Post-Last Call

[Odol Xhyl]

Ezem sighed and re-rolled his sleeves after the Loa's doors closed for the night. The trees were roiling in a strong wind, and the rain came down like bullets-- the bar had been slow for the past few hours, and Romi had decided to close early.

"I can't imagine why there was so little business tonight," he said to Vincent as he stepped back behind the bar. "This storm came out of nowhere."

He set a clean tumbler on the bartop (they were all clean; Ezem had washed everything twice tonight out of boredom) and poured himself a glass of rum. He took a sip and sighed again, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the polished counter. "Did you see any clouds around campus today? The skies were blue until the sun went down, so unless Odol pissed off a weather witch again..."

[Vincent Hawk]

Vincent laughed as he set down his glass of water. "There were a few, but nothing to warrant this. Your guess is as good as mine, I think."

[Odol Xhyl]

Ezem swirled the liquor in his glass and chuckled under his breath.  He looked up when Romi stepped out of the kitchen, a tray balanced easily in the crook of her arm as she took plates of spiced chicken and dumplings around to those who were sheltering in the tavern for the night.  Ezem watched her intently, smiling more with his eyes than his lips, and momentarily forgot that Vincent was in front of him.

Romi noticed, and made a point to take the long way back to the kitchen so that she could ghost her fingertips along Ezem's shoulders as she passed behind him.  Ezem gained a delicate rosy tinge in his ears, and caught Vincent's eye before distracting himself with another drink from his glass.

He couldn't keep the corner of his lip from curling upward as he looked at his friend again.  "Ah, mayhap it's just a touch of hidden good fortune.  A stormy night means the morning will be quiet."

[Vincent Hawk]

Vincent raised a brow at the affectionate gestures that passed between Romi and Ezem, and grinned when the latter turned back to him. He decided not to comment on the flush in Ezem's ears, and nodded at his words. "Very true. I don't envy anyone who's caught outside in this." Luckily for him, he'd gotten here before it really started to pour.

[Liam Farrell]

Liam huffed out a sigh as he ducked into the Drunken Loa, then paused on the threshold to wring out his hair. "Thanks for letting me walk with you, Odol."

[Winds]

Winds had long since given up the pretense of wiping down far tables and had taken up a position at the end of the bar, away from the few remaining patrons, with her nose in a book. The stool swirled idly back and forth, swishing her skirt around her knees; when Liam came in she looked up briefly, raising an eyebrow.

Ezem's comment made her wonder. There was always something weird in the air in Lakeshore, but it might be interesting to watch and see if there was something specifically weird tonight. Winds resolved to pay at least half attention to her surroundings.

[Odol Xhyl]

Odol took a moment to shake out his wings before stepping into the tavern, grinning at Liam as he raked his sopping hair back. He had originally attempted to shield Liam with his wings, but the rain had started falling at an angle, and there was nothing he could do after that to keep either of them any semblance of dry.

But the Loa was warm, and when he caught his brother's eye, the older Wakeling nodded his head towards the kitchen.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and change. Do you want to borrow a shirt and a towel?" He closed the door behind Liam and watched the trees wrest in the gale for a moment before turning towards the back door of the bar. "Romi's usually got tea brewing in the kitchen too, if you want something hot to drink. I'll be right back."

He walked around the far end of the bar to get to the back door, giving the professor a nod and Winds a welcoming pat on the top of the head as he passed her.

[Liam Farrell]

Liam nodded gratefully at the offer. "Please and thanks." Tea sounded really good right now, too.

He went to sit down on a barstool near Professor Vincent, and gave the man a nod of acknowledgement. A grin pulled at his mouth as he said, "Once again, the weather here makes me feel right at home." He was just glad it was only rain and wind, not thunder or anything worse.

[Vincent Hawk]

Vincent chuckled as he looked over at Liam. "Indeed. If this keeps up for much longer I think this place might just start to live up to its name."

[Odol Xhyl]

Ezem grinned as he tapped his fingers on the bartop. "I don't think I've ever seen Lakeshore flood, aside from two years ago, when the human realm border fluxed a bit and let in rain from two skies at once."

He took another sip from his glass. "D'you want me to get you something warm to drink, Liam? Rosemary made tea with blueberries and lemon peel tonight."

[Vincent Hawk]

Vincent blinked and tilted his head. "Either that happened when I wasn't here or my memory is patchy, because I don't recall that at all."

[Winds]

Winds frowned at the patting and curled up further into her book, rolling her shoulders. She'd gotten to the point that she wasn't quite as bothered by Romi and the vultures, but touch was still not something she liked.

Well. They left her alone enough.

"I can get it," she said in a voice both quiet and firm. More tea sounded like a good idea with the chill coming in under the doors.

[Liam Farrell]

Liam nodded when Ezem spoke. "Please and thanks. That sounds good." He'd never had blueberries in tea before.

[Smoke]

Smoke coalesced from the shadows of the stairwell as Odol passed, giving the man an amused once-over as they passed each other.

"Dark and stormy night out there, ah?" His voice echoed a few steps ahead of him before he reached the main room, and his eyes flicked over to Liam once he entered. "Full of creeps and goblins, and desperate travellers looking for refuge from the elements?"

Winds rolled her eyes as he came in, folding her book closed over her thumb and slipping off to grab the tea. Smoke gave Liam a small, shallow bow.

"Welcome back to the Loa, Sir Irish. How's your new life been treating you?"

[Liam Farrell]

Liam looked around and grinned when Smoke came in. He returned the bow with a nod and said, "I have food, shelter, money, education and friends. Nothing to complain about."

[Odol Xhyl]

Odol smirked and flicked one of his wings at Smoke's back as he ascended the stairs, sprinkling his back with a few drops of water.

Ezem propped his chin on one fist and offered Winds a little smile and nearly imperceptible nod of his head as she got up. He rather liked having her around, truth be told, though maybe that was because Romi liked having her around.

Oh well. He stood upright to sweep his gaze over the tavern proper while the group conversed, making sure that all folk sheltering for the night seemed content with their food and drink. He would go around and turn down the benches in the booths soon, flip over the tables to the padded undersides and line each with blankets and a pillow to create a square nest of sorts.

Odol made his reentrance a minute or two later, in dry clothes, with a soft grey t-shirt and a towel draped over one arm. "Here y'go, Liam," he said, ducking his head a bit to pass through the walkway from the stairwell.

[Liam Farrell]

Liam smiled and stood up to take the towel and shirt. "Thanks again." He ducked into the nearest bathroom to change in private, and came back with his wet shirt in a bundle and the towel wrapped around his hair. The shirt felt a little strange, what with the inevitable holes in the back to let Ezem's wings through, but it was warm and dry and that was really what mattered.

He hopped back up onto his barstool to wait for the tea Winds was getting, adjusting the chain of the locket around his neck as he did so.

[Vincent Hawk]

Vincent glanced over and caught sight of the locket glinting against Liam's borrowed shirt -- silver set with peridots, and engraved with Celtic-looking knotwork. "That's a lovely locket. Where did you get it?"

[Liam Farrell]

Liam looked over at Professor Vincent, one hand moving to touch the locket. "It was my sister's."

[Odol Xhyl]

Odol, in the process of taking a seat at the bar, did a tiny double-take and looked at Liam carefully. Ezem didn't miss the extra movement, and arched an eyebrow at his fellow Wakeling.

Odol gave Ezem a sideways glance and furrowed his brow for a split second, tapping his fingers lightly on the countertop before he spoke. "You never did tell me her name, Liam."

[Liam Farrell]

Liam took a slow breath and looked over at Odol. "She goes by Eve."

[Smoke]

Smoke ignored the water flicks, grinning at the crew. Liam clearly had something on his mind- his own mind flipped through all kinds of interesting scenarios before he caught onto the space between past tense and present.

"And it's found its way to you? That sounds like a story- is it one for strange company?" He lingered in front of the bar a while, then turned his grin to Ezem. "And in a related question, am I too late for one last drink? My other business took... longer than expected."

[Odol Xhyl]

Ezem quirked one corner of his lips upward and shrugged. "I don't see why I can't mix something up for you. Any preferences?"

[Liam Farrell]

Liam looked at Smoke and shrugged. "It's a memento. I don't see how that's unusual." He really hoped they wouldn't press him with questions; it'd been hard enough explaining this to Odol in the library, let alone in front of a bunch of other people.

[Smoke]

With Ezem's response, Smoke took a seat at the bar, leaning on one elbow. "Something with curaçao and surprise me?"

"A memento is a little unusual if the person in question is still around. Though maybe that was a slip of the tongue?"

[Sponsored content]