Snippet #2506538

Kris Metzger

Kris sighed, glancing around his currently empty shop from behind the counter. A few bony golems scuttled about, rearranging the displays or sweeping the floor, oblivious to the emptiness of the store. Kris shook his head and absentmindedly wiped his hands on his apron, doing little but smudging a bit of the blood he had somehow missed while washing up. "Well boys, I think I'm gonna step out to the curb for a spell. Y'all got a handle on all this. Try not to knock anything over." Kris said aloud to the golems, who stopped momentarily to listen but did not reply in any way.

Satisfied, Kris reached behind his back to undo the knot on his apron and remove it, hanging it on a hook next to the cash register. Resting one hand on the top of the counter, he reached below to pick up a rickety metal folding chair and start for the door. Kris swung it outward, resting the back of the chair against the door to keep it propped open while he searched his pockets. After a bit of patting and no small amount of muttered profanities, he extracted a single cigar, with the end already punched for his convenience. Kris smirked and unfolded the chair with one hand, popping the end of the cigar into his mouth and sitting down heavily, legs splayed out in front of him.

Patting his pockets again, Kris sighed and leaned around the corner, looking into the shop he maintained. "Hey! One of y'all run to the loft and grab me a book of matches! I managed to get all the way out here without gettin' the damn things. You, sweepy, go grab 'em and get back here. Ain't a speck of dirt on that whole floor and I don't want you doin' something pointless when you could be helping out." Kris yelled into the shop, jabbing a finger at the sweeping golem while he did so. The golem dropped the broom with a loud clatter and scurried up the stairs, knocking over what sounded like a stack of books while he was up there. "Christ almighty, I can't make decent help no matter how I try. Damn brainless piles of bones." Kris muttered under his breath, shaking his head slightly.

After a short while, the golem that had so eagerly sprinted up the stairs and directly into a stack of books sheepishly approached Kris with a pack of matches in a bony paw. Chuckling slightly, Kris gently took the matches and patted the little creature on the top of what passed for a head. "Good job, sweepy. Didn't quite make it seem easy, but at least you made it back. Go on now, go pick up whatever you knocked over, then get back to sweeping. Carefully, this time." Kris said soothingly before turning back around to face the street. Settling in, he swiped a match against the side of the box and held it up to the cigar, puffing away at it to get it lit. Once the end glowed and the smoke came readily, Kris shook the match out and dropped it into an ashtray he kept near the door for convenience's sake, staring out into the street and relaxing.