Drew Callahan's Story

"Who puts up a help wanted ad in the paper and then closes up shop for most of the day?"

Drew Callahan grumbled quietly to himself as he walked through the gardens, hands in the pockets of his blue jeans. He wore a black, long sleeved fleece shirt, with a high collar and a short zipper by his neck and matching sneakers. True Wing City did get cold this time of year, but for a man from Windcrest, it was only a wee bit chilly.

He'd tried to put in his application for some bar that was supposedly reopening, apparently it was the talk of the town, so he figured he'd give it a shot. A popular place meant more tips right? But low and behold, the door was shut tight and not a soul in sight when he had arrived.

Figures.

Deciding to take a shortcut to his apartment, he'd cut through the Gardens, hopping to avoid any pick pockets. As he walked, his ear's caught the sound of someone singing. It wasn't the best he'd heard, but it was fairly good, and before he was aware, he'd begun to draw closer to it's source: a young woman who seemed to be enjoying her time in the garden at night.

He waited out of her sight for her to finish, before approaching her and clearing his throat to announce himself.

"Does uh, everyone in this city randomly break out into song and dance? If so I may need to reconsider moving here..."

As if startled by the man's sudden appearance, the woman whirled around, the skirts flowing with the movement as they had when she had been dancing. Her eyes, with the moon faintly reflecting upon her unusual black sclera, pinned onto his. Her fingers touched together, then moved up to pull her sleeves over her elbows. There was a surprised silence from her, but before the man would be able to break it, a grin spread across her face, straining at the clean, but ghastly stitches across her skin

"I do wish that they did! I cannot find enough people who appreciate it the way I do." Her head flopped to the side with a sigh, grin fading.

"Uh...right." Drew nodded, looking away and towards the fountain.

"So, you do this kind of thing all the time? Is it like some hobby of yours or something?"

He hadn't been in Wing more than a week, but even he had found that this city was filled with strange people who did even stranger things. All one had to to do was turn on the news and they'd be bombarded with such stories.

For such a metropolis, it sure as hell wasn't all that orderly....

She walked to the side and twined her fingers together behind her back. "Oh, you know, you could say that. I think. It's just all so nostalgic! I feel... com... compelled! That's the word. I genuinely do not understand how others don't feel the same way." She clopped up to him, trying to catch his gaze. "What about you? There is hardly anyone outside except you and I. I know why I am here. Why is it that you are here, too?"

Drew turned to look at her, making a point to look at the bridge of her nose. It was a trick he'd developed, giving the illusion of meeting her eyes without ever actually doing it.

"I was out trying to get some work, and now I'm on my way home. I've just moved to Wing City to attend the university here, but it means I'm stuck out of a job for the time being. One needs a source of income if they're to pay bills after all, and my savings can't last forever."

She moved around him, feet moving fluidly above the ground just as they had done when she had been dancing. "Oh! Education is one of our fonder assets, isn't it? Wing City's that is. I do not think I really know of many universities here. I'm going to Academia Celestia, myself! I might have been affiliated with a more general education university beforehand, however. I wouldn't remember." She clapped her hands at the mention of a job.

"Oh, a job! A toiling experience for most people. Trading fatigue-causing labor for things that don't have any real value all on their own! And you're working in Wing City! I do wish you luck."

"Hellooooo." Drew Called out as he entered through the door of the Gambit building. "Anybody home? I saw a help wanted ad in the paper, was wondering if you guys were still hiring?"

He tucked his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. He wore a black, long sleeved fleece shirt, with a high collar and a short zipper by his neck and matching sneakers. True Wing City did get cold this time of year, but for a man from Windcrest, it was only a wee bit chilly.

"Anybody around?" He asked quietly, do no one in particular

Busy doing this and that in an attempt to make things look normal once again, she had to pause a moment due to hearing a noise of some kind. Blinking, she tilted her head and listened closely for a moment or two before finally giving up and returning to the menial task she had been doing previously. Heading into the backroom, she frowned a little, trying to keep from having memories of the past. Grabbing out another Mt. Dew from a small fridge, Gabby started to sit down when a voice caught her attention. Was someone in the main part of the bar talking to her? Slinking over towards the door, she peeked through the crack, noting a male looking around. That must have been who she heard earlier. Stepping out of the backroom, she closed the door behind her, it locking automatically. Crossing both arms against her chest, she studied the male before finally parting her lips to respond to him.

“What can I do fer yeh? The name is Gabrielle LeBeau and ‘m de manager of dis joint. But, it’s not open yet, so, unless yer wantin’ a job, ye best scoot.” Taking a sip of her Mt. Dew, she stood tall, giving the illusion – she hoped – that she was a lot older than she probably looked.

"Uh, Hi, I'm Drew." the man smiled as he placed a piece of paper on the counter. "I saw an Ad in the paper, thought I'd drop off my resume. I just moved into town a week ago to start school at the university, and am looking for a job to pay my expenses. If it helps I have experience working in a couple of Taverns up in Windcrest."

Looking at Gabrielle, Drew couldn't help but think it was odd for a girl who looked so young to own a bar...but he held his tongue. He had heard Wing city was a strange place compared to Windcrest, this much should've been expected.

Glancing at the piece of paper that he placed upon the counter, Gabby slid over to it and sat down on the barstool that was behind the bartop. Motioning for him to take a seat across from her, she managed to get as comfortable as possible before reading through the resume. It was honestly, the first time she had looked one over and she had no idea what she was supposed to be searching for. Scrunching up her nose, Gabrielle was glad to hear he had experience working in a few Taverns, though she wasn’t sure if what experience he had gained would serve him in Gambit’s due to the difference of clientele.

“Hmm… I see, Drew. Well, tell me what all you did while working in the Taverns in Windcrest? I’m looking for a bartender that can handle rough situations without constantly running to the law. Gambit’s is a pretty rough place and you need to have balls of steel, so to speak, in order to actually work here. You will prolly also be required to do some cookin’, ‘least til I manage to hire a cook of some sorts. It gets pretty busy in here, but ‘m also plannin’ on getting some waiters and waitresses to help with the load. I prolly will also get a second bartender, but we’ll have t’ see. You also need to not mind being told what to do by a sixteen-year-old. So, tell me about your experience and we’ll go from dere.”

Gabrielle grabbed a pen from behind the counter and flipped his resume over to take notes. She hoped more people showed up to be interviewed because they would definitely need more than just one bartender and security. She could do some cooking, but was too young to sell liquor to anyone and would eventually need to know it’s in good hands so that she could go back to modeling occasionally. There was just so much to do.

A somewhat familiar presence made his way down the war-torn Main Street toward the closest place he knew to home. The holiday festival was good for him, plus it was good to travel every now and then from the cold plains where he had spent the summer and fall training his tail off.

"What's this? Applications?" Confused, he delicately reached in and took one. Or at least as delicately as one could when you were half again the size of an average human, with all one's fingers fused together. "Bah. They want me to write? These pens are too small for my hands. I guess I could go in anyway," he shrugged and pushed the door open, immediately having to wave away the built-up dust. A rat ran by. He quickly extended his palm and shot out a snowball, burying the pest under its weight and possibly freezing it before throwing it out into the street.

"They wanna open with pests running around like Frogzards? Time for some winter cleaning." Or at least he would have, had he not heard people talking. "Hm. Scratch that." He carefully made his way through the abandoned tables and chairs, moving like a snake all thanks to the configuration of his lower body, which was very much snake-like in that it was little more than a series of smaller and smaller snowballs.

He tapped on the door with his frosty broadsword, not wishing to leave a stain on the door with his knuckles. "Room for one more? Maybe two? And could you turn off the heat, I'm melting in here. Literally."

There was a really loud, obnoxious banging of a fist on the door, one that sounded a little too solid to be flesh and was actually a metal robo-hand wrapped in a breathable, flexible fabric. Attached to this hand was a person that's somewhat familiar, a ninja from the look at five and a half feet tall, humanoid in shape and bitter of attitude. "Hey," he called out, the familiar voice of Norrington ringing through the building, "I heard there's applications going down. Actually my boss heard and I have like, a bunch of resumes and shit." Had he expected Gabby he probably would have come in more casual clothing, and then been really annoyed that someone else was also there, but fortunately he came in his ninja 'pyjamas' as he liked to call them.

The door suddenly opening caught her attention and Gabrielle shifted her attention towards a snowman that had to be Cryoface. Watching him freeze a random rat, she made a note to have the exterminator come back out again in order to make sure there weren’t more of those varmints around. They had already been out to the bar previously, but apparently they didn’t do a good enough job. Also noting some dust that had escaped the cleaner’s cleaning thing, Gabby made more notes. Ironically, she was making these notes on Drew’s resume. Watching as Cryo made his way through the tables and chairs, she shifted a little on the barstool, motioning for him to take a seat or remain standing, whichever he wanted to do on the other side of the counter. When he complained about the heat, she slid down and headed to the thermostat, turning the heat off for the moment.

“Eh, sorry about that. It was cold in here earlier. Please make yerself comfy.”

Sitting back down on the barstool that was behind the counter of the bar, she was just about comfortable when a banging sound interrupted her thoughts. Moving back around the countertop, she headed for the door, wondering where everyone was coming from. For the longest time no one seemed interested in working for her and now there were individuals coming out of the woodworks. Well, so to speak. Grabbing a hold of the door handle, she glanced back to Drew and Cryo, sighing heavily.

“Sorry about dis, I’ll be right with you. I will just interview you together, if dat’s alright?” Gabrielle was slipping between the accent she gained from her father and her normal accent from her mother. This tended to happen when she was overly stressed. Yanking open the door, she found herself staring at Norrington.

“Norry? Why the hell are you here? Well, I heard why you’re here, but why would your boss care that we’re hiring? Don’t you have other things you should be doing..?” Moving away from the door, she motioned for Norrington to follow her to where the others were currently at.

It seemed as though all the applicants for the bar were flooding in at once. Another familiar face joined the likes of Cryoface, Norrington and Jegun in returning to Gambit's having heard that the doors were soon to open once again. Dressed in her characteristic thick woollen dress with the distinctive outline of an apron visible in where the fabric had faded slightly less, Harriet Gaidal swept into the bar as though she already owned the place.

"Now who's gone and started openin' this place back up without tellin' me of it, eh?" the motherly blonde woman directed to the room, before she swiftly lowered them to where Gabrielle and Norrington were standing not three feet in front of her. Lowering her voice to a more reasonable level, she gestured at the teenage girl before her.

"You'd be Gabrielle LeBeau if I be reckonin' correctly," she stated, inclining her head politely, "And I'm guessin' by the presence of Mittens and Snowball 'ere that you're takin' on staff, as it said on your sign, at this very moment?"

She extended a hand for a firm handshake, "Harriet Gaidal, at your service, young missy. If'n you haven't heard of me, I was staff manager, bartender and cook of this place way back 'afore it was closed up." she explained, "Lookin' to sign back on where'er y' be needin' me.""

As if there weren't enough people in the establishment asking for a job already, one more young lady came inside, having awkwardly bumped into the door outside. There were a lot of whispered apologies to the door before she scuttled in.

The woman was appropriately dressed for a job interview, though she did have a slight amount more makeup than one might have wanted to wear to such an event. Then again, there was a cat person and a snowman. She suddenly felt out of place for wearing anything stricter. She combed her fingers through her hair a moment before approaching the group.

"Ah, sorry, you seem a bit busy, but... I'm Zaria Busto. I came here for a staff position, as well."

Gabrielle had barely moved away from the door with Norrginton when it opened again. Swearing under her breath and silently wishing she had someone with her to help field all these interviews, she found herself overwhelmed to the highest level. Staring at the woman who had just entered, she studied her silently. The way she carried herself made Gabby wonder if perhaps like Cryoface, she had worked in the bar before. Well, the obvious outline of an apron also made it obvious that she probably worked in the bar or a kitchen of some sort.

“Hnrmmm…”

Ignoring the fact that the female felt it necessary to inform her that Gambit’s was going to be opening, Gabrielle just nodded to both of her inquiries. Taking her hand and firmly shaking it, the sixteen-year-old wondered if this woman was going to try and take the bar from her. Dropping her arm back down to her side, she attempted to keep her visage blank of all paranoia. As if things weren’t crazy enough, another individual wandered through the door. Shaking her head, she finally just went back to the others, motioning for both females to join the growing group.

“Welcome both Harriet and Zaria. My name is Gabrielle LeBeau and I’m the manager of Gambit’s. My pops is the owner and well, he gave it over to me because of reasons. Like I’ve asked the others, please tell me why you’re a good fit for this, what experience you have, and what’s the toughest situation you’ve encountered and how you would deal with an intense riot. I’m pretty much hiring for every single thing you can think of, though I do have security pretty much taken care of.”

Well wasn't this just a fucking party. "It's pretty obvious why," Norrington said coolly as he stepped in, then gave a nod to Harriet. "Hey babe, long time no see." His attention drifted back to Gabby afterwards. "Gambit's is a place wherein I can conduct business in a safe environment. And by safe I mean 'cop-free'. And outside of that, I have the experience and skills needed to serve drinks at a bar and handle customers." Actually, he never handled customers. Leave that to someone who cared. But Gabby didn't need to know about that.

"Basically I'm saying you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, except I won't because I have claws and that would hurt. Just ask Harriet. I'm pretty sure I worked in Gambit's around the same time as her maybe probably." He paused to consider how suspicious it might have been to show up at the same time as Harriet and claim she could vouch for him, so he added, "And Cryo can tell you too. Right Cryo?" Blue eyes stared at the snowman.

Drew sat and watched as one increasingly odd individual after the other piled in through the door. He sighed, putting an elbow on the bar counter as he leaned his cheek onto a fist. Well, if this was what the job market was for a bar in this town....he could pretty much imagine how things were at other places. But, this job worked with his schedule as a student, so he'd have to put up a fight for it.

"Excuse me Miss Lebeau." He said loud enough for the girl to hear. "If you actually read the resume you're holding you'll see I answered a lot of those questions already...but it seems you're busy so I'll make things easier for you I guess. I've worked in taverns and Inns in Windcrest for four years now, as for tough situations...well I've worked at Taverns and inns in Windcrest for four years. There was a bar fight once a week, and every two some giant of half breed would be involved."

He paused to take a breath and then resumed. "As for special skills, I was born with the ability to control vectors, among other things." Not wanting to waste his time on a job he wouldn't get, Drew stood from his stool and looked Gabrielle in the eye with both hands raised to his waist, palms up towards the ceiling.

"Good enough?"

Gabrielle hissed under her breath at Norrington’s response. She wasn’t exactly thrilled with him being around the place she was working, especially since what happened the last time the two of them were together, but she wasn’t about to let him know that. So, instead, she just shrugged towards him, not even bothering to respond to him for the moment. She wanted to know what kind of business he was planning on attempting to do in Gambit’s, but figured now was not the time to inquiry such details. He seemed awfully desperate to prove that he would be a good fit for Gambits; even went as far to say that he had worked in the bar before. Damn, she really should have spent some time in here instead of immersing herself in her modeling career. Oh well, it was far too late for that.

“Rrrr…”

Before she had a chance to say anything further, Gabby was sidetracked by Drew, who seemed a little irritated at the sudden influx of applicants. She hoped he didn’t think he wouldn’t be considered anymore because of the others, because she was considering every single person. Snatching up his resume, she read it over more closely before flipping it over and scribbling down everything that he said. She had no idea what a vector was, but didn’t want to look stupid, so she wrote down the word with a question mark beside it as note to ask later on.

“Right! Well, Drew, it was a pleasure to meet you. Hurp, Since you seem to be a busy man, I’ll just get right down to it. You’re hired as a bartender on probation. You very likely will not be the only bartender I hire and you will be more than likely asked to do more than just bartend. If that’s not acceptable to you, then tell me down and we won’t need to go any further.”

Whilst Norrington didn't have any actual hard evidence of his existence in Gambit's, he was pretty confident in the references Harriet and Cryo could provide. Not that their silence was comforting. Behind his mask his tongue slipped out to lick his chops. But spying Drew getting hired as a probationary bartender inspired some confidence in him. After all, if some random stranger was given that, surely he would be given better. It wasn't what you knew, but who you knew.

"So..." Norrington trailed off, hidden eyes drifting upwards before they locked onto Gabby once more. His posture had changed too, from relaxed to upright, with one hand on his hip. He was trying to make himself seem more appropriately tall and serious.