Mind Games (Open)

[Minerva]

This should be good enough. I have enough coin to last me quite a while, but it's always better to save. This level of accommodation should have weeded out the more violent and lewd folk, while not overtaxing the budget. Very well, I'll stay here for the night. Her mind made up and her thoughts collected, the mage flipped her steel-blue hair and pushed open the door, confidently striding up to the counter.

"Hey there," she said to the barkeep with a wink, "I'll have a room, with meal, of course, for tonight. And to tide me over, how about a nice whiskey? Give me the best you have, sir. I'll judge the quality."

"Uhh... Yes, of course, ma'am," the barkeep stuttered. Was she talking to him? Did she wink at him? Wait, wait, she wanted... What?

"No need to be so nervous," she laughed, taking a seat at the counter and smoothing her skirt under her. "Just bring me a whiskey and reserve me a room."

Inwardly, she was simply bored. It was always the same story. She sat down, had a few whiskeys, ate, staved off a few lusty suitors, slept with the door tightly locked and barred with a chair, and moved on. She was bored. She wanted someone interesting to talk to. Maybe one that would look at her eyes when they talked at least fifty percent of the time. Absentmindedly rubbing the cross-shaped scar on her shoulder, the mage waited for her whiskey and settled in to another night of sheer mindlessness.

[Palenax]

Palenax had decided to stop into the town for the evening, deciding to get some rest before going back to her flight plan for Nabata. The inn she'd taken up in was a good one, at least. Some decent food and drink. She always did have a love for tasting the new dishes that new kingdoms always seemed to have. Lycia certainly had a uniqueness in being an alliance of city states, but nothing particularly had struck her fancy within this realm. The Fire Dragon looked over as another woman entered, flipping her hair and sliding right into a seat next to the golden haired "human".

With a few words to the barkeep, he was rather absentminded for a moment before starting to go about fulfilling her order and reserving a room. She briefly looked down as the mage traced a scar on her shoulder, but Nax decided it was better to not ask and instead looked up to her face proper.

"Quite a smooth entrance. Certainly left him speechless." She chuckled a bit, wearing a grin to match the mirth in her voice.

[Minerva]

Hearing a voice, Minerva inwardly sighed. Was it really beginning already? Wait. That was a female voice. Looking up, she saw the golden-haired woman next to her speaking. Well, it was better than a rowdy drunk. The woman looked... Youthful, but at the same time, worldly. Her hair was quite beautiful. And her clothes were very tasteful. A good first impression.

"Mmm." The young mage laughed airily along with the woman. "You're probably used to it too, am I right? Sometimes, it's a struggle just to get them to look at my face. What a difficult task," she finished dryly.

"Anyway, thanks for talking to me. Usually, it's just a line of lewd drunks all trying to pull some moves on me." Minerva rolled her eyes. She was quite grateful that the woman had taken the time to be friendly. Might as well introduce herself. "I'm Minerva," she said, extending a hand to the other woman. "I'm actually from Ilia, believe it or not."

[Lily]

There were many places Lily had visited in her travels, and Pherae was no exception. It wasn't a place she visited often, but she could say she'd flown over it... Once? Twice, maybe? It was never a place she had stayed in, though. She never really had a reason to. But once she thought of it like that...

Maybe it was time to change that, just to say that she did.

The young girl's face beamed with an energetic smile as she started on a descent path, her eyes focused on a town she had saw not too long ago. Serenity probably needed a rest and some feed anyway. It seemed like most of the money Lily made went to Serenity's food, but that was probably because the two were flying so often. Now was a good time for a rest.

It was a short flight down, but she landed at the entrance of the town to arrive just as everyone else did, and to minimize risk of landing on any townsfolk. That never left a good impression. Not that she had ever done that before, of course. Alright, maybe there was that one time...

The guard hailed her, and she returned the greeting. The two talked in a friendly tone, and she was shown where to stable her pegasus, as well as recommended various places in town to go. She thanked the man kindly, and stabled Serenity just after.

Now, it was time to find the inn he had recommended. Her stomach growled. When was the last time she ate...? Well... All the more reason for her to fix that now. She grinned, heading into town.

The inn wasn't too hard to find, thankfully. It was admittedly a little nicer than she expected. She was used to sharing drinks with travelers, soldiers, and everything in between, after all. But right now, she'd take it. She put her hand on the door, stepping inside. She blinked when she saw the people inside. There were a few regulars it looked like, but then there were two women at the counter as well. And they were really pretty, at that. It almost was enough to make her self-conscious of her own appearance, but then she reminded herself. That never was something she wanted to focus on anyway. At least, not intentionally.

So to take it off her mind, she walked to her own spot at the counter, looking over it. The barkeep was busy getting something from the back room, it looked like.

"Is no one serving..?" she idly pondered, more to herself but partly to anyone who could answer.

[Palenax]

"You're probably used to it too, am I right? Sometimes, it's a struggle just to get them to look at my face. What a difficult task."

Nax chuckled a bit once more. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean, indeed." She took a brief sip of her drink. "Though I must confess you are quite the beauty as well. What are your secrets?" The Fire Dragon was curious to see the bluenette's reaction.

"I'm Minerva," the woman extended her hand to Nax. "I'm actually from Ilia, believe it or not."

Nax took the offered hand carefully in her own, placing a brief kiss upon the back. "Palenax. But please, call me Nax." She gave another grin, but looked away briefly as someone else spoke up.

"Is no one serving..?"

She turned to see a brunette this time, dressed in garb that had the usual inclination of an Ilian Pegasus Knight. Quite the cutie as well, actually. "The barkeep's in the back. He'll be back in a moment though. Have a seat, come and have a drink and meal with us."

[Lily]

"Eh? Oh, um. Alright," Lily responded to the offer, with a tone of surprise. She supposed that was why she came here, for the meal, but she didn't expect company. She wasn't exactly good with it most times, either. But that was another part of why she came here, was to get more familiar with the lands and the people who lived here. She supposed putting herself into unfamiliar waters wouldn't hurt. Too badly, at least.

"I'm Lily. Think you said... Nax and Minerva?" she said, having overheard the two from earlier, "I'm Lily."

She didn't quite catch the kiss on the back of the hand, or Nax's tone. Not that it would've mattered anyway; She was terrible with handling flirting and most things involving it. She gave a nod and a smile at the two when she introduced herself though, after moving a seat closer.

[Minerva]

Whoa. A slight pink crept into Minerva's face as the woman kissed her hand. But by the land and sea, she was gorgeous.

"Well, Nax, the pleasure is mine."

"I'm Lily."

Turning to her other side, Minerva caught sight of a young woman, about... her age, she'd guess, wearing Peg Knight garb. "Well, Lily, it's nice to meet you. I am, as you said, Minerva. And, believe it or not, I tried Pegasus riding for a little while. Needless to say, it wasn't my most fruitful endeavor. Oh!"

The barkeep had come out of the back with a glass of beautiful, caramel colored whiskey. "Thank you, dear," Minerva said, smiling at the poor bartender, whose arms were shaking in nervousness. "I...I'll...Food...Quick...YES!" the man stammered, disappearing into the back again.

Taking a sip of the whiskey, she noted the earthy notes, and the wood flavor. This was quite good, surprisingly. "So, tell me, what brings you two to Pherae?" she asked, taking another sip.

[Palenax]

"A pleasure to meet you, Lily. Quite the cute name, if I may say so." Nax grinned once more, taking a sip of her own drink once more before mulling over Minerva's question briefly. "Well, you could say that I'm a tourist of sorts, desiring to see the sights of all Elibe." She took a bite of her meal as well. "Not to mention the local sights and sounds, as well as the food and the people. All kinds of unique flavors to sate my tastes, you know!" She winked briefly at the blue haired mage.

[Shugo]

The sound of Wyvern screech filled the air as Luna descended to the earth. The white Wyvern had grabbed the attention of several of the guards as it came down. Many people tough the saddle was empty, but the sight of a young boy jumping off the massive beast put that notion to rest.

"Alright Mr. Lance you can stay with Luna for now", spoke Shugo as he secured his iron lance in a weapon hold in Luna's saddle. The boy took his dragonspear with him, as it was the most showy weapon, and turned to his beast. "Ok Luna you can go find dinner", spoke the boy as the Wyvern took off into the sky as fast as it landed. The guards were a bit puzzled, but after speaking with Shugo let him pass. The boy walked into the tavern with his chest out and his Dragon lance in his hand. He was proud of his weapon and wanted to show it off.

"Excuse me", spoke Shugo as he walked up to the counter. The counter was just above his head and the young boy had to stand on his toes to look above it. "May I have some apple juice and a long sandwich", spoke Shugo to the bartender. The man gave him a puzzled look, but walked into the back to get him his drink. The man returned with a mug filled with apple juice.

"Thank you", spoke Shugo as he reached up and grabbed the mug. Shugo made sure to put both hands on the glass and put it down on a nearby stool before grabbing his lance. He then grabbed the hoop and set it down on a table before sitting in the chair. With his dragonspear at his side and his apple juice Shugo waited for his sandwich to be made.

[Lily]

"Cute? I, ah, I dunno-" Lily started to say, as if to correct Nax's comment. It was at that point that she heard another voice, though, and turned her head to look over her shoulder at the source.

Was that... A little boy? And... Dressed for battle, no less? Erm...

"... In any event, I'm here just to see the sights, more or less. And the sights seem to be interesting..." she said, in somewhat of an almost confused tone before addressing the boy, "Excuse me, but um. Are you... Lost, perhaps?"

She was still a bit red in the face from the small compliment, and in her typical fashion, she tried avoiding the social games by shifting her focus to something else.

It was a bad habit of hers.

[Minerva]

What the... what was a kid doing with... a dragonspear? Damn. Did he steal that from somebody?

"Hehehe," she laughed softly at her own joke, nudging Nax with her elbow. "Hey, look at the hot guy down at the table... I think he's checking you out. He wants you to see how well-maintained that spear of his is..."

Just then, the barkeep came out with her food, and Willow thanked him graciously before beginning to eat quickly but delicately, inadvertently advertising her noble upbringing. Taking a long gulp of whiskey, the young mage looked briefly around, noticing with relief that there weren't any rowdy or leering men in the tavern. She'd chosen well.

[Palenax]

"Hey, look at the hot guy down at the table... I think he's checking you out. He wants you to see how well-maintained that spear of his is..."

"Too bad, I've got much different tastes." Nax grinned briefly before finishing her drink and ordering another. The kid with the Dragonspear was curious, but nothing really worth investing her time in. Probably stole it from someone else or something like that.

"So, I've told you a bit about myself. Mind indulging my curiosity?" She leaned a bit closer to Minerva, as if conspiring with the mage. "What brings a lovely woman like yourself to Pherae?"

[Shugo]

Shugo looked at Lily for a moment with a confused look. He stopped and looked around and then realized she was talking to him. It was actually kind of weird for Shugo that she asked him that. The last 52 taverns he been to nobody asked him if he was lost, but then again nobody in those places seemed to care about anything. Shugo usually hung out in the lower end taverns not out of taste, but rather out of poor luck.

"Umm, no Ma,am I am not lost", spoke Shugo. "I just came to the tavern to get something to eat and drink."

[Lily]

Lily tilted her head. The boy seemed rather confident in himself. It was an admirable trait in a young man. She refrained from belittling him by trying to muss up his hair or make any comments about being adorable. (Even though she completely thought this was the case, until she thought on whether the boy was actually going to be going to a fight. Then it wasn't so adorable.)

"Well, excuse me then sir, I must've been mistaken," she said in a tone that was supposed to be encouraging respect but probably came out as mockery. After figuring she was annoying the kid enough, she turned back to the other two. Nax was still flirting with Minerva, and Minerva seemed to either be playing along or not realizing it entirely. Lily was never good at figuring that out.

She crossed her arms on the bar, resting her chin against them. She wasn't so sure this was her element. But maybe she just needed some food and a drink.

[Minerva]

"Well..." Minerva took another draught of her drink, emptying the glass, before beginning to respond. "I got bored in Ilia, so I traveled down here. I'm actually setting off for Bern soon, I hear there's fun to be had there. Honestly, I just needed to get away from my family." Minerva smiled at Nax, a small and wistful smile, before flagging the bartender. "Another whiskey, please. And our friend here needs some food and drink, I'll wager."

"R...Right. Um... Miss... What would you like?" the man said, addressing Lily.

Absentmindedly, Minerva's hand traced the scar again before coming to rest on the counter near Nax's. "It was just too boring and stuffy, Nax. I felt chained. Like I was being forced to accept certain roles, or rules, or codes."