[Kiel]

Kiel slumped into a seat at a table for two, his pack schlepping off his shoulder to take the seat opposite. His butt hit the chair but his upper body kept going, slapping his forehead to the tablecloth for a repeat: thud, thud, thud.

How had this happened? Like, for sers, man. He wasn't completely green; he'd been going into town with his dad on the monthly runs since he was a hundred and twenty two years old. He wasn't dumb, but that thief had been kind of handy. It wasn't Kiel's fault he'd thought he was being hit on.

Scraping his face off the table, he sunk a hand into a knee pocket and rummaged for snackage, forgetting for a moment that he'd eaten everything on the trip over here. His fingers closed around a couple of coins as he scrubbed a hand over his face, frowning down at the money as he drew the coins out of his pocket. That was, like, all the money he had left and it would only afford him a single meal. Two if he, like, starved himself and went for the kiddy option without desert or afters.

Oh well! At least the thief had given his wallet back, even without the money. He could get a job easy enough, like, sure! Who wouldn't want to hire him, right? But, like, how could he get a job if he didn't have a place to live, and, like, how could he afford a place to live without a job?

A conundrum, for sers.

¤ Piper Kin ¤ Dafont ¤ Ian Somerhalder ¤

[NPC]

((Sally the waitress played by Emma.))

Sally made her way to a newly vacated table to clear it, slitted blue eyes sparkling with curiosity as the young man a couple of tables over face-planted. As an aspiring Aurumus, she was always interested in emotional displays, trying to get a head start in understanding the field she planned to enter. The guy made it obvious that something had gone wrong in his life, but it was the way he seemed to throw off his depression almost immediately that really piqued her interest. Many of the people Sally encountered seemed to take much longer to bounce back, so either he was a dramatist making a mountain out of a molehill, or he was more like her bubbly friend Kara, who somehow always managed to find the silver lining no matter how dark and stormy it got.

Either one was interesting enough, professionally speaking, for her to move to his table, laden with dirty dishes, to enquire after his troubles.

“A xanthos for your thoughts.” Her smile was friendly already, but warmed considerably when she realised he, too, was 'Varian. She always did like running into her own kind.

[Kiel]

Kiel glanced up, his troubles momentarily forgotten at the sight of a pretty girl hitting on him. A 'Varian, too, with blue eyes pale enough to suggest she was still Septless - just like him.

He immediately felt a sense of kinship with the girl and grinned broadly to prove it.

“I was just wondering what a pretty girl like you is doing waiting on tables instead of smiling at me from the cover of a magazine.” He leaned forward to rest his chin in his palm, his elbow propped on the table, and gestured at the other chair for her to sit down. The one with his pack on it.

“Oh, haha, wait.” Jolted into action, he lunged forward to drag the pack off the chair onto the ground, shooting her a self-deprecating smile. Sitting back, he gestured again.

“I'm Kiel...?” He deliberately tailed off into a question, his eyebrows lifting quizzically as he waited for her to give her name.

¤ Piper Kin ¤ Dafont ¤ Ian Somerhalder ¤

[NPC]

((Sally the waitress played by Emma))

Sally let loose a peal of laughter. That had to be the corniest, and oldest, line in the book, and the way he leaned forward didn't help matters any. He looked like an eager little puppy rather than a potential suitor, especially when he almost toppled the entire table over in his enthusiasm to clear her a seat.

He certainly had a healthy dose of humour, though, and apparently didn't take himself any more seriously than she did. The self-deprecating smile he sent her made her wonder how many times his advances had been rejected in the past. It put her at ease, though, because he didn't seem to expect a positive response, which freed her up to study him without any obligations.

“I'm Kiel...?”

Sally didn't answer the unspoken question at first, her curiosity piqued by his name. It seemed unusual, and she certainly couldn't remember ever having heard it before. “That's an unusual name. Is it short for anything?”

[Kiel]

Kiel gave a mental sigh as the girl laughed. Man, that really wasn't the reaction a guy hoped for when he was, like, trying to get a date. A flat-out "no" would have been rejection enough.

Well, chalk that up to another one bites the dust. It was, like, a bad start to his life here on the mainland, for sers, and didn't bode well for his future, but he shrugged it off. He was okay with just being friends if that was all she was interested in. But, man, was an occasional "yes" too much to ask?

“That's an unusual name. Is it short for anything?”

Kiel shrugged. “I guess so. Like, I never really thought about it. Like, it's short for Ezekiel, but I dunno, I've always just been Kiel.” She was being coy with him, he was pretty sure. Like, not giving her own name made him think there was still a chance she'd go out with him after all. “You never told me your name.”

His belly rumbled hungrily and he pressed his palm against his abdomen, grinning at the waitress cheekily. “Would you like to dine with me?” His dad would totally freak if he realised his youngest son was spending his last xanthos on a woman he'd just met, but, like, Kiel didn't care. He wasn't afraid of hard work or getting his hands dirty, so he didn't honestly expect to have trouble finding a job. A roof over his head would be tougher, but he didn't mind sleeping out under the stars, either, if he could find a good patch outside the city limits.

¤ Piper Kin ¤ Dafont ¤ Ian Somerhalder ¤

[NPC]

((Sally the waitress played by Emma.))

Sally smiled. “That's right, I didn't.” She could have gone her whole life without telling him her name, too, but he was kind of cute. Again, she found herself thinking of excited little puppies, and who could resist that? “But it's Sally.” She smiled again at the convoluted answer he'd given her over his own name, as if he wasn't really sure if his own name was something more.

Actually, he seemed a little on the dumb side so, puppy factor aside, she wasn't about to say yes when he asked her to eat with him even if she wasn't meant to be working. She knew it would only be a matter of time before the other staff started glancing pointedly at their watches.

“Sorry, Kiel, but I can't.” She pouted. “I'm working.” Ordinarily, she might have suggested he come back later, but overall he seemed a little too... "young" for her. “But what can I get you?”

[Kiel]

The pout made him feel like she really was disappointed that she couldn't, like, have lunch with him. She was giving him, like, a chance to walk away - although not literally, haha - without feeling utterly rejected and dejected. In the back of his mind, Kiel recognised smooth, practised tactics like he'd only seen from Tad when his brother was, like, "letting them down gently". Girls, that was. Tad's tactics didn't work on the family. Mostly because Kiel and Chloe would just, like, pester him until he came home for whatever, like, holiday they wanted him home for.

“That's too bad.” He gave an exaggerated sigh and sat back in his chair. Like, he wasn't really upset. Like, it wasn't the first time he'd been blown off and, man, he really doubted it'd be the last. It would have been cool to have, like, company while he ate, though. He didn't like eating alone.

“Like, you could get me my wallet. Haha, I was mugged.” He batted his eyelids, attempting to look like a lost little puppy in need of a hug. “And a place to stay, haha.” He was only joking and, like, grinned to prove it. “But I'll settle for, like, what's good here?”

¤ Piper Kin ¤ Dafont ¤ Ian Somerhalder ¤

[NPC]

((Sally the waitress played by Emma))

Sally's lips quirked in a dubious frown. Was he really that desperate for a date that he'd try to claim he'd been mugged? The "lost puppy" mask looked good on him, although she wasn't dumb enough to fall for it, especially when he grinned as if the whole thing was a joke.

That tore it for her. She wasn't interested in a guy who'd lie about something like that.

“Oh, everything's good here, honey.” Smiling despite his attempt to con her, Sally got to her feet and waved off the pointed stare sent her way by the young man behind the counter. Reminded of her obligation, in a rather roundabout way, she tugged out her notepad and pencil and eyed the 'Varian she'd been semi-flirting with. “I tell you what, though. If you really are looking for a place to stay, we have cheap bunks and rooms upstairs. And if you really were mugged, Adèlaïde's always looking for workers. Talk to Mick there behind the counter if you're interested.”

She paused to let that sink in. “So what'll it be, stud?”

[Kiel]

Kiel grinned at her. He knew when he was being played, for sers, and it was obvious by now he'd lost any chance he might have had with her. She was still flirting but, like, she'd lost that coyness and was suddenly all business. Bad idea, making a joke out of his misfortune, he guessed, but, like, it was his misfortune.

Making puppy eyes at her and looking depressed for a second, he considered his meal options. He wasn't, like, fussy about food anyway, so as far as he was concerned, she was probably right about everything being good. Pity he couldn't test her on that, though, but, like, had to limit himself. She'd probably done him a favour, turning him down.

“Oh, for sers?” He glanced up at the ceiling as if he could see through it to the bunks she'd mentioned, then at the counter in search of the Mick she'd mentioned. Kiel's brain completely glossed over the "if you really were mugged" part, and he grinned at her. “Like, thanks, that's awesome. I needed a job anyway, so like, thanks.”

Since there was, like, no way he couldn't get a job here, Kiel decided not to worry too much over his last xanthos and picked a meal he knew would satisfy him for at least a little while. Just long enough for him to approach Mick about a place to stay and a job to pay for it.

It was still a shame about Sally, but maybe while he was working here he could convince her to go out on a date with him. Like, yeah, that was a good idea.

[d=white](OOC:[/d] Thread finished.[d=white])[/d]

¤ Piper Kin ¤ Dafont ¤ Ian Somerhalder ¤