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 Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:33 am
Mecca walked the familiar streets of Crescent City, his hands in his pockets. It had been a while since he'd been here. The streets he haunted in his childhood.
The last time he had been here Matador had been less than happy with him. Then again, he had never really been happy with him, ever.
Taking a deep breath Mecca tried to keep a lid on his anger, this was for Covet, he couldn't let himself slip.
Not that she knew he had come. Covet was where he had left her, fast asleep in bed. Luck had allowed him to slip away from her unnoticed.
He looked up, stood outside Veronica, the viberant and popular bar. Taking a deep breath and reminding himself why he was doing this he pushed the door open. Bracing himself for the confrontation he was sure to get on the inside.
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Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 5:23 pm
"Come on in and have a seat anywhere you like," Matador called form behind the bar.
He was unable to give his usual, laidback greeting. Covet disappeared one night leaving him no reason not explanation. The success of Veronica was also quite a burden without the proper means of staffing. A young girl with pink and white candy striped from the bakery down the street assisted Matador by bussing the busy tables, and washing dishes. Matador thought she was lovely, but her sugary sweetness wasn't exactly what the regulars of Veronica wanted or needed.
Of all the Shu that walked through the door of Veronica, Mecca was the last one Matador imagined walking back in. Since the day threw Mecca out, Matador always wondered if Covet resented him for the treatment of her childhood playmate. His deep purple eyes narrowed, the arrival of the Shu indicated the severity of the situation. Matador should have known that he'd be involved. Taking long strides, the usual chatter in the shop died down.
"Welcome to Veronica," Matador greeted in his shop voice, trying to dispell the tension in the shop. Leaning closer, he spoke in a smaller voice. "Please take a seat at the bar, on the empty end."
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:35 am
Mecca looked around the familiar bar and the customers. Matador's false welcome was much better than he expected, which made him guess that he knew why he was there. So he was omnipotent as well. Mecca thought with a smirk.
Taking a seat, as he was told away from the customers he leant his arms on the bar and looked up at Matador. Not that he would have sat near any of the other Shu's anyway.
"How did you know?" Mecca asked in his smooth, flat voice. Studying Matador fow a moment. Covet had better damn appreciate this.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 1:50 am
"How did I know what exactly?" Matador said, pushing his long red hair off shoulder once they were situated at the bar.
Matador looked away for a moment, simply to check on Lollipop as she circulated the room. Simply seeing Mecca's empty gray eyes and blood red skin was enough to enfuriate him. Of all the time the shu could have walked through the door it would be during business hours, peak ones at that. Quickly filling the drink orders Lolli brought to him, Matador couldn't run the risk of losing his temper. It would be truly bad for business if he did.
"Do you still take your water with lemon?" Matador asked, wiping the bar down and setting a fresh coaster down. "Or would you prefer something else?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:03 am
"Well, you let me in here and you looked at me with a purpose. As though you knew I had something to talk about with you." He shrugged and looked back up at Matador. "My mistake."
Again he looked around the bar, at the new serving girl and the cusotmers enjoying themselves.
"Just water please." He said looking up at Matador. "Aren't you worried at all?" He asked the ruby haired bartender. "About where she might be or why she might have left?" Another thought crossed his mind and he looked up again, watching Matador preparing drinks. "That's assuming you know Covet's gone?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:13 am
"The last time you were here I asked you to leave and never come back," Matador said, filling up a glass with water and setting it down before him. "I would think you coming in this evening means that you either don't understand the meaning of never or you have some utterly extreme situation that is forcing you to come see me. I was giving your intelligence the benefit of the doubt."
The hand that was beneath the bar and out of Mecca's line of vision curled tightly into a ball at the mention of Covet and the red shu's assumption that Matador could care less about it. He hadn't slept since the night she didn't come back. Remembering their previous exchanges, Matador was determined not to give any fuel to feed Mecca's twisted, derranged fire.
"Yes, I am aware that she is gone as she never came home one night," Matador said, crossing his arms and shrugging. "No note. No explanation. No idea why she's gone. Let me guess, you know something that I don't and you're here to gloat about it. I've got customers to tend to, Mecca. So no games. Just tell me."
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:23 am
Mecca allowed Matador's word's to wash over him. He didn't care what he had to say, he had one mission here and as soon as that was over the better.
Taking a deep breath at the bresonal attack, Mecca calmed himself, he would not ruin this.
"Covet is staying with me." He said simply. "She came to me a few nights ago. Told me that you had broken her heart." He held his hands up in defence before Matador could say anything. "I do not know how, or what happened. I only know she is upset and I don't know how to help her ... well, short of coming here. She seems to expect you to have come to find her. Though how, with no note I do not know."
Taking the glass in his hand he took a long sip. God this was degrading.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:33 am
"I broke her heart? She's never said anything of the sort to me," Matador said, trying to ignore Mecca's attempt to diffuse the situation as if he was about to leap across the counter and grab him by his greasy hair. "She left without a word. She filched out on work, putting me in a difficult decision. How was I supposed to know she'd turn up at your door?"
Matador hoped for Mecca's sake that he was telling the truth, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't getting the entire story. Working in the service industry for so long, his ability to read individuals. Matador filled up Lolli's tray quickly when she came by. The last thing he needed was her overhear the full story about she was working there.
"It is selfish and childish if Covet expects me to chase after her without any idea of where she went," Matador said, washing a couple fo dirty dishes that the girl brought over. "I am her friend, not her father. I can't watch over like a child anymore because she hasn't been one for a long time."
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:41 am
"Not questions you should be asking me. How should I know why she turned up at my door. I have never given her a reason to trust or like me, yet she seems to."
He frowned and looked down at the clear surface of his water. What more did he want him to say.
"I honestly do not know what happened. If you wish to know, you should come and speak to her. All she talks about are you and this bar." He continued gesturing around him.
At Matador's final words he looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"She thinks you family." He said smoothly. "I do not know about your customs. I have no family. But I was under the impression that age did not change that, that if one is in trouble, you help them." He took another sip of water. "My mistake again." He said placing the glass on the coaster and looking down at it again.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 2:58 am
"She is like family to me, however, I am not a psychic, Mecca." Matador said with a skeptical glance, sliding freshly washed glasses into the overhead racks.
Matador relished the fact that Mecca was here asking for his help. He actually pitied the poor b*****d as it looked that Covet was actually driving him insane. It appeared that either Mecca was softening up because of Covet or slowly losing his mind because of her. However, Matador remembered his dealings with the red Shu, and had the sneaking suspicious that now he was all grown up, it would be an ideal time to exact revenge upon Matador.
"And if I go to her with you, what is it you want me to do?" Matador inquired slowly, taking a deep breath. "Tell her what she wants to hear and then bring her back here? I made it quite clear that if she were to get involved with you it would be her decision, and I wouldn't run to her rescue. It looks like she'd rather be with you than here with some 'heartbreaker.'"
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 3:08 am
"She does not need rescuing." He said with a slight note of irritation "I do not want you to do anything. Just talk to her. To be honest it suits me better to have her cut all ties with you, but that would just have her sobbing and whining more, and it doesn't suit her."
Draining his glass he stood up and fastened his jacket.
"She is in Port Cephei, the backstreets near the teahouse next to the Dog and Diamond tavern. The shop is called Taliesin. She'll be there." He said stepping away from the bar.
"Whatever you did to hurt her, you're a fool." He called from the door. "Age suits her, she's rather insatiable once you get her started." With an icey smirk he slipped out of the door and off into the shadows.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 3:20 am
"I never did anything to her, other than put a roof over her head and food in her mouth," Matador said coolly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Fine expect me tomorrow afternoon."
Matador's heated blood ran ice cold at Mecca's final comment. Having always thought of Covet as a little sister, the thought of her finally caving to Mecca's disgusting lust brought a sickness into the pit of his stomach. The hubbub of the bar died with the red Shu's final proclaimation. They all knew who he spoke of without even mentioning her name. When the door closed, hushed murmurs swept the room. The rumor mill had been started.
"a*****e!" Matador gritted, throwing a dirty plate into the soapy water. In order to calm the masses, Matador swallowed hard and did the only thing he knew to get their minds off his personal life. "This round of drinks are on me, gang."- Fade to Black -
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 3:53 am
Knowing that he couldn't sleep, Matador sent a message to an old friend of his, Saltee Dawg. No sooner had he and Lollipop closed shop for the evening, he dashed down to the port to barter passage to Port Cephei. Knowing the fame pirate's dread and distrust of men, Matador paid in the only currency she'd accept. Rum.
"Matsy Klein, you are the only man to ever step foot on the 'Hurricane Baroness'," Saltee called down from the ship, watching the ruby haired Shu disembark. "To the man who claimed my ship's virginity, We salute you Matador!"
The baudy, cleavage ravaged crew toasted Matador, many sighing in disappointment that their beloved Captain allowed him to leave. They were looking forward to making him a slaveboy and work shirtless in teh galley. Hoots, hollars, and pieces of women's lingerie showered down on the Red. "See you soon, my Friend."
"Don't call me 'Matsy'! I told you," Matador jibed back at the ship's captain.
Out of all the pieces of women's unmentionables that rained down upon him, Matador only kept Saltee's handkerchief. He could make a mint selling it, along with the tale of his trip on her ship. With a deep bow that riled the surly women up even more, Matador followed Mecca's instructions toward Taliesin. He found the place to be rather sketchy in his opinion, and that was merely looking at the exterior.
"Well, here goes nothing," Matador sighed, opening the door and stepping inside the shop.
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:07 am
Mecca had disappeared again to the docks to conduct some more business and Covet had declined. She wasn't particularly eager to set foot on another airship anytime soon. With explicit instructions to be on her guard if any customers came in and to not physically touch anything they might bring in, she had grabbed one of his many books and curled up in his seat to start reading about magical items found in the Water Temple. It was all terribly fascinating.
When she heard the door open, her ear flicked over towards it, but she didn't look up until she had finished the passage she had been reading. Closing the book, she looked up with a smile that immediately faltered at the sight of the shu who had entered. Rising to her feet, she shook her feathers out a little and set the book down gently on the work table.
"Hello Matador," she said softly, raising her bright green eyes up to his as a barage of emotions swept through her. This was exactly what she had been hoping for ever since she had left, but why did her happiness at the sight of her ruby haired hero have to be tainted so strongly by sadness?
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Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:15 am
Matador was relieved to see Covet, but immediately put off when she twitched. Clearly Mecca's way of shop keeping was different from his own as Covet used to be alert and ready when customers entered. Her lacklustre greeting confused him. Matador hadn't done anything wrong, but according to Mecca he was to blame for Covet's drama.
"So this is where you've been hiding, Covet," Matador said showing little emotion and closing the door softly behind himself. "
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