Lesson 21- Use your inside voice or you’ll be sent to time out.

I make Torin a drink that I’m hoping isn’t terrible. He doesn’t complain and gives me a nod as thanks. He doesn’t seem like he wants to talk though. Probably because of all the people who stare every time I go anywhere near him. Still, I make sure to at least send friendly smiles his way every time I look over and notice him watching me. Which is actually fairly often, but since I’m the only one here not avoiding him I can kind of see why he would be watching me. It’s alright, it gives me a chance to show off my new skills. And by skills I mean the ability to follow the super basic directions that Laura gave me. Not too long later Elijah stops by the bar.
“Hello again ravishing Rina.” He says smoothly. I roll my eyes at him but at the same time I have to fight the urge to stare. Damn he is fine.
“What is it Elijah? Did you need another drink or something? I thought the ladies were covering your share.” I say snarkily. Elijah just grins.
“Oh they are. I just wanted to thank you and give you a tip. We’re about to head out.” He nods at the door where not one, but TWO of the women are waiting for him. I narrow my eyes.
“They’re not drunk are they? Or hopped up on whatever weird magic you have?” I ask suspiciously. Elijah clasps a hand to his chest and gasps like he’s offended, but his grin says otherwise.
“I would never. If you must know they are MOSTLY sober and I haven’t even touched them. Yet. It’s sweet of you to worry about them but I promise I’ll take good care of them.” He adds with a wink and I scoff at him.
“Fine, whatever. Wait, why are you tipping me? I didn’t even make you a drink.” I point out. Elijah shrugs.
“You helped me out. You deserve a tip.” He holds out fifty dollars and I raise an eyebrow.
“That’s some tip. If you’re going to give your money away like this, why don’t you just get your own drinks to begin with?” I ask.
“Where’s the fun in that? Besides those ladies bought me way more than fifty dollars worth of drinks. Just take the cash. I’m off. Unless you’ve changed your mind and YOU want to buy me a drink.” He says flirtatiously. I just shake my head and take the money from him. His fingers brush mine and I shiver as the warm feeling from earlier comes rushing back. I shake it off faster this time and wave as he says goodbye. He might be a flirt but at least he tips well.

Pretty happy with how things turned out, my eyes automatically search out Torin to see how he reacted. To my surprise he gestures for me to come over. I approach him with a cheerful smile.
“Hey, did you want another drink?” I ask. Torin shakes his head.
“You should not allow the incubus to touch you. Their magic can make women…” He trails off, clearly searching for the right way to phrase it. I snort out a laugh.
“Horny as hell? Yeah I noticed.” I say dryly. Torin blinks then narrows his eyes.
“What did he do?” he demands darkly.
“Woah, relax. I’m fine. He just flirted with me a bit and I directed him towards some women who might be a little more receptive to his advances. I might not know what to do against some monster chasing me down a street but when it comes to being hit on by some guy at a bar I can take care of myself.” I assure him. Torin doesn’t seem thrilled by my answer. He grumbles something about customers keeping their hands to themselves and how he left me alone for only a couple hours and this happens. I can’t help but smile. Aww, he’s worried. I pat him on the arm and fight the urge to roll my eyes when I hear more than one person gasp in shock.
“I’m fine, seriously. Thanks though. I promise if someone is actually bothering me I’ll tell you right away, alright?” I meet his eyes so that he knows I’m serious. I give him one last smile before getting back to work while I actively ignore the stares from everyone around us. Judgemental jerks.

I stay busy making drinks, talking to customers or cleaning behind the bar and when Laura gets back we both work hard for a while. As it starts to get really late the less nocturnal people, (creatures?) start to leave and the place gets a lot quieter. I start to find myself standing around. There just isn’t enough work for the two of us right now. Laura is starting to yawn and rub at her eyes. Kyle left an hour or so ago when the kitchen closed. I served up the last of his cooking a few minutes ago. Laura yawns again which makes me yawn and I notice at least two other people in the room who are triggered to yawn as well which makes me giggle.
“You know, if you don’t have anything important to do tonight, you could head home. I’m stuck here anyway, but it isn’t that busy and there’s no point in us both being tired.” I point out. Laura frowns and shakes her head.
“I couldn’t leave you here on your own. That wouldn’t be fair.” She objects. I raise an eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t be alone, Torin is here. Seriously, go get some rest. I got this.” I encourage her. Laura still looks like she’s going to refuse but Torin speaks up.
“Go home Laura. Carina will be okay on her own. Tomorrow you can split the shift. You take the first half and Carina can join you when it starts to get busy and work until close.” he states firmly. Immediately all fight is gone from Laura and she nods agreeably.
“Alright. Whatever you say. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She directs that last bit at me and then rushes off. I think she must be more tired than she was letting on because she leaves SO fast.

The rest of the evening is fairly uneventful. There aren’t many customers left and by the time we kick out the last few I’ve already done pretty much all the clean up. Torin flicks through the magical book that tracks our sales.
“You did well tonight. You made a lot of tips.” He comments. I beam a smile at him.
“Thanks. I was surprised by that actually. Luckily most people were nice. They weren’t nearly as bratty as they were yesterday.” I observe. He shrugs.
“Yesterday they were testing you. Today they know better.” He answers. He seems different to how he was half an hour ago. I realise that he’s standing differently. Up straight in tall rather than hunched over like he’s trying to hide himself. He’s speaking louder too. The only difference I can see is that the customers are gone. Torin acts like he isn’t bothered by the way everyone treats him, that he doesn’t care that everyone is afraid of him. But if that’s the case why does he work so hard to make himself smaller when they’re around? He doesn’t HIDE from them exactly. But he stays in the corner, stays quiet, stays small. (Or as small as a guy as huge as him can be.) It makes me a little sad. I’m so busy thinking about it that I miss whatever he is saying. When I tune back in I realise he must have asked me a question.
“Sorry, can you repeat that?” I ask.
“I said I’ll need your banking details so that I can put your pay into your account. Most supernaturals stick to cash payments but I assume as a human you would prefer digital payments? I’ll include your tips too. You can’t actually go anywhere to spend cash anyway.” He observes. I frown.
“I can’t exactly spend money online either. You took my phone.” I remind him. He frowns and grunts.
“I’ll figure something out.” He mutters grumpily. I don’t think he likes being reminded of the things he’s keeping from me. Well whatever. I want to be his friend and I want him to trust me, that doesn’t mean I’m going to sugar coat everything for him. He should stay aware of the ways I’m being inconvenienced too.