Fancy Party

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

@Blesses Blight

When she turned down the drink, it made Salvador reflect again on the way he looked and felt when he wasn’t sober. He’d felt better in this place than he’d felt in a long time, it was a rejuvenating experience and he quickly realized he shouldn’t let any of the the experience sour his time here. He didn’t like to drink alone these days, though for a long time, his alcoholism had consumed his past.

He put down the bottle he was drinking from, screwed the cap back on. And took out the rest of the bottles and set them all in a line. Staring at them. Wondering what to do with them. He would think of something in time.

He turned his attention back to her. Something about her presence was deeply comforting. Maybe it was just that he didn’t want to be alone. Maybe it was something unique about her he had yet to discover. He wasn’t sure yet. But he found himself staring at her pretty face often and tried to distract himself, clumsy and embarrassed whenever caught mid stare.

When she called the flower beautiful he just shrugged it off though. “Ah it’s nothing. Just felt a brief sense of inspiration.” He said, looking her in the eyes. He wanted to say that she was even more so, but he held his tongue.

The question of her origins seemed to fluster her more than a bit. And he felt genuinely bad for the look of concern on her face.

When she mentioned the constellations, he looked up. Having never even given it a second thought. “Huh, you’re right.” But it didn’t worry him a bit and he tried to show confidence.

“Well, since these may very well be newly discovered stars, what say we give them our own names?” He asked in a coy sense. Before turning his head skyward again and pointing. “See those ones? They look almost like a cat, don’t they? We could call it the Felid constellation, or well…I’ve never been good at picking out names.” He admitted.

He noticed another that reminded him of the owl mask and then looked away, feeling the stars were playing tricks on his mind.

“Me? I’m not sure why I’m here. It wasn’t somewhere I intended to go. But I’m glad I got to experience it.” He said, and then felt a bit sad, reminded of his loss. He said simply, lying to no one more than himself. “She’s resting. For a while.” It broke his heart to even try to acknowledge Ruka might not return. So he would just sit and hope and cherish the moments he got to have once again.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

@Blesses Blight

He hadn’t really noticed the slight bit of blush as he was trying to rush in and out in a hurry, hoping she would not leave. But he had the slightest feeling he may have made her uncomfortable and so he apologized profusely.

After he took his swig he wanted to offer her some. So he just opened the front of his coat, revealing fresh punctures down his chest and stomach and pulled from an inner pocket a larger stash of alcohol. “It would be rude of me not to share. And I assure you there’s no blood on these, they’re safe in the pockets.”

He sensed some discomfort, or maybe indignity at the thought of her thinking herself a thief. But he wasn’t one to care about such things that go largely unnoticed and shrugged it off.

He watched her somewhat fold the coat and put it down near the door and he smiled and said. “Well, I’m afraid I’m keeping my spoils.” He grinned from ear to ear. It would take a lot of this stuff to even give him a buzz, even the strongest of it.

Sal the looked down at his own coat, realizing how brisk it was. “I’d offer my coat, but…” he unfurled his spiked coat sleeve again. “You know.” And then a thought struck him. “Just a moment.”

He felt the need to be a bit more charming and from his uncovered arm he fashioned a light bladed mix of petals atop a stem. It was an ornate lotus that he handed to her. “If you want it anyhow.” He tried to hide the fact that he was very rusty and awkward but it probably shone through anyways, he figured.

Then he felt like he wanted to get to know this woman, practically still a stranger, and he asked. “So, where are you from? It occurs to me that most likely none of us are originally from this strange place.” He scratched his head, wishing to know more of its hidden secrets.

A brisk wind hits his face and he’s returned to wondering if her thin looking cloak was warmth enough. He decided it may be nice to start a bit of a fire. And scanned around for any loose wood laying around the area. Though he didn’t want to interrupt Gabriela, so he waited patiently, and simply asked. “Are you warm enough?”

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

Salvador drank his juice box in a single gulp, and then the apple juice too. He couldn’t stand to pity himself and almost hated that the memories flooding back reminded him of such a burdensome loss. He needed some air to clear his head. And as he got closer to the nearest entrance of the tavern, he stopped.

He could feel the warmth, see the ashes, and smell the smoke. But as he left out into the cold night of the nameless tavern, he saw no flames, no fire of any kind. Only the strange woman who had treated Ruka with kindness, and so Sal smiled as he approached. Something he did not think he could do at such a time.

But wait…it was night out here? He could swear he had just been in the warm daylight of the tavern. There was no moon hanging in the sky, just colorful swaths of drifting clouds. He looked around, half hoping Ruka would appear again, but no such luck. This place was playing tricks with his mind that he did not like.

He grumbled and found a tree stump to sit on, close enough to be within earshot of Gabriela. She seemed different.

“Hey. I appreciate the kindness you showed my daughter.” He said. “And I agree with her, you are very beautiful. But what brings you out here?”

Suddenly he noticed the difference like a big wet RED pool noodle slapping him in the face. “Nice coat.” He said, recognizing it as the one Omi had brought in and hung on the wall earlier in the night.

He hesitated then said, “Just a minute.” As he lumbered back into the bar. Yep, still daylight in there. And he grabbed some alcohol from the bar and made a point not to pay or tip as he ran outside with it. Yep, still night. “There,” he said. “Now we’re both thieves. Common ground and all that.” As he began tipping back a bottle of whiskey.

@Blesses Blight

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

@MasterLink

“Any time Link!” They both say in unison, look at each other and laugh.

Ruka is absolutely dazzled by the idea of a princess so strong as to be so important as to help taking down the baddest enemies. “Zelda. Woah.” She says brightly. “That’s such a cool name! Isn’t it dad?” She says as Salvador nods and gives a thumbs up.

—————

@Everyone

After a long night, Salvador begins to look up at the the opening in the roof, and starts to notice that the sun is coming out. “Oh no…” is all he says as he stares at Ruka with tears in his eyes. “Not yet. Please.”

Ruka smiles, and says softly, “It’s okay dad, I will return another night.” She assures him as her skin begins to glow and then fade. Ruka is slowly disappearing.

Sal picks her up and rushes to the bar counter, he looks around frantically. “I have to get her to a dark room!” He says. Then he throws a pocketful of the various currency coins he had been collecting onto the counter. He swiftly grabs an available room key, follows a pointed finger and runs in its direction to an available room inn side. He panics. Ruka says faintly. “No worries dad.”

He gets the door to a small vacant room open. He places her gently on the bed and turns the light out, sobbing. He says “Goodbye.” And then he locks the door and leaves, with the key in his pocket.

He takes a few moments to collect himself in the hall before walking back into the bar and grabbing a few bottles of rum. He sits down and stares at the unopened bottles, a different man entirely. He reaches out, and then he pulls his band back, then smashes the bottles angrily. “No!” He roars, “This is what started it all!” He hears voices in his head that stab at him mockingly and say things like “You could have saved her.” Even though deep down he knew there was nothing he could have done differently.

He turns in his seat and he announces to anyone at all willing to listen. “Ruka, my daughter, hasn’t been around in a very long time.” He pauses. “Whatever this place is, it brought her back to me, even temporarily. And for that, I am truly grateful. Thank you to everyone here who allowed us some to share of your time and patience.” He humbly said.

“This version of her, I have not seen since her passing. So whatever tricks of the mind this place played, to remember her as a figment of my memory.” He smiled, and it appeared the tears were happy ones as he began laughing. “I may have to stay here until nightfall to see if she does actually return. If so, I may have to consider this my new home for a time.”

He continues, “These days, I have only known Ruka in my world to be a strong and unforgiving nature spirit. With no memories of me whatsoever. And it hurts my heart.” He stops. “But thank you for showing us some kindness and happiness. Cheers.” He says as he nods to those with any sort of memory of her left and lifts up his juice box triumphantly. “This next round’s on me.”

“And I sincerely apologize to all whom I have inconvenienced or interrupted.” He says finally.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

Just fair warning, my next post may take a darker journey. As these are characters from one of my stories I can go a little more into their backgrounds. And it’s a bit sad.

However if anyone wants to interact with Ruka after this point, feel free to still treat your scene as if she’s there. In this timeless place many different things are possible.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

@MasterLink
Ruka’s eyes lit up as she looked at the colorful candied apple. Then she was first to say, “Yes, yes, sit with us!” With a big smile.

Salvador smiles too then, “Of course you can, you don’t have to ask Link. We don’t bite.” Ruka eyes Sal’s head snakes, “They might. No, bad!” She bops the reactive snakes on the nose until they settle back into more like a silver helmet around Salvador’s skull.

“Sorry, they have a mind of their own.” He pulls out a chair for Link.

“Chefs get the first taste of their meals, where I’m from.” Salvador said and they let Link enjoy his.

After Link’s comment about the princess, Ruka asks, wide eyed, “You know a princess? Is she beautiful and strong? I bet she is.” Salvador laughs, and says, “I’m sure she’ll love it as long as you’ve done your best to make it.”

Shortly after, Ruka took a chomp out of her brightly colored apple. It’s crisp shell crunching loudly. But the shell still held in place by the caramel-like colored substance. Ruka excitedly said, “It tastes perfect! So good!”

Sal crunched into his as well, and was just as delighted by the flavorful taste. “This is delicious!” He said and clapped Link on the back. “You are an extremely talented master of your craft. I have no doubt you can do anything you put your mind to.” Ruka nods with a smile in agreement.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

Glad you’re still gonna write Link.

And all good Cellophane. Real life comes before internet shenanigans. And Ruka and Salvador are always open to getting to know people. Or at least to interact. Pretty much the whole reason I brought them here.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

Sorry for the delay, I ended up going to the local shelter to pet cats so I hadn’t read your ic post yet.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

@MasterLink
As Link hands Ruka her vegetable dish, she curtsies and sets her plate at the table with the mask on it. She eats like she hasn’t had a proper meal in days and her eyes light up with enjoyment. She says, “Link you did great!” And she continues her meal happily. Salvador looks at Ruka and tells her to slow down and savor the food.

Salvador graciously takes his meal and takes a seat next to Ruka. “Thank you Link, sorry it was on such short notice. We haven’t eaten for the the day and a half we’d been wandering til we ended up in this strange place.”

He picks the large piece of meat out of the stew, hoping it has enough iron in the blood to replenish his reserves, and tosses it into his mouth. A couple of the less filled bags attached to his back fill up more and boil with seeming intensity.

“Very kind of you to cook for us, for nothing.” Sal says before slurping down his soup. “That was excellent, right Ruka?” She smiles with bright eyes and nods with a mouth full of lettuce.

“I’ll find a way to pay back the favor soon.” Salvador assured. “In the meantime, if you think of anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Sal ponders for a moment after they’re both done eating and looks at Ruka. Then back at link. “Is there any chance you have anything akin to candied apples?” He asked politely. “It’s one of our favorite deserts.”

Salvador generates a metal toothpick as Ruka fishes out a wooden one, holding each over their head for a moment in triumph like tiny swords. And then they proceed to clean their teeth carefully. But also trying not to be rude.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to ask so much of you, Link. If you can’t find the ingredients, it’s not a necessity. That meal was very filling.” He rubbed his belly. And Ruka belched louder than anyone could have expected in that moment and was then embarrassed. “Sorry everyone.” She announced to anyone looking their way. Sal didn’t want to make her feel singled out, so he let out a louder belch that rattled the tables and rumbled the floorboards. “Apologies.” Was all he said, before they both laughed out like crazy people.

TNT - The Nameless Tavern. (Always Open)

That’ll work. Sounds good to me.