Of Teahouses and Airships

[Prince Kai-Mijo]

Ah, yes. The ever lively teahouse. Bards, prostitutes, drunken sailors, drunken other sailors...teahouse seemed to be a bit of an ambiguous title, as, really, there was more sake being exchanged than actual tea, and the steepers were spending more of their time restocking on the wine than doing their job of...well, steeping tea.

A few warriors were scattered about here and there, thinking they owned the place with their banded armor and clinking swords and pansy topknots. While it seemed the place could sink no lower, however, the owner, an elderly lady, continuously kept her workers at bay by pointing out that... "...at least it's good for business."

True, true. Ever was the excuse of the most peculiar looking man nestled in the corner, completely out of place in this homogeneous nation with his shock of golden blond curls. He was obviously tipsy...well, okay, full blown drunk was more like it, and asking anyone around the tea house, such had been the case for several days. Perhaps it was the constant stream of servers rushing over with the next bottle of sake, but they knew not to complain for the man did tip handsomely.

Still, there had to be a cutoff point SOMEwhere. While the westerner could hold his alcohol like no other, it didn't mean he wasn't an obnoxious disruption to those in the immediate...well, not so immediate vicinity.

"'Ey~! Wheresh the demon blood saposta' be? Yew all calling thish the most 'potent' wine available on yer little scattering of islands?!" Such slurs were unexpected from the otherwise aristocratic looking man, who, in other situations, would probably be rather striking if he were actually composed.

Obviously that wasn't the case in this situation.

First, there had been several attempts to drag him off to one of the other rooms reserved for private parties. While paper screens did little to deaden sound, at least it would keep him out of everyone else's line of sight.

As that had obviously failed, they tried to bribe him with more wine as a 'parting gift' of sorts, the two words enforced rather strongly as if to make a point. Which, of course, he chose to ignore completely.

Third, they had tried to threaten him, and not only the workers stepped up to this challenge, but even the regular teahouse goers like the lowly samurai and the like had attempted to intimidate him out of the place. Surprisingly, even drunk, his ability with his rapier seemed to remain steadfast.

So for the most part, everyone had tried to become accustomed to ignoring him, though by the pained looks on their faces, it was rather obvious that that wasn't working in the least. All they could do now was pray that somehow, someone would come along and put an end to this.

"Hey, at least he 'aint like the sailors who go tryin' to shove their hands down the ladies' yukata once they're a bit tipsy..."

Of course, after that waitress had whispered that tidbit to her coworker did Lucien randomly decide to stick his hand down a passing maid's collar; quite unceremonious, particularly for him.

"Right, forget I said that," the waitress mumbled through the sudden shriek and sound slap that rang from the same corner.

[Princess Nazaki ♪]

When Yuko arrived for work that day, she found the teahouse in a state of chaos. The strange man with curly hair was causing an uproar again. He had been there every day that Yuko had worked for the last week; indeed, it seemed like he hadn't left his seat since last Thursday. The girls who waited on his table in the corner had been growing tired of him, but hadn't said anything for fear of cutting off what had recently become the small business's main source of income. Well, she thought, stepping over the threshold as a local samurai went flying out the door, it seemed he had finally overstayed his welcome.

She quickly went to the back room to change into the uniformed yukata all servers wore. She emerged from behind the door and walked straight into her boss. Gasping, she dropped her tray with a clatter. Yuko quickly picked it up, apologizing profusely. For once, she was not reprimanded.

"There you are, Ishikawa. See that foreigner in the corner? Go drive him out. He's nothing but a nuisance now, and we need him to leave."

"Umm...but....I..."

"I must not have made myself clear. You will go now and ask the foreign man to leave, or you will not have a job tomorrow morning!"

Yuko averted her eyes. She walked over to the corner table, practicing what she would say. Maybe a firm 'Sir, you have overstayed your welcome. It's time for you to go,' or a bold 'You're causing nothing but trouble- you need to leave!' Or maybe even-

She looked up, suddenly staring right into the eyes of the blonde man. She gulped, instinctively bringing her serving tray up so it covered the lower half of her face.

"Umm....sir.... the owner...um..." she muttered, blushing and looking away. "That is...Uhh... you have to go now....... sorry..." she said, timidly.

[Kurux2onna]

Chieko walked into the teahouse and stared at the never-ending list of tea, trying to decide which she should buy for her next tea ceremony class. She had just fought with her husband, Kazuya, over the amount of money he spends on his many "girlfriends." Ever since Kazuya retired 3 years ago, they were living on his retirement fund and her income. Which, of course, she was reluctant to give up. Kazuya picked up the habit of flirting with younger women. Whether it was to piss her off, or just because he was bored, it was working. She was pissed. She finally decided on Gyoguro matcha tea (the most expensive tea on the list) and used up a large amount of the money she had with her. Now Kazuya had less money to take his "girlfriends" out for coffee, she though. She smiled to herself as she paid for her purchase, and as she turned to leave she noticed a couple of young men flirting with the maids, and some even with their hands down the front of the girls's yukatas. "What the hell are kids thinking these days? Well, I guess times haven't changed that much. As long as thats not Kazuya...." She took a closer look and recognized the wrinkled up, old, bald man seemingly enjoying himself. Chieko fumed over to the table and grabbed Kazuya by the ear. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU ASSHOLE?!" She dragged him out of the shop and straight into the closest expensive restaurant, where she emptied his retirement account by ordering the most expensive things on the menu. And, of course, did not even think of sharing any. "Payback is a bitch." She thought to herself as she watched him mourn his well-earned money while chewing on an escargo.

[Prince Kai-Mijo]

Giggling--yes, giggling--immaturely as the poor maid hurried off while trying to readjust her robe, Lucien promptly downed another bowl of wine and tossed it to the nearest servant. Of course, as his hand-eye coordination was lacking somewhat given his current state, he missed by a longshot, and winced visibly (along with everyone else present) as the bowl conked some random sailor over the head. Now, as everyone knew, sailors were not the sort to mess with, least of all on land, and on land, least of all at any place that had alcohol.

Like this here teahouse, for example.

"Hmm, maybe this'll be the answer to all our problems," the same waitress murmured from her position as a spectator, biting her lip anxiously. "As nice as it'd be to get rid of him, though, my pockets have swelled tenfold from his tips! And he's not half bad looking, either--"

"Shush you!" the owner hissed, glancing around to see where Yuko had gone. She was supposed to have already taken care of the idiot, and now he was throwing wine bowls at people!

Lucien, of course, despite his drunkenness had realized what he'd done. He seemed no more put off by it than that spider crawling nonchalantly up the wall, however. Instead, he looked up and blinked several times as a timid looking servant approached him; he didn't hear her words really, as they were murmured in hardly a whisper behind the tray she was holding up as if for some feeble defense.

"Eh? Ish that pour moi?" Lucien inquired as he pulled himself to his feet, dusted his coat off, and then stood as straight as one under the effect of several bottles of Junmai Ginjo could. "Thankshhh...I might need it," he added as he reached over towards Yuko. The spectating waitress winced, thinking she would meet the same fate as the maid grumbling in the other corner, but Lucien had instead grabbed the tray Yuko was holding, thinking she had brought it for him as a...weapon.

Yes, weapon.

For now he had walked over to mister sailor man who was pushing up his sleeves, ready to knock the living daylights (do vampires have daylights? Would it be nightlights?) outta' Lucien. Oddly enough, the first punch thrown by the sailor was ducked with a swiftness that even some sober could not achieve, and the vampire's retaliation was to...

...whack the sailor upside the head with the tray. Which, of course promptly shattered. And only angered the sailor even further...

....along with his three other buddies. .__. ;;

[Princess Nazaki ♪]

Yuko gasped, covering her hands with her mouth as her shield-tray was smashed over the head of a sailor who looked about ready to tear the place apart, Blond-Guy first. She looked around, hoping someone else would step in and...fix everything. Actually, she was not sure what she wanted to happen. She just wanted to keep her job so her parents could afford to move to better land. But now it looked like she would be out of the only job she had been able to find.

Blinking back tears, she walked up to the strange man and tugged on his sleeve. When he turned around she said quietly, "Sir... the owner says you need to leave now... please...." She bowed politely, wiping her eyes and sniffling slightly.