Welcome to Gaia! ::

Thomas grunted quietly as he pushed open the door to the bar. He'd had a long, rather frusterating day and wanted a few hours to relax and wind down before he went home. To be honest, he wanted a little bit of easy company, that didn't involve post-mortem depression. Sorry Dian, he muttered to himself, knowing the spirit was somewhere nearby.

Thomas clunked down at the bar, breathing heavy but shallow breaths. The bindings had rolled down again, and were now tightly constricting his ribcage. He looked about to make sure no one was looking, and quickly and subtly pulled them up to their proper position, effectively flattening himself out again. He wanted the surgery to get them removed, but was unsure about the scarring. The last thing he wanted were bald patches of fur on his chest. But when he thought about the alternative...

Thomas grimaced, and waited for the barmaid.

Thomas cleared his throat noisily and set a spiked brown arm down on the bar with a clonk, letting his dark eyes slide closed. If it werent for the shock of bright blonde hair, he'd look just like a rock, or at tree, brown eyes, brown fur, brown spikes. He cocked up a leg to let it rest on the rail under the bar as a young woman entered as well. His eyes opened to slivers as he looked her over.

Angelic, really pretty girl, wide eyed. Wide, pink eyes, from what he could discern.

She seemed trouble, poor thing. Angelics didn't handle tension too well, he noticed. Thomas yawned mightaly as he sat up and turned to face her. She opted for a table, not the bar. Mmm...

Thomas slid to his feet, crossing the bar to her table with quiet steps uncharacteristic of a demonic pundu. He lifted his leg over the back of the chair as he sat down opposite her of the table. He knew asking 'is this seat taken?' was useless, because, well let's face it. As of right now, there were only three occupants.

"Hey." He offered simply, letting his high tenor ease into a smooth greeting. "You look like you could use a little bit of company, do you mind if I sit here?"

His brown eyes were open and bright again as he spoke to her, an easy smile lifting his chocolate muzzle.

Thomas smiled, glad his presence wasn't an unwanted one. He smoothed back his blonde hair with one handclaw, a useless jesture as the bright locks bounced back into place instantly. He was almost curled around the table, where she sat up tall and upright, it had to be the wings, he thought to himself.

He stretched out a slim forclaw as she did the same and shook it, the fur on his arms suprisingly soft for a male pundu... His smile cocked up a little wider as he sat back in his chair when their hands parted.
"Thomas, Thomas Desperaux. It's good to meet you, Selisia" He preferred Thomas, and didn't have a so called nickname, unless 'Spikes' or 'Lunkhead' were considered.

"I work up in the mountains mainly, and don't hang around town much...This is my first time to this bar. Where do you work?"

It was then the barmistress on duty for that hour decided to make an appearance, pad for taking notes in claw.
"What'll it be then?" She asked kindly, her voice thick with a brogue like accent. She waited at ready, and looked to Thomas expectantly. He cleared his throat, and lowered his tone an audible degree, to a much deeper tenor.
"A scotch if you don't mind, on the rocks."

The barmistress noted it and looked to Selisia.

The barmaid nodded to the two, and departed, letting them alone momentarily. The sounds of glasses clinking joined the overall quiet of the bar.

Thomas hooked his left arm around the back of the chair he sat in, trying to find a truly comfortable position. He was knotted from the long trek down from the mountains, and while he was glad to be off his feet, he couldn't find a comfortable way to unwind.

"What's a shame? That you're working in the village, or that you spend so much time studying?" He asked, hoping he wasn't sounding too stupid at the moment. Angelics often never failed to point out obvious questions on his part. So far, she seemed kinder than most, more gracious, almost demure.
"There really was a big shakedown that followed the...Demonics moving down from the caves, but it's all died down now. Everyone seems to be waiting for something."

"Sorry." The barmaid broke in, standing beside them with scotches in hand. She was looking at the demonic, who suddenly became very sheepish.
"Not you, I'm sorry, the service was very prompt thank you." He said as she set down the glasses and moved off again.

The caverns...They were a dismal place home to a very unhappy part of Thomas' young life. He curled forward to the table again and retrieved his glass, lifting the drink and pursing it against his lips for an extended moment. Slowly he took a sip, grimacing slightly at the acrid burn before setting it down, keeping the glass in his claws.

"They are very vast, but entirely dark, the lighting provided by torch and by reflections from the stone. A few places had bioluminescent mushrooms, but most did not. It always smelled of sweat, and smoke."

Thomas stopped, remembering back to those times. His brown eyes were narrowed and averted.
"It wasn't safe, there wasn't a such thing as being left alone, unless you ventured far in the caves, where it was entirely possible to become lost. For every right you had, every privlige, you had to defend with your fists. It was anarchy everywhere. You could get assaulted for just looking at someone. You were nothing, if you couldn't overpower another."

He stopped suddenly, by taking another sip from the scotch. That was depressing conversation, and he hadn't even brushed the surface.
"I left when I was a child, with a guardian, after...After the attacks. Even after this is all over, i'm never returning. Purely scientifically speaking, it is an interesting set of natural and pundu-made lattices of caverns connected by various channels and corridors. They are composed of granite primarily, of various shades of red and grey, though there are mineral deposites and lava veins, so obsidian and pumice are also present. Some mine in the caverns as well."

He stopped again, "Sorry for rambling, I am an explorer, you see. What is it you study?"

Thomas gently tongued the rim of the glass as her eyes shifted to some distant point. He poked at the ice cubes dancing around the inside of the glass suspended in the amber liquid. It stopped as her attention returned to him, ending with a sip drawn. Thomas let his elbows settle on the table, holding the glass close to his nose.

He nodded as she spoke, "When I was younger, I wanted to learn magics, but...Well...We're not so spiritually inclined. It is very difficult. I admire spellcasters though."

He paused as his dark eyes looked her over, seeming that he was trying to determine something, rather than the casual overlooking a personal appearance. He was gazing at her wings, deep in thought.
"I really like your coat, looks expensive." He said at legnth, smiling suddenly. His own vest was worse for the wear, the fluff looking scrapped up, the bottom unevenly shorn from getting caught on vegetation on the romps through the woods. But it was comfortable, and it was broken in, and it just sort of suited him.

"I think it suits you, it's classy." He offered, continuing to lap at his drink quietly. He caught an ice cube and drew it into his mouth, smiling at the sudden cold enveloping his muzzle. He clicked his teeth over the solid cube as she asked him a question. Debating answering with a cube in his mouth- spitting it out into the glass, or chomping it and eating it, he just shook his head.

"Honestly? Very few noteworthy folks." He said around the cube, before crunching down on it swiftly, devouring it and following it with a long sip from his glass.
"Do you know Ivan Amines, or his brother Valinius? I know them."

Thomas finished his glass and tapped it against the table to summon the barmaid over. She swiftly took his shot glass and replenished it.