The Fox and the Ferret: Reconnect

[Koyomi_Hige]

Stats: 6'3", 165lbs of lean mean scrawny machine, 26 years old
Language: English, French, can cuss in more but can't ask for the bathroom
Cloths: Grey cargo pants, fitted black t-shirt with a grey color splash on it


Zephyrios groaned as he unstuck his face from the bar and sat up. He didn't particularly want to think about what had made it sticky in the first place. His head hurt, his face hurt, all in all he felt rather like he'd lost a fight with a very heavy thing intended to cause pain. Attempting to stretch his neck only made the headache worse, and he quickly decided no movement was the best movement.

Looking around the common room, he whistled low to himself. He couldn't remember how he came to be passed out on the bar, but from the look of the room it had been a wild night..... or..... nights? A thin layer of dust coated every surface, (including, upon further inspection, himself). While he knew his memory wasn't something to brag about, he was still a little dumbfounded that he had no idea how long he'd been out, or what he'd been doing in order to get to the state he'd woken up in. Or.... why he was dusty.

Standing as slowly as he could, he moved carefully and groaned as he felt bones shift and pop into their correct position. That was much better! It felt almost like his muscles were made out of a string that hadn't quite stretched into shape yet. Shaking himself, he attempted to brush off as much of the dust that had gathered on him as possible before reaching over the bar for a rag to finish the job. Wetting it down made removing the dust quite a bit easier. Once he'd finished on himself, he carefully set about wiping down the bar. It wouldn't exactly do to have someone else show up and the room be a disaster.  

[`MaliceMizer]

Stats 5'9", 152lbs, 22 years old XXX Language: German, a little Russian, English
Clothes: light grey button up, black waistcoat, black pants XXX Location: @@@LOCATION@@@
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xxxxxxxxxx♘ LUKE ♘
jeder Mensch ist für immer allein ~ wenn ich könnte, dann würde ich vor meinem Leben wegrennen

Stats 6'1", 185lbs, 39 years old XXX Language: German, imperfect English
Clothes: baby blue button up, gray waistcoat and matching pants XXX Location: @@@LOCATION@@@
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xxxxxxxxxx Christian Falke XX
“Rom ist auch nicht an einem Tag erbaut worden.”

INDENT "I told you we should have asked that ranger for directions. But noooooo."

INDENT It was either really late or really early, that odd hour after midnight when most rational people were safely asleep in their beds. Such was not the case for the two lost travelers. They had been driving along a desolate and seemingly infinite road for what felt like forever since they had last seen anything that looked like civilization. It was rural countryside, undisturbed and untouched except for the single road slicing through it - the very road they were sick of seeing.

INDENT "No, we could have been caught. Too risky." The other man reinforced his earlier decision. "Just keep going. We'll find something eventually. If you're tired, just pull over. That's fine. Wait, do you see that? Up ahead. It looks like--"

INDENT "Yeah."

INDENT On the distant horizon, a silhouette of black amongst the other silhouettes of black, was a very geometric shape made stark against a background of nature's imperfect forms. It was a short ways off the road, but surely it was a lot closer than the next town. The small car made the turn up the modest drive. There was no formal parking lot, but an area full of pebbles would do just fine. They pulled over and peeked out their respective windows.

INDENT "I think this might be someone's house."

INDENT "Look, there's a light on over there. Even if it is a house, they might be awake."

INDENT "So what if they are? We're strangers. They might shoot us for trespassing or something."

INDENT "You're so optimistic, Luke."

INDENT The older man clapped the younger one, Luke, on the shoulder. With a smile, he exited the vehicle and made his way towards the building. As he grew closer to it, in the moonlight he could see a weathered sign above its porch: The Fox and the Ferret Inn. Ah, so that explained why there was a light on inside. What good fortune! It was perfectly possible to sleep in the car, yes, but to sleep in an actual bed would be much more restful - especially for the driver. Speaking of the driver... Luke huffed and exited the car as well, locking it with a beep of the remote, following a few paces behind his bigger, beefier comrade.

INDENT "It's an inn."

INDENT "Oh yeah?"

INDENT "Maybe they have a room."

INDENT "Or maybe there's a serial killer inside and we're both gonna die in this place in the middle of nowhere and no one will ever find our bodies because we're in the middle of nowhere. Have you thought about that, Christian? Have you?"

INDENT "I suppose I'm not as smart as you, then."

INDENT Christian chose to ignore Luke and enter the inn. The lobby/common room had certainly seen better days; everything had a layer of dust, as if it hadn't seen action in many years. Yet the light was on. Motion in one far off corner of the room drew Christian's attention and he spotted a tall individual wiping down the bar. He must be the innkeeper, he assumed. The very very negligent and/or lazy innkeeper, judging by the rest of the room. Emboldened by Luke's unease - he knew an even sharper tongue was due to feelings of distress or being uncomfortable - Christian decided to address the individual. "Good evening, sir." There was an obvious Germanic accent. "You have a room free for tonight?"

Koyomi_hige

HIIII.

 

[Koyomi_Hige]

`MaliceMizer

Christian decided to address the individual. "Good evening, sir." There was an obvious Germanic accent. "You have a room free for tonight?"

Zefi's head snapped up so fast he nearly lost his balance. Not usually one to easily startle, he'd been lost in thought trying to dust a particularly tricky segment of banister. And, ya know, trying to figure out how the hell he'd come to wake up covered in dust face first on the bar.

After waking up, he'd gone searching for anyone else in the place, but had been largely unsuccessful. Cleaning the common room had seemed like a fair enough trade for locating himself a comfortable room and eating from the kitchen over the last few days. Unfortunately, the room had obviously been unused for much longer than he'd thought, as cleaning it was starting to feel like an exercise in futility.

Righting himself, he wedged his rag into a curve of the banister and headed over to the new guests.

"Good evening! Yeah we've got plenty of space, I suppose. I'd apologize for the mess, except it isn't mine." Holding out a hand to the one who'd spoke, Zefi shot him a wry grin. "Ever have one of those days where you wake up and find you've died and become an innkeep?"  

[`MaliceMizer]

Stats 5'9", 152lbs, 22 years old XXX Language: German, a little Russian, English
Clothes: light grey button up, black waistcoat, black pants XXX Location: common room
██████████████████████████████████████████████
xxxxxxxxxx♘ LUKE ♘
jeder Mensch ist für immer allein ~ wenn ich könnte, dann würde ich vor meinem Leben wegrennen

Stats 6'1", 185lbs, 39 years old XXX Language: German, imperfect English
Clothes: baby blue button up, gray waistcoat and matching pants XXX Location: common room
██████████████████████████████████████████████
xxxxxxxxxx Christian Falke XX
“Rom ist auch nicht an einem Tag erbaut worden.”

INDENT Red flags, red flags everywhere. Luke did nothing to hide the suspicion plastered all over his face from his arched brows to his narrowed eyes to the slight downward curvature of the corners of his grey-dusted lips. Something about the guy was unsettling - perhaps it was the little triangular animal ears he was wearing? - and his malaise only intensified at the other one's words. What the ******** was that all about? Both he and his travel buddy had better get the hell out of there as soon as possible--

INDENT "Ah, I know that feeling, tonight is an odd night for us, too. We were going to Salzburg but then we got lost, somehow, you know. It was great luck that your inn is here, and that you have a free room." The big guy - his well muscled body apparent even through clothes too dressy for a mere road trip - extended his hand for a cordial shake. "My name is Christian. This over here," he nodded towards the spindly male behind him, "is my son, Luke."

INDENT ...Did he really? Did he really just say all that? Luke couldn't believe it. That big, trusting, gullible idiot--! The damage had already been done though; the oaf had initiated a customary adjacency pair that could not be prematurely terminated so easily. Neglecting to extend his own hand for a shake, or even make eye contact (his eyes were too busy scanning the odd "innkeeper"), Luke only gave the minimally monosyllabic greeting of: "Hi."

Koyomi_hige