The seasonal change at The Tankard 1/21/09

[Nakarumi]

<Nakarumi> The atmosphere of Lower Alkesh was slowly coming to a close as the sky began to darken to a royal blue and the first sign of stars began to reveal themselves among the fading sky. The cold weather that had plagued the city over the past few weeks was slowly subsiding and the first hint of warmer weather was starting to show itself. In the center of Lower Alkesh, a low rumble and bumble started to rise from the well known place called The Tankard. Naka, dressed in some newly obtained clothing he bought with his new earnings from Toby's sword shop, was briskly making his way there after closing up the shop. Toby had left a bit earlier than Naka for an errand supposedly but Toby would be surely not too far behind the tiger. His new attire was a sight to see. Well, at least compared to his formal attire it was. Naka bought a long sleeved shirt that matched the blue hue of his stripes and his black slacks only accented the accompanying blue tones. His new black tribal engraved shoes really gave him a sense of class and his trusty ole leather jacket adored his shoulders. Naka felt spiffy. ^_^ When he arrived at The Tankard, Naka didn't enter but rather propped himself up against the wall just aside the door and waited for his partner to arrive. No need to start without him.

<Toby> The young red fox was walking down the street towards the Tankard, a couple blocks off at the moment. He had a small package clutched in his paw and held tightly to his body, something he had picked up on the 'errand' he told Naka he was going on. A little smile crosses his furry maw as he thinks about the reaction the tiger was sure to have, and he begins to hum softly to himself. Today, he's dressed decently casual, with black jeans, a long-sleeve black shirt, and his signature skate shoes. Attatched to his belt was the scabbard for his new blade, Spirit Fox, and it seems to hang quite still as he strides along, having been able to balance the blade itself well enough not to shift awkwardly. He rounds a corner and spots Naka leaning against the wall next to the door, his face unconciously going into a grin as he waves his free hand, his form-fitting shirt lifting up to show a hint of his cream-colored midriff fur. It made for an interesting contrast. He saunters towards the tiger, hiding the package behind his back.

<Malcom> Malcom scurried down the city streets, flicnhing away from nearly every shadow he saw move, be it vermin or other anthros. He hated this feeling inside him, this feeling that drove him to seek out other people and spend time with them. But.... he needed it. He couldn't always be working on the Imperialist and and reading books in his small apartament. His long golden hair was pulled back in it's usual ponytail, swaying with each movement as he made his way to the only bar he really trusted in Alkesh. He wore a simply white leather vest that, though ripped and torn, revealing his muscular lither frame beneath, was very clean. The silver pentagram on his glove shimmered in the light reflected from dim street lamps as the evening grew cooler and the night began to truly come alive. His tan cargo pants brushed through the dust at times. As he turned the corner, he halted nervously, seeing two other anthros outside the Tankard. He hoped they were not the troublesome type. He just wanted some quite social interaction. Enough to leave him satisfied and then to be on his way back home.

<Nakarumi> Fiddling at the edges of his new shirt and the loving the material it was made of, Naka nearly didn't notice Toby approaching but noticed him just in time to see a foxy grin and wave shoot his way. Naka's eyes lit up from the anxious anticipation of waiting for Toby and he quickly pushed himself from the wall to greet his partner whose belly was just slightly showing. Ah... the gutter was such a nice mental place to be. "Hey! I thought I was going to be waiting forever and day for you. I'm glad to see you made it though. I was a bit nervous to close the shop on my own for the first time you know."

<Toby> Chuckling softly, Toby gives Naka a quick one-armed hug. "Hey, but you did well. I dropped by before coming over, just to check." He smiles and runs a hand through his headfur before motioning to the door. "Well, let's get on inside. I'm thirsty as heck." He walks past Naka, using his movement to conceal placing the package in one of his pockets, and opens the door, standing to one side. "After you." He says with a smile, a little glint of mischeviousness in his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Malcom approaching, but makes no real note of it. After all, it wasn't like the Tankard didn't have other customers besides him.

<Malcom> Malcom sighed in a sort of quite releif. The other two seemed to caught up in one another to pay him any mind. This suited him fine. He was more eager to watch others and play and conversation than actually engage in any himself. He slipped into the sleazy tavern, looking around a bit, breathing in the sour smells and taking in the conversations and laughing with a small sigh. He stole away to a table over by the far wall, slipping into a chair and wrapping his long black and golden ringed tail around his waist. His black furred face seemed to almost glisten when the light hit it just right as he watched the furs around him eagerly, taking it all in.

<Nakarumi> Something was a little odd about the way Toby approached Naka today. What it was exactly the tiger knew not but something was up. Anyhow, Naka shook the notion off and walked forward into the bar as Toby insisted. "I'm glad you checked behind me. That makes me feel so much more reassured about my work. Anyhow, tell me what you want and I'll get it. You go ahead and get our usual table by the far wall as well."

<Toby> Nodding, the fox starts heading over toward their favorite table. "Get me a pint of their Winter Ale. It's beginning to grow on me." With that, he weaves his way through the tables before getting one a table or two away from Malcom. He takes a seat and pulls his cigarette case out of his pocket, taking one out and lighting it up as he gazes about with his ice blue eyes. No matter the weather outside, it always seemed the perfect temperature in the Tankard, mainly due to its heat-saving design and well-planned insulation and ventilation. It just kept the entire tavern at a relaxing seventy-five degrees farenheit. Toby smiles at the comfy temperature and leans back in his chair, waiting for Naka to return.

<Malcom> Malcom licks his greyish lips as he watchs the unusually stripped tiger get some drinks before digging around in his pocket, pulling out a couple of marks. Blah... cheap liquer for him tonight it seemed. His only income was repairing vehicles for people and even though his prices were low... what anthro really had the money to waste on getting someone to fix their scrap for them? Nevertheless he gets up and makes his way to the bar, carefully moving around the patrons before putting his money down and saying, "What will this get me?" His voice was low in dark, like liquified black silk.

<Nakarumi> There was currently two bartenders and Jak was seemingly in the back working on The Tankard's budget. Given the location, Jak was probably one of the most financially independent people in all of Lower Alkesh. His bar gets more business just because usually whatever money any and all anthros have left is spent here at the bar. "A white Russian and a pint of Winter Ale." The burly bartender went about to make the drinks when a rather dark Hyena appeared just aside of Naka who laid a bare minimum of marks on the counter top. The Hyena's question wasn't too out of the ordinary but it was saddening nonetheless. Naka, before getting a job with Toby, never faired well himself but never really seemed to be at the bottom himself. Before the other bartender, a female, could answer the Hyena's question, Naka jumped in. "You know, you'll be lucky to get a bottom shelf draft with that. What is that you really would like to get if you had the means to get it?" Naka didn't even introduce himself but the situation didn't deem it necessary.

<Toby> As he looks over at the bar, he spots Naka chatting with the hyena he saw earlier, but really makes no real deal about it. He knows Naka's a friendly tiger, so it was more than likely nothing more than pleasant chat and such. He leans back further in his chair as he puffs on his cigarette, humming lightly to himself as he waits. He really was patient, and it seemed he was in no rush to show his little surprise to Naka. All the better for shock, in his mind.

<Malcom> The hyena in question turned, looking a bit shocked before rubbing his left wrist slowly, looking down at the floor before meeting the tiger's eyes again. "Well... I heard the Winter Ale is pretty good, but I don't take charity. Unless you can give me a way to work it off then I can accept." His face flushed hotly as he releized the tiger actually hadn't offered to even b him a drink but was merely asking a question.

* Nakarumi cocked a funny brow at the Hyena. "That's an odd but humble outlook on things. I'm mad that you assumed that I was automatically going to buy you a drink though. I just wanted to know what you liked." Just then the drinks that Naka ordered hit the counter top just in front of him. "You're going to have take responsibility for that you know." Just from the one statement that the Hyena made gave more than enough information about what kind of person this fellow was. "Tell you what, to make up for it, you tell this bartender right here," Naka motioned to the male bartender, "what you want and then once it's made you make your way over to where my partner and I are sitting and you join us. Don't try to leave either. I'll be watching you." Naka gave a nod to the bartender so he too understood that whatever drink the Hyena wanted would be put on the tiger's tab. Then Naka took both drinks in hand and proceeded to the table where Toby was waiting with a rather victorious smile on his face. That was rather abrupt and somewhat mean but the tiger's intentions were good nonetheless.

* Toby quirks his own eyebrow at Naka with the whole exchange and smiles, shaking his head a little bit. As the tiger nears, Toby asks, "Now, what have you gotten us into?" He smiles the whole while, showing he was more curious to the interaction than anything. He finishes off his cigarette and puts it out, unaware that the hyena would soon be joining them.