"Sounds good..."Is juggling a knife in one hand, looking outside and then i look at my watch "My Shifts over....." I slip into the chair "Garrett give me a Shot of whiskey and Vodka if you please, along with a bowl of pretzels"

"You're just all about the loopholes, aren't you," Garrett grumbled, while preparing Flint's drink. He gagged a bit at the combination of spirits. Those two things together was like gagging on fire, and if you had the two together in a drink it was usually cut with something else, like a tonic or juice. But who was he to say what was good for the customer? If he wanted to choke that down, that was his problem.

Unfortunately, since Flint had graduated from 'employee' to 'customer,' it meant that Garrett had to 'make nice.' He served up his drink and the bowl of pretzels, choking on his smile. "So," he said, trying his very best to seem affable. "What brings you to this part of town?"

"Im a Wolf Looking for a Job to pay rent, nuff said, also You dont have to force A smile ya know, may be a paying customer but im still an employee" he says, taking the glass and downing it "*hic*ahhh thats hits the spot" starts eating the pretzels

Garrett's disposition didn't so much as change as much as it did shift one degree towards skepticism. "I'm sorry, I must have heard you incorrectly. I thought I heard you identify yourself as a Wolf." He considered lycanthropy, and rolled his eyes. It wasn't all impossible, but it was the blatant pride that his customer/employee had in his condition. There were some things that most folks kept hidden for a reason, and this would be one of them.

"Yup im a werewolf and im Damn Proud to be One , Somthing the matter with that Boss?" He looks at him raising his eyebrow "You have a Problem with wolfs?"

"Wolves specifically, no," Garrett stated, as if it were obvious. "Me and Leonard have dealt with far worse than your kind and to me you're benign. Its the rest of the world I don't trust." He began inspecting one of the pilsner glasses for stains. There seemed to be cheese stuck to the bottom on the inside. How? Thankfully, he had relatively small hands for a man and getting to the spot wasn't as much of a task as it would have been for Leonard, whose hands were easily an inch and a half larger from palm to middle finger tip. "Someone comes in here trying to slay you or expose you or something that the idiot hero type always seems to find time to do, it becomes a problem for me. I don't need people snooping around my establishment looking for dirt to dig up."

The scratching from the ceiling, which seemed to have been sleeping for the time being, suddenly began again: the sound of unclipped claws trying to get purchase on, what was to it, floorboards. Garrett's eyebrow twitched, and he came to the conclusion that jabbing at it with the broom handle wasn't having the desired effect.

"I like your Way of thinking Garrett but you got still alot of thinking to do before Your Eyes are cleared onto the Main Picture of things in The Split Realms if you get what im saying" he raises my ear to the sound of scratching and looks up "Sounds like you got a BanderStach up there, and a baby one at that"

It had been a couple days since Katya had slept in a real bed. She was enjoying the forest, but it would be nice to settle in for a bit. Also, as a "wandering musician" she was what most people would consider "homeless" here in civilization. She strolled down the street gathering more than a few stares. It wasn't the short skirt or tight shirt, it was probably the striped fur and tiger features. She was used to the looks and hardly even noticed them anymore. Suddenly, a sign caught her eye: Fid's Tavern. Sounds like a nice enough place. And it looks like it serves cheap drinks. She chuckled to herself as she pushed open the door and stepped into the dimly lit interior of the bar. She strolled up to a stool and swept her tail out behind her as she sat down. She flagged down the bartender and ordered a Grasshopper with a friendly, if sharp-toothed, smile.

Miu saw an older woman wave her down and came to her side. She smiled at the woman. "Yes ma'am, how can I help you?" she asked in a cheerful voice. She had been listening in on the new employee and Garrett's conversation, and was learning a lot. "I guess I know where to come to get a cheap meal now." she thought happily. "No, I have to focus now. Its the customer thats important." she thought, and turned her full attention on the elderly woman.

Feigning a gruff, elderly voice, Gracey pointed at the menu at the Shepherds Pie. You can never go wrong with something that has set in stone way of being right. "One of these please deary, and if you could get my lager refilled for me, I think the two will go nicely together." She gave the girl a $50. "This is to settle up my current balance and pay for the meal. I lost track of what all I had, but this should cover it. Whatever's left can be split between you, the bar tender, and the nice original bouncer by the door that was showing you around. I'll probably need a few more things after, but I'll square up for them later. I don't like running up a tab, so I prefer to settle it often. Would you be a dear and ask the one of your employers if they rent out any rooms above or behind the bar? I find I'm quite comfortable here, and would rather not have to venture back out into the night to find accommodations if they have them here, but that's not an urgent matter. You can get back to me on that later."

Garrett rolled his eyes, simply exhausted by that statement. Oh god, he thought, Another one. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, as if soothing a headache. "First off, you're in no position to tell me what I need to do as a person. I've probably done a lot more living than you and don't need this kind of lecture from a kid like you, werewolf or otherwise. Secondly, save the 'Split Realms' mumbo-jumbo for Sunday morning because, honestly, I've had enough cult experiences for one lifetime and I don't care to have my brain washed twice in one decade. Thirdly, it is not a Bandersnatch." He heard the door open and turned to greet the newcomer, glad to have a distraction: "How can I hel-," but was stopped when he saw the nature of the new patron.

He could not recall a time when he had seen someone of this nature before. He had seen people who were at the core animals, and animals that were at the core people... but he had never encountered one that was at an in-between state. Don't stare, don't stare, don't stare...

Leonard seemed to be more understanding, though he was not without his prejudices. "Welcome to Fid's," he said politely. He considered the fur and whatnot, but instead of Garrett's reaction of what was purportedly "what is that," he was more curious if she were related to anyone he might know. Still, he didn't say anything and preferred for it to come up naturally. In other situations, if he'd been asked by a stranger if he were related to someone, he'd have called them rude.

"I dont plan on lecturing you andI m not of the occult......and if it isnt A banderstach then what is it?"

"Not 'The Occult.' Cults. There is a rather significant difference between the two words. The occult is knowledge of something you can't see. Cults are more subjective. For the most part, they're sections of a much larger belief structure that are considered, by the overseeing group, strange. But there are times when it gets so big that it overshadows the original structure that it stemmed from, and that's very easy to take advantage of if you're so inclined." Garrett recalled, unfortunately, his experiences with such an entity and put them behind him. He was smarter now, he hoped. "Now, when you talk about this 'Split Realms' stuff that you're so complacent to mention, my immediate reaction is not of the occult and more of the latter. So, immediately, an alarm goes off in my head that tells me that I don't want any of your secret knowledge of whatever it is, regardless of the price." Clearly, he was skirting around the issue of the purported Bandersnatch. He knew exactly what the noise in the ceiling was, but he wasn't going to disclose that information. It was one of the reasons he didn't want people snooping around in his establishment. Some things needed to be kept secret.

"Im not in a Cult, Its just the things iv been taught sense I was a Child, cant blame me for what my Parents were.....Also I heard what you thought, So Why dont you tell me outloud what is up there? or do i have to pry into your mind Deeper to find my Information?"

"A belief structure thought by others to be strange sounds a lot like a cult to me," Garrett offered. "You can call it what you want, but the encyclopedia would say otherwise." Great, he thought. Kid's psychic, too. Ah well, I'm prepared for that. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this is how it goes: I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves.... And so on and so forth until he eventually got tired of the mind-games. "Why do you need to know? Your life doesn't depend on it."

Catching snippets of their conversation, Leonard began to get a little nervous. He grated his teeth, trying his best not to intervene, but Garrett's dancing around the issue wasn't helping. "Garrett," he called in his booming voice, which could move mountains simply by saying 'please.' "Just tell him 'no.'"

"Im just being a Good Sameritain and if you told me what it was I could Try to get Rid of it for you....as long as you clear my tab for this Bar " He says, already starting on his 3 bottle of Vodka " Il do it just as long as That gets done"

Miu nodded at the woman and took the fifty dollars. "Yes Ma'am, I'll see to it right away. A lager refill and a shepherd's pie coming right up." she said cheerfully. She walked away, and took no notice of the furry customer. She, herself, was half fox after all. It just took affect in different ways since her mother was a magical fox spirit, a kitsune. So Miu, ignoring the bartender and the new employee's 'discussion' went to the counter across from the bartender. "Garrett, the elderly woman over there wants to put this towards her tab, and a lager refill." she said, handing him the fifty dollar bill. "And she wants to spilt the change in between me, you, and Leonard." she added.

Garrett furrowed his brows for a second, but his usual disposition took over. "That's very kind of her," he said, almost confused. But he shrugged. Nice people did exist, he was sure. It was just a matter of probability. Between the three of them, she said? That was a $14 tip each. He looked over Flint's head at Leonard, and called out to him. "Hey, Tall Dark and Handsome: you're $14 closer to not owing me anything."

"You're the one that owes me," Leonard pointed out.

"Not since our last adventure. You still owe me a new shirt." He turned back to Flint, grinning. "Clear your tab? Oh, that's cute." Even with the discount, bottles of vodka were $30 each. He'd just finished his second and was starting on his third. A ninety-dollar tab was not something that you passed on. "That would be stupid of me as an entrepreneur when you're giving me such business, wouldn't it? And secondly-"

"We don't want it gotten rid of," Leonard interrupted darkly, gaining a disparaging look from his partner. The fact had been stated: the source of the noise was not a Bandersnatch, it was not a rat, and Leonard did not want it gone. In fact, it was very important to him that the source of the noise stay quite close.

"Fair Enough but If That Noise Starts to get louder, Im taking care of it My way" I pull out two 50$ and place them on the table "keep the Change...." Continues Eating my Pretzels and listioning for the Noise, curious on to what it was "So Do you mind Explaining to me Why exactly you dont want it gone? that noise Can probly get pretty annoying to Customers Around these parts dont ya think?"

Miu did the math and frowned, then her eyes lit up. "Oh! I forgot to add that she's also ording a shepards pie. I'll go see if the cooks back yet..." she said sounding doubtful, then remembered the new guy saying he could cook. "And if she'd not there, could you cook it? It would go towards paying your tab, i think." she said. She had picked up parts of the conersation as she stood there. "At least I have a better chance of keeping my job longer. I can tell Garrett doesn't like this guy." she thought, a bit happy. Usually it was her under hot water, not someone else. "I guess coming here was a good idea." she thought happily.

"I heard that Girl, I know he dosent like me Thing is I really Dont care, long as he Dosent Try to Cheap me out of my Check, Also Sure Il cook for the Women" I stand up and head to the Kitchen

Garrett recalculated. Ah yes. That would make much more sense. Significantly more generous than he usually expected from people, still. He considered making the old woman his new favorite customer. "Make that $12.60," he called out, acknowledging his partner and Miu, handing her her cut of the tip. Leonard shrugged. $12.60 could still pay off this proposed shirt debt.

"Woah, wait a minute," he said, but Flint had already gone off to the kitchen. He looked at Miu, and held up the fifty. "This is a fifty, right? I'm not going blind, am I? Kid owes me $90 and told me to 'keep the change?' I don't know if you know much about math, but... my Bachelor's Degree in Economics is telling me that he still owes me $40." He put his hand into his palm and sighed. "Thanks for getting rid of him for me, though. I don't think I could take any more of that." Though, now there's a kid under the influence of his third bottle of vodka working at the stove. He shrugged and sighed. Not one of his best employment decisions.

He noticed his flaw some time later, that there were in fact two fifties there. "Oh. Nevermind. Apparently my degree wasn't in Looking Really Hard." Everyone makes mistakes; some are just better at it than others. Though, he did wonder why someone who, quoted, 'needed to pay rent' could spend $100 on booze.

I come out holding the Pie in my hand and I place it by the Elderly Women "Here you go Miss, Best that I can make, Hope you like Beef instead of Pork, they Have No pork in there kitchen....and the pork they did have Was Spoiled Rotten "I walk over to Garrett "Fire your Cook cus hes doing a Crappy job"

Garrett's face dropped. It was time to come down to business. He took a deep breath and tilted his head to the side as if making a list. And a list was precisely what he was making. "Flint, so far today, you've accused me of being a hypocrite, completely glossed over just about everything I said, invaded my mind without my permission, tried to find loopholes in every order, drank three bottles of vodka and thereby been working the kitchens with a blood-alcohol content FAR above the legal limit in any nation I can think of, and just now accused me of not doing my job right.

"As it so happens, our cook has gone missing mysteriously and we have been substituting duties to make up for being shorthanded. Did it come across your mind to think that perhaps the reason the pork was rotten was because you were looking in the wrong place for it? We have a separate receptacle for spoiled meat to avoid cross-contamination. Consequently, Shepherd's Pie is made with ground beef or lamb, hence the name 'Shepherd's pie.' . We have a cook book in the kitchen. If you were so intent on doing it right, then perhaps you should have taken a look in there instead, because its available for everyone who has kitchen duty."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose again, trying to soothe the headache that was forming between his eyes. "And need I remind you that this is your first day? You said earlier that you felt sorry for me. Why? Because I told you not to drink on the job, like every respectable business owner would expect from his employees? Assuming, within the first hour of work, that you're the exception to the rule is about as arrogant as it gets, and I will not tolerate disrespect from someone who has yet to really show any redeeming qualities."

Leonard had moved quietly from his spot on the wall. It didn't take much to make Garrett mad: he had a lot of little hang-ups that sometimes compiled and ended in a rant. However, this was the first time, that he had seen, that he had had all this anger justifiably directed at one person. The things that Flint had done were all very small things, but when compounded in the course of less than a day's work, it did become less of a common annoyance and more of an actual problem. He began to move in, just in case Flint should use something other than words to retaliate. He hadn't known him long enough to make a verifiable decision on that, but he would rather stay on the safe side, especially when it came to protecting Garrett.

"Remember that you are here to work," Garrett continued, fully engaged in playing the part of the mean boss for the moment. "You are here to serve the customer, not slander my establishment. Yes, we may have our problems, but we haven't had a negative review thus far and we have yet to have a serious health violation that wasn't written off as a one-time incident. If you didn't want to work here, then why did you even bother asking for the job? Everyone else who works here wants to work here or desperately needs the work so they can make ends meet. But you? You can spend $100 on enough vodka to take down a bull elephant. Clearly, you don't need this job. And we don't need a second bouncer. We've gotten by on the staff that we have for long enough that we know how to double-staff. We can get by until someone else comes along." He took out his checkbook and quickly jotted down the amount he owed Flint for working this shift, signed it, ripped it out, and handed it to him. "By now, it must be no mystery that you're fired. This is your pay for services rendered. I wish you luck in your future endeavors."