The Black Flag II (reprint)

"i suppose he wasn't the most stable fellow around. you kinda remind me of someone i used to know the last time i was passing through. you ever heard of a girl named ginger. shifter i think. was kinda quiet. nice girl. you probably wouldn't know her. do you always yell this much?" Grim rattled the door a bit. " yep it's good and locked. what did you want me to do again?" Grim grinned to himself waiting for the poor girl to go off again.

"When I first meet him he was definitely jumpy, the poor guy. I just said my name was Ginger a moment ago." Ginger replied. "No, usually I'm giving the cook grief." She answered him. "Could you just please open the door?" She said sounding calmer then before. "Please stop playing around and open this door, it's getting kinda warm in here." She added and leaned on the door frame.

Grim hears her lean against the door. he judges that she's not infront of the lock and that the door opens out. smiling he puts a round through the lock and knob making the door swing open with ginger falling right behind it. "better" Grim asks. "been a while poppet."

"Ahh!" Ginger yelled as she fell out onto the floor. "Thanks." She muttered then looked up at the man that opened the door. "Grim!?" She asked shocked. "Where have you been for so long?" She asked as she scrambled to get on her feet. "I've missed you so much!" She squealed and threw her arms around him. "What took you so long to come back?" She asked him.

grinning Grim hugs Ginger back. "you don't expect people to fight their own wars do you? a fellows got to work to eat. and drink. so you working for annie now? there a room open in the basement for an old long tooth?" he sets ginger down and looks around. "if you are the new barmaid get me another drink and maybe a bite to eat." Grim pops her on the bottom to hurry her along ahead of him.

Searath got up form the bar and saw the man who was good ten inches taller then him and ginger. He looked and shook his head, who ever he was he knew how to cause a stir then again Searath had too but in a different way. Fire skill danced around his now empty glass as he said “Ginger I take you don’t need help then?”

grim28 wrote:

grinning Grim hugs Ginger back. "you don't expect people to fight their own wars do you? a fellows got to work to eat. and drink. so you working for annie now? there a room open in the basement for an old long tooth?" he sets ginger down and looks around. "if you are the new barmaid get me another drink and maybe a bite to eat." Grim pops her on the bottom to hurry her along ahead of him.

"Yea, I guess not, the world would die out if people fought their own battles." Ginger laughed "Yea, it's great, there's never a dull moment, whether the customers cause it or the staff." She added with another laugh. "Yea, and you know you shouldn't wear yourself out so much, it's not good for you." She said concerned about how he looked as appose to last time. "Alright, I'm getting it." She laughed as he popped her.

Archer King Searath wrote:

Searath got up form the bar and saw the man who was good ten inches taller then him and ginger. He looked and shook his head, who ever he was he knew how to cause a stir then again Searath had too but in a different way. Fire skill danced around his now empty glass as he said “Ginger I take you don’t need help then?”

"With Grim? No way!" She said with a huge smile on her face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to serve my favorite guy." She said before going around him to get Grim another drink and took over Demi's kitchen long enough to make him a burger and a big serving of fries. Demi hadn't liked it though, but ginger didn't care what she liked or didn't. "Thanks for letting me use the kitchen Demi." She called behind her as a joke and took the burger and the drink to Grim.

"I hope I got you the right one." She said holding the beer out to Grim. "If I remember right it's what you had last time you were here." She told him. "And I made this special just for you." She said as she set the burger down in front of him.

Grim settles on a barstool next to the other customer. "I'm Grim. nice to meet you." looking back at ginger "just what i ordered" and starts to dig in. glancing back and forth between them "so whats been going on lately. nothing too exciting i hope." he grins around a mouthful and takes a pull off his beer.

Searath Looked at him the fire still dancing around his glass and said “Searath, nice to meet you I think.” The fires in Searath’s glass started it dance on the out side of the glass now as well, Searath had become dully bored.

Grim pops a cigar in his mouth and uses Searath's glass as a light. "so besides being a traveling lighter. what do you do for a living. or are you waiting on someone and just want me to leave you be?" he grins and blows a smoke ring back over the bar.

"A bit of the usual, except this time nobody's been killed or whatever
by Ivan and his crew." She laughed knowing he had been taken care of,...
permanently. "You know, I've heard stories that Fritz is still out
there somewhere from the customers." She said conversationally as she
leaned on the bar. "I would ask what you thought, but you haven't been
around here long enough to know anything." She teased. "You know, I
hope that changes, I hate it when you run off to battles, wars, and
whatever else. It only makes me worry." She said hoping to convince him
to stay.

Searath smiled and said “That one is, I am even more shocked you just lit that off a cold flame. I do lost of things in the 1800s I was a mercenary like you. Now I am trader and I still to some minor work for MI6. Nothing very fun. Magic helps when selling wine though mainly rare vintages. Anyway where do you main work out of?” the fames had all but disappeared as the glass iced over with green ice.

"Well sweetness, i'll be around for a while so you don't have to worry about me. haven't found anything yet that could kill me. not perminately anyway. whats with the rest of these folks. seems kinda tame around here tonight." Grim asks while he enjoys his smoke and turned back to Searath. " trade secret. never could stomach being a trader, no patience. i'm based out of my bag of tricks here." Grim thumps his bag. "though lately i usually stumble back here between jobs. the columbian drug lords were having a bit of trouble with the local were snakes recently. nasty buggers. wouldn't have any of those rare vintages on you now would you. bit of a celebration. just don't lit poppet here have too many glasses. she'll start to dance on the tables with no cloths........ on second thought forget that give her as many as she wants." Grim grins at ginger and winks.

"I better not have to worry about you for a while." Ginger said and grabbed a beer for herself. "You shoulda been here earlier if you wanted a bit of action." She told him and took a seat next to him. "The way it was going I thought Arzeal was gonna rip the guys head off." She laughed, though it wasn't really all that funny. She listened to their conversation and Sighed. "That was one time, Grim, one time." She said shaking her head.

Searath said something very fast and very quickly then a bottle of 1250 summer wine appeared on the bar, Searath said a few more words and the bottle cloned into 11 and then the first one disappeared leaving ten bottles of it. Searath then grinned and said “Here you go, I would drink it even this would burn off before it my blood stream.” Searath was now not as bored as the ice began to crawl all over the bottle that now lined the bar.

"no one dances like that the first time. makes me wonder about what you do with your free time." Grim leans over and rummages through his bag laying a grenade, a throwing knife, a right glove, and asorted other things on the bar before he comes out with a brightly wrapped shoebox sized package, the wrappings a little worse for ware. "i picked this up along the way. hope you like it." he starts packing his other things away. looking back at Searath. "now thats a nice trick. must suck not being to get a good buzz every now and again though" Grim pours a glass for himself and one for ginger. "Bottoms up sweetness." he chuckles

"I don't even remember how I was dancing, all I really remember was having a massive hang over the next day." Ginger told him. "Wow, you're lucky Annie likes ya, or she would take all that stuff from ya." She teased. "Wow, looks like you put that package through hell." She said in response. "Thanks." She said as she took the glass and took a sip of it. "Mmm, that's good." She said mostly to herself. "And you found that where?" She asked. "I just might have to go with you next time." She laughed, as if Grim would really let her come along.

"The jewelry or the wine. the wine i'm guessing southern france. the jewelry is just something i had gathering dust in new york for awhile. don't remember when i put it in there. looks about 15th century. don't find many sets of earrings necklace, tiara, and rings left. most are missing at least one piece. wish i remembered where i looted it from." grim takes another pull off his beer and smiles at ginger.

"It's all very pretty." Ginger said picking up the necklace and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "And the wine is amazing." she added smiling. "You'll have to take me with you, at least once." She said to him and cuddled into his side like she used to do before he left.

"you want me to take you somewhere to get shot at? why on earth would you want to go to some of the worst hellholes on earth. nothing but rotting bodies and people that want to turn you into one. annie not paying you enough to wait tables. this place is scary enough sometimes. i'll ask for hazard pay for you." grim said putting an arm around ginger

"Well, that way I would know you were okay."Ginger answered. "I really wish that you would stop going out there risking your neck." She added. "No, the pay here is fine, I love my job here." She assured him feeling his arm around her. "Is there anyway I could talk you into settling down, I have room at my place you know." She offered though she knew he would probably turn it down.

Searath laughed slightly at the hazard pay comment, as far as he had seen the bar was safe. He poured him self a glass of wine in a solid crystal cup that hand appeared out of nowhere. The glass was covered in green ice that no one at commented on yet. Searath then looked and said “So Grim, I take you like the danger and all the blood you ever need.? But what happens if you drain someone that is high?"

"i tried to settle down once. it didn't work out so well. but i'll be around for awhile. you can't expect be to just be a bum and depend on you to take care of me do you." Grim teases and pokes ginger in the ribs. "besides you'd get tired of me if i moved in with you." Looking over at Searath, "I do like the danger sometimes. but it's more that war is all i really know. the blood is a plus, but you get a lot of your own spilled along the way. as for drinking from some idiot that is using on the front line. well you usually get a secondary buzz, but it's usually easier to just do it yourself while off duty." Grim grins around his cigar.

"You could try again, I bet Annie wouldn't mind having you on staff, you would make an awesome bouncer, take a bit of the stress off of Annie's shoulders." Ginger persisted. "We'll see about that, I want you to stay with me while you're here, and we'll just find out." She continued hoping he would agree. "I'll even talk to Annie to see if she'll let you be a bouncer, even if it is just temporary." She pushed it farther, she would try anything to get him to settle down.

"hold on there poppet. i'm on vacation. i don't need a job right now. and from the looks of things i'll be sharing a roof with you. i'm getting a room here and i looks like annie locks you in the back." Grim snickers. "we'll see about everything else as it comes."