paixaorpg | Unemployment [Active/Open]

Character(s): Megara, Reno, open
Content: Megara finds the Seventh Heaven empty and Tifa nowhere to be seen.
Setting: Seventh Heaven [G7]
Time: Week 20, midday
Warnings: Probably none.

Even after Hades had pretty much obliterated any delusions Megara had about being an independent career woman, she still came to the bar to work. Though she'd never admit it, working at the Seventh Heaven fulfilled her in a way she hadn't felt in a very long time. And seeing as Hades didn't seem to particularly care if she pretended to be a normal citizen for awhile, she saw no reason to end her employment.

So it wasn't completely unnatural that she felt a sense of dread as she came up to the building and found it eerily still and dark. What was going on? Where was Tifa? Her boss took her business very seriously; if she couldn't open for the day, surely she would have contacted her employees.

Scowling, Megara approached the door. There was something just not right about any of this. The door was unlocked but no one was inside? She opened the door and stepped into the dim tavern, blinking a few times to allow her eyesight to adjust. Her suspicions mounted as she saw some paperwork neglected on the counter, a cup of cold tea laying next to it.

"Great," she muttered, hugging herself close. The one place of sanctuary for her and of course something had to happen to it. Maybe that flame-haired creep had changed his mind, punished Tifa for giving Meg even the slightest bit of happiness.

She felt her heart tighten a bit at that thought.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was certainly possible. Reno, however, had other guesses at the cause. Assuming that Tifa really had left (and so far he was only assuming she was), she wouldn't have been the only person he'd seen leave. Of course, this was assuming that one meant a more metaphorical sort of seeing. He hadn't actually been there to observe the occasion himself.

He wasn't really sure he'd want to have been.

In the meantime, however, he was perfectly prepared to camp out at Seventh Heaven and see what happened. He just hadn't been expecting to find someone else already there when he arrived.

"Somethin' th' matter?"

Meg repressed the urge to whirl around in surprise, though the voice seemed to come out of nowhere to her. She looked over her shoulder at the man who'd entered, one eyebrow arched. She gave him a quick once-over and, deciding he didn't seem an outright threat, turned to face him fully, arms crossed.

"Just finding myself out of a job. If you're looking for a meal, you won't find one here."

"Tifa hired you?" The tone in his voice was one more of honest curiosity than one intended to slight her skills. It was just that he hadn't ever been aware of the fact that she'd been hiring. She'd managed the place just fine on her own before.

But hey, if she'd hired someone they presumably had some sort of qualifications to the position. Presumably.

Edited 2010-04-03 23:56 (UTC)

"What, you didn't see the post she put up on the message board awhile back?" Meg asked, shifting her weight so that one hip jutted out. "She hired a few other people too." She looked away, gaze traveling to the abandoned paperwork. She grew silent for a moment, lost in thought.

She suddenly sighed and broke out of her reverie, moving towards the bar. "How do you know Tifa?" She glanced at the man over her shoulder as she picked a glass from the shelf. "I didn't know she had a thing for redheads."

Not really, no. He hadn't exactly been keeping an eye out for that sort of thing and there was somewhat fewer things of interest on the message board these days anyway. Besides, why would he want to look for a job when he had the option of treating it like a vacation instead?

"We're from th' same place," he answered with a slight shrug. "Hard to not know her, really."

For now, he'd leave out the little fact that they'd technically been on different 'sides' for a good while.

Having no way of knowing Reno's inner thoughts, Meg pursed her lips and tried to guess at what he wasn't saying. The guy was too evasive, which normally wouldn't be that alarming, but in the wake of Tifa's disappearance...well, she was paranoid, but paranoia and skepticism had kept her alive so far.

She poured what she could only guess was a drink stiffer than juice into the glass and took a drink, eyeing him over the rim. "So you wouldn't happen to know where she went, would you?"

He couldn't really help being evasive. It was what one could call a job skill. But it had served him well enough thus far. Old habits, after all. Admittedly, if he'd known she had a problem with the matter, he might have made an attempt to be less so. Since he didn't, however, he simply continued on as normal

"Same place everyone who left's gone?" he answered with a shrug.

Well, that was helpful. Still, she couldn't be all that surprised. The amount of things people knew here was vastly outnumbered by what they didn't know. Sometimes Megara even suspected Hades wasn't all that sure about this place either, despite what he'd like her to think.

She sighed, giving him a little nod. "Guess that's that, then. The Seventh Heaven is closed for business and I'm out of a job." She paused as a thought popped into her head. "...unless I can find some employees myself. I can't cook, but who's to say no one else around here can?" Megara leaned forward on the counter, chin in her hands as she considered the idea.

Edited 2010-04-09 20:21 (UTC)

"You could try th' messageboard. Worked last time, didn't it?"

'Last time' here being the time Tifa had put up her hiring call, but details. It had worked and that was the most important thing right. After all, he wasn't about to offer his services up anytime soon - he and the kitchen were on... tenuous terms at best. He could make enough of the more basic things to keep himself fed, but start asking him to go past that and 'disaster' was the least of the applicable terms.

He could, however, mix pretty much any drink you'd heard of and possibly some you hadn't but that wouldn't exactly solve the problem at hand.

"That would be the smart choice," she admitted. She straightened, eyeing him with a mix of caution and curiosity. "Hey, what's your name, anyway? I don't think I've ever actually seen you around." Meg grabbed another glass and poured more into it.

She didn't trust him; she didn't trust anyone, but if he was a friend of Tifa, it wouldn't hurt to see what else he had to say, if anything. She brought the glass around the counter and offered it to him, lips quirked into the smallest of smirks.

She hadn't seen him around because he hadn't really been around, not that he was about to mention that. He'd just decided that today was a good day to come bother Tifa. What he offered, however was simply an easy smile.

"Name's Reno."

No last name and no real identifying marks beyond his looks, although that latter was perhaps plenty enough all told. But since she hadn't asked for his life story to go with his name - and might not have mentioned it even if she had - he simply took the offered drink. Why bother turning down something free?

"Reno? Can't say I've heard that name before," she replied, heading back to the bar. He was certainly a lot more stoic and taciturn than Tifa had been. Two sentences into their first conversation and the girl was opening herself up like a dam. Struggling to find a way to keep the flow of conversation now (that was what business owners were supposed to do, right), she couldn't decide what was better.

"Have any other suggestions? I'm not exactly an old pro at owning a bar," Meg said, leaning her back against the counter and offering him a crooked smile. "You wouldn't happen to need a job, would you?"

Stoic? Hardly, although he'd admit to not being as talkative as he might have been in other situations. No, if she'd wanted stoic, she'd have to talk to Rude. That was stoic. He was just being careful. Why, he had no idea since it wasn't like there was a lot of need here, but he could figure that out late.

"Long as the boss doesn't end up showin' up again, I ain't doin' much. Just don't ask me t' cook."

"Hey, I'm not that mean," she said with a half-grin, holding out her hands. "Wouldn't ask anyone to undertake that quest without some serious experience." She put her elbows behind her on the counter, tilting her head to fully appraise the man in front of her.

"...if you stop by now and again, just to keep the, uh, rougher element out of her, I'd pay you. I'm less likely to have trouble if there's someone around who looks like they can throw a punch."

"Good t' know," he answered with a grin.

By looks, he wasn't all that much, between the rumpled suit and habitual slouch. But he could certainly manage to keep trouble to a minimum just fine. It was even close enough to what he'd normally have been doing, although his proper job generally involved a good deal more running around.

"Pretty sure I can manage that, yo."

Unemployment [Active/Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject