The Barkeep (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
forcegalactic) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
melodiesoflife2016-04-05 09:02 am
forcegalactic) wrote in melodiesoflife2016-04-05 09:02 am
Spring Cleaning! Spriiing Cleaning!
Characters: Barkeep and OPEN
Where: House A-08, Space Saloon
When: April 04-11, then whenever before the event
Summary: It may still be a little chilly, but it's due time for spring cleaning. Bother him whenever. Then, he goes back to work at the Space Saloon.
Warnings: Possible drunk times in the second prompt
A. April 4th - 11th, House A-08
The sun had risen over the rooftops of the surrounding homes, Ramza had gone off to work with a packed lunch - despite his protests that he had more than enough to eat at the station, Mordecai would hear none of that. Police work involved lots of running around, and he wouldn't let any amount of polite contrariness stop him. The days were getting warmer, and with the sun illuminating the inside of the house earlier and earlier each morning, the dust sitting everywhere became obvious to the trained eye.
When even was the last time he did a thorough cleaning of the house? This sort of thing could not stand. Mordecai slammed the mug of coffee onto the table and snatched a piece of paper from the stationary drawer.
"Annie! Get this letter down to the Space Saloon. Tell 'em to take over my shift today and tomorrow!" He paused his writing. "Actually, the whole week. I got a lotta work to do here."
The Moogle grumbled and refused to smile or even thank the barkeep even as she flew out of the house.
Mordecai substituted his battle robes for a familiar vest and a coat, filled a basin with water, and went to work on dusting the living room. Then his and Ramza's room (he had to remind the young man to reorganize the closet. bedsheets were taking outside, and with the aid of leather gloves, he scrubbed them on the washing board while he watched the residents of the neighborhood walk by. Mars was a cold planet, and despite the initial internal complaints, early spring in Aqures Ixen wasn't all that bad. Life was different when you didn't have access to luxuries like washing machines, and he could feel muscles growing in his arms after every laundry day. He will return home buffer and wiser, he comforted himself each time his arms ached.
The next day, he took the rugs out for a beating, washed the windows, and took the wooden chairs' cushions out for a cleaning. The couch was next...if he could get it out properly. Despite all the exercise from housework - though he was getting sore - he wasn't strong enough to lift a couch on his own. He stood in the doorway of his own house stroking his moustache and eyeing the piece of furniture like philosophy's next biggest dilemma.
The remaining days were slower, dedicated to organizing the pantry and cleaning out the entire kitchen cabinets. With the extra time, he decided to cook something nice for Ramza. Stew was a good meal, easy to watch over while he disinfected the sink.
A knock on the door caught his attention, and he dropped his rag before running to the door, wiping his hands on his apron.
"Evenin'," he automatically responded when he opened the door.
B. April 12th - 19th, Space Saloon.
The assistant bartenders sighed in relief when they saw the boss return. The saloon was a lot of young visitors celebrating the start of spring, but no broken tables or anything, really. The barkeep wasn't ready to take their word for it, but if they did their best, what could he do? It was another sunny day.
For the rest of the week, he took his regular position at the bar, tending to customers, checking through the books, and listening in on any new gossip. Behind his desk was a newly written story born out of recent interactions with Dr. Cid. There were some people he wanted to show it to.
Where: House A-08, Space Saloon
When: April 04-11, then whenever before the event
Summary: It may still be a little chilly, but it's due time for spring cleaning. Bother him whenever. Then, he goes back to work at the Space Saloon.
Warnings: Possible drunk times in the second prompt
A. April 4th - 11th, House A-08
The sun had risen over the rooftops of the surrounding homes, Ramza had gone off to work with a packed lunch - despite his protests that he had more than enough to eat at the station, Mordecai would hear none of that. Police work involved lots of running around, and he wouldn't let any amount of polite contrariness stop him. The days were getting warmer, and with the sun illuminating the inside of the house earlier and earlier each morning, the dust sitting everywhere became obvious to the trained eye.
When even was the last time he did a thorough cleaning of the house? This sort of thing could not stand. Mordecai slammed the mug of coffee onto the table and snatched a piece of paper from the stationary drawer.
"Annie! Get this letter down to the Space Saloon. Tell 'em to take over my shift today and tomorrow!" He paused his writing. "Actually, the whole week. I got a lotta work to do here."
The Moogle grumbled and refused to smile or even thank the barkeep even as she flew out of the house.
Mordecai substituted his battle robes for a familiar vest and a coat, filled a basin with water, and went to work on dusting the living room. Then his and Ramza's room (he had to remind the young man to reorganize the closet. bedsheets were taking outside, and with the aid of leather gloves, he scrubbed them on the washing board while he watched the residents of the neighborhood walk by. Mars was a cold planet, and despite the initial internal complaints, early spring in Aqures Ixen wasn't all that bad. Life was different when you didn't have access to luxuries like washing machines, and he could feel muscles growing in his arms after every laundry day. He will return home buffer and wiser, he comforted himself each time his arms ached.
The next day, he took the rugs out for a beating, washed the windows, and took the wooden chairs' cushions out for a cleaning. The couch was next...if he could get it out properly. Despite all the exercise from housework - though he was getting sore - he wasn't strong enough to lift a couch on his own. He stood in the doorway of his own house stroking his moustache and eyeing the piece of furniture like philosophy's next biggest dilemma.
The remaining days were slower, dedicated to organizing the pantry and cleaning out the entire kitchen cabinets. With the extra time, he decided to cook something nice for Ramza. Stew was a good meal, easy to watch over while he disinfected the sink.
A knock on the door caught his attention, and he dropped his rag before running to the door, wiping his hands on his apron.
"Evenin'," he automatically responded when he opened the door.
B. April 12th - 19th, Space Saloon.
The assistant bartenders sighed in relief when they saw the boss return. The saloon was a lot of young visitors celebrating the start of spring, but no broken tables or anything, really. The barkeep wasn't ready to take their word for it, but if they did their best, what could he do? It was another sunny day.
For the rest of the week, he took his regular position at the bar, tending to customers, checking through the books, and listening in on any new gossip. Behind his desk was a newly written story born out of recent interactions with Dr. Cid. There were some people he wanted to show it to.
Re: A. Housecleaning Ahoy
"You're another Hero?" He pushed the door farther and stepped back. "I'm the barkeep of the Space Saloon. Name's Mordecai Benmont Jiminy." Only the first name was necessary, but he was the kind of man who displayed his full appellation and life story to anyone who didn't ask for it,.
"That's no problem. Rug beatin' duties are all done."
no subject
Once she was inside, she cast her eyes about, noting just how clean everything was. Had he done this alone, or had his roommate pitched in? "Wow, you sure keep this place in tip-top shape! You got the spring cleaning bug as well, huh?"
no subject
He lead her to the coffee table, which had a small vase with a flower on it. "Can a getcha somethin' to drink? I'd like to know my new neighbors if I'm gonna be livin' here a while."
no subject
Maybe she was just here to support the others. Not a bad thing, she supposed, but she was still pretty sure there'd been a mix up somewhere.
She sat down with her hands folded neatly in her lap. "I'm from a country called Japan. What about you?"
no subject
"Mars. Like, the planet." He waited while any possible disbelief had its time to dissipate. "I'm from the year 3014, in case you're wonderin'. I'm used to livin' in a small town, not a giant city on a green planet. But, you know, gotta make the most out of everythin'."
He held up a finger, signaling to excuse him for a moment while he poured out two glasses of water for Keiko and himself. He placed hers in front of her on the table, then sat on his armchair holding his glass.
"You're a might responsible young lady. How old are you?"
no subject
She took her glass and sipped at it with a smile of thanks. "I'm eighteen, sir. Nearly nineteen." Keiko was polite enough not to return the question to him.
Taking another sip of water, she set her glass down. With her left hand. The one where she wore Yusuke's humble engagement ring on her finger.
no subject
He folded his hands on his lap. "Now, Mars is a nice place to live, if you don't mind the robot outlaws and regular threats of invasion, but nothin' worse than Earth. It's red, mostly desert but we got a lot of it terraformed. There's also Martians, but we do our best to stay out of each others' business, unless it's Croach. He helps out with catchin' outlaws from time to time, but we don't want another war between us. Let's see...we got one human town with plenty of farms nearby, so if small town ain't your aesthetic, it ain't the place for you."
What else? He stroked an end of his moustache between two fingers while he went through this memories. "But there's the Marshal, Sparks Nevada, I'm sure you'll meet him here one point or another, there's a general store and my saloon." He wasn't going to bring up his rival O'Toole. "Lots of hypercattle ranches; my good friend Felton runs one, and he is one of the biggest names among the hypercattle industry and hypercattle rustlers. Fame gets you both good and bad publicity, that's how it works."
All that taking demanded a sip of water. Well, more like half the glass. It was a wonder Mordecai didn't go through the house's entire water supply with all the chatting he did on a regular day. That was enough time to notice the ring on her finger.
"...You're more responsible than most eighteen-year-olds I've ever seen..." Was that an engagement ring? It's an engagement ring. "But ain't you too young to think about gettin' married, or am I takin' the implication of that ring in the wrong direction?"
no subject
She waited patiently for him to finish his water, and tilted her head faintly when he mentioned her ring. Sometimes she forgot she was still wearing it, and that she hadn't always had it on. Honestly, it was a wonder they didn't get engaged sooner, but it still made her happy just to look at the simple band.
Keiko smiled, laying her hand on the table and splaying her fingers apart so Barkeep could get a better look. No matter how humble, a girl always loved to show off her engagement ring. "No, that's exactly what it is. My fiance, Yusuke, have known each other since we were kids. He proposed to me while we were making our way through the crystal caves one day. It was a matter of time, really, but I didn't think it would happen until we were both back home."
And she still believed that they would return eventually, because she couldn't fathom the thought of never seeing her parents again.
"I'm not sure if we'll have a wedding here, or if we'll wait for our families and friends to be there. I guess we'll see how things go."
no subject
"Yeah, sorta like that. We don't live in wood houses or the like, but it's a frontier planet. We only got ourselves to depend on." He liked the sense of independence, far away from the Earth government. A man felt free on Mars.
He continued to eye the engagement ring. What was considered too young to get engaged back in the day? Was this more acceptable? He was pretty sure 18 was young; at his age, he considered that to be a child.
"Proposin' in the middle of an adventure is one heck of a romantic proposition. Wish I coulda been there to see it." But you're serious? Marriage ain't all sunshine and roses all the time, you know. I was in my twenties before I was responsible enough to even consider bein' a husband." He was worried about Keiko, not discouraging her.
no subject
Keiko laced her fingers together, shifting in her seat to cross her ankles under the chair. "More than that, though, there's no one outside of my immediate family who knows me better, and vice versa. We love each other, and we're not blind to each other's faults. I think we'll be okay." If they survived that hellish ordeal, staying happily married would be a piece of cake.
no subject
Whom he also helped run their business by cooking and cleaning when he was growing up. Keiko was much nicer than him when he was her age.
He then smiled, realizing something. "As mayor, I got all the legal backin' to officiate a marriage. If you ever feel like gettin' hitched here, I can run over there to set up a nice weddin'."
no subject
"Knowing Yusuke, he probably wouldn't want anything fancy. I don't need anything extravaggant either. But it is fun to think about," she admitted with a chuckle, resting her chin in her hand. "You seem like you're a fan of weddings too. Is that right?"
no subject
"Been one for a year now. Got ourselves a sheriff and streamlined the business license process. Though it does make me wonder how Mars is doin' in my absence." Shrug. "Least I can still officiate here, and lemme tell ya, nothin' is as sweet as watchin' two young folks gettin' married. I'd be happy to plan yours out any time!"
no subject
But she had no theories or explanations to offer. It was just...strange.
She'd started to bite the tip of her thumb, but Barkeep's offer to plan their wedding stopped her from fretting too much. Keiko chuckled and bobbed her head. "I'll ask Yusuke what he thinks. Me, I'd like to wait a little bit longer. We came here in July, so if it looks like we're not going home by the end of June, well..." She shrugged a little. It was sad to think about. But she didn't want to wait any longer than she already had, and she was pretty sure that Yusuke would feel the same by then. "I'll let you know."