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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 8, 2010 1:32:21 GMT -5
Eira picked up the last of the dirty dishes on the table, doing her best not to drop them. They were covered in mashed potatoes, gravy, and other quick comfort foods. Some leftover mashed potatoes fell on her skirt - gross - and she almost dropped a stack of plates as she leaned down to brush it off with a free finger.
Moving back towards the small kitchen, she pushed the swinging door open with her side and placed the dishes in the sink - carefully, so she didn't break any. She didn't want to have to deal with her mum's shrill voice again. "I'll do those later," she mused out loud. Eira had been on her feet for the past four hours and the tavern was closed anyway; it was time for a break.
Going over to the sink, she picked a glass out of the drying rack and filled it with water. Grabbing a book about taming dragons off the cutting table, she took her water and pushed through the door, sitting down at one of the tables in the deserted restaurant. It had to be the umpteenth time she had read the book, but one could never be too informed and she hadn't had a chance to go to the bookstore anyway. Cracking open the book to where she had doggy-eared the page, she crossed one leg over the other and began to read.
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Post by Australia on Mar 9, 2010 0:28:00 GMT -5
To say James had gotten himself into trouble would be an understatement, to say the least. Then again, how was he suppose to know the man he had been picking the pocket off was the head of the police force in this town? Totally wasn't his fault...
Ah, the captain was going to have his neck... That or put him back on privy duties...
Glancing around, James saw a restaurant. And without hesitating he ran to the hopefully open restaurant, all but throwing the door open as he tumbled in.
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 9, 2010 0:38:41 GMT -5
Eira flipped the page and sipped from her glass of water, but the door swinging open and the man stumbling into the restaurant threw her so off guard that the glass slipped out of her hand and broke on the floor. She looked down at it. Drat, she was going to have to sweep that up later...
At the time, though, there were more important things to think about - like, why hadn't she locked the door? It was a bit absent minded of her, really, but the book was really good. And where had this man come from in such a rush? It made her the slightest bit uneasy, but she figured she should at least attempt to get some kind of answer to her question. She walked over to him and bent down. "Are you alright?"
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Post by Australia on Mar 9, 2010 16:06:32 GMT -5
Blinking, he looked up at the woman who addressed him. Nodding he stood up, shutting the door in a calmer manner. With a small awkward smile, he rubbed the side of his nose with his thumb eyes darting around the empty area. Oh... They were closed. Well now he felt like a jerk for just busting in.
"Ah, sorry. Thought you were still open..."
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 9, 2010 22:21:27 GMT -5
Doggy earing the page of her book, Eira looked up at the man, who now had a sheepish smile on his face. She fixed her glasses and put the book down, standing up. "No, it's fine. I should have locked the door, and besides, you're not a huge crowd. I can handle one more, I think."
Smiling warmly at him, she pulled out a seat and ran over to the front podium, handing him a menu. "Can I get you anything?
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Post by Australia on Mar 9, 2010 23:33:16 GMT -5
He almost dropped the menu when she handed it to him. Slowly he took a seat, opting to actually attempt to be polite. Or at least try and recall some of the manners Arthur had tried to teach him. Glancing through the menu, he couldn't help but chew his bottom lip. He really didn't have any cash on him.
"Um... Glass of water please?"
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 9, 2010 23:45:55 GMT -5
"That's fine." She nodded and turned towards the kitchen, walking towards the door in a light, airy way. She returned with a glass of water for him, which she set down on the table in front of him, and a broom and dustpan, which she began to use to sweep up the shards of glass on the floor. "Be careful not to walk over here, I don't want you to get these in your feet." She tapped the toes of her boots on the floor in case any got in.
Her glasses began to slip down her nose, so she used a finger to push them up. "So, what were you running from?"
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Post by Australia on Mar 9, 2010 23:56:45 GMT -5
"Need help?" He watched her, not being able to help feeling a bit bad about it. So without actually waiting for an answer, he stood up taking the broom from her and started sweeping the glass into the dustpan. Blinking at her next question, he just gave a sheepish laugh. "Ah... Don't worry about it. I'll be outta your hair soon... Hopefully..."
He paused for a moment before holding out his hand. "Oh! Uh, name's James."
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 10, 2010 0:15:07 GMT -5
"Oh...thank you!" She smiled up at him and crouched down to hold the dustpan. "Hopefully? What do you mean?" Eira began to get the feeling that James wasn't telling her the whole story. She wanted to know more, but wasn't sure if she was intruding on something that she really shouldn't have. He didn't seem too sketchy, and she had met a lot of strange people serving food at this place...
She took his hand and shook it firmly. "I'm Eira. Eira Lloyd Kirkland." She pushed her glasses up her nose again - she really needed to get those things fixed sometime. They were way too big.
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Post by Australia on Mar 10, 2010 0:23:55 GMT -5
"I may've picked the pocket of the wrong guy." He replied truthfully, holding one free hand up immediately. "Ah! But I ditched them before I came in here! Honest. Just let me hide out here for a bit?"
He did his best wide eyed, kicked wallaby look. It sometimes worked on Odin where James wanted to sneak out a sweet from the kitchen. And wait a minute... Did she say...
"Kirkland!? Crikey! You wouldn't... No way that'd be too weird..." After all, the captain had never mentioned siblings... Or had he?
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 10, 2010 0:28:04 GMT -5
"Picking someone's pocket?" She clucked her tongue and shook her finger at him, but then laughed. "You sound just like Blaine." She looked up in the air for a second, and then shook her head. "Well, I guess. It's no church, but I guess I can offer you sanctuary here. Come into the kitchen, it's safer..." She walked over to the front door and locked it up - she usually exited out the back, anyway, and motioned to him to follow her.
"I wouldn't be what?" She raised an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side.
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Post by Australia on Mar 10, 2010 0:37:36 GMT -5
"Thank you a lot!" He grinned, setting the broom aside before following after her. He watched her, idly rubbing his bandaged nose again with his thumb. A nervous habit he couldn't quite kick. Well, she did have a similar hair color to the captain... And the eyebrows... Maybe it wasn't such a strange thought.
"Just my captain... That's his last name." He shrugged a little, entering the kitchen. "Arthur Kirkland. But I guess it could be common?"
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 10, 2010 0:44:39 GMT -5
"Your captain?" Eira almost got to the door - but then she heard the name. Arthur Kirkland. She hadn't heard it spoken in...god knows how long. They never really talked about the ones who left home, just focused on the ones who were still there...now it was really only Peter and her left. She hadn't seen Arthur since he was fifteen. He promised to write, but she hadn't heard from him since.
She turned to face James, pushing her glasses up again and blinking a few times. "That's my brother's name..."
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Post by Australia on Mar 10, 2010 0:50:06 GMT -5
James just stopped, staring at her. For a moment he wanted to comment how it could very well be a common name. However, the second he saw her face, he knew immediately it wasn't mere coincidence. Lowering the hand that had been itching his nose, he tried to figure out what to say. It took a few moments.
"... So you're tellin' me... A pretty shelia like you is related to my grumpy ass captain?"
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Post by walesnotwhales on Mar 10, 2010 0:57:49 GMT -5
She blushed a little when he called her pretty. It had happened a lot, but it was usually by the creepy old sailors who frequented the bar area of the restaurant. She hated tending bar - she was very good at giving advice and solving disputes, but she got hit on a lot by undesirable people and fights broke out in that area all too often. "Grumpy? He always was. Stubborn as a mule, but for the most part he was good to me...though he told me to shut up a lot. He had a good side, he could be a gentleman if he wanted to, but for the most part he's stubborn. Sound like your captain?"
She looked up into the air again. She knew that Arthur had escaped their home life on a ship, but to be a captain of his own ship? She had never expected that. She wondered what he looked like now, even - did his face change at all, did he grow his hair out?
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