Bar hopping had gone good so far for Teiho, the various lagers and brews definitely raised his mood for the season. The locals definitely knew how to have a good time. Now that he thought about it, he definitely hadn’t planned on drinking this much, but now that he was here, he was definitely glad he had decided too.

Spotting yet another establishment, a rather small dive hole with the moniker ‘The Swineherd’. It was different, the air around the shop seemed jovial if a bit tense due to a couple of patrons that were now leaving the area. He wondered what kind of show he missed as he entered the stall by sliding the flaps to the side with his left forearm. The inside was definitely more spacious and accommodating for patrons to sit and relax in but he could see what kind of draw that sitting outside in the warmth and lights of the festival could have.

Taking a seat at the bar, he’d rap his knuckles off the mahogony of the counter to get the bartender's attention. “Let me get a pint of your finest lager to start”, he requested off the top of his head rather loudly. He’d ignore the rest of the patrons for now as none of them were nearly as interesting to him at the moment as the potential for a good drink.

Well, that had certainly been an interesting interaction. The silver haired woman had been given her drink - opting for the whiskey on the rocks, which would've been Odin's preferred choice too, as the Lich took the un-chilled drink, enjoying just a little less than he would've if it had been filled with ice. But his customer had gotten the one she had desired, opting to stay quiet after receiving her drink, except to express gratitude for it. Nodding as the receiver, Odin then went about serving more drinks to anyone that wished for them, keeping a watchful eye on the new member of his team, who's name Odin didn't actually even know yet, as the boy stayed behind the bar to serve those who came up to request drinks.

All was going well: the bar was peaceful, until a tall man walked in, with a floral printed shirt and almost golden colored hair. The next perhaps hour of time was anarchy, something Odin was much more accustomed too - he was used to clientele from Oak town after all. Originally, the boy was left to serve both the man and a woman that had gotten in a drinking contest with him, but then things started getting much more upbeat. Requesting the 'secret, stronger liquor' got the owner's attention, and he replaced his staff behind the bar. In his mask and outfit, every inch of Odin was covered, not once revealing the skeletal figure that was his body, and to the world he would seem like an, albeit oddly dressed, simple bartender. While he served their drinks, he watched their antics unfold, not really minding their challenges, even those that involved theft. As long as someone paid for the drinks, Odin wouldn't care who's money it was. The two were quite interesting characters: the man especially, who had used what looked like magic to accomplish his first task. Whether anyone else used magic, Odin had no way of knowing, but their little combat scenario certainly was amusing.

The arrival of the other man, seemingly out of nowhere, really got Odin's attention, as he caught the two punches mid flow. Given the force of the strikes: which were enough to blow some drinks off of the counter, including all the empty shot glasses which smashed against the floor, Odin learned much about the three people. The first man was an interesting mage, and extremely powerful physically. The voluptuous woman, potentially also a mage although there had been no confirmation, seemed to have equal strength. And the third man, the newcomer, was physically the strongest of the three, and an interesting one. He didn't seem interested in their squabble, simply ending it to stop them wiping out the stall and ask about the location of Lamia Scale. Odin himself didn't know, and the two, in their inebriated states, weren't much help, but all three soon departed: the drunk woman helped home by one who dressed like a woman, but who'd physical form and voice suggested otherwise.

What a fucking weird place this world is, Odin thought as they all left, before another new face sat at the bar itself, asking for pint of 'his finest lager'. Snapping back into his bartender mindset, Odin poured the man a pint of the best, and most expensive, lager he had on tap. An imported lager from one of the outlying countries near Fiore, it was likely one of the best lagers that one could actually get in Fiore. As such, Odin knew he'd be making a decent amount of money in selling it.

"Here you go stranger, you just missed quite an interesting competition. You from Orchidia?"

Aurelion was happy with how things turned out, the man allowed him to work in his pub and he was becoming increasingly busy with each new customer. This place sure attracts a lot of people, he thought, the bar at Orchidia was a crowded place there was no doubt about that, but it had been there for years, but this pub, one small branch and it already had more people than Aurelion saw the first week he worked at the bar. Assuming it was the festival fever that made everyone want to go out and have a drink or two, Aurelion happily continued to serve the customers with a smile.

Looking at the silver-haired woman he thought of how mysterious she was, not really saying much and just enjoying her drink in silence, and now another man joined on one of the seats, with Odin tending to that one, Aurelion continued serving the other side of the pub.

Time seemed to pass by peacefully and Aurelion was hopping the man was pleased by his work, at that moment he saw a guy with a shirt full of hearts walk in and order a drink. Aurelion gave him what he asked and then proceeded to watch as him and another orange-haired patron started to have a contest to see who could handle more drinks. Aurelion was told to tend to them himself which he did, he was accustomed to these kinds of competitions after all and didn't mind at all, it was always getting rowdy at the bar.

Things started getting weirder by the minute as neither of the two would back down, not to mention one of them appeared to be a mage, Aurelion could feel the pressure their auras exerted, was the other woman a mage too, possibly but he wasn't able to tell just yet, he only knew that these two shouldn't be messed with. When the "secret liquor" was mentioned by them the bartender gestured Aurelion to step away as he took charge of serving them. I have a bad feeling about this, he thought as a worried look appeared on his face.

Some moments later and Aurelion's thoughts were realized, they had a full blown fight on their hands and neither of the two appeared to back down, until another man walked in and stopped them just by holding their fists in place. Remarkable strength, Aurelion thought and chuckled softly, hearing the man ask the whereabouts of the Lamia Scale he was reminded of his two friends that he met the other day, they were Lamia Scale members and Aurelion knew where the guild was located in the town, but before being able to talk the trio left with the orange-haired woman getting help from, another woman, Aurelion wondered but looking closer he realized it was actually a man, to each their own, he thought and smiled slightly.

Now that this was over with, Aurelion turned to his new employer, "Quite the show wasn't it?!" he exclaimed and chuckled, "It was such an eventful first night that I can't wait for the ones to follow." he continued while cleaning the mess those people left behind them. "I'm Aurelion by the way, didn't really have the time to introduce myself with all the work here." he said with a smile. Listening to the man speak, he finished cleaning the place and with a content sigh he continued, "I'll be here for the afternoon shift tomorrow, thank you for the job!" he said and started heading home.

A smile crossed Teiho's face as the bartender came around, the man's hood and face mask a different touch to what he was used to. It made him... interesting for lack of a better term. Without any facial tells to know what the man was thinking, Teiho would just shrug and go along with it. Worst come to worst, he’d get a good drink and hearty conversation, at worst, he’d get discriminated against, again, for not being Fiorian.

“Not from Orchidia, more of a traveler you know. Exploring the lands, seeing the sights, tasting the brews, and sampling the women. I enjoy fine wines and a good time. Sitting in one place, even one as supposedly rowdy as Orchidia is not something that would fit that motif”.

His reply would come as the man slid him his tall glass of imported lager. He’d take a whiff of the fizzy, bubbly, golden drink. The tall glass had been filled to the absolute brim which is just how he liked it. It was clear the bartender intended for Teiho to pay top coin for this brew, and if it was good well... who was he to not tip a good mate?

Lifting the glass up to his lips, he’d take a cursory gulp, the thick brew sliding into his mouth and down his throat like dark gold nectar. The amalgamation of tastes hit his tongue like a honey covered brick and caused him to set the mug back on the counter in a rather slow yet deliberate manner to avoid spilling any of the drink. A pleased look crossed his face as he pursed his lips and gave the bartender a sturt nod. “Not bad”, he said simply, “Not bad at all”.

Much like Odin, this man was not one for sitting in one place, calling himself a traveler, and a lover of the finer things in life, from wines to women. Odin chuckled as he made that statement, partly as it was something the dark mage could respect and understand, and also partly at his own situation. Odin was a man that, too, enjoyed fine wines and the lavish life, but when it came to women, well that was now something that Odin would not be capable of 'sampling', not in his current state at least, "I can respect that, I'm not just a bartender after all, we all have our lives. If I may, where are you from then? Every traveler has to have started their journey at some point, where did yours begin?" His was a language Odin knew well, so why not engage in some light conversation with the man, what was the worst that could happen after all?

Odin's eyes lit up briefly as the man seemed pleased at the lager he tried. He simply shrugged at the man's comment, addressing him as he spoke about the alcohol, "I didn't make it, but I do know a good drink when I taste one. Only the best is served here, provided you ask for it." A brief flutter in the light behind Odin's mask would be seen at that moment, as one of the fires that formed his eyes flashed off then back on again: the closest thing Odin could give to a sly wink as he finished speaking. His bar was well known, and he had a reputation to uphold of course, but what was the point in giving a poor man a diamond, he wouldn't know what to do with it. Such it was with the alcohol, the best would go to those who suggested that they would be able to appreciate it. This man had seen much, he deserved something special.

A dull misty eye gave the bartender a hard stare at the man’s prying inquiries. While Teiho was definitely already some sort of buzzed from all the drinking he had been doing earlier that day, he knew a fish for information when he heard one. Luckily for him anything relevant or top secret was extremely dated or at the very least, worthless without certain nuggets of information that only he was privy to. Of course there was also the fact that he was likely overthinking the whole situation, his alcohol addled mind drawing conclusions to a situation that didn’t exist to justify a paranoia that had no reason to be there. Now that he thought about it, this brew was definitely too good for it’s own well being. “Seven”, he replied simply between swigs of the lager. The cool refreshing beverage definitely had a peculiar honeyed taste to it that made it absolutely exquisite to sample and left a rather tingly and frothy sensation in its aftermath.

He’d set the mug down on the counter so that he could shuffle about in his seat, facing more towards the bathroom and inner portions of the bar than the door, he’d give the bartender an appreciative nod for keeping up the conversation even while he was drinking. It was a skill he could appreciate though he was certain the man only did so so that he could keep him drinking, and thus keep him paying. But hey, who was he to knock a hustle. He would take another sip, a slow one this time to see if he could pinpoint the origins of the brew but even through all of his travels he just couldn’t pinpoint the country of origin. He’d definitely have to hit some of the more southern countries the next time he traveled, this had to be one of their brews. Northern lagers were far more hardy and relied on alcohol content and hops to carry the flavor.

“I can definitely taste that this isn’t from Fiore. Must be from somewhere to the south, Caelum perhaps?” He gandered out loud to keep the conversation going. He’d arch an eyebrow at the man’s improvised wink, and filed the fact that the eyehole actually glowed with a flame away for later consideration when he wasn’t drunk. Taking one more sip, dropping the mug down to about three quarters, he’d turn to face the man manning the bar and ask him a simple, “So what did you do before all of this?” It was amazing that his speech hadn’t began to slur yet from all the alcohol, but it was probably just his tolerance building itself back up to where it had been before his coma. “You definitely look like you know your way around the mystics, no one wears a robe like that anymore unless they know something ya know?”, he continued from his initial question. It was a valid inquiry and he was certain he’d get some sort of story out of the man’s history, or at least a half decent mysterious reply that he could work with.

The look Odin received for his question told him more abut the man than any words. No one enjoyed talking about their past, not if they had something worth talking about at least. The ones that spoke constantly about the life they had, they were the boring ones. But a man like the one in front of Odin, drinking his lager and doing not much else, a travelling man definitely had a story to tell, but also more reasons than most to hide it. Simply continuing to drink, Odin did manage to get something out of him at least. Whether Seven was truly his country of origin or perhaps where his life had started anew, there was no real way of knowing. Despite being the closest landmass to Fiore itself, Odin had never actually been to Seven, nor did he know much about it, but at the very least it confirmed his thoughts about the man being one who enjoyed to walk the earth, "Well then, between Seven, Fiore, and wherever else you've visited, what's the most interesting thing you've seen." Despite acting under the guise of the humble bartender, Odin was always interested in gaining new information from any source. Although, given the hard stare he'd received from his last question, Odin wasn't overly hopefully about getting a truthful answer. The man was onto him, that much was obvious.

He was taking a slight bit longer than the locals with his brew, whether that was because he was enjoying the conversation, trying to milk it for every drop or, as Odin would soon discover, locate the country of origin of the drink. Surprisingly enough, he managed it on his first attempt, accurately guessing the country of Caelum, which Odin had to commend him for, "I knew you were different, spot on my friend. Name's Lucifer by the way, what might I call you?"

Then came a much more interesting line of questioning. Odin had asked the man about his origins, suppose it was only the fair that he answer a similar question. The man's logic was rather amusing, if a little insulting. He called Odin out on what he wore, inferring that no normal person would cover every bit of flesh, or lack of, on their body. From that, it was obvious that Odin had to have been a mage, or at least gifted in the mystics arts. A low chuckle would escape Odin, his hollow voice causing the laugh, and the words that followed, to echo slightly around the room, "Despite that you may be correct, there's nothing wrong with my robe. I have an... aversion to sunlight shall we say. As for what I did before being a bartender, that's not a hugely interesting story." Odin poured himself a drink at this point: a rum and coke, to enjoy as he continued, "Most of my life has been travelling as a mage, completing odd jobs here and there, not really having an impact. At one point I came into possession of this pub, or well the one in Oak, so decided to work part time. I'm a humble bartender most of the time, rest of the time I do some jobs to keep life interesting." Odin lifted his mask slightly to take a drink of his beverage. For a moment, the man would see the skull that was Odin's face, before the mask came back down and the drink was sat on the table. Odin was curious if the man, in his current state, would even believe what he thought he might've just seen.