Fable - Ask Misfit Adventure: Tavern Work

[Rook]

The sun had yet to even rise but Rook was already up. Sleep was a right only allowed to Sig. For Rook it was a privilege and one he had given up when accepting that job for Warren. His working gloves on his hands. His only tunic left after giving the other to Tehi the day before on. His good working socks on then his pants and boots. All he needed was his cloak and he would be good to go!

His stomach growled.

He was almost good to go.

As he began to depart his room, he remembered something. He went over and grabbed his other pair of gloves and socks. Both had more than a few spots needing mending. Important that they got fixed as soon as possible for him. So he with them in hand he went to the kitchen to look for who he already knew would be there.

The moment Giibi came into sight, Rook would smile. "Giibi. Breakfast?"

His eyes immediately went searching to see what they had. He wasn't technically allowed in here because she had banned him, but it was more like he was banned from cooking in her kitchen really. So he felt it was safe to show up if she was there already. Worst thing that could happen would be she took a bite out of him... again.

He held up his gloves and socks. "Oh and mind mending these for me? I'll pay for drinks later."

Rook could sew. Not as good as Giibi could, but he could. It was more that he wanted as many good memories attached to his things as possible that touched his hands and feet. Giibi always made for good memories. She was like a good luck goblin sent by Alliria herself. Made him wonder how things would turn out if she wasn't even around.

Giibi

 

[Giibi]

The Hidey-hole.

That's what Giibi called the Misfits' crumbling shack down in the Shallows. Was she the only one who called it that? Yes. For now! If she kept it up, it'd catch on with the others, sooner or later.

Anyway, Giibi woke up. She wasn't the first to wake up, but she woke up early enough. Things to do! Her "bed" wasn't really a bed as much as a big potato sack stuffed with pilfered hay (those horses wouldn't mind!); her pillow alone cost more than her so-called bed. She loved that thing! And don't forget the blanket; it cost less than the pillow but she loved it just as much! She loved all the little decorations she had around her bed in her little corner of the Hidey-hole—they were all the things she'd come to collect, and they were all she owned. And, well, if she wanted to get more knick-knacks, and maybe even a real bed, then there were things to do! Rise and shines, Gram-mama said, always saying it just like that. Gotta work hard and honest if you want the good things in life!

Giibi, as she usually did, bolted straight up as soon as she woke. And, as she usually did, she stretched out her arms and gave her body a twist this way and that, then fussed with her hair for a bit. She didn't know why she did that! Her hair was as thick as it was untamable! Wild and free, its partner in crime the wind! But she fussed with her hair anyway and it never did anything but that didn't stop her from trying. Trying to what? She didn't know. She just started doing it when she was, maybe, she didn't know, thirteen or fourteen? Habits! They just nibbled away at you, didn't they?

She got up, made sure her tiny privacy curtain (not so expensive, that, but it was awful when she was using it as a blanket, it was rough and itchy!) was pulled from wall-to-wall, and then changed into her second pair of undergarments. She had two now! Two pairs! It was really handy having two pairs, because she could wear one and wash the other, alternate that every day, no more squish-squish when she only had one pair and she washed it and it was still damp and she had to wear it anyway and let it dry that way as the day went on.

Now her dress! Her most prized—no, scratch that, second most prized, right after her pillow—second most prized possession! Her dress was the most expensive thing she owned, and she only had one (her other clothes, well, tehehe, um, let's not talk about what happened). When she first saw it up in the Outer City, she had come sprinting back down to the Shallows and practically begged Rook to help her find some extra odd jobs. It worked out! One big job, and since Sig never showed up (he was napping under a tree) and Miz ended up making the proprietor angry (she called him a slave and slapped him), the payout had been between Rook and Giibi and Giibi had enough that day to go and buy her dress! It looked so nice! And now, like Gram-mama always stressed, she would look presentable, and that would help her get more work, more coin, and therefore more stuff!

Dressed (in her dress, tehe), Giibi came out from her corner and into the Hidey-hole's meager kitchen and Rook, as usual, was up, already dressed himself and stopping by the kitchen not too long after she herself had gone to it.

"There you are! You owe me!" she said in an accusatory voice. Then she giggled and said, "Just kidding! Yeah, breakfast, I love breaking fast, but you have to let me do it. Only I touch the cooking utensils. Only me! If you got pointy-ears, raise your hand!" She raised her hand. Then, realizing she needed to better discriminate herself as the sole owner of the kitchen, added, "If those ears are green, raise it higher!" And she did, standing on her tip-toes. "There! Mine! See?"

Other than breakfast, Rook's gloves and socks were looking a bit shoddy.

"Ooo, yep, I'll have to go snatch up my bundly, and then I can get that patched up faster than you can say 'Hocus Pocus'!"

Giibi was in the kitchen. Then she was gone. Then she was back, "bundly"—her big satchel of supplies—in her hands.

Rook

 

[Rook]

The gabby good girl goblin was as much a ball of pure energy as ever. Rook wondered how he could have even a sliver of it when working long jobs. Would make him crash maybe a bit softer after if he could. His main theory was that she had cast some kind of curse onto Sig and was gobbling up all his energy like the little grabby green her race tended to be. Would explain why she had so much of something Sig so severely lacked.

When Giibi went to raise her hand up higher on her toes, Rook couldn't help himself. He ended up picking her up by the waist and lifting her so her hand went all the way to the ceiling. Was only one green, pointy eared Queen of the kitchen here after all.

After he had set her down, she took his clothing then disappeared only to return again as quickly. Her bundly in hand. It was not unlike his own bag. He didn't have a fancy name for his. It was just either bag or tool bag depending if he happened to have more than one bag on him at the time. But his contained his tools and a basic sewing kit. He didn't even know what all her bundly held in it. Felt like something new always come out whenever she opened it up.

Was Giibi actually using magic and the bag was magically? His theory might not be so much a joke if she was....

Rook had to shake off the sleepy thoughts. If Giibi used magic she wouldn't be here. The College of Alliria always snatched up anyone with talent in the stuff to train under one of them scholar boats. Weird they called them that and didn't actually train them out on the water on a boat. They went to the same buildings on the College like everyone else there.

"How are you feeling Giibi? What you had going on lately? Haven't had a chance to chat recently."

He took a seat as he waited. This was about their only chance to chat one on one. Once Miz'ri and Sig woke up they tended to dominate the conversations and attention.

Giibi

 

[Giibi]

Up she went, down she went, off she went, back...she went? Never mind, she was back with her bundly and her butt was on one of the rickety stools and her hands, already equipped with thread and needle, were flying as if guided by the goblin goddess of sewing. Rook's gloves and socks would soon be good as new! Oh, wait, that saying didn't quite work there, but...Rook's gloves and socks would soon be fine just fine! There! Wouldn't want him to get a splinter in his finger or to go with cold feetsies!

Giibi looked up, all smiles, her hands working away of their own accord, when Rook asked his question.

"Me? I'm feeling great! Bright like the sun!" Then, inadvertently plucking one of the thoughts out of Rook's head: "I kept knocking on the gates to the College of Alliria like I've been doing lately and everyday they said no but I think it was only because the one guard with the goatee and the bowl cut doesn't like me because yesterday when I asked it was a different guard and that guard said in his big tough burly-man voice, 'Oh, hur-hur, maybe I can check to see if there's any odd jobs,' so I said, 'Yay!' and he said to come back tomorrow and today's tomorrow so I'm going to go and check to see if he checked to see if there's any odd jobs and if there are any odd jobs then I hope I get at least a gold out of it because if I can get at least one gold there's something I want to get and it's a secret and I can't tell anyone. Teehee."

She said all that in one breath. Except for her little laugh at the end.

Then she asked, "And youuuuuuuuuuuu? What are youuuuuuuuuuuu doing today? Something with these gloves, maybe?"

Rook

 

[Rook]

As Giibi was being Giibi, Rook just watched and listened. His stomach grumbled mildly, but that was common for everyone in the house. Certainly he didn't even notice by this point and likely no one else did either. Just white noise like the sound of cart wheels rattling and popping along the Allirian roads.

After a bit he frowned slightly. She forgot what they were doing today it seemed. This girl. How did she ever make it through the day? Easily and probably with a lot more fun than he did.

"Giibi, we have work at the tavern today for Warren. Tomorrow would be better looking for work at the college.... Doubt they will have any. Always just say the same thing. 'If we need you we will find you'. Like that is anything but a no."

He sighed. The college paid well considering the amount of coin that flowed into the place from all kinds of rich folk. Just like any of the institutions in Alliria proper. If only they could find a way to live there instead. No more moist dirt. No more mold. No more rotting foundations. No more wet beds from leaky roofs. No more danger of being stabbed in the back by a mugger because it was easier than you putting up a fight.

"You know, we might be able to talk him into giving us some free drinks if we work hard enough. Love a good pint or few while working some wood."

He could taste the ale now. That wonderful elixer from grains gifted by Alliria herself.... Or so he liked to tell himself. Other places had other stories where it came from. Obviously only one of them could be right though.

Giibi

 

[Giibi]

Giibi's face had a funny disagreement with itself: her broad smile persisted, yet her eyes were wide and brows high.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you're right! You're right, you're right, you're right, that thing, for Warren, in the tavern!"

How could she forget!? She never forgot anything! Unless she forgot it, then she forgot it, because you can't remember what you forgot until someone reminds you that you forgot and then you remember that you forgot! But now she remembered! And anyway, Rook was right, those snobby-snobs at the College always did say the same thing. So what if they had enchanted brooms that swept the floors all by themselves? Those brooms lacked a nice homey touch! One day they'd see what they've been missing out on all this time! So yes, Rook was doubly right, the odd job with Warren at the Sunken Galleon was the sure thing, and the College would always be there to say "No" to her tomorrow!

...free drinks...

"I love a good pint too!" Giibi said. "'A pint for a pint-sized pipsqueak', that's what some old orc said to me one time, but then I kicked him in the shin for being a jerk and ran away with my prize!"

Giibi giggled.

"Do you think Warren will actually give me a free drink? You think you can really talk him into that? Oh, maybe he won't mind if I take it somewhere else! All he really cares about is, you know, he just doesn't want me gnawing on his patrons—I mean what?"

She whistled and worked on Rook's gloves.

Rook

 

[Rook]

Memories of sharp teeth sinking into flesh, his flesh, floated to the top of his mind. How many times had Giibi drank and tried to eat him after? Never tried to keep count. Was too many to even start at this point. As dangerous as some of his jobs over the years had been the vast majority of his scars belonged to Mizzie and Giibi's teeth. Did he taste good or something?

Rook just chuckled and smiled.

"Well will be before most of the customers show up I'd say.... And if not you can just eat me Giibi. Know how you like having your lips on me."

Not even once did his mind process his wording. Not a single time at all.

Instead Rook was busy thinking over what all he should bring with him. Warren had mentioned needing furniture fixed and could use some work on the fixtures as well. Meant mallet, knife, and sanding stone. Also probably a hammer for some of the actual nails used to support the supports. No nails on him. Those were expensive. Maybe some scrap wood to make new pegs out of? His good wood. If Rook was going to be pegging in the Sunken Galleon it would be with his good wood.

"So breakfast, grab our tools, and then head out to meet Warren for work?"

Giibi

 

[Giibi]

And if not you can just eat me Giibi...

Giibi blushed. How did he know exactly how to tease her every time!? She was a good girl and a good goblin! It was just, you know, sometimes she could drink a little too much. And a little too much for her wasn't all that much! That orc might've been a jerk but he was a right jerk, but even though he was a right jerk, he was still a jerk, and he could jerk right off, yeah, Giibi didn't feel sorry about kicking him in the shin even if he was right because he was still a jerk!

It was hard! Being careful, but also having fun! Oh, well, Rook had a point though. Most of the patrons wouldn't be there at this time of day. And if she did get a bitsy too tipsy then she could just lock her lips onto something safe and nibble away. Safe and artistically satisfying—some place on Rook that didn't have any oopsy-doopsy-look-at-those-toothy marks yet. Make it all match! Wow, what a nice tapestry! And Rook was a good sport for being the canvas for her nibble art!

"That's a plan!" Giibi said in reply. "Warren won't regret it this time! Here! Pinky promise me that! Pinky promise me and tug one of my ears! Don't look at me like that, I know it sounds weird, but hear me out! I shined the shoes of this scholar a few weeks ago and he asked me 'Do you come from this hustlebutt tribe, or do you come from this snifflewhiff clan', you know, because I'm a goblin and he was all fascinated because he studies goblins and orcs and wild elves and savage humans and all that kind of stuff outside of civilization and I said I'm none of that and then we got to talking and the point is he told me about this thing that a lot of wild goblins do and it goes like this! They'll make some kind of promise or some kind of boast or some kind of bet to each other and then the one goblin will tug on the other goblin's ear! If he tugs the right one, then it's good luck! And if he tugs the wrong one, then it's bad luck! But the trick is, you never know which one is the right one!"

She giggled hysterically.

"So pick the right one, Rook, or we'll have bad luck!"

Rook

 

[Rook]

Giibi had that look in her eyes. That primal goblin instinct look. Was she after his money? She already had it. She had everyone's coins as the house keeper. He didn't know what her cleaning and cooking and the other house keeping stuff had to do with her keeping all the stuff in the house, but she was adamant about that being a huge part of the job. Rook didn't complain. Not till she got that look in her eyes.

What could she be thinking and wanting from him? Why was she looking at his body? Was she that hungry already?

The little rant she went on brought his mind back from his likely impending doom. Rural goblins were so strange with all their customs. Not that rural humans were much better. Rook use to be one of those. Keeping sheep. Hunting animals. Foraging for herbs.... Was easier to eat back then. A lot less stuff to find in the city not in a shop or home. People with gardens learned to keep high walls as well. Even now he had some of the old habits. A need to run around in the woods. Called it hunting, fishing, and foraging then go out there and set up a little shrine to Alliria. Do some stuff similar to the steppe shamans. His mom's people.

When she mentioned the tugging of the ear, he looked at Giibi closely. A real intense look in his eyes. He leaned closer to her face focused.

Then he tugged on her nose.

He very poorly hide a smirk as he said, "Oops. Not your ear."

Then he tugged on her right ear. Not his right but her right. A smile on his face as he said, "Promise you will get a drink and put your lips on me today."

He smirked with a smug look on his face. "Good luck too cause I picked the right one."

He was indeed very proud of himself for that one. He shouldn't be.

Giibi

 

[Giibi]

He tugged her nose.

"OH NO!" Giibi exclaimed, panicked.

But then he tugged one of her ears.

"OH YES!" Giibi exclaimed, excited.

With the smirk of a victorious victor who had just claimed victory, Rook laid out his forecast for the day. And of his confidence in picking the right ear.

"Well I hope so!" Giibi said. "Picking the wrong ear would've been bad! Who knows what would've happened with bad luck! But now, Warren's stock won't be safe from me, and neither will YOU! NUM-NUM-NUM!" She flashed her sharp little fangs playfully. Then she pinched her eyes shut and flattened that grin out into a big innocent smile with blossoming cheeks, trying her very bestie best to look the spitting image of an angel. "Kidding!"

Then, as abruptly, she looked bewildered as a thought came to her.

"Wait. Was the right ear my right or your right?"

But therein was that trick wasn't it? You never knew which one!

Rook

 

[Rook]

Rook couldn't help but smile when Giibi went on her little goblin rant. The only part that worried him was the part about him not being safe from her. That wasn't a joke. He knew it. She knew it. Yet the green girl acted like it was. Goblins sure could be terrifying how they made completely serious statements sound like jokes or were so casual and care free about shedding your blood.

Then she got worried. Which ear had he picked? "Your right Giibi. Was the choice I was left with."

Another one of those smug smirks crossed his lips. Once more he was proud of himself for that one.

"Let's get to Warren's tavern. Probably tell us we are already late even though the sun isn't even up."

=======

As if by some prophecy come true, Warren did indeed greet the two when they arrived with a "You're late" even though the sun had yet to remotely color the sky. He waved them in and they would find a pair of bowls of oatmeal with some dried fruit in it and a pint of juice each waiting for them on the table.

"Eat. Drink. When you are done the girl needs to report to the kitchen. Got to start prepping the soup and bread for today. Boy you need to put all the chairs back down and check each one as you do to see if they need fixing. If they do then fix them. Same for the tables. When you are done just check for anything else to fix. Now get to it."

As the older man began to limp back to the kitchen with his cane in hand, Rook stopped him. "Wait, could we get some ale as we work if we are doing good?"

The older man's eyes narrowed then he shot a glance at the goblin girl. A frown deeply developing upon his lips.

"I promise the only one getting bitten is me. I'll keep her away from the furniture and guests if she gets too much."

Warren looked between the two for a moment then huffed in restrained agreement. Then the man continued on towards the kitchen again. Rook smiled as he looked to Giibi and got himself sat down for some more food. Was going to be a long day ahead of them and he needed to work fast if he was going to check every chair and table before midday arrived.

Giibi

 

[Giibi]

They arrived just on time to be late! And, better yet, Warren even had some treats left out for them. Giibi loved second breakfast, those halflings were onto something! Now they just needed to figure out how razors worked, shave those wooly feet of theirs, and then maybe they could be half as cool as goblins. They could fight gnomes for second place. Hehehe!

Rook got in the chance to make his additional request, and as soon as Warren's eyes trailed back and found her, Giibi straightened up, clasped her hands demurely in front of her, and smiled a winning smile, little fangs shining in the low light of the tavern. "I'm a good girl," she said. Innocently.

Rook, adding just a bit more persuasion into the mix, assured Warren that there'd be no trouble. And of course there wouldn't be any trouble! Giibi was a good girl! Except for those times when she wasn't, but, shhh, don't tell anyone, that can be our little secret.

Their entreaties went answered in a huff of begrudging agreement, and you know what, that was good enough for Giibi! With a little excited shuffle of her shoulders, and with a wavy movement born from that shoulder-shuffle that snaked its way down to her feet in an enthusiastic little dance, all accompanied by a suppressed "Yes!", Giibi went to the table, satisfied, and sat down and dug in to her oatmeal.

"Warren's so dependable," Giibi said, making no attempt to separate the business of talking and eating (her Gram-mama would've scolded her!). "That's what we need to do, Rook. We need to find a few others like Warren, you know? Dependable employers. Build a whole network of them. So if one doesn't have work, we can find work from one of the others!"

Rook

 

[Rook]

The young man was thankful when the older man agreed. Reluctantly but agreeing was still agreeing. He smiled and focused on his food like his chatty companion as doing. What she had to say sounded like a good plan. Get a list of employers that they could check in with for regular work. But the issue was how rare of a sort in the Shallows and Alliria itself Warren was. He let them get away with a lot as if they were his kids or relatives often. Any other tavern likely would have kicked them out by now. So they needed to be thankful.

"Sounds like a plan Giibi. You keep your eyes and ears open and I'll do the same. Hopefully, maybe, even get Mizzie and Sig working too.... One day...."

His expectations and hopes had quickly dropped off at the end there. Mizzie and Sig were basically family and he would always make sure they were taken care of, but he knew work wasn't something either of them could do. Not the kind of work he and Giibi did at least. Made things difficult but he would never think of asking the two to change who they were. Even if that meant Mizzie would continue sinking her teeth into him on a regular basis.

Once his food and drink were gone, Rook handed them over to Giibi. She was off to the kitchen anyways so saved a trip. Instead he got right to work and started with his own chair. A quick check over and it was fine. Then he got to work pulling down other chairs and checked each and every one of them. If a peg was loose he pulled out his small mallet and tapped them back into place. If one of the legs was short from damage he found a piece of scrap wood to get it to the proper length with a bit of impromptu pegging. If he could get away with it he even shortened the other legs of a few chairs so they were stable. And when all the chairs around a table were checked he checked the table too repeating the same basic process.

Giibi