Breakfast for Nadine

The Dragon's Head Tavern and Inn, Vorland, 1439 ATC

It was a pretty quiet morning in the Dragon's Head. The sun shone through the windows and outside the leaves were the greenest they could possibly be, birds called to their mates. Inside the tavern, however, the bearded bartender ascended the stairs and yelled out, ''BREAKFAST!'' At the top of his lungs and made his way to the bar. ... Without any clothes on whatsoever and carrying a silver platter close to his chest.

Today was the day. Today he was going to seduce Nadine of Telzar.

"Ugh, could you not." The girl with the orange bobcut looked away and glared at the wall. She sat at her usual table. Regret levels of coming here? Pretty high at the moment she did not want to see him in the nude. She sighed and looked around. Why did it have to be mostly empty in here right now?

The handsome bearded bartender himself had a muscular frame and and a bralled chest with many faint but mostly visible scars on it. His emerald snake like eyes were glazed over and reddened as he made his way over to her table. He sown a silver platter down on the table, removing the lid. On the platter were a few pieces of fried catfish, with some salt, paprika, and pepper added to it for taste. Along with a few hash browns and some freshly cooked bread.

''More like lunch than anything else, but still. The best Pantian cuisine possible!'' He said picking up a bottle of hot sauce and dumping some of it on the fried catfish. ''Ah... I had a lot of fun put on the lake the other day... Did you enjoy your time off from tinkering?"

Still refusing to look at him she grabbed a bit of fish. "All I got was hungover. Its not good for my head... Psionic and all." It had been fun trying to get back in bed back home that night. She could hardly see straight and didn't help she had a few people yelling at her for taking off like she did.

"I thought you got a room here?'' He asked sitting down in a seat beside the short artificer woman, wrapping an arm around her.

"That was the night Myron's hallucinations got bad. I stay in the stables, along with the stable girls... Selina and... That other blonde woman is her sister, right?" She adjusted to sit more comfortabally and ate more fish. She didn't seem as chipper as usual.

''Yes. Angel is the main stable girl here. Ahem. Something wrong?'' Venser asked looking down to her, some hot sauce dripping down his chin and getting stuck in his beard. ''Or is it just another lazy morning?'' He patted himself down and let out a surprised.

''Oh yeah. I was going to offer you a cigar since I was smoking lots when I was cooking...''

"I do't want one right now." She continued to stare at the wall while tapping the silver bracelet with the bug polished opal in the center on her left hand.

"I just got a lot on my mind. A lot of stuff to do, but I don't know where to start."

Nadine gestured at him.

"You got a little something..."

''What's on your mind then? Helps to talk about it, rather than keep it in that head of yours.'' He poked her head softly and then stood up, letting out a yawn and stretching out his nude body.

''It's... Mind bottling, ya know?'' Venser coughed and walked behind the bar, grabbing two glasses and having the shadow tendrils fill them both with ice water.

"I think you mean mind boggling."

''I may have hot boxed down in the kitchen and be high but I am making sense!''

His right hand slipped and he spilled some of the water on the floor, then shurgged and made his way back to the table. ''Ya know? Your thoughts are trapped and just swirling around like in a bottle.''

"Are you too high to put on clothes too?" She said and huffed. She didn't mind nudity, but public nudity? Nahhh. "Just stuff with home. Boring things about war and all. I doubt anyone cares to hear my sob stories."

Speaking of bottles, the liqour cabinat began to shake a bit as a little hole appeared in the air near the ceiling. A few fingers and what looked like a shoetip emergred and started pulling that hole in space open like it was elastic before a purple man came tumbling out and slamed into the ground, the hole quickly sealing. He looked around, spotting a familiar face at the bar.

"Hiiiii Nadine!" he said, standing up and waving. He turned to look at Venser, who noticed a portal ring on one finger that was very similar to Marvella's.

"Who's your weird friend? Does he not know what clothes are?" He asked, blinking a few times.

He was quick to wave her off. ''Clothes are a prison. I'll get dressed eventually... I mean, you don't mind.'' Venser went back to digging into the breakfast he cooked for him and Nadine and looked up, away from the table at the noise. The bearded bartender let out a burp and asked, ''Who the fuck are you?''

"Solus!" Nadine immediately perked up and ran over to greet him. "Hes a friend of mine." She offered one of the fish fillets she had been eating. "What brings you here..?"

And then she gestured at Venser. "This is Venser he... Bartends here and apparently has had a ton of jobs. And I think he is allergic to clothing."

The purple wizard stood a bit unsteady, bleeding purple from his forehead from where he'd hit the floor. He raised his hand "I mind! You're really weird and no one wants to see your weird butt." He said before the shirt orange haired woman came running over. Solus hugged Nadine happily, taking the fish with a happy thanks before destroying it in like two big bites "I was just walking through and just happened to run into this plane. What a happy accident!" He ejaculated, turning to the nude barkeep. "I dunno how he bartends with no clothes..." He thought for a second. "Nadine... Is this one of thoooose bars..."

"The ones with the sticky stuff everywhere and the dancing girls with the big hooters?"

''Uh, there's bones in that fried catfish ya know.'' He said watching the purple wizard devour a piece in two large bites, blinking his emerald snake like eyes watching im. ''And head bartender, Nadine. I pretty much run this dojo while Roselie is away.''

"Meh." Nadine shrugged, blinking her golden eyes. She really didn't know that much about Venser in the end, only that he really wanted to bed her and kept trying over and over again. A fact that made her stop and think silently for a moment. Why DID she keep coming back? She barely knew anyone... Ignoring the bad in her life she supposed. Oh and she stepped away from the visitor from somewhere else in the multiverse.

Solus went to speak, "I dunno what your talking abou-" and he was cut up by a bunch of little bones forcing him to cough up blood into his hands.

"Ack! Nudeman! Water, please!" Flopping around. choking on tiny bones that weren't bothering him before the were mentioned. None of the blood hit Nadine, as she stepped away

Venser disappeared in a puff of thick red smoke and reappeared beside him a few seconds later holding out a glass of ice water to him. ''Need any elixers or something...?'' He asked glancing at the blood on his hands.

"Just let it run it's course." Nadine said and looked away. She witnessed a Solus moment once.

Between the time Venser vanished and the time he returned, Solus coughed up what seemed to be... a perfectly preserved fish skeleton. "Bleeeeh... Bones are mean..."

He said, taking the water and drinking it down.

"Nope, I was just thirsty." He said, smiling with his purple stained teeth. He looked at Venser.

"Head barkeep, huh? It must not pay well if you can't afford clothes... Wait! I know!"
He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a fig leaf. He slid it down in front of Venser's junk, leaving it to stay there through unknown means.

"There we go. Classy."

So it wasnt going to be bad? Nadine turned around and began laughing loudly until she doubled over.

"Ow ow..."

Venser frowned and then laughed at him. ''Right! I get that a lot.'' He looked back to Nadine then back to the purple wizard. ''I hold down many jobs, remember?'' He pointed to a crimson and gold colored poster on the wall his his confident, neatly trimmed bearded face on it and above were the words.

''Karkaldwin's Fine Cannabis and Snuffs''. Below a list of the many kinds of cigars he sold. Beside that poster was a nearly identical one that featured a slanted eyed succubus woman who was scantily clad, exhaling smoke and giving the looker an enticing smirk.

Venser smiled watching Nadine laugh for once, finally cheering up.

By the time he looked over to her, Solus was patting her on the back, though he'd seemed to be in the seat near Venser only a moment ago.

"Don't hurt yourself, Nadine..." He said, hearing the ow's and worrying like the worry-wort he was. He handed her one of his cookies and turned to Venser.

"What's cannabis? He asked, scratching his head.

'Hold on. Lemme go get a sample." Venser said walking off, disappearing down the hall.

The orange haired artificer girl just munched the cookie and stood there hunched over. Thankfully none of the many wounds she had opened, just got sore.

"Its like catnip for people."

Solus looked over to her curiously.

"Catnip for people? Do it makes them roll around and just be generally useless, while every laughs at their lack of motar skills?"

The handsome bearded bartender returned still with nothing on and holding a silver tin. He set it down on the table and opened it, pulling out a light green cigar and a match. He lit it against the ceiling of the tin and the cigar emitted a very earthly smell with a hint of citrus.

''Here ya go! Take in a puff!''

Solus reached into his pocket and manifested a pork crackling, and then ate it.

"Good idea! I was feeling peckish."

"I guess I'll smoke this then?" Taking it and taking a short drag before coughing. He'd clearly never done this before. He handed it back to the bearded barkeep with the strange emerald snake eyes and stood there normally for about five seconds... Before melting into a blob on the floor.

"Yeahhhh... That's relaxing."

"Now look at what you did." Nadine's golden eyes were trained down on her companion on the floor. She sighed.

"I guess he's not going to help me today... Thanks, Ven."

Venser glanced back at the breakfast of hash browns, freshly cooked bread, and his famous fried catfish.

''Yeah. I'm peckish too.''

Venser went back to eating and waved Nadine off.

"Oh come on. You deserve another day of relaxing. Such an impossible device could surely wait."

The orange haired artificer dramatically gestured at the solus puddle with a wince. "Last time that happened it took several hours to get him normal. And for your information, I am close to a breakthrough on understanding of the origin of the Luektorem. And just where they come from."

"What's the worst someone can do when they're high? Lay about and be lazy? Come on, you are too tense, Nadine. It wrinkles your gorgeous face..."

"Erm."

She thought back to Myron's major nip incident from just a year ago. Affecting the elf man strongly, somehow.

"A lot." She had a thousand mile stare, ignoring Venser's flirting.

Solus wanted to thank Venser for this pleasent relaxation and a tendrel squiggled up to pat him on the shoulder, getting purple Solus goo all over him.

''Ah!''

Venser jumped on the table and wiped the goo off his shoulder.

''Felt weird... Thought it'd go other places... I didn't... Weird..."

The polished sapphire on Nadine's bracelet glowed blue with hard light as she conjured a comically oversized sponge and began to soak up the Solus puddle. While the strange, octopus mage could only wiggle as his body turned the sponge purple. She then climbed the bar and held the sponge away from herself and wrung it out.

The liquid rushed out, but only seemed to fill the area of a body standing upright, like an invisible container was holding it. After the last few drops hit, the colors and textures changed back until he was just Solus again, right as rain, hugging her.

"Gee, thanks, friend..."

''Eh, maybe a quick plunge in the lake would do some good?'' He suggested as he stood up. ''Never mind...''

Nadine was hugged and shrugged. "You get used to it after a while."

''There was something I was gonna ask Nadine...'' The handsome bearded bartender said crossing his strong arms looking to her.

''Hmm...'' Venser scratched his beard and tried to remember.

"Were you gonna ask her to make you some clothes?" Solus asked, thinking on her skills as an artificer.

"I dont make clothes, unlessi ts armor." Blink.

Nadine sat on the bar, kicking her short legs a but and smoothing out her brown linen shirt.

"I dont think he seems willing though"

''Ehhh... No. I think I was...'' Venser gestured to the stairs and went quiet for a few seconds.

''Gonna ask her out? Yes."

Solus threw up an eyebrow, something stirring in him... Something... Dadly. He couldn't say he approved of it, but he'd let it play out. Nadine was a smart girl.

"You barely know me." Was the first thing she said. Just staring. A hand was lifted to her still aching side.

''I know, so why don't we get to know each other better? C'mon, I'm handsome!" Venser ejaculated moving closer to close the gap between them, the fig leaf falling off his junk.

Nadine just shot a terrified look at Solus.

"Errr...."

Solus blinked a few times. "He's really weird..." He said, looking over to her.

"But, a magic nudist bartender? Hes interesting. I say you give him a chance!"

There was a pause, and Nadine let our a soft sigh.

"Okay... Venser. I'll let you TRY to court me." The short orange haired artificer girl replied, causing the handsome bearded man to give a fist bump.

"Right off!"

"On."

"Right! Was just fucking with ya."