Megara Argyros

Hades cast her a smarmy glance before turning towards the patrons. ‘That’s because she is,’ he thought to himself, though he wouldn’t say as much aloud. Instead he clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Sorry fellas, but when she’s behind this bar, she is strictly serving the drinks.”

He wrapped his metallic arm around her, pulling her close. “Buuuut come back in a few hours and this little lady will be off the clock. Why don’t you come and make your offer then? You better be willing to pay for her drinks though, this pretty face doesn’t come for free.” Of course there was an implication of more than drinking there, but he had Meg running the whole gambit of escorting. Sometimes they really did just want to share drinks with a beautiful woman with nothing else implied. Rarely, but sometimes.

As disgusting as some of the patrons were, no person was slimier than Hades.  Meg turned her face away from Hades as he wrapped an arm around, her body instinctively twitching slightly away from his form.  While she didn’t appreciate Hades trying to sell her off to these patrons (who, in all likelihood, would not remember to return later), Meg held her tongue and kept her opinions to herself.

The men groaned, displeased with the news, but didn’t challenge the man with the very imposing demeanor.  “Awh, c’mon, tha’s a load of gaaarbage,” one hissed, pointing a shaky finger at Hades.  Oh, that’s a bad idea, Meg thought, a brow raised, curious at how Hades would react but mostly pitying that poor, drunken fool.

“Frame her?” Sosuke said, astounded. “I have no reason to frame her, sir.” It was true, but the store owner didn’t seem to indicate that he was choosing a side. When she emptied her pockets of everything but the ring, Sosuke shook her head. “I’m not a little boy. And I know what I saw!” However, the owner said none of this was worth his time and simply walked away. Sosuke turned his attention back to the thief. “I know what I saw, miss,” he assured again.

The kid was getting on her nerves but Meg felt a small sense of relief as the store owner seemed to dismiss the situation and walk away.  Once he was gone, Meg turned back to the boy and gave him a small smirk.  “Maybe that just means you need to get your eyes checked, kid,” she said as she put her things back into her pockets.

Hades hardly liked getting his hands blemished in other people’s dirty business. He had lots of other cronies to do that for him. But every so often, when he saw an opportunity arise, he would slip his way in and see if he couldn’t jiggle a little benefit his way.

This was one of those times. Some sort of argument had broken out, a misunderstanding, or perhaps intentional–either way there was yelling and it looked like it might be on the verge of violence. That is, until he stepped in, and wrapped two metallic hands around two of the perpetrators shoulders.

“People, people, please! What seems to be the problem here?”

The patrons sitting in the bar were getting out of hand.  They were rowdy and no matter what Meg tried to do to calm them down, it just didn’t work.  The last thing she wanted was to get blamed for whatever destruction they would cause.

And then the familiar voice, the only one that could send slimy chills down her spine, rung in the air.  Her lips curled slightly in a small scowl as Hades appeared on scene.  Her expressionless face turned toward him as she tried to downplay the situation.  “They just had too much to drink.  They’ll be on their way soon,” she said.

“Noooo, no, weee wanted the girl t-to drin' wit us but she thinks she’s too good fer us,” one of them slurred, waving a finger at Meg while she scowled in disgust.

“Bartender, doctor… really one in the same depending on who your patrons are. But good to note… I think I’ll stay on the safe side for a bit then until I can get all the dirty deets.” He said, chuckling. “So! This your primary gig or you do something else during the day-job?”

“Perhaps, but also depends what kind of bar you’re in, and this ain’t one of those fancy ones where people are that considerate,” she shrugged as she began wiping dry some of the glasses she had previously washed.  “Good call.  If you ended up with some mysterious disease in a few months after a ‘good’ time here, don’t come running to me,” she smirked with a soft chuckle.  His question did cause her grin to falter a little.  She gave another nonchalant shrug.  “It’s what I do to make due,” she stated simply and vaguely.  “I’m not here 24/7 if that’s what you’re asking so if you come back another time, you might have to charm the next bartender here.”

“What, but I just-” Sosuke could’ve sworn he’d just seen the woman sneak someothing into her bag. Had he seen wrong? But she looked so devious. “There’s nothing to tell if you didn’t take anything…” Then it clicked in Sosuke’s mind. She was lying! “Excuse me, sir!” He turned to the shop owner. “This woman put something in her bag! She’s stealing!”

This little twerp- Her lips tightened into a stern line, nostrils flaring as the shop owner turned.  She turned to the owner, face stoic and unreadable.  “This little boy is trying to frame me,” she said coldly.  The owner glanced between the two of them, not really wanting to deal with this.  But he still asked Meg to empty her pockets.  She rolled her eyes and complied, pretending to take everything out but leaving the little ring in the corner of her pockets.  “There, are we done harassing me because a little boy cried wolf?”

“Your question is stupid.  There, honesty.”

“I’m basically free labor for him.”

“If there was a way for me to even escape his grasp on this planet, sure.  It’s very idealistic and naive to think that’s even possible though.”

“Well, I’m not about to help you murder someone, if that’s what you’re asking.  Other than that, most things seem fair to me.  I can’t really think of much that I’d question.”

Cash and credit

Submit asks here

Don smirked, “Well, I’m glad to add a little spice to your night.” Frankly, he couldn’t help but flirt, even a little. She was cute, and a bartender, and he had gotten her to smile. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll be sure to be careful.” He resisted the urge to place a hand near his wallet-pocket. “Any other helpful tips for me?”

Meg wiped the counter down as she listened to the man, finding herself enjoying his company.  It was rare that she even conversed with the bar patrons.  Most were either aggressively forward or gross and creepy.  This guy was a breath of fresh air.

“Depends what sort of tips you need,” she replied as she set aside the dish cloth.  “Like ‘Don’t hook up in the bathroom because it’s filthy’ or ‘Don’t order the gin here because it’s watered down.’”  She grinned slightly, finding that the man likely wouldn’t slip that last secret out.

Sosuke faltered slightly. This lady was scary…but Sosuke wasn’t a punk! He wasn’t a punk…right? “Taking that souvenir,” he said. It oud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to alert the staff. He placed down his fork and knife. “You shouldn’t take that,” he said as he stood up, though he had no actual plan of confrontation.

Meg continued to stare coldly at the boy.  “I didn’t take anything,” she said, pretending that she hadn’t just pocketed something.  It was just a small trinket, a small reminder of the First Ring, a family ring that she had pawned off ages ago.  She moved closer to the boy, almost as if to pass him.  “Are you going to tell on me, little boy?” she threatened, her voice low so that only he could hear.

The sudden hostility from Meg wasn’t exactly unexpected but it still threw Raleigh for a bit of a loop. Meg wasn’t always outer ring so the fact that she felt so strongly about this was a little surprising and totally admirable in Raleigh’s opinion. Of course, when you’ve seen how the people live out here first hand it was hard to remain distant from it no matter where you come from. “Hopefully that will change someday. I mean, we all bleed the same color in the end. Someday the other rings will see that too.” At least she hoped so.

Of course Raleigh had a more optimistic perspective.  She expected that out of her, and sometimes Meg wished she was so jaded.  But after leaving her own family, she knew it was unlikely that she’d ever find her place there again.  And after living in the Outer Ring, growing familiar with the demons here, it was hard not to become accustomed and defensive.  “Doubtful,” she replied shortly as their trays of... grub landed before them.  “Delicious,” she said, her lip curling in slight disgust.