The local bar was crowded. People pushed and muttered apologies as they squeezed through going from the bar to sign up for karaoke. Aesa already had three songs on the list, so she was sitting at a table, feet kicked up on it with a draft beer in her hand. She couldn't help but scan the crowd for trouble. It was second nature with the life she came from. And a bar was the ideal place for trouble to find anyone.
A young man was up on the stage singing his heart out to Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody and he was doing fairly good. The high notes were a struggle for him. She lifted her beer, taking a sip. A few of her students from the self-defense school were here tonight. They didn't come over to talk much, but they waved and if they happened to come near they'd chat with her. Aesa didn't mind being alone and chilling out in the bar. It was relaxing after a day of running a business and teaching classes.
Her client base was getting large enough that she might have to think about hiring another person to help run some of them so she could have time to breathe. It would be hard for her to trust anyone else to help. She had such high standards and requirements. The number of types of self-defense they'd need to would be hard to find. Though, she supposed she could let them specialize and people who wanted a specific type could do their lessons. She shook her head, downing the rest of her beer before standing up to go get a refill. This was time to relax. Not time to think about work.
Aesa had to squeeze and twist her way through to the bar, but after a few minutes, she found herself leaning against the bar waiting on a bartender to get her order. Once her new beer was in hand, she headed towards the stage and the sign up book, looking to see how many more people were before she got up to sing again. There were three, so instead of going to sit, she moved off the side where they had standing tables set up, putting her beer down and leaning on it while she waited.
As she stood there, listening to the next singer, a man walked up and made himself comfortable next to her. She ignored him as long as she could, hoping he'd take the hint. Then he began to talk and it took all she had not to groan. If she'd wanted company, she would have asked someone to come with her tonight. She politely responded, then began to walk away, glancing back to make sure he wasn't following. The person she ran into probably didn't appreciate her slamming into them, but at least her beer didn't spill on them.
Aesa began to speak before she looked up. "Sorry! I was trying to make sure someone wasn't following me."
Tonight was a good night following a brilliant day, having ridden in from a generously paid job in the next town over. What better than to follow a little flyer that spoke of a local place that had an open-mic Karaoke deal. His tactical boots scuffed the pavement outside as he nodded at the person keeping the crowd from getting too rowdy as he made his way inside. Leather jacket covering a red tank top and jeans, he looked like any other generic nobody, except that he stood taller than most. Roughly raising a hand through his hair, he grinned through the stubble on his features. It was hectic, smelling of sweat, alcohol, and the charms of humanity.
The first thing he did was move toward the stage, putting his name down. Making the organizer give a little double-take as if he were serious. "Yep, that's my name," Gerwulf spoke as softly as gravel covered in silk, winking at the man before he headed toward the bar. His pale green eyes scoping the place out, he needed to wet his whistle on something to get his singing voice in order. Thoughts drifted about in his mind slowly as he felt something hit him, like a volleyball bouncing off his side. He blinked and slowly turned to look back. Honestly, he was expecting there to be a knife in his flank and sudden pain, yet all he saw was a blonde girl who was a little embarrassed.
"It's all right, just be careful. I hear that most bars do Angel shots if you're in trouble. Unless you mean somebody who won't take no for an answer," Gerwulf looked back over her shoulder, spotting someone who was looking lost but obviously trying to find someone. "If that's the case, tell'em to look for me. I'll show them a fun time," He said with a wicked smirk as he pursed his lips to mime a kiss toward the man who finally spotted her and Gerwulf. "Names Gerwulf by the way," He stated while rolling his shoulders a little as he straightened to his full height without hunching. His eyes still not quite looking at the girl, just staring at the man in the distance, down in an almost predatory manner, the look softening as he glanced downward.
As Aesa spoke, she turned to look at the speaker, but realized where she looked wasn't high enough. She looked up some more and blinked a few times as the man spoke. Oh. When he blew the kiss at the man, she turned to look. He was making a face and began towards them, but as Gerwulf continued to stare, he seemed to change his mind. Aesa let out a sigh, then looked back to the man as he introduced himself. "I'm Aesa. I appreciate you staring him down. I'd comment on your name, but considering me and my brother are both named after people from the viking era and possibly a hobbit... I don't think I have much room to talk." She gave a soft sigh, but smiled up at him. "Let me buy you a drink for the help. What's your poison?"
Aesa was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a blue blouse over a black tank top. She'd left her leather jacket in the small compartment on her motorcycle outside. The crowd likely wasn't a hard for him to move through at his size. She wasn't short for a woman, but he was a good five or six inches taller than her. Once they reached the bar, she elbowed her way through and motioned for him to order. "You make a habit of going around saving people or is it more of a side gig?"
It did feel a little hypocritical for her to not have a problem with this stranger, but then have a problem with the first man. Gerwulf hadn't forced himself into her radius though. It'd bee her that ran into him. She put the thoughts away, listening as they called someone up to sing. "Two more than my turn up there. You singing any tonight or are you just here to listen?"
When the girl, no, woman spoke up after sighing, it made him quirk his brow. He knew the word, even whispering it under his breath, "Æsa" in that long-dead tongue before shaking his head with a grin upon his lips. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you when I last met a Goddess walking the world," He murmured with a chuckle, a hearty chest-rumbling thing. It was a joke that only those who studied or knew too much about the past would understand, yet he believed that she would, if she didn't, he'd be very confused, given how her parents named her Aesa. Licking his lips, his eyes widened with a gleeful nature that could be found in many a young boy. "Free drink? Don't mind if I do."
Following Aesa, his eyes spying everything, though they did wash over the woman as well, because he wouldn't be Gerwulf if he let a crowded room distract him from those he would get acquainted with. When motioned to order a drink, he looked around before speaking, "Whiskey neat, I'd ask for a Blue Hawaiian, but your prices are something else," Gerwulf stated with a slow whistle as he blew out a breath. The bartender obviously agreed with how he laughed. Looking back down at Aesa, he shrugged in that jacket of his. "Actually, a bit of both," not really an answer, yet it was enough to offer a hook if she actually wanted to know more about him.
He hummed to himself along to the song being sung, though it was a little tinny and some of the lyrics were emphasized oddly. He found local renditions of famous songs to be soothing because they showcased a type of courage to go up on stage in front of strangers. "I'm singing, I believe right after you... If memory serves me right. Are you choosing old favorites or getting the organiser to start downloading something on the fly?" He stated with a cheerful manner as he nodded at the barkeep, who put a tumbler in front of him. Grabbing it, he slowly sipped as he waited for an answer. Letting the amber liquid wash against his parched throat and tongue.
Aesa tilted her head at the way he said her name. She'd only ever heard typical American say it. It didn't sound anything like that when he said it. She waited until he'd ordered to ask him about it. "I googled what my name meant, but I figured since it wasn't an American name, I'd gotten the wrong definition. Is that really what it means? I've never heard anyone say it that way before either." She had carried her beer away from the man who had been following her, so now she took a drink from it as Gerwulf enjoyed his whiskey.
The statement he'd made about his work, left her very curious. While he was dressed like many of the men in her past dressed, she didn't think he was a member of a motorcycle club. He didn't have the attitude to go with the clothes. She was sure he could have one, but the ones she knew had such a need to be the baddest in the room, the attitude never went off. "A bit of both huh? So you're like a full time hero? You don't look like a cop. Could be a fireman, but not sold on that." She stopped and really looked at him, taking him in from head to toe. She knew another group of people with his bearing, but almost didn't want him to be military. The only military people she knew personally were abusive assholes like her grandfather and some of the MC he supported. "Am I close? I'm pretty sure you're not from around here. I mean, I've only been here about a year, but I think I'd have noticed you before this if you were a local."
The sound of him humming told her that he might have a pretty decent voice. She wasn't going to get signed to a record contract, but she could do alright. When he asked about her song choice she grinned. "Nothing crazy. "Since You've Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. I've got a few more songs for later in the night. Didn't want to do them back to back. Wasn't fair to anyone else if I did that. What about you? What are you singing?"
