Completed Little Talks

[Ricky Maze]

Little Talks
Spring 4th 516 AV, 12th Bell
Location: The Sharp Tongue Pub

He hadn't been here for years and somehow the place managed to remain the same, although a few people were missing and replaced with different regulars of the day. Perhaps it depended on the timing really, either way there was still that one guy who the father had to meet up with. Yeller had a few patrons that just walked through the door so he had to tend to them first, but he knew he had a potential new asset the the crew he had assembled for the brewery. There wasn't but another here to help him out, a lass with bright brown hair and a cheeky grin. Ricky had to admit a lot had changed here in the past few years he was gone, but somehow this place still managed to feel the same after all this time. "Yeller will be right with ya." She reminded him as she passed him to head downstairs on the main level, the fisherman merely smiled with a nod as he continued to wait patiently. How exciting was this suppose to be? It was a new job in a new direction, and hopefully one that would keep his mind a little occupied.

He would see soon enough then; as she took over serving the few guys that entered, while the man of the bell himself finally came up to say hello. "So you're the one that sent the letter?" He asked with a friendly smile on his face, Ricky returned the smile out of courtesy in their meeting.

"Aye," He responded with a firm handshake with the man, "Ricktar Barnello sir, t'ough ye can call me Ricky."

"Ricky," He crooned his head with a squint in his eyes, "Don't I know you by chance?" Honestly the fisherman didn't think he'd left an impression worth remembering, but then again he was in the presence of another who seemed to know him better.

"Amelias' friend remember? She asked fer yer help in findin' a friend o' mine."

"That's right! The man from Zeltiva am I right? You actually look different from way back when!" The revelation of his memory became clear as the name seemed to spell it out, Amelias who was also known as Zandelia seemed a personal contact he'd unlikely forget about.

"Well Oi am actually, Oi've gotten fatter." He mused as they both laughed a little bit, finally after they calmed down and grabbed a chair, business could at last begin.

"So Rick, can I call you Rick?"

"O' course!" He acknowledged with a bit of encouragement.

"Great great, now you said in your letter that you're interested in a job here?" Yeller inquired with arms folded over each other on the table.

"Yeah actually. Oi um, Oi've fallen in a bit o' a bind an' was hopin' t' try out bar tendin' if ya wouldn't mind."

"Well what are you usually doing? Besides hunting down damsels in distress." The added comment was more or less for the sake of a joke, a kick which at least brought a smirk out of the father.

"Well Oi actually used t' be a fisherman, an' before Oi had t' leave Zeltiva Oi was part o' de city watch."

"Okay," Yeller seemed to mentally write down the information he'd just learn, and shortly after that their brief interview turned into some conversations here and there, most of it not necessarily important but essential to learn more about one another. If Ricky were to start working here after all he'd have to do his best to get to know everyone around here, and who better to start with than the man who actually owned the brewery.

[Ricky Maze]

"Well then I suppose we could do with another hand here." Yeller reasoned as he took a sip of his ale, they'd been busy with their discussion that they'd made it their second mug each, a conversation long enough for Yeller to at least feel comfortable in providing a place for Ricky to work it seemed. "Can't say I'm not surprised you came here of all places, Amelias made it a good impression on ya I take it?"

"Aye, Amelias only confirmed me thoughts on t'e place. Its got a nice bit o' charm what wit' everyone sharin' riddles." He remarked before a gulp of ale had been taken, afterwards he wiped the corner of his lip with a thumb with the intent of another new topic. "By the way Oi know she asked ya t' find me friend last time, alt'ough it wasn't exactly no small favor either." Yeller's grin seem to lessen as the subject to be brought up must've struck him curious, a bit of a lean in his form gave Ricky the inclination of striking a nerve by chance. "If ya don't mind me askin' ya, what exactly caused ya t' help 'er out? Was d'ere a favor in mind o' somethin'?"

First he seemed to pause in consideration and then finally Yeller decided to answer the question with just a casual smile. "Honestly there's more to it than that, but you could say we owed each other a few favors here and there. She was a nice gal of course and definitely resourceful in the time she visited." Just the answer Ricky needed to hear, because it confirmed that his suspicions were only true. Influence was a key factor here as well as anywhere else, and according to what he'd just heard a few strings would have to be pulled to gain his own personal favor. "Why do ya ask anyways?" An eyebrow seemed to arch as he crooned his head to the side a little, which had to be a suggestion that he was more or less curious of Ricky's own intent behind the question.

"Oi'll be honest wit' ya on d'is mate, it was a big favor Oi asked once... and Oi dun wanna go 'bout askin' it again so soon."

"Lost your friend again eh?" He smirked at the assumption with a hint of tease, but Ricky's failure to react had to have revealed a larger depth of gravity in this request.

"Not d'is time unfortunately. Instead Oi need t' find someone in Nyka, somebody who's got expertise in hypnotism instead." Yeller seemed to stiffen a little within the shoulders, and Ricky heard a sigh as he looked over to the left.

"Now that's a catch there. Hardly any challenge came to the first one since I already had tabs on everyone who came in, Amelias just described her so well at the time it was undeniably her..." Yeller's eyes traced back to Ricky once more, their gazes locked together as he finished his statement. "Finding someone like that is going to be like finding a black pearl out in the bay though. If you'd care to enlighten me as to why, then I just might consider it."

Ricky remained still as a stone as he had to swallow that one down hard, he had hoped he wouldn't have to shed any light on his recent past he'd ran away from, but it seemed he wasn't going to get very far without sharing something. "She's dead." He finally croaked as he looked down to his mug. "Me friend... she was murdered an' Oi couldn't save 'er. So rather t'an suffer d'is miserable pain in me heart, Oi'd like t' find a way t' move on from it. An' a hypnotist is just de person Oi'd need."

[Ricky Maze]

Just the mere mention of her name sparked painful memories of what had occurred, back when he remained locked within one of the cells the Wave Guard had within the lower level. Her last words somehow still haunted him to this very moment as he felt ready to choke, while a sudden emotional swell within his chest physically hurt him inside. Yeller seemed to falter in his happy-go-friendly expression when he'd heard what Ricky said, a sudden sense of loss for word prevalent in the man's eyes as he appeared troubled next.

"Wow..." He definitely appeared to be shocked to hear what he'd been told, who could blame him seeing as how it was practically unexpected to begin with. "I'm sorry Rick. I can't imagine what you must be goin' through, but are you really sure that's the kind of route you want to go?" He seemed concerned for Ricky actually, something that the fisherman lacked the capacity to determine honestly. Did Yeller seem to actually care? Or was it something else to be considered?

"It is." The fisherman finally answered as he stared heavily into the mug, the ale found within a sudden interest to alleviate the emotional pain he felt deep within. "Oi lost more t'an 'er a while back, everyt'in Oi ever had an' loved is gone now... Oi honestly can't say Oi'm better off livin' on while knowin' what Oi had is gone." He reasoned as he looked away from the mug with a soft nudge to put it aside, he wouldn't allow himself to fall into such habits this soon. He'd been there once a long time ago, and preferred to stay out of it while he could.

"I... honestly I can't say anything more than I'm sorry. Truly." To see the conversation even defeated Yeller's ability to communicate now somewhat amused Ricky, although he needn't even think about how easily he could relate to such a notion. "I'll do what I can to help you out, there's bound to be something I can turn up eventually. Might take a while though."

"Take as long as ye need mate, Oi just need a place t' keep me occupied while Oi wait."

"Well we have need of a spare bartender to stick around, question is though if I fall short of finding what you need; what would your intentions be then?" He posed with sharp eyes as he took another sip of his own ale.

"Honestly? Oi don't even know..." Giving into the need of something to wet his whistle he finally took another gulp of the ale he avoided. "Oi'd like t' stick around but if what Oi'm seekin' can't be found 'ere, t'en Oi'll probably 'ave t' move on an' look elsewhere." His eyes shot from the bottom of his empty mug to Yeller. "Would d'at be a problem?"

[Ricky Maze]

The question posed more ire than Ricky anticipated from what he could tell, unless of course Yeller just naturally frowned when faced with the fact potential workers could suddenly leave. "It isn't something I'm particularly a fan of, but you said you need a place to work right?" The fisherman nodded with hopes that the man wasn't dissuaded from taking him on. "I'll tell you what, I'll help you out as best as I can." The intent clearly became lost to Ricky as he'd fallen into surprise, a need to speak became a sudden loss of words when he tried to answer. This sudden gesture had to be an act of kindness he wasn't familiar with, certainly one he hadn't expected to come along out of anywhere. "I'll do some poking around to see what we can dig up, but I wouldn't expect to find any sort of hypnotist here. Until then you can consider yourself occupied with working here."

"So what if we dun find said hypnotist?" He inquired out of curiosity seeing as how that remained a high possibility.

"Well we'll cross that bridge when we get to it now won't we?" He crossed his arms with a smirk. "I want you ready to start in a few bells, we can show you the ropes from there."

Ricky wasn't sure how he should've felt about all this, aside from the fact he could never summarize his appreciation into words. Ultimately the best he could do was swallow hard to choke down the silence that clung to his throat, and at last say something that could at least start on elaborating such appreciation. "T'anks mate. Oi... dunno what t' say other t'an dat."