forum And the Skies Turned Gold (Reboot) // OxO // Closed

Started February 10, 2020 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Tohru started taping around the countertop.
"Where do you want to put that little lizard man?" he asked.

He laughed. "Mm…I don't think we should put it on the floor; it'll get broken. On a shelf somewhere?"

"Yeah, probably. Or on top of the cabinet if there's no room on a shelf," Tohru agreed.
He finished taping near the stove, then sat down on the floor next to the wall again.

"Yeah." He agreed, moving to work on taping another area. "I'm sure there's room somewhere."

Once the kitchen was finished, Tohru checked the time again. They could probably finish prepping before he had to go to work.
"Having fun yet?" he laughed, "This is the tedious part, honestly. Part of the reason why I never actually got around to painting most of the places I've lived."

He laughed a little. "I like painting the walls. It makes a place feel more like…like a home, even if I don't get to stay long." He said with a faint, rather wistful smile.

"It does. I just- I never really stayed anywhere long at all. Sometimes just a week or so," Tohru admitted, "And sometimes, I'd just hole up in old motels and the like, because that's what I could find."

He nodded. "Of course." He replied, smiling as he looked over at Tohru. "I don't always paint, but I like to if I get the chance."

"Yeah, usually I hang things up instead. Like paintings or tapestries. It does the job, and it's less work," Tohru agreed.
He sighed.
"Though I do love the smell of fresh paint, on top of giving your place a more homey feel."

He smiled again, shrugging faintly. "Yeah. But…I don't know. I just like painting."

"Yeah, it's always a nice touch when you have the time," Tohru said, "I'm glad we do now- and we have twice the amount of hands, so it works out."
After they worked together for a bit longer, Tohru checked the time again and figured he should get ready to go to work.
"Here's hoping tonight's not too busy," he said, "I'd rather ease myself in, especially if they're understaffed."

Davin nodded a little. "Yeah. Good luck with all that." He said with a smile. "So I'm going to get started on painting."

"Great. I can join in when I get back, depending on how far you are," Tohru agreed.
He straightened out his clothes a bit, moving to the dresser mirror in the bedroom to do so. They'd said his outfit was fine, so he figured he'd just slap his apron over it and call it a day.

"Alright. Good luck with the job, Tohru." Davin said, crouching and working to open the first pain jar.

Tohru slung his bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks. See you later, darli- I mean- Davin."
As he headed out the door, he was cursing himself. Perhaps he had been too caught up in the routine of going to work, wishing someone he loved goodbye- except that wasn't really the norm for him.
But he was headed out, and since he'd corrected himself, maybe the other wouldn't think anything of it. Maybe.

Davin blinked at the scrap of nickname. Darling? What? He bit his lip faintly, looking at the paint can and wondering where this would all lead.

Tohru arrived at the bar a little early, while the crowd was still small. Kira was mixing drinks behind the counter, and she gestured for him to come on over.
The young man strapped on his apron as he walked over, then went to wash his hands.
"How's it going?" he asked.
Kira shrugged. "It's fine for now. Was hoping you'd get here soon. Things are starting to pick up a little, after all. We have a third person coming in, but he makes a habit of being fashionably late- and we can't afford to fire him with the current staffing situation."
"Ah, fair enough," Tohru replied, "So, what'll you have me doing tonight?"
"Let's see… I'll have you serving drinks from the tap and bottles- stuff that's pre-made basically. I'll teach you how to mix some of our drinks another day when we're less busy. Aaand, let's see, I'll teach you how to work register."
Tohru nodded in reply. "Sounds simple enough."
Kira finished making the drink she was working on, and passed it to Tohru.
"See that smooth-faced guy with the fuckboy haircut? That one's his."
Tohru almost choked at first.
"You talk about customers like that?"
"Ehh, they're too drunk to care. Besides, that one really is a fuckboy. Grabbed my butt one time when he was drunk off his ass. Started a whole fight because one of the old staff members got all pissy and tried to defend me- not that he was a much better guy himself," Kira replied, chuckling softly.
Tohru bit his lip, and he picked up the glass from the counter before walking over to the table. He smiled slightly as he approached, trying to be friendly, even given what he knew about the guy.
"Hey, here's your drink," Tohru said, "Enjoy."
"Did missy over there decide to stop serving us?"
"No, no, my shift just started, so that's how the tables are divided," Tohru lied to save face for her.
The man took a sip of his drink and pointed at Tohru. "I've never seen you around here before. And I'm here all the time."
"That'd be because I only recently got hired," Tohru confirmed, "If you're a regular, you'll probably see more of me."
"Tell missy to switch tables with you or something- She loves serving me and my friends."
"Ah, yes, and I'm sure I will too," Tohru replied, a sarcastic edge on his voice.

Davin hummed to himself, turning on some music as he got working on painting. The sound of music filled the apartment as he worked to paint the wall, a soft little smile on his face.

"Does that guy ever leave?" Tohru grumbled, leaning up against the bar.
"He's only here like once or twice a week. It's fine," Kira replied, "You holding up alright, other than that? It got busy, huh?"
"Oh, yeah. More or less. It's a bit loud in here- but I guess that's to be expected."
Kira chuckled to herself. "Well, you're doing an alright job, it seems. Not that filling glasses is hard."
"No, I suppose not."
"It's the people that are difficult. You seem to keep pretty level-headed, though. Good on you. But you've only been here for two hours. We'll see if they wear you down."
Finally, the third employee arrived, looking a little disheveled, like he had been in a rush. He quickly strapped on his apron and came behind the counter.
"Oh sweet, this the new hire you told me about?"
Kira nodded.
"Name's Tohru," he said.
"I'm Vex," he replied, "How's your first night?"
"It's alright. You being here should lighten the load."
Vex flashed a bright smile. "Hah, yeah. I'll try!"

Davin continued to work, the paint slowly beginning to fill the wall with color. He wondered for a moment how Tohru was doing, but figured the Bounty Hunter could take care of himself.

The crowd was a bit loud and demanding, but between the three employees, they were able to hold things together.
It was almost midnight when a glass shattered towards the back corner of the bar.
Kira groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, I've got it," Vex said, grabbing for the broom.
A louder crash came when one of the patrons slammed another guy into the table.
"Ah, never mind. I'll let them settle things first." Vex put the broom back down.
Tohru watched for a moment, expecting the fight to be short-lived, but when neither backed down, Kira grabbed for the phone sitting on the wall.
Tohru kept an eye on the fight up until he saw a glint of silver.
"He's got a knife," Tohru muttered before rushing in.
Vex called something after him, but Tohru was too focused on trying to stop this. He wasn't exactly in the mood for seeing a murder first day of the job.
Tohru reached for his side pocket, where he typically kept his cuffs. He wasn't doing bounty hunter work at the moment, but having that equipment was force of habit. He ran at the guy with the knife and snapped the cuff around his wrist, jolting him hard enough that he dropped the weapon. Tohru snapped the other side of the cuff to the railing on the bar.
After that, he stood between the two drunks, making sure neither one made a further move.
"Alright, we done?" he asked, pulling out his own switchblade in case anyone decided to lash out.
The bar had fallen almost completely silent.

Davin started singing quietly as he painted, tail twitching gently from side to side, tapping against the floor to the beat of the music. This was relaxing. Calming. He knew he needed a job, but until he got one…this was a good way to spend the evening.

"I called the cops," Kira said, a bit flustered but relieved, "So, you weren't joking about being a bounty hunter, huh?"
"Well, no," Tohru replied, still keeping an eye on both men, "It's kind of a shame you don't have a bouncer or anything. Someone could've been stabbed had I not come around."
Kira scratched the back of her head. "Look, you know where we stand financially. That's not really viable right now."
Vex went over to help the man who had been more beaten up. He sat him at the bar and offered him some ice.
"Did you see who started it?" he asked.
"Well… pushing and shoving is pretty minor. Like I don't want any of our patrons to get arrested, but the guy who pulled a knife went too far. We didn't see enough. They'll just interview the other witnesses, probably. That's not really something we can help," Kira replied.
After the cops came and left, arresting both of the aggressors, the bar was a lot quieter, and the rest of the night ran smoothly, though there was something strange hanging in the air. They had just about watched someone get stabbed, after all.
At the end of the night, Kira gave Tohru his share of tips, and they clocked out together.
"What side of town do you live on?" she asked.
He told her, and she nodded.
"Me too. Wanna walk together part of the way? It can be rough out there this time of night."
Tohru agreed, and together they made their way towards home, until they had to part ways.
Upon returning to the apartment, Tohru flopped down on the couch. He breathed in the smell of fresh paint. For a moment, he considered calling out to Davin, but he wasn't certain the other was awake still, so he waited for Davin to notice his arrival first.

Davin had finished painting a while ago and put everything away, and was sitting on the bed in his pajamas, reading quietly on his tablet. He was still humming to himself.

Tohru took off his shoes and went back into the bedroom to change.
"Oh, hi, Davin," he said, grabbing for a change of clothes, "The place looks good."