Mihamaru walks through the empty bar, scratching his unkempt hair, while lighting lamps in the bar. He never would've pictured the day where The Notched Axe would be without its abrasive axe wielding owner. Luckily, among the habits that Mihamaru picked up is to never present anyone the opportunity to bar entry to an area he could need entry to.

Speaking of which, he probably should give Sengoku his key back. Maybe he got locked out...

In any event, with all the cleaning done, and after making sure that he has enough ingredients to prepare the minuscule amount of dishes he can make, he sits down behind the bar, and starts skimming through his notes on the dishes, after unlocking the door for customers.

What a glorious opening...

Sengoku staggered through the door a little more than an hour after Mihamaru. Night shifts spent patrolling the boarder for Hollow Incursions were not Sengoku's favorite activity, but the man had to find time for it somewhere in his schedule. He stoked a fire in the pit, went to the bar, grunted at Mihamaru, and filled a mug of ale. He returned to the fire, and took a sip of the ale before setting it aside and removing a leather pouch from his belt. He produced a whetstone and a small flask of oil from the bag, and set his axe across his belt. Applying a bit of the oil onto the stone, he began dragging it over the edge of his axe in a slow, methodical fashion, working to set the edge. The sound of stone rasping on steel filled the room. "Can you run the tavern for a couple of hours, Mihamaru?"

At Sengoku's loud footsteps, Mihamaru almost drops his notes in shock. He wasn't expecting him back this early... for whatever reason. "Barring an invasion or masks or drunks, I think I can manage. That's what you pay me for anyway, remember? Luckily there's enough pork in the back for the few dishes I've picked up, so long as the customers don't get picky."

While the thought occurred to him to do so, Mihamaru decided against asking Sengoku where he had been for so long, less he meet the business end of his famous axes. Instead, he simply stood where he was, keeping within eyeshot of the entrance, just in case a customer walked in while he was studying.

Sengoku snorted at that thought. If he let Mihamaru cook, anarchy would likely ensue. His tavern would close, and he'd be run out of town for good! "Just bring a couple of roasts up from the cellar and put them on the spits in the firepit. Let the customers cut on them as they please." No one could screw up a roast that badly. Just keep it from burning and throw a bit of salt and pepper on them, and the large hunks of meat would be perfectly serviceable. A bit of bread to sop up the juices, and the customers would survive until Sengoku regained consciousness.

Upon hearing the snort, he groans to himself, while getting up to get the roasts from below. "You laugh now, wait until I pick up some more stuff. If we were closer to a river or something, I'd try learning how to cook fish." After ranting to no one in particular about how great a cook he can become, he places a fairly large roast onto the spit, before a thought occurs to him.

Where DOES Sengoku get this meat for this place? There aren't exactly any animals around. Lord knows if he kept a stable, the stupider customers would probably be fed to... no, he couldn't...

Sengoku watched the younger man haul the roasts up, while he himself stoked the flames up and threw a few logs onto the fire. "Rotate them every few minutes or so, but otherwise leave'em be." He put the stone and his axe away and rose from his seat, stretching. Joints popped and bones creaked as he did. He didn't remember when he started hurting after long nights on the watch, but he hated it. There'd been a time when he'd been able to go from watch straight to work, without more than an hour or two of sleep in between.

After giving it a single turn for the first time, Mihamaru looks at Sengoku, who it seems can only barely contain his exhaustion. "Ever consider hiring someone else, boss-man? I'd try and help you, but then the tavern would be completely empty. I don't think either of us wants to walk in to see the place robbed, or worse, burnt to the ground."

That's not even getting into his lack of endurance or choppy skills, but that's what happens when you go from mercenary to bar worker. Speaking of employees, didn't there used to be more people working here? Maybe he should check The List again. Maybe someone got eaten by a Mask. Or a cow.

Or maybe a collow...

Sengoku grunted at that, putting his chair back where he got it from. "I'm barely making enough to pay you, what makes you think I can hire more people?" He never hired more than one assistant anyways. That kept things simple. If something went wrong when he was gone, he knew who was to blame. One person was easier to keep track of, and easier to get rid of if things took a turn for the worst.

Mihamaru shrugged in response. He was going to retort as well, but thought better of it. Not to mention he suddenly remembered a chore that had been left done. "Be right back," he blurted out before scurrying off to do it before Sengoku found out, leaving the older man alone despite having agreed to take care of the front end while he rested.

SPOILER: Click to show

Miha exited as he has exceeded the three day limit on posting. As per the rules, his points have been halved. Since there are only two people in the thread, the thread is now ended. Activity rules can be viewed here. [link]

Thread Rewards:

Mihamaru - 2 RP (4/2 for being exited on activity violation)

Sengoku - 4 RP

Points allotted, thread locked.