Seeing as the business district was quite empty when it came to current businesses and locations to drink, and she was stuck in Detroit for at least another three hours, Charlotte decided it was time to start the area up right with a high class wine bar. It was just a standard building, with some apartments for rent above, one of which she had claimed for herself when in town, but the fun was the downstairs and backyard area. 

The inside was dim, with high tables and stools for people to gather and sit, whilst drinking. There were larger tables, but only two as rarely did groups gather in public, and if they did they tended to mingle and wander from small group to small group making casual conversation. The bar had three beers on tap, a selection of spirits, but the crowning glory was the room divider that was just a large wine rack, with all types from all over the globe. Whites, Reds, rose, Charlotte made sure that she had them all. And while there was an impressive display, there was more stashed in the back, but those were mostly for herself. 

Once the doors opened, Charlotte left the young Gregory at the bar manning it, before pouring herself a cabernet and heading to the back patio. The trees were filled with lights, and the fire pit blazed in the cool summer evening. More tables and chairs, as well as long benches with pillows and more comfortable seating was available. Taking a seat on one of the large cushioned chairs, Charlie pulled the book she had stashed away earlier and started to read by the firelight, occasionally taking sips of her wine. 

The long nosed but wise seer entered the grapevine, he had heard that it was the classiest place in town

'Young man, I prophecise that your boss is out back drinking a cabernet, i'm going out there to greet her, bring another bottle if you please'

The Prophet wandered to the patio and greeted Charlotte

'hey, it's been many lifetimes, how you doing?'

Biting back a curse, she slipped her bookmark in place and closed the book. "Well hello!" Charlotte said, before pulling a series of faces, "I'm...I'm not quite sure what to call you," she admitted. "Artie, perhaps?" She offered up as a suggestion. Gesturing to the seat next to her she picked up her glass, "You did orde..." she stopped speaking when Gregory appeared in the doorway with a spare glass and the bottle she had opened before coming out here. "Well that answers my question." she said, leaning forward to place her own glass down. "Thank you, Gregory," she said with a smile as she reached for the glass and bottle and began to fill for her friend. Handing it over she topped up her own glass. 

"Will that be all, ma'am?" Gregory asked, looking a bit nervously at the creature and then his boss. 

"Yes, Gregory, thank you. I'll come in if we need anything else." Charlie said before waving him away. Settling back in her seat she said, "Yes, I think Artie suits you." 

The Aardvark liked the name, he would certainly adopt it.

'I am fond of it, and I also prophecise we shall be firm friends although the outlook for tomorrow is somewhat.....foggy, I wouldn't presume to call you anything so crass as Charlie so is their another moniker by which you go or it your lovely, full name?

I also predict singing.....lots and lots of singing'

The prophet clinked glasses with Charlotte

Clinking her glass she smiled, "Well a friend is always welcome," she said to him. "And no, Charlie is fine, I enjoy the chaos and confusion it causes when people talk about how cool I am and then they meet me and its," she paused to gesture at all of herself, "This." she laughed before taking a sip. 

"So Artie, what great things does the future hold?" She asked him, "Will I get a cat? Will I be rich? Will that one area on my back ever stop itching?" She asked all the questions in a blur, not allowing for breath or pause, wondering if he really was some sort of seer or if he was full of shit. 

Artie took a sip of wine and smiled what he hoped was enigmatically, but he was, after all an aardvark so who the hell knows?

'ah you mistake me for a fortune teller, I tell tales of prophecy, largely in riddles cos i'm a bit of a tit like that, but I do see you doing great things and as the saying goes, if you itch it, it will scab'

The prophet taps his enormous nose knowingly

Her brow furrowed, "I bloody hate riddles," She told him, "Worst thing in the world, wishes they were clever like a pun, but mostly just confuses people." she shrugged and picked up her wine again. "How does an Aardvark learn to speak English, anyway?" she asked him. 

It was strange, making casual conversation with an animal. But something pulled at the back of her head, like a feeling she had done this before but not quite as herself, but also herself. Deja vu or vu deja, as it was so absurd that it possibly had never happened to anyone ever before in the history of the world. 

'you assume that I can speak English but you don't speak Aardvark, it is a magical thing.....err magic, you know, magical magic'

The prophet seemed a bit confused but they were now well into their 2nd bottle of the cabernet

'I will happily reveal your prophecy once we're done drinking and singing'

Sitting forward she tried to place her empty glass on the table, but for some reason the table just kept jumping out of the way. Attempt, curt. Attempt, curse. Attempt..."Ah ha! Got it ya cheeky cunt!" Charlie cried before sweeping her arms out in a celebration of victory and sending the glass flying across the patio to shatter. "Ah, fuck." she said staring off at where it had landed. 

Artie giggled as Charlie did her juggling act, her language was enlightening too, who thought of telling a table it was a curt?  He giggled

'i wash gonna tellll you summat......proph.......pro........fortuney but i canno member wha fuck itwas'

The aardvark keeled over unceremoniously

After the bottles of wine had been shared and Prophetic_Aardvark had fallen asleep, Charlotte managed to get to her feet, although unsteady and covered him gently with one of the throws. Making sure he was comfortable and safe, she stumbled into the building and leaned against the bar. "George... No... Fuck," she put a hand to her head trying to focus, that creature was a bad influence, she decided. "Gregory. Yes, thats it." She said remembering the lad's name who was helping her run the place. "Don't worry, you can go home. It's late and I can keep an eye on things while Artie sleeps it off." is what she thought she said but mostly it was some incoherent grunts and slurs, with a big dopey smile on her face. 

Gregory had been behind the bar sat on the counter with a pint and had quickly jumped down when his boss walked, er stumbled, in. "Ma'am." he said before realizing this small lady was three sheets to the wind and then some. He looked around for the customer that had come in but did not see him. It wasn't until a large snore ripped through the air followed by a quite boisterous fart, that the location of the mammal was revealed. 

Listening to Charlie all the while nodding his head, he wondered what the fuck it was she was even saying. While she talked he went and got her a glass of water and put a pot of coffee on to brew. He knew if he didn't she was going feel like absolute hell tomorrow. Setting the water down in front of her, two words came out of her speech, "Go home." and he did consider it. It had been a long day, but it wasn't like he did much. Brought a few bottles, and mostly just kept to himself. Turned out the boss had quite a good collection of books stashed around the building. 

"Ma'am, I can't do that. You are in no state to be watching this place by yourself." he said to her. "Now, why don't you take a seat at the table over there," he said pointing to one of the two booths that occupied the building, "And I'll bring you some coffee and perhaps some food, if I can find any..." he closed his eyes for a second and just reminded himself that being here was being on the streets, "And then you and I can have a chat, about anything you want." he said to her. This seemed to please her for somehow the smile on her face got larger before she nodded and weaved her way towards the booth before ungracefully falling into with a large sound. The one she called Artie let out another snore and fart combo and with a shake of his head, Gregory started getting together some snacks and mug for the coffee on one of the small serving trays. 

Charlotte sat hunched over staring at the wood grain of the table, her brain repeating an endless loop of "Christmas wont be Christmas without any presents," the first line of one of her favorite books. It just kept going and when Gregory finally came over and set the tray down she looked up at him and said it out loud, and the look of confusion on his face made her laugh before he replied. 

"Cried Jo," Gregory replied with a soft smile, it was interesting that completely out of it and soaked in grape juice, this woman was quoting books at him. He set out a small plate of some crackers, blue cheese and green olives. "Turns out its slim pickings at a wine bar, we should look into getting some finger foods for situations like this." he said as he poured her a mug of coffee and then asked, "Sugar?"

Charlotte watched him, curious. It wasn't really setting in that he knew the end of the line of the book, but she mentally tried to remember for when her faculties were about her a bit more. "Don't call me sugar, honey." she told him with a very loud laugh before nodding, "yes please, and milk." as the coffee was prepared for her she picked up a cracker and a bit of blue cheese. Wanting to think about the idea he had put forth she tried to focus on it, but her brain was like a school yard at the end of the day, running every which way and screaming loudly happy to be free. "Swings." she muttered before shoving the cracker in her mouth. Gregory placed the coffee down in front of her and she said, "Thank you" but with cracker in her mouth it sort of sprayed around the table, but she hadn't noticed and he was too polite to point it out. 

The seer to fear woke and assumed he had been hit by a truck whilst simultaneously having had a bear shit in his mouth, if he had pants on, he was pretty sure he would have soiled them, he was not in a good state.

he made his way inside and gestured to george was it? graham? no, gregory, that's the badger, for some water and croaked after Charlotte, she had a lot to answer for!

Albino was not usually much of a drinker but after so much success in Chicago's Organised Crime, he'd grown sick and tired of Reorx flexing his perky muscles. With the rebuild in full swing and still much to pay out for, the money it brought was more than welcome but his Right Hand's arrogance had become too much for one week and so on Sunday night he hopped on a plane to nearby Detroit and decided to get absolutely shitfaced. On the plane over, he had already chucked back 3 shorts, a short stop in the airport bar for a brief meeting meant another 2. By the time he'd finished selling off the drugs he'd brought over for a quick buck, he was starting to stagger. He came across a seemingly quiet yet inviting place in central Detroit. He stumbled down the stairs and into the dim-lit bar, taking a quick look around before making a beeline for the bar. He stood at the bar for what felt like minutes but was probably around 10 seconds before peering around looking for some staff. He could hear some drunken babble from the other side of the bar but no sign of any responsible adults to provide him his liquor.

"Hello?" He knocked on the bar. "Barkeep?" He knocked a little harder. "HELLOOOOOO? BAAARRRRKEEEEEEPPP?!"

Turco walked through the bar's entrance door and took a quick look around. Someone had mentioned the location in a conversation a few days earlier, but he couldn't remember who it was. Being still new to America - just under a month there - Turco was still getting acquainted with the culture and the people. Not that he was worried about making new friends, not at all, but since this country would be his home for who knows how long, it would be smart to adapt.

He noticed a few glances in his direction. Unfortunately, he didn't look the nicest in the world and he was fully aware of it. Turco had never been a handsome man. He was a rough-looking man, tall and stocky, with a pockmarked face. Anyway, he walked to the bar, pulled out a stool and sat down. Undecided for a moment, he finally turned to the barkeep.

"Whisky, please. Neat."

Several things had happened in a very short space of time, since Charlotte had come back in from the outside. They had chatted about a few ideas he had, she seemed to be on board, but then mid-conversation she slumped forward and started to softly snore. For the third time that day, Gregory thought to himself that he did not get paid enough for the job that he had been subjected to so far in his brief employment. The only silver-lining was, he was certain his position was secure as it possibly could be. With that in mind he ungracefully lifted his bosses' head and tucked a few cloth napkins under it, to catch the drool and make her slightly more comfortable. Leaving the snacks and coffee where it was, should she wake up, he moved towards the bar just as the Aardvark made an appearance. 

"Hello, sir." Gregory said to him as the creature took a seat at the bar, looking like someone small who had drank far more than science would be able to explain, given he was still alive. "One water, coming up." he moved to get a glass of ice water for the creature, setting it down in front of him just as a knocking started up. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes he made sure Artie was ok before moving towards the door. 

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to keep it down." Gregory said to Albino who appeared to be getting ready to call out again, "The owner of this establishment..." he paused wondering how to word it politely, "Is feeling a bit under the weather after doing some stock management earlier this evening." he said finally feeling rather pleased with his cleverness, but it did not last long, as another man came in. This place was certainly picking up, which was a blessing because having to keep the company of the owner and an aardvark didn't appeal to him, regardless of the pay. 

"Gentlemen," Gregory said gesturing them towards the bar, "Please come take a seat." before moving back to his post, quickly topping up Artie's water and getting the whiskey the man had requested. Slapping the towel over his shoulder he leaned forward with both hands braced against the bar top, "Right, lets use our inside voices, so Charlotte doesn't wake up as I don't know what kind of mood she will be in." turning his gaze to Albino he asked, "And you sir, what can I get you to drink?" 

The aardvark of devine prophecy took the water gratefully and nodded his thanks at Gregory, he had prophecised he would be feeling rough as a badgers arse today, but he had no idea just how rough.

He wondered how Charlotte was fairing and decided not to ask after her, he was afraid of a recurrence of last night and the repercussions of this morning, instead he headed off for breakfast but bumped into Chalotte anyway

'what on earth happened last night? I prophecise i'm about to shit my pants so if you'll excuse me.......oh, then do you fancy getting some breakfast?'

Her head felt like it was filled with rocks, and her mouth tasted like she had spent the evening licking them. Peeling her face off the table she squinted at Artie with one eye open, "Ehh?" she said with a croak before putting her head back down with a groan. "What did you do to me?" she asked Prophetic_Aardvark before closing her eyes again and sending up a silent plea for death. She started remembering the night before and even though it hurt like the dickens a laugh escaped her mouth, "I just wanted to have a glass of wine and read a book." She said pitafully before squinching up her face as the pain in her head shot through her skull like a wave. 

At the mention of food her stomach roiled causing yet another groan from the young woman, but it was quickly followed up with a growl. "Oh." she said softly. "Something greasy?" she looked up at Artie with one eye hopeful and at his nod she managed to sit up in the booth and put her hand to her forehead. "Next time, lets not go with red wine." She said to him, "Or at least have snacks at the same time." 

Artie squinted at Charlotte as he tried to make out her words.  something about rocks, wine and grease or so he could summise.

'shall we have cocktails next time, and snacks maybe?  you know, to keep the old stomach lined.  There's a greasy spoon down the road that does a filthy fry up, you reckon you could keep it down?'

The louty snouty reached for another glass of water.

The thought of cocktails made her stomach turn over and she let out a very grim sound, one that would make you think she was dying. "The benefits of cocktails is at least there is juice in them, although one would argue wine is juice as well." she said in a low grumble. She gingerly moved out of the booth where she had found her sleep the night before and slowly, very slowly, stood up. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror behind the bar and grimaced, she looked like she'd been rode hard and put away wet. 

"Breakfast sounds ideal," she told Artie while she tried to make some sort of effort in smoothing her hair out, removing the makeup from under her eyes in an attempt to look slightly respectable. She was young, but it wouldn't do to be known as the town lush around here. "Perhaps we can stop by my place so I can have a quick wash," she said as she gave herself a sniff. "Probably wouldn't hurt if you had one as well." she added, looking down at the creature. 

Her head was pounding and the change in elevation had not done her any favors. She made her way to the bar where Gregory was and waited until he noticed her and came over, the look of concern on his face was adorable and she couldn't help it, she reached out and patted his cheek gently. "Thank you for taking care of me last night." she said to him, "Take the day off, we'll lock the doors for the day and I'll give you a bell when I'm re-opening." she told him. 

A few days had passed and Charlie found herself back in Philly just to check in on things. After unlocking the door she decided it would be best if she cleaned up the mess from the other day, rather than leaving Gregory to do it. It was her business after all. While she tidied the radio played in the background, so she was dancing and humming along and did not hear the door open. When the voice called out, "Heya Boss!" she let out a scream, whirling around clutching her chest. Her anxiety was a thing of beauty, really. 

"Oh my god, Gregory." she said, her heart pounding. "I wasn't expecting you today, well I was but I assumed I was going to have to call you, which is absolutely fine I told you to take the time off as this place can be a bit much." She said realizing she was rambling, but he just stood there, a slight smile on his face watching her. 

Gregory wasn't sure what to make of his boss, half the time. She was a tiny thing, quiet at the best of times. But after the other night he knew she had a side to her that didn't get out much. The woman was wound up tighter than his pocket watch, and it was absolutely going to be amusing to poke at her, get her to lighten up and let her hair down from time to time. "No worries Boss, I saw the curtains were drawn back so thought I'd see if you were in, or if we were being robbed." he said as a joke before moving to the bar and cleaning up some of the glasses that had been left there, checking stock levels and doing general barman things. 

"The..curtains..." she said looking towards the windows she had opened and then nodded, "Didn't realize you lived so near." she had gathered the snack plates from her booth and after dumping the remaining bits of food into the garbage she set to washing them by hand. "In the back there are a few boxes of things, pastries, tarts. Should last the week, although Friday would be pushing it in terms of freshness." she said to him as she reached for a towel to dry the dish and stack it to the side. 

"I'll be swinging by a few times this week, so if anything is running low or people have preferences or you have any ideas, call and let me know and I'm sure I can arrange something." She told him.