holding his newfound friend for the entirety of the day. If he sees someone else with a similar pet, he heads over to them and shows off his own. It squeaks.]

What are you going to name yours?

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( Steak seems to be handling this shift well, which is thanks to copious amounts of experience in places like this, both at the bar and behind it. he notices the scene with the alertness of a man at war, immediately shooting a glare at a patron who looks like he's about to start sarcastically clapping at Connor's mis-step, and striding over. )

Out— ( the single word is directed at the man who'd caused the commotion in the first place, and when he begins to laugh at Steak's order, making several comments about Steak's current state of shirtlessness (thanks, Manager!), Steak's expression darkens and his hand finds the man's shirt, dragging him out of his seat with strength that makes it clear his build isn't just for show.

there's no room for people who cause such problems for staff members, and once he's dealt with (and his friends are told in no uncertain terms that if any of them try anything, Steak will throw each of them out, too), the red-haired, horned man squats down next to Connor, helping to pick up the pieces of glass. )

[Connor watches curiously, but doesn't say anything until Steak bends down to help him. He smiles, just a little.]

Thanks.

[Connor was more worried that doing something like that would lose him the job, but if he knew he was allowed to... maybe he'd have done more. If only to save his dignity.]

You seem comfortable here. I take it you have prior experience?

( in all honesty, Steak has no idea if this place does allow it, but most bars will throw out rowdy customers, and even if they don't? fuck 'em. that shit doesn't fly in civilised society.

fight your friends, not your bartenders. )

I did a lot of odd jobs on Tierra. ( is the basic explanation. ) ... It's a good way to pay for broken glasses.

( and sometimes, when you fight your friends, shit happens. )

I see.

[He quietly sets the glass down on the tray and uses a wave of his hand to clear the liquid off the floor, holding it steady in mid-air.]

I wish people would stop staring...

[Is it really so funny to watch someone screw up?]

( nice work, dude. that's one thing Steak wouldn't mind being able to do, but he — for obvious reasons — wasn't blessed with that power when he was pulled from the chaos. )

Pay them no mind. ( besides, they're almost done. maybe a quick sweep of the area to ensure that anything they can't see is also off the floor, but Steak doesn't notice any other large pieces now. )

[Connor can only deal with the drink, being a Merrow, so any glass will have to be caught by a Witch of some kind.]

It's hard to ignore.

[Connor has a complex when it comes to failure. And seeing these people take enjoyment from his failure is... insulting.]

( well, Steak isn't at that point yet. maybe once he actually learns some magic, though. for now, that's what brooms are made for.

but also, don't listen to Steak. it's easier for him to say ignore it when he isn't the one it's being directed at. )

They're drunken idiots. You may as well listen to the ravings of a madman.

( he's not very good at being helpful about this kind of stuff. )

[Connor guesses Steak has a point.]

I'll never understand the allure of getting themselves in this state to begin with.

[But he's unable to drink. Maybe, with all he's been through in the past year, he'd have turned to alcohol too. He'd like to think not though.]

( well, on that point, he can understand. but there's a difference between a room full of friends getting drunk, and including servers in your bullshit. )

If you have good alcohol, it's understandable. ( though that comment implies he's not all that sure that these guys are drinking good alcohol in the first place. )

You end up in the same state regardless.

[But Connor can agree that the booze here is probably cheap and nasty.]

To be clear, I don't think social drinking, in moderation, is an issue. It's the whole... drinking oneself into a coma that worries me more.

[Luckily, he's since trained Hank to stop that.]

( well, Steak's done that... more than once in his existence, but Food Souls are another thing entirely. humans aren't usually trying to outdrink the literal personification of Red Wine. mostly? )

You're right. Humans are too fragile for it.

( not to mention how nasty humans can turn after that much alcohol, a fact Steak is all too acquainted with through Gingerbread. )

[Mikasa was currently running around. Trying to gather the produce turned animals and take them back to the garden... So much for growing extra food for the people of the slums. While they'd flourished, no one was going to eat these.

That wasn't stopping her from trying though. She was nealy hugging three green squirrel-like creatures. Their tails brushy florets of brocoli hanging down as they squirmed. But she pauses her little jog back, nearly dropping on.]

Huh? Names..?

[She just blinks back, then looked at the...radish? Deer? curled up in his arms.] You're naming them?

Not all of them. Just this one. It's coming home with me.

[He eyes the ones in Mikasa's arms.]

I take it you're not keeping those three, then?

No. I have enough to look after already, they'd get eaten. [Being veggies that was kind of the point. But... Her chickens would make quick work of these guys if she took them home.

She shrugs, a small twig of broccoli falling off of one of the animal's tails.] I'll grow some more if I want something like this.

[Connor wonders if Trouble would try eating this little one... but he doubts it, somehow. Not only is the wormipede slow, it's fed all the damn time. Which is part of why it's so slow. Sumo wouldn't be interested, and nor would the cat or the dragonfly.]

Some more? Did you grow these?

[Was it an accident? It seems like an accident.]

[Ah, that got a little ear twitch and a sigh.]

Yes... I was trying to grow food for the slums. I thought I'd gotten the right seeds but... [He could probably tell. While she was sure that the people of the slums would be fine with the simple creatures. You could break off parts as needed and they were seld sufficient to some degree. Enough to move to sunlight or warmth as needed.]

I couldn't read the whole packet of seeds.

That's admirable of you, though. I'm sure the people of the slums will appreciate it.

[This little guy isn't getting eaten, though. Connor pats him on the head.]

Well, I still need a name... I'm running out of them.

I... I don't think they'll be getting much. [She just kinda, nodded at the one Connor was holding.] Most of their crop got away.

[But the mention of names gets a snort.] Two of my chickens...Or the robotic cat... [She still wasn't 100% sure what it was.]

Do you name your animals? Or are they just... "chicken and cat"?

[He smiles slightly, teasing.]

I suppose I can ask Hank for a name, though he's more likely to roll his eyes at me and tell me I have too many animals already.

[Which is true, but... Connor can't help himself.]

Yes... [She frowns and it's almost a pout.] My dog, Tater. I named some of the chickens too, Pecker, Nugget and Dinner... But even with help I've not been able to think of names for all of them.

And the cat I got doesn't respond to anything.

You named your chicken "Dinner"?

[That's kind of mean.]

My cat only responds to food. Or he just follows the dog around.

Only one of them, that one's an ass. It attacks the other animals. [It was mean. To remind the chicken that she could just eat it for it's bullying. But there's a small noise from the fae, not quite a sigh.]

Mine can't eat. It's not really a cat...But it does follow my dog.

It's still a little bit mean, isn't it?

[He sounds somewhat amused, though.]

The cat follows the dog around, and the dog likes to hang around the wormipede because it can chew open the food bags if we're not careful and leave them out. Animals are smarter than we give them credit for, at least when food is concerned.

If it's going to try and eat the other chickens, it should know where it stands. [It was the pecking order Connor. Even if the chicken might not understand what it's name meant.]

I didn't say they were dumb... [If anything all the animals she'd seen here had been unnaturally smart. To the point that it was scary sometimes. But she's raising an eyebrow at him.] You have space for a wormipede?

[He'd meant it more as a passing obseravtion, but he's distracted by the question before he bothers to explain.]

The wormipede may as well own the garden now... though since it's still small, we can keep it inside for the winter. We're working on a home for it at the bottom of the garden.

[Which means they have literally nowhere for the tables and chairs to go anymore. Oh well, if they want to be in the garden during the summer they can use the pool.]

[She was serious. That chicken grr...]

Weren't the fully grown ones bigger than a bull? You're going to need a barn if it gets that big. [Little did Mikasa know, was that this was the animal care experience. Everything became the animals'. Everything. But she tilts her head after a moment.]

It's careful not to stand on the others right?

It likes sitting on my lap. I may have to train it to not do that.

[He doesn't feel pain, but he doubts it would be much good for his legs anyway.]

As for space... there's a cottage beside mine that nobody lives in. I have the key, because two people dear to me lived there and I kept it tidy for if one of them came back. But... I don't think they're coming back.

[His smile is sad.]

So... maybe I could convert it into something for the wormipede. It's not like there's a shortage of cottages.

Don't they have hard feet? [Or sharp. She was quite sure where bug feet fit on the list of potentially dangerous feet. It wasn't like they had claws, but they didn't have toes. And her own, more insect-like pair of arms were sharp enough to skewer if she needed to use them for that.

Still the mention of the cottage gets him another glance. She lived on one of her own. It was probably part of the reason she'd ran into him that time during the full moon, even if it was a bit of a blur. Then it gets a sigh.]

If there's spare... Though sometimes I wonder if the old owners will come back to them. [Those rich people who supposedly got turfed out when the first batch of mirrorbound arrived.]

[ This... this was a mistake.

Truthfully engaging with most activities in Aefenglom can feel like a mistake, but this one feels like a bigger mistake that most. He's so damn warm and it's not hard to figure out why, and it's not like leaving is much of an option. Not only is Sylvia is also out here somewhere, he's also just passed by someone he's not exactly eager to just ditch.

Time will tell if that's a good or bad thing. ]

... Sure.

[ Normally he might have a terrible joke handy, but for now he's just going to step closer, kneel down, and work on trying to unwind petals from around Connor's leg. He's pretty sure trying to cut through them will take far too much time. ]

[The problem is that for every petal that gets unwound, another takes its place. And with Akechi kneeling in front of him like that, Connor finds himself thoroughly embarrassed to find he's quite obviously aroused. Trying to angle his body in a way that makes it less obvious is... well, not working.]

Thanks...

[This is pretty awkward. He wills his body to behave, but his mind is going places it shouldn't, too.]

[ This was a mistake. Not only is it taking forever, not only is the pollen having an obvious effect on Akechi, not only is the knowledge that Connor is aroused also giving him ideas, but this isn't even working because there are more and more of these dumb plants coming in to replace the ones he just got rid of!

Akechi stands abruptly, cheeks flushed but expression mulish. ]

Here.

[ He offers a hand to Connor. ]

Try moving a little further from the thicket.

[ It probably won't work, but maybe it'll at least help. ]

[Connor takes the hand sheepishly, trying to move away from the plants. He tries not to catch Akechi's eye, but he can tell he's feeling similarly. And the longer they're here, the more inclined Connor is to just forget being modest.

He tugs hard on the petals, getting one leg free, but he's pulling hard on Akechi's hand- maybe a little too hard- and he's starting to lose his balance. Stumbling forward slightly, he grabs onto the other man's shoulders.]

Sorry.

[He doesn't really want to move away, now that he's here.]

[ Connor stumbles forward and rests a hand on Akechi's shoulder, just as Akechi takes a more conscious step towards Connor and reaches up to do the same.

They're far, far too close for comfort now, and Akechi is realizes that not only is he not going to move away, he doesn't want to move away. The scent of pollen is heavy in the air, and their current position feels very, very natural. ]

... It's alright.

[ It's more than alright, actually, which is why Akechi adds: ]

But we should find somewhere to sit.

Yeah...

[He holds onto Akechi as he pulls his other leg free, finally- but he's well aware that it's too late to reverse what the pollen has done to them. Awkwardly, he shuffles away from the rest of the plants and takes Akechi with him to sit in a clearing.

There's nobody else around right now, though there's certainly the risk of someone heading their way. But Connor can't bring himself to care. He takes off his protective headgear and sighs, taking Akechi's hand and toying with his fingers. They could easily do something about this problem.]

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[OPEN] It's gotta be your feisty style, raised eyebrow

barmates

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Veggie Tails

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( prurient petals )

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