FIVE MINUTES EARLIER
After chugging down and enjoying his fifth cup of delicious wine, poured for him by the always beautiful Kenser, Avery started to look at the other guests around the premises.
His eyebrows furrowed after a few seconds of observation.
"What is it?" Kenser asked
"Nothing. Well, I'm just noticing this but the other guests and the girls here are all speaking different languages from us" Avery said, making Kenser look at her fellow Velvet Serpent staff and the guests they were with.
She chuckled and then, curious as to why that was her response, Avery turned back to her, offering a skeptical grimace.
"That's to be expected. After all, the girls who work here are from all over the continent, and so are the guests." Kenser said and Avery's eyes widened in surprise.
"All over the continent?" He asked.
Kenser nodded, saying, "Yep. The Velvet Serpent is strategically positioned at the point where travelers of distant journeys would need a place to rest, and, since most travelers are men… well, I'm sure you understand what I'm getting at. Because of that, most of the guests at the start of the business were merchants and nomads. However, now that our name has gained some notoriety, we get guests who travel from far and wide just to receive our service. That's what I was told anyway. It hasn't been that long since I and my sister started working here"
Avery furrowed his eyebrows and grunted. He appreciated receiving more information about this new world he's found himself. However, he still wanted more.
Suddenly, Kenser leaned closer to Avery's right ear.
"Look over there" she whispered, using her almond-shaped eyes to point at a particular guest and one of the service girls resting on a couch behind Avery.
"Where?!" Avery said hurriedly, about to turn around and face what Kenser was directing him toward. But then, the swift bartender held his shoulders and effectively stopped him from doing such.
"What?" Avery asked after he glanced at her hand on his shoulder and then stared at her face, wondering why she was stopping him from moving.
"It's rude to stare, especially when it seems like you were directed to," Kenser said and Avery grimaced.
"But I was directed to and by you," he said and she smiled.
"I know that, but, you need to show more tact. I'm going to let go of you in a second and you can turn around to look at what I was showing you, but don't do it so hurriedly. It's a turn off" Kenser said, displaying a smidge of disgust in her expression.
"Oh. Sorry about that" Avery apologized, bashfully scratching the top of his head.
Kenser exhaled slowly and then smiled.
"It's fine. You look really cute when you act guilty and shy so I'll let it slide this time" she said, oozing off an outstanding level of femininity, and Avery who felt a bit awkward, chuckled.
Finally, Kenser let go of his shoulders, allowing Avery to turn around and face the guest and service girl on the couch she was talking about, however, doing so calmly this time around.
The moment he turned and his curly hair which used to perfectly cover half of his face tussled slightly, Kenser's eyes widened.
She saw something that surprised her and then flooded with intrigue, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the back of Avery's head.
Avery observed the particular guest and service girl Kenser had directed him to look at, completely oblivious to what was going on with the curious bartender behind him.
He took note of how different sounding the language they were speaking was and just before he could digest the different language, he heard laughter coming from another couch close to that one.
Without moving his head, Avery flicked his eyes to where the laugh had come from and it was yet another guest, this time a female surrounded by three service girls.
'Those four are speaking a completely different language from me and that other guest Kenser told me to look at' Avery thought and then grunted which caused Kenser to jolt and get pulled from her deep thought.
She leaned closer to his left ear and then said "Those two over there are speaking Mongu. It's rare to see someone with that tongue around these parts which is why only a small percentage of the girls here speak it. Besides her who's with him, right now, I think there's only one other girl who speaks the tongue"
"Oh," Avery said and Kenser who saw that his eyes were focused on the four ladies not far from the Mongu-speaking guest and service girl turned her attention to match Avery's.
"That's Lowngazi they are speaking, in case you were wondering. I'm currently trying to learn it but my sister has already perfected her tongue in it. It's a bit challenging for me since I don't interact with the customers as much as she does, but she told me that once I've gotten the basics down it should get a lot easier. Well, I guess that applies to most languages" Kenser said then chuckled.
"Low-an-gazi, huh? Sounds interesting" Avery said then thought 'Is it just me or does the structure of what they are saying sound similar to a language I think is from my world, rus—'
Kenser interrupted his thought by looking at another guest— a tall and muscular man— who was with two service girls and said, "As for that guest, he speaks Meratti primarily. Aside from Madamme Bell, only a small number of girls can communicate with him. I hear he's involved in the occasional smuggling of product and people to anywhere in the world but keep that between the both of us"
Kenser pressed her finger on Avery's lip, gesturing that he keep the particular information she just fed him a secret.
In response, Avery nodded gently.
She smiled and dropped her hand from his lip, the scent of her perfume lingering around his nose because of that one finger.
Avery looked at everyone and all the interesting-sounding languages they were speaking then he smiled and flicked his eyes to Kenser whose face was right next to his.
"Sounds cool. So many people, speaking just as many different languages, and all of them in one place. I don't know why but for a second I had thought that that would cause misunderstandings and conflict but it seems I was wrong"
Kenser smiled proudly.
"Well, that's what makes The Velvet Serpent special. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you do, you'll always be welcomed here, as long as you respect everyone within the premises, especially the Madam of the place" she said.
Avery grimaced, turned his body to face the counter and asked "The Madam of the place? You mean the Bell lady you mentioned earlier?"
Kenser stood upright, giving some space between herself and Avery because their faces were so close it felt like they were going to kiss at any moment— not that she minded from how slowly she moved away.
She nodded.
"Yup. Madam Bell runs this place and she has been a blessing to all of us girls. She inherited this place from the previous owner, who I heard was very mean to the workers because she was jealous of how pretty they all were compared to her. I also heard that she was mostly jealous of Madam Bell who at the time was the most beautiful girl who worked here. She would do her best to sabotage Madam Bell, trying to steal her clients or at least give them to the other girls she had wrapped around her finger. Unfortunately, the clients liked Madam Bell so much and they refused to be stolen that the previous owner had no choice but to keep her around." Kenser said and Avery grimaced with disgust.
"That's a terrible thing to try and do to someone who works for you. I'm glad the clients were loyal" he said.
Kenser smiled because she found the passion he just spoke with cute.
"So what happened to the previous owner? I'm surprised that she allowed Madam Bell to take over the business, granted, that seems like a long time ago so things between them could have changed and gotten better" Avery said.
"I heard she had passed away due to an unfortunate accident. Since there are no wills in this type of business, it came to a vote, and most of the girls who weren't under the previous owner's thumb voted for Madam Bell to take over. The moment she did, Madam Bell turned the whole place around, and for the better too. From the design to how the girls interacted with the guests to make them want to come back for more. She effectively made The Velvet Serpent what it is today"
Avery noticed how elated the beautiful bartender seemed while talking about Bell.
"Looks like you're really grateful to her"
"Of course I am. If it wasn't for Madam Bell and her open heart, I don't know what would have become of me and my sister. It wasn't easy getting here from where we were, but once we did, I can attest that our lives have been ten times better. Aside from learning her natural tongue, Scrimis, so that we can easily communicate with her, she doesn't force us to do what we don't want to. We choose to take care of the guests as our way of showing our appreciation, and also, to take back the little bit of power we once had but was taken from us one way or the other—" Kenser said then looked at Avery's almost empty cup.
"You want another swig?" She asked.