King glances to Freya as she speaks, taking a mental note before he turns his gaze over the bar to resume scanning their immediate area"Well, Barrier sits off the edge of the Tau sector, which is only a day's travel from here and serves as a junction for four houses. Only thing you won't really see here are Rheinland, Edge & Omega commodities unless some lone wolf brings them in. Considering a luxury planet is nearby as well there isn't much you won't see here. Barrier's a perfect recipe for a melting pot of culture and business."
Bull lifted his hand to a waiter that looked his way, pulling a credit card from inside his jacket to hand to them as they approached. Speaking in a slightly hushed tone"Whiskey, for two."Bull looked back to Freya as the waiter walked away to get the order to the bartender."Biggest problem for anyone in Liberty? Too much god damn ale."
"Can't say I expected that out of a station like Gate, looks way too.. disorganized and chaotic to be such a big junction, but then again.. It's chaotic because it's a big junction, isn't it?" She chuckled at herself, her question obviously wasn't one that she expected an answer to.
"That being said, I haven't exactly gone anywhere outside of Rheinland as you might have guessed, King. So even with all that variety, I still wouldn't know what to pick for myself." She continued just before King called the waiter over. "Ah, Scheiβe.." She thought to herself, "I told him I'd buy him a drink and he's the one buying me a drink."
"Thank you, King. I thought I'd be the one to pay for the drinks but it seems you got me there." She chuckled, not wanting her tone to sound annoyed or anything like that, she was just making a joke. "I wouldn't say no to trying Liberty Ale sometime, heard a lot about it but never got the chance to give it a shot."
She then turned slightly towards him, averting her gaze between him and the table. "We're not just going to keep standing here, right? Come on, have a seat." She spoke, slowly walking towards what would be his side of the table - the side that, if sat from, you'd be able to see the whole bar - and took out a chair, pointing to it with her eyes a few times before walking back to the other side and fixing the other chair in a comfortable spot. She wouldn't have a seat before her Xeno partner did, however.
He listened to her talk in silence as he stood leaned back against the wall. His gaze turned to Freya as she got up to prepare the other side of the table, not understanding all this politeness and formality, and would rather stay standing for ease of sudden movement if necessary. He turns his head up a bit to watch Freya's face for a few moments, before he resigns, moving his right foot over and unfolding his arms as he pivots and sits on the edge of the chair, laying his right elbow on the table before resting the forearm off the side. With his left hand on his left thigh, close to his sidearm holster, King resumed his stare over the bar."I might just hate it because it's what I've had most of my life. I think it's re-purposed sewage."
The waiter had returned with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, placing one on either partner's edge of the table. First poured was Freya's, then King's. King didn't seem to notice however as he was staring across the bar at a group of rowdy individuals with their weapons on the table seemingly playing poker. Empty bottles all around them and harassing any waiter that came close. It didn't look like King was gonna do anything about it, more just watching to ensure the problem doesn't grow to involve the entire bar.
Freya remained silent for a few moments as the waiter arrived with their glasses, placing each of them in their respective sides and the bottle in the center for both to be able to reach. "I feel the same with Rheinbier, King. Had it for all my life and now I never want to see it again. Can't even comprehend how I managed to live with Rheinbier only for twenty six years."
She chuckled, "Some whiskey would definitely do you well." She said, grabbing the bottle firmly with her right hand, taking care for it not to slip out of her glove. The waiter was kind enough to have already removed the cork from the bottle, so she wouldn't have to go through the effort of doing that herself. After inspecting the bottle and reading the tags on it, she filled King's glass and then her own.
She rested back in her chair, extending her legs out in the side of the table and crossing them. In reality, the whole movement of her body and her legs was just a distraction to not make it too obvious to the entire bar that she just spent three or four seconds staring at the same group King had his eyes evidently locked on for the past few minutes. The way he stared mostly caught her attention, and she was intrigued to find out what he was looking at.
"Is that a usual sight around here?" She whispered with just enough volume to her voice to ensure King would hear her over all the noise lingering in the bar while at the same time hope to not be heard by any nearby tables. "Seems like trouble we don't wanna get into. I took the initiative and filled your glass." She didn't continue her last statement, rather leaving it as a hint to him that perhaps it's time to enjoy their drinks.
King didn't look her way, but it became obvious he was listening the whole time when he turned his gaze back to her when she finished talking. He took the glass in gloved hand and raised it toward his face before realizing his helmet was still on. Indicating that wearing his helmet was basically second nature by this point, he let out a displeased and low huff, placing the glass back down. He looked back toward the rowdy group one last time before both hands reached up, his thumbs curving inward and pressing up into sockets just under the jaw before there was a click, and the outer portion of his domed helmet came off. Revealing jet black hair with hints of grey and white scattered around likely from stress as it was revealed he too was young. There were metal mechanisms and slots outlining his angular jawline which was covered seemingly by some sort of frame that held his helmet. He placed his helmet down and looked up to Freya, he had only a few slashes on his face from close calls, a scar trailed from the left point on his upper lip, around the left side of his nose and up to his left eye, stopping just before the eyelid. His eyes, a deep hazel with flecks of forest green. His face clean shaven likely due to the frame he wore for his helmet, and his hair was short, a bit matted from the helmet but it didn't travel far, swept mostly to the left and falling just a bit over the respective eye and ear."Pick a fight here, face a pack of them outside."
King agreed with Freya's assessment, lifting his glass again to his lips before tipping it ever so slightly to take a sliver of a sip, his eyes glancing back to the bar as he does so, before placing the glass back down on the table, keeping his hand wrapped around it. Seems that he planned on nursing it rather than downing it. Likely due to the tension in the air.
Freya didn't make it too obvious that the reveal of the 'man behind the mask' was something she greatly anticipated and refrained from staring at King as he took his helmet now. She was, however, visibly impressed at the mechanism that was holding his helmet in place and she certainly did not hold back narrowing her eyes and quite literally staring at the mechanism itself, admiring it.
She took her own glass in her hand and lifted it up, extending her arm out and pointing the glass at King as she raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Cheers, Herr King. To a new beginning." She repeated one of his first phrases before taking a rather small sip of the whiskey herself. "Mhmm.. Not bad at all." She silently spoke. Not many words were needed to describe the whiskey, she really enjoyed it - granted it wasn't her first time having whiskey and that she wasn't a heavy drinker by any stretch of the imagination.
Finally, "if you ever make it outside," she said with a sigh, replying to his earlier statement. "They'll calm down eventually. Or better yet, leave."
King sit silently, occasionally lifting his glass to sip from. The mechanism Freya stares at isn't all that sophisticated, it's like a harness for his skull that has magnetic pieces, grooves and some slots all presumably for different parts of the helmet to latch onto so it sits flush on his head. His crude suit and patterned scarf or whatever it is block view to if there is additional pieces in the neck region. King continues his vigilant watch while he asks a question that's been on his mind for a bit."So, where you gonna go after this?"
The specific thing about the mechanism that impressed Freya wasn't it's complexity but rather the fact that the rest of King's.. "Uniform" looked like it had lived better days. It was truly a surprise to her to see such a mechanism holding his helmet in place. She remembered her days in the Rheinland Police, as well as the helmet she currently owns - none of them had this connecting mechanism.
"Most likely will be heading to the ship vendor, see what kind of good stuff is sold here, find myself a ride." She replied, taking a sip from her whiskey. "After all, I need a way to make cash, fast. I don't exactly have the option to stall." She continued, emptying her glass with one more sip, relatively larger than the previous ones.
Freya appeared rather thoughtful after her last statement. King's question was genuinely something she hadn't thought of. She didn't exactly know who to work for, what to do, or even what the future would hold for her. All she knew for now is that she needed a ship and new papers, there was still a chance in her mind that the Rheinlanders would come to Liberty chasing her down. A rather.. unlikely possibility, considering that it's already been a year since her dishonorable discharge.
King's left boot pivoted outward and then slid across the floor before he angled himself and lifted up into a stand, following Freya's lead in finishing off the Whiskey. His eyes focused on the group as it seemed they occupied two tables now instead of one. Likely a group of rogues, the second group had an oddball out, a figure clad in strapped black with a mask, an outcast, who had immediately turned their gaze to King the moment he stood up. The two held eye contact as if knowing each other while King reached back to the table for his helmet. King held that eye contact for a short period as if while he put his helmet back in place, the two looked away from each other and King looked to Freya again."I think I've overstayed my welcome as a lone Xeno. Time to head back to the ship."
Freya placed her glass in the middle of the table near the bottle and stood up, fixing her flightsuit in certain areas where it got pulled up and stretched in weird ways. It was quite an odd move of her to be fixing her flightsuit to look good in an environment such as this, but she still felt inclined to do it.
She nodded at him, not saying a word for a while and just turning to face the same tunnel they came from, avoiding any eye contact with any 'residents' of the nearby tables.
"I can accompany you back to your ship, King, if you wish." She calmly said, turning her head sideways and looking at King over her shoulder.
