Open for buisness

The candle in the holder outside signaled that the doors were open and that people could come and enjoy the delights that Nicole offered. Alright so that sounds as if she was having a party but really it just means that the tavern is open and people should come in and get drunk. Nicole walks around her tavern and takes a deep breath. ~If only father could see me now. He would want me to go home.~ To say Nym had be protective of his daughter was understatement. No, if had his way she would never had left the house and would still be in pig tails. Nikki smiles softly as she makes her way behind the bar.

She hoped tonight would bring in a crowd. This was so far from what she had wanted for her life but then it was also a great place to start, and who knows where this could lead. Her smile widens as she awaits the first of the night's guests.

Sometimes, being so well known was a real bother to a man. To be called from your humble home in order to go across your country's borders to another in order to help with a strange monstrous murdering beast was absolutely ridiculous. The fact that Mercutio was now being walked to the newest bar in town by a group of thankful wealthy fans was laughable to be sure. They walked into the moderately busy bar and Mercutio was sat down, a frown placed firmly on his face.

"And then Doctor Benitivi told me, this is what he said, 'use your nose' Now at first, I didn't know what he meant, but then I smelled the armor left over, sure enough! Perfume. Come to find out, the man we'd been looking for had actually been his wife! Crazy smart, this one." The one nearest to Mercutio clapped him on the shoulder. Merc gave a small smile before looking up at the waitress. "Please dear... tell me what years of wines you have. I'd love a sample of your oldest if you'd please." He looked her over with a glance and narrowed his eyes. Paler skin than normal, barely noticable if not any breathing... Not human... Interesting...

Nicole stood up straighter as the door opened and the men entered. She makes her way down to the end of the bar that they sat at. She waited until the had noticed her and with a smile in place she nods. "I have wines as old as 200 years, sir." She says softly as she moves her long white hair off her shoulder. She was not sure who any of these men were nor did it matter much she was just glad to have people here. Still smiling she turns to the shelves behind her. Reaching to the top one she grabs a glass and sets it in front of the man. Reaching under the bar she grabs a bottle. "This is my oldest. It is an elven wine from my kin. My father brought it with him from the underground." She says softly. "Would you like to try it?" Nikki bites her lip. The way he looked at her made her wonder if he knew what she was. Vampires got a bad name sometimes and Nicole never wanted to be put in with those ones. Her violet eyes watch him as she waits for his answer.

Mercutio raised an eyebrow at her when she told her number. 200 years was definitely a long time for the wine to mature. He nodded his head at the woman when she asked if he'd like a taste. "So for such an old wine, how much do I owe fo-" but suddenly a hand clapped on his shoulder and one of the men from the group gave a loud laugh. "My dear boy! For what you've done, you can have the bottle! Come on dear!" Merc blinked before turning back toward the bartendress. Who was he to turn down what could possibly be the best wine he'd ever had?

"Please then, I would have a glass." He smirked that self satisfied smirk he always held before downing a glass. He drank until half the bottle was gone before looking up at the Elven woman. "Ma'am... I must say... You strike me as odd..." He raised an eyebrow and looked her over again. His cheeks were slightly blushed from the fermentation, so he took a deep breath and nodded. "Tell me... How does a deep elf hold her breath for so long?"

Nikki knew she was in business to make money and would normally charge highly for this bottle but since this man seemed like he was someone important she allow it. ~Just this once.~ She says to herself. "Of course you lot being my first customers of the night the wine is on me." She says with a smile. She pours a glass the deep red liquor. Setting the bottle on the bar she leans a hip against it and crosses her arms. Watching the man drink more and more she shakes her had. When he asks about her breathing she can not help the shock in her eyes. Not many would notice her breathes not being as fast or not there most of time. Again she bites her lip. "I have lived above ground my entire life. I used too love swimming when I was younger. As a child I could hold my breath under the water longer than any of my friends. I guess it just come from that. I don't even notice I am doing." She says smiling again. Not sure if that was convincing or not but that it what she was going with.

Mercutio leaned on the bar with one arm and pointed to her. "You know, I read somewhere that elven women could hold their breath for a long time. I never... ever thought that they didn't realize when they were doing it... Fascinating, isn't it?" He picked up his glass and took another swig of it before setting it down and looking at the others in his group drinking their whiskey and ales. None seemed to have the same sort of pallet as The Doc.

He turned back around and looked at the bartender. "Ok, I know that you are on duty and all, but would you like to have a taste of this? If your father brought it home... he must have wanted you to enjoy it too." He grinned and pushed the bottle toward her. "Careful... It would seem that the age is correct... It's quite potent... But it's got a bitter twang to it that will cause you to pucker before the sweetness swings in." He nodded before taking a deep breath to steady himself. He was a wine taster, not drinker. This was the most wine he'd actually ingested at once in a long time, normally only enjoying one glass worth a night. What Nicole was witnessing, was a very rare occassion.

"Before we share this wine though, I must ask of your name madame. It is only proper of two people sharing something so... Deserving of care." He gave that quick smile again before holding out his hand for hers, taking it in his own and kissing it. "My goodness dear, you are cold, better drink up. Wine is good for the blood."

Nikki bites the inside of her lip as she listens to him. She didn't know if that was true or not about other elven women. Her mother was the only one of her kin that she has ever met and them both being vampires she had never thought about it. "I suppose it can seem odd to others but I have never thought about it before. It is just part of my life." She says softly.

Owning the bar gave her a little more freedom than she would allow her workers. Nodding she takes an other glass from the shelf and pours herself some wine. She jumps slightly as he takes her hand into his. "My..my name is Nicole." She says quickly before he brings her hand to his lips. Taking a breath she tries not to let her nerves get to her. She would have to deal with this sooner or later and at least he was just touching her hand. Pulling her hand out of his she takes a sip of her wine. "It has a very fruity flavor. I am sure that it could make one lose their head if they are not careful with it." She swallows again. "I have always had cooler skin. It has something to do with my mother's side of the family." She says as she blinks at him.

The Doctor watched her take her drink with an interest in his eye. He smiled at her comments and nodded his head. "Yes, wine like this is very hard to come by... Must be cherished, and ravished for it's many splendors." He looked around the room and gave a quizzical look. "So how long have you operated here? The place doesn't have quite as many patrons as I would expect." The group was now sitting at a table laughing and yelling at each other, playing a game of poker.

His eyes returned to the woman. He looked her over for a moment before frowning. "Where is your husband Madame Nicky? Someone such as yourself would have a man around, no? Perhaps recently deceased?" He drank another sip of his wine and poured a bit more into her glass. "Please excuse my questions, I'm a rather curious sort. I love learning about people... all people." He smiled at her again before downing his glass. "I think that that would be quite enough for now."

Nikki takes another sip of the wine in her glass and leans against the bar again, crossing her arms over her stomach. She watches as he looks over the room. "I only been open a week. I am not sure word has got out enough for us to be overflowing with people." Shrugging she looks at the man before her. "In fact you lot are the most I have had in, in the days I have been open." She smiles again.

Removing the nearly empty bottle from in front of him she sighs. "Well I have just never met a man who I wanted to live the rest of my life with. Plus father was very protective of me until I left home. It is hard to find someone when your father threatens to rip their heart out for touching you." She says with a smirk. "I do not mind the questions. It how we get to know one another, is it not?" She says softly. "What brings a man such as yourself into a tavern such as this?" She may as well be involved in the question too. "And I do not think I caught your name."

So daddy's little girl never found a proper husband for the young woman it would seem. "So you never had those exciting moments with a forbidden lover? It seems to be all the rage with the kids these days it would seem." He ran a hand through his short cropped hair and tilted his head to her. "I was sent a message about a mysterious series of murders in the area actually. Someone was killing men, and leaving them to rot in the forest. The local guard didn't seem to know which way to look, and needed me to come in and hold their hands to the answer." He pointed to the drinking and laughing men again before shaking his head and leaning forward.

"The various men all had a single thing in common, a wedding ring. They were all married men, but no widows were coming forward to claim them, so naturally, the next thing to look for was who they were married to. Just a little prodding and sure enough, one woman had been married and unwed multiple times in the last few years. Said that they kept running off with various women, or killed while out hunting or other dangerous activities." He smiled and pointed to his nose. "She wore a very specific fragrance, a fragrance of blueberries, spice, and flower petals. Apparently, one of her husbands had created it for her, and she took a liking for it. Naturally, one or all of the bodies would have that fragrance them. The stuff stains the clothes." He smiled and shook his head. "These so called lawmen didn't know the answer until I rubbed their noses in it. Like dogs."

"Oh how terribly rude of me... My name is Dr. Mercutio Benitiva. A pleasure Madame"

She shakes her head to the forbidden love comment. There had been no love of any kind forbidden or not. "No, no forbidden love. I...I just never found the time." She frowns, no she had grown to distrust men for time, but she was slowly coming out of that. It took a lot for her to stand here and talk to him as she was. Her violet eyes look pass him to the other men when he points them. So he was saying the local lawmen can't even protect their citizens. Then why have them? Shrugging she looks back to him.

As she listens to what happened to the men that were killed she frowns again. Why would someone marry then kill their husbands. She was a vampire and would never think about killing someone she was supposed to love, but then there were bad people out there. Hadn't the ground of her father's home proven that. Or what had happened to her. Nicole knew only to well what can make a person turn against another. As she watches him with her violet eyes they seem to hold wisdom beyond her years. Old hurts and to much pain. She tried to keep it from showing and takes another sip of her wine. Though the alcohol was not having an effect on her she still found it quite good. "I am sure they were grateful for your help. It sounds as if you know how to find the truth." She says softly.

Mercutio studied her face in that moment of intense pain and leaned forward on the bar once more. "Not enough time? Or not enough will? Tell me Nicole, do you think that the world is cold? Not a place for your children to grow? Do you feel that perhaps with such a cold world, the only one to blame for it's depth of frigidness is in the men that you are told every day to cherish and love? Perhaps you don't have a husband, not because of a lack of time or need, but rather a fear?" He smiled that smile of knowledge and allowed himself to lean back in his chair.

"You have all the tale tell signs of domestic abuse darling, that twitch whenever a man looks at you, the way your eyes harden at the look of them. Now why would a woman open a bar when it will be filled with none other than those that you don't trust? Unless you have something that they don't know about?" He looked behind her and then stood up to look under the bar. "I see no weapons... So what do you have to secure your safety? You are far too intelligent to not have it, and the look you just gave those law men tell me you don't have faith in them. So tell me Nicole.... What is your wonderful little secret... I'm dying to know."

((OOC: Imagine Merc having the voice of Hannibal Lecter... I know I did while writing it ))

Nicole closes her eyes to his that seem to know to much. It wasn't a lover that hurt so it could not be called domestic. No it was a stranger, a man she had never met and he took her innocence. How could she trust them after that? But this place was her chance to see not all of them were like that. That was why she opened a tavern, that is why she chose this life for her. She wanted to prove to herself that men could be kind and loving. She wanted to know that there were men like her father in world. Oh sure Nym had his problems but to see how he looked at her mother there could be no doubt he loved her and would anything to protect her. She wanted that kind of love. She had no illusions that she would meet that kind of man here but she hoped that this would give her the boost she needed to get out there and talk to a good man.

"I live in a world of cold and darkness. I have my whole life but not for the reason that has given me this hard look. That came from a time in my life that I would soon forget then tell a stranger. It is not something I share. As for why I chose this life, this business, its a hope that it will somehow help me move pass those things in my life. The hurt and pain that has followed me for the past seven years. I am hoping it will shine a little light into the darkness. And though I may carry no weapons you can see I do have skills. I have strength that none can take from me." She looks at him again her eyes darker, almost black in their sockets.

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow at the woman and a small smirk crossed his face. "It would seem... that I have struck a nerve." Lacing his fingers together he leaned forward and tilted his head. "I'm not only a medical doctor you know, I've studied all that there is to know on the mind as well. Thanks to mind magic and other magics, we have learned quite a bit more than we would without." He smiled and tapped his finger to his temple before noticing something interesting. He pointed at her now and said, "Ahhhh now there it is.... What beautiful eyes you have madame Nicole." He grinned before standing up and slipping his jacket on.

"You might want to learn to keep that nasty little temper in check... I wouldn't want to return to find you... Not feeling at your best." He smiled before placing his hat upon his head, giving a slight nod to her and walking toward the door. "Oh, I almost forgot..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of coins. "Good wine should always be appreciated, I would be insulting it to have drank it for free." He placed it down on the table for her to retrieve at her convenience. "Good day Nicole..." He stepped outside, where it had been raining for the last 30 minutes or so. He walked his way through the down pour and vanished from sight.

Nicole was speechless while he spoke, while he realized what she was. ~Dammit, good going Nikki. You just gave him something to hurt you with.~ Shaking her head she watches him leave. ~Now what are you going to do? Do you think you can trust him with this.~ She growls in frustration as she looks at the others in the tavern. Well this night couldn't have gone worse. Pushing away from the bar she gathers his glass and hers and walks into the kitchen. ~You will be lucky if he doesn't come back to kill you.~ She berates herself as she goes about cleaning the glasses. Walking back behind the bar she looks at the bag of coins he left sitting on the table. Moving around the bar she picks up the pouch and carries it back to her lock box. Leaning against the bar once again she crosses her arms. ~Now what?~ That was something she could not answer. Sighing she guesses she would have to wait and see what he did with the information now.