The First Round is On Me

[Guest]

Smoke hung in the air like a cobalt mist that gave the main room of the Sweet Pea Tea house a mystical visage. The low hum of patrons made a subliminal orchestra with the popping of the main room's fire. Over the top of the din was a light dusting classical symphonic music. Each bar of music was modified and twisted by the dull roar of people drinking, talking, and laughing. The one thing that tied each and everyone of these people together was their need to escape from the general stress of their lives. Each man and woman sat at the carved wooden tables and smiled through the smoke at the people who shared their company. Here in the smokey room all the issues of the day seemed to fade into the mist of distraction. Every problem would come right back once they left this place but that thought didn't seem to weigh on anyone's mind.

Sergeant Skylar Greden was a minor exception to this fine din of joy. He sat at a small table alone with a half empty brandy sifter standing a vigil before his grayish eyes. The sifter's only comrade in the hazy room was the half empty bottle of scotch that sat just off to it's right. Skylar reached his left hand up to his collar and tugged at the worn down collar of his military uniform. He seemed to always be wearing it, not that it bothered him, he just didn't realize how often he was wearing it. In a moment of spite he reached over and unfastened each of the polished brass buttons that held his coat in place. In a moment the doublet hung open exposing the tight black undershirt that he wore beneath it. Skylar sighed and smirked to himself, "I think I feel less comfortable with it unbuttoned." As if to punctuate his personal diologue he brought the sifter up to his lips and drained what was left it in one gulp. The burn washed down his throat and filled his belly with warmth.

In a few moments the bottle of scotch was even less full and Skylar has discarded his military doublet to hang on the back of his chair. His somber expression was replaced with that of a flushed and bitterly satisfied man. He was intoxicated enough to deal with other people at this point, any less and he would just keep sulking, no one liked to see a soldier drinking their problems away alone. The homeostasis of the tea house was temporarily shattered as the door was flung open and the crisp northern night air rushed in to mix with the haze of smoke and warmth. Skylar peered through the azure mist with a half smile on his face as he raised up his left arm to hail the new-comer, "Hey!" he called out, loud enough to get the person's attention but not too loud as to break the spirit of the cozy tea house. "Come over here and have a drink with me! I'll buy the first round." Skylar grasped the bottle of scotch and poured himself a fresh sifter as he awaited the response of what could be his new drinking partner.

[Guest]

Up in the north where it is always freaking cold strangely enough Angelika didn't show up any sign of irritation whatsoever thanks to her being a frozen barrens born though she didn't remember any normal days of her childhood life because certainly her upbringing was totally away from normal. Her memories were never vague, she only remembers the very fact of her continuous survival on the account of others dying for her. Of course, not that they tried to protect her, it was due to them killing by her own hands. She did the same in the training facility, the frozen lands of the north and the scorched earth of Ishval.

And here she was in front of 'Sweat Pea tea'. Due to the rotational schedule set by central, she was given the task of being a security enforcement for a week or so. She got this thirty minutes of break to spend deliberating between eating apple pie and drinking a strawberry milkshake.

She entered in hailed by both warmth engulfing the northern body that didn't cold or hot either and invitation from a young man to join him for a drink. She cheerfully smiled as usual, he would find her sitting in front of him crossing both her arms and her legs in all ferocious elegance.

In a friendly attitude she told him the following "Sorry young lad but I don't drink, if a liquor was what you meant." assuming the mantle of a good law enforcement though not really being that good in the inside she would recommend him not to do anything that would disturb order. "Please remember that you are a military officer and should act as such" it was more of a provocation than a recommendation really. Maybe she will be able to have a thirty minutes of fighting fun, who knows?

[Guest]

Skylar eyed the officer that sat across from him. His eyes trailed up and down the viable portions of her as she sat down across from him. The sergeant leaned backwards and pushed his chair up on two legs. An intoxicated smirk crossed his face as she spoke to him. With a sharp and quick move he brought his right hand up to his brow in a solid salute. "Yes, Ma'am." he said with a slight drunken waver. "Thank you for the compliment too." he dropped his hand onto the table with a smack. "I'm far from young though."

Sky let his chair fall back to it's usual four legged position and leaned in on his elbows, staring with his vicious gray eyes. "Now, ma'am, I think you might have me confused with someone else. Last time I checked." Sky paused for a second and thought about when the last he checked ACTUALLY was," About two hours ago, I wasn't a military officer. I'm a sergeant, ma'am. So, with all due respect, lieutenant, I will continue acting like an enlisted man." Skylar pushed himself upright again and eyed his superior from the corner of his eye."You're on duty huh Oh well." He held up his hand to call over the waitress. "I still offered to buy you a round. If you don't want strong drink then go ahead and order whatever. The company will be nice, I'm sure."

[Guest]

So he wasn't that young, any bit of information regarding anyone would be useful and him being drunk would definitely help her know a lot more. Amused she was that he satiated her ego and seek for power by the quickly made salute though he didn't have to since both belonged to the same rank thanks again for him telling more about himself, she knew by then that he just enlisted a while ago, two hours ago to be precise.

She didn't tell him that she was a sergeant and that she was off duty for a thirty minutes or so. She drove the conversation away from her shifting it more towards him.

Of course,I shall enjoy the company. A strawberry milkshake would be great. she loved this particular milkshake for being red which resembles the warm vitae coursing in mostly all creations, the same crimson matter she can't for the time being drink but she will eventually for the sake of it or maybe due to a hidden meaning after all. But since we are comrades in arms, I shall buy you something to eat. I want the enjoyment to be mutual. After waiting for him to fill his order and ordering herself an apple pie, she would begin knowing more about him.

I see in front of me a trained body. I guess, you have skills that would make you unique when compared to others. indeed not anyone would apply for the military position especially in these days where Amestris ass got kicked with vengeance unless they are really good enough to survive the melancholy of battlefields but for her melancholy was not the right term to describe the killing grounds. Ecstasy, it would be.

[Guest]

A strawberry milkshake. oh yeah, she was certainly on duty. No self respecting soldier would order something so damned foofy unless they were trying to keep their head on straight. Then again, maybe she was an over-respecting soldier. Sky smirked, he had heard tales about the "upstanding" officers in the army these days. Oh well. Skylar took another drink from his brandy sifter as she offered to by him something to eat, "How nice of you." he said with a flushed smile, at least this girl knew her courtesies. "I'll have a a club sandwich. No mayo either." he pointed to the waitress with one wavering fingers as he spoke. He needed to make sure she got his order. he'd suffered through too many club sandwiches with mayonnaise on them. the stuff made him gag.

Skylar nodded. even in his inebriated state he could tell when someone was sizing him up. She was eyeing him like a fresh piece of meat while she asked him, in a very fancy way, what his specialty was. He wasn't going to stop her from admiring his body, hell he'd encourage it if he could gander at hers. Skylar laughed, nearly spilling his drink, at the thought. "Oh..." he recovered, "I've been in the service for ten years now. Pretty much since I left basic I've been doing close quarters engagement." Skylar leaned back in his chair, a small chuckle returning to him as he looked across the table with his shiny gray eyes, "What about you?" he asked as he took another sip of his brandy. "You're probably fresh out of school huh? Got your brass buttons all polished and belts on tight." Skylar sat his drink down with a soft clink. "What's a fancy girl like you doing in the business of cuttin' throats and shootin' men? Don't you have some kind of family fortune to inherit? You know, soldiers aren't really that glorious." Sky laughed again and pounded his fist on the table. "I mean! Just look at me!" he roared with laughter again.

[Guest]

He ordered his club sandwich without mayonnaise. Having preferences aren't we? but who didn't really? Anyway, the waitress got her order of one bloody milkshake, crunchy exterior with a very soft and warm from the side apple pie and lastly or who knows if they wouldn't order something else later a mayo-less club sandwich. Angelika winked at the waitress to get those fast, they didn't have all the day or rather they didn't to pass it doing nothing but waiting.

So he had been in service for ten years in what exactly? didn't he just enlist two hours ago? or there was this private army for the CQC guys? Getting hilarious weren't we? though whether he told the truth or not, his body reflected a good deal of training indeed, something anyone eyes wouldn't miss.

Oh, I like to keep my uniform...clean that would be her answer to his first question and truth to be told there was a very hidden meaning behind it besides does she really look that new to this sort of things? Really great, it was the best for her to be underestimated and certainly that would pave the road to glory rather quickly.

To his other question, she would tell him a tiny something and keeping the rest for herself. I am just a security officer hunting pitiful criminals. while in the back of her mind those unspoken words 'that you really want to mess with' echoed giving away a mental chuckle to herself hidden away and unseen by the drunk sergeant and so she continued "So nothing fancy here unlike you joining fort briggs and the merry band of survival of the fittest" she assumed he enlisted in briggs, it was the north after all and briggs was a mile away.

[Guest]

Being polite and orderly was difficult when your mind was swimming in whiskey. Every word Sky said seemed to be some rambling nonsense that would never fly in the face of a real military official, or if he were on duty. Good thing he wasn't and he wasn't talking to anyone from his division. Otherwise this might have had negative effects on his future at Briggs. Not like it really mattered though. Skylar could retire with benefits if he really wanted to. then again all that would do is make him stir crazy sitting in a small house somewhere with too much booze and not enough pension money. The thoughts all flooded through Sky's head like a torrent of pointless dribble as his companion continued to talk without saying anything. In fact the way she talked reminded him of something. It was all those training videos and tests about interrogation and resisting. He couldn't help but wonder why that popped into his mind but he tried to burn it out be finishing the last of his whiskey.

"You know..." he slurred, "You sure are asking me a lot of questions." Sky might be drunk, but he was used to the pulsing numbness that alcohol gave him, it was like a second skin now. "You ask me lots of questions and then just sortta brush off mine." Sky placed his hand down on the table and steadied himself. The whole room was sort of pulsing and smearing behind this young lady. He could focus on her well enough though. He could see all of the important things about his companion but little else. "So, hows about we start at the start, something we forgot," Sky pulled his hand off of the table and held it out in front of himself, ready to shake, "I'm Skylar Greden, or Sky, whatever you prefer. What is this fine lady's name?" he asked pulling a smile on his face. Maybe a bit of normal conversation would break through the icy layer of vagueness that this officer was veiling herself in. More over, he completely ignored her current questiopns. If he had to, this would have to be a quid pro qua.

[Guest]

So he was able to figure out what she was doing, her continuous never ending questions like a going all out gatling gun and her evading his questions like avoiding death. Indeed, she was the type not to talk about herself because after all why the security officer would reveal any information about herself, she is used to receive the answers not to give them thanks to her well buried past.

But he figured it out even on his own, in his state of being which was quite the feat. She followed his words and figured out from what was last said that introductions were not made. Indeed, it was forgotten but by then it was in order. She stretched her arm equally to shake his.

Angelika Arnwald. You may call me Angie, Handsome.

After retracting her hand back, she quietly clapped thanks to her leather gloves. Tell you what. I will answer one of your questions completely honest as a gift for figuring it out. she paused only to follow up So what it would be?

The question is, would she answer him in all sincerity?

Well, it depends on the question asked.

[Shula Brighton]

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