How Harry Met Sally-- err, How Karlos Employed Margarita

Kazumaru

Karlos bit off a chunk of duct tape and put it on the final corner of his pentagonal "Hapl Wntd" sign, out in front of A Hard Place. He stepped back inside the building and whistled for Argos, who ran in quite quickly at his master's command.

Karlos sat behind the bar and took his hat off, accidentally setting his hat on top of a burning candle. "Now, Argos..." he said, stopping when he noticed his flaming cowboy hat. "... Aww, not again!" he grumbled, beating the cowboy hat against the bar, attempting to snuff out the flames.

Mitsukai

"TAKE YOUR STUPID JUNK WITH YOU AND STAY OUT!!!"

And with that, Margarita was kicked out with her pittiful belongings: a bag of clothing, her alarm clock, and some personal hygiene stuff.

Physically kicked out.

It hurt... but not as much as her ears would if she didn't-

"How dare she call me stupid junk! That-"

A string of curses quickly followed.

"Shadup already!" Magarita yelled back... at the alarm clock.

Already the people on the street stopped staring in surprise at the random girl sitting in the middle of the street and quicky went on with their business. Any thoughts of helping her disappeared now... who would want to help a crazy girl who talked to inanimate objects?

Picking herself and her items up, Margarita began walking down the street in search of a new place to stay... the third time this week.

And that was when she saw the "Halp Wntd" sign.

And that was when she stopped.

And that was when she started laughing loud, long, and hard.

She took a step closer, still not quite believing her eyes. "Halp Wntd". She giggled again.

"Hey... it's his fault for not spelling it right... don't look at me like that!"

Quite used to random things talking to her at this point, she didn't even blink.

"It's funny though!"

"Yeah... I suppose... but still... don't blame the paper."

"He's in need of help isn't he?" she asked out loud, the people who were walking nearby speeding up their step.

"Desperately. Take a look in the window toots."

And there he was. With a burning cowboy hat.

"Oh my."

"Yeah... you should get in there before he burns down the whole building."

With that, she walked to the door, with her measly possessions in hand, and pushed open the door.

"Hello?"

Kazumaru · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:01 pm Post subject:

Karlos jumped back at the sound of someone entering.

"Hello?"

He spun his still-burning cowboy hat between his fingers and put it on his head. "Howdy." he said. "You here about the j- ohcrudit'sstillburning!" He dropped the cowboy hat to the floor and began stomping the flames out. "The, uh, job?"

Mitsukai · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject:

"See? I told you," the mishappen sign spoke matter-of-factly.

She fought the urge to laugh at the scene in front of her.

"Yes, I'm here about the job," she replied, raising an eyebrow. If she knew where the water was, she'd get some to help put that flame out, but she didn't. "You need a bit o' help there?"

Kazumaru · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:48 pm Post subject:

Karlos stomped on his hat "Y-yeah... There's a, uh, hose.. thing... on the sink over there."

The man gestured behind him, still stomping on his hat.

Fire, why have you betrayed me!?

Mitsukai · Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:34 am Post subject:

Magarita grinned evilly.

I'm gonna enjoy this...

Taking the hose in both hands, she moved behind Karlos so that he wouldn't be able to see what she was about to do.

Aim.

Ready.

Fire! Or in this case, water!

Pulling the trigger button thingy on the hose, she sprayed him full on with the water and suppressed her urge to laugh again.

"Sorry! My bad!" she exclaimed before lessening the power and lowering the hose slightly so that the water would land on the hat instead. Not that there was any need to now at this point, but hey, she hadn't really meant to do that.

Kazumaru · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject:

Karlos sighed, now throughly soaked with water. "Thanks. ... I think."

"So, uh, about the job..."

Mitsukai · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:14 pm Post subject:

Margarita studied him for a moment before putting the hose back where she found it.

"Well... telling me about it might be a start."

Kazumaru · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject:

Karlos put his hat back on, ignoring the fact that there was a large hole in it now.

"Uh... You help me clean, keep the customers from burning the place down again... in exchange for a cut of the profits and a place to sleep."

Karlos paused for a second. "Maybe help cook some stuff, as well. Heyyy, you don't have a problem with dogs, do you?"

Mitsukai · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject:

With his list of demands came the tranformation of (ab)normal Margarita to business Margarita.

"First of all, clean what specifically? Second of all, burning the place down again? You mean it was burnt down before? Third of all, how much of a cut do I get? Fourth of all, I want to see where my sleeping quarters are. Fifth of all, I want to know how much time off I'll be getting. Sixth of all, do I get to make drinks too? Seventh of all-"

As she listed off her questions and demands, she ticked off each one with a finger; moving the other hand once she reached number six. It was at number seven when she finally paused.

"A dog? Where?"

Kazumaru · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:33 pm Post subject:

Karlos tilted his head, attempting to sort through the rapid-fire questions. "Uhh... well... clean the bar in general, I guess. And the rooms upstairs. And... yeah. It's been burned before. Ten percent of the profits... sleeping quarters are upstairs, I'll show you that in a second... Uhh... Holidays, wars, occasional weekends. SUre, you can make drinks."

He paused to clear his throat. "ARGOS!" he called.

The dog, a wolf with blue-tinted fur, bounded down the stairs, stopping at Karlos' feet.

"Good boy." Karlos said. "This is Argos. Found him out on the streets a few years back."

"Oh!" Karlos exclaimed. "Uh, I guess I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Karlos. Karlos AdlersflÃ¼gel."

Mitsukai · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:47 pm Post subject:

"Awwww! You're so cute!" Margarita squealed as she walked over to the dog before crouching down to its level. She held out a hand for Argos to sniff before speaking.

"Bar is good- Don't expect me to be your maid though... your sleeping quarters will not be my concern. You've learned your lesson and you've taken precautions so that this bar won't burn down again right? Thirty percent of the profits with a five percent increase each year I work up to fifty percent. And you'll be teaching me how to make drinks right? Oh and the name's Margarita. Perfect for this place eh?"

Kazumaru · Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:59 pm Post subject:

Argos sniffed Margarita's hand as Karlos spoke. "Uh... precautions." he glanced over at a bucket of water. "Yeah. Of course."

"Twenty with a five percent increase, and yeah, I'll teach you... as for your name... I don't get it."

Mitsukai · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:07 am Post subject:

Sensing that Argos just might be warming up to her, she tentatively petted the dog's head.

Narrowing her eyes as she followed Karlo's gaze when he said precautions, she replied, "We are going to get some fire extinguishers. No buts! And twenty-five percent. You'll need my help... expecially if you don't know that a margarita is a drink."

Kazumaru · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:14 am Post subject:

"Fine, fine..." Karlos said. "Wait... A margarita is a drink...? Huh..."

Argos wagged his tail. He liked this girl, she was nice.