How about instead we do this (bymywill) wrote in theunboundic, @ 2017-12-30 19:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! time: backstory, lukas fox, xavier brigant |
I can only be myself as somebody else
Who: Briar, Xavier and Luke
What: A night of revelry for all! Or a few.
When: Late December 1924
Where: Ceddon’s Bounty/Red Thrush Inn
Rating: NC-17
Status: In progress
Briar had been serving drinks and food at Ceddon’s Bounty for nearly a month. It was her first time working this sort of job, but she took to it like a drunk took to ale. Or a fussy baby took to a bit of liquor under the tongue at least, for it made her feet tired and sleep heavy. That would pass though, of that she had no doubt. Prior to this most of her exercise had been running, climbing, or fighting in the city, and that was all in short spurts instead of hours on end at the beck and call of patrons of various levels of politeness.
But she had been very good! The owner and other workers liked her, she showed up on time and memorized the menu and orders easily and didn’t complain overly much. Though she definitely complained, just not the most and sometimes being not-quite-the-most-annoying counted for a lot.
Not to mention that last week when a drunk had put his hand up the owners’ daughter’s skirt she had slammed her elbow into his temple in a way that looked like an accident.
Briar may not have ever worked as a serving girl, but she knew how to step through a crowd without causing a ruckus in a way that translated easily to keeping trays of drink steady. Knew how to smile to get tips, dance out of the way of grabbing hands she didn’t like the look of or into the ones she did. Oh, that part was definitely nice. As a thief she couldn't always trust the charming men and women around her, and as a sort-of Noble Lady letting a handsome fellow or beautiful woman pull you onto their lap was frowned upon to say the least.
They were all harmless too, at least. So far. She had started to yell at someone for snapping his fingers at her but was distracted by the cook, and had muttered under her breath once a little too loud at someone else who kept complaining about the temperature of his drink. But other than that, the new job was going very well.
Most importantly she came by her money honest. It was a hard compulsion to resist, but in Glynn there weren’t many places to disappear to, unlike a big city. That’s what she told herself when a drunk man with a heavy coin purse right there for the taking passed out on a table with no one looking.
She used the accent of a farmer’s daughter who sold her a sweet pastry on the train who flirted with her boldly in front of the other passengers in a way that was unheard of from one woman to another back home. The accent blended in well, and reminded her of her favorite moment in this country so far.
It was the end of the night and her mood was picking up with the end so near. Not that it was a bad night though, nothing had been spilt on her at least. Sometimes the place got real rowdy, odd for a small town. Briar had the feeling if her nose wasn't shot from, well. Bad breeding probably, it would stink enough to make her hair curl more than it already was. The noise though was a comfort after growing up in a noisy city.
There were a few patrons there already, more for food instead of drinking loudly and carrying on, including the normal regulars. Including Xavier, who worked at one of the manors, a useful thing if she were still in the business (which she wasn’t!). The man had a contagious laugh, even at her sometimes uncouth jokes and seemed to have a good intuition of when her temper was near the surface.
Most importantly he didn’t yell for more drinks when she was right beside his table, unlike some people. He also seemed to forget when she fucked with her persona once he got drunk enough, which was some of the best entertainment she got these days. Her standards had greatly dropped, not that they had been especially high in the first place.