[ action | open ] ain't into metal, just leather and lace and the taste of oxidation

[black_black_heart]

Who: Tannusen and whoever!
What: Planned threads: Telsen gets a job, Bracken meets a tiger. Other shenanigans also welcome!
When: After the cure's out for the Quiet Minds event. Tannu was... occupied, during that.
Where: Genessia City - Velvet Lust (Please read that link if you're gonna tag in!)
Warnings: Will add if any are needed.

Tannusen arrived at his bar before the sun began to go down, taking chairs down off of tables downstairs, prepping the first batch of steaks, and stocking the bar with freshly-cleaned glassware from the kitchen. For the first time in a while, he stayed behind the bar when the sun went down and the 'open' sign flickered to life, instead of retreating upstairs or completely ducking out of sight.

He was under no obligation to stay there, of course, but the regular bartender certainly didn't mind the help as the usual crowd started to trickle in. The boss had been scarce, lately; perhaps things were returning to normal, now. Besides, Tannusen never took anything from the tip jar. It was win-win!

Comments

[telsen]

"Why do you want to know?" He wasn't hostile, not yet. Like a nervous dog, his ears were low and he watched Tannusen out of the side of his vision. It was surprisingly easy to tell this strange bartender things. Still, Telsen was wary.

[black_black_heart]

"Well, I live with the guy," Tannusen shrugged, "it would be nice to know if he has a reputation for skinning people alive, or something. But mostly, I'm just incredibly nosy."

And prone to lying, but details.

[telsen]

Telsen didn't trust a stranger not to lie, that would be foolish. He didn't think that Tannusen was lying right not, at least not about some things. It would be Telsen's luck to run into the guy that lives with the should-be-dead Firstborn. Of course.

He sipped at his drink. He wasn't even buzzed for this ordeal.

"No, no. That's not a concern. Just- He's very, uh, very good. I'm not. He could kill me." He started to pick at a fresh scab on the back of his hand, near one of the butterflies. "Don't, please, don't tell him you met me. Please."

[black_black_heart]

"Why would I tell him anything? We don't generally discuss my patrons," Tannusen watched the new guy carefully, including the picking. Hmm. Trahearne was very 'good', and this stranger was... 'not'.

So... he was Unseelie, then.

Tannusen would have laughed if he'd known how close he was.

"We don't tend to discuss morality, either. Probably because I'm an asshole who eats people," and with that, he flashed a pretty little smile.

What? He'd never tried to hide it. Which just made situations like that Barbara woman trying to blackmail him all the funnier.

[telsen]

Telsen stared at him, a mix of fear and skepticism in his eyes. Considering what he was, he shouldn't be quick to dismiss the idea that he was talking to a cannibal. It wasn't very common that they revealed what they were unless he was mired in a court. This was just a bar.

"...Right." He took a generous swallow of his drink to give himself more time to think. "If you're not going to tell him anything, that's all I care about."

[black_black_heart]

Tannusen didn't particularly care who believed him and who thought it was another pooka lie; that was half the fun in being so open about what he was. No one was going to catch him in the act, so unless they went to Trahearne's apartment and started running tests on the paper-wrapped packs of meat with the tiger's name written on them... well, good luck.

"Of course," the tiger chuckled.

[telsen]

"You're the third person to mention him to me," Telsen grumbled down at his drink. Sylvari were pretty hard to miss. Telsen was relatively young but he remembered odd looks and all the questions when he was younger.

"Stupid," he said in an even lower voice. "Stupid, stupid. I hate this."

His head snapped back up, a guarded, almost haughty look trying to mask the fear still in his eyes. "What's with the name of this place?"

[black_black_heart]

"I assume you don't mean the bar," Tannusen leaned on his hands on the counter, "people seem to call the whole world Genessia. I don't know if that's it's proper name, or just the name of the central city."

[telsen]

"I, uh, meant the bar. It was suggested to me." And he'd pretty much come running as soon as he had the chance.

"The name of the place, I don't know, it seems awful close to 'genesis'. The bar is more interesting." There was alcohol here and the bartender was nice enough to look at. Even better if he could keep him off the topic of Trahearne.

[black_black_heart]

"Well, no one ever said our captors are creative," Tannusen chuckled. Not that he really minded being here, at present. If he could just get his bike back, things would be pretty swell, actually. "The bar is Velvet Lust. Most people notice that before they walk in."

[telsen]

"Mm, yeah. I was told that name and came here. Sounded like a good place. Why's it called that, s'what I meant." He waved a hand idly. What, did the owner just really like velvet? It was a pretty fancy place and very clean at that.

It was nothing to complain about but the name made him curious, still.

[black_black_heart]

"Well, the original back in Toronto was already named that before it fell into neglect and shut down. I kept the name when I bought the place and fixed it back up, and again when I recreated it here."

One velvet-loving owner, right here!

"I find it useful, it scares off most of the people I wouldn't want in my bar to begin with."

And plenty more besides, but that was the price to pay.

[telsen]

"S'that so?" Telsen mulled that over in silence for a bit. Well, the name had drawn him in, so it was working. It was the only bar he knew about so far so it'd keep his business unless something got weird. It'd have to be pretty weird to drive him off.

"What's upstairs?" He pointed to the ceiling above.

[black_black_heart]

"The club part of Velvet Lust, Desire's Lounge," Tannusen smiled, "same story as the rest of the place, for the name. I'm sure your butterflies would be a hit, up there."

It was a massive, massive glamour-factory. To Fae eyes, the whole building was drenched in the stuff.

[telsen]

To not-quite-fae eyes, the place looked pretty normal. Telsen's ears flicked up in interest at the explanation all the same. He didn't go around in a tube top for the butterflies to not catch attention!

"Alright..." He pushed his empty glass at Tannusen with one finger, blue light reflecting off the ice. "I'll have one more and head up there."

[black_black_heart]

Tannusen poured him a refill, and saluted with it before handing it over. "Have fun up there."

Honestly, why didn't all Fae run places like this? So easy.

[telsen]

Telsen hopped up to do just that, after leaving a small pile of red bills, the cost of the drinks plus a generous tip.

-----

Turns out the sylvari was serious about becoming a regular at Velvet Lust. Adjusting to a new world was difficult, so he drowned out his anxiety with what the bar and club had to offer. Simple, not cheap, but simple. Mostly he'd kept away from Tannusen, he didn't want Trahearne to be brought up again. It wasn't worth the stress.

Today, however, he had a paper in hand and was on the lookout for Tannusen. His butterflies were covered this time, by a shirt that was comprised of sleeves, a lot of lace, and not much else. Shame had never really come up when it came to picking his clothing.

[black_black_heart]

Tannusen was easy enough to find; tonight he was upstairs, lounging around in his usual booth. The tiger rarely got more involved in the club than to observe it, other than the occasional visitor bringing the party right to his lap.

And at that point, it would just be rude to not partake.

[telsen]

Telsen was willing enough to join Tannusen in his booth but not for fun reasons tonight. Maybe for fun reasons tonight, after his main reason was dealt with. With that thought to drive him on, he paused by Tannusen's table and eyed the tiger with no small amount of interest. He had only had one drink before approaching him this time. He needed something to get himself to even talk to him about business.

"May I?"

[black_black_heart]

"Of course," Tannusen gestured at the bench seat across the table from himself, with the hand holding his own drink. Tea, of course. It was always, always tea. He was still taking up the entire bench he was on, leaning back against the wall with his elbow on the table.

His gaze flicked down to the paper Telsen was holding, curious, then back up to the sylvari's face.

[telsen]

Telsen was reconsidering the order of his plan for the night when he noticed the look at the paper. First thing should be the important one. He could argue that it was important on some level to get in Tannusen's pants but he wouldn't be coming by very often if he ran out of money.

The sylvari slid into the bench and set the paper down, face up. It was a job listing from the job agency in town. Simple and official look, pretty letterhead and all. It didn't look near neon or purple enough to pertain to Velvet Lust.

"I, mmm." Okay try again. "I wanted to ask about, well, you need a waiter and I'm going to be here anyway, so."

[black_black_heart]

Well, Telsen wouldn't have been the first person tonight to climb into Tannusen's lap and talk about whatever came up. But no, that wouldn't be very useful for the job situation.

The tiger watched Telsen over the top of his glasses like he knew exactly what the struggle was, here, and then he set his tea down. A gloved finger pinned the paper to the table and then dragged it over, so he could glance over at what it said. Upside-down, but he got the gist. It was a familiar ad, considering he'd written it.

"I... see," Tannusen pushed the paper back, and gave a slow and lazy smile. "So you're interested in the job? I assume you'd mostly want the upstairs."

Yes, he'd noticed Telsen's preferences.

[telsen]

Telsen's glow flared bright blue in a flush. He shouldn't be embarrassed by that, it was pretty obvious. Instead of going straight to picking at his skin, he just rubbed the back of his hand, where several more scabs had appeared over the week.

"Mmm, well you were right about the butterflies. They're popular up here, it would be a benefit, I think." And, hey, he sure is visible. In the dimmer lighting of upstairs, his glow is always obvious.

"I wouldn't do anything irresponsible while working, either." An important disclaimer when it came to him.

[black_black_heart]

"Well, that was going to be one of my questions," Tannusen chuckled, watching Telsen with a peculiar seriousness that was totally at odds with his casual body language. "I don't see why not, then. I need a waiter, you need a job. And you do seem to like the place."

That was important, too. Tannu wouldn't hire someone who didn't at least somewhat like the place! There was no point in having someone around who was a nervous wreck about the nature of the establishment. "You know if someone harasses you and you don't like it, we have security."

Okay, so it was a little more present in his mind than usual, after throwing Bryant off the roof the other day. Sue him.

[telsen]

Telsen shifted around on the bench and his nails dug into the bark, he couldn't help himself when he was this nervous. It took a lot out of him to hide what he could in his expression.

"I do like the place. A lot, yeah." He glanced around, a bit wistful. It'd be easier not to think too much if he was out having fun.

"Uh, security? The woman down at the front door?" Telsen was pretty sure that was a woman and that she was terrifying. "I can defend myself too if I need to but, um, it's easier just to ask for security. I'll keep that in mind.