Friends in Low Places

    It's late. Not like too late for a drink, but late enough that most people with a real job went home a couple hours ago. But Asuna has no real job! Err, wait. That's not right. She has a great job. She works part time at the Larder! The most exclusive watering hole in all of Yamato.

    Asuna is tending bar. And yes, yes, she's cooking. Oddly enough, it's not all pizza, though. She's actually putting some of that beach time to use. After a few people did their mega dive moves, she was able to get her hands on some stunned fish. And now those fish are being very carefully cut into gorgeous sashimi. Well, some of them. Others are going to end up in sushi rolls.

    "Just a sec! I'll get your drinks in a moment!" A pause. "If your hand moves another inch closer to that waitress you'll leave here with knives in your ears!"

    Asuna does indeed see everything, it seems. And considering how quickly the accused falls off their chair and races off, her reputation for beating common decency into people has done its job.

    "Heheheh, all too easy."

    Yeah, sometimes she just loves being herself.

Dosbox departs the loo after a great, well-earned battle with a fire golem, and then with the toilet thereafter. DosBox whimsically wonders which battle had been harder. Still, such thoughts are irrelevant. There is sushi to be eateb, ale to drink, and pretty lasses for DosBox to not have the guts to flirt with, and the Gnome had every intention to do everything on that list: ESPECIALLY the not flirting thing. He just survived one danger. Why give himself a heart attack so soon?

Ameia has just been sitting at the bar with her free drink. She hadn't planned on staying around for too long given that the quest was finished, but Vertina had convinced her otherwise. Still, she didn't want to be the one to chaperone Dos when he inevitably drank too much.

"I didn't know Asuna worked here," she says, watching the woman she normally saw as the 'intimidating rapier lady' manage everything behind-counter from the food to the drinks.

    Sashimi takes focus. It's about precision and art. And Asuna wants this to be beautiful. After all, her friend is celebrating a big win! That doesn't happen every day. Honestly, as she thinks of it, she's not sure she's seen him celebrate much. Just gotta make sure it's extra special.

    She isn't sure just what dungeon he cleared, but she has strung a few comments together to figure a bit out. And so the sashimi is shaped into the form of plants. Those are pretty manageable. Asuna has seen tons of plant monsters, so they are well made, too.

    As she makes a few plates of these, she takes a moment to fill a few drink orders. She shares a grin with the waitress, who offers her thanks for the assistance.

    It's then back to work and off to get this sashimi to Dossy's table. "Time for the feast of the great heroes to continue!"

    She'll give the gnome a careful look. Hopefully he's not so far along that she'll have to cut him off. She can always switch him to something that won't make him sick.

Dosbox is after the sashimi before it hits the table, "Nom! Nom Nom!" He says out loud with every jump as he reaches high, trying to grab the sashimi off the plate with an upreached hand. Of course, due to his height, he fails until the snacks are actually set down. One, it seems like he didn't even chew. Two, and he chews a couple times before quickly swallowing. The third... he savors. He seems to be in a state of pure bliss as he reclaims his drink, which he had left next to Ameia: REMEMBER, EVERYONE! NEVER LEAVE YOUR DRINK UNATTENDED!

Ameia hasn't eaten any sushi so far; she didn't have much of an appetite after coming back. And anyway, Dos seems to be eating every piece with gusto, so she's not getting in the way of that.

"Hey, those are works of art you're gobbling down," she says. "I didn't even know plant-shaped sashimi was a thing."

    "Jeez, Dossy. I hope you can actually taste some of that!"

    Asuna laughs, then lets out a sigh. Oh well. It's the best she's ever done with fish. At least it went to a really nice guy. Even if he seems to have missed it. Her plating was really clever, too. Or it was, before random stages of the dungeon went missing.

    "Can I get anything for you, Ameia? Another drink or something to eat? I have some desserts I put together. Some red bean bread. I'd offer melonpan, but I have to get my way up to Shibuya to see Pela about getting some more. She's the queen of sweets, honestly."

    In the background, some silly argument or other rings out. Something about who was more important in clearing the last level of the tower. Asuna hears it, sighs, and says, "Why don't you go take that debate to Prophylaxis? I'm sure he'd be eager to weigh-in on who he thinks did a better job. And honestly, were either of you even there?"

    Turning away from /that/ mess, The Flash focuses on Ameia again. "Sorry. Gotta do my best to prevent fights."

Dosbox stops at about the 6th or 7th piece before he realizes that he just ate a whole tentacle of the giant plant monster in sushi form, and he wilts a bit, "Er... Sorry about that... But, but it tasted really good! And... What's left of it looks like a piece of resistance!" DosBox never really understood what that meant, or why the french say it...

Ameia stares at the remaining parts of the sashimi monster, which is looking a little sad having been half-eaten.

"If they care so much about who gets the credit, why are they even here? The only thing that should matter is victory, not personal glory."

She leans a cheek on her hand and sips the drink. "It's alright Asuna," she says. "I'll be going soon anyways."

The longer she stayed there, the higher the probability that someone would end up spilling something on her, including herself. And she doesn't feel like staining one of her favourite outfits.

"How do you and Dos know each other, by the way?" she asks.

"When the Hunters Guild told me there was a gnome called Dosbox messaging them, I was like, 'who's that'?" She smirks. "But it turns out he really is in the Divine Dragons, and yet we've not even met. Well, until today."

    Dosbox gets Asuna to laugh. She puts her hands on her hips, trying to be stern, but the smile ruins it. "Well if you think I'm going to redo the whole plate just to make it complete for you, you better think again!"

    The Flash looks around, senses that for a moment, she's not needed at the bar, and plops herself down at the table. She snares a piece of her sashimi. She knows it's good. The success told her as much. But it's always good to really know what something is like.

    "Oh? Well, if you change your mind, let me know."

    She looks thoughtful at the question. "Well, we met a while ago, really. Interestingly enough, I believe it was right here at the Larder. I tend to notice everyone and part of the great responsibility of a good bartender is making sure everyone feels welcome. So Dossy was just hanging out in the corner and I started talking to him. That's how it started. I like nice people. And honestly, someone who isn't like, you know.. the two epic heroes arguing at the bar.. is always good to talk to."

Dosbox gives a small smile, and his ears twitch a bit, "I wasn't really used to people wanting to talk to me. Still ain't. But I still appreciate it, even if it... doesn't seem like it all the time."

:You probably haven't seen me around because I don't typically go out adventuring. This counts as the second time I have completed a quest since the Apocalypse. I am usually... Uh... Crafting."

Ameia looks thoughtful. "That makes sense," she says. "So you've just been producing items all this time, and then when you're not doing that, you're at places like this, which... I don't really frequent myself. But you know people like Asuna, who feed you."

She blinks as she remembers something. "Wait, why were you taking on the quest alone in the first place? Didn't you have anyone else to party with?"

    "I'm honestly pretty excited for you, Dossy. To get out there and get into the thick of it! Does you good. There's a whole world out there, you know. People to meet, things to do, monsters to convert into xp and loot!"

    For the moment, she's sitting with Dosbox and Ameia. Things have gotten rather calmer, with it getting a bit later in the evening.

    "Hah, you were trying to quest alone? That's pretty bold." She can't really call him on it. Even she has limits to her hipocrisy!

Dosbox wilts again, scratching the back of his neck and looking to the ground, "Well... Ah... There... I was supposed to go with... some other people, but... I am sure they had something come up." DosBox is terrible at lying. They ask him to lie for him all the time, but he never really got any better at it.

"It sounds like they stood you up, then. If you already agreed to take the quest, then that's not cool at all," Ameia says. "It hurts our reputation with the quest-giver... at the very least, they should've arranged for someone else to help you."

"We should punish things like that, don't you think, Asuna?"

    Asuna frowns at the explanation from Dosbox. "So they were supposed to go with you, then bailed and didn't even send a chim? That's pretty awful, Dossy. I'm sorry that happened. Ameia is right, you should run that up the flagpole and talk to some leaders in the alliance. We are Scale Emblem. We have each other's backs."

    Not being a leader, she's not really in a position to do much about it. Well, there is one thing she can do. "You can always name drop me, you know. If it helps with them. Also, frankly, Dossy. To hell with them anyway. Hang out with other people now. We've got you covered."

Dosbox adopts a pensive expression as he contemplates how the events would go down.

"No," The man screams, "Please don't." But she cannot hear him over her own, maniacal cackling. She pushes him down with the blade of a butter knife. Snicker-snack, Snicker snack. Her face is covered in blood. That smile. Those wild, soulless eyes...

DosBox comes to, and smiles with fear, "You're right. I should just.. Never talk to them again... Ha! Ha ha! Look, taking them off my friends' list right now!" DosBox really does it too. He figures he's saving their lives here...

She sips the last of her drink. "Well, I could always ask around and figure out who they are. But if it's just a one-time thing, we can let them off the hook, if that's what you want."

Ameia notes that Dos had spaced out for a solid moment, and then looked like he'd seen a ghost. She supposes those 'friends' of his might not take so well to being dobbed in by someone they thought was just a short, fat gnome incapable of standing up for himself.

"I'm going to go home now," she says. "Thanks for the food and drink, Asuna.  The plant sashimi was a really nice touch."

    "Good for you, Dossy! You are better off without them!" And they are probably better off without having Asuna angry at them. Cause she'd no doubt get Klein and maybe even Souji involved. God help them if Souji gets involved. Hm. Not sure God has a good chance there, honestly.

    "Goodnight, Ameia! Great seeing you again! And hopefully we can meet again soon. Maybe I can tag along on one of your adventures."

Dosbox lets the fear fade and allows for a smile to return to his face. He has nothing to fear other than being an accomplace to murder. And it's not like perma-death exists anyways, right? "Good night, Asuna. Good Night, Ameia. Thank you so much for today. I will, yep there it is." And DosBox falls to the floor. Apparently, DosBox's alcohol tolerance is used up all at once, and he has quickly passed out on the floor.

    "Okay, Dossy, looks like you need a bit of assistance there."

    She leans down, then realizes he's completely out. The Flash sighs softly and calls out, "I'm gonna need a hand here!" It's kind of normal in these parts, even if it's still a bit embarrassing. But since Asuna is the one helping get the gnome to a decent room in Tolbana, nobody is going to say much about it.

    They know she's always got a butter knife near at hand. And she's not afraid to use it.

Ameia gave a smile to Asuna and the now unconscious Dosbox, before bowing and leaving the tavern. As she did so, though... she had a strange feeling this wouldn't be their last encounter.