Closed Drinks and Thunder and Youth, oh my!

[Aurora Hook]

Drinks and Thunder and Youth, oh my!
30th of Spring, 514 AV.
Evening with a moderate Thunderstorm.

Rain and thunder. Aurora had never liked thunder, though rain could be interesting enough. However, walking through the rain was awful, and the roaring skies did not help her nerves. Why were so many doors closed? The day had been a grey, gloomy day filled with on and off drizzling, but by the evening, it was pouring and chilly. The Kelvic’s cloak had grown heavy with the water and it was beginning to soak through as she ran up the street, flinching as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
She had never entered The Spot before, and it was certainly a loud experience. The room she entered was full of people escaping the rain and getting drinks. She could smell the pungent aroma of alcohol, though she only knew the stuff as the wine her Master and Mistress used to drink every now and again. This was a far stronger scent, though, like that on a couple of her strangest tutors. The smell alone almost made her dizzy, unaccustomed to it as she was. Her head was already swimming as she found an empty table and sat down.
Aurora’s eyes wandered the room, having never entered such a place before. There were two women wandering the tables, carrying drinks around to the many customers they had. People sat at tables, the bar, or stood playing darts on one side of the room. She watched the game with avid interest, sometimes astonished by their accuracy, other times disbelieving that they missed. Sometimes, they were hit it right in the center and actually seem unhappy with their shots! How ridiculous. She wondered how hard it would be to hit the board, let alone hit the center of it. How strange these people were.
“Good evening, can I get you anything?” Aurora looked up in surprise as one of the women approached her. Someone asking her if she wanted anything? That kind of shocked look took a moment to recede. She bit back her irritation at her wet cloak and hair, though her answer was curt enough.
“A drink would be fine.” Aurora replied, not quite realizing that she had just asked for more than water.
The wench just nodded and seemed to wander off, causing the Kelvic girl to lose sight of her for a moment. A chime that she chose to spend watching another game of darts commence, with only one crack of thunder to make her jump. ”Four copper Mizas.” Aurora smelled the drink as the woman placed it in front of her. She slipped her hand into her purse and pulled out the money, handing them to the wench. Though she couldn’t remember the differences between the types of mizas, she could at least see the color of them.
Aurora gave the drink a cautious sniff. The odor alone made her nose wrinkle a bit, but why would all these people be drinking it if it wasn’t good for something? Cautiously, she took a sip. Somehow, she didn’t spit it out, but she did place the mug down as she tried not to gag upon swallowing. Why in the name of Rhysol would anyone drink this stuff?

[Alanna Higgins]

To say that Alanna was a little frustrated was an understatement. At the very beginning of the spring season Alanna had gotten a legitimate job to earn a honest pay. She had started working on a ship name Rhysol’s Hope. In the beginning it was grand the work was hard, but fulfilling. The small boat would bring in a decent catch every day. Since then rumors of a monster fish started to Their whirl around Ravok their catches had been getting smaller and smaller. Which lead her two man crew to start teasing her and acting rather weird around her as of late. As Gilles Flask, Pavel, and herself walked dripping wet into The Spot Alanna took a moment to think about her day. This morning was like most other days since Alanna has begun her job. She’d got up early before dawn, hearing only morning bells that seldom do. This morning however she could hear rain falling on the lake. With a surge of excitement Alanna ran over to her to the far side of her room sticking her head out the window she looked up at the sky. “Well now isn’t this interesting. Its not every day in Ravok we get a rain storm.” Pausing a moment she listened intently, slowly a smile spread across her face. She had indeed heard thunder, rushing as she got around she left her home only having half her cloak on as she did. As Alanna moved quickly towards the docks she thought, maybe just maybe Captain Gilles Flask would call off work today alas that was not so. Something about the fish getting hungry with the rain or something like that. Gilles usually had some sort of weird fishermen wisdom to bestow upon Alanna and Pavel for the day. Alanna loved the rain however, she did not love working in it. The rain made her job much harder and more difficult to perform with a wet deck below her feet. Pulling the nets in from the water below the boat was much more difficult today, so much so that Gilles had Alanna help them bring it in. She was told not to worry about the decks that day since it was raining, but to be prepared to hit them double the next day which filled Alanna with a little bit of dread, not that she didn’t mind doing the work. Alanna loved how the boat would bob and sway under her feet. Although it reminded her of a darker time in her life she had always held the feeling of a boat under her feet very close to her heart. Alanna snapped out of the small daydream she had been having when Pavel put a drink in her hand and told her to lighten up. She gave him a sharp look, which made him shrug and smack her shoulder “if your gonna be like that, take that small arse of yers some place else and let the Cap and I have a good time to ourselves.” With a huff Alanna turned, and counted to ten slowly in her head cooling her “hot head” as she's been called. She didn’t want to do anything foolish to her boss she needed the job she had. Turning she looked around the ground floor of The Spot, there were about 30 people scattered about the floor. Men, women, and yes even some young lads and lasses. As Alanna’s eyes scanned the room she seemed to skip over most big groups. There were a few couples and about four loners. Only one of those loners was a woman. With a smile and a pint of ale in her hand she walked over to the table that Aurora was seated at, watching her gag on her dink Alanna tried not to laugh out loud. Looking down at her ale she took a long drink and licked her lips. Over the years Alanna had tasted much worse drinks than this. With a easy smile she walked over to the table, standing at the empty chair across from Aurora. Alanna had never really found herself to be overly social, but today she felt her Taking a slow gulp from her drink she walked over to her table standing by the empty chair she quietly cleared her throat,and smiled softly. Alanna looked well wet from head to toe While Alanna wasn’t really the social she’d take her co-workers advice and try to have a nice time. So why not with this young woman. “Um..Hello there would you like some company?”

[Aurora Hook]

Aurora’s eyes had once again focused on the dart board, watching curiously as a couple of men took turns. There was so much motion and noise around her that she didn’t notice the red-haired woman approach her before she spoke. The young girl looked up at her in surprise because, yet again, someone was asking her something. She still wasn’t used to it, but she was starting to like it. Besides, some company might be nice, especially that of new people.
A small curve of her lip turned into a smile as she looked up at the woman. “Sure.” Aurora replied, curiously observing the stranger. Red, short hair. Shorter, even, than Aurora’s own, though hers was mostly because of knots and curls, while this stranger’s hair looked far cleaner. They were both wet from the rain, but Aurora was just thankful that she wasn’t dripping anymore. A drink that looked similar to Aurora’s was in the stranger’s hand, and the girl couldn’t resist the question; “Why do you drink this stuff?” and she raised her own glass a little to emphasize it. Perhaps her tone sounded a bit demanding, but she wouldn’t have noticed even if she did care.
Certainly, it couldn’t be for the flavor. It tasted horrible. Not only that, but she had just drank a mouthful and it made her stomach feel funny. Was it just her stomach? Aurora couldn’t quite tell, but she wasn’t much liking it.
She looked up at the stranger, expecting her to sit and answer the question. Her masters had certainly never told her why they drank wine, and no one else had ever bothered teaching her about alcohol, either. She wasn’t ever really meant to go near it, not that she had known that. She was very much a child in the form of an adult, in a bar, with absolutely no clue what she was doing. It would have been no surprise to anyone who knew her, but, really, only one person alive knew her, she thought.