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A tornado had been through the bar. Quite literally. Papers were scattered, bottles teetered dangerously close to the edges of shelves, the chairs and tables were upended, and a layer of dirt and detritus lay everywhere, among other signs of casual destruction.
Markus stared at the destruction he’d accidentally caused, coughed once, and quickly considered blaming it on someone else. But he didn’t want to get Kyr in trouble, and he’d be the only other person who could possibly have done this. He also didn’t want to get into trouble himself though, which left one option.
“Marabelle, Kinton, Leaf, Emj… And Beta Cleanup, just to be safe,” he recited as he snapped his fingers repeatedly. Four imps appeared together, and then a group of six more. “Guys listen, I need your help to take care of this. I don’t want to be yelled at today, alright?”
The imps squeaked and gargled in answer, and soon all of them were at work. Markus was glad he’d had this bunch sit through butler training with him. It paid off now. The organization might be a little off, but at least things were getting clean. For once. Maybe too clean.
He paused after about an hour to look around once more. The hole in the floor was covered by a rug- where the imps got it, he had no idea- and the wood furniture practically glowed in the late afternoon light. The walls were scrubbed, the glass of the windows shone, everything was in its proper place. Definitely suspiciously clean. “Maybe this is too much,” he said. “Why don’t we-”
Before he could finish, the door to the bar opened up. Kyr walked in, tracking in mud. He’d been running an experiment by the old aqueducts. Gregor wasn’t far behind, shaking leaves and branches from his clothes for some reason. They were both chatting about the day’s adventures. Markus quickly unsummoned his imps and leaned casually against the counter before the two turned towards him. “How’s it going?” he asked, maybe a little less nonchalantly than he meant.
“Great!” Kyr answered. “Tests on the Bubble Rockets are proceeding on schedule. Except for the failure to ignite underwater, and the balance, and… Well, it’s mostly on schedule! I think.”
Gregor nodded as he sat down. “Sounds close enough, anyways. And I got to help Dont go foraging. I don’t know why she needed me though, she’s way better at sniffing out mushrooms and spotting berries.”
Markus smiled at that. “I wonder why, indeed.”
“What’ve you been up to?” Kyr asked.
“Oh, this and that.” Markus sat on the bar. At least these two wouldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, and they’d brought in some replacement dirt with them. “But overall it was a very quiet day here.”
“Quiet doesn’t make money.” There was Thog, coming in through the back. He paused as he entered, glancing around. “Something’s different. Did one of you do…. Wait. This place is clean? Alright, who fucked up?”
“Now Thog, why would we have to have messed up to clean where we spend most of our time?” Markus pointed out, trying to sound casual. He failed.
“Right then. Gregor, Kyr, out.”
Gregor and Kyr shared a look before leaving. They left the door open though, and Kyr at least stayed within sight outside.
Thog grunted in displeasure but didn’t yell anything after the two. Instead he walked over to the counter, stepped behind it, and examined the bottles there. “You clean up here for whatever reason, but you can’t replace most of the keer?” he complained.
“I might have free time Thog, but I’m not made of money.”
“Uh-huh.” Thog turned around to stare at the Tiefling. “So what happened?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Markus tried not to lean away from him. He knew that if he showed fear, he’d definitely get yelled at.
“Sure you don’t.” Thog rolled his eyes, but got out a couple of glasses and a bottle of something that had been at the back of a shelf. “Well, I was thinking… That so long as nothing got lost or damaged, whoever cleans up around here a lot might deserve a reward. Or a raise. Or something.”
“In that case,” Markus answered, “I’d gladly accept on their behalf.”
Thog shook his head but dropped the subject, and poured a glass for Markus. “Enjoy it. I save this stuff for special occasions. It burns but it’s worth it.”
Markus downed the glass in one go, spluttering a little at the end. It did burn, but it tasted like oranges and mint, an interesting and wonderful combination. “Thanks, Boss,” he said, only half-joking.
Thog ignored him, instead focused on savoring his own glass. He finished it a minute later and looked at Markus appraisingly. “You know, you really-” he started, only to be cut off immediately.
“Please tell me there’s food here,” Ashe said as she walked in through the back door. “I… Hold on. The bar’s clean. What happened?” She looked at the two of them, putting pieces together. “Markus, what did you destroy?”
“Nothing! Honestly, why do you two have to accuse me so much?” Markus retorted, completing the line by dramatically placing his hand over his chest. “It’s insulting, I’d think you’d have more respect.”
“Maybe if you were more mature,” Ashe muttered.
“When you grow up a little,” Thog said at the same time.
Markus shook his head, and looked at Thog. “You were saying?” he asked.
Thog scowled. Whatever moment had almost happened was lost. “Just don’t let it happen again, alright? Now get out of here. Try and be useful and round up some customers.”
Markus shrugged and hopped off the bar, waving to Ashe as he passed. “I’ll see what I can do. Later.”
As he shut the door behind him, he could’ve sworn he heard Ashe starting up a conversation with Thog. “You really should get it over with and confess,” he thought he heard.
But that would be a ridiculous thing. What could Thog have to confess? He shook his head and walked over to Kyr. “Hey, let’s see if anyone’s sailed in tonight,” he suggested. “Thog says he wants a party here.”
Kyr looked uncertain. “Thog wants a party?”
“Would I exaggerate what he says?” Markus said, smirking a little. “C’mon already!”