An Unlikely Party 21: Trusting In Love

          Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Walker lightly tapped his glass on the counter repeatedly while staring blankly off across the Ladies’ Door. It was the middle of the day, so the place was fairly empty. Callie and Rede had left earlier to go explore town, while Shade and Gorgos went out to sell some potions. There were two other people sitting at the bar talking together on the opposite side from where Walker was, and a few of the dancers were chatting on the stage. “Need something else?” The bartender asked Walker.

          Walker jumped slightly, caught off guard, and turned to the bartender ceasing to tap his glass against the bar. The guy was young and strong, Walker was quickly able to recognize him as the ‘tender Para had asked to take over when they first arrived, Jack. Walker eyed him over and shook his head, his drink was still half full, “You Para’s second?”

          Jack shrugged and leaned on the bar, “She don’t have an official one yet.” He smirked and smiled, “In her defense though, she’s not going to need one for a long time.”

          “But…?” Walker asked him.

          “She seems to put more responsibility on me than the other’s here.” Jack admitted, “Especially when she’s focused on her other work, then it’s usually up to me to hold down the bar.”

          “She’s driven.” Walker sighed, “Haven’t seen a drive like that for a long time.”

          Jack chuckled, “Damn right she is. If she wants something, she gets it. She plays real nice though to everyone. Don’t wanna make any enemies.” He smirked, “Between you and me though, I’m pretty sure she could silence anyone if they tried anything.”

          “I’m sure she could.” Walker agreed. He stared down into his drink swirling it, “Probably the only reason you haven’t tried anything.” Jack’s eyes opened up wide in shock and Walker cracked a slight smile from the corner of his lips, “Best to keep it that way.”

          Jack was about to open his mouth to respond when the front doors flew wide open, “Hey, Jack!” Para shouted across the whole establishment, “Need you to go grab a case of the sapphire wine!” She pushed a handcart full of crates of liquor through the door, “I just remembered we were running low on it. Sorry!”

          “Until next time.” Walker said as Jack pushed himself off of the bar.

An Unlikely Party 20: Shadows

          The hidden room was much larger than any of them had expected it to be. It could comfortably house all five of them. The room expanded out and was easily was the size of the ‘cellar’ above it. There were already a handful of chairs down in the room, along with a large table, but they would not have fit through the small hole leading into Para’s room, meaning either they were built down here, or there was another way in. Walker had taken a quick glance around and found nothing that looked obviously like a hidden passageway. It was evident that Para had taken down a handful of wooden walls that would have split up the room. The more Walker thought about it, the more he was convinced there had to be another way into it…and that it had to have been used for smuggling people.

          Walker quickly pulled out the folder containing the notes about the mimic stronghold and spread the papers out on the table. Most of the papers were maps that were marked differently. “Hey, Shade, mind going back into Para’s room and finding me some tacks and pencils, preferably different colored ones.”

          “Can do.” Shade said before he started to climb back up the ladder.

          “Gorgos…” Walker turned to look at her, “I want you to lightly knock on the walls surrounding the room. If anywhere sounds…different than the rest, tell me.”

          “Task weird, but easy.” She shrugged at him and started tapping along the walls listening carefully.

          Walker quietly mumbled to himself as he studied the papers before him. The mimic’s castle was tightly locked down. He grumbled to himself and shook his head while Shade descended back down into the room, “Found this here basket that-“ She froze as she saw Gorgos tapping along the walls, “What are you doing Gorgos?!”

          “Walker asked.” Gorgos responded.

          “There used to be another way into this place.” Walker told Shade, “I’m having Gorgos hear if any of the walls seem off.”

          “How do you know that?” She responded.

          “I’m confident this used to be used for smuggling.” Walker told her, “No one, not even a shitty smuggler, would bring all of their product right through their own tavern. There once was another way out.”

          Shade shook her head at Walker and sighed, “I thought you said this used to be filled with gold.” She said while handing over the basket full of pencils, tacks, and yarn.

An Unlikely Party 19: Esteemed Guests

          Para smiled proudly as she quickly wiped up the shiny new countertop. The place was busier than it ever had been under Pascal’s ownership. It took the regulars some time to accept that he would have tried to do something so blasphemous, but once Para started upgrading the whole place, stripper section included, no one was complaining. Everything in her establishment was brand new, alongside the multiple bartenders, cooks, strippers, bouncers, and every type of job that she had to hire on to keep up with the demand.

          Her eyes suddenly shot up across the floor as she heard a familiar voice cut through the chatter, “Love what you’ve done with the place, Para! Looks like you’ve really upped the game around here.” Para smiled widely as a familiar gnome, orc, elf, and a pair of humans sat down at the bar in front of her. “A round of creampies for me and my friends; If you don’t mind?” Walker asked her with a smile while tossing a small pouch of gold onto the counter.

          “Walker!” Para shouted excitedly at him while sliding the pouch of gold back, “You and your friends drink and stay here for free!”

          “You sure, sweetheart?”

          “Sure as I’ll ever be! You’ve earned it.” She smiled at him while quickly grabbing everything she needed to make their drinks.

          “Consider it a tip then,” Walker told her, “I like you too much to let you serve me for free.”

          She shook her head at him and chuckled, “Just this once.” She grabbed the pouch and tossed it under the counter.

          “This place has never looked so busy, or so good. Looks like you know how to run this place after all.” He told her.

An Unlikely Party 19: Preview

          Para smiled proudly as she quickly wiped up the shiny new countertop. The place was busier than it ever had been under Pascal’s ownership. It took the regulars some time to accept that he would have tried to do something so blasphemous, but once Para started upgrading the whole place, stripper section included, no one was complaining. Everything in her establishment was brand new, alongside the multiple bartenders, cooks, strippers, bouncers, and every type of job that she had to hire on to keep up with the demand.

          Her eyes suddenly shot up across the floor as she heard a familiar voice cut through the chatter, “Love what you’ve done with the place, Para! Looks like you’ve really upped the game around here.” Para smiled widely as a familiar gnome, orc, elf, and a pair of humans sat down at the bar in front of her. “A round of creampies for me and my friends; If you don’t mind?” Walker asked her with a smile while tossing a small pouch of gold onto the counter.