The black haired young man downed the rest of his drink, ensuring he could see the ceiling through his glass before returning his eyes to the stage at the far end of the bar. Some slightly older man, bold and brave enough, yet not quite talented had taken the spotlight in his drunken frenzy, and in a party among friends that would see him do his best, unacknowledged and would plot around his downfall, laughing at him as opposed to with him. "People who don't quite have your best interest in mind, which is why I've never truly done friends." As he waved his hand at the bartender to signal for another drink, Tecka thought about having friends. He had one once as a kid, though it was a bit fuzzy for tecka to remember. "Lilac, his hair was. Almost like an opposite to my own" he stated. The alcohol surely hadn't helped, but now at least he'd met a number of guildmates- some closer than others but all in all good times, and possibly good friends. They hadn't proven him wrong so far and so he hadn't reason to believe they'd do so at all, but his skepticism buried below the surface couldn't be helped.

The bartender brought over another glass, filled to the brim, taking away the empty glass that had sat upon one of the paper drink coasters littered around the counter top. Tecka began to consume it in gulps, the drink being a little more than halfway full by the time he'd sit it on the coaster. It seemed as though with each sip he had taken, the thought of going on stage to sing had become more and more attractive. "Perhaps i'd perform, maybe a few more drinks first- to ease my mind.

The music from the stage and the terribly pitched older man together was a combination no one could have been prepared for, the noise probably would've broken the windows if they had ears, unfortunately only the people within the bar would've sustained some type of permanent damage to the ear drum. As they bar's bouncer escorted the man off stage, tecka remarked to himself "Yeah, I wouldn't have had your best interest in mind either, if i'd known you specialized in mating calls.."

It was a fine evening for some drinks. Joan had been feeding regularly these days to avoid the huge disaster that she dived right into, although she knew about it. The vampyress had been limiting herself to water, coffee and lime juice (and blood), but today she was feeling a little bit adventurous. Instead of going to the Swineherd Pub that she normally visited, Joan was at a different bar. She had never been here, but it wasn’t new either.

She sat at the bar with her glass, two seats away from a fellow who looked pretty young. She wasn’t even going to guess his age because it would probably be wrong. Even herself at twenty four years, looked as if she was a teenager. Nobody believed her when she mentioned her age. It was annoying sometimes, but she enjoyed receiving compliments like ‘You’re so youthful!’ or ‘I can’t believe it, you look so young!’ Things like that gave her confidence and helped build up her ego in some way.

The boy spoke to himself from time to time, and Joan heard every word he said because she was paying attention to him. Bodak had given her the roster of the guild and if she wasn’t mistaken, he was one of the new members. She took a sip from her cup and placed it on the bar. Finally, the boy made a decision to perform, although adding that he would have a few drinks first. Joan chuckled at his comment on the man currently performing. She was grimacing as well at how terrible it was going.

“Go for it. What’s stopping you?” she said, loud enough for him to hear over the unbearable singing.

He'd polish off the drink in one sitting, the words of encouragement he'd barely heard from the woman a few seats away were almost as responsible as the drink he'd finished for what was about to transpire. Truly, the drink wasn't finished without a stern smack of the glass upon the coaster on the bar counter top, or so tecka had thought it was a coaster. Things were a little blurry whenever he moved his head so he wouldn't try to focus on anything in particular. With a kick from the foot rest of his stool he'd hopped out of his seat proceeding to walk up to the stage, navigating through the tables placed around the bar. There weren't very many people around though the bar itself was a large place. In total Tecka could count those present on two hands, including the bartender and himself making ten.

Hitting the jukebox on its side, the large sized lacrima sitting on top of it had begun to glow, powering up the rest of the machine. A slow starting, but gradually more upbeat song began to play, as he grabbed the microphone much against his usual behavior and had taken the stage. It was far too late though, alcohol and outside influences brushed over. The first instrument to be heard- piano. The young man who almost never spoke sang the words clearly, as if he had made the song himself. "I've paid my duuues, time after tiimee..." He continued to sing as the song's tempo slowly raised with the volume until reaching it's most memorable parts. The group of gentlemen in the front row, obviously inebriated began to group together shoulder to shoulder and sing with Tecka. "Weee, are the champions, my friiieeeennddss. And we'll keep on fighting to the eeennd."

At this point the volume from the speakers began to shake the entire building and the furnishings throughout, even the bottles and glasses on the shelves behind the barkeep's den. "we are the champions, We Are The Champions. No time for losers cause we are the champions...." He paused for dramatic silence, his dedication to the karaoke song far exceeding anything he'd shown dedication to in a long while. Raising his head to the lights that hung in the bar, through inebriation they had shined brightly onto his face past the black locks of hair and his blue eyes, but in reality the lights to dim for anyone to have seen so much detail from afar. With a strong voice, never before recited he finished the song, "Of the Woooooorrrrrrlllllldddd."

With a swift thought he loosened his fists. Tecka dropped the mic onto the stage, a loud thud echoed momentarily from the speakers as he walked off of the stage past the group of drunk guys who, by the sound of it were loosing their minds over the performance, cheering, clapping, and one maybe even crying hysterically. The black haired young man walked directly over to where he was seated previously, now able to get a good look over the woman who had encouraged him. She was; well, different than most of the people he'd met so far in Oak town. Her hair as black as his, long and flowing as opposed to his short and wild cut. Her bust was, larger compared to bodak's but then again, who was truly looking at that anyway..

Instead of taking the same seat, once he'd reached the barkeeps den area he'd moved one space closer to the woman, taking his seat as the bartender readied another drink. Only able to see the woman from his peripherals, he stared into the distorted reflection of light through one of the glasses on the shelf. "Alright, your turn- Miss?"

A small smile appeared on Joan’s face as the young man went up on stage. She took a long sip from her drink. He was intoxicated, but the alcohol had acted as a booster for his confidence and there he was, exhibiting the raw talent within him in front of the entire bar. She knew the song, but she didn’t sing along. Instead, she was watching him. He certainly lacked self-esteem, but with a booster, he could do incredible things - like changing the mood of the bar. Joan was naturally confident in herself, but never overconfident. She knew what she was capable of. She knew when to stop. At first glance, Joan wouldn’t have guessed that he possessed such vocal power. A number of the other customers sang along with him, the emotion of the song spreading all around. Joan drank more.

Once the performance was over, the male came back to the bar, taking one seat closer to Joan, she noticed. “Good job,” she said to him with a faint smile. She wasn’t very good at giving compliments, nor was she a fan of doing so. But she liked to motivate her guildmates. She would only give compliments like that if they were for Phantom Lord guild members, or potential ones. “I honestly thought you were going to embarrass yourself.” See how she had completely ruined the compliment? Hopefully, the male received it in a positive way. “I’m paying for your drinks after this one. You’ve made my night.”

“Alright, your turn- Miss?”

The vampyress let out a short chuckle. “My name is Joan. I’m from Phantom Lord as well,” she said, twirling her glass in one hand. “And I don’t sing. I believe you’re one of the new members?” The reason why she already knew he was from Phantom Lord was because she had already met Bodak, who had all the records of the guild.

After hearing the woman offer to pay for his drinks, the name had already slipped his mind, in a matter of two words he'd said in between. For the next 5 seconds he would spend 110% of his brainpower, being that he had that much left, to focus on retracing his words like steps through the mud after it rains. "Joan, huh?"

In a literal moment of deja vu, he'd repeat himself this time remembering the name fully. "It's always nice to talk to a fellow ghost, err phantom I should say." he remarked aloud, following the sentence with a comment in his mind "but Ghost sounds soooo much cooler, aha." Tecka slowly raised the glass to his mouth trying to take a sip without seeming any more like a complete idiot, though that ship sailed from the moment he'd gotten up originally. "I am what you may call, a recent adaptation to phantom lord." pausing before just randomly spurting out the next thing that came to mind, he thought of something semi-clever to hopefully cover for his almost obvious intoxication. "They recruited me because there aren't enough dead men walking around, soon to be dead at least."

"Anyway, it's a shame that you don't sing, you look as if you've the voice of..." Tecka paused, he was going to give a compliment likening her would be musical voice to that of something that sounded equally as pleasant, but truthfully he hadn't the slightest idea of what sounded pleasant. Most things didn't, "y-you look like you sing well." he finished. What was this feeling coming over him? Coyness, nervousness? His normal callus and deadened demeanor springing to life, with human-like problems and worries. Well, he was human still no matter how much he acted as if he wasn't.

"So, why did you join phantom lord?" his mind now rambling for random topics. He'd soon finish off his drink in a couple of swift gulps before slamming the glass onto the coaster on the counter top of the bar. Tecka would then raise his hand to order another drink as he listened to Joan, if she chose to answer his question.

Joan chuckled as she spoke. “Phantoms and ghosts. They’re pretty much the same.” Tecka confirmed that he was indeed one of the newer members. She nodded in response. Joan was a woman of few words, so she didn’t really have anything else to say. She wasn’t drunk yet, but she wasn’t trying to get smashed here. “I see. Welcome to the guild. I’ve been a Phantom for quite a while now.” Finishing the contents of her glass, she signalled for the bartender to refill it.

“I do like listening to music and singing along at times. I don’t like singing in public,” she told him. It was true. She was the type to sing in her own private time. She liked to listen to music that motivated her.

When Tecka asked why she joined Phantom Lord, Joan took a moment to think before replying. “Phantom Lord gave me a home when I didn’t have one. I feel like I belong in it,” was her response. She was curious as to why he joined as well, but he had already told her that he was recruited into the guild. Once the bartender refilled her glass, she finished it in one shot and stood up. “I’ll see you around Tecka. I’ve got to travel, so I need to catch some sleep.” And then she would leave the bar.

He said as Joan was leaving. Their encounter, though full of excitement, was also very brief, but such was the vast ocean called life. It was always good to meet strong people, such was Tecka's opinion of life- a motto of sorts, and she purchased the young man a drink as well. Of course it was important that she was in phantom lord and could have possibly come for a reason other than relaxation in her off time- some type of task recruitment for the guild, a collection for the members fee, "or even worse, rent.." he'd thought. "If phantom lord had such things." Though possible she'd wanted to discuss something more dire but found the current setting to be inappropriate or distracting, it hadnt really mattered right now. Joan had found Tecka, and if something needed to be discussed she'd be more than capable of seeking him out.

No matter, she was gone and tecka was with the barstools, amateur singers, and a drink. But, it was a free drink is all the difference. He'd sip from the concoction, semi dry lips pressed against the edge of the glass as the cool sensation of the alcohol poured down his throat with a simultaenous slight burning feeling. Tecka felt a shadow of sastifaction brush over him, not entirely from the alcohol but also from the fact that he'd been building a list of the guild members he had in PL that he considered strong, based upon looks alone. Soon after he would plan to test each of their strength to categorize who in PL is the strongest in comparison to each other. From there they would each be a new goal for those who seek strength to look to. It was something more constructive to do, or so the young man had thought.

-exit-