Trials and Trivialities; a poet in Germany [open]

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Berlin, Germany 

Goodness, there were lights everywhere -- at all times of day, of every color and shape. Their cords embraced themselves upon the border of cafe awnings, standing, neon fixtures garnishing the entrance of every night-dweller's home, of drugged pipe-dreams and muddied regrets; and in the midst of this mechanically abstruse architecture there were lush patches of pine trees that broke what could be a monotonous scene to any native of this city. And the people of this place looked angelic, frosty-haired and pale-eyed pieces of genetic art with the bone structure of a heavenly sculpture. Berlin was a treasure -- truly, a city like no other to be held in high regard and especially revered by any and every traveler.

---

Sicherer Hafen; 'Safe Haven' was the pub Ilya planted herself with utmost reluctance, a tight smile and a contrived resume. It was, by mention in her father's journal of Esseri Mistici and a barely-floating rumor of Berlin, a place of company for both cloaked supernatural and natural alike -- but after two tedious weeks of tending to a bar that only filled by quarters by night's end, she held her doubts, and with obvious reason. The tips weren't steady, the wage was second-rate and the owner spoke to her in the most rustic Swiss that she couldn't grasp her mind around him. 

Her daily dose of  'thrill' relied on the few travelers that stepped in for a 'cultured beer' and some pictures of the rickety structure -- and by 'cultured beer', they apparently meant the most Americanized lager an american could order in Berlin.  "A'right, you two enjoy the rest of your travels," Ilya called out to each pair to leave, her voice rasp and heavy with the thickest of Scottish accents, "Bloody ignorant hackit bassa," She grumbled in a breath once left alone with the owner. He would in turn grumble just as harshly about the slang of Scots, and she couldn't disagree. They did sound as though they were speaking downright drivel -- and maybe they actually were.

But what was concretely true for Scots and Ilya especially was that they are resilient -- maybe single-minded was better wording, but resilient sounded more complimentary. Berlin was an aesthetically pleasing city for her slate-colored eyes to rest upon, and the natives were kind. She made the decision to wait longer, or at least until she found a more promising location to hound. And besides, the rent for a room above Sicherer Hafen was tremendously forgiving for her lack of payment.

--- 

It was an evening like any other, and Ilya stood against the wood grain of the bar top with her elbows resting lazily. She would smile, feigned yet amiable, at every person to pass through the doors. She didn't ache for company nor a hefty tip -- but a greeting was protocol and the smile was a gesture of absent-minded second nature.

[Kage Jaeger]

     Kage slipped in to the bar, his cloak swirling about his legs as he moved in to the the bar. He went and sat alone in a dark corner of the room, staying to himself with his hood up covering his head and casting his face in to deep shadows obscuring his features. Sitting by himself, Kage watched the people coming and going from the bar around him and how the lady at the counter seemed to be attempting to be friendly enough. He noticed however that she did not really seem all that in to the act. It was almost as if she had had a long day, yet she seemed wearier then that. Almost as if she did not want to be here at all any longer, in the sense that she did not want to work here any longer. Kage wondered why that would be. After all, this job did not seem all that bad. She could get drinks whenever she wanted, talk to interesting people from all over the place, and get decent tips. She seemed pretty enough, and he knew that the prettier you where the better tips you got. A sad truth in the service industry, one he did not propagate by tipping any decent waitress or waiter equally as long as they did their job well.

     Kage finally decided to be a kind individual, and he reached up and gently pushed his hood back away from his face. He then stood up, and walked over to the bar and sat upon a stool there. He looked at the female working there, not saying anything at first as he simply looked at the female. After a few seconds, he finally spoke in his deep voice, his dark hair curtained about his face. He was a pretty simple guy, not unintelligent but sparse with his words and not one to mince them in an effort to confuse people.

     "Hello." 

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Ilya was thoroughly aware of the cloaked presence in the corner -- and she was just as aware of his stare on her as she worked; or rather, it was a gut assumption based on the feeling that she was being watched, and it was a near-empty pub. She broke herself from being lost in her thoughts and would bob her head to each patron to leave, a glass, mug or iron tankard in her little hands to be swiped clean by a bleach-water soaked rag. It was as humdrum as it was calming, and the soles of her feet began to throb as it hit the tenth hour of her shift.

She was turned half-away from Kage, but kept her eye peeled to him as she noticed movement; a single breath of reprieve leaving her rose-hued lips, since she had made a muted decision that he could be a statue. It was totally viable. Ilya was surprised, however, when he spoke to her -- truly, she thought a furtive-looking character such as him wouldn't be one for words. She pivoted on the heel of her boot with a squeak and turned towards Kage, not ceasing the cleaning of the tankards. She was the only employee active, and a natural busy bee, after all. And due to her fatigue and lack of hope for the supernatural in this neck of the wood, she didn't dare make the assumption that this man, of all those to pass through her bar, was one to change her mind. 

"Hey, mate," Ilya replied half-heartedly, offering him a small smile and a brief moment of inspection. "What can I do for you?"

[Kage Jaeger]

     Kage watched as the female spoke, contemplating her as she did so. He did not respond at first as he took his time contemplating his words. He was not over fast with his words, spewing them out whenever they entered his mind like many people did. He believed words had power, and thus he spoke them only when they needed to be spoken and was extremely careful about what words where spoke and what information passed from his mind to his lips, and thus from his lips to the ears of others and then from there to their minds. He was a shinobi, an agent of deceit and stealth and misdirection.

     Kage finally decided to respond to the female who had turned towards him and spoke. She asked him that question, and he was not sure how to respond. She really could not do anything for him, at least not at the present. He was after all simply, waiting. He needed for somebody to show up after all, and before that happened he was forced to wait either impatiently or patiently. He chose the later, because becoming upset and stressed out was bad for one's health and resulted in poor conditions that would lower his abilities.

     "The better question, ma'am, is what can I do for you?"

     His words came out in Japanese at first, however the male quickly corrected himself and repeated his responding query in English for the female with an addition.

     "Apologizes. The better question, ma'am, is what can I do for you?"

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    This wasn't Jack's first trip to Germany, though the young man was hoping it wouldn't end as poorly as his last had. He'd been in Frankfurt not too long ago and there he'd somehow ended up in a parking garage. Which was weird considering he rarely drove and definitely didn't have a car, especially not in Frankfurt, a place he'd never been. Anyways, he'd nearly beaten two guys to death after a daemon had seen fit to drive him into a murderous rage with a few unfortunate magical nudges to his emotions. Super rude, by the way. It's just not nice to mess with people like that, ya know?

    The young man entered the bar. Or pub or whatever. Anyways, he approached the bar and took a seat. In this case, bar is referring to the bar inside of the pub, the building itself because sitting outside would be weird, even for him.

    Ok. So Jack had taken a seat inside the pub at the bar. He noticed there weren't very many people around, the nearest being some guy a couple seats down who was presently chatting with the bar tender, but that was fine with Jack. He wasn't super talkative just then, being in the process of a huge sugar crash. The best thing for it was more candy, which he'd brought, and something to wash the candy down with, which he would buy.

    Jack stuffed a handful of candy in his face, chewing the sugary goodness while he thought about what to order.

[Linette Nerissa]

Linette dashed through the streets of Berlin attempting to out run the mob of crazy fans pursueing her. She hadnt even had a chance to change out of her stage clothes when theyd jumped her. The silver and blue outfit adorned to her looked quiet out of place; not mention it screamed im right here catch me if you can.

She made a quick right and almost ran straight into a couple exiting a small pub; seeing the oppurtunity though she bolted through the still open door closing it behind her.

With a thud she slumped to the floor back still pressed up against the closed door; taking exasperated breathes. She was going to have to get a membership at a gym if this kept happening.

The pub didnt appear to be paticularly busy with only three people at the bar one being what she assumed to be the bartender.

[Ilyα Cяσw]

"Er, I'm not entirely certain you can help me with anything, mate," Ilya remarked to the man with a solitary, puzzled laugh to fill the void of silence, and a skeptical squint as she looked him over for the second time. What in the tenth circle of hell was this bloke on about?

Her attention was then directed to Jack -- and she would, by custom, greet him with a lop-sided smile and a downward nod. Her smile was dirtied, however, by the puzzlement of the cryptic bits of conversation of other man. "Er -- ah, hey. Can I get you anything?" Her voice flowed with the accent of a back-wood Scot.

She set the now clean tankard and glass down and cleared her throat, lips parting to confide more skin-deep words before the bell of the entrance rang wildly with the arrival of yet another bizarre character.  Gods, she thought, what a random night to have this little pub fill with something other than flat, traveling Americans. Ilya slid over the bar-top, nearly colliding with Jack if it weren't for a last-second maneuver, and rushed to the door to lock it with an aged key. 

"Are you, uh, runnin' from the police or something?" She quipped to the vibrant-colored woman against the door. "It's locked, but I've got no experience in hiding criminals, to be frank -- and Gods, are you a colorful lookin' criminal." Another laugh -- to lighten what a strange mood the pub took over all of a sudden.

[Kage Jaeger]

     Kage watched as the female seemed really confused by his retaliatory question, however another customer enter the bar and she went to greet the male. Kage glanced over, and instantly recognized the other male. It was Jack, somebody whom he had meet before on several occasions. This time it seemed that Jack either did not recognize himself (something that seemed extremely unlikely because how many people wearing shinobi robes did anybody meet now a days) or that he was ignoring him for some reason or another. Either way, Kage decided to simply remain silent and let it pass instead of making a scene from the situation.

      When the female suddenly burst in and slammed the door shut, Kage watched as the bar tender suddenly leap over the bar and locked the door. This made the ends of Kage's lips pull down, because the person he was waiting for was suppose to show up soon and with the door locked how was that person suppose to enter the bar? Kage hoped that whatever was going on would resolve itself quickly. He stood up quickly, and went to a window, and grabbing the small cord quickly lowered the blinds. Whoever this new comer female, in her flashy garb, was she clearly was wanting to hide and a wide open window was not going to help that. He gently pulled a corner of the blinds open, peering out from them and watching with amusement as a mob of people went running past the bar.

     Kage looked down at the female, raising his right eyebrow and gently reached out, offering his hand to help her to her feet.

     "Whoever you are, you seem to have avoided your gaggle of squawking tag alongs."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    While he waited, the young man scratched his chin. Jack was thirsty, but what did he want to drink? Well, he was in a bar, well, pub, so it would be weird if he ordered water or juice or something weird like milk, probably. The bartender approached and asked him what he'd like. Uh oh, decision time.

    "I'd like a, uh, um-" Jack began before a young woman burst into the pub, interrupting him. In all the excitement of her arrival and the bartender leaping over the bar to lock the door, he just plain forgot to make his order. Thankfully, she didn't knock his candy to the floor with her acrobatics.

    Anyways, the young man turned to look at the new stranger, curious. With her blue hair and unusual clothing, Jack was of the opinion that she seemed rather strange. But then again, he wasn't from round here so maybe this happened more frequently than he'd think. She was out of breath as if she'd been running from something or someone. Jack couldn't help but wonder what. Well, the bartender had already asked her so he just ate some more candy and waited for a response. It wasn't like he could leave or anything, the door having been locked and all.

    Glancing around the place, Jack took a closer look at the other guy and he had to admit the guy looked awfully familiar. He was almost like this one guy he'd met a couple times. His name was something like "Kage?"

[Linette Nerissa]

"If it were only the police" Linette giggled also accepting the strangers hand to help her up. She hadn't noticed til now but her headset was still on it's stage setting making the room rather dark. With a gentle tap to the sensor by her temple the lens in her visor adjusted to to crystal clear allowing for a better surveillance of her surroundings; the pub was not very large but had a homey feel to it. "I'm Linette its nice to meet you" she smiled to the bartender who'd come to help her " I may be colorful, but i am no criminal, and that gaggle of squawking tag alongs were some of the fans from my concert earlier this evening" she shifted her gaze to the young man who'd helped her up.

Blinking a few times to confirm what she was seeing was real, Linette realized that he was wearing what could only be described as interesting pajamas. "I thought my out fit was out of place" she said out loud unintentionally. She clapped both hands over her mouth quickly realizing that her thoughts had just slipped out. "Sorry..." she said with a grimace.

"If it's ok with you i'd like to stay here until my security team can meet me here" she said twirling around in an attempt to find her non-existent purse "Does anyone have a computer i can borrow?"

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Ilya hummed -- a silly, thoughtful sounding hum as she took in Linette's words. She was embarrassed for a single moment, seeing as she had not a single clue who this person was, albeit she was allegedly a hit of fame. Gods, if this wasn't a reason better than any other to stay put in Berlin for the sights -- the sights being strangers, 'course. She removed her woolen, zip-up jacket and offered it to Linette begrudgingly as she unlocked the entrance, since, well -- no police.
"Use the hood, since the blue hair ain't doin' much for you, lass. You've got a right to stay -- it's a public establishment after all." She 'hmph's out a peep of a laugh. "I'll scare any paparazzi with some, like, gutteral wailing or summin'. I've got a pair of lungs, I do."
Ilya stopped in her tracks of rambling and looked between Kage, Jack and Linette -- in question, or in bumbling befuddlement, even she was unsure. 
"Well, since the introductions have started -- the name's Ilya Crow."

[Kage Jaeger]

     Kage helped the female to her feet, then listened as she explained her flock of followers where fans swarming her he chuckled softly to himself. He was not one for keeping up with famous individuals of the world or local settings. He simply did not have time for the fads, the styles, and anything else. Not to mention he would never have anyway of keeping up with any of them with no form of electronics he carried other then the single basic slip style cellphone he had been given by Seraphina to contact her. So of course he did not know Linette's name.

     He looked over at Jack when the male finally recognized him, and nodded at the male to show he recognized him back. When Linette spoke about his cloths, he raised his eyebrows both high and looked at her intently. Pajamas? She thought he was wearing pajamas? He was not accustomed to the fashion trends of other people, however he was pretty certain that nobody else in the world wore such cloths as pajamas.

     "These are not pajamas, ma'am. They are traditional shinobi clothing with my cloak. I would offer my cloak to you instead of that jacket, it would cover more. However, I would not wish you to harm yourself."

     He left that comment alone, and seeing as everybody was now acquainted and getting to know each other he moved away and moved back to the corner in which was originally seated. As he turned to seat himself, he looked at everybody once more.

     "Indeed, everybody is welcome to stay. However I must warn everybody.... I am expecting somebody and it might get a little....interesting."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "Hi Linette," Jack responded almost automatically in greeting when the blue haired woman told them her name. Linette then decided to comment on the strangeness of Kage's outfit and that was when the young man decided he liked her. The ninja did dress weirdly, considering he dressed like a ninja and normal people didn't walk around dressed like ninjas. Anyways, she seemed to be some sort of celebrity if she had a gaggle of fans and a security team chasing her about.

    Apparently they were doing introductions now. Jack wasn't entirely familiar with Berlin's pub customs, so he figured he should probably just go with it. "Hello, everyone. I'm called Ten, but my friends call me Jack sometimes. Nice to meet you, Ilya and Linette." He waved awkwardly to the other individuals in the room. Could this really be something people actually did? Whatever. He was rolling with it.

    Now Kage was apparently in charge of whether or not they were allowed to stay in the pub. If Jack hadn't been confused before, he totally was now. Oh well. He intended to stay. At least until he got something to drink. Then maybe he'd go home. Although, when he thought about it, teleporting while intoxicated was probably dangerous.

[Linette Nerissa]

" Thank you very much" Lin said accepting the warm jacket with a jubilant smile. She rubbed the warm wool material between her fingers and thumb before dawning the comfy garment;  the wool fibers still warm from their previous wearer. Lin couldn't help but giggle at her comment about scaring away the paparazzi; most people didn't sing as bad as they thought they did. Maybe if the night progressed they cold sing a duet together.

Her attention then shifted to the pajama man; as he tried to elaborate upon where his Pajamas came from, but completely disengaging after the first couple words in confusion. "Note to self Pajama man is going to have a party or something" this time keeping her mental dialogue to her self.

Her short attention was then drawn to the handle full of colorful sugar in the newly minted Ten's hand. " Are those gummy bears can, can i have some?" she asked excitedly

[Ilyα Cяσw]

Like Jack, Ilya was likewise baffled by the pajama fellow's sudden vocalized authority on who was able to stay in the pub -- truly, she could dismiss the three if she had that fancy, but the till had an obligation of currency and she desired the company. A simper formed at the curl of her lips as she watched the colorful lass take and fondle her jacket, seemingly comforted.
"Pleasant to meet you strange bunch," Ilya says to the group after a blip of thought, treading her way back over to the bar-top and doing a less polished scamper over it to reach the alcohol -- it was more like a tragically lame scoot of her bum. At least she landed on her feet, right?
She eyed the shelves fervently, thoughtfully -- sweeping a low-lidded, attentive gaze first over the first shelf: cheap liquors and the tap. Promptly, Ilya set her sights on the top shelf of costly commercial spirits and, rising to the tip-toes of her boots, brought down a dauntingly dark-colored bottle of gin.
"Mm, splendid -- shots for the four of us. Pajama dude is buyin'," She pipes out as she set enough shot glasses down for them all -- even if they didn't drink, surely, since Ilya herself would take it for them. She poured clear, cooled liquor into each glass in a sloppy manner and downed the first one without a wink of time passing. It warmed her throat in the most consoling of ways. Another simper.

"Jokin'. The drinks are on the house if you want one."