The Royal Mile turned out to be a rather upper crust tavern Micky would have called a gastropub back home, on the border between the government and business districts. Rich, dark wood fronted the building, broken up by large rectangular windows. In front of the tavern long tables were matched with then benches, leafy ferns divided the tables into smaller private areas.
“Well isn’t this posh” joked Micky to Tanya, who was wasting no time leading them to one of the smaller tables off to the side of the area.
“Pay attention my friend” laughed Tanya, “I’m about to teach you the two most magical words in all of Outremer.” She paused briefly before continuing, “Expense. Account."
“I get the feeling you’ve done this before” remarked Micky as he picked up a menu from the table.
“Not even a little, I mean what’s the point of working for a serious governmental organization if you can’t crib a free lunch now and then? Asked Tanya with a smile, picking up her own menu.
“That marriage proposal is still totally valid you know” said Micky, gazing seriously at Tanya.
She matched his serious gaze “Oh be still my beating heart, a marriage proposal from a homeless singer. Catch me before I swoon” she deadpanned back.
“Hey, hey, that’s temporarily homeless thank you very much” Micky snapped back, “and isn’t that your job anyway.”
“Eh, I’m working on it” Tanya replied nonchalantly, “besides we can’t very well find you a place to live before we find you a job right? I’m going to go order and talk to the manager about you performing, you look over that offer from Teofil” she said getting up and walking towards the door.
Left with nothing else to do Micky looked down at the contract. The basic provisions were pretty simple, Xenophon Inc. would provide a course of training designed to get him ready for supervised fieldwork. This included raising his ‘Might’ and ‘Grace’ to ten, teaching him basic Bardic combat skills, and role specific weapons training to a minimum of Novice (15). Once he was ready for basic field work he would be placed in a field team under the supervision of a senior Xenophon employee until he was deemed ready for independent missions. As a supervised member he would be entitled to a 4 gold per month stipend and 10% of the profit his team brought in. Xenophon Inc. would cover all of his expenses while in the field. Honesty, this looks amazing thought Micky.
Not only would this give me a steady income, but also training and skills. Micky was so absorbed in the contract he was taken by surprise when Tanya clattered a foaming mug of amber beer in front of him, before she delicately placed a lime green cocktail in a tulip glass before her own chair.
“I hope you don’t mind me ordering for you, we’ve mostly been eating food from your ‘verse, so I decided it was time for you to experience a true Outremer delicacy” Tanya said before delicately sipping her cocktail.
“I’m not sure if I’m excited or terrified” Micky said honestly.
“ Where is the trust” asked Tanya, her face the very picture of offended dignity.
“I’ve known you like 4 hours and in that time you’ve surprised me with an impromptu concert and a freaky snake ball” Micky fired back, “I’d say our level of trust is exactly where is needs to be."
“No gratitude. Oh on that note you’re on in 5 minutes. The manager has requested an instrumental medley. Drink up and off you pop” Tanya waved her hand dismissively.
“aaaaand that’s is why there’s no trust here” Micky grumbled as he rose to his feet and retrieved the Vaixell before walking inside.
As he walked through the door he heard Tanya from across the beer garden “don’t worry, I’ll mind the food while you’re inside”.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
It took a minute for Micky’s eyes to adjust to the interior of the tavern, but it would have been hard to miss the raised stage along the left wall of the building. As Micky went to climb the shallow stairs he heard the slap of footsteps rapidly approaching him.
“ah good, you must be the Bard. I paid your agent for a full hours performance so I expect you best work” the man in the apron spoke with a lilting melodic accent, “and no singing. I want my customers nice and relaxed, they’ll spend more that way.”
Resolving to have a serious chat with Tanya after the performance Micky resumed his climb up the stairs, before settling into the chair and arranging the Vaixell across his lap. In a fit of pique he decided to play a few acoustic tracks from one of his favorite heavy metal bands. As the first chords of ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ floated mournfully across the restaurant he relaxed into the flow of music.
An hour and the entirety of ‘The Poison’ later Micky stopped playing. As the last echo faded across the room there was a brief smattering of applause.
*Ding* Performance (metal) has leveled up to Novice (16)
Class requirements for Bard updated: Performed 2/3 times for a crowd of more than 15 people.
As he stepped down from the stage he was again met by the manager.
“Well, I was a little skeptical when you started playing but that’s gone better than I expected. Tell your agent you’ve earned a 25 silver bonus. I’d give it to you directly but she was very insistent that she handled all the money.” He offered Micky his hand, which Micky shook before heading you the door towards the beer garden.
As he walked towards the table he noticed several empty tulip glasses sitting before Tanya as well as a half eaten cheese steak. Sitting down with a huff Micky examined the bowl before him. Thick purple grains like wild rice were mixed with some kind of knotted sausage, cardamom and another scent he couldn’t place rose from the dish.
“So, how was it? Asked Tanya with a grin, “are you any closer to unlocking your class? By my count we’ve only got one performance left.”
“Oh the performance was fine, but the manager said I was to speak to you about a bonus” said Micky.
“hah” laughed Tanya, “I was hoping he wouldn’t mention that”.
Once Tanya had stopped laughing long enough to catch her breath she starting speaking again, “in all seriousness, what do you think of the offer from Xenophon Inc.?”
“Honestly I don’t know what to think. You said what they do is important right?” Micky asked.
“Yeah, Xenophon are often the first responders to hostile convergences, their work saves a lot of lives. It’s not as glamorous as the kind of resource delving the Varangians or the Wagner Group do, but they don’t accept fresh arrivals anyway” Tanya answered.
“So yeah, I think it’s my best bet for the moment anyway, plus the offer of training is hard to turn down” Micky decided.
“You are making my job too easy Micky, normally getting fresh arrivals settled takes weeks, we’re going to be setting a new record at this rate” Tanya said excitedly, “the commission won’t hurt either!”
“It obviously pays better than playing in bars” Micky said with a dark glance towards Tanya.
“You’re definitely right on that front. The cheapskate of a manager wouldn’t go any higher that 25 sliver for the hour” she said in response.
“I won’t be seeing any of that money will I?” Asked Micky.
“Money, what money” Tanya replied patting her belt pouch with a smile.
“That’s it. I’m officially declaring Fredrickson as my favorite TRC employee. He was polite and he gave me a guitar” quipped Micky.
“No that’s just hurtful Micky, keep that up and you’ll be sleeping in another alley tonight” Tanya said.
“As long as its the alley behind your place I’ll be content. I hear it has the softest cobblestones in all Baer’s Landing.” Seeing the slightly stunned look on Tanya’s face Micky was satisfied he had finally got the last word in. A hope that was suddenly dashed as Tanya leant in towards him, close enough to touch, then whispered in his ear “in your dreams singer boy.” She pulled her head away quick as a whip and stood up, her chair sliding back with a screech.
“come on sloth, let’s go find you a place to live.”
Left sitting alone in his chair Mickey was struck by a sudden realization. She didn’t pay the BLEEPING bill.