[Flashback - Kelp Bar]A Brew Best Served Salty... (Cris)

[Chevis Maelstrom]

Timestamp: Spring 57, 509 Location: The Kelp Bar Who: Chevis and Crismento Miren Chevis was way out of his normal waters. He had gotten that itch that had plagued him for years to get out of the Suvan, only to get the itch to return. He didn't even let his pod know he was traveling, just disappeared suddenly, just like he would reappear in the same manner. Most wouldn't care, save Citrine, who would likely throw a huge fit that he didn't bring her. But he would deal with that whirlpool when he got to it. For now he needed to focus on steering his ship threw Mathews Bay. He sat at the back of the Bongodier the rudder lever in on hand, the rope to his sail in the other. The wind favored him today, driving him toward the port city of Zeltiva. As he neared, he saw the massive hustle and bustle of huge amounts of ships. He looked over the side and saw the reptilian head of Tiana pop out. "Ok this will be tricky Ti, so dive deep, and guard our home when I park her. I'll bring you some tasty snacks when I get back." Her eyes showed understanding, as she dove under the surf so she wouldn't get hit by the ships. Chevis looked carefully ahead of him, these ships were constantly crossing paths with one another without crashing. Chevis smiled. This would be fun, he wondered if he could cause some trouble. He planned his route, and shifted his sail for maximum speed. The wind seemed to be favoring his plan of mischief. He shifted his rudder to carry the Bongodier toward a large sloop. He adjusted his sails accordingly, and his casinor was nearing the front of the sloop. Getting his timing just right, he quickly shifted the sails and rudder, so the Bongodier passed across the sloop's path. The sailors on the sloop panicked and threw into a hard turn. Chevis then put the Bongodier towards the next nearest ship, a small fishing boat. He could feel the currents fighting the rudder, but the wind steered him true. Once more his nimble cut off the fishing boat. He did this until he managed to cause a massive traffic jam out in the port. Technically he did nothing wrong, since none crashed, but he liked making life difficult for these people. He docked the Bongodier, and hopped onto the dock. A quick query lead him to standing in front of the run down shack that is The Kelp Bar. He pushed his way into the loud, patron filled tavern and sat upon a rickety stool. He ordered the infamous kelp beer and paid the bartender. He looked at the dark green liquid and smiled. Nothing like a good stiff drink. Despite it's offputting color he had to follow the rule the twins from his pod had. When in doubt, relax your throat and ignore the saltiness. Chevis strongly suspected that saying had nothing to do with Kelp Beer but it would come in handy now. He took a long swig of the foul brew. Very strong foul brew. A few of these and Chevis would be lost at sea so to speak. He looked around the bar, trying to find something of interest.

[Crismento Miren]

”And not only that, Nemur. Oh noooo, not only that,” a drunken voice was pouring out its grief. ”She took my kids… My money... And took off. That bloody bitch stabbed with a dagger at my heart and ripped out my pride! Am I a man now? Am I still a man now? Huh, Nemur?” Crismento was looking at the drunkard with a bored and tired look though the man was several mugs too deep to notice it. ”Don’t beat yourself so hard, Tirgas. Pride is not something you can’t get back. You’ll recover, trust me.” The man turned to Cris, his lips forming into a shape to reflect some sort of agreement and determination. ”Nemur, you’re a real man, you know. A real man! I respect a real man. Truly. Trulytrulyrevspek...” Tirgas took another big swig of Kelp beer. It was getting difficult to understand what he was trying to say. ”Why did I start awout this? Huh?” He was looking at Cris with a blank stare, trying to remember something at least from two chimes ago. ”Don’t mind that, my friend. You spoke what’s on your heart and if it helped heal your wounds at least a little bit, that would be the most important.” It was useless. This Tirgas had nothing interesting or valuable to say, give or be taken. It may have been true that he had gotten close to the man’s heart in a couple of bells, but Cris wasn’t here to make friends with drunks. And he probably will be forgotten by Tirgas the very next morning. The lush’s eyes started watering as if the man was about to cry. ”Do you respvek me, Nemur?” The con man exhaled silently in slight annoyance, ”Of course I do, my friend, of course I do.” The drunk man raised his mug and leaned back in his chair. ”To Nemur!” he shouted out trying to defeat the overwhelming noise in the tavern. ”The man who zez wurts the I her ind sounz music wheh…” his words gradually deteriorated into a mess of sounds impossible to understand and soon to hear as his voice grew quieter and quieter. Eventually the man just sat there in his chair, leaning back, with his eyes seemingly having left the real world. Tirgas started nid-nodding and after about half of chime his head finally lolled forward letting his mind escape into the Dreamscape. Cris was happy that he did not need to find a way to finish their overly productive conversation. He glanced at his mug that only lacked a few small sips. The young man was certain that a poisoned rotting fish on fire would taste better than this mess. Unfortunately, it would have been very difficult to get close to anyone in the bar if he was only drinking water. Postponing another taste of kelp beer, Crismento looked around the inn. Like always it was the usual folk: sailors, drunkards and those who were both. Occasional faces that appeared to have been expecting something different than this bar provided would quickly disappear or be overwhelmed by the strength of beer and soon find a comfortable place on the table, ground or chair, like his new friend Tirgas. He noticed a lean, dark haired man, who, judging from his seemingly sober state, was a new arrival to the bar. Cris decided to give it one last try before calling it a day. After all, he had been low on his luck recently and didn’t have much to lose. So Crismento rose from his seat and without much wandering around approached the man, dropping into the chair beside him. It was a dangerous move, knowing the poor quality of furniture in the tavern, but this time he was spared. ”Trying to drown a bad day or a bad life with this venom?” he asked with a playful and understanding smile.