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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:48 am
Stet also crossed the bar to try and help the new guy up, but he was a dollar short on that exchange, instead offering a smile as Vino gave him a bit of encouragement and then hopped off. He pat the boy's back, giving him a short nod. "Fine woman, that Vino. I do so adore a woman with a big heart," he grinned, motioning for Charlè to join East and Sin.
Also returning to their location, he continued his considerations. "Might be a dolly back there, but the thing is bound to be heavier than the champagne itself." Stet sighed then, not liking the idea of asking for help from bigguns, but unless they could get a hold of the Hytes on such short notice, their options might be limited. "Now we aren't fine china teacups," he started with a wave of his hand, "so I don't think being seen is really the issue. Trusting one of them son-guns not to make off with our champagne, or not to whisk off our beauties for themselves, THAT is an issue."
The would-be Italian nodded gravely. It was clear where his issues were. "East, my darling, we're just to pick it up, correct? That means it's paid for?" He skirted behind her and her companion, though it was Sin's shoulder that he lit his hand upon. "How's about we gents make our way down there while the fairer of us perhaps prepare the drink to chill? We're paying customers, so they ought to be accommodating." The C*cktail shrugged in a 'what can you do?' manner. Then again, Stet always was a straight shooter, the type who saw fit an eye for an eye. With a roguish grin, he continued in a mostly innocent manner (the first sign that listening might be a bad idea), "What's five minutes of their walkin' to them? Fair's fair - I say we give them a free pass for a night if they help out. That'll teach our charming bartend to be a bit more considerate." Hit him where it hurt! Right in his shot glasses!
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:25 am
He stood very still as the crowd around them swelled - just managing to not flinch as Stet's hand came down on his shoulder. Only half a mind was being paid to the suggestions flying about...many of them were quite sound, he had no doubt, it was just that he knew very well no matter what was raised, East would hone straight in on the one that sounded the most exciting - and thus was the most dangerous. He sighed, almost imperceptibly. Right now, he would settle for her letting go of his ponytail.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:26 am
"Prettyboy can get scuffed up fine," East said airily, looking thoughtful as the suggestions came. "Stet and Vino are right; I think the six bottle crates will do for a bit, and they're probably more manageable."
She pursed her lips at Redd's remark. "We really shouldn't be passing on a given task!" She exclaimed, rather oblivious to the fact that six other people were now involved, "And the odds are pretty high they'd ask for compensation, which Maxwell won't be pleased about at all. And to cheat a woman into it - !" She shook her head and poked him in the tie gravely. "You're not exploiting any nice ladies in front of me. And Stet," another disapproving shake, "don't be sexist, if the guys are going, we're all going. And we'll do this just fine without needing the big people..."
"Charlè!" She turned, a bubbly laugh swelling at his kiddy charm. "Oh I like that idea! I think we do have a cart, one of those shopping carts, I'm not sure where it's from but -
Vino, wait up!" With Charlè's wrist in one hand and Sin's ponytail still in the other, she stepped down a Indiana Jones-esque route of surfaces jutting out behind the counter. "To the back room!" She called behind. At least they were going to get somewhere!
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:23 am
Having just popped into the back only moments before East's little speech, she heard East declare about going to the back room too. "I'm back here love!" Vino called out, while she was struggling to get out of a large box. Jumping into it had been much easier than getting out. She had been searching for items to help, and it was to her dismay that most of the boxes she had looked through were items, drinks, or appliances for the bar. As clean as the back room was, it was packed with stuff. "Have you figured out what we need then?"
Trying to pull herself up, her feet scuffing against the side in vain pushes, she found her upper body strength to be no help. So instead of looking like a fool struggling, she decided to wait for the cavalry. "Can I get some help? Mother nature was not made for a box," she claimed with a sigh of dismay and nearly a growl, peering over the edge but just short enough to be stuck. Weak arms. The predicament did nothing to help her ego. Her face blushed deeply as she dipped her head down, knowing how foolish it was to have gotten stuck in the wretched box.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:50 pm
"Perish the thought!" Redd said to East. "I see it more as... Relying on the natural goodness of human nature." he said with a suspiciously straight face.
However, the lady had spoken, and it looked like it was hard labour for the Southern gentleman after all. It was tragic, but he had offered, and no gentleman would go back on a deal, no matter how inconvenient it was. Redd may have had a shaky grasp on morals, but he did have standards. Following the crowd to the back room, he paused for a moment, listening. Clambering up to the top of the box he heard Vino's voice coming from, he perched on the edge precariously and offered her a hand.
"You rang?" he asked the distressed damsel with a sort of lazy good humour.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:39 pm
"Sexist?" he repeated, clearly picking out the most important part of East's speech. "Getting the pails ready to chill the drink is just as important - what's the point in retrieving it just to leave it warm?" Stet skulked just a little, watching East drag the unfortunate male off the bar and downwards. As the rest of the C*cktails made their way towards the back, he simply sighed and sat down on the iBar, legs dangling over the edge. Sorting through that room was something they could do without him.
As such, he didn't hear Vino's plea for help - nor did he see Redd being her savior - which was just as well. Ego's didn't need to be in play for a champagne rescue mission! He leaned back on the iBar, resting on his elbows and drawing little patterns with his fingers to amuse himself while he waited for what would undoubtedly be a genius idea to get them all in a crate-load of trouble.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:05 pm
Crossing her arms and pacing with aggitation, she looked up in alarm when a shadow blocked some of the light inside the box. Peering up, she found Redd sitting on the edge while peering down at her. "You'd better not laugh," Vino warned, knowing she looked foolish as she narrowed her eyes. But it was clear that she was just trying to cover her embaressment as her face blushed even deeper. Reaching up and grasping his hand with her other one of the edge of the box, she struggled for a moment before pulling herself up and straddling the edge.
"Thanks Redd." Vino practically bit her tongue off saying 'thanks' or 'please', but she knew when it was deserved. Even if she had to choke on the words to get them out. As she climbed down from the box, she inquired, "I can't find anything that'll help. What did Sin and East think?" As she asked to satisfy her curiousity, she brushed the dust from the box from her clothing, hiding any evidence of her being less than smooth and independent. "No humans back here from what I can see, or much that would be useful. Then again, East knows this place better than I do." Picking up a mixing stick, she twirled it around her hand like a baton as she walked towards the center of the room.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:07 pm
But what was the point in doing something if it wasn't going to land you in trouble? Wirl certainly didn't see the point! So she followed everyone into the back of the bar. Since Redd seemed to have the Vino problem under control, Wirl decided the best thing would be getting herself into the thick of things. Lasso in hand, she worked at scaling whatever she could and hoisting herself up onto boxes.
"Good night, it's gonna be hard ta find anythin' back here!" She said. "Granted, Ah dun know 'xatctly what ta look fer, 'xpect Ah'll know when Ah find it!
At least she wasn't harassing poor Charle. Cute little boys were her weakness sometimes.
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:12 pm
Since several others seemed to have the back room under control, Kent decided to go to Stet.
"Awww, don't take it so hard. Sometimes dames just get like that, Stet." Kent said seriously, sitting beside him. Rescue plans for champagne were all and good, but Stet was his friend, and he didn't want the man to be upset. "They don't like it when you try to keep them from harm or anything. They're real stubborn, but they're pretty and usually nice, so I guess it's better than an alternative." He said thoughtfully, sitting down as well.
"So, how many times do you think we're gonna be in death-defying situations in this mission?" Kent asked him, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "With Redd and Wirl and Vino and East, I think we're bound to have an adventure."
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:39 pm
"I would never laugh at a lady." Redd assured her flippantly, dusting off his cuffs with an unlikely monogrammed handkerchief after he pulled her up. "I am, after all, a Southern Gentleman, and thus obliged to take ladies quite seriously." He flashed her a grin. Whether Redd actually took anything seriously at all was really doubtful. "Miss East seems to be going with the little scamp's suggestion." He quirked an eyebrow, still getting used to the idea of having to work at something, but the moment passed and he shrugged. "Anyway, I suggest we assist her as she seems to be in charge of this expedition and an expert at navigating around boxes."
Hopping down from the box rim, he sauntered over to the main group and saluted casually. "Reporting for duty," he announced. "I hope you didn't miss us too dreadfully."
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Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 3:48 pm
Stet turned his garnet eyes to his decidedly green friend, pushing himself up into a proper sitting position and quirking a grin. "Can't blame a man for wanting to keep them safe," he agreed, "but I'm not thick enough to actually think we could do it without them." He paused, considering his thoughtful words before ruining it with, "Women and their wiles make the world turn, after all."
He leaned forward so that his elbows were against his knees, surveying their kingdom of barstools and the distant pool. "Now, what worries me there is that three of those names are our lovely ladies in question," he responded in a rather bemused tone of voice. "But to be honest with you, Hero, I'd be impressed if we weren't in some form of death defying danger." Stet shook his head, making a light 'tsk'ing sound. "We live in the wrong era, you and I. Best just to bow our heads and say 'yes'm' to their orders." Not that he minded. Some women just liked to be on top.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:51 pm
Charlè had no initial reaction to Vino save a little smile, and he stayed quiet while the others discussed his and their own ideas. He was a youngin, after all, and it was best to not pry into the affairs of adults unless you were granted permission.
...being dragged seemed to be fair permission. Being as small as he was, the boy took to looking beneath things and between them rather than inside and above. A shopping cart had to have at least one wheel on the floor, didn't it? He dropped to all fours and crawled beneath the lower two boxes in a three-box pyramid to see what was behind it. ...oh, lord, that was a lot of dust...
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:59 am
"Ow, ow, ow, OW," he yelped quite involuntarily as she hopped down a series of veritable precipices with his hair in her grasp, "for goodness' sake, let go!" Finally tugging free, he smoothed his vest down irritably, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, hoping for his ire to subside. When he opened them again, there were C*cktails all over the backroom. Eaaaaassssst...
"The cart isn't here," he ground out instead, exercising all his self-control, "I know where it is - it's locked away where suicidal people like you can't get to it. It's madness! You do realise that, don't you - there'll be at least four of us pushing the thing along, it'll rampage out of control in no time! If any of us gets a limb caught under that, it's as good as amputation if we're lucky...worse - if we crash into a human and break some bones, we could be facing a lawsuit."
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:57 am
Charlè sat in the darkness under the boxes, silently listening to his idea be shot down, stomped-on, and shattered under the feet of a big purple C*cktail. What was the likelihood of one of them getting caught beneath a shopping cart as they pushed it, anyway? With a sad little sigh he crawled back out and pointed to a coiled rope sitting amidst the cardboard.
"If we were to attach it by rope, perhaps? If it got too heavy, we could just turn and let go. It won't hurt a human. Annoy them, maybe, but not hurt!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:06 am
East was very good at overseeing operations, though her idea of overseeing generally meant other people doing work for her. As she watched the C*cktails helpfully and eagerly scatter, the primary thought was "Wouldn't that cart be completely visible?" and she was, in a way, right. Much of her head filtered out Sin's words except for the important ones: cart isn't here, locked away, Sin knows where it is. "If you knew you should've said so earlier!" She said, promptly crossing her arms. "Then Vino wouldn't have had to endure being stuck in a box and now you made Charlè dusty." She brushed the dust out of Charlè's hair. "We'll be okay without a rope - I still think your idea is brilliant, we'll definitely use a cart and we'll handle it just fine."
After a game smile at the little one, she straightened up. "Sorry guys!" She called again, summoning them back. "We're going to go out, down, and let Sin lead the stragglers to get the cart. We can't do all the work all the time." She turned on her heels and started to click out of the backroom. "Besides," she remarked, the rest of Sin’s words slowly sinking in, "I've always wanted to know if we regenerated body parts." "Strongman and Sexist!" She pointed a finger at the offenders seated at the bar. "Make yourselves useful and come along, we've got a task just for you..."
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