| A Tale of Two Tenders | ||
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| Summary: After a discussion about Materia, Tifa and Gonfei discuss NeoTokyo, and the possibility of her landing a job somewhere as a bartender.  |
"To explain Materias... I need to start from the beginning. In my world, when someone dies, their soul go back to the planet. When new life is born, some energy is taken out of the planet to create it. It's an endless cycle. But that energy sometimes drip out in certain places of the world, and form a crystalline ball like this." She rolls it under her finger on the table "People with very strong spirit are sometimes not fully assimilated back into the planet, or the Lifestream as we call it. So they escape into Materias, and it retains part of their knowledge. That's why this one has Cure magic, and other materias may contain Blizzard, Fire, Thunder, or even Summoning magic. The knowledge is inside the orb, and we use our magic power to 'borrow' that knowledge temporarily. So if you keep the materia away from me, I'm unable to use Cure spell. But if I have a contact with it, I can." Jason hmms, "So..that's why the souls in me are reacting. They sense the soul energy and the knowledge. Interesting. Best if I don't touch it, no telling how my powers would react." he muses, "Still, interesting." he says as he leans back, "Well..still take the cash you might need it if the conversion rate is not good. Also, what are you good at? I happen to have friends here and there that could help you get a job." he offers with a shrug. The explanation of what exactly materia is makes Lulu grow pale, or paler than she already is. Something about the creation of the materia no quite settling well with her. "A person's soul." She mutters. "That did not make it to the farplane." So in essence, the materia is what remains of a dead person which is then harvested for power. The sorceress even shudders but holds her tongue about the matter, she does not know of Tifa's world well enough to pass judgment over such things. "I will also pass on using that for the time being. It.. goes against my values." Lulu will have to stomach the idea of using a soul to channel magic before she can make proper use of materia. Tifa nods "It's not quite 'one' person soul. Materias are naturally created, albeit rare, by nature. But corporations were trying to mass produce them in my world, which is what we rose against. Not the production... the fact that the more they did it, the more they were drawing out the planet's blood." She holds the materia in her palm "These? They are not directly responsible with the weakening of the planet, and there's no way to return it either. The people who forcibly do it are." It doesn't necessarily make things better, but it's the reality of her world at least. The door opens and in walks a man with spiked, almost fire colored hair. He's whistling as he walks in and right past the bar, nodding to those there as he does so. Soon, he's through the back door. A few moments later, he steps out again and takes his place behind the bar. He glances about at those at the bar and nods... It seems no one needs his services just yet. Tifa turns her head to the new arrival, pocketing the materia back into her front pouches, along with the money that was gracefully offered to help her. She nods her head, sitting in a chair pulled to Lulu's table. But right now she's alone here, Lulu's stomach apparently jumped a bit too much and she went to the restroom. Being alone at her table for the moment, Tifa stands up and moves to the bar's counter. SHe's not big of a drinker, despite being a barmaid herself, but they must serve more than alcohol, right? "How about something light and cool for me. What do you suggest?" She wonders what kind of drinks there is here after all. Gonfei tilts his head and looks up slightly. "Well, ice water, of course. But we've an array of flavored tonic waters, if you enjoy those. And about any juice you can imagine, we can provide." After a moment, he suggests, "Perhaps a strawberry lemonade?" Tifa hms and nods "That sounds good, I don't really like alcohol that much, honestly." She smiles "Fruit juices sound perfect." She sits on a stool, elbow on the counter and leaning forward a bit, hands under her chin. Gonfei nods. "Coming right up, Miss." He steps back to mix the ingredients fresh: A bit of lemon juice, some strawberry juice, a tad of watering it down and a fair amount of sugar and ice to top it off before he sets it down in front of her. "Here you are. Enjoy! And yes, I tend not to drink much, myself, aside of when I'm in a sour mood." He laughs lightly. "Never a good idea for a heavy drinker to work behind the bar, if you ask me." Tifa hmms "I just rather keep my head straight, especially when I'm behind the counter myself." She points at the side Gonfei is on. She takes the glass, taking a sip from it at first, simply tasting before drinking "Nice flavor." Gonfei raises an eyebrow slightly. "Aaah, you're a bartender, then? Might you be one of the ones Ari hired for her night club, per chance?" he ventures before chuckling lightly. "Thank you, I take pride on mixing all drinks, not just the alcoholic ones." Tifa shakes her head "I arrived here today, I have no idea about nightclubs or who's this Ari person is either." She sighs "Those people there were the first I talked to since I arrived even." She slides a finger around the top of her glass pensively. Gonfei frowns. "Ah.... My apologies, then. Have they informed you what this city is like? The strangeness? The dangerously random nature of what can happen here?" He looks a little concerned as he looks over and notes mentally she's unarmed. Of course, he knows quite well that someone's ability to defend themself may well not depend on any visible weapons, but it's still worth the warning to her. Tifa shakes her head "They hadn't told me anything yet, we were discussing other things after all." She hms "Is there anything I should know then?" She is armed, with her fists, which shouldn't be too surprising, but not obviously either. Gonfei sighs and leans back slightly. "Well... Here's the thing. This is a world where just about anything can happen, and anyone can show up. People from works of fiction regularly show up. There's an entire section of town that comes right out of an anime." He glances to the side, then at Tifa. "You can get huge monsters the size of skyscrapers. You can get small monsters that pack a punch well outside their weight class. You can get people who are immensely more powerful than they look... and they might not be stable. Or they might become your best friend. We have a military force that uses jet fighters that transform into robots." He leans forward again. "You name it, it can happen here. As you've guessed, you're probably not on your home world anymore." Tifa nods "I guessed that much..." Not that her world doesn't have it's lot of oddities either, mind you! She takes another sip of her drink, taking her time "I can fend my own, but I'm not sure what to expect yet I guess." She fought with a demi-god wanting to destroy the world, but jet-robots... not so much. Gonfei nods. "On the other hand, that kind of stuff doesn't happen every day. You can really run into some interesting characters out there in this city!" He makes a broad motion with his hands. "It's a part of why I wanted to bartend here. This place in particular, the Usual Restaurant, seems to attract all types to it. They may look fierce and dangerous, but maybe they just want a drink. Maybe they just want to chat. Maybe that seven foot tall green skinned cyborg with the spikes all over him just wants to vent his frustrations to get out of a funk." He shrugs. "Anyone can be a threat. But anyone can also be a friend." Tifa nods "Well that's part of being a barmaid to be friends to all until proven otherwise, right? Gonfei nods cheerfully. "Exactly! Well, I suppose that's not a lesson you needed to be told, afterall. It's just a good idea to take that kind of attitude out into the rest of the world as well, in my opinion." His expression does turn more serious now. "But also always keep an eye out, just in case." Tifa nods "Careful, but not paranoid, I know. I also was living with eyes in the back of my head mind you. For other reasons." Gonfei nods with a slight frown. "Well, hopefully those reasons didn't follow you here. But if they did... well, like I said, it can be good to have a lot of friends here. Your problems may find themselves facing things they never expected, either." Tifa nods "I don't think they followed. I'm not sure there's anyone I know here yet." She lifts her shoulders. Not the first time she lost everything, doesn't make it sting less thought. "What's the deal anyway, people just get dragged in at random? Gonfei nods. "Pretty much. This is actually the second time being dragged here, for me. I don't pretend to understand it. I just roll with it. I can't say I recognize you from anything, but you might find that someone does, by the way." He looks her over a second before saying, "Be... careful if you look yourself up online. I've heard horror stories." Tifa nods "I'll keep that in mind." She thinks for a second "The net? What's that?" Gonfei blinks, actually a little surprised she hadn't heard of it. From her dress, he figured her world was advanced enough for that. Well, he has quite often been wrong, and he's quick to accept that. "Well, it's a way of connecting computers to each other across long distances, often used for business and entertainment. It's a huge source of information... but not all that information is relevant, accurate, or, ah, family friendly." He pauses before adding, "If you don't know what a computer is, I'm gonna find that one harder to explain." Tifa nods "No no, I know what computers are, and they have ways of communicating." She produces a phone from her pocket, what could be a cell phone for all needs "But I never heard of a network of information like that. If it existed, it was for corporations maybe." Gonfei looks at the cell phone and nods, looking a slight relieved. "Good! Good! You can probably get that attached to the networks here, by the way, though it'll of course cost some money to get the device registered with one of the companies, and the monthly fee to use the network." He glances up slightly, trying to determine what else might be needed to be known for a new arrival. "Well then... anything else you'd like to know, Miss?" Jason walks back in. "Right....that disaster is done." if you have to ask, it involved something at the magic shop, and he sighs a bit. And he waves to Tifa, "Sorry about that Tifa." he says as he sits down at table he was at before. "Call from the shop I help at.." Tifa nods to Jason, as she's sitting at the bar now, since she was left alone. Lulu also left suddenly, maybe the materia made her queasy too. She looks back to Gonfei "Well, nothing comes to mind for now... I mean, I need more information to have more questions I guess. That will come in time." She fetches some coins from her pocket though "Where can I go for converting money though? I have a few pockets of my homeworld money, so need to see what that's worth." Jason hmms as he gets up and heads to the bar himself. Well he does need a drink. "Guiness." Yes, that's a normal order for him. "And yeah..I know you can convert it around her, but I have no idea where at." and he nods at Tifa's Gil. Gonfei takes a look at the money, then looks down and to the side at a moniter under the bar. Looking back and forth a few times, he announces, "Ah, Gil... I've got a conversion table here right now, so I can take the money here. We're not in the business of doing money conversions, but we do accept it. Just head to any bank and they should convert it out into Yen for you." With that said, he reaches under another section of the bar to pull out a Guiness for Jason. "Here you go, Jason." Jason nods as he takes his beer and takes a drink from it. "Much obliged." and he passes a couple bills to Gonfei for the brew. And he sighs as he leans against the bar. Tifa nods "Well Jason handed me some of his own for now, so let's keep things simple today and I'll get it converted as soon as I can." She slides a hand through bangs of her hair, puffing a bit "It's a bit disorienting though, just figuring out what to do from here." Jason hmms, "Happens to us all Tifa." and he goes to pat her shoulder gently. "Best thing to do..get a place to stay and look for a job." and he hmms, "What skill do you have? If I have a idea of what you can do I can pass the word around about you needing a job." he offers as he hmms as he goes through a list of his contacts and those he knows around here. Gonfei frowns slightly. "Well... I'd say do what you're good at. So from the sounds of things, look into the bars and night clubs and see which you want to work at, then try to get yourself hired there. There's several around, depending on what type of atmosphere you like. There's here, of course, which tries to have a family atmosphere. There's the Unusual, which can't figure out what it wants to be, but the bar is straight out of a sci-fi movie. The Cat's Meow is kind of a dive, lots of dangerous folks there, but the tips can be good, or so I hear." Tifa hmms, and uses her phone to takes notes of those "Well, can try with that." She puts an arm on her waist, looking at Jason "I'm a barmaid in my world. The Seventh Heaven, the ray of sunshine in the middle of the Slums of Midgar. Or at least that's what I wanted it to be, it was tough on people after all." Jason nods, "Nothing wrong with that. Trying to make things just a bit better, my respect there." and he chuckles, "Seems you're in the right place. Gonfei's a better help than I can be in this case." he says as he sips his drink, "I'm just well...a oddity." Gonfei says, "Hrm, in the slums? Well, the Unusual is in a bit of a run down area, though you could call the Cat's Meow that, as well. There's of course also the place that used to be called the Raven, there's the Limelight, and of course the Kraken, which was the place I mentioned earlier... that place isn't open yet, though, and I think she's hired the people she needs... though I can't say with certainty. Those three places if you want the night club scene rather than a bar." Tifa nods "Well I'll start with work and then be picky about it if I can help it." She smiles a bit at that. Gonfei shrugs once more. "Well, I can't say who is and isn't hiring, for sure. You'll have to ask around. I can get you an application for here, if you like, and ask Ari if she still needs another bartender or not." Tifa nods, writing things down in her phone "Well, thank you for all the information, I'll definitely check things. I wouldn't want to put you out of a job either, so I'll keep this place in mind for last, if anything." She smiles teasingly at that. Gonfei smiles back. "Well, to be honest, I've got two bartending jobs in this city, so if you're gonna bump someone out of a job, I'm probably the one that deserves it." He winks, then grins slightly. "I'm betting you're likely to outdo me on tips any day of the week, though." Tifa smiles "Well not trying to compete on that either. The important part is the customers after all, treating them nice and they come back, that's worth more than a simple tip if you reel them back, no? Gonfei nods. "There's nothing like seeing a favorite returning customer, of course. I've one that went and hired me on for my second job, after all. I've done what I could to help her and her sister out..." He then frowns at that thought. "They went through... some pretty crazy stuff." He shakes his head again, returning a smile to his face. "But things all went well in the end!" Tifa nods "Hopefully for the best, that's all we can hope for usually, right?" She seems to know her trade at least, just from talking. What's left is figuring out if she can make drinks, the second part of being a barmaid. Gonfei nods. "Yeah. All's well that ends well." He holds up a finger, however, as another customer flags him down for set of drinks for a group of three at the other end of the bar. As the group receive their drinks and converse amongst themselves, Gonfei makes his way back to Tifa. "Hopefully between what Jason helped you out with and with what you can get out of conversion, you can afford an apartment until you get a job. They're usually pretty lenient on rent at first, or so I hear." Tifa nods "That'll be nice as well, I honestly hadn't really thought about that." She traveled for a long time in her world too, so spending the night outside wouldn't be too weird for her at least. ALthough, she'll need a tent for that. Gonfei nods. "Well, I think that about covers what you need to know as a newcomer to this place, I suppose. So Welcome to NeoTokyo! I do hope you enjoy your stay!" he says as he flashes her his best smile. Tifa smiles "Thanks, let's hope for the best from here, right?" Not to jinx it of course. Gonfei nods, tapping his knuckles on the counter to knock on wood. "Is there anything else I can help you out with this fine evening, then?" Tifa shakes her empty glass "Another one of those would work right now. Gonfei laughs and nods. "Of course, of course. Another strawberry lemonade, coming right up!" He steps away, quickly mixing the drink together before bringing a fresh glass over. "Enjoy!" he says as he sets it down in front of her. | |
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