The Frog's Toe Tavern

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Jensen was busy with a small group when the vampire walked in. If he'd noticed, he would have tried to warn Gus, or at least handle her himself. He was cooking when she got flirty and completely missed the entirety of that warning sign. When he did finally turn around, did finally see what was going on with the vampire and his new employee, he saw red. Who the fuck was she, coming into his place of business and putting glamours on his employee?

"Hey!" he exclaimed, marching over to the pair and quite forcefully pushing them apart. He was strong, alright, one of the benefits of practicing both swordplay and staff work was nice arms. The expression on his face when he turned toward the vampire was absolutely fucking thunderous. He got right up in her face, utterly unafraid and beyond angry. "This is neutral territory. That shit isn't allowed here. You understand me?" He argued with the woman for a moment, though his version of arguing seemed to be ignoring everything she tried to defend her actions with and repeating a few versions of 'this is neutral territory'. It didn't take long before Jensen tired of listening to excuses and reasoning, and simply pointed at the door. "Tell you what. You go right now, find somewhere else to drink, or you will be leaving with a fuck of a lot more problems than just a bruised ego."
 
Auguste stumbled backwards when Jensen pushed him away from the female, and he felt a stinging pain on his lip, like a cut. He blinked, then raised his hand to his lip, pressing it against where he felt the pain, then looked at his fingers. Sure enough, there was a bit of blood. Had she bitten his lip? He watched the two argue for a bit, until he saw the girl hiss at Jensen and storm out of the bar.

"Wh-What....What the hell just happened?" He asked quietly, raising his hand to his forehead. He closed his eyes, releasing a deep, confused breath. "I don't even like girls..." He mumbled to himself. Just then, he heard someone slam their fist down on the bar, obviously trying to catch his attention. He snapped his head in that direction. "Sorry, I'll be there in a moment!" He said, then looked back at Jensen, obvious confusion lingering in his eyes. "S-Sorry...about that...I swear that's not a normal thing with me...I don't even play for that te-" He was cut off by another bang from the same guy slamming his fist on the bar again. "Oi! I'm coming!" With that, he turned around and walked over to the man, asking what he wanted, then poured his drink and slid it across the counter to him.

Soon enough, he began talking to the same man, who seemed angry before, but was practically laughing up a storm, along with Gus. He seemed to have that effect on people, making them smile and laugh, when they were either sad or angry just moments before. The people in this bar weren't so bad...he could get used to it. Maybe make a few friends while he was at it.
 
It was difficult to tell, after Jensen went back to work, that he was definitely still angry. That faded, though, as the afternoon turned into night and people passed through the bar. One thing that remained on his mind was what to tell Auguste, however. He really couldn't let him continue to blame himself for what happened, that just felt wrong, but giving away what really happened was risky. A lie would be just as risky, but perhaps the better option? Ugh. Decisions, decisions.

The bar had mostly emptied out by one, the only lingering customer being a fairly drunk werewolf sleeping in a corner. Jensen relaxed with a sigh, stretching out his arms. Now would probably be the time. He'd made his decision, although now that he was faced with actually going through with it, it seemed like less of a great idea. He was going to tell Auguste the truth. See how he reacts to that. Then maybe build up to the whole 'and I'm literally a magical wizard' bit, if he lasted the first few days. And didn't run after this, obviously. Bringing a freshly made pair of burgers on separate plates (one rarely went wrong with food as a peace offering) over to his employee, Jensen offered him one of the plates and shifted on his feet. "It wasn't your fault. The thing with the woman? She made you do it. Like a game of 'Stop Hitting Yourself' except she didn't need to touch you."
 
Auguste sighed as he leaned against the counter, watching the last customer leave, save for the burly man passed out in the corner of the bar. Well, that was fun.

He looked over at Jensen with a smile, as usual, and gladly took the plate. "Thanks, mate." He said. He was fairly hungry, so almost immediately after he set the plate down in front of himself, he grabbed the burger and took a bite, moaning in approval at the taste. After he swallowed, he nodded. "This is really good..." He took another bite, but he stopped chewing when he heard Jensen's words. Made me do it?

Auguste set down his burger and swallowed his bite, then blinked. He turned to Jensen and leaned against the counter. "What do you mean she 'made me' do it?" He asked. What was that even supposed to mean? Maybe Jensen was just joking around, considering Gus was the newbie, and it wasn't rare for co-workers to play little pranks on the newbies.
 
"I meant exactly what I said. Weird how everyone wants me to be serious until I am and then they don't believe me," Jensen responded, leaning against the bar next to Auguste and taking a couple of bites out of his own burger while he let the guy process. He' suppose he had an easy introduction to the supernatural, growing up with his grandmother. Who was also a wizard, and taught him everything he knew about magic. And anything to do with staffs, potions, or enchantments. Taxes, too. Math in general, really. He didn't really have a head for numbers. "Unless making out with random women that have fangs is something you do a lot at work." He took another bite of his burger, considering how to expand on his point. "Look. I know it sounds crazy. But, do you happen to have a reasonable explanation? Drugs are out, because that shit isn't instant. And usually last for some length of time. And usually require imbibing something." He gave a shrug, shifting. "That's the only reasonable explanation I came up with while I was thinking about how to tell you about this. Regardless. Reasonable explanations are false, because she was a vampire. She glamoured you. Which is kind of a minor mind magic thing creatures like her use to cast illusions. Things to hide themselves or to lure prey. And guess what? You're prey. I mean, did you really feel like you were the one consciously choosing what to do with your pretty face right then? Did you seriously go like 'Yeah, I'm gonna kiss this random chick!'?"
 
Auguste took a step back, his lips pursed. He looked at Jensen as he processed all of his words. Fangs...that must have been what I felt on my lip...vampire? She was a vampire?

After a short while, Gus leaned against the counter again, looking at the door. "Hm." He reached his finger tips to touch the cut on his lip again, but it had stopped bleeding. "...I was being 'glamoured' by a vampire...Hm. Cool." He said, chuckling. He could have reacted many ways. He could have freaked out, he could have accused Jensen of lying, he could have accused him of insanity, and he could have pretended to accept it and just kept quiet. But he did none of those things. He just...accepted it. So vampires are real, huh?

Thinking over Jensen's words, a small smile crossed his lips at the last two sentences. He turned to him, then slid towards him, leaving about a foot between them. He made a bit of a pouty face, then gently traced a finger down Jensen's chest. "You really think I'm pretty?" He asked. It was meant as a joke, to possibly make him a bit uncomfortable or irritate him slightly. Though...sometimes his jokes could be taken seriously...Oh well. It goes well for me either way. He almost chuckled at his thought, but managed to keep his pouty face, though the corners of his mouth did turn up a bit.
 
Taking Auguste's hand and removing it from his chest, Jensen waved his eyebrows at the other man. "You'd best be careful about your flirting, or I might just decide to take you seriously," he warned before turning his attention back to his burger. He hadn't even taken another bite before he was adding something, pointing at Auguste while he spoke. "And yes, your face is pretty. But don't beg for compliments, makes you look cheap. Learn from my experience, my young Padawan." And with that, he dove back into his food, occupied with thinking about how well Auguste had taken the 'vampires are real' thing. Maybe, just maybe, this guy would be able to stick around. If he could handle the pressure, anyways, but considering how well he did this first night, Jensen had the sneaking suspicion there wouldn't be a problem.

Merlin apparently decided now was the time for his reappearance, hopping up onto the end of the bar and walking down to the humans he'd adopted, meowing and flicking his tail all the way.
 
Auguste laughed and walked back over to his plate. "Oi, it's good fun!" He said, then picked up his burger and resumed eating it. Auguste liked flirting, he thought it was fun, and it always helped to make friends.

As he almost finished his burger, Merlin had crossed the counter in front of him, and he giggled. "You hungry, too, pal?" He asked, then tore of a bit of the meat from his burger and set it down in front of the feline. He smiled and finished the rest of his burger, then wiped his hands on his pants, though he was told not to do that, and reached his left hand up to gently stroke the cat's fur, scratching behind his ear every few moments. "Quite a beautiful tabby, yeah?" He said to Merlin. He always liked cats, or just animals in general. "...I remember having a kinkajou when I was eleven. Damn thing was always gettin' into trouble...would always steal bread slices and and crackers. Name was Toby..." He was mostly talking to himself, reminiscing. "Such a shame I couldn't take him with me."
 
Jensen was chewing quite contentedly, listening to what Auguste was going on about, but he stopped dead in the middle of taking another bite when he heard the word kinkajou. What the fuck? Was that even a word? How was that a word? If it even was a word, how was it a word he hadn't ever heard of? "I'm at least eighty percent sure you're making shit up to mess with me," he said after a few seconds of staring at Auguste in mixed wonder and alarm. "Is a kinkajou even a thing? I don't think that's a thing." He horribly butchered the pronunciation of 'kinkajou', even though it was a fairly straightforward word. After finishing the declaration, he went right back to eating, taking the bite he'd been prevented from.

The gift of food, of hamburger, made Merlin a very happy cat. He promptly went to town on the little piece of meat, purring in a particularly pleased fashion when Auguste started petting him. This was a good human. This was a human he would keep.
 
Auguste laughed when he heard Jensen. He thought he was making it up? He looked at Jensen and clicked his tongue, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. "Look..." He said, walking over to stand next to him. He scrolled through the pictures on his phone, until he came across a small brown animal with large eyes. It sort-of looked like a small monkey. When he got to it, he turned his phone so Jensen could see. "There...Toby. When he was about two years old." He said, smiling at the other male. "Adorable little thing, yeah? He was a nightmare. But I loved him. He was my little nightmare." He giggled and began scrolling through more pictures, most would be of the small mammal and Auguste together when he was younger, or when the animal was asleep.

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So a kinkajou was an actual thing? An actual thing that looked like the adorable offspring of a cat and a panda with maybe some monkey thrown in there somewhere holy shit. Jensen stared in wonder, mouth hanging just a little open, as Auguste showed him the pictures. He was barely able to believe the little creature was a real animal. "That is an actual, living, breathing thing? It's so cute!" he exclaimed, opening his mouth to ask a question when Merlin decided to interrupt. The cat, irritated by the sudden lack of attention being directed at him, meowed loudly and batted at Auguste's phone with his paws, tail flicking in an irritated fashion. Jensen made a soft noise of disgust and scratched behind his cat's ears. "Little nightmare, huh? I couldn't possibly empathize with that," he remarked with a snort.
 
Auguste smiled at Jensen's reaction. Everyone always reacted the same way when seeing a kinkajou, even if they'd seen one before.

Auguste clicked his tongue when Merlin swatted at his phone, then giggled a bit and put it away. He turned around, smiling softly at the cat before lightly stroking the cat's back. "Oi...someone's a bit jealous, yeah?" He said as he smiled. He looked at Jensen to say something, but he felt his phone vibrating. "Ah...just a moment." He said, taking the phone out of his pocket. He hurried out the bar, but stopped just after the door closed behind him. He leaned back against the wall of the bar with the window he'd seen the piece of paper in earlier, tapping the little green button, then raised the phone to his ear.

It was a fairly short conversation...but it changed Auguste's life. "Yeah...Yeah, alright...Thank you...You have a good night...Bye..." He said quietly into the phone. After he hung up, he slowly placed the phone back in his pocket, but lingered outside of the bar. He put his head in his hands and slowly sank down against the wall until he sat on the ground. He stayed like that for about three minutes, then quickly stood back up again. He slowly rubbed his face, then turned and walked back into the bar, albeit slowly, and sat down on a barstool. The look on his face...he looked shocked, and a bit pale, but mostly...just sad. His eyes were softer than normal, but he quickly hid them when he covered his face with his hands again. "Um...H-How long is my shift?" He asked quietly, then lowered his hands as he looked over to Jensen.
 
Merlin meowed when the phone went off, hopping off the bar to follow his new human outside but not quite crossing the distance fast enough. The door closed before he could slip through. He sat by it, though, tail flicking as he waited, then weaved between Auguste's legs and rubbed against his calves as the man walked back to the bar.

Jensen finished his burger in the time that Auguste was gone, but he didn't take his eyes off the window. The abruptness of the call, not even to mention the time, perked up his natural curiosity, so he'd already determined that he would ask about it when the guy came back looking...down. Whatever the call was, it definitely had not been good. Best handle this carefully. "You can leave right now if you need to," he said after a moment, leaning on the bar across from Auguste and resting his folded hands on its smooth surface, "but you can stay if you want to. Your question have to do with that call and the sad look on your face?"
 
Auguste looked at him for awhile, then averted his gaze. He tried to smile...but it just wouldn't come to his face. "...It might..." He said, his voice just above a whisper.

He thought about that call...what the woman on the other end told him.

'Auguste Knight?'

"Yeah, that's me."

'I regret to inform you that your grandparents died in a car accident twenty minutes ago. It seems that they were headed home from the grocery store...we delivered the groceries to your home...The force of the impact caused a quick death...most likely painless. The other driver had been drunk, and he died as well. We are very, very sorry for your loss, Auguste. We will call back in about a week to discuss other matters...Please have a safe night.'

"Yeah...Yeah, alright....Thank you....You have a good night....Bye..."

He couldn't stop himself from hiding his face with his hands again, resting his elbows on the bar counter. "....My grandparents just died..." He whispered. He couldn't go home tonight...No...He'd go to a hotel..."...Do you know of any good hotels around here?" He asked quietly, feeling his eyes begin to well with tears.
 
Fuck. Fuck, this poor kid had had such a shitty day. Between the vampire and this...

"No. No, don't be ridiculous," Jensen responded with a swift shake of his head, certainly not going to allow Auguste to spend the night alone in some hotel room. He'd been there, after he lost his father. It wasn't pretty. And the last thing he'd wanted then was to be alone. To feel alone. And with that kind of experience, it wasn't such a leap to assume Auguste would feel the same way he had. Letting out a soft breath, he reached out a hand and laid it on the other man's shoulder, the touch an attempt at reassuring and sympathy. "I've got a bed in the back, sometimes I let regulars sleep it off there. It's yours, if you want it. No charge or anything. I'll even make breakfast." He smiled softly with the last sentence, raising his eyebrows.
 
Auguste looked at Jensen, his eyes already red from the tears that were so close to falling. He cleared his throat, then swallowed harshly, trying to get that pesky lump to go away. A bed in the back...

Auguste stayed quiet, thinking about it. I don't want to be a burden on the guy...but do I really want to stay the night in a hotel room? He shook his head and closed his eyes. "...Yeah...Yeah, alright....Thank you, Jensen..." He said quietly, and the hand that was on his shoulder very much made him want to hug something. He opened his eyes and looked at Jensen for a short while, then at Merlin. He slowly stood up from the bar, offering a smile to Jensen, though it probably had much more sadness in it than appreciation. "I-If you don't mind...I'm going to just lay down for a little while..." He said, then slowly walked around Jensen and headed towards the back of the bar. Even his walk was sad...Instead of the usual upbeat, skip-in-his-step sort of walk, it was slow, and he barely lifted his feet off the ground. It was easy to tell how upset he was.

When he finally found the bed, he sat down on it, and, seeing as he was alone at the moment, he leaned his elbows on his thighs, then put his face in his hands and let his tears begin to fall. His body shook slightly, and his mouth was twisted into a wince as he began to cry harder. He felt like this was somehow his fault...but he couldn't make sense of how it would be. He sniffled and continued to release sobs, keeping his face hidden in his hands as he did.
 
Watching the kid walk off was painful, to say the least. Seeing such sadness in a person who'd been so bright just twenty minutes before....it was difficult. But how could he change that? Make Auguste feel even a little better? He gave the matter some thought, Merlin meowing sadly and walking across the bar to rub against him as he did. It didn't take him long to come up with something that might help, and only ten minutes to finish it up and head into the back room.

That "something" was herbal tea. Turmeric tea, specifically. Something his dad used to make him when he was having a bad day. It wasn't actually supposed to improve Auguste's mood, Jensen was going to try doing that himself, but maybe it would help. "Here," he murmured softly, offering a cup of steaming tea to the other man after opening the door to the back and then closing it behind him. "My dad used to make if for me. Supposed to make me feel better. Don't think it ever worked, but it was something to converse over." He sat down on the end of the bed tucked against the wall, smiling in a soft, reassuring fashion. "Do you want to tell me about them?"
 
Auguste was quiet as he cried, since he was never really one for loud sobbing. He had moved himself more onto the bed, his legs now folded criss-cross style, and he didn't cover his face anymore. Instead, he had his arms wrapped around himself as he looked down at the floor, trying to calm himself down, trying to make the tears go away. Then he heard footsteps getting closer to his location, then the door opening and closing, but he didn't bother to wipe his tears away.

Auguste looked up at Jensen as he was offered the cup of tea, and he gave the most sincere smile he could, though it probably looked extremely fake compared to his usual, natural smile. He slowly slid his hands away from himself and reached up, his hands shaking slightly, taking the tea. He knew it was probably fairly hot, but he didn't care, and took a sip anyway. "...I appreciate this, Jensen..." He said quietly, glancing over at him. And at his question, he went quiet. He took another sip of tea, then stood up from the bed, walked closer to Jensen, and sat back down on the bed, almost touching him. He just wanted to be close to somebody...Plus, he knew he wouldn't be able to talk about his grandparents in a very loud voice. Not at the moment, anyway.

"My grandfather's name was Isaac. He was...a rowdy old man, that's for sure. He was friendly...always smiling...always there to help if someone needed it. My mother always says that I'm just like him....And then there's my grandmother. Anna. Sweet, sweet woman. Almost the stereotypical old lady, my grandmother. Always wore something with flowers...Loved to garden...And she was an amazing cook. Sometimes, when she goes to the shop, she'll buy my grandfather and I small, random trinkets, just because they remind her of us..." He cleared his throat. "...Excuse me...reminded..." He said, his voice even quieter than it already was.
 
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Jensen sat still for once, listening attentively to everything Auguste told him with his hands folded in his lap, trying to picture the two people he described in his mind. They sounded...they sounded like good people. Like people he wouldn't have minded getting to know. It was far too bad he wasn't going to get that chance. He winced and wrapped an arm around the other man's shoulder when he corrected himself, being careful not to spill whatever tea might be left in the cup he brought. Getting used to referring to someone in the past tense was hard, and Jensen felt genuine sympathy. "You don't have to keep going if it's hard, you know," he said, moving however he needed to to establish eye contact. "It's been three years and it's still hard to talk about my dad. So I definitely get it, if you don't want to talk."
 
Auguste was slightly comforted by the feeling of Jensen's arm around him. Auguste was someone who needed to be close to people...someone who needed love and compassion. So instead of just sitting there, letting Jensen keep just an arm around him, he took another sip of his tea, finishing it off, and set the cup on the ground. He then turned his head to look at Jensen for a bit, before moving himself so that his body was turned towards him, and tightly wrapped both arms around him. He buried his face into Jensen's shoulder and closed his eyes, enjoying the other male's comforting warmth. "...Thank you, Jensen..." He said softly. He didn't want to talk about his grandparents anymore...He just wanted to hold somebody...to be held by somebody...
 
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