U-Day
On the dusty outer rim planet of Manoth, far from the Alliance control, there lies the Wingless Sparrow, a make shift tavern from a broken down transport ship. Endless plains of sand and brush surround the little joint, a few trees scattered among the horizon. The sun that gives life to the little planet is starting it's journey to the horizon, roughly around 4:30pm on Manoth.
Inside the Wingless Sparrow there's two floors, the ground floor where there is a pool table, darts, Chinese checkers in the corner and of course the bar along the wall with a wide variety of drinks. The second floor is a loft, overlooking most of the ground floor, which is lightly covered with dirt and dust. A combination of wood and steel adorn the walls, with pictures of old space battles and there's always seems to be ladies that are willing to serve you liquor, if you can pay of course.
The barman, Tom, is mindlessly wiping his mugs and glasses with the same rag from behind the bar and a group of rowdy men are playing the digital pool table and taking endless drinks. A few chinese girls are serving drinks to paying customers and in one corner there's a fiddle band playing a jolly tune that seems to keep up the atmosphere.
Matthew walks into the bar and instantly smiles at what he sees. There's a band in the corner with merry music, some guy playing pool together and more than a few cute looking waitresses to woo. After taking it all in, he exhales as if he's home and decides to sit down at the bar and wait for one of the girls to come his way.
2D came out of the men's bathroom, shaking his hands vigorously, a wrench between his teeth. He perched on the stool and spat out the wrench, the metal object clanging on the bar. "Leaky faucet," he simply said, still waggling his hands as they dried. "Hey, can I just get a half-pint until my friend shows up? I have a note in my front pocket I can get later." Not much point in keeping his hands clean. His clothes had a few grease smudges that matched the one on his cheek.
Jane pushes open the swinging double doors of the bar, glancing around. She would normally stick out a bit in a place like this, but she and 2D have been getting drinks here pretty regularly for a while, so she moves with the confidence of one in her own home. She spots her friend at the bar, a stool away from another man who seems to be people watching. She rolls her eyes at the state of 2D and makes her way to him. "Don't you dare touch me with your
gorram grimey hands. It takes forever to get anything washed out here as it is." She sits on the stool that is between 2D and the other man and pulls a few singles out of her purse.
The barman, looking from 2D to the greasy, saliva covered wrench on his bar top sighed. With one hand he took the rag he was using to clean and lid the wrench back to 2D and with the other took a mug from under the bar and slid it towards the dirty mechanic. "It's lucky you're a damn fine mechanic, here ya go. Thanks for fixing the sink, now if only a cleaning maid could frequent my bar life would be grand." After filling up half a pint for 2D, Tom looked up to see who had entered the Wingless Sparrow, and when he noticed who it was, he smiled, stood a little bit straighter and said to 2D, "Looks like your friend finally showed up." Tom had a little crush on Jane ever since she first came in.
Matthew looked over to who sat down next to him, and he couldn't help but drop his jaw a little bit. The hand that held a few credits to get a waitress' attention was still up in the air; even though a cute server appeared by his side and asked what he wanted, his mind was completely focused on Jane. "If you don't want anything, why flag me down?" Asked the server as she turned away from Matthew. Making up his mind on how to proceed, he turned around to face Tom and asked for a couple of shots.
Tom looked from Matthew to Jane, suspicious glances towards him, then finally poured Matthew a few shots and slid them over.
2D smirked at the reactions around him, turning to Jane. "I bet you say that to all the ladies. And anyway, my hands are clean. See?" He held up his hands, their condition sparkling in comparison to his body. He ignored the stares of the other men... easy. He did move to tuck the wrench away. "How're tricks?"
Jane rolls her eyes. "Tell me again why you don't have a wife yet?" She sets a few credits down on the table and gives Tom an endearing smirk. "The usual, hon." She can feel the other man's eyes on her, but doesn't look at him yet. She's not sure if he'll be useful to her, but she has a hunch that playing hard to get will be the most effective means of seducing him, if necessary.
The band stops playing and a light clap briskly fills the room. The violinist stands up and bows. He steps down from the stage and lands on the floor with a large thump with his metallic leg. The violinist walks up to a man in a battered suit and the man says, "Jack, you've done just fine. Here is your pay for the day. You know where to find me." Jack takes the money and shakes hands with the man. Jack then walks to the bar and asks the barman, "One beer, please."
"Because we agreed to wait until the children were old enough to understand?" 2D chirped cheerfully. He took out his credit to pay the bartender, waiting for his change. "So, but seriously. How have you been? Job treating you right?" He sighed. "Been looking for work myself, but the thing with hard times is people are more willing to take the risk of patching it up with some tape and a bit of hope. Not that tape is bad. But it doesn't pay my bills."
Tom, when Jane smirked at him, sighed deeply to himself as he tried to make a mental photograph of the smile. That taking only seconds to do, he then pulled out the fancy, good quality glasses and poured Jane's usual drink. Looking at the credits on the bar as he placed Jane's drink close to her, Tom smiled back and said, "Oh, this one will be on the house, Jane." Tom then returned to cleaning the ordinary mugs, content with himself for giving Jane a free drink, thinking that he won points with her. Through all of this due to his crush on Jane, Tom wasn't focused on Jack, 2D or their money, just on his sweet memories of what just happened. A small smile could still be seen as he absent-mindedl
y cleaned the same mug over and over again.
Matthew took the shots he got from Tom before the barman became starstruck, drank one for social lubricant and took the other shots and turned to 2D and Jane. With his social butterfly personality and charming charisma that works so well in meeting strangers, he said jovially, "Hard times are only a matter of perception, with what you said just then it seems that things are booming for the tape industry." Sliding the shots for each Jane and 2D, and with a wink to Jane, Matthew raised his shot and declared, "Here's to hope that the good times will come soon." After he downed his drink, he smiled and said, "The name's Hands, you guys come here often?"
"Cute," Jane says as Tom gives her a free drink. It's not clear if she's complimenting his physical appearance or mocking him for being so smitten, but whatever it is, it's sexy as hell. She turns back to 2D. "The job's okay, but I'm getting booooooored. We need to get outta here or I'm like to make some entertainment for myself, and not the family-friendly kind." She turns to Hands and takes his shot with raised eyebrows, but sets it down beside her other drink. No one can rush this girl, but she appreciates the gesture for what it is. "Hands?" she repeats. "I look forward to discerning the origin of that name."
"Hey, xing gan de." 2D picked up his drink and winked openly at the new guy. He wasn't interested, but if he got a free drink for being around Jane, he was going to tease the poor bastard mercilessly. "When I get bored, things catch on fire. Somehow." He slammed his own shot, in no mood for the guy to change his mind and take it back.
Jack starts counting his money at the bar as carefully in private as he can. He looks up to see that the bartender hasn't given his drink yet.
The bartender looks at him blankly, as if he hadn't moved in months...
Suddenly everything gets quiet, a suspicious fog enters the bar from the door, a cold runs down everyone's spine. If on queue, Darth Vadar enters through the swinging doors with his loud breathing, and though he has no apparent eyes you can tell that the sith lord is looking right into your soul. Without any explanation he commands in his deep voice, "You must wake up, it is your destiny."
Without warning, both Indiana Jones and Link rush into the room. Dr. Jones is looking flustered while Link seems to always have that half smile permanently fixed on his face. Taking off his hat to fan himself, Indiana exclaims, "What's taking you so long, Darth? Why aren't we all awake yet? And how come everytime you walk into a room you have to do the whole fog and still routine?". Once Indiana catches his breath, he stands up tall and looks around the room; Link fidgets around with his feet but, as always, quiet as a mouse.
Leonardo DiCaprio sits in the corner, pensively squinting at everyone as he spun a top on the counter. "Can it be so easy, just to wake up like that? Or are we in a dream within a dream?" He squinted at his beer. "Why isn't this drink cold?"
The sword on Link's back suddenly appears in his hand, and with a skyward pose he charges at Leo with his custom yell, "Heeeeeugh!" As the Hero of Time finishes off Leo, the rest of the bar are stunned with the scene that's unfolding before them.
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