Defrosting [Social/Open]

Serephine sat at the bar, both of her palms pressed against a still steaming mug of hot chocolate that had been promptly delivered to her by the waiter. The room was fairly quiet, and for the most part empty. There were a few patrons at different booths, but their conversations were too quietly spoken, and too self-directed, to have caught the blue haired maiden's interest. While her silver gaze occasionally fluttered around the room, it always returned to the cup of cocoa nestled between her palms.

She hadn't been able to shake the cold that had settled in her bones the second that she had stepped into Hyouden. She was no longer used to the icy winds, or the lack of feeling in her extremities. Even indoors, with the heat of the roaring fireplace in the center of the bar, and the hot cocoa she had ordered, she could not shake the numbness. Some of it, she had come to the realization, was probably more emotional than it was physical...

It had been an entire year since she had traversed the streets of Hyouden, since she had laid her father to rest. All the pain that she had thought had subsided with her time in Sanrin was like a reopened wound, now that she was here again. Perhaps no amount of time could mend the pain.

She pressed the mug to her lips-- swallowed back a gulp of the cocoa. She closed her eyes for a moment, lost in the internal dialogue that plagued her mind. The jingle of the the bell as the door opened stirred her from her trance. Her eyes fluttered open again, but her gaze did not move. Instead, she just lowered the mug back to the counter top. She released her grip, pressing her now warm palms against her cheeks. "Perhaps this was a bad decision" she said with a sigh, softly to herself. For once, she didn't care whatever prying ears cared to hear it.

Nexus walked down the streets of the city on his way to his favorite bar. The place was pretty small and quiet for the most part. Nexus enjoyed the quietness of the place it made him feel relaxed and comfortable. He had people around him but not enough to make him feel uneasy. Anyway Nexus made his way down the street and he would make it to the door after a short 5 minute walk from his current residence.

Once he opened the door the nice heat of the fireplace hit him. Not only that but the feeling of magic surrounded him from every which angle no matter how faint the signal would feel. As he came in he saw a blue haired girl sitting at the bar, far away from everyone else. *Wow* is all Nexus could think, almost as if the girl had him speechless. He wanted to say something but he couldn't find the nerve. He could tell that she was either very shy or upset about something. Nexus thought *Maybe I should go see if she is ok?* Nexus thought he heard her say something to herself along the lines of not being ok, so he decided to make a move. And before you knew it Nexus' feet took him over to the bar, where he would then end up sitting next to the girl.

Now at the seat next to her he pulled the chair out and said to her "Is this seat taken?" Before she can even answer the question he sits down and then waves down the bartender for his attention. Once the man gets within earshot he says "Let me get 2 more cups of cocoa please and thank you." Nexus would then stare deep into the girl's eyes and smile at her. "I just came to see if you were ok sweetheart because you looked kinda sad when I walked in."

Roland was making the most of his time now that he had arrived in what was literally a brand new world for him. No use sticking around in Ryuujin 24/7 when there was so much else for him to see in this realm they called "Abraxas". Point being: Roland had been eager to get out there and Hyouden seemed like as good a place as any to start. If nothing else, his blue skinned companion had taken an instant liking to the place. Then again, he supposed it was natural given her practically BEING ice.

In fact: Shiva had seemed even chirpier than usual to Roland as she tagged along on his exploring of Hyouden's capital, disguised in a cloak to avoid unwanted attention due to the her blue skin. Neither of them really knew where they were going, it was just nice taking the time to walk and admire the cityscape rather than razing it to the ground. Before they knew it, they'd grown weary from walking around all day and Shiva tugged Roland into this cozy little bar.

The moment he entered the bar, the first thing to hit him wasn't the pleasant warmth radiating from the fireplace nor the not so pleasant smell of booze and sweat, but the several magical energies that seemed to inhabit the very room. His gaze darted across the room to lay eyes on the young couple that radiated said magical energy. Without even thinking, he reached for Shiva's arm and pulled her back, whispering to her whilst nodding towards the couple. "Careful, there's mages here!" Shiva's expression changed from one of surprise to one of annoyance at a moments notice as she sighed and looked straght at him. "Roland? Darling? We're not at war anymore, remember? Just relax, okay?" Her words put him somewhat at ease as his body caught up with the circumstances. "Right...right, you're right" "Right" With that said, he loosened his grip on her arm and turned towards to the bar, just about ready to order himself one of those cups of cocoa before Shiva spoke up once more. "You know... they're kinda cute... Wanna make it a double date?" Roland managed a weak smile at the idea. "Shiva don't ........ Shiva?" But she was already well on her way towards the two by the time Roland noticed that she'd left his side. "Hi! Mind if we join you?" Roland knew better than to try and stop her and soon followed suit whilst Shiva was already pulling at the chair next to the blue haired girl before even giving the pair the time to answer. "You'll have to excuse her, she's well beyond reason once she gets started..."

A hum in her throat and a spring in her step, the young woman wiped down a counter slowly, taking a moment to breathe in and out. Seven hours into a work day, and even the dragonkin had grown slightly weary. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a bun, a slight amount of sweat dampening it, and her typical red attire was shed in loo of a more standard workplace attire. As she finished wiping down the table, Ilia stood up, cracking her back as she did so and wiping the sweat off her brow. The fireplace that rested against one wall was lit, causing heat to emanate throughout the room. While it was an adequate heat for most of the bars patrons, of which there were few, Ilia found it almost unbearably hot. Still, a job was a job, and Ilia needed this one, bad. She had begun working at the small bar a few months ago, after she left her previous work at a local inn. Despite her... significant abilities, she was not so eager to sell herself to military work, though she knew that would be the best way to support her homeland. Still, she enjoyed helping other people...

"Let's get two more cups of cocoa, please and thank you."

...Most of the time. Turning around, she noticed a dark-haired man, now seated next to the blue-haired woman she had served previously, asking Jude the bartender for some more cocoa. As the man made eye-contact with Jude, the bartender made eye-contact with her from across the room. They knew each other well enough to have a conversation with only their eyes. 'Can you get this one?' He asked her, his eyes pleading. She shook her head vigorously. 'Nuh uh, no way, I do not want to touch this hornet's nest.' She replied, looking the two at the bar up and down. The woman with the blue hair had been staring at her cocoa, occasionally taking sips, for minutes on end, and the man gave her the creeps. With a staredown between them, she eventually gave, and returned to the back room in order to make some cocoa. "I just came to see if you were ok, sweetheart, because you looked kinda sad when I walked in." The man spoke to his companion as she passed, and Ilia couldn't hold in a snort at the cheesy line. "Smooth, dude." She commented, unable to hold her tongue. Judging by the glare Jude gave her, she probably should have.

Returning with the cocoa a few moments later, Ilia was surprised to see two more patrons having joined the two at the bar. Even Ilia could feel the intense magical energy emanating from the four, and she could tell that they were all significantly powerful individuals. The two newcomers with definitely an odd sight. One was a young man, maybe in his late twenties from what he could tell, with blonde hair and kind eyes. His companion was a woman, blue skinned and beautiful, who seemed to enjoying herself immensely. Ilia instantly took a liking towards the blue woman, as it was clear she was an ice-based deity. "Here's your cocoa." She exclaimed as she approached bar, placing two mugs in front of the two original patrons. She briefly overheard mention of a "double date", and struggled to avoid rolling her eyes. "Can I get you two anything?" She asked, eyes moving back and forth between the blond man and the ice woman.

"Is this seat taken?"

Serephine's once again chilled palms fell from her cheeks, and instead folded themselves back around her mug. The words had barely resonated before the man had taken the liberty to sit. A silver gaze landed on the woman's new companion. Eyelashes fluttered before she dignified his action with a response "I suppose it's taken now that you're sitting there." she spoke, raising the mug to her lips for another sip.

The man ordered two more cups of cocoa, and Serephine's gaze fluttered to the silent conversation between the two wait staff. Had she done something to warrant their disapproval? Had her few minutes of savoring her cup of cocoa without a secondary order been too long? Or was it her new companion's presence that made the two uneasy? The moment of contemplation was quickly redirected by the man's rather forward statement.

"I just came to see if you were ok sweetheart because you looked kinda sad when I walked in."

The woman's lips pursed at the cacophonous sound of the word: "sweetheart" The waitress's  snort echoed her inner dialogue, the amusement quickly seeped into her features with the upward twist of an edge of her lips into a smirk. "Maybe it was just my face, and perhaps your assertion that I was sad has gravely offended me..." she couldn't restrict the smile that pulled her lips taught, and so she hid it behind the mug. She felt compelled to say something more, but again, her attention was diverted by yet more company.

"Hi! Mind if we join you?"

The silver gaze fluttered to yet another person pulling a chair before their request had been approved-- the figure wore a cloak to hide her features, though blue haired maiden quickly assessed by the chipper tone and feminine quality of the voice that the figure was a woman, even before she turned to the side in which she had been approached. Regardless she turned, to meet the new couple that occupied the chairs next to her "You don't need my consent..." she managed flatly, though her smile from before had yet to fade. She hoped that such a feature painted across her lips didn't cause the couple to misinterpret the situation any further than they had already.

She bit her tongue before she spoke out again. Instead, she allowed silence to take over her form, allowing conversation to settle among the crowd, as it flowed naturally between the three strangers. Her gaze fell between all three bodies, attempting to read the situation in which she had landed herself in.

Soon, the blonde bartender brought the two cups of cocoa that had been ordered by the blue haired maiden's first companion, setting one in front of her. While certainly Serephine could understand the implication of the man's order, she hadn't agreed to the man's request, and she was certainly not ready to accept the drink. Gently, she pushed the drink to the side, ever so slightly, so that it wasn't directly in front of her, but a bit closer to the man who ordered it, as she kept her original mug closer to herself.

As the bartender questioned what she could get the couple, Serephie's gaze turned to the door, silent contemplation if she should just leave the party that was forming around her. A gentle "hmm..." pressed past her lips just before he tipped the last of her cocoa back-- realization that the only thing that was waiting beyond the door was the still-unforgiving cold. More people meant more body heat, she supposed.

Nexus felt them the minute they came up to the door from outside, two powerful magical energies maybe not as strong as Nexus' own but strong enough to matter. The two came in the door and Nexus made sure to track their every movement through his sensory ability. After all Nexus was a high ranking military official, someone may try to take his life anywhere at any time. Nonetheless the two had a slight side conversation but Nexus wasn't listening to hard because he was focus on the matter at hand, which was the beautiful girl in front of him. She seemed to have a dispassionate attitude, either it was her normal self or her attitude dampened from what she had on her mind. Not to mention the wait staff seemed to be having a silent tv show behind the counter. Nexus thought it was about his arrival to the bar, after all Nexus came here often and he might have did something they didnt approve of at a earlier time.

After a few moments the couple that just came in walked over and went to the blue haired girl's left side and came to sit. This confused Nexus greatly and he was about to interject to it but the man who came with her said "You'll have to excuse her, she's well beyond reason once she gets started..." This made Nexus think twice due to the fact he couldn't tell if these two were looking for trouble by that last statement. However Nexus was still recovering from his last mission and wasn't battle ready and so he played it safe and cool. "Nice blue skin." He commented smoothly with not even a smile on his face. The bartender then came back with the drinks that Nexus ordered. One was given to him and one to the girl as he intended, however the girl swiftly pushed hers towards Nexus as if to say she didn't accept it which was all fine more for Nexus.

Nexus was now surrounded by all these people he did not know and all of them would strong magical energies. He thought to himself *Now would be the perfect time to try and recruit for that... But at the same time...* The chance presented itself and Nexus had to try it. Nexus then addressed the group and even tried to get the bartender to listen and join in. Clearing his throat loudly to get everyone's attention he would then begin to speak. "Hey hows everyone doing today? Im Nexus, im kinda like a town celebrity, no im joking im just a military official." He said this with only a simple grin on his face. "So listen I have a question for all of you and I know this might be weird but, who here will help me start a revolution?" Such a bold statement from a bold man, he thought it better to get right down to it, besides he was sure they would all have many questions.

Taking the seat to the left of Shiva, Roland couldn't help but wonder how he'd ended up in as close proximity as he had to as many as 3 powerful mages, two of them being around his own level at that. Still, keeping in mind what Shiva had told him just a minute ago, he shrugged it off the in favour of the bartender turning to himself and Shiva. "Can I get you two anything?" In response, Shiva pulled her hood back to unveil her radiant blue face and straight black hair. "I'll have some cocoa!" Turning to Roland she tilted her head slightly to the left as she asked: "How about you sweetie?" Well, he'd been about to order one before Shiva dragged him off anyhow, and so he gave the bartender a friendly smile as he ordered."I'll have the same" While he didn't notice such, Shiva frowned slightly at his friendly demeanour.

That didn't catch his attention as much as the dark haired fellow clearing his throat, clearly meaning to get everyone's attention. Surely enough, he spoke up. "Hey hows everyone doing today? Im Nexus, im kinda like a town celebrity, no im joking im just a military official." While the last part had caught Roland's interest as something they two of them had in common, he sensed there might be more coming, and boy was he right. "So listen I have a question for all of you and I know this might be weird but, who here will help me start a revolution?" Admittedly, Roland didn't give the man's words much thought.

"No thank you" He'd said so sternly enough, looking straight at the man. "I'm not about to throw myself on any causes as early as my first week in this world" His mind travelled to but a week earlier, to his last battle and his eyes narrowed at the memory. "Besides... i'd rather not fight anyone right now..." While he said so with a smile, his hands were trembling at the recollection of what had transpired in his homeworld. At this point he wasn't as much unwilling to fight anyone as he was afraid of what he might do given the frustration he felt from just as much as remembering the last time he'd even fought in a proper battle. He felt something strangely cold brush over his hands and looked to his right to find Shiva holding his hand firmly and smiling with an ironic enough warmth. It was at times like this that he appreciated her the most, as something like you'd feel for an older sister. He nodded to her after a good few seconds of calming his nerves and tried to listen in on what the others might be saying, him having admittedly zoned out for a bit there.

Ilia considered herself to be relatively perceptive. Certainly not the most perceptive in the world, and probably not even in that room, but she could tell when someone was acting uncomfortable. So as the blue-haired woman pushed her drink to the side, Ilia picked it up some tension floating through the room, especially from said woman. Casually, she  reached and blatantly moved the drink fully towards the man, correcting her previous mistake. As a waitress and a bartender, she'd seen the play enough times to know when someone was striking the wrong tree, and Jude had told her countless times to avoid playing into said drama as much as possible. With the two cocoa cups now firmly in front of the dark-haired man, she turned to the actual couple in order to receive their order.

After asking them for their requests, Ilia was surprised to see the blue-skinned woman pull her hood down completely, revealing a head of dark hair that complimented her skin tone well. Hyouden was a welcoming place, despite how foreboding it looked, but Ilia was still somewhat surprised to see a non-human reveal themselves so eagerly in a human-infested area. Regardless, as she and her... friend... ordered their cocoas, Ilia attempted to maintain a polite smile. "Of course! I'll grab those for you right away!" She replied in a cheerful voice, slightly strained from exhaustion, both from heat and otherwise. Walking back to the kitchen, she began making two more cups of cocoa.

"Hey how is everyone doing today? I'm Nexus, I'm kinda like a town celebrity, no I'm joking, I'm just a military official." A voice echoed from the other room, loud enough for Ilia to hear from the back. 'Oh god.' The dragonkin thought, recognizing the voice as the dark-haired man. Nexus. She hastily finished the cocoa, rushing back out into the tavern in order to catch the rest of what was surely to be a trainwreck speech. "So listen I have a question for all of you and I know this might be weird but, who here will help me start a revolution?" Ilia blinked. She was being messed with, right? There was no way someone could be this incompetent. She looked him up and down for a few moments, and suddenly recognized where she knew him from. The Kami's son. She had met with the Kami on a few occasions, and he had mentioned his troublemaking son offhand. Great.

As Ilia opened her mouth to respond, the blonde-haired man began speaking first. "No thank you." The waitress was surprised by the blunt tone in his voice. "I'm not about to throw myself on any causes as early as my first week in this world" The logic made sense, and Ilia was likely to agree with said statement. She also suddenly realized why they seemed so clueless to the customs around here. Newcomers. "Besides... I'd rather not fight anyone right now..." She detected the slightest hint of melancholy in his voice. Placing the two mugs down in front of them the dimensional travellers, she smiled widely. "Welcome to Abraxas! First drinks are on the house." That wasn't an actual rule, but Ilia made enough in tips to allow for some treats now and again.

Finally, she turned back to Nexus. "Hi Nexus, I'm your server Ilia." She replied, a fake smile crossing her face. "I just want to point out two things." She explained, casually wiping the counter as she did so. "One, you just openly admitted to wishing to incite a revolution, out loud, in public, in front of several bar patrons." She motioned around the room for dramatic effect, though she wished the bar was more populated to make her point hit harder. "And two, why would you ever think to go looking for revolutionaries in a bar in the middle of the day?" She asked, genuinely curious. His plan seemed ludicrous to her at the moment. Oh, and three, yes there are three things now I just thought of one, you realize if there are any supreme nationalists in the bar currently, they probably could have taken you outside and beaten you to death?" She recognized that he had some semblance of power, but her point had to be taken to a natural conclusion. Taking a deep breath, she looked over in the direction of her coworker, who seemed shocked at her outburst. Shrugging, she continued to scrub the counter.

((OOC: So sorry for the inconvenience in the timing of this post, my friends. It has been nothing short than a hectic week.
Nexus is no longer, after dying in his battle thread, and has requested that he is 'poofed' from this thread. I am providing a vague description below. Feel free to embellish it in your own posts as needed.
Roland is up next in queue.))

Silver orbs watched as the blonde woman's hand pushed the cocoa completely in front of the man that had ordered it. The blue haired maiden's lips upturned to a smile, silent satisfaction that the bar keep had clued into the subtly of Serephine's actions. Of course the silent note of appreciation that was written across her face lasted only a few brief moments as the blonde disappeared to fulfill the couple's order. Apparently hot chocolate was a commodity today... though, with the weather being as it was, Serephine wasn't particularly surprised. Her mind wandered back to contemplation of how she was able to survive eighteen years in such inhospitable weather, and how much thinner Sanrin had made her blood.

The statement of the man next to her drew enough of her interest to subdue the thoughts for the moment. The woman's lips pursed at the man's forwardness. As he claimed to be a local celebrity, then revised the statement, to being a military official, the young woman's locks swept against her back as her head shook side to side. The arrogance of his statement was perhaps an attempt at humor: one that was lost on the young woman. The time that she took to contemplate the words that spewed from his mouth got cut short, as the man's speech continued. Her brow furrowed as he suggested starting a revolution. Eyes darted to the other audience members, her gaze an attempt to verify that her ears were not betraying her.

Sure enough, both the blondes: the man who was sitting with his blue-skinned lady companion, and the female who had returned with cocoa's responses resonated in correlation of what Serephine had heard. Indeed, her own well-intended response of the bar being the wrong place to initiate a rebellion against anything but sobriety remained in her throat, after all, the bar tender had already put into words the inner workings of Serephine's thoughts.

It seemed the commotion that the man-- who had claimed to be called Nexus had initiated drew more attention than just the group that he was addressing, as yet another bar patron approached. His laughter was infectious: a statement of the audacity of the situation Serephine had found herself the middle of. Her index finger curled to her top lip as she chuckled into her palm. Even in this man's drunken stupor, he was able to recognize the idiocy of the situation that was unwrapping in front of them.

The man's amusing display was quick to break up the tension that had settled between the five others, after Nexus's question. Quickly breaking the ice, with bounds of compliments for each of the patrons, and their attendant. In his state, he seemed to be quite the optimist, and silver orbs narrowed as she wondered if the drunkard was always so positive, or if it was how his body reacted to alcohol. Had his previous words and actions not suggested that he was completely intoxicated, his plea for water and bread certainly solidified the assertion.

Serephine's gaze fell to her companion's, hoping again to collect data on how they were to react to the entire situation that had now unfolded before them. For a moment, she allowed her gaze to make contact with both the blonde male, and the blue skinned female, a playful smile errupting across her face as she shook her head, as though to say:'I don't think any of us had this in mind when we took our seats' though her words remained unspoken.

She swiveled back in her stool, to face the man who had called himself Nexus, figuring that she too should at least justify him with a response, though as she did, there was nothing but a pile of dust where his empty seat remained. He had just been sitting right there, hadn't he? She attempted to swallow the lump that formed in her throat, as she looked at the unoccupied stool. Had he managed to slip away, as the group teased him? If so... why was there a pile of dust on the seat? Her gaze frantically searched the tavern, before returning back to the other four companions as there was no sign of the man that had once been there... an attempt to see if they were as confused as she had been. Her mouth opened, as she attempted to let the questions forming in her mind flow to her tongue... But there was no words that pressed forward. After a moment of unintended silence, her mouth closed.

She pulled her empty mug closer to her, staring into its depths. "Was this cocoa spiked with something? Or am I going crazy?" She wasn't certain if the words had been spoken out loud or not-- merely, they were a reflection of the dialogue that played in her head. Her brow furrowed. "Otherwise, I might need whatever this guy had..." she mentioned, gesturing towards the bronzed drunkard.

"Welcome to Abraxas! First drinks are on the house." The bartender hadn't taken too long with providing the pair their drinks, and Roland was hardly the sort to turn down a kindness like this. He returned the smile with an equally wide one as he accepted the cup. "Thank you kindly" Shiva seemed conflicted as she accepted her cup, glaring at Roland and the bartender all the while as she cupped her hands around her cup. Again, Roland didn't seem to take notice of this.

The bartender seemed to care as much for Shiva's look as he had, turning towards the alleged revolutionary and introducing herself as "Ilia" before giving him a stern talking to. As far as Roland cared, the guy had it coming anyhow. Might as well be the bartender telling him off. So Roland and Shiva merely observed the spectacle come to and end when suddenly, BANG! Roland wasn't as much startled as alerted and turned around, only to find this brown skinned man stumbling toward the bar. Appearing very much under the weather. “Oooooowwwweeeee sooooo muuuuucccchhh noooooiiiise.” Admittedly, Roland had never consumed alcohol less been to a bar before. Still, he could tell from hearsay alone that this must be what they called a "drunk".  “Yoourrr both so bllluuueeee and so preetttyyy.” Shiva didn't respond in the slightest to the comment save raising an eyebrow, giving the drunk what one might refer to as the literal cold shoulder. The man seemed to get the hint and  proceeded to adress Roland and Nexus instead, Roland half expecting the man to attempt flirting with the two of them instead. “Aaaahhh my apologies gentlemen, I did not mean to intrude. But you are all preeetty!!!!!!” While Roland hadn't been too far from the mark, the drunk's comment earned a chuckle from him. "None taken friend, none taken" As much as Roland wouldn't wish the man's drunken stupor upon himself, it was entertaining enough to watch.

Roland and Shiva caught the look of the blue haired woman and returned the smile, agreeing in silence. That's when Roland realised that the man called Nexus seemed to have just disappeared. Roland looked over his shoulder in a vain attempt to locate the man, half afraid he was attempting to stab them all in the back after refusing his offer in the manner they had. But there seemed to be no trace left of the man. Roland was quite perplexed seeing as he should've noticed if a person of magical abilities had just up and left, even if he had been the weakest such force in the room. He was interrupted in the middle of such thoughts as the drunk spoke up again. “Iliiiaaa I shall pay for their drinks! And for my rudeness.” As much as Roland was keen on acceptng the kindness of another, he wasn't about to take advantage of the poor drunk for a cup of cocoa. "No need, you just lie down or something"

"Was this cocoa spiked with something? Or am I going crazy?" Roland and Shiva shifted their gaze to the blue haired woman as she spoke, a rarity since they'd come here. "Otherwise, I might need whatever this guy had..." Having heard that, Shiva raised her hand quickly enough. "Me too!" This is about when Roland couldn't stay silent anymore. "Oh no, you are NOT drinking that stuff!" Roland's response suddenly had Shiva pouting his way. "Oh come on, don't be like that... I haven't had a drink for half a century you know..." Roland knew Shiva could be handsy enough when SOBER, and he was in no mood to find out how far she might go whilst intoxicated.

Ilia rolled her eyes as the drunk man entered her field of view, temporarily ceasing her verbal assault on the ridiculous man to deal with Thace. She giggled slightly as the drunk complimented the two women in front of her, pretty familiar with his shenanigans. "Thace, buddy, take a seat." She gestured as he finished promising to buy everyone a drink. She'd been working a couple times while Thace had been on one of his... party nights, and she had dealt with enough drunk customers to know that this might get ugly pretty quickly. However, Thace was probably the most inspiring drunk she knew, often making grand gestures and ideas while he was intoxicated.

“Ilia have I ever told you that you are the best waitress and bartender…eeess in the world!?” He asked her, and she rolled her eyes again. "I'm sure you've mentioned it once or twice." She laughed, shrugging slightly as her eyes moved back to wiping one of the glasses in front of her. "Still, thank you." He replied, bowing her head slightly. It was nice to receive a compliment or two. “I hope we all achieve our wildest dreams and goals! Definitely you Ilia, and you over there sir! And madam!” He said, pointing to random people at the bar. “And you too Mr. Revolutionary!” As he said that, Ilia held back her snort as she turned back towards where she had left Nexus... but he was no where to be seen.

The Dragonkin's eyes widened as she looked around the bar, but the man was no where to be found. The door hadn't even opened; there was a ringing sound that would echo through the cafe if it did, and Ilia had become adept at hearing it. She barely registered as Thace asked her for some bread and water. "Was this cocoa spiked with something? Or am I going crazy?" She heard the blue-haired woman speak, and she glanced over to see her as well as the blonde man both staring at the same spot she was. "Otherwise, I might need whatever this guy had..." Ilia nodded, acknowledging her and the blue-skinned woman, who shouted in agreement immediately. "Did anyone actually see him leave?" She asked quietly, shaking her head. She didn't even want to bother with it. She watched as Jude, who had finally returned from the kitchen, brought two pints of some vaguely-alcoholic liquid, before Ilia shook her head. She wasn't entirely certain that the two were serious, and she looked towards both the blue-haired woman and the blue-skinned woman for confirmation that they actually wanted the drinks.

The reactions of the others, whether they were delayed or instantaneous brought comfort to the young woman, but did nothing satiate her curiosities and questions. It seemed, by the mutual confusion that grazed the general air of her companions, that she was not going to to get answers anytime soon. As such, as the waiter appeared with two pints of alcoholic whatever, she nodded her head in consent of receiving the drink. Perhaps alcohol could dull her burning curiosity, at least for the time being.

By the time the drink was in her hand, she looked to the blue skinned woman expectantly, curious if the man's dissent would deter her from the prepoured drink. Had the man's words been successful, Serephine would offer to take the second glass, if only to not be wasteful. Regardless of whose hand the drink wound up in, Serephine would raise her glass to the dark, now ponytailed man's toast, offering to clink it with the couple's mugs, or glass depending. "To Counter-Revolution." she would state, whether or not there had been a clink or not.

The glass was cool against her lips, and the liquid was warm as she swallowed it back with a shutter. The glass was nearly half empty as it returned to the counter. The woman could already feel the heat in her cheeks, as she looked at her companions. She nodded at the man, who she believed was called Thace, asked permission to join them, silent approval. She glanced back at the couple, to gauge their reaction, though based on how their own excitement and forwardness in sitting, she guessed they would have no objections.

She tilted back the other gulp of her drink, embracing the numbness that came with each sip. She had never been much of a drinker, but she was quickly realizing that she had picked the wrong order, when she had opted for a hot chocolate. She was feeling much warmer already, and more relaxed.

"I'm Serephine by the way..." Her voice was quiet, and gentle as it cooed to the four people around her. Her silver gaze fell upon each of the patrons and the bartender. "If we're all witnesses to this mystery... We might as well be on a first name basis." The icy gaze remained tracking on each of the people. She had already gathered that the bartender was named Ilia, and the drunkard Thace, through their interactions, but there was something about formal introductions, that felt more meaningful.

Roland and Shiva was staring daggers into one another by now, neither of them willing to let up. Eventually, Roland came up with a compromise. "How's this? You can have a drink, back home. Just not here, not tonight, please? Roland believed his request to be of the reasonable sort, and that it would at least save him the sight of a drunk Shiva for a while yet. "Sigh... Fine! But you better deliver!" Roland supposed he wouldn't be able to wriggle himself out of this one, now that he'd said so and everything "Yeah yeah, I promise" And with that, Shiva simply waved the waiter away when they arrived with the drinks, intent on making Roland make good on his promise. Still, that hardly stopped her from clashing her cup against the blue haired girl's glass when offered, and seeing that, Roland couldn't help but wanting to join in. "To Counter-Revoluton!"

Shortly after that, the one they called Thace had the whole bar requested to sit with them. While Roland hadn't planned on staying for much longer, he could hardly deny the man a place to sit. "Go right ahead. The more the merrier, right?" Shiva on the other hand just shrugged at the request. "If you're gonna sit, just sit" As far a she cared, better this one then that other fellow.

"I'm Serephine by the way..." Roland and Shiva alike tilted their heads curiously as the blue haired girl had seemingly given them her name. "If we're all witnesses to this mystery... We might as well be on a first name basis." When she put it like that, Roland couldn't think of a good enough reason not to share his name. "Very well, i'm Roland" He was careful enough not to give his last name away, having been informed of how shaky relations were between the nations of this world right now. Him being a new arrival and a relatively unknown one being one of the few reasons he'd been allowed to even go to Hyouden to begin with. "And i'm Shiva!" Seeing as Shiva didn't have a last name, there was of course no point to concealing such. "I suppose I don't need to explain that we're not exactly from here?"