(The Golden Dragon) Working Around The Problem (Drask)

[Ever]

Season of Summer, Day 70 The Golden Dragon The morning was slowly setting into play, and the sun began to rise above the clouds, leaving a mixture of oranges, pinks, and reds in mountainous forms. It seemed to bring the Dragon to life in some odd way, that Ever noticed, but just couldn't put into words. The rush of customers had lessened, much to her relief, and made things at work seem a little less stressful...peaceful even if she dared to say so herself. The red headed entertainer found herself leaning against the wall next to the open window, head turned to the side so she could gaze out at the sunrise. She didn't care how cliche it looked to those around her, no, this was something she enjoyed doing, and people who wanted to ruin that would take no part in being around her. She felt drawn in by the shades and hues of the colors, and how full of life it was. She had yet to see a sunrise that was dull. There were only a few people seated throughout the lobby, a couple having already been served. Tearing her eyes away from the scene beyond the walls of the building, she went to tend to the still waiting customers. With a smile she greeted them all, and made sure they were all satisfied with the service they were recieving. She brought the drinks and food out to them, and as she watched them enjoy themselves, she noticed two people in particular with this group of people. It was a man and a woman. Their chairs had been moved closer together, enough for their knees to brush. She couldn't see, but by the way their arms were going, she had no doubt in her mind they were holding hands. The woman was talking to a friend across the table, but the whole time the man holding her hand wouldn't take his eyes off of her. Ever swallowed, and took her leave. Envy is a sin, not like she cared, but it was the best excuse she could come up with for herself. She hated the fact that she felt the need to have someone else. Her entire life, she had been deprived of people...good people. She didn't want it then, she didn't want it now, and that's all there was to it. But... Secretly, deep inside the hidden spaces of her thoughts, there is a solitary wish that dwells there, one that wants to not be alone. She walked into the kitchen, going to the sink where stacks and stacks of dirty dishes waited for her. She was going to be no good at work if she couldn't get all of these distractions out of her head. She wasn't alone, she would tell herself, she had six kittens waiting at home for her. They needed her, and she felt a deep sense of satisfaction at the thought, but...damn it, it wasn't enough. A frown etched itself onto her face, as she scrubbed at the dishes, hearing the distant buzz of the cooks voices as she lost herself in tormented and self loathing thoughts. Wash, dry, stack, and repeat. Saying these words in her head over and over again, she attempted to distract herself from her own thoughts, blocking out the world around her.

[Drask]

Drask woke dazedly from his sleep, his eyes fluttering open and close again in a neverending cycle. Around him lay the sheets and blankets that had not ended up the floor, a chaotic mess that hardly covered his body and instead seemed to encircle him in an egg-like shape. His arms extended out towards the ceiling, a low grunt emitting from the boy's lips as he stretched. When he attempted to manually open his eyes he was met by the orange light that had filtered through the window and tiny needles of light stung his eyes before he could roll away from the window and let out a long groan. "I've got to work today. C'mon. Get up." he tried to coax himself out of bed, but his late-night drinking antics had taken their toll. The young Kelvic lifted himself up to face the morning with his hair splayed out in every which way, a permanent bed-head. His bright yellow eyes seemed dull in comparison to the light that came trough the windows, what appeared to be the result of someone melting together gold, silver, and fire and throwing them all up into the sky. Then he had to remind himself that that you couldn't melt fire. He was too sleepy to think of a replacement, so he let the thought slide into the back of his head. Instead he let his eyes wander the room as he attempted to wake himself. But his mind was troubled, and it wasn't something he could wish away. His first night at the Golden Dragon played out again and again in his head, night after night it haunted his dreams. That night he had felt something he had never felt before, but he knew exactly what it was. Over the years he had tried to overpower the wolf that lie dormant inside him, but that night all it took was her words to break the control he had over himself. It wasn't someone one did easily, that was for sure. Yet she had done it with little effort. Or so it seemed. Drask couldn't, and hadn't, suppress the feeling he had for Ever. Even when she had shot him down, he could still feel himself succumbing to his own desires. They weren't sexual desires like the ones he had when they... bonded. Rather, a type of longing to be close to her. It was so strange, but the feeling he got when thinking about it made shivers run down his spine. By now he had realized that his cheek had gotten hotter, and Drask felt embarrassed for thinking such thoughts. Perhaps he was just being dramatic, maybe it was nothing more than infatuation. No. He couldn't bring himself to believe that. With that he pushed his thoughts to the side as he got ready for the day's work, but they continued to infiltrate his mind. Before too long, Drask had properly clothed himself for work. His unkempt hair was matted down a bit to make himself a little more presentable to the guests. After submerging his face in cold water, he braved the trek down to the main dining area of the Golden Dragon, ready for the day's work. He was grateful for the quiet morning, as his head was still spinning from his awakening. The low murmur of voices was calming to him, like the sound of the ocean to a sleeping baby. Which was a rather apt comparison in his opinion. He slid his way past the many tables that occupied the hall, noticing how small the Dragon looked when it wasn't crammed wall-to-wall with people. The smell of alcohol and vomit wafted into his nostrils, masked by the scent of cleaning solution. It wasn't an alltogether pleasant smell, but it was better than just the two formers. He pushed his way into the kitchen, where many of the other employees were idly chatting to one another as they prepared stoves, arranged utensils, and cleaned dishes. His drowsy eyes passed over his surroundings, looking for any work that could be done. His irises finally fell upon a large stack of dirty dishes that filled the sink with a single girl tending to them. "Good morning" he said automatically as he took a spot beside her and began to assist her with dish-washing. It wasn't until he turned towards the woman that he realized who it was. His stomach twirled, somersaulted, and backflipped. "O-oh. Hey" was all he could stammer out.[/i]

[Ever]

Ever had been so caught up in her own thoughts, she had failed to hear the footsteps of someone entering, and the greeting that followed. Murmering quietly to herself, she scrubbed the wash cloth hard over the smooth surface of a plate, which for the past five minutes she had been violently cleaning it spotless. It took a second round of words to catch her attention, which she regarded by glancing over her shoulder to the owner of the voice.

The air in her lungs froze momentarily, as she found herself staring into the haunting yellow irises that belonged to none other than Drask. "You...hey..." she was shocked that she had managed to keep a straight tone. She gave him a confused look. "Only employees...are allowed in the kitchen." She looked from the doorway, and then back at him. Why had no one stopped him?

She blinked a couple of times and returned to her dishes, trying to calm herself down. He wasn't following her...she was sure, but still. She swallowed, trying to look as focused as she could with her work. Guilt coiled in the pit of her stomach, and ran through her body with her blood. Unconsciously, she bit her lower lip, occasionally taking glances to see if he had left yet.

[Drask]

Drask's heart nearly burst from his chest it was beating so hard. He could hear it echo though his ears loud enough to drown out much of the noise in the kitchen. "I... got job... as waiter" he explained, his voice faltering a bit. His bright eyes flickered between the door and Ever, following her gaze. His feet feel like they were glued to the floor, and his body wouldn't respond to any command he gave them. His instincts were telling him to just say" Oh wow, what a surprise. Sorry to bother you, I'll go now" and just leave it at that, but given the aforementioned issues he couldn't escape. He had walked himself into the situation, and he had a feeling he would be there for quite some time. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find her shocked reaction humorous, and it was a nice distraction. But the silence that followed was almost painful. He tried his best to stay concentrated on the dish-washing. He tried thinking about his current funds. He needed to be more careful with his spending now that he had 1/4 of the money that he started with. Syliras was a great place, that was for sure, but it could stand to be a little less expensive. Of course it seemed like quite a tourist-prone location. Drask was having a great time, yes, but now it was time to really buckle down and start a proper living. Thus, getting a job would start the ball rolling. The mental distraction stopped working when he realized how well it worked. He kept risking glances towards the woman beside her, attempting to find a subject to discuss that relieve the tension. "So... it's been a while, yes? What have you been up to?" he asked, struggling on a stain that clung to the plate like a child to its mother on the first day of school.

[Ever]

Ever took in his explanation with a nod. He worked here. That would explain things, but it definitely was not making things any easier. He had taken place next to her, and began to clean the dishes. Her whole right side felt as though it was being frozen, and a nervous tension settled between them. He was actually talking to her. She was amazed that he didn't hate her.

"Yeah, I guess it has." But not that long. Ever remembered that night vividly. "Oh you know, trying to keep up with the job." What was she freaking out about? She could do this. After all there was no reason for her to act like a nervous little school girl. "People have been flooding in left and right, and now I have six little kittens I have to deal with too..." she paused for a moment, looking at him, "You wouldn't happen to want a kitten would you?"

Smiling a bit at how silly that sounded, she leaned across the front of Drask for a short second to grab another dish to clean.

[Drask]

Drask let his gaze rest on Ever's distracted face, watching her eyes dart to and fro across her work. She looked determined, focused, powerful - in a way. It was cute in that she-could-totally-kick-your-ass-if-she-felt-like-it kind of way. Actually, now that Drask thought about it, it wasn't so much cute as it was true. He would know. He smiled and turned back to his work, his soapy hands starting to wrinkle under all the water. It didn't bother him all to much, but it felt extremely weird. He felt like he had old grand-mother hands. Drask's head snapped towards Ever when she asked him about the kittens. He was a sucker for baby animals - despite him having feasted on some in his lifetime. Of course, he had never run across any cats aside from the one's at his step-father's ranch, so he'd never actually tried any kittens. He felt sick at the thought, and there was a nasty taste in his mouth. He wasn't proud of what he had done as an animal. Drask wanted nothing more than to erase his memory of the past 3 years, or better yet - remove them outright. "I'd love one! My stepmother had few cats at our house, so I am fairly experienced with them" Drask replied, a bright smile on his face. It slowly faded into one of concern. "But why would you get 6 kittens?"

[Ever]

The reaction Drask gave her next, was not one that Ever would have anticipated.The bright smile on his face was more than enough to unnerve her. And she replied with a dumbfounded expression of her own. "Really?" Her mouth fell open a little, as she blinked away her shock, "You really want one?" She turned back to her dishes, let the soapy water run over the few that still remained. And then came his next expression, one that she had expected. She smiled a bit, "Getting six of them was not an intentional thing. I found them," she glanced to her side to look at Drask, "The other day in an alley when it had started to storm. I couldn't just leave them all there, you know? So now...I have six kittens."

Placing the final dish to the side for someone else to put up, she washed off her hands and tossed the washrag somewhere in the sink. She turned her thin form around until she was resting comfortably back against the counter, still watching Drask with intent blue eyes. He seemed so much older than the last time she had seen him. She tried to hold down the grin that was threatening to appear. She could probably say that was her fault, but never out loud. She faced back forward, so Drask didn't get the wrong idea about her staring at him. She had so many things running through her mind that she wanted to say to him, but before even the breath she could use to so the words could come out, she was interupted by the oh so familiar voice of the oh so dreaded old woman who was in charge of the cooks around here.

"Where are you, you worthless red head?" The woman screeched. Ever's expression fell, and in one instant she had the urge to find a place to hide until the woman was gone, but when a strong boney hand latched onto her forearm, all her hopes of escaping were lost. "There you are. Relaxing on the job again are we?" An extremely packed metal tray was then shoved into her arms. "Take this to table twelve, three, eight, and six. If I get any complaints about your poor service today, I will not make your job easy on you, do you understand. Now, go!" Ever was then shoved out of the room, mouthing back silently to Drask, 'I'm sorry.'

Once she was out of site, she old woman turned her attention to Drask. "And you? What do you think you are doing lounging about back here? Get to helping her, and take the orders of table Nine, ten, and one will you?" She tapped her large wooden spoon in her hand menacingly, eyeing him with beady dark black eyes that just dared him to say no or give any kind of signs of objection.

[Drask]

Drask's smile returned at the short but heartwarming explanation. He had always believed that all people were truly good on the inside, and her story helped solidify this. Although he had no reason to believe otherwise. Ever seemed like a genuinely pleasant and caring person with a job that required her to perform tasks that are seen by many to be... unholy. Of course, Drask wasn't religious so he didn't give a rat's tail. He followed the rules of survival, and those were good enough for him.

Drask's heart nearly jumped out of his mouth when the intimidating woman seemed to appear out of thin air. Her voice sent icy chills down his spine, his body shriveling in response. His body was trying to pump adrenaline into his veins, but his body seemed to be almost literally frozen. His eyes flickered towards Ever, who seemed to be mirroring his reaction. She was ripped away from view by the fearsome woman and the boy could only briefly see her lips form a short apology. He gave her a pitiful wave good-bye as she was forced out of the kitchen and attempted to slide away before she could register him on her radar, but it was to no avail. His body froze again as she locked her sights on the frightened Kelvic. Her orders were fierce; The numbers she shot at him bounced around in his head for quite some time before finally latching on. Taking the opportunity to retreat, he nodded quickly and dashed towards the still-open door. Unfortunately, the hinges decided to kick in just as he was leaving and was met with a nice, sturdy wooden board. He cursed loudly in his Kelvic tongue, hoping none of the cooks in the room were wolves, otherwise they would be blushing.

He rushed to Ever's side with a large, red circle on his forehead and assisted her with distributing the food on her tray. "What a pleasant woman..." he muttered to her when he was sure they were out of earshot.

[Ever]

Ever had entered the lobby and was setting down the plates for the order. She smiled and greeted all of the people, trying to look as happy and cheerful as possible, though she was still recovering from the chills the old lady gave her. Everytime Ever encounted that woman it always gave her the case of the horribles, and they didn't go away for hours. Out of the corner of he reyes she saw Drask exit the kitchen, and approach her, with a very large red circle adorning his forehead. She gave him a worried expression, but is faded into slight amusement. She was already used to the way the woman treated people. "She's a peach," Ever said quietly, obviously joking.

Leaving the table and walking on to the next, she gave Drask a look, "She didn't," she motioned toward the red spot on his head. "You know..." she looked around, before leaning forward a bit so no one else could hear her, "beat you, did she?" In an instant she went from worried, back to her cheerful demeaner so the customers wouldn't worry. Again she set the plates down on the table. "So how is everyone today? Everything is good I hope?" They all nodded, and her eyes were drawn to the couple she had seen earlier.

She couldn't help but stare. The way they looked at eachother, and the way they were so close...how they held hands. She swallowed, trying to bring herself out of her thoughts, "Is there...anything else I can get you?" She was hoping no one would say anything, but she never really gets what she wants.

"I'll have a water, if you don't mind," said the woman, only taking her eyes from the man for second, before bringing her attention back, slowly placing a small kiss on his cheek.

Ever backed away slowly, with a nod, "R-right away." She hurried off back into the kitchen, going back to the room she and Drask had been washing dishes in earlier. She breathed deeply, she couldn't stand being around couples. They gave her anxiety. Taking a few moments to regain her composure, she retrieved a shining glass from the upper cabinets and began to fill it with ice cold water form a near by pitcher.

[Drask]

The Kelvic waved a reassuring hand when Ever questioned the mark on his forehead. It been caused by his lack of caution if nothing else. He had always been rather clumsy. "No, no. Just ran into door." he said, embarrassed to admit his blunder. He rubbed his hand against the bruise, hoping that somehow he could just magically rub it out of sight. It was almost like walking around with a giant target on his head. With a long sigh he gave up his futile attempts and decided to tend to the newly occupied tables once he was sure Ever could handle the rest of her work on her own. He would have stayed with her longer, but he didn't want to test the limits of the terrifying chef so he decided to play it safe and finish his work as soon as possible. "I'll be back" he whispered before dashing off towards his work, muttering the 3 numbers aloud to himself to keep him from forgetting.

"Nine. Ten. One. Nine. Ten. One. Niiiiiiiiine..." He slid in front of a table with several scraggly-looking men. "Hello! Welcome to the Golden Dragon, what can I get you this morning?". They all looked up sleepily at Drask, their alcohol-stained breath wafting together in a way that made him want to vomit. "Water, if ya' got it." one of them muttered, the others seconding the choice. It was obvious to Drask now that they were suffering from a major hangover. He could sympathize. "Anything else?" "Yea'. Whose the sweetheart?" He pointed a finger towards something behind him. Drask looked back across his shoulder at Ever, who was tending to a couple. "How much's she?" The man chuckled, finding something hilarious about the question. Another of the men butted in "Don't bullshit him, James, you know you wanna get in his pants 'stead of the whore" Drask felt his fist twitch violently at the man's remark. "The hell's that suppose to mean?!" The rest of the gang laughed obnoxiously loud at the insult. "I'll go get your water..." The boy said amidst the laughter, quickly walking back towards the kitchen.

He felt relieved to be back in the kitchen, where he was safe from the crowd outside. The word bounced echoed in his head. He could feel such rage build up inside him. He just wanted to rip his jaw off and beat him to death with it. He was both surprised and frightened by his feelings. He had always been calm and collected, solving problems with a level-headed mind. Why was he getting so worked up about this? What happening to him? Was Syliras beginning to take his toll on him?

He sighed and rubbed his temples.

He knew the answer.

Drask was glad to have some sort of distraction available to him as he approached Ever to perform the same task she was currently busying herself with. Something about her, thought seemed off to him. She seemed distraught, and the aura of cheerfulness she usually gave off seemed to be dulled. "Hey... Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern.